How to beautify the outdoors on a budget

I am a big fan of flowers and trying to make the outside of my house look nice, but that can really get expensive.  I do have a few tips for making things look nice and not spending a ton of money.
1. Plant perennials, they come back every year and many of them will multiply.
2. thin out the ones that multiply and fill in where you want more.
3. Talk to friends often times they are willing to thin out their perennials, so you get them for free (or by exchanging some of your own)
4 Buy your perennials in the fall when they go on sale and plant them then, they will be up by the next spring and you will save a bundle.
  
   One thing we are doing this ear is we are putting lattice work up to keep animals out from under out deck, we bought everything last fall when all that kind of stuff was on sale, we unfortunately didn't get it up so we have to do it now, then we will watch sales for the kinds of shrubbery that we want. 
I personally enjoy doing landscaping and my so does my husband so now it's just matter of making it all work within my budget.

Happy Plantings!

Party Party Party

I know that many frugal people think that just purchasing the cheapest thing is the way to go, I don't think this true at all.  I do also know that buying the more expensive items the first time can be a strain on the budget but I have found my way around it, at least for certain items.  Mostly Home party items

Example #1 Tupperware.  Yes I bye the less expensive stuff to take on picnics and for my hubby to take to work but Tupperware some unique items as well.  OK this where you say Tupperware is expensive and I can bye 2 things of the cheap stuff for the price of 1 Tupperware.  True! But Tupperware is 100% guaranteed for life so you will never have to buy it again. Also if they no longer make that item they will give you the next closest thing...which tends to be newer and better.

Example #2 is Mary Kay  I find that their products are superior to cover girl and last longer.  Yes more expensive, but if you order something and you are not happy you can return it, not something Walmart will let you do.  I returned some mascara just last fall and they sent me a new one.

OK so in the long run there are savings, but how do find the money to buy the more expensive stuff?  Easy Have a Party!  Hostesses get great bargains.  Often free items, major discounts, and future coupons. I got $75 worth of Mary Kay last year for $15.  And No hosting the Party didn't eat the difference.  I had it on Saturday afternoon, made a few small snacks and some fruit punch.  It cost me maybe $10. And it gives a stay at home Mom a chance to have some adult time.  This works for Tupperware, Mischa Bags, anything that is sold at Home parties.

I do have one bit of advice and that is to NOT overdue it.  Please don't become the person that has a party every weekend, your friends will stop coming. I have 1 Mary Kay party a year, this year I will have a Tupperware party, and possible a Wildtree party.  Just 2 or 3 is enough, you don't want your friends to feel like they HAVE to spend money either.

I hope that everyone takes advantage of this little tip and has a party it's fun!

Easy Chicken Nuggets

It has been a while since I posted a recipe so here it goes.
 Braxton and I made Chicken nuggets today by hand. Even though he had eaten already so we froze them for a later date.

 4 pieces of whole wheat bread that I dried on the counter overnight
 1 chicken breast (about 3/4 lb)
 2 TBLS of Italian seasoning
 2 TBLS of Kraft grated Parmesan cheese

. I started with 1 chicken breast because I was experimenting, Next time i will do a few more. which will call for upping all of the ingredients of coarse


I took the 4 pieces of bread ran them through the food processor to turn them into fine crumbs, I added the Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese an mixed it all together.

Cut the chicken into whatever size pieces you choose and soak in milk for 5 min I put the bread crumbs in a bag then added the chicken so Braxton could shake it up. Baked at 400* for about 15 min. Let them cool for about 15min then stuck the whole pan in the freezer. Once they are frozen I will put them in a bag.
 
I ended up with probably 20 chicken nuggets in a bite size pieces.
 
I can't wait to see how they turn out when I reheat them for a meal. 

I know it's been a while

I really haven't forgotten about my Blogs I just have been crazy busy with the holidays, and all the colds that have been running through this house. I decided today would be a great day to talk about freebies and deal sites again.  I know I did this not all that long ago but some new ones have brought to may attention lately.  I also have a few tips too. First of all when you sign up for freebies most sites require a valid E-mail, these will often generate multiple e-mails by multiple companies so I advise that you create a separate E-mail account through Yahoo or Hotmail just to use for these types of e-mails.  I scan mine about once a week and delete them. I also advise that share these things with your friends.  I have a great friend who has 3 little ones and is always looking for a bargain so her and I share blogs and sites with each other all the time.  Friends are THE BEST!
Here is one of favorite new sites to watch. I subscribe to her FB page http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcouponlovinmom.com%2F&h=9a934 I have also started to follow livefabuLESS.com both help you pair coupons to sales and post freebies to their sites.  you can also find LiveFabuless on Facebook. If you don't have Facebook or don't want them filling up your Facebook page then just subscribe to them to be sent to your E-Mail. 
And while I am here I will share my Deal of the Week.  My local Piggly Wiggly store had Colgate toothpaste on sale for $0.99 I paired it with a $0.75 coupon and got a tube of toothpaste for $0.24 WOOT!!

