Saving money is a game I play with myself, I know? But I have a lot of kids and work from home, entertainment is scares in my neck of the woods.
I enjoy watching those couponing shows and I can honestly say that I do use coupons but for toothpaste, deodorant etc. I don’t have and extra 5 hours in the day to dumpster dive, and cut coupons, stack them and everything else that goes along with that, and lastly I buy very little processed food:( So I look for ways to really save money, the easy way.
Heres a little break down:
1. Line dry your cloths, it can save you $30.00 a month. I have seen a resurgence of cloths lines in my area.
2. Eat leftovers….We have left overs on Thursday night and everyone gets something different
3. Wait for sales and buy your meat in bulk, separate and freeze it. $1.29 chicken tastes way better than $3.99lb chicken. Freeze it in packages of 2 and use as a condiment instead of the main part of the meal.
4. Cook from scratch, I know you’ve heard it all before…But it is the easiest way to save over $100.00+ a month in groceries. And know what you and your kids are eating. It’s really not that hard to put a whole chicken the oven and roast for 40 min it’s really not.
5. Organize your home. You don’t hear this often? An organized home saves time, and time is money. Constantly having to buy the things you already have but can’t find is a waste of money. Organize once a week.
6. Start making your own cleaning products. I can make a great window wash for .35 cents from things I have right in my pantry
7. Make your own laundry detergent I can make 5 gallons for $1.00 and it works great. I can make it smell just like “mountain stream” too.
8. Grow a garden, vegetables are expensive. You can grow a lot of cucumbers for $1.89 package of seeds. If you don’t have a spot for a garden, put them in containers or window boxes.
9. Barter. We do this a lot in my area, for example my neighbor sews…I can’t sew a button. But I can vegtables, so Julie sews for me and I can for her it works out great.
10. Make a stock pile…I have a rack in my barn full of snow pants, jackets, sweatshirts etc….When someone gives them to me I put them on the rack. I haven’t bought snow pants since 2001. When Im done with them I pass them on. This premise can be done with pretty much any thing, when you find a great sale on deodorant and you have coupons buy 10 or 12. It’s a great way to save lots of money.
There are so many books and website dedicated to saving money, you should be able to find what your looking for. These are just a few things that I do…
I have found that the best way to cut costs and save money is start cutting out the little thing $30 dollars here, 10 dollars there really adds up!
I will be posting recipes for laundry detergent and homemade soap in future post so keep coming back
Keeping it real the Maine way:)
Who knew that making a blog could be such frustrating work?
My company website is managed by Nathan——-, and I go in and change things, blog, and update pages…Call him for questions etc. he has made it very user-friendly.
Starting from scratch should not have been so hard!
After spending all weekend getting my personal blog up and running, I may owe Nathan a big old bottle of wine! All things blog are not as easy as they look.
Why did they put so many theme choices, so many colors? So if my blog changes frequently, you’ll know my OCD has kicked in and the “last theme” wasn’t quite right…Lets see if I can go through all 213 themes in a year? You chuckle…I’m not kidding it may take me that long to get it just right.
So this is going to be an experiment on “good enough, for Kelly”
Thanks for listening…
I’m off to take pictures in -10 degree weather, lots of fun, NOT!
I can make a pot of popcorn!
Just ask all the neighborhood kids. Its easy and it’s way better for you and your kids than anything you can buy pre-packaged
Ingredients:
2tbs coconut oil (or whatever oil you have on hand)
1/2 cup popcorn kernels (this is approximate) make sure the kernels are a single layer on the bottom of the pot.
Add oil to a deep pot turn heat to high and add kernels and cover. When popping starts, pop for about 45 seconds or until it’s 2-3 seconds in between pops.
Put into a bowl put on you favorite topping i.e. real butter and salt.
I can make 2 large bowls of popcorn for around .29 cents including butter and salt.
That is a cheap, snack….
~The way life should be
This is quick post for the benefits of using homemade cleaning products.
I make all my own cleaning products. I have tested all the products I use and have adjusted them as need be to work at full capacity. I do not have time to use an “All Natural” product that doesn’t work. So they may not be as “All Natural” as I’d like, but I don’t like to waste time and money on things that don’t work well, just to say they are “All Natural“.
Did that make sense?
My window wash is about .34 cents a bottle made at home. Compared to 3.99 store bought.
