From: Rita from Missouri
We used to have a very hard time paying bills on
time and spent a lot of money on late fees. We
have switched to free automatic payments from our
checking account to our mortgage company, bank
loan (car), utilities (on level payment program),
insurance payments and other regular payments.

I maintain a check off list and as the payments are
withdrawn from the checking account I mark them
off. this way I never miss a payment, save on
late fees and what is left is predictable and
easy to manage for all the other expenses.

I know Tawra has mentioned our new blogs in the newsletter but since I keep forgetting them myself and I’m even writing the articles for them I thought maybe you all could use a gentle reminder about them too. We also have some really good and new info that I didn’t want you to miss. We are covering everything from homemade soap, how to save for singles, decorating on a budget, travel, food budgets, kids allowance and so much more.

We have another new blog with nothing but recipes and food tips. Then tomorrow we start a new one with cleaning ideas and suggestions. On most of those blogs we are trying to answer our readers questions so if you are wondering where the answer to your question is don’t forget to check on there.

We’re really excited about them and hope it will make it easier for you.
Jill
www.tawrastightwadtips.com
www.asktawraandjill.com
www.diningonadime.com
www.cleaningcents.com

From: Kathleen M.

My Treat!
I quit drinking soda’s and switched to Lipton
ice tea, lemon flavored full sugared from Sam’s
club. Went through that real fast and decided
that was not economical or healthy.

So I bought instant unflavored Lipton/Nestea at Wal-mart,
they don’t carry a store brand, and there store
brand Lemonaide packet for 10 cents, mmh good I
use some sugar a little non-sweetener (goal is
black), then I found Kroger instant tea at Smiths
it’s way stronger (tastes like it steeped too
long!)so I water it way down, pinch of lemonade
some ice cubes no sweetener and I’m good to
go.

Today Albertsons had 5lb bag potatoes 5/$10.00 or
2.00 a bag now I only bought 2 otherwise they
would spoil.

Here’s my Grandma Maguire’s Green Bean Mulligan
a real fast cheap tasty homemade meal ,

as many can green beans you want I use 2 or 3

about 5 fresh potato’s peeled and cut I like lg. 2″ pieces,

brown 1/2 or 1 lb ground beef with onion salt
pepper garlic powder.

I use instant onions added at end.

Add 1 Tall can tomato juice, I use sauce
and water it down (reconstituted 1/1)

mix all together in a dutch oven bring to a boil add
more water if necessary, salt and pepper instant
onions now lid it simmer til potatoes are tender.

serve w/bread & butter now my kids used to take
the green beans apart for the little bean inside,
okay I did it too.

You could turn that into a
game we did, I’ll bet you did too.

Now I take 1/2 cup oatmeal and put it in my bullet blender
my sis gave me and turn it into powder I add this
to all my 1lb ground beef it makes it so tender
stretches the beef so you use less. Now if fresh
potatoes are not affordable why not put it over a
pile of instant!

Which brings me to my Grandma
Maguires depression potato soup left over
mashed potatoes, I use instant potatoes, onions
sauteed in butter I skip this part and use
instant this is the flavoring if you want and
have you can add some chicken flavor bouillon I
don’t salt pepper simmer til instant onions are
tender otherwise warm up at this it should be
slightly thickened you could add milk (canned) if
available not necessary . I use margarine. I use
the cheaper more condensed non instant skim milk
and my bullet gets the lumps out about 1c. milk
top with water and screw on lid blend add this
thick creamy milk to a 2qt pitcher and add water
using that bullet cup and getting all the cream
rinsed out.

sincerely
kathleen

oh I forgot that green bean mulligan is real good
with bacon as with most lg familes we didn’t get
bacon for breakfast so mom diced it up just 1/2 a
lb and fried it up with onion in the dutch oven
and and added the rest of the ingredients its
simply real good! grandma

I grew up with us making our own clothes. I sometimes buy things at thrift shops that I can remake into something else, especially for my daughter — cheaper than buying the fabric.

