Frugal Flops!

I thought it best to do an update on a few frugal ideas that flopped!

 Our water bill was higher than I wanted so I went on an all out campaign to save every drop and reuse it when possible! I'm not positive but I may have ended up causing problems with the pipes from the kitchen to the bath because they backed up.  There is no way to know for sure if my water saving methods caused this problem but  I want to warn you  just in case.

 

Now granted.. our pipes were thrashed. We had problems as soon as we moved in this summer. I'm wondering since I wasn't putting any water down the kitchen pipes  if it caused things to not move through easily.

I'm still saving water from the kitchen .. but not to the extreme that I was before. I only save the water that normally gets wasted when I'm waiting for the hot water to travel from the garage to the house. That usually amounts to a small bucket full. Sometimes I'll save the rinse water.  I place the bucket of water in the bathroom tub and we use it to flush. In the summer I plan to use the extra water on my patio plants. 

The second idea that flopped had to do with  putting my shampoo into a hand pump soap dispenser.  I hoped the pump would stretch the shampoo by administering a smaller amount of shampoo.  The idea was great but the administration failed. I'm not sure if the shampoo was too thick or if the pump just wasn't efficient but the pump ended up not working after the first few times.  I'll keep my eyes opened for a better hand pump because I think the idea would really work well!

The majority of the ideas I've tried are keepers but every once in a while I come across a dudley!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that your New Year was a blessing!

Frugal Friday: Inexpensive Baking Gifts

Christmas is almost here and most of you may have finished your baking, but if not.. then I have an idea you might want to try for your gift giving.

I normally make a lot of goodies but this year our budget just could not handle another $40 or more in baking supplies. I love being able to give a little something away so I decided to make homemade bread and scones, instead.

I have 2 marvelous scone recipes that are listed on my recipe website but I decided to try the recipe below since it had over 1600 good reviews and I wasn't disappointed with the results.  They were great. I did not add the raisins or cranberries. Not because I don't love them but because they were an added expense. Instead, I used two different glazes.

I've posted the recipe I used below for scones. The homemade bread recipe came from Laine's website and can be found  here.

Merry Christmas everyone! We have so much to be thankful for.. but most of all I thank God for the gift of His Son Jesus Christ!

Grandma Johnson's Scones    

Submitted By: Rob
Photo By: S. Becker
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes
   
Ready In: 30 Minutes
Servings: 12-16

(The directions have been changed to reflect the recommendations from one of the members on the recipe site. I tried following the original directions and the dough came out very dry. There suggestions worked much better.)


1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
   
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (room temperature)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla (opt.)
1 cup raisins  or cranberries or chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:
1.     In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.
2.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
3.     In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt.
4.       Mix the butter and sugar together in a separate bowl.  Beat in 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  Don’t over mix.
5.       Add the dry mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and stir. Do not over mix.
5.        Stir the sour cream mixture and baking soda mixture into the above mixture until moistened. Do not over mix. I used my kitchen aid until the dough looked like it was holding together and moistened.
7.       Lightly stir in raisins.
8.     Pat dough into (2) 3/4 inch thick rounds. Cut each round into 8 small wedges. The wedges will expand when baking. Place  them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
9.     Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom. It took an extra 5 minutes or so in my oven. I made sure they were done when I touched the top and it wasn’t doughy. They do not get real brown on the top.



Once they have cooled I wrap them in seran wrap and then place them in a freezer bag to keep them fresh.

TO FREEZE: Use a 3 inch cookie cutter. Freeze the rounds for 1 hour and then put in a Ziploc bag. Take out rounds when ready to bake and place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes.

Glazes:

1 cup powdered sugar, 3 tbsp. milk, ¼ tsp. or so of lemon or orange extract, ¼ tsp. or so of lemon zest. I added a little cinnamon, too but you don’t need it. Brush scone with butter when hot out of oven and then glaze it with this mixture.

Or:

Brush melted butter on the scone and then brush with this mixture of 2 tbsp. sugar, ¼ tsp. cinnamon and 1 tbsp. milk.

Grandma Johnson's Scone Recipe

We opened an ETSY SHOP!

We finally did it! We've been threatening to do it for a few years. So, tonight I did it!

I officially opened an ETSY SHOP!

There is only 1 item in it right now but I hope to list more after the first of the year.

Here it is:

Living on Less Money Etsy Shop


Our Amish Hanger is the featured item for now.

Frugal Friday: How I saved money this week (Dec. 13)

I know it sounds far fetched but I've actually had a pretty peaceful month. My main Christmas shopping was finished before Thanksgiving and I had the presents pretty much wrapped a few weeks ago. I'm not doing a lot of baking this year (I'm experiencing withdrawals) due to pocketbook and for health reasons. Instead, I hope to bake some homemade bread to give as gifts to a few family members. I've worn myself out in years past making dozens and dozens of cookies and candy. I loved every minute of it and I will really miss doing it this year but it certainly has helped to foster a relaxed spirit.

My husband and I have been reading scriptures to prepare our hearts to celebrate Christ's birth. It really has been a very peaceful Christmas. Having less money to spend has some major perks because it has allowed me the joy of focusing on Christ.

1. I added filtered water to the milk to stretch it. We have one more week till payday and I don't want to spend anything else on groceries. I've tried to come in under budget this month since I overspent last month. I used to buy 1 percent milk but now I buy whole milk so that I can stretch it when needed and no one can tell the difference. :-) (Update: BUSTED! Hubby asked why the milk tasted like metal and he backed me into a corner and I had to confess! I'm forbidden from watering the milk from now on. Rats!)

