Frugal Things I Did Last Week

She is so happy with her frugal family!

My sweet girl is 7 weeks old already!  I can hardly believe it.  My body feels like it has healed and I am no longer experiencing pain.  Hooray!  We are slowly adjusting to our new normal around here.  Our frugal ways have not kicked back in completely but we are making a little progress so I thought I would share what we were up to last week.  

Frugal Things I Did Last Week:

We hosted a birthday lunch for my Dad at our house on Sunday after church.  I made a simple BBQ from a pork loin and served it along with: Pasta Salad, Cole Slaw, Vegetarian Baked Beans, Pumpkin Cake/Cobbler, and Chocolate Cake.

Despite hosting Thanksgiving for 26 people I did not go to the grocery at all last week.  I knew the stores would be absolutely crazy and I wanted to avoid taking two young children out in the craziness.  This allowed me to avoid lots of extra impulse purchases that are much harder for me to resist around the holidays.

I baked a ham (along with the turkey) that I had to cook myself and saved about a dollar per pound.  This was actually my first time baking a full ham. I mixed up a glaze of honey, apple juice, and honey mustard.  I basted the ham about every 15 minutes and it tasted great!  It was so easy that I will probably try to bake one a couple of times a year.

I made Eva Grace’s Thanksgiving peasant dress & Eli’s matching tie shirt.

I sewed curtains for one of the windows in the kitchen.  The week before I sewed curtains for the bathroom.  Now I am just trying to decide what style curtains to sew for the Family Room and Kitchen.

I made a Christmas canvas as a thank you to a couple in our church who allowed our family to stay at their cabin while they were visiting.

I went Black Friday shopping at Hancock Fabrics and Michaels.  I didn’t go crazy and compared to most years bought a small amount of fabric and notions.  Hancock Fabrics matched JoAnn’s 25% off your total purchase saving me extra money.  

We had a bunch of bananas that were going bad so I baked banana nut bread for our Thanksgiving Dessert Social at church.

I sewed a Christmas gift for one of my nieces.  No picture since her mama reads my blog! 😉

I gave my cousin her birthday gift.  I made her doll a Christmas Dress, headband, and two tiny school binders.  I used this tutorial for the headband and Simplicity 4786 for the doll dress.  I had the pattern on hand and have made it many times.  Everything I used to make her gift I had on hand.

Eli made jello jigglers.

I breastfed and cloth-diapered my daughter all week.  This is a substantial savings in our life every week!

What frugal things did you do last week?  

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Frugal Things I Did Last Week

Eli enjoying his new saddle.

We purchased a used pony saddle for Elijah.  Just look at that face!  🙂  He is blessed to be able to ride often at my parent’s house.  I can’t wait to go riding with him next year when I am not expecting!

I passed along a couple of bags of books and clothes to a couple of friends.  I always appreciate hand-me-downs for Eli so I try to do the same.  By the way does anyone have a suggestion for where to buy new jeans for a super skinny little boy?  We are going to have to buy new jeans for the winter since I have only found 2 pairs at yard sales/thrift stores all year.  😦

Brandon, Eli & I attended a free Play-dough Party at our local library.  We all had a nice time.

I made Cole-Slaw and a 7 Layer Salad for my brother’s birthday party.  There was a mistake made and his cake was tiny so I also made a Chocolate Eclair Cake at the last-minute.  Thankfully I had all of the ingredients on hand since I always purchase the ingredients during my monthly Aldi trip.

We took snacks & drinks along to 2 doctor appointments this past week.  Not only does this save lots of money but we are eating healthier snacks.

The hubby was able to attend last week’s Bengal’s game for free.  A friend called him at the last-minute and asked if he wanted to go!  I was so excited for him!  I had actually tried to get tickets because the game was on a Monday night.  Usually all of the games are at 1:00 on Sunday.  As a pastor he just can’t make it to one of those Sunday games.  The tickets were just too expensive for us right now (even as an early birthday present) so it was such a treat for him.  What a kind blessing from the Lord!

My aunt gave us peppers, tomatoes, and green beans from her garden.  I will be freezing the peppers to use this winter.  I made a batch of homemade Tomato Basil Soup (Crock-Pot) for dinner this evening.  I cooked a huge pot of green beans for our church’s fall festival on Sunday.