The Dry Cleaning lady gave some advice about removing difficult stains — use dishwashing detergent, and scrub the fabric hard, but not so hard as to tear up the fabric. Rinse, and let the fabric rest at least a day before trying again. She said it may take several tries to remove really difficult stains. She emphasized letting the fabric rest between tries.
Robin

From: Nancy
It’s still worth it for those of us in cities to
make long drives to agricultural areas for fruits
and vegetables to canning and drying (and to eat
fresh, of course!). Defray the cost of gas by
buying as much as your car can carry. If you don’t
want that much yourself, take orders from
relatives and friends or neighbors!

I just drove a 350-mile round trip from Seattle to
farms and stands in the Yakima area to buy
apricots ($10 a 25-pound box), red onions ($12 for
a 25-pound bag), green beans ($1 a pound, by the
box).

Last month I bought U-pick strawberries in
Carnation (about 20 miles away) for 75 cents a pound.

With the varying prices of gas added to the cost
of produce bought on each trip, the strawberries
were $1.17 a pound, while apricots were 68 cents a
pound. That’s still quite a bit less than prices
I’ve seen locally.

And that doesn’t even include the beautiful
scenery on the way!

From: Desarae H.
I’ve found many websites about saving money and
being frugal, but some many of them are focused on
families. I am single working female and for me
to buy and bulk or make large quantities of
recipes is something doesn’t work for single
people. Is there any advice,articles, and/or
links about how to be frugal as a single person?

We get asked this question a lot. How do I save being single? First let me deal with your comment about buying and cooking in bulk. I just finished an e-course on grocery savings (hopefully we will have it out for you all in a couple of weeks) and in it one of the main points I cover is how there are many different ways to save money on groceries.

We tend to grab on to one aspect of saving and sometimes think of that as the only way. Whether it is couponing, buying in bulk, finding clearances etc. All of these are great ways of saving but they aren’t the be all and end all of it.

I have found that in different seasons, circumstances and places that I have lived in my life that I have had to change my way of saving over and over. Sometimes I used all of the things I mentioned and sometimes I used totally different ones. I had to be adaptable and be willing to change my way of thinking on savings.

As far as buying in bulk and cooking in bulk, to be honest I have never done either of those but my daughter does. I save as much if not more than what she does (when I had kids at home or when single) without buying in bulk. This doesn’t mean she doesn’t save huge amounts she just does it in different ways. (note from Tawra: we do buy some “junk” and convenience stuff so I could cut another $50-$75/mo. if I wanted to but we choose to have those things)

I don’t have room to go into it all now but in my grocery savings e-course I go into more detail about warehouse and bulk shopping. One thing I have started doing just recently is a concept that I haven’t mentioned because it is a little hard to explain and I have been afraid that people couldn’t grasp it because you would have to throw out old ideas about bulk buying but I will try to explain it now.

I bought a large jar of mayo for $3.00 (I am just using numbers that will make math easy for the moment and not exact amounts). It had 30 oz so that was $1.00 for each 10 oz. There was a smaller jar for $1.10 for 10 oz. I bought the large jar because for the amount it was $.30 cheaper.

I used only 1/3 of the jar ($1.00’s worth) before it spoiled and I had to throw the rest out. I would have been $1.90 ahead if I had just bought the small jar instead of spending the extra on the large jar to save $.30. I know that that doesn’t work for everything but it does on some so if you find yourself throwing certain things away like this you might consider buying a smaller size than normal.

Saving money on groceries for singles is really no different than families. You can still buy clearance items, use coupons, shop at places like Aldis, the dollar stores etc. The main problem I have found with being single is just the leftovers and having to eat the same thing for several meals to use it up. Here are some things that might help with that.

The one thing for me that has been a life saver is a vacuum sealer. They are expensive but I received mine for my birthday one year and I love it. If I do find meat on sale (in larger packages too) I vacuum seal it up and it lasts for ever. I do cookie dough in it, veggies, all kinds of things. I especially like to cook up hamburger (meatballs, patties, and ground) and have packages to pop out when I don’t feel good or am in a hurry. I even put ice cubes in a bag, vacuum seal it, let it melt, refreeze it and use it then in my cooler to keep things cold. I love it.

