Today’s tip is to help your laundry day/s go smoother, faster..  Imalazymom bring us this great tip!! If you have more than 3 people in your family OR if you live in the north where you wear socks a lot longer than we do down here in sunny, south FL- this tip is for YOU!

Each member of the family has a mesh lingerie laundry bag, and a hook. They put their dirty socks in their own bag each night. Then once a week, you wash everyones mesh zipped up bag in one sock load, and give it back!  No more sorting through and figuring out which socks are for which person!  NO more missing socks eaten by the sock monster…  Then they are responsible for taking care of what is in the bag.

Today’s “tip” comes from the current All You magazine.  They say that you have the potential savings of $114  a year if you stop buying individual packets of instant oatmeal and buy plain rolled oats instead.  IF your family consumes 2 servings a day, five days a week all year long.  (I don’t know too many people who eat oatmeal all year long- at least not in HOT FL…)

Anyway, you can save decent money with that small change, if you are talking about buying it at regular shelf price.  The regular old fashioned oatmeal cooks in under 5 minutes, you can mix in whatever flavorings or fruit or sweeteners you like AND be in control of what goes into it. (Add in other things to add more nutrients and fiber) So you are cutting down on the processing part.  Sounds good, right?

But if it is your OOP (out of pocket expense) that is concerning you, then buying your oatmeal on sale and with coupons, I’m pretty certain that the savings % they proclaim is going to go down dramatically…  Here are some Publix prices from the past several months:

• Quaker Instant Oatmeal 8 ct. $3.79
• Quaker Old Fashioned Oats 18 oz. $2.85 (Big difference in price w/o a sale or Q’s)

When you add in the fact that they have 50% off sales or BOGO sales AND we have coupons, the price per oz or packet comes down dramatically.  The recent 50% off sale is a nice example:  I bought 2 boxes of Instant Oatmeal @ $1.89 each, plus I had two $1/1 Store Q’s, making them .89 a box.  There was a $1/2 MQ out, but I didn’t have it.  This would have made them .39 a box.  The same MQ applies to the Old Fashioned Oats and would have made them under a dollar.

You just have to decide what is most important- your OOP or eliminating processed foods, etc..  After that decision, then begin looking for sales and coupons that fit into your chosen lifestyle.  When you find a good deal, stock up!  Be ready for it, so that you don’t have to pay full price later in the month or even later in the year. (Winter time is the best time to stock up on oatmeal.. makes sense, huh?)

Which one do you prefer?  Old Fashioned oats?  Or instant easy packets?

P.S. Want some recipes to peruse for making your own Instant Packets?  Check these out:

• Money Saving Mom
• Mommy Needs A Break
• This Bountiful Backyard

Today’s tip comes from this month’s All You magazine.  They had a Home Economics article in this edition that had several ways to save money and deciding which ground beef to buy makes a $27 a year difference (Approx.), if you buy 2 lb a week.

They said that people want the healthier version so they buy the 80% lean ground beef (Or higher).  BUT when it is fried and drained, the calories and fat are nearly the same.
So I went searching and found that for a 3 oz. serving, the 70% has 230 calories and 15 fat grams.  The 80% has 231 calories and 15 grams of fat.  The 90% has 182 calories and 9 grams of fat.

So you will have to decide which ground beef you buy.  Is your budget the top priority?  Your fat intake?  Which one is the deciding factor for your family?

Also, what tips or tricks do you use to make it stretch further?  I buy the 70%, as my Grandpa was a butcher and always said to cook it, drain it and it was pretty much the same.  When making ground meat for things like spaghetti or tacos, I use half ground beef (or ground turkey) and half Boca Crumbles.  Still tastes good and much less fat.

One last tip that you probably know, but just in case- buy it in bulk for a lower price per pound OR when it is on a really good sale and divide it up into smaller portions when you get home.

Homemade Fabric Softener
By OneGoodThingByJillee

Do you insist on having Fabric softener?  I refuse to pay more than a dollar a bottle, as it is not a requirement- just a like.  Ever made your own?  This is a super simple recipe.  Take time to read thru all her updates.

• Water, heated
• Vinegar, heated up
• Hair conditioner, stirred in

This makes a gallon, if you follow her recipe.  So you may want to cut the recipe in half.
you can use it as liquid softener or spritz it on a wash cloth and toss in the dryer, as a dryer sheet.
Go to her website for the full ingredient and instructions.

If you use stainless steel pots & pans, rather than non-stick, then you know that there are times when the bottom gets black and needs something major done to it.  Vinegar and baking soda do the trick!  Check it out here.

This is actually a re-post from last year, but it is a great one to re-post to kick off a series of “Earth Friendly” project ideas. Since this is Earth Day/Week/Month, you will see a few of these during April.  Want to share something that you have changed in your house, in order to be a bit friendlier to the earth OR to save money???

My parents were moving and having a yard sale, so we went to help.  I found a few bits and pcs. to bring home…  One of those things  was a set of 8 cloth napkins that matched a table runner I already had.  They are a heavier cloth and only have to be ironed if they were for a nicer dinner.  I decided to use them as  every day napkins and NOT iron them each time they are washed.  (Cost cutting measure- stop buying paper napkins!) BUT 8 napkins was not going to last very long with a family of 3.  3 meals a day, 7 days a week…  So, I pulled out the trusty sewing machine.  (This was a Black Friday purchase at Target several years ago.  SO glad we did!!)I went searching in my fabric stash and found some red & tan toille.  It ended up not being 100% cotton, so these don’t have to ironed each time either!! YAHOO!!!  I chose the size I wanted.  Cut enough for 8 and began pinning the hem in place. Continue reading →

It is just about sandbox weather for all of us so this tip should benefit most.  Add cinnamon to your sandbox to repel almost any creepy crawly critter!!  Especially ants!

I came across this article about Common Appliances- Uncommon Uses recently.  They were cooking their hashbrowns in the waffle iron!  Well, of course we’re checkin’ that one out this weekend!!!  A waffle iron is one of these small appliances you gotta have, but it collects dust most of the month waiting for you to decide to make waffles.  Maybe it will get called to duty more often now…

They suggest using 1 cup of your hash brown mixture in the iron, sprinkle some salt over top, brush the top of the iron with vegetable oil, close it, and cook until the hash browns are golden brown and crisp, about eight to ten minutes (For the rest of their instructions, head over to their site and check it out!

Here are several ideas for removing greasy spots from clothing:

Borax and dish detergent mixed into a paste.  Just rub it in and let it sit for 30 min -then put in with your laundry. POOF, stain GONE!

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Simply rub white chalk onto greasy stains and the chalk powder will absorb the grease, making the stain easily removable by the laundry soap in the wash.

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Baking Soda:  …”Using a toothbrush (or a larger cleaning brush for bigger spots), I rubbed in the baking soda to each spot. The baking soda absorbs the grease from the chapstick. As it absorbs the grease, it will start to ball-up…”  read her article to see the rest of the process.

If you try one or all of these, please let us know which one works the best for you and on what kind of stain.

Perfectly Boiled and Easy To Peel Hard Boiled Eggs
By The Cozy Old Farmhouse

Do you ever have trouble  getting nice hard boiled eggs?  Easy to peel?  Eggs that end up yellow, rather than a green tinge to the yolk…  Check out my sister’s blog for a step-by-step How To on getting them perfect!!