Free Cell Phone Directory Assistance

I've been so busy this week, and because it is a money saving tip, I decided to let my Wednesday post double as my Frugal Friday tip. Works for me!

Most cell phone providers charge from $1.50 and up for directory assistance. Why pay that when Google has a service that provides the same information you get when dialing 411. At NO cost (except for any general calling fees associated with your phone). Simply dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (or 1-800-4664-411) from your phone. Here is a short video that describes the service.

Works for me! For more great tips check out Rocks in my Dryer. And for great money saving tips check out Crystal for her Frugal Friday tips.

Frugal Fridays: Share the Bounty

Canning, freezing and drying food are ways to preserve the abundance of your garden for the winter months. Not only does it provide delicious, nutritious food but it can save money. Especially if the food you preserve is free!

So far this season I have canned 36 pints of pears and dried about 30 lbs of potatoes. Right now I'm in the process of drying and canning apples, 24 pints and almost 2 gallons of dried apples so far. I have almost a bushel to go. All of this wonderful produce was given to me by good friends.

My Frugal Friday tip is to let family and friends know that you will be willing to take any extra produce off their hands.

Be willing to exchange some labor for the opportunity to receive it. Maybe there is an older person who can no longer can or preserve and would be happy to exchange the fruit from their apple trees for a dozen or so jars of canned fruit and apple butter. Maybe a busy mom would love to have someone pick pears from her tree in exchange for half of what you can or dry. If you are the one with the produce but no time to preserve it, approach a friend about preserving it for you in exchange for a share.

Check out Crystal's site for other Frugal Friday Tips.

Free Online Math Course

I found this online math course, MEP, I thought I would share. There is an answer section for each text. The trick is figuring out what level to use with your child. The course is based out of the UK and their grade levels are a little different. This course seems to have materials available for all grade levels so can be used throughout homeschooling. Best of all it's free. Check out Crystal's site for more Frugal Friday tips.

Frugal Friday: Souvenirs

Souvenirs are meant to remind you of the great places you have visited on vacations you have taken with family and friends. Pictures are the very best souvenirs of course. But sometimes you just want a little something to remind you of a vacation . Even so, the fact is that many souvenirs end up in garage sales and thrift stores instead of being displayed with pride in our homes. One way I have found to prevent this and end up with souvenirs that I display for years is to bypass the tourist shops and head for the thrift stores and antique stores in the area I am vacationing in. I also tell my kids when they travel that if they want to bring something as a gift I would rather have something for one of my collections than a typical tourist souvenir.

Rather than drive around looking for thrift stores in an unfamiliar town. I have a few ways to make the process simple.

Before I ever leave home I consult the web site Thrift Shopper.com to look up thrift stores in areas we will be visiting. It only takes a few moments to find and print out a list. The list of stores even come with a rating system, which makes, if you are on a tight schedule, choosing which store to hit even easier. Second, I like to ask people at the hotel we stay in if they can recommend a store. I've found some great little shops this way. Last, I check out the phonebook in the room, most have a listing of stores along with maps of the larger cities or I can call for directions.

To make my shopping easier I have specific things I collect. One is Christmas ornaments, or items that can be used as ornaments. It is great fun to reminisce about trips as we hang the ornaments. I like china, and green glassware. But mostly I like different, truly unique items that fit in with my decor and that I won't be able to find just anywhere.

On one trip we took across 7 states we found shirts that other people had bought on vacation from some of the states we were traveling through. Most were practically brand new and my kids didn't care, we ran them through the laundry that night and they wearing them before we got home. We got souvenir tee shirts for as little as 25 cents.

At one great thrift store in New Hampshire my daughter found designer clothes from stores in NYC, with price tags still on. She got a dress with the original price of $260.00 for only 69 cents!

So next time you go on vacation and want a souvenir, check out the thrift stores. You might find the perfect souvenir.

Check out Crystal's Site for more great tips

Pics: Examples of items I have bought. #1 The little candle holder that the pumpkin is on, I bought along with the painted oil can ring holder in Lancaster, PA. The frog trinket box came from our trip to Virginia. The other items came from trips to Ky.

*2 I got the plate in Lancaster and the frame in Missouri.

Building A Nest Egg

I was wondering what to post about this Friday. Haven't I shared every financial tip I know? Then I read a post at Holy Experience about having enough in our lives and I realized I do have something left to share.

