Saving Money on Utilities

For the first time in our married life, my husband and I are living in an apartment where we are responsible for all the utilities.  Assuming we keep things under control, we should be paying nearly $100 less to live here than we did at our previous apartment. 

Here are a few things I am doing.

First of all, I bought this tripod-style clothes dryer to dry clothes.  It was reasonable, and since I used my Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks, it was $10 cheaper.  I don't use it as often as I'd like because right now it's only useful for shirts.  I've not tried blue jeans on it, assuming they will take too long, and what's a load of blue jeans every so often.  Also I've not used it yet for small items, but this weekend I am getting a package of clothes pins.  They are cheap and will be well worth the electricity savings.

Next, we are being more aware of the electricity we use in a day.  The lights are out when we aren't in a room, and when I'm home by myself, unless I'm reading or something similar, I tend to leave the lights off during daylight hours.  The air conditioners (almost) always are turned off when we leave.  The printer, computer monitor and speakers are turned off when we're not using them.  The computer itself isn't shut off as often, but much more than it used to be.  All of our TV items (TV, Blu-Ray, Roku) are plugged into a power strip, and we shut the whole thing down when we aren't using it.  I thought about doing that with the computer, but the wireless is connected and it takes so long to boot back up, and we use the internet connection pretty regularly, with the computer, iPhones, and Blu-Ray. 

The gas bill is not much seeing as it is winter, but one thing I am looking into is instead of buying a whole uncooked chicken from the grocery store, I'm going to price the cooked chickens from the deli and if the are close in price, not only does it save me a bit from not having to cook it, I also save the two hours and some that it takes to bake.  Sounds like a win/win situation to me! 

The water bill is difficult.  When we got our most recent bill, I looked it over very carefully.  Most of the bill was for trash pickup and sewage.  There was a $10 minimum water charge, and above that, we had a charge of about $5.00.  Any amount we would be able to get it lower, would be pretty negligible.  That being said, we certainly don't want to let it get any higher.  Probably the place where I waste water the most is doing dishes.  While looking for a way to make homemade dish soap (still looking for a good one), I found these instructions on how to conserve water while doing dishes.  It sounds pretty common sense, but I wasn't doing it so maybe you aren't either!

That's all I have for now.  Help me out and let me know your best tips for saving on utilities!

Chicken Chicken and More Chicken

If you're like me, my best coupon deals are not on food.  That means great prices on toothpaste and shampoo, but what about the food you put on the table every day?  Recently, I've tried to focus a little more on getting that grocery bill down.

Keep in mind that I am currently only shopping for two.  Don't use my numbers for your family of four or six!

The last two times I've been grocery shopping, I have been able to get my total near $50.00.  One week was $55, and another was about $60.  My shopping trips before were closer to $100, and often over.  The last couple of weeks I haven't had to buy many household products or bath products (thanks to my stockpile!) so that has helped keep my total down.  This week will be higher because I'm getting a few out of the ordinary items, but I hope that it will still be lower than normal.

What I've been doing:  The biggest thing is that I'm PLANNING!  Simply choosing the recipes you are going to cook for the week or two weeks between shopping trips makes such a difference!  I've found a free recipe organizer online called ReLiSImple that can sync across multiple computers if you have more than one.  There is also an iPhone app, but you have to pay to download it.  Besides storing your favorite recipes, there is also an integrated shopping list so you don't forget anything.

The other important thing I am doing is planning meals for the week that have similar ingredients.  My favorite way to do this is to use multiple recipes that use either cut up chicken or browned ground beef.  I buy a whole chicken or a 5 pound roll of hamburger, and when I get home I cook all of it right away and then separate it into the portions I will need throughout the week.  This website teaches you how to boil ground beef so you don't have to brown the whole roll of beef and suffer the grease popping on your arms!

I've also been cutting up all my vegetables (onions, bell peppers zucchini YUM!) right after my shopping trip.  This isn't a money-saving tip, but it sure saves some time when I get home from work each night.  Cooking is a lot less trouble when the meat is cooked and the veggies are ready to toss in the pan.

The last tip is something that shouldn't be new to you as a couponer.  Check the grocery ads!  If zucchini is at a rock-bottom price this week, start looking for recipes that use zucchini.  Research which vegetables freeze well and if you find a really great deal, you can freeze what you won't use right away.