I sewed a flannel sheet for baby girl and 2 sets of nursing pads using scrap flannel material I had on hand.  I also added pink baby rick-rack to a side-snap shirt that was Eli’s as a baby.

After months of writing letters I finally had a large medical bill processed correctly.  HOORAY!!!!  This saved us hundreds of dollars!  Always check your medical bills against your EOB.

Elijah picked four sunflowers for me from our yard.  We made a nice small bouquet to decorate our kitchen table.  The sunflowers are a dwarf variety to use in bouquets.

I picked up bread at a bread outlet that I pass on the way to my ob office.  Although I usually make bread it is one of those things that I have let slide all summer since I am expecting.  🙂

What frugal activities did you do last week?  

Newborn Cloth Diaper Stash

Our Newborn Cloth Diaper Stash

 

Call me crazy or insane but one of the things I am looking forward to is cloth diapering our new little girl as a newborn.  I have always loved cloth diapers and I cannot wait to see our sweet little girl in a teeny tiny cloth diaper!  🙂  We didn’t start using cloth diapers with Eli until he was 4 weeks old since we moved when he was only 2 weeks old.  Looking back it probably would not have been that crazy to use cloth diapers.  We ended up spending tons of money on diapers the first month because we had to buy expensive diapers for sensitive skin.  If we were going to use disposable diapers for the newborn stage I would definitely want to use chlorine free diapers which cost even more (twice the cost of generic disposables).  I am guessing these would set us back about $148 for the first month.  One option that I looked into was the possibility of using a newborn cloth diaper rental service but that would cost around $220.  We would like to have more children in the future so we opted to purchase a newborn stash that can be used for future children.  Our budget for our entire stash was $100.  I can honestly say that I had a lot of fun watching for sales and purchasing used cloth diapers over the summer.  That said I thought it would be fun to share what our newborn cloth diaper stash looks like.  I plan on doing an update in a few months to share which newborn cloth diapers worked best for us.

Our Stash of Prefolds & Covers

Many people choose to use either pocket diapers or prefolds with covers.  We are planning on using both systems.  Prefolds and covers are by far the most economical option.  We purchased a dozen orange edged sized newborn (6-10 lbs) Cloth-Eez Prefolds from Green Mountain Diapers and a dozen yellow edged sized small (10-15 lbs) Cloth-Eez prefolds.  Our covers include: Imse Vimse Size Newborn, 1 cover I made using the New Conceptions Diaper Cover with leg gusset, 1 handmade cover I made trying to copy the Bummis Super Brite Cover-I doubt this will really work, 1 DIY Cover using the Babyville Boutique size newborn pattern, 2 Thirsties Duo Size 1 covers, and 2 Bummis Super Brite Newborns.  To me most of the covers (except the Bummis Super Brites) look really big.  I wouldn’t be surprised if only the Bummis fit well for the first couple of weeks.

Pocket Diapers & Fitted Diapers I Made

I made two pocket diapers using the Green Pepper Pattern F708 in Size Newborn.  On the second cover I made the elastic in the leg larger.  I also made 5 fitted diapers using the Kwik Sew Pattern 3690.  Thankfully I was able to try these on a friend’s baby and adjusted the elastic around the legs.  I did not sew a large stash of either of these since I am not 100% sure they will be a good fit.

 

The stash of All in One Diapers I made for Eli using Kwik Sew’s pattern.

Before Eli was born I sewed 15 All-in-One diapers using Kwik Sew 3690.  Unfortunately these ran really small and I was hardly able to use them at all after all of that work! 😦  I don’t really know if these will fit baby girl at all unless she has really skinny legs.  I’m not actually planning on these fitting but if they do that would be great!  These diapers also took FOREVER to dry so I’m sure they will be the ones I reach for last.

