Category: Pinching Pennies

Light Switch Cover Decorating

- Groovy Mom Leave a comment

This is an older post, but as I was coming up the stairs today, admiring my lightswitch plate, I was quite pleased, thinking that I should make some more of them. They have lasted years and look as good as when I first made them. Still can’t believe it. This project is a totally cheap and easy way to spruce up something in a room  for pennies.

Light Switch Decoration

After re-painting the livingroom and entryway, I decided to change the light switches and electrical covers. After looking around at Home Depot, Menards and the like, I figured it was going to be more money than I wanted to spend to get all new ones with the colors I wanted. So I decided to revamp the prominent ones by using supplies I had on hand . The one new thing I did get was the scrapbook paper, the rest I had on hand (and you should, too). My pictures didn’t turn out so hot, but you get the gist.

Supplies:
scrapbook paper (or paper of your choice)
glue (I used craft glue)
water
scissors
razor blade cutter (man I can’t think of the name right now – exacto knife, maybe?)

I took the scrapbook paper and made an outline of the lightswitch cover.

step1.jpg

step2.jpg step2z.jpg

Then I took the glue, mixed it with water (about a 1:3 ratio, glue:water). With a paintbrush and some fingers I smeared glue on the back of the paper, placed that over the lightswitch cover and smeared generous portions of the glue/water soluntion on that as well. I let that dry a bit, then repeated that 2 more times.

step3.jpg

After that dried I put a clear protective spray over it that I had on hand (2 coats). I don’t know if it was necessary, but since I had it If figured I might as well use it for extra protection. I also did a little trimming of excess paper at some point during the process.

Voila.

step4.jpg

They look pretty good, but I can see things I may have done different, like trimmed a little more or maybe even did a couple more coats of the glue water to make it even more durable. But oh well.

Refinancing Credit Card Debt

- Groovy Mom 2 Comments

We refinanced.

Not our house. That was done before. This time it was our other debt. Two of our debts. One was a credit card for… a sizable amount. It’s so embarrassing to even share this, because my ignorance shows. But, I share in hopes that someone else will make sense of it, and maybe it will help.

We had a credit card that I have been paying on for a good year. Combined balances, lured with a low introductory APR, that had passed and now bounced up to the regular rate. We made the commitment to not spend on the card and pay it down. First step. Sadly, it took that long year to realize that my payments were making a minimal dent in the debt. When I say minimal, I mean… oh, 10 bucks each month? Hardly enough to make the hundreds digit move, and not nearly enough for the thousands to rotate.

As I was paying it a couple months ago I had a gut check. A sick, sick feeling that something needed to be done. But, as far as finances go, I’m but an infant. I seriously think if I were in school and lengthy IEP would be issued for me, and it would be heartily welcomed and helpful. I do not jest. I’m a slow learner in some areas. There are things in life that swirl around my brain and never permeate it, and then, one day, they find an in and they squiggle in. This. This is one of them.

At any rate, I made a plan to visit my local credit union and finance at a lower rate. Before that plan, I made a plan to distribute my balance among multiple lower-APR cards. Option 2 was much more viable, but as I said I learn slow.

After accepting 2 card offers and realizing they weren’t really what would work best for me, I told myself I needed to bite the bullet and visit the credit union down the street. I’ve already got an account there (baby steps), setting up a small savings. I don’t know what kept me from visiting my always-friendly CU to see if they had any options for me. Pride, probably.

Yesterday we set aside all non-necessary deeds, and made ourselves a priority for once. Forget the things I needed to do to manage the two soccer teams I was managing, our own finances, our own lives needed to take priority. For once. Too long I’ve lived diving into volunteer work and other things that put me in a place of doing something very productive, but kept me from facing our own obligations.

That’s got to change.

To the bank we went, at the desk we sat, the conversation we finally had. The refinancing we accomplished.

Credit card shall be paid off in 3 years.

Car loan (refinanced at a lower rate – with a local bank) paid off in 4.

The light at the end of the tunnel is visible. The refinancing on the credit card alone will save us roughly 7 grandola. Yeah, I sad $7000.  It’s still debt, and we’re still giving someone money to borrow money, but it is less, and it has an end in sight.

I. Felt. Terrific. Frank was a little less ecstatic, only because he really isn’t involved in the finances (another thing that needs to change). Bless his heart for coming along, supporting me, and sharing a bit of joy in my relief

When you’re being intentional in one area of your finances, it really helps you to be more thoughtful in other areas.

Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup

- Groovy Mom 4 Comments

One of the areas where we spend too much money is food. It is difficult feeding 4 growing boys (not to mention parents, too) with crazy schedules healthy, nutritious meals when you’re on a financial (and time) budget. Too many meals we’ve resorted to ordering out or throwing in pizzas simply because I was too worn out / worn thin to be able to whip up a satisfying meal. I’m not saying that the occasional pizza and salad is a terrible thing, but the times where I’ve looked back on my checkbook and saw that I spent $70 on two spur-of-the-moment dinners back-to-back? Yikes. Shudder. Embarrassing.

