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If anyone you know has celiac disease, Big Lots in their area might have the Bob's Red Mill GF oats significantly cheaper that other stores, $6 for a 2# bag. That might sound expensive for regular oats, but it is a good price for GF oats. Usually, it is $8 to $9 at other stores. I really missed oats when GF oats wasn't available and budget for this.

I was getting bored with doing the same Leslie Sansone walking video every day, didn't want to buy more, so found some of her workouts on youtube. I can have some variety, and they are free.

Will make another meal with a small bag of Christmas ham tomorrow. Chunk potatoes, roast them in a casserole, top with ham and shredded cheese. Simple and good.
 
Does anyone have a recipe for homemade leather cleaner? We have leather furniture and I would like to try and spiffy it up. I've tried saddle soap and a bunch of other store brand leather cleaners that just don't seem to work.
I have used vinegar and water to clean harness leather. I also use "Leather New" or Murphy's Oil Soap on my leather couch.
 
My goal for this month is to not let my frugality make me:
-Sick
-Sad
-Spiteful

I feel like so often I/we get caught up in doing things on the cheap that we don't always consider all of the consequences. I want my frugality to enhance my life by freeing up money and time for other pursuits, not become an end in itself.

OTOH, I've been really working on cheapening up the laundry and feel like I'm doing well there. Hanging as much laundry as I can, using half dryer sheets, recycling clothes.
 
Jan in Co, I put old leather gloves on the steel fence posts along the road and around my garden.

I wear the black leather lined gloves in the winter, but I always wear out the right one first. Sometimes it's the other way around, so I save them and use them when I feed the cats, mess with the pump, etc. They don't match but it doesn't matter to the cats.
 
Used to work for a large co. Employees there brought their Sun coupons in to work on Mon. I literally had bags of coupons to go thru. Helped a lot when I was raising a family. Of course, I had to return the bags a few days later.
 
i have just decided to start the paleo diet today. any ideas on how to keep it as low cost as possible will be greatly appreciated!

the girls and i are really loving santa's gift of the rec center membership! it is nice to go swimming on sundays with them. it is our standing date
 
This isn't so much a way to save money, but something to do with your bounty:

I coupon, and I stockpile what I coupon, so we have a mini store under our bathroom sink. We went to MIL's for lunch, and she doesn't make much money, so I made her a little bag of toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, deodorant, razors. The whole bag might have cost me 2 dollars, and she was so happy to get it.

AND, she gave me a stack of coupons she had saved for me.

I have found that when I am (reasonably) generous with my canning and coupons, a toothbrush here, a jar of jelly there, it comes back to me: coupons, jars people found for me, magazines, and one of those racks that holds cans.
 
i have just decided to start the paleo diet today. any ideas on how to keep it as low cost as possible will be greatly appreciated!
The cheapest way would be to do the diet the way the original partakers of the diet did: grow it, hunt it, fish it.
 
Prov31wife: maybe if your reluctant girlfriends read how beneficial good homemade stock is for us, they might decide to give it a try. Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions" really encouraged me. Now I know that the effort is worth it.

I have also saved bits and pieces of leftover veggies/trimmings in the freezer for stock. The one I made that included about a gallon of asparagus stalk trims was the best!

Thanks for the reminder to start purchasing/making Christmas gifts NOW. If I can just maintain throughout the year, it should ease the budget as well as the stress of needing to finish or shop when I would rather be baking or visiting.

MTM: I just recently made graham crackers with my 4yo grandson! He was feeling a little left out because his older brothers were out back target shooting, so we needed something fun to do. We couldn't wait quite long enough for the dough to chill, so we rolled it out right onto the parchment paper. Needed to roll the pizza wheel through it again to recut after baking, but it worked just fine. Think I'll try your recipe the next time, looks good.
 
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I got a box of apples for six dollars! Not sure if that's good there but it sure is here. I got sooo many jars of jelly. I made lavender, spiced apple [which is made with vinegar and is AMAZING on everything], Worcestershire sauce, apple butter, apple and pear sauce, apple jelly, apple pectin stock [which is basically the same tootin thing without sugar innit?], apple and pear jelly...and I still have 1/5th a box of apples left! All jars I got for less than two dollars all up. Used something like 50 so far Will probably use 60 total so... But the sugar/vinegar/spices/pears....about six dollars as well. What is that, forty cents a jar? Including the jar?

I love preserving. Apples are especially....fruitful. hehehehe.
 
Notbut- You gonna give us a recipe for the apple vinegar jam thing? Please?!?!?

Fiance and I have decided that after the wedding in May we'll be living off his income and using mine to pay off debts even faster. I'll have to quit my job when we start a family, so better get used to being even more frugal now. TIA for any advice/suggestions you can give about how to do this!
 
Marilyn: I would hope, but few of my girlfriends are very...homesteady. Most of them think I have lost my mind.

Examples:
Me: Hey, look how pretty my carrots look in the jar.
Friend: They sell those in the store, you know.

Me: I will be in the kitchen all day today, canning all these extra tomatoes.
(different) friend: isn't that what the garbage disposal is for? extra food?

Me: I'm so happy! I just canned eight quarts of dilly beans.
Friend: omg, WHY?

Me: Oh wow, this deer steak is so good.
Friend: YOU'RE EATING BAMBI

I keep trying to convert them though!
 
I just thought of another Christmas money saving idea:

If you coupon, you know that Target often does deals where you can earn Target gift cards for certain deals (I like to get my dog food and trash bags this way, as I often have coupons to make it cheaper And I get the gift card).

Rather than use those gift cards immediately, I am putting them away. In December, I can use those to snap up any last minute Christmas shopping or take advantage of some of the Black Friday deals.

CVS has been doing some CVS cash card promotions lately (as opposed to Extra Care Bucks), and neither I nor the cashier could find an expiration date on them, so that would be another one to stockpile until Christmas.
 
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Spiced Apple Jelly; Jelly Made with Vinegar [SUPER nommy: I was suspicious on it the first time I made it too - but we went through four jars in a week!!]:

apples
vinegar
1 stick cinammon
a few cloves
ground ginger
sugar

I know, right? No measurements. Anyway, cut up all the apples roughly, as many as you have. Cover 3 parts vinegar 1 part water until JUST covered. Simmer until super soft. Strain in colander/muslin bag/sack/kangaroo pouch until it's a nice clear golden liquid. Measure juice, add spices, boil 15. Strain [aka fish out spices], add 3/4c sugar for each c liquid. Boil until jelly!

SO good with cheese on crackers. So good in tiny spoonfuls by itself.
 
Pinfeather-how big a quilt are you making? I've had denim squares cut out for a while now & also have a ton of denim stored up for making rag quilts. My daughter wanted one and I was going to make her a queen size. Well there are different sizes of squares and the smaller the squares the more you have to cut out! Lol.
 
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