How to be a Smart yard sale Shopper

My husband and I LOVE yard sales.  To the point where we get giddy when Spring comes because we are dreaming of all the browsing of people's junk we soon get to take part in.  Here are some tips to make the most of your yard sale trips:

1. It's not a deal if you don't NEED it.  Just because it is cheap doesn't mean you should buy it.  If you buy a cd you will never listen to, or book you will read just because it was a steal, in the end you just wasted money if you will never use it!

2.  Haggle.  I am not really good at this one, but have done it once in awhile.  Most people who are holding yard sales just want to get rid of their junk.  If you are offering a reasonable amount, but lower than the price they are asking, most people will give you some sort of deal.

3.  Try it out.  If the item you are buying requires electricity, ask if there is a way you can plug it in before you buy it to make sure it works.

4.  Limit what you buy for your kids.  It's easy to hand over some cash to the kids for a purchase at a yard sale, and I encourage it!  It's cheap, and it can teach them how to figure out how much they can afford, etc.  But if you hit up a lot of yard sales like my husband and I, it's good to say no as well.  No child needs a bedroom full of stuffies, no matter HOW cheap they are. ;)  A few are adequate enough.

5.  Go Early.  Serious yard salers are out first thing in the morning to get the best stuff.

6.  Go Late.  So, if you go early you have a better chance of finding items you might be looking for but if you go late, you may score some awesome deals as the yard sale organizers are getting tired, ready to shut'er down, and most likely just going to take the rest of the stuff leftover to the thrift store.

7.  Bring Snacks.  You need to keep yourself nice and hydrated and full of energy while out.  And we all know the kids will get hungry.  Avoid wasting all the money you saved by eating out in a moment of hangry weakness.

What are your tips for successful yard saling?

Running Errands on the Cheap

I live in a small town 25 minutes outside of a main city.  All my main shopping is done there because as crazy as it sounds, I don't want to pay three times as much for the same groceries.  We do most of our stuff in the local city like go to church, swimming lessons, etc.  Maybe if you are like me you have some experience with a trip into the city ending up costing way more than you hoped because of those little people in your car complaining they were hungry or you ended up driving from one end of the city to the next 5 times because you weren't organized.  Here are some tips I have learned to minimize my expenses when going out.

1.  Avoid meal times.  This isn't always possible, but when you can avoid it, run your errands when it isn't meal time.  That way you avoid you and your kids getting HANGRY!  You know, hangry...when you are hungry, and then you get angry?  We are a family of hangry people, I swear it is in our genes.  Sometimes when the husband or I are being short with eachother the other one looks at the other and replies, "honey, do you need a sandwich?"  Speaking of which, a sandwich sounds really good right now...

2. Pack food.  If there is a chance you are going to be out for awhile, or around meal time, pack a lunch or snacks.  Truth is, if you have kids with you the chances of someone getting hungry if you are out of the house more than 20 minutes is pretty high.  Might as well pack some food for most trips just in case.  My kids have water bottles as well that they take with them quite often.

3.  Have a back-up plan.  Sometimes no matter how hard you try to be organized, life happens and you find yourself in town without food and hangry people. Have a back up plan for where you will buy food if this happens to avoid spending more than you want.  For us, we either go to the grocery store for snacks or get a 5 dollar pizza at one of the local pizza places.  Even if we buy 2 pizzas because we are REALLY hangry, it is still cheaper than buying dinner for our whole family through the Mcdonald's or Wendy's drive-thru.  (and don't judge on the drive-thru...if you have three kids in car/booster seats and you are on your own you know how difficult it can be to take your kids in and out of the minivan over and over again on an errand trip.)

4.  Plan your route strategically.  Write out what you need before you go and what stores you need to go to.  Then plan your route according to location.  This will help avoid you spending more gas than you had hoped because you are driving all over the city.

5.  Go by yourself.  I LOVE grocery shopping by myself.   If you can have someone else watch your kids while you run errands this can make the trip faster and less chance of spending more money in so many ways.

What do you do to avoid spending money when you are out?

Oh NO! Company is Coming for Dinner!

Anytime we have people over for dinner it is always an enjoyable time.  But leading up to it can be quite stressful.  Usually because I am always trying to rack my brain as to what to prepare that is frugal, and doesn't leave me in the kitchen all night. If I was smart, I`d write a list and tape it inside one of my cupboards.  But since I haven`t done that yet (Mommy brain, I blame MOMMY BRAIN!), I might as well write my list here. So, what should you serve for dinner for your guests without breaking your budget?

1.  Soups.  In the cooler months this is one of my favorites.  Pairing up a pureed squash or potato soup with a loaf of homemade bread and maybe a side salad and you've got a full meal!

2.  Chili.  Along the same lines of soup, pair it with some homemade bread.  Have some shredded cheese available for your guests to sprinkle on top and you've got a hearty, filling dinner.

3.  Quiche.  Eggs are cheap, and full of protein.  Raid your garden for what to put in the quiche.

4.  Salad.  Adding some chicken to a salad can turn a side salad into a full meal, perfect for those hot summer nights.  If you have a garden use what is there to make this meal even cheaper.  Serve with some delicious bread.  Cornbread can be a good option.

5. Hamburgers and hot dogs.  Some would feel uneasy serving hotdogs to guests, but in my neck of the woods, during bbq season that is completely acceptable!