Ann's attitude about spending money on things we don't need has been something I have been cultivating in my own life. I have really come to realize that just because something is a great deal doesn't mean you need it in your life. I think maybe this is something that you come to realize as you mature in your management of your finances.

I felt that I was doing a great job of handling our money because I hardly ever shopped for anything in a regular retail store. If I did buy something it was always on clearance.The majority of my shopping was done at yard sales or thrift stores.

I have arrived at a place in my life where I have finally realized that too much stuff is too much stuff. No matter how little you may pay for it.

My tip for the week is what I am doing with the money I am NOT spending. A truly radical thing...I'm actually saving it.

Every time I pass up a "deal" I take the money I would have spent and put it into my nest egg. Since purchasing Crystal's course on supermarket savings I have really increased my couponing. At least half of the difference between what I would have spent without the coupons is added to my nest egg.

Where I found it difficult to cut money from my budget before I have found this a much easier way to put some money aside. In just the last few weeks I have seen a nice little increase in the balance.

I'm not taking anymore money out of our family budget than before, just spending what I have more efficiently AND I feel much better about how I am handling my part of our family finances.

For more tips check out Jessica's blog Life As Mom.

Frugal Friday: Sales Papers Online

I want to share a link to a site I use to check the sales fliers. This Sunday Saver site has a link to most of the grocery stores where I shop. By using this site it helps me save time, see who has sales on items I have coupons for and plan my shopping trip. For more tips check out Crystal's site.

A Few Homeschool Links

School is back in swing. Pencils are sharpened. Notebooks lined up. Curriculum purchased and lesson plans ready to go. I thought I would share a few links (a baker's dozen) to freebies that I have found on the net. I hope you find them useful.

For those who are studying Geography here is a Map which can be customized. This is a page that has a check list sheet and other geography links.

If you are doing a unit study on Egypt this might be of some interest.

Of course the National Geographic website is always interesting.

Grammar Girl offers quick tips on perplexing grammar questions to help clean up you writing. Wish I could download her brain.

Enchanted Learning has great worksheets suitable for use with many grade levels. Here is a link to printouts associated with Human Anatomy. The head bone is connected to the neck bone...

Someday I will have the time to try my hand at one of the MIT Open courses that are offered free online. For now I'll share the link for anyone who may have the time or a highschooler who would be interested.

If you have an MP3 player that will play book files you can download books to listen to here. You may also listen on your PC or laptop if you have Media Player. There is a registration process. I am not certain whether your local library must be part of their system or not. Here is another site which has classic books to download for free.

Many times you need pictures for reports or web pages that students may be working on. This site has a wide selection of photographs that are free to use. Please remember to use caution when looking through a website such as this. I have not viewed every image on this site.

Math. Errrrrrrr.

Here is a great site if you are reading Jane Eyre . Check out this page if you are studying the Bronte Sisters. (I will count these as one since they are connected)

Almost finished. Having the Eastern band of the Cherokee's reservation near by has made us very interested in their culture. Here is a link to additional information on their language, culture and alphabet.

Finally, PDF files to help keep up with all those little details such as booklists etc.

I hope everyone has a great school year. If anyone is interested let me know and I will post additional links as I can.

Check out Crystal's page for more tips.

Picture: UT Vet School Field Trip

Want To Live In A Hobbit Hole?

If you do then check out this home .

Built in Wales, this home is a low impact structure built out of many recycled and natural materials. I think it is adorable and super cool. With all the talk about how to lower our personal imprint on our environment it is easy to overlook the obvious benefits for frugal souls.

In ignoring the multitude of businesses for profit that offer expensive alternatives to our toxic cleaning products or items such as the ridiculously overpriced canvas shopping bags and getting down to the real green life, the business of recycling and reusing items and finding ways to lessen what we use in our everyday lives, one comes to realize living a greener life also means a frugal, simpler life.

Replacing all those incandescent bulbs with compact florescent saves in more ways than one. Turning up the thermostat puts $$ in your pocket and helps lessen the pull on our power grids, taking an ink cartridge to W*algreens to get it refilled makes perfect sense budget and environment wise. Every time you find a way to reuse, recycle or remake and item, you aren't only saving dollars, you are making an impact on our environment. So, every time you make a gallon of laundry detergent or other homemade cleaner, use vinegar and baking soda to clean, or repair that old pair of pants one more time, remember to smile and feel good about your lack of environmental impact all the way to the piggy bank.

