Take a Step Towards Saving Money

This is a short but sweet way we save money in our family step-by-step.  My husband, like most men, owns only a few pairs of shoes and he wears them for years before buying new ones. He has his favorite pairs and he literally wears them to the ground.  Recently, he wore a hole through the bottom of his most favorite pair.: they are broken in, they have conformed to his foot, the rest of the shoe was worn, but nothing a little polish couldn't fix.  Instead of buying a new pair of them, which costs around $150, he took them to our cobbler.  Yes, we have a cobbler. It only cost $3.00 to get them fixed!  He even put a couple of holes in my belt for free!
Check in your area for a quality cobbler shop.  There are a lot of things they can do:   stretching shoes, fixing handbags, reconditioning leather, polishing shoes, fixing zippers, repairing straps, making adjustments to leather jackets, and more.
Total savings for this year: $150

" Eat the Butt" and Save Money

While shopping, I compared bread costs to try come up with an educated guesstimate of the average price.  There was a wide range of prices depending upon type of bread, name brand, amount of "whole grains"or other specialized ingredients, and size.  Prices ranged from .99 cents for Stop and Shop brand basic white bread to $5.39 for Barowsky's Bread Organic Whole Grain 100% Whole Wheat. Obviously there is a huge difference between ingredients and quality, but, regardless of how much you spend on bread,  you can still create yearly savings for yourself by doing one simple thing: eat the butt!
I know, I know, most people, and children, have a huge problem with the end of the bread, or the butt, as most of us call it.  I used to think that crust was "poisonous" as a child, so that explains my fear until I finally saw that my friends who ate it were still living and breathing.
There are several uses for the butt.  I have children, who are not butt-eaters, who are unaware of my sly fox ways: they eat butt, but don't know it!  My tip is to turn the sandwiches outside in when you make them, meaning, put the butt on the INSIDE of the sandwich.  This works particularly well with grilled cheese sandwiches; however, I have also gotten away with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with my son.  He eats so fast that he doesn't even take a moment long enough to look at his food and figure it out.  I also make french toast out of them.  Once they are cooked, cut up, tossed about on the plate and covered in syrup, it is almost impossible to recognize the butt.
Of course, there is also the classic bread crumbs. Just ripped the slices into small pieces, zap in a food processor to blend until your desired consistency and then toast lightly in the oven.  Another classic use is croutons: cut your slices into small cubes, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and any other spices you like.  Then toast the cubes in a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes, stirring to toast all sides.  In both cases you can store in a tight container in a cool, dry place for several days.
OK, now for the yearly savings.  For this example, let's use the average cost of $3.25 for a loaf of bread.  We typically go through 2 loaves of bread per week.  In our bread, there are about 12 slices of bread, so in 6 weeks of eating the butts, instead of throwing them away, we would create an extra loaf of bread. We save, $13.00 per year.
I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but what can you buy for $13.00? More food, gas, a couple of shirts on sale for the kids from Target, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or WalMart (some of my favorites--more on that later)?  In the savings game, every penny counts.

Cheers! Here's to Saving Big Bucks for Wine Drinkers

Cheers! Clink.  I love a crisp white on hot days with cold grapes and a hunk of Vermont cheddar.  In cooler months, it is a warming red with dinner, by itself, or with a piece of dark chocolate while sitting on the couch in front of the fire.  My husband and I together, on average, drink 3 bottles of wine per week, depending on the week and depending on if we have company or are throwing a party.  For this instance, let's just stick with 3 bottles per week, or 12 bottles a month.

My favorite red is from Chocolate Box.  The first time I sipped it, I thought I had gone to grape heaven in a beautifully woven hand-basket.  The thing is, Chocolate Box costs around $20 per bottle, but it is so yummy! Since moving closer to the coastline, my white of choice is a lovely bottle of Beach House: a perfect "house" wine for us since we have gone from concrete to sand.  It has a more palatable price of only $10 per bottle.

Just for example's sake, let's say that we drink white May-September and red October-April.  Our white cost per year would be $600.  Our red consumption would add up to $1,680. Total Yearly Wine Purchases:  $2,280.

The simple solution, of course, is to cut back on drinking or to find a wine you like that costs less.  Let's start with cutting back. We looked at our consumption and cut back to 2 bottles per week.  If we stuck with our current wines of choice--Total Cost: $1520. Yearly Savings: $760.