6.  Pasta.  Who doesn't like pasta?  And pasta doesn't have to be boring.  Serving some bowtie pasta mixed with peas and sundried tomatoes, a little olive oil, garlic, and parmesan cheese and you might feel like you are dining out at an italian restaurant.

Some tips to remember when company is coming for dinner:

If they ask if they can bring something, say YES!  A side salad, dessert, or beverage can be very helpful in sharing costs.  And if you are invited out, it is nice to offer the same.

Dessert isn`t always necessary.  When we have guests over I try to have a frugal dessert prepared (or ask them to bring one if they asked what they could bring) but there are times it hasn`t happened.  No one is going to waste away without dessert.  Actually, we might be better off not stuffing ourselves with that huge helping of double fudge brownie.

Cook simple meals.  In the cooler months I love to use my crockpot when I entertain.  That way, by the time my guests arrive there is very little for me to do but dish out the food into bowls.  This allows me to actually enjoy the visit!

Entertaining doesn`t have to cost a fortune.  The truth is, people generally aren`t coming to your house for your food.  They are coming for your company, but the food is just a perk.  And if they ARE coming just for your food, maybe they aren`t the type of people you want to have over anyways. ;)

5 Convenience Foods you can Make Yourself

I am all about convenience. I have three kids, six and under.  They require attention.  All. The. Time. They are like little energy suckers. Cute energy suckers, mind you, but energy suckers nonetheless.  So if there are ways I can make meal time faster in the kitchen, I want to do it.  But convenience foods that you purchase in the grocery store aren't always budget friendly. Not to mention the homemade versions are usually much healthier.  Here are 5 convenience foods that you can make for yourself at home.

1.  Pancake Mix. Seriously, when you buy a mix in the store you are probably adding eggs and milk to the mix. If you make the mix at home, you are only adding a bit of sugar, salt, and baking powder to that.  Three extra ingredients.  Really not all that time consuming.  And you can always make a huge batch of this to store in your pantry.  Just take your favorite pancake mix, double, triple, quadruple the recipe of just the dry ingredients and store it in an airtight container.

2.  Taco Seasoning.  Have you ever looked at the ingredients of storebought taco seasoning?  A lot of salt, and other ingredients you probably can't even pronounce.  I love that I have a jar of taco seasoning in my pantry at all times for whenever I am in a mexican-type dinner mood.

3.  Yogurt. The yogurt aisle is where I find myself the most frustrated in the grocery store.  It seems like almost every brand contains some type of alternative sweetener -sucralose, asparatame, etc.  I'm all for cutting back on sugar, but I'd rather have good ole' refined sugar any day over all those weird, bad-tasting,we-don't-know-what-it's-doing-to-us sweeteners.  By making yogurt at home you can avoid this. Though yogurt takes hours to make, most of it is just incubating time.  The initial work is pretty simple.  And you don't need any fancy yogurt maker.  I actually got rid of my yogurt maker awhile back because I prefer to use a small cooler and some mason jars.  For a tutorial on how to make your own, check out The Frugal Girl's blog.

4.  Breakfast wraps.  Hmm, breakfast wraps.  Okay, truth be told I'm not a huge fan, but my husband loves them!  You don't have to shell out some cash in the drivethru when the craving hits.  Just fill some tortilla wraps with some scrambled eggs, sausage, salsa, and basically whatever you want, wrap them up, freeze them flat on a cookie sheet so they don't stick, and put them in a big freezer bag when they are frozen.  Just take one out and pop it in the microwave when you want one!

5.  Granola.  I LOVE granola.  But everytime I see it in the store I am floored at how they charge so much for a little bag.  Especially since it is mostly just OATMEAL!!!  I get my oatmeal in bulk, either at the grocery store or a local amish store, and it is cheap.  Making my own granola is easy, and a fraction of the cost.  Granola recipes are everywhere online, but one that I like to use can be found here.

Making your own rather than buying can save you money and be healthier for you.  And many times it isn't as difficult as it seems, it just takes a bit of practice getting into the groove of things!

Healthy AND Frugal Possible?

This is an area I've struggled with for many years.  How can you eat healthy, AND live frugally?  Well, it can be done. Keep in mind that many healthy foods are very frugal, it might just be time to learn how to cook with said items.

In our house, some very frugal healthy items we use are:

-Brown rice

-Lentils

-Black Beans
-Chickpeas

-Oatmeal

-Eggs

I previously talked about getting rid of boxed cereal.  Not only is this a great option for eating a more healthy breakfast, but cereal can be expensive!!  If your kids are like mine who LOVE cereal, a box can last only 2-3 days.

When we buy beans, we buy them by the bag instead of the can.  We throw the whole bag in the crockpot, and then we divide them up into ziploc bags and freeze them for when we need some already cooked beans!

When shopping for produce I try to for the most part purchase what is in season.  Right now, for Autumn my fridge is full of winter vegetables - squash, pumpkin, potatoes, carrots, onions...etc.  In the Summer I love to eat all the types of berries that are in season.  

I think that many times, when we need to stock our cupboards with healthy foods, there may be a few things we decide are worth the money.  I think it's best to decide what you will spend the money on, and work on keeping the rest of the grocery bill down.    I am willing to spend more money on natural sweeteners such as maple syrup or honey, but I don't buy prepackaged gluten-free products (which, many are processed anyways.)

You can be healthy, and it won't burn a hole in your wallet!