Make Your Own Yogurt

This one is just about as simple as the buttermilk. Simply heat some milk in a pan until it is just hot. Remove from heat. Then add about 1/4 cup of plain yogurt. Again, you will need to hold some back for starter for the next batch every time. Cover your pan and wrap it in a towel or something that will help keep it warm. Let this set up at least overnight and you should have yogurt. You might like to add whatever you like to sweeten, but I like it plain, too. I've used jelly, jam, honey, sugar, applesauce or nuts. You can experiment and see what you like best. I think this yogurt has a richer flavor than store-bought and no high-fructose corn syrup. You may refrigerate at this point.

Make your Own Buttermilk

It's very simple and cheaper than purchasing it from the store. You will need to start with some buttermilk. I know, but you have to start somewhere.
You will need to always hold back 1/4 cup of buttermilk. I simply use the 1/2 gallon container it came in. Fill this with milk. Set this on your kitchen counter for 24 hours and you will have buttermilk. I usually shake it up at this point and return it to the fridge. I use 2 % milk usually so don't really know if 1% would even work.
Prices on just about all grocery items are increasing or the packages are getting smaller or both so I just thought I'd share one small thing we do to save. Will share more later.

More When Ends Don't Meet

1. Keep your bills organized so you do not have to pay late fees.

2. Cut your own and your families hair. I learned this by watching my dear mother-in-law, but you could check out a book from the library.

3. Use your library. It's free! Don't forget they also have movies and such. :)

4. Keep your pantry and refrigerator cleaned out. Once a week would be ideal, but that doesn't always happen around here. Make sure you use up what's in there. Letting it go to waste is a real food budget spoiler too!

5. Learn to darn socks. This is quite simple and will extend the life of your families socks! Mending in general will extend the life of clothing. So many women just replace things these days and wonder why they can't make ends meet or have to go to a job.

6. Shop the thrift stores and garage sales. You never know what you might find! I recent;y bought some flannel for .25 and will be able to make at least 2 rice bags out of each piece!

7. Teach yourself new skills using the internet. Use your internet time wisely and pick up a skill that will benefit your home. Some of my favs are www.hillbillyhousewife.com, www.lainesletters.com and www.recipegoldmine.com .

8. Enlist your children's help. You need your energy to run a household so let them help put away, feed pets, make beds, set table, help cook, fold laundry, etc. These will be valuable skills in their future. This may not sound frugal, but it will help you to utilize your time better to be more frugal.

9. Make your own laundry soap. Recipe coming soon. :)

10. Question each expense in your household and ask yourself,"Is there a way to do this more effectively and at lower cost?"

When Ends Don't Meet

I'm forever working on ways to save money while being here at home. Here are a few things I've learned:

1. Whenever you can find a low price on milk and there is no limit to how many you can buy, freeze it. You need to take some of the milk off the top because it will expand. I usually use the one in the fridge already. This will help if milk will be pricey for a while. When you thaw it, you will want to shake it so it goes back to it's regular consistency. I usually buy 2% and this works fine.
2. Make your own mixes. You can make pudding, cream of soup mix, corn bread mix and a number of others and still have the convenience. You just made it yourself. You will also enjoy the benefits of less salt and extra things you may not want in your family's diet.
3. Use coupons and refunding on any item you can use. I've been cutting my grocery bill in half with this one! What fun! This week I got a free Country Bob's steak sauce, Idahoan potatoes and Coffee Mate!
4. Try free samples. If you can test before you invest, you will know what to expect from the product if you choose to buy it. Hopeflly, you will receive a coupon with your sample!
5. Do as much of your shopping as you can in one day. I can't always do this, but it does save gas and time. Never waste a trip by only doing one thing!
6. Make your own yogurt and buttermilk. Simple to do and so good!
7. If you have them available to you, you may wish to participate in the Share Program and/or the Angel Tree Ministry food packs.
8. Plant a garden. We did not have a great deal of luck with this this year since it was so dry, but it is still producing some. Any bad produce goes to the chickens. :) We will be planting garlic soon.
9. Only run your dishwasher once per day. Do them in the sink when electricity is running too high. Don't use the drying function on dishwasher.
10. Hang clothes on the line. Do full loads. Make your own laundry detergent.