OR we could find less expensive wines to drink on a regular basis while not cutting back.  Our friends introduced us to Black Box Wines.  I can hear the collective inhale:  yes, wine in a box.  Remember those from college years?  BUT Black Box Wines are good; the flavor is satisfying for weekly consumption and we actually enjoy them on special occasions as well.   Each box costs around $20 (yes, I said $20) and contains the equivalent of 3 bottles of wine.  It comes in a sleek, black box that fits nicely in a corner--whether on the counter, in a pantry or in the refrigerator for the whites.  With the bag sealing, the flavor lasts for up to four weeks.  There are more pluses: its box doesn't break when you transport it, it is lighter than 3 bottles of regular wine and it is recyclable.  If it isn't available at your local liquor store, ask them to order it (Sometimes you get a discount for buying cases.  Just ask.) or try to find it on line.  A couple of things to remember: some states do not allow the receiving of liquor through the mail and the cost of shipping.  If you look long enough, you may be able to find it with free shipping.  Total Cost: $960.  Yearly Savings:  $1,320.

Now,  IF we cut back to two bottles a week and drink Black Box Wines, our Total Cost:  $620 with a Yearly Savings: $1,660!

Now that is something to cheers about!  Lift those glasses!

Fast Cheap Dinner for Four to Save: Tomato Soup

I'm always on the look out for how to save money on dinner Especially during this recession.  I need easy, inexpensive, fast dinners for my whirlwind family.  One night, I discovered that my pantry and fridge were pretty bare.  No time to go to the grocery store!  Plus, I didn't really want to. If you remember, I've sworn off take out and going out to dinner.

After a search, I found two cans of Hunts Diced Tomatoes with Garlic, Basil, and Oregano.  Hey, no chopping, sautéing and smelly garlic hands!  I tossed 2 cans of this in a medium pot along with a small can of regular Hunts Tomato Sauce and about 1/2-1 cup vegetable stock (any stock will do). I always keep a jar of bullion cubes for when I need a small amount of stock.  I used my immersion blender (or you can plop everything in your own regular blender) and zapped it until it was smooth.  I added more stock until it was the consistency I wanted and salt and peppered to taste.  Didn't really need a lot salt, so beware.  Heat it up.  Done!

You can serve this delicious, inexpensive, money saving soup alone with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and/or with bread, grilled cheese, side salad or, our favorite way, with mozzarella quesadillas.

If you want to beef it up a bit, after blending, toss in a can of small white navy beans and any small pasta shells.  Just make sure you have enough stock for a soupy consistency.  At this point, I would use a can of stock instead of making a bunch of bullion.

Average Cost of Going Out:  $40
Average Cost of Basic Soup: $3.50 for 4 servings
Savings:  $36.50

Save Money While Cleaning Up

In my experience, the job title "Stay at Home Mom" is synonymous with "Cleaner of All Things Dirty."  One way I have learned to "earn" money by saving money is by cutting back on my paper towel usage.

It is easy to whip through several rolls per week without even thinking about it.  Is this mindless wiping?  In search of MY most favorite paper towel, I would have to say the quicker-picker-upper Bounty wins.  One does lasts through several wipes and you can rinse it out and use it again.  I couldn't believe how sturdy this paper towel was! You simply save money by not using as many.  I like to use the select your size type so you can use the smaller ones for little messes.

Which leads to an additional way to save money and "earn" yourself a little extra cash:  use cloth napkins and kitchen towels instead of paper towels. I try not to use paper towels unless it is obviously something that needs to go straight in the trash cash or will completely ruin my kitchen towels.

Let's start with the cloth napkins.  There are several ways to save on these if you don't already have some.  You can buy them from a consignment store or garage sale, buy them in bulk, or make your own all you crafty ladies.  If there are several people in your family, you can do something so everyone can tell them a part and use them more than once if possible.  I've tried several ways and all of them work great:  have a different colored napkin for each person, or a different napkin ring for each person, or have each person keep their napkin at their usual seat at the table, or have the names put on them. You can get white ones and have the family decorate their own with Sharpies!  At Linen Table Cloth, you can buy napkins in sets of twelve for as low as $6.69 for a dozen.  I've also purchased mine at Target  and Home Goods when they are on clearance.  BTW: I never iron mine!  What's the point?

Use your kitchen towels for everything else until you drive them into the ground! By far, my most favorite type of kitchen towel is the flour sack.  It is big, absorbent, sturdy, inexpensive, and I can bleach them.  I have about 2 dozen and use them to pick up spills, dry hands, as place mats for the kids, for washing and drying dishes, and cleaning off counter tops and out refrigerators---just about anything I would use a paper towel for.  I purchased mine on clearance at Target about two years ago and they are still ticking!  I also just found a set of a dozen for $16.99 at Amazon and they come with free shipping for a purchase of $25, so it is a good deal if you buy two sets.  (I have not tried this specific brand, but it has a  4 1/2 star rating).

Once you wade all through that, here is your total yearly savings on papers towels:
A bulk roll of 12 costs on average (without tax) $14, so each roll costs $1.17.  So, if I cut back and only use 1 roll per month instead of 10, I would save approximately $140.40 per year!