As always check out Crystal's site for more Frugal Friday tips.

Frugal Friday: Learning to DIY

I've been in Kentucky all day on business so I'm writing this post in a hurry to get it posted before Saturday rolls around. I will probably be changing it some after it is posted. One of the most important things a person trying to live a frugal lifestyle can do is to develop as many DIY skills as possible. Unfortunately it seems that many people make it to adulthood without learning many of the basic skills our grandparents possessed. I know I did. Finding the money in an already tight budget to take classes can seem impossible.

There are many places and ways to learn new skills that are useful in helping us live a more frugal lifestyle without breaking our budget. Sewing and cooking classes are often offered at locations where adult education classes are taught.

In my area classes are offered at a very reasonable fee and children under the age of 18 are allowed to take classes along with a parent which works out great as a home economics requirement for homeschoolers.

You can barter with a friend who is willing to teach you whatever skill you are looking to learn. I wasn't sure I had any skills that I could offer when I first approached a friend about teaching me to make bread. I found that she needed an occasional baby sitter and I helped her out on some cleaning chores.

Home Depot offers free workshops to their customers which teach them the basics of many home repairs such as tile work or landscaping.

You could offer to help a friend who has a skill you want to learn and is willing to teach you in exchange for your help.

I have found many older people are very happy to share their knowledge with us young whipper snappers! We forget that older people are often a treasure trove of experience and skills and are flattered that we would be interested in what they have to share. We in turn can offer to help out with some things around their homes that might be difficult for them or maybe run some errands or some other chore that seems a fair exchange.

Don't forget our libraries and the internet. There are wonderful books that show you step by step how to fix almost anything. I found instructions for resetting the timer on my refrigerator online. It saved me a service call fee.

Another possibility might be to volunteer to organize classes at your church, or a group getting together at someone's home, for those who might be interested in learning additional skills.

I learned to make apple butter, can veggies, make baby quilts and many other basic homemaking skills at women's auxillary meetings and with some of my friends who were learning the same skills.

Here are a few Links you might find useful:

Learn basic handwork sewing skills

How to sew information.

Info on repairing appliances. Just one of many sites on the Internet.

Bread Baking 101

And of course the ultimate DIY site: DIY.com

A new one I found recently: Howtosite.org

Some of these sites also sell items but most have valuable info and as always use caution when visiting sites on the Internet. I haven't had time to check out every page on these sites.

Just remember, the more you know, the more you can do and the less you need to spend on getting others to fix things for you.

Check out Crystal's site for more Frugal Friday tips.

Picture: Quilt Rack in a pioneer home near Cherokee NC. This was the only picture that I could find right now that was a DIY kind of picture. Besides, isn't that quilt rack strung up next to the ceiling in the family/bedroom to save space a really inspired idea?

Frugal Friday

Getting the most for our food dollar is important to everyone. Buying items in bulk is a common practice. To guarantee that we get the best use out of these items means that we have to store them properly. One way is to freeze the items but how long can you store an item and get quality taste and texture?

Here is a link to a chart that gives the proper storage length for various food items. I have printed out a similiar list and taped it to the inside of a cabinet door. Each item placed in the freezer can be marked with two dates, a purchase date and a use by date.

Lastly, I thought this info was intersting and wanted to share it. I usually prefered to buy fresh veggies at the grocery over frozen.

I was watching a nutritionist on our local news this week. She said that frozen vegetables and fruit are usually higher in nutrients than fresh fruit bought in the stores because fresh fruit has sat during transportation and in the store and has lost some of it nutrients.

Frozen fruit and veggies are usually frozen while much fresher and retain more of their nutrients. Therefore they are a better buy nutritionally than fresh in many cases. Intersting info.

Frugal Friday

Just a quick tip as I am out the door for a busy day. I was at Wal Mart the other day looking for a window washing tool. I can't reach the top part of my outside windows and thought there might be a squeege with an extension handle or something.

They have a window washing tool with a cloth cover on the end that they sell for $15. That seemed high to me. After some thought I went to my dollar tree and picked up a sponge mop for $1 and used it to wash the outside windows . After a rinse with the garden hose I let them air dry and they look great and I saved $14.

A tip is to never to wash windows that are directly in sunlight and they will usually dry spot free.

