1. Cover  bowls or dishes when cooking in the  microwave.Coffee filters make excellent covers.  
2. Clean windows and  mirrors.Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.
3.  Protect China. Separate your good dishes by putting a  coffee  filter between each dish.
4.  Protect a cast-iron skillet.  Place a coffee filter in the  skillet to absorb moisture & prevent rust.
5.  Apply shoe polish.  Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.  
6.  Recycle frying oil.  After frying, strain oil through a sieve  lined with a coffee filter.
7.  Weigh chopped foods.  Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a  kitchen scale.
8.  Hold tacos.  Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy  foods.
9.  Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot.  Line a plant  pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through  the drainage holes.
10.  Prevent a Popsicle from dripping.  Poke one or two holes as  needed in a coffee filter.
11.  Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows?  Use  strips of coffee filters.
12.  Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken  fingers, etc on them. Soaks out all the grease.  
13.  Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor-nick-fixers."   
Oh yeah, you can also use them to filter coffee.

sign up here to get a coupon for a free Diet Dr. Pepper sent to you.

The winner for the boogie wipes giveaway is: 

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

7

Timestamp: 2009-02-22 18:01:41 UTC

Last night we went out to eat with Jake's grandparents (hence the frugal Friday post on Saturday) and Jake and I shared a meal. Jake's grandma was paying, but this is a practice we have gotten used to and is one way we have found to save $. We both ate for $13 plus tip vs. $26 had we each gotten our own meal. We try to do this as often as we can when we eat out. Not only is it a way to watch your budget, but it also helps watch the waistline:). The portion sizes at most restaurants are ridiculous and it would be gluttonous of me to eat the whole meal anyway. The point of going out has become enjoying something tasty I didn't have to make, spending time with whomever we go out, and not having to clean up when we are done eating. I don't leave the restaurant feeling like I am going to explode, but I was perfectly satisfied and Jake’s grandma knew we were there cause we wanted to be with her and not because we wanted a free dinner.  Also, most of the time for a beverage we just drink water and that saves money and empty calories.   Basically this is not only a mind-set we adopted when we were dating, but a choice we made to practice self-control in the area of spending and eating.

Free Tacos. Only good Tuesday the 24th!

 I used it for a clearance item and it worked fine. All I had to pay is shipping and tax!

Certificate number: 305486578 Code 10FORYOU

 

Boogie wipes are saline nose wipes with chamomile, vitamin E and aloe and are available in fresh scent, grape scent and my favorite Magic Menthol. I know I have used baby bootie wipes to clean Eli’s face many times, but since I got the boogie wipes used them instead. This innovative children’s product keeps her from freaking out when I wipe her nose.  She has no problem with me using them. They definitely are more gentle on her skin than regular tissues or bootie wipes.

Pros
•    No alcohol so these wipes won't dry or sting skin.
•    Added saline helps remove dried "boogies" around the nose.
•    Can be used for other baby or toddler clean-up in a pinch, as well.
•    Available in 30-count packs or individually wrapped - both are convenient.
Cons
•    Scent may be a little strong for some/no unscented version is available.

 For the giveaway go on over to the Boogie Wipes website then come back and leave a comment telling me what you think. A lucky reader (who leaves a comment) will win one large (30 count) pack of each sent. The Boogie Wipes will be mailed directly to you. Please be sure to leave your email address with the comment so that I can contact you. This giveaway is open only to residents of the United States and closes Saturday, February 21, at midnight Arizona time.

One of the suggestions on my original post was to “buy and store reasonable amounts of non-perishables when the price is right.” I do this frequently. Last week I got 6 packages of toilet paper free. Cottonelle toilet paper was 99 cents/4-pack. I had coupons for Cottonelle that were quadrupled, so they ended up being completely free. I have similarly paid 25 cents a box for 5 boxes of pasta, or 50 cents for 3 jars of Skippy Super Crunchy low-fat (my favorite kind) peanut butter. Buy up to 10 boxes of cereal (for our family) when they are $1.25 per box or less (I never buy cereal for more than $2 per box). This is what I mean by, “reasonable amounts.” Also, it is important to note that these are brands I would use and purchase anyway. I guess what I am saying is don’t buy it if you don’t like it and won’t use it. Stock-up if you will. 

Someone I know (we will call him Jacob) tells a funny childhood story that makes this point. On one occasion this boy he went grocery shopping with his dad and hot dogs were 10 cents/package. What a great deal! They filled a grocery cart (Yes! I am not exaggerating!) Then his dad said, “son go get another cart (I am not kidding!)They came home and had no place to put the hot dogs, so they went and bought a freezer.  My point: Good deal, but not a reasonable amount! 

I have also been guilty in the past to buy a whole bunch of stuff that is on sale and I have a coupon for, but I would normally never eat, or I don’t use it. 

