How I Pinch A Penny

A.C. Moore can be a very expensive place for me. I constantly have ‘projects’ in the works. Just ask any one who has been inside my house. The dining room table is covered with a sewing machine, ribbon, a glue gun, beads, pins, and other random items. All of these items belong to one project or another. I have to do my best to pinch pennies where I can at the craft store.

A.C. Moore has become my newest weakness when it comes to crafting. The area that I live in does not have a lot of options for crafting so A.C. Moore is the best we have as far as places to purchase craft items. The wonderful thing about A.C. Moore is that they have coupons in the Sunday newspaper ALL THE TIME! They also have coupons you can print out at home off of their website and from time to time you get a coupon along with your receipt when you check out.

My latest way of pinching a penny takes a little planning and a bit more patience. I use my coupons that I clip out of the paper and I print out off the website to purchase the items for my project one at a time. It may take a few weeks to get all my items but I have saved 50% off my project. It is worth it to me!

My favorite shopping day of the year is a toss up between Black Friday and the day after Christmas. The key to black Friday is to have a plan. After you are in a turkey coma on Thanksgiving day surround yourself with those fabulous adds, a notebook and a pen. Each page in your notebook will represent a separate store. Go through your adds and make notes in your notebook of awesome deals at each store. Make a notation of any time restrictions at each store for certain items. Ex. Early bird specials 5 -7 am. etc. Be careful to make sure your black Friday deal is truly a deal. $5 off a $50 product is NOT a good black Friday deal. But getting a $250 coffee maker for $70 IS a good deal. AS LONG AS YOU DRINK COFFEE OR HAVE SOME ONE TO GIVE THE COFFEE MAKER TOO AS A PRESENT! If you are getting the item JUST because it is a good deal does not make it a deal unless you have a purpose for said item. It has taken me a LONG time to learn this. Just ask my husband!

Items that I specifically go Black Friday shopping for are sheets, towels, duvets, feather beds, table cloths, kitchen gadgets and memory cards for your digital camera. For some reason I have always been able to find wonderful deals on these items. But you need to prioritize your list. If you know they have a wonderful deal on an electronic go to that store first. Electronics are always the first to go. Another tip is to see if more than one store is running the same or similar deal on the same item. That way if the Big Box store runs out of your electronic the smaller box store still might have some left over. If you are able to get several deals at one store that you know will be busy go there first, take a buddy and divide a conquer the store. Each of you going specifically for a particular item. The key is not to get distracted by other shoppers or in store specials. Go for your advertised item and get it. Everyone has the same add and probably will be going for the same thing. If you happen to see an in store, non-advertised special, make mental note of it and return after you have crossed off all your items on your list.

Also it is key to ASK a sales person where the items are located in the store. I also try to ask an associate whom I know is not seasonal help. The seasonal help is pretty easy to pick out. They usually have the deer in the headlights look as the public descends on the store. Their hands are usually in their pockets and they are trying to blend into display racks. Chances are if you ask this person they are going to have to go ask some one because they are “new’ or “don’t know”. Save yourself time and just avoid them.

On to the day after Christmas sales. Use the same preparation as you did for Black Friday sales. This time you are going to be shopping for NEXT Christmas. Look for strings of Christmas lights, storage for your Christmas items, the bath products and candles that are holiday scented. These items do not go bad and will be just as fabulous next year.

After you get home with your treasures it is time to sort. Make a list either in your little notebook or in your computer of the items, what they cost and whom they are to be gifted to next year. The key here is to keep track of what you spent on whom. Come next Christmas you can pull out your list on Black Friday and see how much you have already spent on each person ( but you did get a great deal LAST day after Christmas) and use the adds to fill in the holes in your list. I also add to the list through out the year as I find items on clearance tables or have a great coupon. The idea is to look and see if you would buy the item for the person if it was NOT such a great deal. If you WOULD and it is a steal of a price….you are a great penny pincher!

As a rule we dilute the juice we give our girls.

