You guys have probably been wondering why we haven’t mentioned any recent CVS trips, or posted any weekly deals. Well, you might want to sit down for this… we’ve stopped CVSing. Now, don’t freak out, it may not be forever, we’re not sure yet. But for now, we’ve both decided to take a break from it. There are several reasons why we have decided this.

As fun as it was, it was becoming a huge time consuming task which was taking away from time with our families. It takes many hours researching the best deals, gathering and sorting all of the coupons, figuring out the best scenarios, posting all of this info, and then doing the actual shopping itself, sometimes at several different stores.

Also, with gas prices as high as they are, and the closest CVS being about 15 min. away, we started considering the cost in time and gas for these “free” things, and we’ve decided it just wasn’t really the most frugal thing anymore.

Thirdly, since we are on our quest to have less and living healthier, we’ve decided to start trying to make the things that we can ourselves (deo, toothpaste, soap, shampoo…) to save money and live “greener”.

So, hope you guys understand, and don’t hate us forever! We’d love to have you join us in this new frugal endeavor, so we will be posting “make it yourself” recipes for toiletries, cleaning supplies, and whatever else we can as we find and test them. Hopefully this will be just as helpful to your budgets, as well as a healthier option. Thanks for all of your support and encouragement!! We love you guys.

I came across the cutest idea tonight on this blog! And I thought that this might go well with our new theme of minimizing and reusing/re-purposing things. If you have some old, outgrown clothes of baby’s that you just haven’t been able to let go, this may be a great solution for you:

Turn baby’s clothing into a keepsake quilt!

And if you don’t know how to sew, you can send your clothing to this company (for a pretty penny!) and they will turn them into a beautiful keepsake blanket. Here are some examples from their website of what they do:

I LOVE this idea!!! And it would make a great gift for somebody too!

Like my sister said, we are both on our journey to having less. As I’ve been reading and learning, I’m coming to realize how wasteful and overindulging our society is! We simply have so much STUFF! And it’s like we aren’t happy; we just have to keep getting more. In poorer countries some people only have two pairs of clothing, and maybe one or two bowls to eat from. And here we are, closets overflowing, cabinets toppling over with an overabundance of unnecessary items that we think we just have to have. And before long we get tired of the “old” things (though they are perfectly functional), and head out to buy new again.

I recently read a quote from a top fashion designer which has really made me re-evaluate my own role as consumer. He said,

“It is my job to make women unhappy with what they have.”

You know, that’s exactly it! Marketers are scheming, devising every plan imaginable to make us feel like what we have is inadequate, so that we go out and buy whatever they are pedaling, filling their greedy pockets. And we have been such suckers! And it’s not just the fashion industry, this goes for our vehicles, homes, appliances, home decor, and everything purchasable. How much longer will we fall for their devices, and allow them to manipulate us into feeling unhappy with what God has blessed us with? How often are we perfectly content with what we have, and then we are ambushed with a new fad or design that we just have to have and suddenly what we already posses is not good enough?

I have to admit, I am such a sucker for this! Especially watching HGTV, and home design shows where they go and remodel, or redecorate these homes and make them just gorgeous. Though the day before I was perfectly proud of the way my home looked, suddenly I’m feeling very unstylish, and like I need to go out and buy a bunch of stuff to redecorate with. What’s up with that? I know what it is, and the Lord Jesus warned us about it, it’s being covetous. I’m reminded of this verse:

“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

And so, I’ve decided to go through my home and get rid of all of the things that I don’t absolutely need. Boy, is it going to be hard! I’ve started going through my closet, and the kid’s closets, and getting rid of most of the things in there (that will be a whole other post). Next I plan on going through the cabinets and doing a thorough cleaning! Who needs 10 plates and 15 glasses for a family of 4? I know I don’t, and I’m tired of feeling like do. After the cabinets and kitchen drawers have been paired down, I’ll tackle the toys (yes again!), knick knacks (though I don’t really have that many to start with), books, toiletries, and garage items. It will take a while since most of my stuff is in storage (we’re in the process of moving). But these are my goals.

I’m also reconsidering some appliances that I’ve had on my wish list, including a bread machine. Do I really need one… I know I can do it by hand? What can I live without?

Maybe I can challenge you today to think more about your role as a brainwashed consumer, and to pray about being more content with what you have, and maybe even striving towards less. And as I journey on my road to less, I’ll be sure to share my thoughts and efforts!

In my latest quest to become less of a consumer, I’ve been searching for a good home made recipe for making deodorant. I think I’ve found a good one to try. Here it is:

Mix:

1 Tbsp. Corn Starch

1 Tbsp. Baking Soda

1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

5-6 drops Tea Tree Oil

5-6 drops Lavender Oil

This mixture makes a paste that you rub into your skin with your fingers. Check out a great demo of this recipe HERE. I’ll have to let you know what I think about it once I try it!

Have any of you tried making your own deo? Does anyone have a recipe to share? I’d love to hear your comments!

You don’t have to have a long clothes line to be able to hang dry a lot of clothes. Here’s a lesson from the Chinese: to conserve space, they hang shirts, blouses, and dresses on clothes hangers before putting them on the line. They also clip socks and washcloths to the lower edge of other things.

If you have boxed cereal in your home, here’s a neat little tip for you:

Once the bag of cereal is empty, cut it open and use the bag as waxed paper for your freezing needs. Just don’t bake with it, I tried this as an experiment and it melted.

Many of you have expressed interest in hearing my thoughts on the quality of the Angel Food boxes. After using a lot of the products that I purchased, I’m ready to give you my opinion.