2. I made up an entire monthly menu so I'll be prepared to shop when our check comes next week.

3. I reorganized my freezer so that I could inventory what I already had in stock. I put veggies on one shelf, meat in the bottom drawer, lunch meat on the second shelf, etc. I made a list of what was in stock and then used it in my monthly budget. I had food in the bottom of my freezer that I had forgotten. I hope I can remember to do this monthly before I do my big shopping.

4.  I started saving meat scraps again for my next batch of homemade dog food.

5.  I've been making homemade laundry detergent off and on for quite a few years. I tried a new recipe this week by the Duggar's. I hope it works because it made more than twice the amount of the recipe I've been using. I now have 10 gallons of laundry detergent for a fraction of the cost of what I'd pay retail.

6. I made another batch of laundry stain remover.

7. I made a pot of soup last week and then again this week. My plan is to make a new batch for the next two weeks. Soup is an inexpensive lunch and now I'll have a variety at my fingertips!

How did you save money this week in your home? I'd also love to hear how you trusted God to provide what you needed.

Follow FRUGAL FRIDAY at Life as Mom!

Frugal Friday: Homemade Dog Food

I mentioned in a previous post that I was saving scraps of meat and vegetables to make homemade dog food. I've made it several years ago but this time I wanted to pressure can the jars instead of freezing it. I was motivated to try making it again after I read CANNING GRANNY'S approach. She saves the meat skin,cartilage and other parts of meat that normally would be thrown away. That idea sparked my interest since I'm always looking for new ways to stretch what I already have on hand.

So, I've been saving extra scraps of meat and skin for the past month and came up with quite a bit. I was amazed how much meat I would have thrown away. I ended up with about 12 cups of scraps. I also saved carrot peelings and some celery that I would have normally thrown away.                                                                                                                               

The first batch was made just as CANNING GRANNY suggested. As I was doing a search online to double check the processing time I ran across several warnings to not pressure can rice or noodles because the mixture becomes too thick and you take a chance of the meat spoiling. Since I had already made a batch with the rice I went ahead and froze 2-3 serving sizes per baggie and then put each baggie in a large freezer bag. I just didn't want to take a chance on canning it.

I deleted the rice from the next batches and added extra celery. I tripled the recipe since it didn't go as far without the rice.  I think I will be able to get through a month without buying canned dog food. We will still use the dry food to mix in with the canned.

Here is the recipe:

2 cups cooked carrots
3 cups meat scraps
2 cups chicken broth (Most of the meat scraps were already cooked except for the turkey gizzards and neck so I used the broth once they were cooked. I added 2 teaspoons of chicken broth granuals).
2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar (I only used 1 tsp. to see if my dog would like it).
(I omitted the garlic powder because of mixed reviews and also the white rice and boiled egg).


You could add rice or noodles before you give the food to your dog if you want to stretch it. I do not have a food grinder so I used my blender instead. 

I followed CANNING GRANNIES instructions for the processing. (Always check with your Vet if you're concerned about changing your pet's diet)

This should save me around $10 a month which is a lot of money when you are on a tight budget.  I had all the ingredients on hand  so I didn't have to put anything out of pocket. My husband gave her the first batch tonight and my dog loved it!

Have you ever canned anything that was unusual?

* Be sure to check out more money saving tips at Life as Mom's Frugal Friday!

Frugal Friday: How I saved money this week!

Is everyone done with their Christmas shopping? I have one gift certificate and 1 gift left to purchase and then I should be done. YAY!

 I'm looking forward to starting our Advent reading this Sunday. All the decorations are up. I got rid of a lot of tubs because we just don't have room for them in our new little 'cottage'. Decorating goes much faster when you use less STUFF. *smile*

Christmas is my favorite time of the year.

1. I went through the house and unplugged cords to appliances and gadgets I don't use daily. I've read that you lose electricity even when you're not using the appliance.

2.  I started using one extra dishpan to soak and rinse dishes instead of using the faucet to rinse off the dishes.

3.  I washed, dried and saved several freezer bags to reuse. (they did not have meat or cheese in them previously).

4.  Our Christmas tree would not fit in our home so we got rid of it after we moved in. My mom had a small 3 foot tree that she wasn't using so instead of buying a new one we were thankful to receive hers. I'm not sure how many years it will last because it's shedding.. but I'm not sure how many years I'll last.. so I'm thankful to have a free tree this year. :-)

5.  My husband loves Earl Grey Tea. I found it at the dollar store and he likes it so the difference will save me $1.25.

6. I saved the plastic wrap I used to wrap waffles to freeze. I'll reuse it for the next batch.

7. Instead of using the dryer this week while it's raining I've found ways to hang my clothes up in the garage, under the patio and on racks in the house.

8. I'm saving small pieces of Christmas paper as I'm wrapping gifts. I run it through the shredder and then save it to use in gift bags instead of tissue paper. Waste not, want not. :-)

9. I was interested in purchasing 2 devotionals but found them free online.

10. I found a book at the library that I had originally wanted to purchase. I'm glad that I didn't buy it because once I got it home I discovered I did not like it. I use the library a lot. While I was there I checked out there computers. Someday I may need to cancel our monthly internet and I think I could easily use the library's computers instead.

There's more but I'll save it for next week. What did you do this week to save money in your home?

Check out Frugal Friday over at Life as Mom

Serving stuff or others?

I'm daily (imperfectly and slowly) learning

 to not make stuff 

(obtaining and maintaining) 

a higher priority than serving others.
I fail daily!

I imagine it will be a life long fight

 as long as I live

 in this flesh 

(and in America).