Pocket Diapers or All in One Diapers are much more expensive than going the prefolds and covers route.  I chose to purchase 1/2 of our stash in AIO diapers because my husband likes them much better.  (I also got a wonderful deal on them used.)  I am also counting on having help from family when the baby comes (Brandon’s mom is coming to stay after the baby is born and I am sure my mom and sisters will help from time to time).  I wanted to make it easier for them to help me change diapers.  🙂

Our Stash of Pocket Diapers

I spent lots of time researching which aio/pocket diapers worked best and I think it just depends on your child.  We have 12 Bumgenius AIO XS diapers (yellow, blue, & teal in the picture on the left and right).  The reason I bought so many of these was simply because I got a great deal by purchasing a lot of them.  In the middle column starting at the top I have 2 Grovia Diapers, 1 XS Fuzzibunz Pocket Diaper, 1 Alva Baby (a China diaper), and 2 Lil’ Joey diapers.  As you can see I tried hard to keep things pretty gender neutral for the most part.  It is so hard though!  🙂

I am also planning on sewing some fleece doublers in case any of these diapers need more absorbency.  We will also be using cloth wipes.  I have some leftover from Eli and am in the process of sewing a dozen more from scrap fabric.

Have you ever cloth diapered a newborn?  Any tips, advice, etc?  

 

Frugal Things I Did Last Week

 

Frugal Things I Did This Past Week:

My sister Bekah and I both donated a foot of our hair to Wigs for Kids.  This organization is similar to Locks for Love but does not charge kids for the wigs.

I took part in a market research study and made $45 for 45 minutes of my time.  I can’t share what the product was but it was interesting!

I sewed two newborn cloth diaper covers.  For the first cover I used the New Conceptions Pattern with leg gussets.  On the second cover I used the Babyville Boutique FOE Diaper Cover pattern.  I’m not planning on making a ton of either one since I don’t know how they will fit on our little girl.  (I made a bunch of All-in-One diapers before Elijah was born but they ended up not fitting well.)

I also purchased some size small GMD prefolds from diaperswappers.com.  I can honestly say I am really looking forward to cloth diapering our new baby.

Last week I also drafted my own pattern for a nursing sleep bra.  This was quite a stretch for me!  I sewed one but it ended up a little smaller than I would have liked.  I will probably try to make another one using fabric that has more stretch or enlarging the pattern.  Since it’s a little intimate I don’t plan on sharing a picture.  😉

I passed on some clothes to a friend that no longer fit Eli.  I really appreciate hand me downs from friends so I try hard to do the same thing.

I attended a free digital photography class at our library.  I also spent some time taking pictures of Eli and trying out some new techniques.

We moved a dresser into Eli’s room that I had been using to store sewing supplies.  The dresser was actually mine as a child but it is brown so it will work for Eli.  Eli’s former dresser is now in our nursery and will be used by baby girl.  It is a short dresser and has only 3 drawers which is plenty.  (It helps discourage me from buying too many clothes.)  We will place a changing pad on top and this is where we will change our little one.

I picked green beans, zucchini, yellow squash and peppers from our garden.

I attended a free sewing class with my mom where we made an iron tote.  I was in middle school or high school the last time I did something like this!  🙂  It was lots of fun!

What frugal things did you do last week?  

DIY Special Date Personalized Art Canvas

Bedroom Home Décor on a budget.

One of my goals for this past month has been to put more effort into decorating our home.  Home Décor is just one of those areas I just plain stink at.  We’ve lived in our current home almost 2 years and most of the windows still don’t even have curtains!  (I have an aversion to sewing curtains because it just seems so boring compared to everything else one can sew.)  I really desire to have a cozy home that is a place of rest for my family so I decided to start making this more of a priority.

My plan is to work on one room each month.  This month I worked on our bedroom.  It’s probably the easiest room to start with.  🙂  So far I have switched out my bedside bookcase for the one that had been in the sewing room.  I like it much better.  I also added black sconces on each side of the mirror above my dresser and added candles.  My favorite thing I did this month to decorate our bedroom was to make the above sign.  Can you guess what the numbers mean?  It is the date of our wedding anniversary and no doubt my favorite day of the whole year!  🙂

When I saw this number sign on Pintrest I knew I had to give it a try.  Since all of our walls are white I knew I wanted to paint the canvas first.  (My canvas was 16″ x 20″.)  I chose a light green color that matched our curtains and bed spread.  I gave the canvas two coats of paint.  (Elijah ended up wanting to paint also so I let him paint his own canvas at the same time.)

