Archive for the Category »Frugal «

16
Jul 2010

How do I get skunk smell off of my dog?

Has your dog ever gotten sprayed by a skunk and you either can’t afford to take them to the vet for a scrub down or the vet is closed for the night/weekend and it’s not considered an emergency?!

I hope you are never in this prediciment, but if you are here’s a frugal solution to save your nose and house from smelling like skunk.  And it’ll make your dog feel much better too. ;)

You will need:

  • 1 gallon of water
  • 1 quart of hydrogen peroxide
  • 1 cup baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon of Dawn dishsoap

Mix these ingredients together and let it fizz.  Put onto your dog with a sponge and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.  Rinse and repeat.

Have you ever used this recipe for skunk smell on your dog?  Have you tried another one?  Please share!

For more Frugal Friday ideas, visit Life as Mom!

Category: Frugal  Leave a Comment
28
May 2010

Frugal Friday – Exercise on a Budget

For the past 25 days, I have taken part in hundreds.  What is that you ask?  Hundreds is 100 pushups and 100 situps throughout the day for 100 days.  At first, I started out doing sets of 10 scattered throughout the day.  Now I do sets of 25 back to back.  I am getting stronger, and it’s only been 25 days!!!

I love the fact that I don’t need a gym membership, any special equipment, or even to change my clothes if I don’t want to.  For motivation, I have joined Team 100 on Facebook.  Join me there!  I challenge you to hundreds too!

Another relatively frugal exercise is hooping.  I suppose you want to know what that is too – visit my friend The Happy Hoop.  She has videos, cool pictures, and even tutorial how to make your own.  That is what DH and I did last night – we made hoops for all of us.

Now it is pretty cheap to make your own if you are going to make hoops in bulk.  We made 3 hoops, and could probably make another 3 with the tubing we got.  Here is how the cost breaks down to make your own hoops:

  • 100′ of 100 psi 3/4″ poly tubing – $11.88
  • 3 connectors – 3/4″ couplings – $1.56
  • Colored electrical tape with enough to spare – $8.00
  • Total cost: $21.44
  • Total cost per hoop (if we make 6): $3.57

Making your own hoops can be frugal and it’s a great project.  Who doesn’t want to use colored tape and make some their own, and then learn how to hoop with people you like spending time with?!

I love exercising without breaking the bank.  How do you exercise frugally?

For more Frugal Friday ideas, visit Life As Mom.

Category: Frugal  4 Comments
21
May 2010

Frugal Friday – Think about purchases!

We live in a culture where the media is advertising at us all the time, where we have access to money any time of the day, or if we don’t have the money we have a credit card we can use.  This leads to lots of wants and lots of thoughtless purchases.

Don’t get me wrong, I think we have all been in situations like that and we’ve all succumbed to a want and easy accessibility.  But one way I find myself being frugal, is by actually thinking over purchases first.  You may need to give yourself X amount of days of thought and research before you make the jump to really stick to it.  I have found though, if DH and I talk about it and make an educated decision together – we will make a much better financial decision for our family.  (We contemplated the Kindle for MONTHS!)

The next thing on my thinking about, researching, and talking to others about buying list is an espresso machine.  Do you have one?  What kind?  Do you think it was a wise purchase?  Please share!

And share a thing that might be on your “to buy or not to buy” list. :)

For more frugal ideas, visit Life as Mom.

Category: Frugal  3 Comments
14
May 2010

Frugal Friday – Daily Dockets

Are you looking for a cheap way to be ORGANIZED?!

Try out Simple Mom’s Daily Dockets or Pocket Dockets!  You can go to her site and print a day’s, week’s, or month’s worth if you’d like.  You can put them into a binder or on a clipboard where you will see them everyday, and keep track of so many things right in one spot.

I have been using them to do daily to do lists on the Pocket Docket version.  I would love to take it up a notch and start working on the Daily Dockets and track my water intake, big goals of the day, and just jot down as I go some of the things that I do so I feel accomplished when I slump in to bed at night exhausted.

So make your to-do lists count, but not cost you anything but a few sheets of paper and a little ink!

For more Frugal ideas, visit Life As Mom!

Category: Day to day, Frugal  One Comment
05
Mar 2010

W.I.S.H Summit

If you are looking for free information on health, relationships, money and so much more be sure to sign up for the W.I.S.H Summit.  It’s THREE full weeks of speakers that include David Wolfe, Jules Dervaes, and Victoria Boutenko.

This will be something I schedule into my day, not only as a treat for me to lift my spirits but as an inspiration to keep learning about health, parenting, and relationships so I can become a better wife, mother, and fellow keeper of this planet.

For more Frugal Friday, visit Life as Mom.