Go check out the Facebook page for one of my recent favorite frugal recipes and post your own recipes or tips for frugal cooking!

Hide and Seek - Organizing the Refrigerator and Pantry

We all know that one of the biggest areas we can save money is in the grocery budget.  But there’s more to it than getting good deals on what we buy.  We want to make sure we are eating the things that we buy. 

This post and the next are going to be about ways we can more effectively use what we bring home from the grocery store.

One of my biggest problems is keeping the refrigerator and my pantry area organized.  But we need to do it in order to be able to keep track of what we have and what we need to buy on the next shopping trip. 

This probably will take you a while, especially if you keep a stockpile, so you probably want to organize the fridge one day and the pantry another day.  It will also be helpful if you do this when it’s close to time for your next shopping trip since you’ll be removing everything from the refrigerator/pantry.  The less food that is in there, the better.

And that’s the first step.  Take everything out and set it to the side, making sure to get rid of everything that is expired and putting in a sack/box for donating anything that’s not expired but you don’t plan on using.

When organizing your fridge, take advantage of adjustable shelves if you have them.  Make sure that you have enough tall space for any tall items you keep.  Give the refrigerator/pantry a good deep cleaning, since, chances are, they don’t get emptied very often.

Find the coldest spot in your refrigerator (probably toward the bottom) and put items there that need a colder environment, such as meat.  Use the door for condiments and other items that don’t need quite as cold an environment, since the door is warmer and has a lot of fluctuation in temperature.  Don’t store your eggs here, for that reason.

Store your leftovers in one section, keeping everything labeled and making sure that items are rotated so that the older items are used first.  That goes for items that are not yet leftovers and items in the pantry.  You don’t want perfectly good food to go bad because you’re using the stuff you bought today rather than the stuff you bought two weeks ago.

Take advantage of the crisper drawers.  See this link  for some tips about how to store your vegetables for optimal taste and longevity.

Don’t cram your fridge too tightly because the cold air needs room to circulate.

Another thing to be aware of is the possibility of foods being contaminated by dripping meat.  Store your meat at the bottom or at least on a plate to protect the items below.

When it comes to your pantry, store things by function.  Put baking supplies in a section, canned goods in another and cereal in another.  Make sure everything is visible.  Put taller items to the back so they aren’t hiding the smaller items.  Amazon sells some “tiered racks (here’s one for spices) that can help make items more visible, such as canned goods and spices. Buy these by earning Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks!

Store heavy items toward the middle of your pantry area so there is less need for lifting up or trying to keep from dumping it on your head.  The lighter items like crackers and cereal can go higher up since they would likely hurt less than a large can of tomatoes!

Invest in some good storage containers and use those to organize and protect items from being spoiled or contaminated.  Flour, rice, and dried beans are a few items you probably want to repackage rather than keep in their store-packaging.  Make sure everything is clearly labeled and dated.

Likely, many of these tips you have already heard and already use, but I hope one or two of the tips above will help you to have a more functional kitchen.  There’s nothing like buying ten more cans of tuna and coming home to realize you already had ten cans, but they were hiding behind the soup!

Cheap Jewelry Care

I am very excited!  CVS has a jewelry armoire on sale, and I'm combining my ECB and a $5 off $25 coupon to get it even cheaper than the regular price.  I can't wait to get it on Friday!

Because of that, I decided to FINALLY figure out how to clean some of my tarnished silver jewelry.  They are some of my favorite pieces, and I've not been wearing them since they didn't look pretty at all. 

After some research online, I found that it's relatively easy to clean tarnished jewelry.  All you need is a bowl or casserole dish, hot water, and baking soda.  Check out this link for the instructions on how to do it.  Not only does it explain how to do it, but it even explains how it works, if you're interested in that kind of thing. 

All my tarnished pieces are now looking beautiful and wearable again!  They are ready for that armoire!!

Are any of you going Black Friday shopping?  Let us know the good deals you get!

On This Day in Christian History by Robert J. Morgan

Compliments of BookSneeze.com, I was able to read On This Day in Christian History by Robert J. Morgan.  I was very excited to be able to read and review this book because Christian History is one of my favorite subjects to study.  The book is, as the title tells, a year’s worth of events from Christian history.

