Frugal Friday

We have always been paper napkin users. I can make it through an average meal with just one, but somehow the rest of the crew 'needs' to use somewhere between two and five napkins each.
Not only is this wasteful, but paper napkins cost money, of course. So this week I made the switch to cloth. This initial change was free, because I just gathered up our random bandanas and set them around the table. If I had needed more, I could've purchased them at Hobby Lobby for I think about 89 cents each. I figure we can get a couple uses out of them before they need to be washed, and at that point they can easily be tossed into an existing load of laundry.

Bandanas are fun because we can each have our own color. We happen to have 4 drawers in our dining table, which make a convenient storage spot, and we each have our own drawer (well, Handsome and I share), so we know who's napkin is where. Another way to do it would be to get some inexpensive napkin rings that could be personalized. You might argue that the cost savings are negligible...paper napkins are about $2 for a package of 500, which lasts roughly 6-8 weeks...but remember, we're taking small steps here. It's all the steps together that add up.

Photo from Country Living...mine do not look this cute.

Another similar thing I've been doing lately is using microfiber cleaning cloths in place of paper towels (but I haven't totally eliminated paper towel use, yet). I don't really know what the magic of these cloths are, but they are great! You can wash a window with just a damp cloth...no Windex...and there are no streaks. That's another savings right there. They are very absorbent, and do a better job at wiping things down than a paper towel. They do a fantastic job in the bathroom with all the toothpaste globs (kids!) and water spots.

I got mine at Dollar Tree a little while ago, and I'd love to get more but lately they haven't had them. I know you can spend a lot more on them ($10-20), but honestly I'm not sure how they could be that much better.

That's my two baby steps for this week. In my usual verbose manner, I have managed to write paragraphs about what could have been said in a few words...I replaced paper napkins and paper towels with cloth!

Check out Biblical Womanhood for more frugal ideas!

WFMW--Toys That Take Imagination

Today's WFMW is a themed edition in preparation for Christmas...Toys Worth Buying. I must admit that I'm not sure I'm all that qualified to participate. I can think of very few toy purchases that have had staying power with my kids. There are, however, a handful that over the years they have returned to again and again.

1. Legos (all ages, as long as you get the big Duplo ones for little kids)
This has to be the all-time winner in this household. For the last ten years, there has been some form of Legos in use. More often than not, these are the go-to toy.


2. Building blocks (all ages)
When Firstborn arrived, his great-grandfather gave him a handmade set of blocks. They aren't particularly pretty, and I don't even think they're solid wood (some kind of pressed or particle board). But they have been workhorses of the toy collection. They've made towers, they've made roads, they've made buildings, and they've worked in combination with, at various times, Hotwheels, Thomas the Train, Legos, marbles and pretty much anything else.

Firstborn & Skippy 2002

3. Portable art desk (about 2 and up)
I don't know that this actually ranks #3, but it was very useful. We bought the boys each one of these several years ago. It was chalkboard on one side, dry erase on the other, and the lid slid off to store paper, crayons etc. inside. We kept these in the van, and they kept the boys occupied while we drove.

I have heard of making something similar out of a 9x13 cake pan with lid. Supplies are kept inside and the lid serves as a work surface. Perhaps you could even paint one surface with chalkboard paint.

Really, art supplies of any kind have always been big hits with my three. We've had some fun with novelty items like Crayola Color Wonder, but the best is plain paper and pencils, crayons, or paint.

Skippy 2002

And now I will hop over to Rocks in My Dryer to see everybody else's ideas, as I'm fresh out of originality in the gift department. See you there!

Election '08

I voted! I was prepared for long lines and long waits, but even though the polling place was very busy, I was only there about 10 minutes. So, the deed is done, and now we wait.

A few months ago Handsome, Firstborn, and some friends went to a McCain rally. The above photo was taken by a friend. Note in the top left corner the guy with the press pass and big camera. Below is the photo he took. It was in the paper. Boy, did Firstborn get some mileage out of that! His 15 minutes of fame.

(Look at Cindy McCain's hair (bottom right)...I guess she must have a hair dresser to do that for her.)

Well, clearly you can see which way I voted. I've been watching and listening to a lot of news and talk radio the last several months, and it's been easy to get worried about what might happen. I just have to remember that, no matter what, God is in charge.

Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. Romans 13:1 NLT

Awesome Purchase, Part One

Last Wednesday when I went thrift-shopping with Dixie, we found this really nice little consignment shop. They had a cool, big armoire that we both really liked, and it was only $199. Dixie really, really liked it, and would've put it in her bedroom. As far as I was concerned, she had first dibs. I liked it, but didn't necessarily need it, and wasn't sure if that was what I wanted to spend my money on.

Some background info: my paternal grandmother passed away in 2007. The inheritance went to my dad and his siblings and step-siblings, but out of the goodness of his heart he gave me and my brothers and sisters each $500 to get something to remember Grandma by. I have had it for months and wasn't sure what to do with it.