Kathy Moore for About.com Parenting writes,

“Did you know that juice contains roughly the same amount of calories per ounce as soda? I used to give my kids juice whenever they asked for it but the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends only 4 to 6 ounces of juice per day for children 1 to 6 years old. Infants should not be given any juice and children age 7 and older should limit their daily juice intake to between 8 and 12 ounces.”

The way I see it is you can give your kids all 4-6 oz. at one shot or you could give them 8-12 oz. of 50/50 water/juice mixture. Also if you start them out early in life with diluted juice they don’t mind the added water because they don’t know the difference! This is considering children get 100% juice. No high fructose corn syrup or added sugar for kids!

This brings me to the point of this post. What is good for the kid-o is good for you. Not only will you save on calories but diluting juice is an excellent way to pinch a penny.

When I was pregnant with my first child I was given a roll of paper towels, baby oil, baby lotion, a plastic bowl with a lid and a recipe card. I was a little perplexed as to what I was to do with all of these items but this was the foundation for home made baby wipes. Here is something that is NEEDED and the baby wipes companies KNOW IT! So they charge your for it. Simple laws of supply and demand. So here is my way around buying lots of baby wipes. Make them. Here is a recipe for you. It can be found HERE.

Ingredients
1 package cloth-like paper towels (not the cheapest papery type)
2 cups hot water, boiled
1 tablespoon baby bath soap or baby shampoo
1 tablespoon oil (baby oil, mineral oil, massage oil)
1 tablespoon lotion (baby lotion or regular)
1 tablespoon white vinegar (to inhibit mold)
** the oil, soap and lotion is an excellent opportunity for you to control what items touch your babies bum. Go organic or use a product that is kind to your baby’s skin

Directions
1. Saw the paper towels in half lengthwise with a serrated kitchen knife (not your best one … this can’t be “good” for it). Mix the hot water and following ingredients.
2. Put the half roll in a plastic container that has a lid, Tupperware-type, empty roll-type baby wipe container, etc.
3. Shredded side down — I pick as much of the shredded paper off as I can — otherwise you leave “lint balls” on your baby’s bum.
**another option is to tear the paper towels apart and stack them pre-folded in a container.
4. Pour the water solution over the roll.(Don’t worry about the cardboard tube.)
5. Let sit about 5 minutes, then turn upside down for 5 more minutes to saturate the roll.
6. Now the cardboard tube will pull out easily.
7. Pull a “wipe” from the center.
8. Wash the container well between uses. (Note: Mold can be an issue. Suggestions include using Johnson & Johnson soap or 4 drops of tea tree oil to inhibit mold.)

I haven’t bought supplies recently so I don’t have a cost breakdown for you but it has to be cheaper than buying packages of wipes. But the true pay off is you know for sure what ingredients are touching your baby’s bum.

For a more environmental option use small cotton face cloths or pieces of flannel. Stack them in a plastic container and our your solution over the stack. After each use these can be tossed in a bucket of water with a touch of vinegar and laundry soap in it and then washed and reused.

I am just about out of laundry detergent and my penny pinching fingers hit the Internet. Was it possible to MAKE laundry detergent? To my excitement I found a few recipes. Here is the one that I used. You can find the original HERE.

Ingredients
1 bar bath soap, grated (I used Ivory)
1 cup arm & hammer super washing soda laundry detergent (a laundry booster)
1/2 cup borax
hot water
Essential Oil (optional 2 drops per gallon)

Directions
1 Place grated soap in a pot. (I used my food processor with the grater attachment)

2 Cover with water and simmer over medium heat until all soap is melted, stirring occasionally.
3 Pour into 5 gallon bucket. (I just used the same tall stock pot I used to melt the bar soap)
4 Add washing soda and borax.
5 Add enough hot water to fill the bucket.

6 Stir (I used a whisk)
7 Let sit overnight to gel.
8 Use 1 cup per load.
9 You can pour this into old detergent containers or leave it in the bucket and scoop out as you need it.

** Please cover with a lid if leaving in the bucket to protect children and pets.

Now let’s look at the cost breakdown.