The common question that arises is, “How do you buy all this stuff and stay within your monthly grocery budget?”  The important thing is not to spend up to your grocery budget every month, but instead spend less and save the surplus for good deals later on. So, my monthly goal is to spend less than my budget (Jacob and I treat it like a competition, seeing just how cheap we can get everything we need). In my case I see the budget more as the maximum amount I can spend. It is not the amount of money earmarked for the month’s groceries. If I have a $100 per month budget for groceries; in the absence of very good deals, I want to underspend this by as much as possible so that I can maximize on the good deals for nonperishable items I use anyway when they come. This way the next month if I can get pasta for 25 cents a box I can afford to purchase 10 boxes and still afford to purchase the staples. This lets me save money the next months, as I am not spending a dollar or two on pasta, letting me save up for the next round of crazy deals. Wasting money is a cycle; saving money is a cycle; be in the right cycle. It is all about being thoughtful with your budget and possibly changing the way you think about it. 

GO TO THE END OF THIS POST TO SEE DETAILS ON THE QUICKSEALS GIVEAWAY. LEAVE A COMMENT FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN.

We’ve been talking about being frugal and in a previous post I mentioned the cost of wasting food that isn’t used. I just received a great product called, QuickSeals™

Quickseals basically look like the top half of a ziplock bag. It only includes a zip slider top and adhesive strips on the bottom that can be applied to any food bag or box to add a zip closure to seal in freshness and prevent spillage. So you can turn any bag into a ziplock bag.

This product was invented by Denise Begin, a Phoenix valley mom. It is designed to help the consumer convert any packaged food item into a resealable storage bag. Check out my video:

At first when I read about this item, I was excited. I don’t have to find a bag clip, I don’t have to put it in a new resealable (Ziploc) bag, I don’t have to dirty any containers, and I keep the cooking instructions, and the nutritional information from the original package. Well, this product did not disappoint!

Here are the drawbacks to quickseals: 1. They are not reusable. So, if you like them and decide to use them all the time I would encourage you to purchase the 150 piece pack to economize. 2. They are not necessarily a better bargain than buying standard ziplock bags. The quickseal benefit is that you are not throwing away the old bag and transferring everything to a new one, making a mess, losing original packaging information, etc. So I now find myself using quickseals in most situations where I would have used a ziplock before. For some items though, the reusability and cost-effectiveness of bag clips makes me prefer these to the non-reusable quickseals. But for things like Bisquick, freezer items, and items that really need a zip lock instead of a clip, I definitely prefer quickseals and am very glad to know about this invention.

Quick Seals comes in 4 box sizes: The "Try Me" 6-pack that has 3 medium and 3 large sized bags and sells for $1.69, the 20-pack that has 10 medium and 10 large size bags and sells for $3.99, a 15-piece box of extra large bags that sells for 4.89, and the Quick Seals 150 piece box that has 75 medium and 75 large bags and sells for $19.95 plus shipping. These items are available in local stores including many Wal-mart stores. They can also be ordered online.
Visit www.quickseals.com to order this product and read more testimonials.

Now for the giveaway: 6 readers of this blog will receive a free “Try Me” 6-packs. Visit QuickSeals.com and leave a comment below telling me what you think. I will use Random.org to help me select 6 winners (United States only) on Valentine’s Day 02.14.2009 at 12pm Arizona time.

Our friends entered their adorable little daughter, Makenzie  in a contest to win a 12x12 canvas of a picture. She is 1 of the 7 finalists narrowed down from 820! Go vote for her it only takes about 30 seconds!

 

 VOTE

There are many places to use coupons. For this post I am only going to talk about grocery coupons.

Options for help with coupon use:

Coupon $ense trys to simplify the process of using copons it is a database of everything on sale cross referenced with an organized coupon filing system.  It helps you use your coupons effectively and gives you an organization system to follow.  They tell you:

    1. What is on sale - where the sale is - when the sale ends
    2. If there is a coupon for the item on sale and where to find it
    3. The final price of the item with and without coupons

Coupon Sense enters all of the coupons from The Sunday Arizona Republic into their database and indexes them by category, expiration date, and face value. This is a good way to do it if you don't mind clipping the coupons and going different places to use them. If you would like a trial month it is $4 and my cousin is one of their instructors. Her name is Aimee Cabrera and she is very knowledgable. If you would like to have her as an instructor just enter her name when you sign up.

The Grocery Game is a website that can save you hundreds of dollars on your grocery bill each month. Log in, spend a few minutes with a pair of scissors, and you're off to win The Grocery Game!
When you play, you'll get a weekly list (called Teri's List) of the lowest-priced products at your supermarket matched with manufacturers' coupons and weekly specials -- advertised and unadvertised. The Grocery Game does all the hard work and research, and presents it to you in a straightforward format. You can get started with our $1 TRIAL. This will give you four weeks of playing The Grocery Game. I think the Grocery Game is best if you don't want to invest a lot of time, but still want to use coupons when you shop. 