This book is a faith builder, bringing to the reader’s attention those that came before, in a similar way as Hebrews 11 does.  Each day gets one page, so the stories are not overly detailed, but it is perfect for someone who wants to start learning about the history of the church.  You can get a sample of people and events in different time periods and if you find something interesting, there are plenty of other resources that will help you dig deeper.  I would absolutely recommend this book to others.

My apologies for not making this one available as a giveaway.  I'm going to be a bit selfish and keep it for myself!  If it sounds interesting to you, you should be able to find it in your local Christian bookstore or at Amazon.com. 

Yummy Steamed Vegetables!

Are you loving all the frozen vegetables that come in the steamer bags?  I sure am!  Though, I have to say, they are a little expensive.  I checked the unit prices today in comparison to the store brand frozen vegetables without the steamer bag, and really I wasn't surprised.  Some items were twice as expensive as the store brand.  I really don't want to try to steam the vegetables by myself.  I am a big fan of quick and easy. 

ZipLoc and Glad have both recently come out with steamer bags.  I bought a package today.  It came with 10 medium sized bags (appropriate for 2-4 servings; there is a larger version as well).  The price on the shelf was $2.47.  I had a ZipLoc coupon for $.55 off any ZipLoc bag.  That brought the bags down to about $.20 each.  They are intended for vegetables of course, but you can use meat in them as well.  The package suggests that you not reuse the bags because of the risk of cross-contamination, but I don't plan on using any meat in mine, so I plan on reusing them.  So now I can buy a large, economical (make sure to check those unit prices!) bag of frozen broccoli or whatever, and portion out however much I want for dinner into one of those steamer bags.  Also, you can make your own mixed vegetable combinations.  Today I bought broccoli, yellow squash, peas and carrots all in separate bags.  And I can mix them as I wish and season them and have some great steamed vegetables at less cost than using the more expensive vegetables already packaged and seasoned for steaming. 


The most fun ways to save money are to be able to do what you did before but still save some of your hard-earned cash.  What's your best tip for doing/fixing the same thing differently in order to save some money?  Post it here on the blog or on the Facebook page, and let everyone else know your great tip.

how can i help others who are struggling when i am struggling myself?

We all know from the news and conversations with people around us that the economy is making things tight for everyone.  Maybe for some people it was tight even before things got bad.  We look around and want to help, but how do you help people when you’re not doing so well yourself?

I have a few tips for you.  First of all, as you continue learning couponing strategies and other ways of saving money, share them!  Even just teaching someone the simple trick of combining coupons with sales will start giving them a little wiggle room in their grocery budget. 

You might also consider coupon sharing.  At a place you often frequent, set up a bin of some sort (maybe an index card box or shoebox) for people to put coupons they aren’t using and to look for coupons they need.  You don’t have a cat, but you have a dog, so put your cat food coupons in, and find some extra dog food coupons for that great sale this week.  Just make sure you ask permission from whoever’s in charge before you place the box.  You could also try out a “coupon-train.”  Basically this is a group of people who all share coupons by mailing coupons to each other, taking out what they want and putting in what they don’t need.  This is a little more complicated because it takes a little more organization and people need to be on the ball so that coupons don’t set on someone’s counter too long. 

When you go to the store with your coupons and find that your coupon for “X” didn’t match up like you expected or wasn’t a good enough deal to compete with another brand, maybe you could leave the coupon there next to the product.  Chances are, someone who is brand-specific on that item will be excited to find that $.50 off their Cheerios or whatever.

Another great tip:  when you shop at the drug stores like Walgreens and CVS, there are sometimes some really good deals on toothpaste and other hygiene items.  If you find a particular brand of toothpaste is waiting on the shelf for you to take it away for nothing, or at least way cheaper than you ever expected to see toothpaste, but it’s not your brand, get it anyway.  Start a tub or box for those cheap or free items that you won’t make use of.  When it fills up, take it by a homeless shelter, domestic abuse shelter, or church food bank.  People need all kinds of things when there is no money, not just food.  You can help, and you’re really not hurting your own budget.  Just keep an eye out for those really good deals, even if you’re not going to use them, and give them to those who can.

And one last tip:  sometimes military bases will take expired coupons.  What does that mean for you, oh ye civilian?  Tell me, how many expired coupons do you throw away at the end of the month?!?  Check out the Overseas Coupon Program and this E-How article to learn how to mail your expired or nearly expired coupons to a military base. 

Even when money is tight, we can still find ways to join together and help each other weather the financial storm.  It just takes a little time and creativity.