For more tips and ideas check out Crystal's site

Lavender Air Freshner

I like my house to smell nice. I've found that many artificial fragrances bother both my husband and me. I've found an easy and natural way to add fragrance to our home and it only cost pennies.

I take a jar and fill it about one half to three quarters full of Epsom salt. I want to leave room in the jar to shake it and mix the ingredients. To this I add the leaves and flowers and the chopped up stalks from lavender plants.

The Epsom salts leach the moisture out of the plant material and smells wonderful. When I want fragrance I just shake the jar and remove the lid.

I add plant material through out the growing season. In the winter if I need to refresh the scent I add a few drops of essential oil. For more tips check out Crystal's site.

Less Becomes More

If you want the honest spiritual truth, my prayer is this:

Dear God, get me out of this mess.

Rita Mae Brown

It has been a busy week around here. We worked in the business everyday, including the 4th. Work, combined with the extremely hot weather, has left me feeling tired, physically and emotionally.

I get into a kind of depression this time of year. We are so busy with our business that everything else goes to the wayside, especially my house.

I had planned to have a yard sale this year. There were boxes crammed with books, clothes, knickknacks and whatnots under my garage. Every time I would carry another box out to the pile I felt this felling of chaos and confusion engulf me. I began to look at that pile of stuff with such a feeling of despair.

It became a pressure that I felt stuck or mired in. A distressing situation that I couldn't find the time to change. I knew I had enough for a very good yard sale, but it became more important to me to just get rid of the stuff. In doing so I hoped to clear my mind as well as my garage.

I guess I'll always be a messy person. I don't always make my bed. I don't always hang up things after I wear them. I've been known to leave a towel laying in the floor. Being messy causes small miseries to pile up as well. Things get lost or broken. I get embarrassed when people come over and everything isn't like I want it to be. I've found that when my house is messy, my life is usually messy as well.

When everything gets to the point where I can't stand it anymore, the only thing to do is purge and clean. Reach for the broom and the garbage bags and boxes and clean it all up. That is what I have been doing. I took two truck loads to Goodwill and the dump and two truck loads of weight off my mind and spirit.

In some cases always holding on to items "in case we need them", or making a decision that may save or make us a few dollars, but requires a lot of effort on our part, may feel like the most frugal thing to do. In reality it can bind us and keep us from receiving a much greater blessing or prevent us from using our time and effort where it is most needed. Being frugal isn't just about stuff or money. It is also about being wise with our greatest resource... our enegry and our own peace of mind.

"Prayer and housekeeping---they go together. They have always gone together. We simply know that our daily round is how we live. When we clean and order our homes, we are somehow also cleaning and ordering ourselves." Gunilla Norris

Homeschool Links

Here is a site put up by the Florida Department of Education. It contains over 25,000 pieces of clipart, photographs, maps, links, and backgrounds for presentations, free for use by students and teachers. There are some great graphics and photos that would work very well for reports and projects. Enjoy and check out Crystal's blog for other tips.

Teaching Kids about Money: Some Great Videos

(Note: This post was intended for last week Frugal Friday. Since it wasn't put up I'm connecting to it for this week.) Teaching kids about money is a long drawn out process. Some lessons are only learned by experience.

As soon as our children were old enough to understand we taught them how to evaluate their purchases and determine the best buy for their money. Allowing them to make financial decisions for themselves and then discussing those decisions with them, was the best teaching method I know.

We were never parents to purchase every toy that came along that our kids wanted. When the kids were old enough to start asking for expensive items we worked out a plan with them.

We stated the dollar figure we were willing to contribute, then we worked out a list of jobs the child could complete to earn the rest of the money needed. After the money was earned we taught them how to comparison shop and look for sales. We encouraged them to look for second hand items if possible.

I'm proud to say that my children all handle their money very well. They are savers and live within their means. None of my grown children have credit cards and operate on a cash only basis.

I found these great videos on YouTube that teach kids about budgets and money management. They are wonderful. I think they would be great supplements to any lesson on money management. Enjoy.

Frugal Friday- Cast Iron Cookware

Sometimes old fashioned things are the best things. Cast Iron cookware is one of those old fashioned good things.

When I first got married I wanted a fancy new set of T-Fal cookware. I was so excited when I got the set I wanted and started using them. I was also given a couple of cast iron skillets that sat in the back of my cabinet unused and dusty.

