Our dryer quit working – Rick began taking the dryer apart (dangerous, I know) and found instructions for the repairman embedded that instructed him on how to further take the rest of the dryer apart. He NEVER would have figured it out without the hidden instructions. The dryer just needed to have its underside cleaned out, reachable only by the “repairman”. While Rick has cleaned out the dryer hose annually to biannually we were lucky not to have started a fire because of the lint in the hidden area of the dryer. When Rick put the cleaned out dryer back together it worked like new!
I used my home made citrus cleaner for the first time after it “aged” in my fridge for the proper amount of time. To my surprise the cleaner had turned into a syrup like consistency as I strained it and funneled it into my spray bottle. It had a fresh clean scent and cleaned beautifully. I used my homemade all purpose citrus cleaner on my floors AND it is completely safe for cleaning my toothbrush holders and pet areas. Clean and fresh smelling, made from next to nothing this cost me pennies for an entire bottle of disinfecting cleaner.
I read that vinegar has the same effect in the final laundry rinse as expensive chemical filled fabric softeners. I couldn’t believe it so I had to try it. NO static cling!!! There is virtually no vinegar scent in the clothing either. Once again a huge cost cutter next to even the least expensive liquid fabric softeners and none of the chemicals of dryer sheets. Who knew?
I got a dozen eggs for free as well as a free box of wheat thins.
I made homemade graham crackers! They were delicious, not too hard and a fraction of the cost! They tasted better after the first day… perfect!
I MADE brown sugar. While this is not the most cost effective way to obtain brown sugar I only had money left in my grocery budget for milk and when I went to my brown sugar barrel I found it empty. (Someone forgot to mark that on the list). I only needed a small amount of sugar Sooooo… I had white sugar and a bit of Molasses. Mix the combination together and you get brown sugar!
I made my own garlic spice pack for garlic rolls/bread.
Rick tapped our Maple tree. We collected its sap for 2 weeks and had fun experimenting making what turned out to be maple sugar instead of syrup. I’ll be more careful next time but we all got a taste and it was sooooo delicious.
I used powdered milk to make a cream based soup.
I made the switch finally and purchased a 4 1/2 lb. container of Parmesan for just under $19. The 1 1/2 lb. bottle had been costing me almost $9. We use it all the time for pasta, pizza and salad dressings and will have no trouble using it by its expiration.
Homemade granola drops were a hit at the “healthy snack table” at an event at school. They were full of oats, raisins, powdered milk and were the one single thing on the table that didn’t come pre-packaged or at least pre-cut and packaged.
Peanut Butter Cups… here’s the story;
My son wanted to make “chocolate covered candy” for Family Night treats so I went to a library book I had out to get a recipe for homemade Peanut Butter Cups. These were SO good at a fraction of the cost of that many store bought ones. And we got to have fun making them together.
I used mini cupcake wrappers that I got free from a lost and found table on its last day before the items were tossed or donated and they’d been there for weeks. There were bunches of these wrappers still sealed in their original packaging. The wrappers made wonderful ridges in the homemade peanut butter cups just like the ridges on Reece’s.
I made “blankets” for our hot dogs instead of purchasing hot dog buns.
FREE MANURE! I think my garden is happy now. And I will spare you a picture of that.
Greek Style Chocolate Yogurt… Heavenly! Made in the crock pot and kept warm on my oven’s “proof” setting.
Plain yogurt was used in the place of sour cream for many dishes making it lower fat for us and giving our budget a break as we utilized the leftover plain yogurt we had. I made a version of “chocolate underground” greek yogurt. Mmmmm!
I made raspberry yogurt with a plain starter I’d kept from my last batch of yogurt. I added chocolate chips for a treat in lunches one day. The kids loved this unanimously.
After constantly battling the dishwasher, its detergent and hopelessly hard water I studied up on the chemistry of hard water with natural bio-friendly cleaners and made my own dishwasher detergent. What do you know? Cleaner dishes and a happier dishwasher! We also utilized the extended warranty we’d purchased for the dishwasher (since my dishwasher works many times more often than the average dishwasher we had figured this might be a smart purchase), sent for the repairman who returned to us the following week with a new pump for the dishwasher. After a good cleanout with CLR it works like new and isn’t getting gunked up with sediment anymore.