OK all happy Blogging and I hope to be back more often now that the holidays are over.

Deal of the week

I usually get really excited when I can pair coupons with great deals so I get things for free or close to it. Well my deal of the week, maybe even month wasn't free but it was a GREAT DEAL!  I was at Sam's club (which I really wish would take coupons) and I found the little area where they put the damaged items. Normally there isn't too much there as they don't really get returns, or it's damaged food bags which I tend to stay away from.  Well, yesterday was an exception to this, I found a 301oz box of Tide for $14.02!  Why so cheap you ask?  Because where the handle attaches to the Box was ripped and had to be taped!  I think I was more excited about this than I was about the free samples of Cheesecake!

OK I just had to share this to remind people, to check out clearances aisles, and damaged areas, you might be surprised by what you find!

potato soup

One of my favorite things about fall is soups and stews, also with soup season also comes the sales on potatoes and vegetables.  2  weeks ago our local grocery store had 10lb bags of potatoes for $2.99 which is about $2 off.  They also had Large ham butt portions for $0.99 lb which is great because I get about 6 meals out of a 8lb chunk of meat.  This last week they had 2lb packages of celery and carrots for $0.99 each.  Well once I had the am cut apart and frozen I was left with a HUGE ham bone so I stuck it in the freezer so I could make potato soup, and Yesterday was the day I took it out to use. 

Potato Soup
1 large ham bone
2lbs of potatoes peeled and chopped (large pieces)
2 stalks of celery diced
3 carrots diced
1 med Onion diced
1/2 gallon of whole milk

I put the Ham bone in water(just enough to cover) and boil for about 2 hours, after 2 hours I add potatoes and the rest of the veggies. once the potatoes are cooked (45 min or so) remove the ham bone and remove pan from heat for about 15 min then I add the milk.  Don't dump it all in at once add and stir as you go because you may not need it all.  Put soup back on the heat on low until it is warmed through again then serve.  Sometimes I will add extra ham to it, if that is something you want I recommend adding the chopped ham when you add the veggies.

All in all this is one of my favorite soups and ultimately one of the Least expensive to make.

Applesauce

For all my food lovers out there this is by far the easiest and healthiest thing that I do. 

I Live in Apple country, we have a town about 15 miles from me that is the Apple capitol of WI, and has about 12 orchards in a 5 mile stretch of road, not to mention all the small ones around the town too.

Well I have always been a big fan of applesauce so when Braxton was around 6 months old I decided to go to the Orchards, get a bushel of apple and make applesauce.  This was the first time I had EVER attempted anything like this in my life so I wasn't sure what was going to happen.  I did have to do some research first and figure a few things out.
1. What kind of apples work best?
2. Do I want to add sweeteners
3. What is the Fastest method?

To answer the first one I asked the people that work at the orchards since they know their apples and they recommended Cortland.
To answer the second one I looked inside myself and decided NO there is enough natural sugar in apples
To answer the third one I went to my faithful old Ball Blue Book for Canning and looked at a couple of recipes.

Let me just add here that I own a tomato juicer that is also designed for taking peels and seeds out of apples too.  If you don't own one of these you will have to core and peel apples by hand or spend $20 to buy one.  I say buy one if you are making a large amount of sauce.

OK so here is what has to be done.  I slice the apples into quarters and put them in a couple of large pots with a cup or so of water and let them cook for a while. Make sure you stir them so they don't burn to the bottom of the pan.  Once all of the apples seems soft you can scoop them into the juicer/peeler and the applesauce comes out one side and the skins and seeds the other.  After all the apples have gone through this process the sauce needs to be cooked for another 10/ 15 min stirring very often to avoid burning.  If you want to add Cinnamon do it while it is still cooking.



Once they have cooked all that is left to do is put it in jars and process in a hot water bath for 20 min. 
Just Note that once you make your own you will NEVER go back to store bought again.