Because of that, one of my biggest goals is to intentionally put more thought into our dinner and meals. Not saying that I can avoid eating out (see yesterday), or that we won’t pick up or order in. But we need to do it with less frequency if we are going to climb out of debt. My lack of planning has not been helpful. I, personally, need to be more mindful of my time and the commitments I take on. It feels a bit selfish, but I think it is important for me to do. Discipline.

Over the last couple weeks, I’ve been spending more time planning and organizing what we will have for dinners and lunches. The internet is a wonderful tool when it comes to looking for cheap, healthy meals, crockpot recipes, tips and articles on frugal living. I have collected an array of recipes to try, and today I made this: Weeknight Chicken Noodle Soup. The recipe is simple, calling for ingredients that are easy enough to get your hands on and probably already have (save the rotisserie chicken).

I had to pick up the celery, but had a HUGE bag of carrots from Costco, some broth, and egg noodles just waiting to be used. I followed the recipe pretty closely, making the following changes:

– did not saute the vegetables

– used 1 carton of broth, plus some of my bullion and water

– added about 1c. chopped onion

– did not use the cornstarch at the end

– added about 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (I like a little kick to mine)

It was quick and delicious. I’ve made chicken soup a million times before, and have even with a rotisserie chickens (either plucking the meat off, or using leftover chicken for stock), but have not done it this way, throwing the entire chicken in the pot to heat. It streamlines the process, softening up the chicken, making it easier to pull of the bone while heating it, too, and flavoring the pot with the skin. It’s funny how you can make something using the same ingredients you’ve used before, but by shifting the process a little bit, come up with a new method. I’m glad I did, and will definitely be using this again. It took me very little time to whip up a nice, warm pot for lunch.

We ate this with some crusty bread and Amish butter. Mmm.

Overtime

- Groovy Mom Leave a comment

Franks working overtime tonight. As much as I don’t like him to be gone, I do like the impact it makes on the paycheck. Years ago, when the kids were little, the difficulty of him being gone for 16 hours outweighed the fatter check. With the twins and a toddler, plus two more – my job as a SAHM was no cake walk. Some days, now, it is still difficult when he is gone for days on end. But I’m getting used to it. Bill-pay time is not as stressful when there’s a couple OTs on the check.

Right now we’re really working on getting our finances in better order. Big picture is overwhelming, but taking small bites of the debt pie here and there is manageable. One thing I need to do is renegotiate one of our credit cards, or refinance somewhere else. The card is $8000, and I don’t think the balance is even moving with the minimum payment each month. Craziness. For a long time life was so crazy (not just in Toddlerhood, but more recently) that we were in survival mode. The goal was to survive, attention was not given to these small details. This year, though, as my hours were cut from work, I used some of that time to do a better job of house management, and the benefits are overwhelming.

If anyone has any tips about paying down credit card debt, I’m all ears.

Using Up Leftover Kidney Beans

- Groovy Mom Leave a comment

A few recent expenses and a desire to get rid of debt has led me back on the path of increasing my time spent meal-planning and finding cheap (but healthy) meals for the family.  It is not easy to feed 4 hungry boys, let me tell you.  Earlier this week I shopped my pantry and found a big bag of dried kidney beans. I  soaked overnight and threw them in the crockpot the next morning before work, planning a dinner of beans and cilantro rice.  I was a bit skeptical over how it would be received, to be honest. No meat, and just beans. And rice, of coarse.

After the beans cooked on low for a good 9 hours, I finished them for 1 more hour on high, then transferred the majority over to a skillet where I heated them with some canola oil, garlic, pepper and and onion. After they were a bit mashed and bruised-looking, they were ready. We ate them with heaping plates of warm tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream and cilantro rice. Yum.

However, a few days later I was at a loss over what to do with the remaining beans.  I had already made chili recently, and having more beans and rice probably wouldn’t cut it.  Instead I put the beans (about 4 cups or so worth) into the bottom of my cast iron pot.  I added about 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, 1/2 cup of water, and a package of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning mix while heating it  a bit on the stovetop, then added 1 package of beef sausages on top*, lidded it and put it in a 350 degree oven for 2 hours.

We went to pick up the kids at the mall and run a few errands, and by the time we got home the house smelled delicious. The sausages were plump and tasty, the beans were delicious. We had baked potatoes on the side (made earlier in the crockpot). I love it. Tonight, with all the running around we did, could have very easily spent $30-plus a night of pizza, burgers or take-out because of poor planning. But a little bit of thinking had me using up some beans I would have possibly tossed out, and putting a meal on the table for much less than one that was store bought.

*These were Usinger’s beef dogs purchased from Costco. They come 12 to a pack, divided into 2 packs of 6. Because they were large, I cut them in halves to make 12 servings. I do this quite often because, for some reason, eating 2 halves rather than 1 sausage makes it seem like you’re eating more. It’s much easier for me to give some of the boys 1/2 a sausage and then give them seconds, rather than start with the whole thing. This isn’t necessary for all of my children, but there’s a couple that prefer quantity over quality.