I’ve heard from other’s that the meat isn’t so great, but I actually think it has been really good so far. I haven’t used it all up yet, but I’ve eaten the steaks and the chicken and they have both been wonderful. We took the steaks over to my dad’s house, grilled them, and split them between all 5 of us. They were really good! My dad loved them, and asked me where I got them and if they were very expensive. I said, “Would I have bought them if they were expensive? You know me!” I told him all about Angel Food Ministries, and he wanted a box too!

The frozen food has been good, except for the Lean Cuisine Frozen Mushroom Pizza’s. Hubby didn’t like them, but the kids did, so I guess it depends on your taste buds. The burritos, and veggies have been great.

Everything has been good, as long as you are used to generic brand foods. The cereal, generic Frosted Flakes, wasn’t exactly like the original, but it was still yummy.

All in all, we’ve been very pleased with our food, and I can’t wait to get next month’s box. I’m planning on making a monthly menu based on the Angel Food box, and Aldi’s groceries. I will post that towards the end of the month, before the boxes are distributed.

Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have about Angel Food. Happy to help!

My newest, most favoritest snack lately is Bread & Butter Pickles. I just LOVE them!! As I finished off the jar tonight, savoring every last morsel, I noticed that there was quite a bit of pickle juice (or “brine”) still left over. In my frugalness, I began wondering what I could do with that deliciously flavorful liquid. After a little searching, here is what I have found:

• Mix it with your favorite barbecue sauce to intensify the tangy flavor. Add 2 tablespoons per 1 cup of sauce and combine well. Spread over grilled chicken during the last few minutes of cooking on the grill.

• For a delicious potato salad, add 3 tablespoons juice to ¾ cup mayonnaise and mix with 3 pounds of cooked potatoes. For a classic macaroni salad, add 3 tablespoons to ½ cup mayonnaise and mix with 2 cups of cooked macaroni.

• Use as a marinade to soak your favorite veggies in while refrigerating.

• Combine ¼ cup pickle juice with one jar of barbecue sauce and one large bag of little sausages in a crock pot. Heat thoroughly and serve in crock pot to keep warm.

• Marinate chicken or shrimp. You can also add: 1 cup juice to ½ cup olive oil, 1 clove minced garlic, and ¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro in a zip-top bag. Add one pound of either chicken or shrimp, roll it in the liquid and marinate for 1 hour before grilling.

• Put sliced cucumbers, onions, carrots and/or pieces of cauliflower in leftover pickle juice and in a couple of days they will be pickled.

• Slip sliced onions into a jar of sweet-hot bread and butter pickle juice. The “pickled” onions liven up turkey, chicken or ham sandwiches, as well as hamburgers.

Plus, there are many recipes out there which use pickle juice in them. A simple Google search will bring up tons of great ideas. So, the next time you are tempted to dump that juice down the drain, think about all of the ways that you could put it to good use instead!

To find these ideas and more check out  eHow.com and ilovepickles.org

I love these things! They are great for babies eating finger foods, especially when you are at a restaurant and you don’t want your little one eating directly off a dirty table, or trying to keep him from throwing his plate on the floor. I’ve even found that I can usually wipe the mat off clean and put it right back in my bag to be used another time. Most of them have sticky strips on the back that you can peel off and stick to the table to prevent it from sliding around, but if you peel the whole strip off the first time around, it won’t be sticky again for another usage. A great way to keep it sticking even longer is to only peel a little bit of paper off the sticky strip each time. Since these are kind of a luxury item (to me anyway), this tip will help you stretch them a little further!

1.5 lb. Bacon Wrapped Beef Filet (4 x 6 oz.)

2.5 lb. Breaded Chicken Breast Filets

1.5 lb. Bone-In Pork Steaks (4 x 6 oz.)

28 oz. Salisbury Steak Dinner Entrée

2.5 lb. Beef and Bean Burritos (10 x 4 oz.)

2 lb. Popcorn Chicken

9.5 oz. Stouffer’s Flat Bread Pizza

16 oz. Frozen Peas

16 oz. Corn Niblets

16 oz. Green Beans

2 lb. Fresh Onions

29 oz. Pears

32 oz. Borden 2% Reduced Fat Shelf-Stable Milk

9 oz. Breakfast Cereal

8 oz. Corn Muffin Mix

16 oz. Bean Soup Mix

1 Dozen Eggs

1 Dessert Item

This was the first time that I had ordered from Angel Food. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and finally I got around to doing it. I arrived at the church that distributes the food at 10 am. There was already a small line forming. Church members were scrambling to unload boxes from pallets sitting in the parking lot. I guess the truck had arrived late. One lady came out apologizing to everyone for the wait. She explained that they had received over 2500 orders this month, more than double any other month they’ve had!

As I looked around I was surprised to see people of all different types. Suburban looking soccer mom’s, impoverished looking people, elderly men and women, middle and lower class, all of different races. I guess I had the impression that I would be out of place; wrong of me, I know.

We waited in line, in the rising heat, while the workers scurried around trying to get the food inside before it began to melt. After about 40 min. we were let inside. I guess the long wait wasn’t typical. It only took me about 6 min. to go through the assembly type line as people filled my box with food. A quiet young man carried the box to my van for me.

I was very pleased with everything that I got for such little money! I’ve already placed my order for next month. You can still get your order for June in as long as they receive it by June 9^th.

I was very pleased with everything that I got for such little money! I’ve already placed my order for next month. You can still get your order for June in as long as they receive it by June 9^th.

To see if you have an Angel Food Ministry near you check out their website.