Borax $3.59
A&H Washing Soda $2.59
Ivory bar soap (3) $.99
tax $.43
Total $7.60

Total Cost for one recipe
Borax $.18
A&H Washing Soda $.43
Ivory bar soap (3) $.33
Total $.94

Did you see that!? $.94 for that whole big bucket of laundry soap!!! I am floored. I could sing more praises but please go to the website at the top of this post and read the reviews.

So now you have these 2 boxes of Washing Soap and Borax. What can you do with it before it is time to make more laundry soap!?

BORAX
Garbage Disposals
Sprinkle 2-3 Tablespoons in the drain, let it stand for at least 15 minutes, then flush with water for the few seconds with the disposal on. This treatment can also be used in your regular sink drains.
Mattress Odors (can you say “potty training toddler”?)
Dampen the spot and sprinkle Borax over the area. Rub into the area and allow to dry. Brush or vacuum to remove the dry borax.

WASHING SODA
General Household
Dissolve 1/2 C in a bucket of warm water.
Wash surface wearing rubber gloves; then rinse.
**Not recommended for aluminum surfaces; may cause discoloration. Not recommended for no-wax floors.

These days bending over to pick up that penny that is tails up is well worth your time. Put your superstitions aside and think of all the coin you you will pocket. I am not only a penny pincher but a penny (and nickle and quarter) saver. I have a little basket on the wall that I toss all the spare change that I find in pockets, on the counters and on the ground. When it gets to the point that it wants to fall off the wall I empty it into a plastic baggie and off to coin counting we go. I have a couple of options here in York. I can go to the grocery store and use the coinstar machine or I can go to Commerce Bank and use their free coin counting machine. I have never thought to ask my bank if they will count coins for free. I rarely go into the lobby so I have no reason to ask. I am sure there are other options but I have not explored them.

Let’s take a look at Commerce Bank. They have a machine called the Penny Arcade. You have the option to make a guess as to how much coin you have, input that number and if your guess is within a certain amount of your actual coin count you win a prize! Push your coins into the machine and watch your coins being counted. They even have a screen on a child’s level so they can see the numbers go up. The machine prints out a slip and you take it to the teller and they give you your cash. You don’t have to bank at Commerce to use the Penny Arcade. I am not a member at Commerce and we use it all the time!

Another option is Coin Star machines. There is a small fee for counting your coins but you can get around that if you choose to turn your coin into selected gift cards. For a currently list of gift certificates click here. This is great if you were going to spend money at these particular places in the first place. You also can choose the option to donate your coin to charity. Check with your local coinstar for more information.

I know you ran out last night and got yourself a 5 lb. bag of potatoes! Just in case you had some left over here is something else I do with a bag of potatoes.

Home Fries

1. Place your sheet pan/sided cookie sheet in the oven. Heat oven to 450*. The idea is to preheat your pan while your oven is heating. This will make your home fries sizzle when they hit the pan. This will caramelize the sugars in the potato thus giving you a crispy edge and a tender inside. YUMMY! ** Please note the whole potatoes in the photo are from when I did Part 1

2. Cut your potato into 1/2″ to 3/4″ cubes. The more even the cubes the more evenly they will cook.

3. Add olive oil to coat the potatoes. By doing this as soon as they are cut this will prevent the oxidation of the potato. That is the yucky blackness that appears after a potato is exposed to air. Now it is time to add your spices:

1T each:
Chives, dried ( use fresh if you have it but add 1/4 cup instead)
Sage, dried
Oregano, dried
Thyme, dried
salt and pepper to taste

I penny pinched here and used herbs I grew in my garden. Feel free to add or take away from this recipe. I think rosemary would be yummy but my rosemary plant died this year.

4.Stir to coat.

5.Pull your preheated sheet pan/cookie sheet our of the oven and spread your home fries in an even layer on the pan. You will hear a wonderful sizzle as the potatoes start to caramelize as they hit the hot pan. Pop them back in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes. Do not try to stir them for at least 30 minutes. I have found if you stir before this you will tear the crunchy side off the potato. And that defeated the purpose of preheating your pan!

6.After 30-45 minutes stir your home fries with a flat sided turner. If your pan in a non stick pan be sure you use a turner that don’t scratch the finish of your pan.