I knew my grandmother and mom used cast iron cookware but I thought that the cast iron was something old fashioned and wouldn't be nearly as nice as my modern cookware.

I sure had a lot to learn back then! My fancy cookware bit the dust long ago but my cast iron skillets are still going strong. As a matter of fact, so are my mom's and grandmother's after almost 70 years of use!

Cast iron cookware is still the cookware of choice of many professional chefs because it heats evenly and consistently with no hot spots and it is inexpensive. When seasoned properly, food slides out as easy as Teflon coated cookware.

There are a few rules to remember with cast iron:

1. Don't ever put cool water into a hot cast iron pan. It could result in a nasty crack in the pan.

2. Don't store food in cast iron. The acids and moisture aren't good for the finish.

3. Never put cast iron in the dishwasher. Always dry throughly before storing. I put a couple of paper towels in my dutch oven when I store it to absorb any moisture.

4. Heat cast iron cookware up slowly if you use an electric stove and keep heat to medium and lower. Cast iron can't be used on some of the flat glass topped stoves.

It is very easy to pick up cast iron pieces at yard sales or flea markets for just a few dollars. Don't worry what they look like if the price is right. Unless a piece is cracked, with proper treatment you can salvage almost any piece regardless of condition.

I got the Dutch oven pictured below for only $8. The after picture is a little dark but you can tell the difference. This is now one of my favorite pieces of cookware.

So if you don't own any cast iron , keep an eye out at the thrift store and yard sales or beg a piece off your mom or grandmother. I was lucky to have inherited a couple of my grandmother's skillets and a corn dodger pan that my grandmother used most of her adult life. With proper care they will be something I can pass on down to my children.

Before seasoning

After seasoning

Frugal Fridays

I keep a few homemade mixes on hand. These mixes are inexpensive to make and keep well. To save time, or make it a little easier for any little helpers, you could prepackage these in the correct measurment size. I put mine in a sealed container with the directions taped to the top.

Chicken Flavored Rice Mix (makes about 4 cups of mix)

4 cups uncooked long-grain rice

4 tablesppons instant chicken bouillon

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons dried tarragon

2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

1/4 teaspoon white pepper.

Combine all ingredients and stir well.

Store in airtight containers in a cool dry place. Keeps 6-8 months.

To use: Combine 1 1/3 cup of mix, 2 cups cold water and 1 tablespoon butter or maragine. Bring to a boil and cook 15-25 minutes until liquid is absorbed makes 4-6 servings.

Sloppy Joe Seasoning Mix 1 batch

1 tablespoon instant minced onion

1 teaspoon green pepper flakes ( I use my own dried green pepper crushed)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon garlic

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard ( I have used regular in a pinch. It takes about 1 teaspoon)

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

1/4/ teaspoon chili powder

Combine all ingredients and stir well.

To use: Combine:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 batch seasonig mix

1/2 c water

1 8oz can tomato sauce

Brown beef in a skillet. Drain excess grease. Add mix, water and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Makes 6 sandwiches.

Frugal Fridays

Baskin Robbins is having 31 cents a scoop night on May 2nd to benefit the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Good ice cream. Great Price.

What In The World Is This Thing ?

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without is our family financial motto. Creativity is a key element to living that motto.

Now to answer the question in my post title. What is this thing? It is a "make do" dehydrator. I have wanted a dehydrator for years but I have never been lucky enough to find one secondhand. I realize that I don't do enough drying to justify buying one full price, so I had to come up with a "make it do" solution to fill the gap.

What I did here was use a frame to a TV tray, a pizza pan (the kind with holes), a clamp on shop light with a 100 watt blub, and a cardboard box. It won't win any design awards but it works like a charm to dry the small amounts of food I've tried in it.

So even though I am repeating myself my frugal tip is: Be Creative. This seems to be a theme this week on Frugal Friday tips. There is almost always some way to get what you need without spending the big bucks.

Frugal Fridays

I picked up this great little soap saver at Big Lots for only 50 cents. It is made to hold a full bar of soap, but I just use all my soap slivers. I have done this before with a piece of old stocking and with a mesh veggie bag but I like this better because as you can see in the picture it gives a really good lather and it comes with a drawstring so you can hang it to dry. I think this would be good to use at an outside water spigot for clean up after gardening.