Ingredients:
1/8 cup ammonia
1/2 c vinegar
1 1/4 c water
1 tsp dish soap
Put in a spray bottle, use with cloth diaper or bar rag for no streaking and no lint residue
A lot of people don’t use the ammonia, but I have found that it just doesn’t work as well without it. It is a minor ingredient so I don’t worry about it.
This works amazing on glass and mirrors, counter tops, etc.
I have many windows in my old farm-house and with 5 kids a dog and a husband, I use a lot of window cleaner..(I should probably use more, meaning I should clean my windows more often) but….Oh well there are not enough hours in the day:)
Try it……you will never buy store-bought window cleaner again.
~Keeping it real~
I wanted my second post to be so profound that all the people would not be able to stop following me….Ever!
And I pick salad dressing. Not earth shattering but It’s really simple…..Salad dressing is so easy to make, I don’t know why people buy it, seriously? I can make a bottle of dressing for .67 cents beats 3.49 all day long!
And I just made Greek Dressing for a Greek salad for lunch.
I have a small journal that I bought on sale for .99 I put tabs in it to keep my condiments, sauces and mustard recipes at easy reach. I then ask the kids what salad dressing they would like that night for supper and a few minutes later it’s made.
Well of course there are the people who tell me that home-made doesn’t last as long as store bought…Well that would be because of the chemicals….And I get the blank stare of…SO??
Barring all that, I have n
ot bought salad dressing in 5 years. Except in the rare case of feeding 100 people for graduation parties, wedding showers, baby showers, etc….I like to live simply but I am not a masochist.
So here are a couple of my quick family favorites that taste better than store-bought. And I bet you can make them faster than driving to the store to buy a bottle:)
Ranch Dressing:
2 TBS cider vinegar
3/4 c. Mayo
1/4 c. Sour cream
1/4 tsp dry onion
1 clove garlic minced
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1tsp chive
1tbs parsely
1 tbs Basil
Mix all together in a mason jar with tight-fitting lid refrigerate for 2 hours before use.
*Hint: To make creamy dressings last a little longer add 1/4 cup of plain yogurt.
Greek Dressing: This is even easier!
1 c. Olive oil
2 Cloves garlic pressed through a garlic press
1/4 lemon juice
1/4 red wine vinegar
2 tbs oregano
1/2 fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp Salt
Squeeze garlic through garlic press (or mince) put the rest of the ingredients into a wide mouth canning jar, shake well. refrigerate for 1 hour before using.
These are some of the many, parmesan Pepper corn, French, balsamic vinegar, Russian….So, so easy:) Give it a try you won’t regret it….
~Keeping it real
I have finally done it!
I have been a business blogger for several years, blogging technical thing for our technical business…I wanted more.
But there was not enough time in the day. So I removed some irritating time sucking things from my life, organized to the point that I make Martha Stewart look like a hoarder and told all my friends to come find me…..and convinced myself that I really had meaningful things to put onto the blogosphere…So here I am
This blog will be dedicated to fun, saving money, motherhood, cooking, family living and Maine life…And whatever else may inspire me along the way.
I have wanted for years to correct the Hollywood assumption on my poor state. So let’s clear a few things up….
Yes we have lobster and it is the best in the world (and I can buy it for $2.28 a lb right off the boat) and I feel really bad for the people paying crazy amounts of money for bugs that eat crap off the ocean floor. Just sayin…
I have never in my life said “Ayuh”….Ever! Nor have I ever heard anyone else say it.
I do own a cable knit sweater and they are the warmest things on the earth.
I do not know the Bean’s of Egypt Maine, nor do I want to.
I have never met L.L. Bean he was long dead before I was born. But I do shop there…Often:)
I do own Amy Decyczyn’s book the “Tightwad Gazette” It has saved me, literally thousands of dollars.
I have met Steven King…Once, at a state basketball tournament in Bangor and have the picture to prove it.
And not everyone lives in a fishing village with boats in the harbor…As much as we’d like to:)
I used to work for Judd Nelsons Grandfather, Harold….Very, very nice family. You know him from The Breakfast Club and Saint Elmo’s fire. I had lunch with him once when he came to visit his grandfather! My one claim to fame. And I digress
Thank you for letting me clear these things up.
I hope you will join me on the fabulous journey, it’s going to be a lot of fun, promise…That’s how we do it, the Maine way!
Staying Real
Real housewives of Maine 