Walmart Has Good Ice Cream

- Groovy Mom 3 Comments

Hello gorgeous.

I know it has been a while. So I’ll break in with some ice cream talk.

Summer’s here again (not officially, yet but the kids are out the air-conditioning’s been on, so it’s summer in my book). And what screams summer like ice cold treats? I’m not a huge ice cream fan, though I admittedly eat my fair share of it. I just don’t crave it and turn to it when I want to pork down.

Great Value Blueberry PomegranateFrank and I used to get the small tubs of some specialty ice cream. This was years ago. But since then the kids have grown and those small tubs are too small for the lot of us. I still get them sometimes (like this Häagen-Dazs five™ ice cream, mint, good stuff). Generally I go for the Bryer’s All Natural. Frank likes that it is “real” ice cream. We all like the taste. And often it is on sale. But a few years ago we had one of those obnoxious Super Wal-marts open very close to our house. As much as I hate it, I find myself there almost daily. It is a matter of convenience and an emaciated checkbook. Can’t win every battle.

Anyway, I’m all for checking out the generics/store brands, and have done the same with the Wal-mart Great Value brand. I think we may have started with the all natural ice cream. To make a long story short: it’s a winner. The Blueberry Pomegranate is one of my favorite ice creams hands down. It is delicious and it saves me a few pennies. Score.

What’s For Dinner – Easy Roast Beef Subs

- Groovy Mom Leave a comment

It’s _____day night and you’ve hardly had a minute to spare, jetting from one place to another…

What’s for dinner?

Easy Roast Beef Subs

Busy night, thank goodness for pre-planning a meal. What could have turned into a$20 plus drive-thru meal, was instead a 15-minute prep and eat meal. And it was good, just as good as if we were to eat out. It is satisfying to save a little bit of money. I realize that there are definitely times where our family needs to stop somewhere, shove some food in the kiddo’s mouths so they can eat and get some shut-eye, but I would much rather those days be lessened, and not feel like they are forced. I really prefer it to be enjoyable to eat out, rather than necessity.

Keeping the Sports Bottles Icy Cold

- Groovy Mom 1 Comment

If you’re like me and you’re short on room, time and the ability to consistently plan ahead, this might be a good tip for you.

I’ve got  a house full of boys in sports, who are always in the need of a jug of cold water to take to practices or games. Depending on the heat outside, they often need MEGA jugs, because  a little bottle of water simply will not do. MEGA jugs are great because they provide enough portable hydration, but they’re not so great because it takes nearly 1/2 bag of store-bought ice to fill it enough to keep it cold for the hours it sits on the sidelines.

Here’s a solution:

Freeze water in similar-sized leftover plastic containers (cottage cheese, yogurt, deli take-out, etc.).

When it comes time to fill the bottle, run the container under a little bit of warm water so the ice block falls right out, plop in your jug and fill. It melts much slower than store-bought ice cubes, and is way more economical. Immediately after using a block of ice, I refill the container and place it in the freezer so it is available for the next practice or game.

My jugs fit a large cottage cheese container perfectly, but depending on the mouth size of your jug, you’ll have to improvise.

Cheap and Easy Decorating – Lightswitch Covers

- Groovy Mom Leave a comment

LIGHTSWITCH RE-DECORATION

(Repost from 2006)

After re-painting the livingroom and entryway, I decided it might be good to also change the light switches and electrical covers. After looking around at Home Depot, Menards and the like, I quickly realized that to replace all of the covers, I would have to spend more money than I had budgeted. So I decided to revamp the prominent light-switches using supplies I already had on hand. The only new supply I picked up was the scrapbook paper. My pictures didn’t turn out so hot, but you get the gist.

Supplies:
scrapbook paper in patter or color to match the room
glue (I used craft glue)
water
scissors
razor blade cutter (man I can’t think of the name right now – exacto knife, maybe?)

I took the scrapbook paper and made an outline of the lightswitch cover, cutting out the holes for the switches to fit through. I did not make holes for the screws; it wasn’t necessary.

step1.jpg

step2.jpg step2z.jpg

Then I took the glue, mixed it with water (about a 1:3 ratio, glue:water). With a paintbrush and sometimes with my fingertips, I smeared glue on the back of the paper. Then, I placed the paper over the light-switch cover and smeared generous portions of the glue/water solution on the front. I let that dry a bit (10 minutes, maybe), then repeated with 2 more coats.

step3.jpg

After that dried I put a clear protective spray over it that I had on hand (2 coats). I don’t know if it was necessary, but since I had it If figured I might as well use it for extra protection. I also did a little trimming of excess paper at some point during the process.

Voila.

step4.jpg

They look pretty good, but I can see things I may have done different, like trimmed a little more or maybe even did a couple more coats of the glue water to make it even more durable. But oh well.

UPDATE: Three years later these have held up beautifully.