Kiki's Style

1.  Only buy groceries when they are on sale

 2.  If at all possible pair those sale items with matching coupons

 3.  Buy in multiples when your items are on sale

Here is an example of my last subtract $3.49 for a rebate I have to mail in for Windex. 

This is a guest post by my husband. You can check out the original of this post and all of his stuff at his blog: Think About These Things

A story of the callous murder of a newborn baby should rightfully make you angry. An 18-year-old mother, SycloriaWilliams, went into an clinic for an abortion; only she gave birth tooearly. While her cervix was dilating, the baby fetus came out before it could be killed aborted. So they snipped the umbilical cord, and threw it in a biohazard bag.

Even people who think of abortion as a right of mothers to be defendedat all costs are horrified. "It really disturbed me," said thepresident of Broward County NOW. The mother's attorney states, "Thebaby was treated like a piece of garbage." 

We should be disturbed, angry, and we should resolve to stop this kind of murder.

But let me attempt a defense for the abortion clinic:

1. The baby was not viable anyway. This argument rings hollow now, doesn't it? Yet it is this same argument that is used to justify millions of 1st and 2nd trimester abortions anually. Nevertheless, there is no substantial difference between this murder and an abortion.
2. The mother chose: The mother did not want the baby. An 18-year-old would have a very difficult time caring for this child. The mother went into the clinic wanting the baby fetus killed aborted. She had a choice to make and she made it. Isn't this what we defend and use to justify millions of abortions anually? Yet, it somehow doesn't seem like a valid defense when the clinic worker is on the stand asking how he/she could toss a living child into a biohazard bag to die. Nevertheless, there is no substantial difference between this murder and an abortion.
3. What's the difference?: There is no substantial difference between this murder and an abortion. There was almost no difference between what would have been legal abortion and then what would be deemed murder and grounds for imprisonment and loss of medical license.
   • The baby changed location. It was inside the mother and then outside the mother. Should this affect personhood? No, location should not affect personhoood.
   • The baby's source of oxygen. One moment, the baby received oxygen in the blood from the mother, the next through its lungs. Should this affect personhood? No, source of gas exchange should not affect personhood.
   • Status under the law. One moment the killing was legal as abortion. The next moment, the killing would be called murder. Should this affect personhood? No, legal status should not affect personhood.
   • Our ability to perceive life. One moment the baby's movements, facial expressions, and very being was concealed inside the mother's body. The next, it was out for all to see. Personhood is hard to admit when it stares you in the face. Yet, out-of-sight-out-of-mind affects many moral decisions that we make. Should this affect personhood? No, others' ability to see should not affect personhood.

So my defense rests. The abortion clinic was simply being consistent withwhat it always does. Its job is to kill unwanted babies. They know thatthere is no significant deference between a fetus and a baby. So theclinic was simply being consistent.

Prolifers who are angered by this murder are being consistent. We are outraged and grieved by abortions; we are outraged and grieved by murder.

Will you be consistent? When you read the storyyou should rightly be saddened for a mother whose child was killed,grieved at the loss of an innocent life, and angered at those who couldso callously throw a baby out like a piece of trash. But will you beconsistent? If these things concerned you, are you concerned aboutabortion? If not, I ask you, why?

This month, They're having a ginormous sale on books and music from Sovereign Grace Ministries. February 1–28, you'll find...

• $6 each: all CDs from Sovereign Grace Music(including Psalms, Come Weary Saints, andTogether for the Gospel Live)
• $7 each: 23 Sovereign Grace books (including Living the Cross Centered Life, Humility: True Greatness, and Worldliness)
• $4 each: all books in our Pursuit of Godliness series (including Why Small Groups? and This Great Salvation)

But it doesn't end there. You'll also get these deals on shipping:

• U.S. orders: free shipping, as always (select USPS Library Rate)
• international orders: 50% off shipping (select USPS First Class International)

Check it out at www.SovereignGraceStore.com.

This Tuesday, 2/3/2009. 6am-2pm.

The winner of the Me4Kids giveaway is:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

2

Timestamp: 2009-02-02 17:18:41 UTC

I could easily stick any one of these in my cüsiuri for my trips to the villages, except maybe the Medibag 4 Petz (Huichols definitely don’t consider their pets to be “little people, too” :)). I can just imagine the smiles in spite of the boo-boos that a “kid-friendly, organic, latex-free” band-aid would elicit.
2 - Debbie (Email) - 30 01 09 - 13:43