Well, that's a start. I may do this again soon.

This Day,,,,

I got up in the night with a sinus headache and nausea so I guess I'm not staying hydrated enough. In this heat, I guess I need much more water than usual. My hubby told me to take it easy today. I still need to do my dailies, but will probably organize my recipes in a new expandable file I got at the thrift store for a quarter. :) I will probably file and work on couponing stuff. I hope to feel stronger soon.

It's very hot and dry here. My husband hooked up a pump to draw water from our pond which is quite low now anyway. We have been on water restriction already once this summer and I expect it will happen again. The pump is a wonderful way of keeping the garden and animals watered. I will get boys to help me to bring some up to the house in their wagon for my flowers so I don't have to carry it. I watered some yesterday evening and the ground actually steamed!

I subscribed to Refund Cents and have started to do better on grocery budget. I saved $22.49 on my last trip to Kroger. I do go to SaveAlot also. They also take coupons on the brand name items they carry. :)

Here is my daily list:

Kitchen

1. Up and ready for day. Swish toilet after I flush.
2. Breakfast and clean up.
3. Dishes in dishwasher and sink/ washed and put away.
4. Vacuum. Needs done daily at least. I have carpet in kitchen which I hate and would not recommend.
5. 21 pickup 3 x. I simply put away 21 items three times. Helps in keeping counters clearer.

Laundry

1. 2 loads (usually)
2. 21 pickup
3. Sweep

Living room

1. 21 pickup
2. Straighten

Bedrooms

1. Beds made-boys do their own. :)
2. 21 pickup.

Bathroom

1. Sweep
2. Swish toilet
3. Sink and counter.
4. 21 pickup.

Other Daily Chores

1. Meals-sometimes boys help.
2. Table set and cloth-boys help.
3. Animal care-boys help.
4. Checkbook.
5. Mail.
6. Check pending things that need to be done today.

Every other day boys shake out rugs.

Will post weeklies later as I'm moving slow and need to get started. Maybe some music....

Adventures in Couponing

I don't usually use coupons, but I do watch for the especially good ones. Lately, though, with the prices on most everything going up, I've been looking further and further into couponing and refunding.

Yesterday, I went grocery shopping. I didn't deplete my final bill like a real coupon queen, but I was proud of my savings. I used a coupon I printed out from the internet for some lunchmeat i would have bought anyway bringing the price of a variety pack down to $1.29. I got a free box of Kashi Lean cereal. I got this one through Vocalpoint. :) An unexpected deal was at Krogers. I had received 2 coupons for Aim toothpaste in the mail for $1.50. I'm assuming everyone receives these. Kroger had these on sale for $1.99 so that brought my price down to .49 each. I was thrilled to get it. My savings were $7.75.

I signed with Nestle a few days ago. Today they sent me coupons for Juicy Juice which is 100% juice and not cheap. It's amazing that adding stuff to it makes it cheaper. Anyway, I like to get this when I can and it is at a good price.

Anyway, I'm digging deeper into this couponing adventure to help make ends meet. I'm also using refunding more and will let you know more about it soon.

Hope your day is pleasant.

The Dishwasher

Unless something out of the ordinary happens, I only use my dishwasher once per day. When money starts to get tight, I just do the dishes to save on our water usage and electricity. There have also been times when I've used it only every other day. I do love my dishwasher and appreciate the time and work it saves me. :)

Recently I ran out of dishwasher powder, I normally use a cheap brand like Aldi's or SaveAlots. Walmart's own brand works fine too. I decided to question the cost on this item so of course I got on the internet. I found this recipe: equal parts baking soda and borax. Some recipes call for salt to be added to this, but I haven't tried it yet. I simply put one tablespoon of each in the compartment.

I also use dry citric acid in the open compartment and it helps a lot with our hard water. My husband (who is very astute in chemistry) had done some research on lemi shine which we used to buy and found out this was the key ingredient. He ordered a ton of this and started to sell it at his work. He made our money back that he invested plus had enough left over for us to use. How nice!