Since I can’t actually paint anything besides a plain background, I decided to utilize my Cricut.  I thought about making a stencil but then decided to just cut the numbers out of vinyl since I already had some on hand.  (I used brown.)  I used the Plantin’ Schoolbook cartridge for the Cricut and cut 6″ numbers.  I had planned on using the transfer tape this time but cut my vinyl too deep so I ended up placing them on the canvas without the tape.  The numbers 1 and 2 were easy to place but boy did the number 3 and 7 give me fits.  Still I am really pleased with how it turned out.  I also painted a sealer that I had on hand over the canvas.

This project turned out to be very inexpensive!  I purchased a 2 pack of canvases for 3.99 at Michaels.  (I plan on using the other one in baby girl’s nursery.)  I spent 0.54 for paint and had the vinyl, sealer, and paintbrushes on hand.  Total out-of-pocket expense: 2.54!  This may be one of my cheapest craft projects yet.

The hubby seemed to really like it.  (He’s a bit sentimental himself.)  He joked that now he will never forget the year we were married.  Ha, ha!  (I still think he will forget one year but I don’t think he will forget the day because it is also his birthday!)  I would still like to add something to the wall opposite our bed but I just haven’t figured out what yet.  Maybe a wedding picture?  I’m really thankful I was able to devote more time to decorating this month.  Before you know it we will have a little bassinett in there with a sweet little baby.

What sort of home décor do you have in your bedroom?  Has anyone made a photo gallery of pictures of the hubby and yourself?

Budget Friendly Health & Dental Scheduling

 

As a college student I always scheduled all of my checkups-Dental Cleaning, Eye Exam, and Well-Checkup for the first week I was home in May.  That way I could get them over with and enjoy the rest of my summer.   When I got married I continued with this idea and included my husband.  Unfortunately this turned out to be a budget disaster for us!  He also hated the idea of having three appointments in a single week.  Our small budget just couldn’t handle the expense of copays for the dentist and paying for the entire eye exam, contacts & or glasses for two people.  Somewhere in the past almost five years of being married we figured out that we needed to space them out.  Not only is this much easier on our budget but we don’t find ourselves going crazy trying to get everything done within a week.  We set aside a monthly amount in our budget each month for health, dental, and vision expenses.  Spacing out our appointments insures that there will be enough money in our health budget to pay for different services when the bill comes.

If you would like to adopt a similar plan it’s actually quite simple.

1. For each family member write down exactly which appointments they will need within the next 12 months.
2. Then write down what each visit will cost you.  In our family everyone has a well check-up which is covered 100% by our insurance (as long as the doctor’s office bills it correctly).  You may want to call your insurance company and find out exactly what sort of Well-Check Ups are covered.  Each family member also goes to the dentist twice a year for a cleaning where we will have to pay a small portion.  Some dental insurances require you to pay a copay where others pay only a set dollar amount towards services.  Brandon & I also both wear contacts and must have an eye exam every year.  We do not have vision insurance so this is one of our biggest expenses because we have to pay for the eye exam and contacts.  If anyone in your family takes prescription medicine they might also need to schedule lab work every three or four months so keep this in mind.

I thought it might be helpful to share what exactly this looks like for our family:

January-Amanda has her well-checkup and lab workup.

February- Brandon & Amanda go together to the dentist and out to eat afterwards.

March-Elijah visits the dentist.

April- Brandon has an eye exam.  He will then try out contacts for a month and we will order a six-month supply at a time.

May-Amanda has an eye exam.  Her contacts will be ordered the next month.

June- Brandon has his annual Well-Check Up at the doctors with labs.  Since this is covered 100% there is money in the budget to cover Amanda’s contacts which are then ordered.

July- Amanda visits the dermatologist.

August- Brandon & Amanda have their teeth cleaned again.

September- Elijah visits the dentist.

October- For the past few years this month has held no appointments but we will soon be adding yearly well-checkups for our new baby girl.  🙂

November-Elijah has his well-check up.