7. Once you have reached your desired crispness remove from the oven and enjoy! If you have any left over or if you have made a large batch go ahead and use your food saver to freeze your home fries for future enjoyment!

I was inspired by a 5 pound bag of potatoes that I bought for $1.35 at Save Smart yesterday. I am looking at this big bag thinking of all the wonderful things I can make with potatoes. So once again I came home from the grocery store and hit the Internet. I found this:

METHOD

1 Bake the potatoes. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Scrub the potatoes clean under running water. Poke each potato in several places with the tines of a fork so that when the potatoes are cooking they don’t explode. Rub the potatoes all over with a little olive oil. Place directly on the middle or top rack of the oven. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through. They should give a little when pressed.

I read a number of blogs every day that deal with everything from Technology stories, to the local news, and they cover the full gamut all the way to other blogs dealing with saving and financial issues. One of my favorite blogs is Get Rich Slowly. JD posts several times a day with excellent posts on taking advantage of simply steps to help you save money and gain wealth.

Today he has an excellent post titled “How Low Can You Go? Cutting Back to a Minimum” This is right up our alley as these are perfect examples of things you can do to squeeze a few more pennies out of your purchases. Here is a short excerpt:

“I was sick again yesterday morning. To console myself, I made a cup of cocoa. As I was preparing to add the required three tablespoons of chocolate powder, it occurred to me that maybe I could get by with two tablespoons. I’d be saving calories and money at the same time!

The cocoa wasn’t quite as good as usual, but it was good enough. And by dropping to two tablespoons instead of three, I saved 33% (or about 29 cents).”

Keep tuned to our blog as we bring more topics like this and if you’d like to read more of JD’s post, check it out here

We have all seen those big bulk packs of chicken and ground meat in the big box stores. They look so tempting because they are a great deal. Who wouldn’t want to pinch a few a pennies by buying in bulk? It only makes cents. But your bulk purchase will not be a deal if your meat goes to waste. You have great intentions and you separate your meat and put it in freezer bags. You pop it into the freezer only for it to get lost in the back under the top layer of your wedding cake. Your great intentions have gone to waste because there was air in that freezer bag and your meat is now freezer burnt. You toss the meat, and all your great intentions, not to mention your money in the trash!

Take it from me. Do not eat freezer burnt meat. In my penny pinching ways I just cut off the white parts and cooked it up for my family. There was this funny taste to the recipe. Kind of a chemical-not-natural taste. We determined that it was the freezer burnt meat. It is not good penny pinching when your food is bad. EW!

So what is freezer burn exactly? According to www.loc.gov it is,”When food is frozen as a method of preservation, thousands and thousands of water molecules within the steak [or other frozen item] form ice crystals. These water molecules prefer the most hospitable environment- the coldest place in your freezer. The molecules migrate from the steak to the coldest place they can find, which is often the side of your freezer. The loss of these water molecules causes the steak to become dehydrated. The end result is freezer burn.”

A few years ago I asked for a Food Saver for my birthday. My mother thought I was crazy and would never use it but she appeased me and bought it for my birthday. It is on my counters weekly and my 4 year old knows how to operate it. It is an investment initially but if you are a true penny pincher pick up one on e-bay or your local Craig’s List and get one on the cheap.

So now I come home from the big box store with my bulk meat in tow and I divide my ground beef into 1 lb lumps and my chicken breasts into piles of 4. I put the ground beef on metal cookie trays (spray the tray with non stick spray) and freeze for a few hours if not over night. I prefer a few hours to freeze the juices in the meat because if I let it go overnight it will turn into several overnights. Once frozen enough that the juices stop flowing I seal and label it and right back into the freezer they go.

I make bags for the chicken (the instructions will show you how to do this) and put my 4 chicken breasts in each bag. I then set the bags upright in a 9×13 dish so that they don’t flop over and pop them in the freezer till frozen. Then I seal and label and back into the freezer they go.

I can’t tell you how much I have saved by having my vacuum sealer. I love it. I not only seal meat but I also seal blocks of soup, vegetables, cookies, bar cookies, and fruit just to name a few.

Make pinching your pennies worth your while.