Another thing that I do is I eat out more. I know that sounds like it is going against everything that I teach but let me explain. I usually talk to families and eating out can be much more of an expense but since I am single I can go to some place like Wendy’s and order a chicken sandwich for $.99 and a glass of water. That really does end up being cheaper than if I had gone out and bought the buns, lettuce, chicken, and mayo for it for just a single person. I don’t do this every night but maybe once or twice a week.

Since you work, one of your greatest savings on food would be taking your lunch of course, watch using the vending machines, snack bars, buying pop or bottled water etc.

Just like families you can watch for clearance items. I buy milk on clearance, pour half into a pitcher and put the other half in to freeze. I have had to do things like if I am not using my milk fast enough I will make up a batch of custard, pudding or something that will help me use it up.

Another thing is I eat a lot of things like soups. With one chicken thigh I can make up enough soup for several meals then freeze part and eat part.

Maybe it would be easier if I give you a sample of things I might eat for a couple of weeks.

Breakfast

Cereal (1 box) $2.50
Coffee (1/2 lge container) $3.00
Fruit or juice ($.20 a meal) $6.00
Eggs (1 doz) $1.00
Bread (1 loaf) $1.00
Milk (1/2 gal.) $1.70

Total (1 month) $15.20

Lunch

2 free meals from dinner leftovers (below)
Peanut Butter sandwich w/ fruit (2 days)
Peanut butter $.20
Bread $.20
Fruit $.50
Cottage Cheese w/ canned fruit
(2 days)
Cottage cheese $.80
Fruit $.30
Cheese w/ crackers $.90
Carrot Sticks $.15
Fruit (canned) $.15

1 week of lunches = $2.30 1 month = $9.20

Dinner

Spaghetti (2 meals)
Ingredients:
Tomato soup $.50
Hamburger $.50
Noodles $.50
Chicken soup (3 meals) $1.50
Casserole (4-5 meals)
Meat $.50
Veggies $.50
Noodles $.50

1 week of dinners = $4.50 1 month = $18.00

Total Meals 1 month = $42.40

I usually spent $50-$60 a month on groceries so the extra $18-$28 is spent on things like snacks (cookies, donuts, and popcorn), spices, condiments and little extras.

The prices I used did not include coupons, Aldi’s prices, Wal Mart, warehouse, bulk prices, or clearances I just used my regular grocery store prices and their store ads. Can you imagine how much more I could save if I did use all of those things? I maybe could shave at least $15 or more off of the amount and I usually do. I just want to show that just with a little planning and being careful you don’t have to spend that much.

Something you might make note of that is true for everyone, I spent $15.20 on breakfast items and $9.00 of that was on items to drink, coffee and juice. When I say that at least f="http://www.livingonadime.com/articles/drinkdebt.htm">1/3 or more of every one’s grocery bill goes to drink items I wasn’t joking, it really does.

Watch your money. So many singles are looking for ways to save on groceries hoping to help with their income but as you can see I don’t spend that much of my income on groceries. If you are having problems living within your means you may have to look in other areas of your spending to see if you could save more or to see if you are wasting it some how.

Hope this helps, Jill

From: Jan M.
Here is a tip:

Many of us are canners or freezers. Make friends
with the produce manager. My mother in law works
for a volunteer organization which makes jams to
sell in their gift shop. She asked the produce
manager to save her the over ripe peaches he did
and charge her a very low amount for large box of
peaches that would have landed in the dumpster.

I don’t always buy the most fresh I buy the
reduced or special buy. Today at the grocery store
I bought a bag of broccoli on the special section
for 1.49. I took it home cut it up and blanched it
and gave me four two cup bags for the freezer. So
don’t past up those special bags of imperfect
bags you may get allot of savings

From: Jess
I am writing regarding the tip where Kathy saved
money by purchasing her refrigerator in cash.
That’s great that she saved for an item and waited
until she could afford it. I can take it a step
further than that with two more tips. (I do this
myself all the time).