December- We schedule NO appointments during this crazy month and focus on enjoying the Christmas season.  This is also a crazy month to visit the doctor since many people have met their deductible for the year.

I can’t begin to share just how helpful it has been for our family to space out our check-ups.  I hope you find this idea helpful.  We have actually found this schedule to be the most beneficial this year since I am expecting.  I visit the doctor once a month but will soon find myself going every two weeks and then every week.  I am so glad to have so many of our visits over with before our baby comes. 

 

Frugal Things I Did Last Week

I grew this sunflower right outside our front porch.

This past week I decided to bring some of the beautiful sunflowers indoors.  I can’t remember the exact name but I do think they were purchased from Renee’s Garden.  Now if I can only stop Eli from picking them for me!  We won’t have any left in another week or two.

I attended two non-consecutive days of the KY State Horse Show this past week.  My brother Jacob and sister Rebekah both showed at the show on different days.  I got up early and drove down rather than spending the night in a hotel.  I also packed lunch one day and a cooler of snacks both days.  I took a small soft sided cooler that I was able to carry up into the stands with us.  I also rode with my family in order to save on gas.

Elijah and I went to the splash park with my aunt and cousin.  We purchased a season pass at the beginning of the summer so the cost is minimal.  We took a cooler of snacks and drinks along.  Do you see a trend yet?  🙂

We also met friends on another day at the local park and had a picnic.  I had a wonderful time catching up with a good friend.

We had the tires on Brandon’s car rotated.  Not only does this save money in the long run but it is much safer.  We rotate our tires every 5,000 miles.  Our local tire store Tire Discounters guarantees that your tires will last for a certain amount of miles if they are rotated every 5,000 miles or they will give you money off your next tire purchase.  We had this happen with our Saturn and they did make good on their promise.

On Wednesday I had a good friend over for brunch.  We often meet to go walking but it is getting hot outside.  I served a simple French Toast Bake, fresh fruit salad, and homemade Starbucks.  It was wonderful to spend time with her.  Elijah simply played while we visited and neither one of us went home with a large bill from having gone to a restaurant.

On Friday night we went to the Cincinnati Museum Center.  We had to pay $4 for parking but we received free entrance to all 3 museums.  The museum center offers free admission once a month in the summer.  It was great!  It would have cost us $34 for just the 3 of us.

The family and I went to the library on Saturday morning together.

Frugal Things I Did Last Week

Elijah caught his first fish this past week!

We enjoyed a wonderful week last week enjoying the 4th of July and even had the opportunity to visit with family who live out of town.  Summer continues to be a fun time for our family but also an expensive one.  I think we may try to put “Summer Fun” into our budget throughout the year.  Has anyone done this before?  We have been able to continue many of our frugal ways this past week.  🙂  

I was able to sew a lot this past week.  I made a 9″ x 8″ cosmetic bag for Brandon’s Grandmother for her birthday.  I finished sewing 2 more fitted cloth diapers from the Kwik Sew pattern.  I finally completed a new kindle cover for myself using Kwik Sew 3924.  I started working on my cover in February so I was really happy to finally mark this off my to-do list!  I also made my first pocket cloth diaper using Green Pepper PatternF708.  I used 4 layers of flannel for the insert which I don’t think is near enough.

I spent a couple hours working in the garden.  With all of the rain we have been having the weeds are definitely winning!  I expect to have squash and green beans in the next few weeks!  Hooray!

We had VBS Commencement with a Cookout at our church.  I made Energy Bites, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars, & cupcakes.  We also had an inflatable water slide which was lots of fun.  Eli had a blast on the slide!

I headed to Goodwill one afternoon and had a great time browsing for clothing for our little Pumpkin.  I found tights, little pants, a onesie, a lightweight jacket, and a dress.  I also picked up a nice winter shirt for Eli and a book on breastfeeding.

My husband’s grandmother gave us a bunch of cat food and makeup that wasn’t her color.

I read 3 ebooks on my kindle for free.

The hubby and I went to one of my favorite restaurants for a breakfast date!  It was delicious and inexpensive compared to lunch or dinner.

I made homemade chicken broth in the Crockpot.  I like to freeze the broth in 2 cup servings in the freezer.  Not only does this save money but bone broth is good for you!