Category: Frugal, Health, Motherhood, Stepping Lightly  One Comment
09
Jan 2009

Free media

DH and I have given up on cable tv to save a few extra dollars a month, to not be bombarded with ads, and to not channel surf in the name of boredom.  We do still have some things we like to watch, and I like to turn something on when I’m folding laundry or stretching on the living room floor.

Some sites I have come across that are great for things like this are ~

Speaking of Oprah and free, this book by Suze Orman is free on her site until January 15th in PDF form.  If you are interested, you should check it out. :)

I also like free music from Musicovery and free yoga classes from YogaToday and YogaTodayBlog.

For more frugal Friday ideas, visit Biblical Womanhood.

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14
Nov 2008

Make your own dog food!

As my DH and I were planning for hunting season (opening day is tomorrow), we decided to glance through our chest freezer in the basement to see what venison meat we have used in the last year.  We really have done a good job eating up the steaks and stew because there are only a few packs of each left.  But, we came across 2 bags of venison that had been marked for the grinder and never were introduced to the grinder.  Knowing that it should be used soon, we have decided to use it to make our own dog food and save us some money by not buying a big bag of dog food this month.

Here are some links to recipes to make your own dog food, and they seem easy enough to incorporate things that you have in your pantry or even better – leftovers from the fridge. :)

For more Frugal Friday ideas, visit Biblical Womanhood.

Category: Frugal, Recipes  One Comment
10
Oct 2008

Cheap Maternity Clothes

 

Have you ever noticed how expensive maternity clothes are?!  They are pretty outrageously priced, and I can understand why so many people have 1 or 2 pairs of maternity pants and a few shirts that they mix and match.  Maternity clothes are enough to break a budget, especially these days!

So I have treated myself to a few new things (mostly because I had a gift card or they were on extreme sales), but I have really been into thrifting for my clothes.  Since I am fairly small, I can get away with moving up sizes of regular pants or tops which is exactly what I did when I was stocking up on sweaters.  I made sure I bought styles that were long and stretchy and a size bigger.  For $11 at St. Vincent de Paul’s, I got 6 winter sweaters and I think all but one will fit until I give birth.

I don’t shop at Goodwill as much, but my mom, sister, and I happened to go there on our day out on Monday.  They actually had a maternity section, although there wasn’t much to choose from, I did find a few things in my size.  I got a  pair of maternity jeans for $3.99 and I found a maternity dress (that I will probably wear to my shower) for $6.99.  As I tried on the dress though, I realized there was a hole in it so I asked the cashier if they gave discounts for that sort of thing.  She gave me 25% off!

I spent about $20 at the thrift stores, but I think I am all set with my maternity clothes!  For more frugal ideas, visit Biblical Womanhood.

Category: Frugal, Pregnancy  2 Comments
03
Oct 2008

Starbucks Gingerbread Latte Recipe

 

 

Since it has been getting colder outside, I have been wanting something warm to drink.  I don’t want to drive somewhere to get a fancy drink, and I also don’t want to spend $3-5 per drink!  So, I have found ways to make my favorites at home.  Check out the pumpkin spice latte recipe too for another seasonal favorite.

 

Gingerbread Latte Recipe

Ingredients:

 

  • 1/2 cup espresso or strong coffee
  • 8 ounces of steamed milk
  • 1/4 cup gingerbread syrup

Directions:

 

  • Make gingerbread syrup by putting 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 cups water, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla in a small saucepan.  Bring to boil on the stove and reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.  This will make enough to keep on hand, so once it’s cool store in an airtight container in the fridge.
  • Make your coffee or espresso and steam a cup of milk.
  • Put your coffee/espresso into your favorite cup, add 1/4 cup of gingerbread syrup, and lastly add the milk.  Stir.
  • Garnish with whipped cream and nutmeg or cinnamon.

For more frugal ideas, visit Biblical Womanhood.

Category: Frugal, Recipes  2 Comments
30
Sep 2008

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe

 

Have I mentioned my addiction to anything pumpkin?   That includes the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks – unfortunately the nearest Starbucks is about 60 miles away!  I came up with my own Pumpkin Spice Latte Starbucks Copycat recipe to help with my craving and save me some cash.

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons canned pumpkin
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla syrup or creamer
  • 3 ounces espresso or a half cup of strong coffee (I made coffee by using 2 tablespoons of grounds per 1 cup of coffee)
  • 2 teaspoons sugar but this depends on preference
  • pumpkin pie spice
  • whipped cream

Directions

  • Heat milk and pumpkin puree in a small saucepan on the stove.  Put on medium heat.
  • Add vanilla and a dash of pumpkin pie spice.
  • Once steaming and a little frothy, pour into a mug and add espresso or strong coffee.
  • Add sugar to taste.
  • Top with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice.

For more Talk about Tuesday, visit Lazy Organizer.

Category: Frugal, Recipes, Talk About Tuesday  7 Comments
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