First, if you can save for an item of course you
should do so (sometimes it breaks and it’s not
able to be put off a year). Once you have the
money and go shopping, if they do have a “same as
cash” offer, I take the offer and put the money I
saved in my high interest ING savings account
where I can withdraw it at any time. (Actually I
use that account for all savings so I just leave
the money there essentially) and I let the money
accumulate MORE interest until the month the bill
is due. The same discipline that made you save
for a year or more will not let you spend that money!

Secondly, I ALWAYS charge everything that is an
appliance, furniture, electronic item, etc. Your
credit card doubles the warranty period of an
item! It also acts as a “fighter” for you, should
an appliance not work correctly or something be
delivered broken. (we did this when we purchased
dining room furniture and after 3 tables were
delivered smashed on one end our credit card got
us both our money and delivery cost back, even
after the 90 days the store said we passed for all
returns). I also use a rewards card (that pays
cash back) and rack up points for a large purchase
and pay them right off. The reward money is used
for fun things like amusement park trips and town
carnivals we go to so we pretty much go to those
for free.

Hope this helps even further in our quest to save
money and live better lives!

After our mess, my cousin just had to send me this!
Tawra

As a young minister in Kentucky, I was asked by a funeral director to hold a
graveside service for a homeless man, who had no family or friends. The funeral was to be
held at the new cemetery way back in country, and this man would be
the first to be buried there. I was not familiar with the backwoods area,
and I soon became lost. Being a typical man, I did not stop to ask for directions.

I finally arrived an hour late. I saw the backhoe and the open grave, but the hearse
was nowhere in sight. The digging crew was eating lunch. I apologized to the workers
for my tardiness, and I stepped to the side of the open grave. There I saw the vault
lid already in place.

I assured the workers I would not hold them up for long, as I told
them th at this was the proper thing to do. Theworkers gathered around the grave and stood silently, as I began to pour out my heart and soul. As I preached about ‘looking forward
to a brighter tomorrow’ and ‘the glory that is to come,’ the workers began to say ‘Amen,’
‘Praise the Lord,’ and ‘Glory!’

The fervor of these men truly inspired me. So, I preached all the way from
Genesis to Revelations. I finally closed the lengthy service with a prayer,
thanked the men, and walked to my car.

As I was opening the door and taking off my coat,
I heard one of the workers say to another, ‘I ain’t
NEVER seen nothin’ like that before, and
I’ve been puttin’ in septic tanks for thirty years!’

I have a dresser that I use to store all the misc. stuff that has no home. It was white but stuck out like a sore thumb in my kitchen/dining room. I decided to paint it.

I’m not new to painting dressers. I love using dressers to organize everything from the kitchen to the garage!

The steps to painting are very easy.

Sand it. I just lightly sand just to rough up the old paint so the new will stick.

Clean it. I just use mineral spirits to clean mine. I wipe it down with an old rag that I can just throw away.

Paint- I use spray paint for these types of projects. It goes on much easier and smoother. You could roll on the paint with a roller or use a paintbrush but this had so much detail on the drawers that I was afraid it would run.

I did use 3 cans of spray paint for this project so the cost was $9 for a “new” dresser. I could have gone to the paint recycle center but I wanted this particular color to match my mirror.

Click here to check out all the stuff we’ve done with free paint.

It did take me one full day to paint this. The way it was set on the lawn I couldn’t see very well the way the sun was shinning on it. When I got it in the house I discovered I missed some spots so I had to drag the dresser back out an do a touch up the next day.

I’m sorry I didn’t get better pictures but you get the idea.

One note on the mirror. Mike just loved this mirror at Lowe’s but it was $70. We stopped in one day and found 3 or 4 of them on clearance for $7! The problem was they were scratched. We bought it and came up and used a stain pen to fill in the scratches and you can’t even see them now! Yeah!!

Tawra