We spent a fun afternoon at a neighborhood park as a family.  Elijah also caught his first fish!

I used Kohl’s cash to buy: a BPA free cup with a straw and 2 pyrex dishes with lids for .50 out-of-pocket.

I purchased a lot of size small Bummis Super Whisper Wrap cloth diaper covers from ebay.  (These are my favorite covers.)  In my experience babies don’t stay in the size small long enough for them to be worn out at all.

I ordered 99 prints from Shutterfly for 4.99 shipped.  (I always wait to order prints until I can find a nice deal.)

We enjoyed the 4th of July with family and a fireworks show.  On two separate evenings our neighbors shot off fireworks which we were able to enjoy from the comfort of our home.  Over the weekend we attended dinner at our neighbor’s house.  I took Pineapple Fluff.

 

Frugal Things I Did Last Week

We made homemade popsicles.  In the photo above Eli is enjoying his popsicle and his cousin Anna’s.  🙂

I borrowed Downton Abbey Season 2 from the library.

My niece June Eloise was born.  I gave her two flannel crib sheets that I had made and a set of cloth wipes as her baby gift.

We packed a cooler for all of our outings.

I sewed another newborn fitted cloth diaper from scrap fabric in my stash.  (I will try to take a photograph soon.)

My son got an ear infection and needed antibiotics.  I had the prescription filled at Meijer Pharmacy where many antibiotics are free.  His prescription cost nothing!

I used a coupon at Kohls when my husband bought new clothes.

I did not go to the grocery store all week.  I try to only go to the grocery 3 times a month.  I would love to get it down to every other week by the time our new baby comes.

My friend gave me a huge box of girl clothes that will fit our new baby after her first birthday.  There were lots of pretty dresses too!

Hope you are having a wonderful summer! 

 

 

Frugal Things I Did Last Week

Five years ago tomorrow the hubby asked me to marry him!

I sewed 2 fitted newborn cloth diapers using Kwik Sew 3690.  A friend from church was kind enough to let me try them on her daughter.  The pattern is simple to sew but it is off on the amount of elastic used in the legs.  I think I added almost 2 inches of elastic to each leg.

I made a baby gift for my new niece June who is coming soon!  Baby gifts are one of my favorite things to make.  I actually asked my sister-in-law what she needed and ended up sewing 2 flannel crib sheets and a set of cloth wipes.  I use flannel on one side of the wipes and a baby towel on the other side.

The hubby and I went on 2 dates!  For date #1 we went to a bookstore and browsed around for a while.  This is one of our favorite things to do together without kids along.  🙂  We also used a great coupon at ColdStone Creamery to buy ice cream and then went for a walk.  For date #2 we went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants using a gift card.  Then we went window shopping at the mattress store.  I learned that my husband and I are now complete opposites when it comes to what type of mattress we like.  We really need to purchase a mattress & bed so that we have a guest bed when family comes to visit.  Hopefully we will be able to save up enough to purchase this before the new baby comes.  I was SHOCKED at how expensive mattresses are.  I think a new mattress will cost about twice as much as I had thought.  😦

I printed off free activity sheets for Eli to use on a stormy morning.

I worked on weeding my garden when it was dry enough.  I also planted sunflower plants by our house to fill an awkward gap in our landscaping.  I planted two varieties-one is supposed to be nice for bouquets.  They just bloomed and really add color to our front yard.  I also planted 6 cucumber plants that I had started from seed in the float tray.  I waited way to long to transplant them and there were even three cucumbers on the plants!

I made homemade Red Pepper Hummus.  We have enjoyed it as a snack with crackers and inside a grilled cheese.

I went to a couple of garage sales on Saturday.  I found clothes for Eli & a couple of things for our little Pumpkin.  Brandon & Eli also purchased matching jerseys which are lots of fun.

I took Eli to the sprinkler park before heading to the grocery store.  We purchased a summer pass to the sprinkler park which makes this a very inexpensive activity.  Eli also wore a cloth swim diaper while he was there.  We took a small cooler and spent $0 money on snacks.

What frugal activities did you do last week?