I brought my husband dinner when he had to work late on several occasions and I had to pick up my kids from school right there anyway. We also ate dinner with him in his classroom one night when we had a concert and he had a meeting after work so he had no time to leave and come back before the concert. We got a family dinner in, the kids got to see their Dad, play games together and watch a movie before the concert began. We were ON TIME! It saved gas money too.
I made my own pie crusts, wheat bread, french bread, pizza crusts, pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce.
We checked some information books out of the library.
I re-used a large “bulk” sized cornstarch container to hold my dishwasher detergent.
We got out the “new” toys! Every month I rotate a themed box of toys out of storage for a box of themed toys, books and puzzles in storage. We typically have any given box of toys out for about a month and the toys and books are rotated completely about every six months. It is so exciting around here when we switch the toys around that it is as exciting as if I’d gone to Toys R Us and spent tons of money for tons of brand new toys every single month. In reality many of these toys are between 10 and 16 years old although the newer ones have made it into the mix as well. I clean the toys, organize them and find the lost pieces. They are contained in their labeled (by month and theme) storage box until the next time they are needed. I also try to do activities centered around the theme for the month whether it’s art work or a trip out somewhere. Rotating toys in and out of play helps eliminate the “mine” with the toys, books and puzzles as well. Certainly the kids have ownership over a few special items. But rotating toys is awesome.
I started a compost for the garden finally. It’s been on my mind to this for the past several years as a more natural and responsible way to feed my garden, not to mention more healthful. But life is busy with five kids and I was a little confused on doing it properly. Several years ago we were “issued” garbage dumpsters by the city. Our old garbage cans help us out every so often with holding sticks or leaves for garbage day but mostly they sit upside down and empty out next to the garage. Our very first garbage can is so old now that it has huge gaping holes in the bottom from being dragged back and forth to the curb so many times. So I took that one and gave it the new job of holding compost. I spent virtually no money on this and didn’t feel like I was wrecking something new that I paid for by putting holes in the bottom of it.
Paid cash to replace the cracked radiator in the old car. That felt good.
My husband and I went on a date to one of our favorite “mom & pop” hole-in-the-wall places. They were getting ready to close for the weekend as we were getting up to leave and they told us we could take as many bags of bagels as we wanted on our way out… they were just going to toss them. So we thanked them and took three dozen. Can’t beat wonderful bagels for free! Some we ate the next morning for breakfast and some we froze.
Juice concentrate went on sale at .90 a can FINALLY! Hooray! I bought 33 cans; as much as I had room and money for, and the cashier asked if I left any in the case. Hee! Hee! I told her in all seriousness there was still plenty. (Really they should just be grateful that they are selling it. It doesn’t matter to who as long as they get their money and the store put no limit on the sale. Store limits mean Rick and I go in every couple days for the item as long as the store is nearby and the item is needed… like MILK!)
I made a triple batch of home made laundry detergent. I’ve been using this recipe for a year now and have just now re-stocked my detergent making supplies. I now spend in one year what I used to spend on laundry in one month. I’m really happy with its performance both with cleaning the clothes and working in my he machine.
Roasted the last of the autumn’s pumpkins from the farm and supplied the Kindergarten snack one week with homemade pumpkin muffins along with dollar bags of pretzels and a sack of goldfish from the bulk package I bought wholesale.
I made homemade salad dressing mixes in pint jars; Ranch, French and Italian.
A parent of one of Rick’s students offered us FREE Reds tickets for Friday evening after opening day in April for our whole family. We usually earn 4 Reds tickets from Straight A report cards some years or from the kids volunteering at the library. Once a year we usually end up being able to go to a ball game but we’ve never gotten to go within the first week!
Dyed Easter Eggs using the Paas coloring kit that we purchased for .25 during an after Easter clearance a year or so ago.
I bought no meat for the entire month of March. There were some really good sales on other things that I put my money toward and meat didn’t seem to be a part of those good deals. Meat must be $2 per pound or less or I don’t buy it. I do make an exception for canned tuna because I think we should have a supply of canned protein but even that I only buy on really good sales so it probably comes close to the mark. Also, I had plenty of meat in my freezer and we also eat a lot of beans as well, so it was fine. Just something I noticed that I don’t think has happened before.
And that was my contribution to living providently and responsibly for the month of March.
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