SAHM tips....Money saving tips??

[Momagain1]

Quote:
I'm doing this friday...my nephew; he is turning 2 ..and he's number 5 of the kids, moms pg w/#6 due any day now...

but they break me when it comes to gifts lol...between that family and my brother who has 7 kids lol..yikes!

anyway; friday we are doing this with Sammy; we are pulling almost all of our board books and boxing them up for him..he LOVES
board books..and why pay $7 for one board book when I can give him 20 and clean them out from our un-needed pile of books??

not to mention he destroys anything anyway lol..

 

[Momagain1]

wow in RE: netflix and game console!

We have not yet come across that at all; we have TONS of movies that we watch on it...and have yet to see anything like that..
did you know you can "search" and watch movies that way too?

we hav ea ton of history, family, cartoons, movies on our "suggested" list etc..we also do a lot of the nat geo. stuff on there...but
we do use it for homeschooling too..as well as regular movie nights...

definitely will keep our eyes on the choices more from now on when kids are picking!

 

[BCBunnies]

We usually don't want something too light but this makes for the nice stick loaves of garllic bread like you would get at the store or as a base for some nice thick pretzels. Sorry was interrupted in posting had to save the cat and put someone in his room for quiet time.

But I will make some this weekend and post pics. Also the meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato and cauliflower frosting. I cheated and used food coloring to get the nice vibrant colors.

 

[Momagain1]

haha; we've done that for aprils fools day!

cupcake meatloaf and mashed potato icing w/food coloring..

used icing piped with a piping back, strawberry syrup melted slightly and malted chocolate balls for meatballs to make it look like spaghetti..

 

[ChikeeMomma]

Couple more thoughts on the family entertainment:

Our local Center for the Arts has free things for children/families, too. They have what they call Tunes for Tots. It's probably for children ages infant through 8-9yrs. The families can come in once a month and listen to the orchestra play for free.

I forgot to mention that the nature center that I'd posted about before has way more free programs than what I've listed. They have story times about animals, wee stroll, etc.

Basically, just check out any kind of arts/cultural/nature centers around you. They are sure to have something!

 

[Momagain1]

just another note; MOST zoos have a family zoo membership; ours is I think $85 and it is a year long membership...anyway; the zoo membership is reciprocated by other zoos across the nation...most are
letting you get in free...

which is great for us; family of 5 at home (eldest is out of house), times 1 trip to the local zoo is $20, well thats 4 trips and we've paid for the membership...we can easily go tot he zoo 4 times in the summer at that one zoo..but in a 100 mile radius we have St. Louis Zoo (HUGE), Bloomington Zoo, Peoria zoo, Decatur zoo..all have different animals etc and all are able to get in free w/our membership...

but if we were to travel; we can get into almost any zoo either free or discounted...

and the same goes if we were to buy a museum pass...

 

[cackydoodledoo]

Question for all of you who do canning:

Where do you get your jars? Where is the cheapest?


I have checked CL and the classifieds. Going to do some garage sales too and see what I can find but so far not too promising!

 

[ChikeeMomma]

Cacky -- I have been given jars and I buy canning supplies at Walmart, Meijer, Menards, or a little local grocery store. There is an Amish general store that sells the Ball half gallon jars (I've never saw them anywhere else). I don't always buy the Ball brand jars, it's usually whatever is cheapest.

Here is the BYC canning thread www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=78434&p=414, too.

Garage sales are great! I just bought a big jelly pot (you don't need it to do jellies or jams -- you can use a regular pot) with a canning rack for $1.00. A new canning rack at Walmart is $16.00! I have already come across a couple of the water bath canner pots at garage sales.

www.tammysrecipes.com is another great frugal website. There are lots of recipe ideas and she shares an insight to her family living frugally.

 

[ChikeeMomma]

Just wanted to add, the Ball Blue Book of Canning is considered the canning Bible. I would recommend buying it. Every now and again Suzanne McMinn over at www.chickensintheroad.com has contests and gives them away to the winners.

 

[Momagain1]

I just buy the cheap WM ones...

other than that I would suggest craigslist, freecycle, antique/estate sales...

I never can in anything larger than a quart; it is too unsafe as the foods dont get hot enough when you can in larger jars..thats why ball blue book says 1/2 pints, pints and quarts...