So, did I want to spend some of it on this armoire? I considered it, and when Dixie said she wasn't going to get it, I decided to go see if it was still there. I figured this would not be a purchase I would regret, based on our last armoire which we bought 11 years ago for $200 (or maybe $250). It was only a Sauder-assemble-yourself, but we have used it all this time up until we moved into this house last spring, and I have always considered it one of my best purchases ever. It faithfully kept all the audio/visual equipment hidden, through eight separate houses.

It was still there; this morning I paid for it, and this evening Handsome and a friend went and picked it up. This thing is big, and heavy, and solid wood. There's nothing to show scale in these photos, but it's about 6.5 feet tall. It's kind of rustic and elegant at the same time. Firstborn was somewhat disgusted, and likened it to the window, as in, 'why do you have to always get old beat-up things?'. It is not old or beat up, but apparently it's a little too rustic for his taste.

In the carpet underneath it, you can see the footprint of what we were using as an entertainment center. Not the old Sauder, which was getting pretty beat up after so many moves, but a small black computer armoire from Walmart, only about 4 ft high. We have had it about 4 years, and until this house, it actually held the computer.

It's really a deep espresso color, which you can kind of see in the first photo, but it reads as black, which goes with several of my other furniture pieces.

Love the star-shaped hardware. The flash made it look a little more brassy than it really appears.

When I paid for it the lady told me that they were going to price it at $299 (I thought $199 was a deal!) but that when they moved it into the shop, they chipped a corner. It's underneath and you can't really see it and I can glue the piece back on anyway. I'm actually glad they chipped it, because I'm pretty sure I would not have paid the $299.

So, I'm pretty excited! I got a good quality, solid wood piece of furniture at a bargain price, that should serve me well for many years. And, I still have over half of Grandma's money left. (And if I ever get tired of it, I can sell it to Dixie!)

Awesome purchase part two next week; we can't pick it up until then.

Fancy Lunch

This was so good, I just had to share! Organic baby lettuces, a lusciously ripe bartlet pear, crumbled goat cheese, and walnuts, drizzled with a dressing of honey, lemon juice and olive oil (dressing ingredients combined to taste).

Lovely! I felt like I was eating at a chic little lunch spot. Well, except for the dirty dishes in the sink and the Boston terrier begging at my elbow.

I used what I had today, but wouldn't this be scrumptious with the addition of dried cranberries and candied walnuts or pecans?

Incidentally, last night at our small group Bible study, the menu was soup. I had quite a bit of Saturday's Pumpkin and White Bean left over, so I added a little more chicken broth and pumpkin, and browned, crumbled Bob Evans bulk breakfast sausage. It was even better, if I do say so myself! And it was well received by everybody, including those who didn't like the idea of a pumpkin soup.

(Pssst! I made some very interesting purchases today.....! Stay tuned.)

Fall Colors

It's just been in the last week that it's really started to look like fall around here...the colors, the golden air. Not so much the weather, though. We've had a crisp day here and there, but it's been almost summer-like this last week, sunny and warm, high 70s to 80s. We've had the a/c on quite a bit, even. I would say we've hit the peak of the colors in the last couple days. So this afternoon we took a little drive through a state park to take it all in.

We didn't take into account last night's time change though, so the sun was already on it's way down. Nevertheless, it was beautiful. Postcard-like.


We drove past acres, nay miles, of brilliant foliage, and this is the spot Handsome pulled over so I could take a picture of the kids. Brown. But it's actually a good photo of all three of them. Even Firstborn has a natural smile! (And look, shorts! It's November 2nd in the midwest, people!)


Gorgeous!

Souper Saturday--Pumpkin and White Bean

Thursday we were in Barnes and Noble getting our free Starbucks coffee (sorry, I'd link it but the coupon expired yesterday) and browsing. In the discounted section I came across several soup recipe books and decided I should really branch out for my Souper Saturdays.

I chose the New England Soup Factory Cookbook by Marjorie Druker because the recipes sounded sooo good, it had nice photographs (I like to see what I'm trying to make), and apparently the New England Soup Factory is a popular restaurant in the Boston area, so I figured these were tried and true recipes. At $6.98, it was a bargain. Also, just now when I got the link from Amazon, I saw that it gets very high reviews, so that's a good sign.


For tonight's supper, I chose Pumpkin and White Bean Soup from the Autumn Flavors chapter. I won't print the recipe, because that would probably be a copyright breach, but the combo of pumpkin, white beans, brown sugar, and parmesan cheese (and a lot of other ingredients) was intriguing. There were a couple ingredients I didn't have (cream sherry and sage) which I'm sure added an important and complex flavor, and Marjorie would probably be highly dismayed to know that I altered her recipe in such a degrading way.

Normally, I would've just used canned pumpkin even though the recipe calls for fresh, but I figured I'd use last night's jack-o-lantern and asked Handsome to cut it up. In the middle of his work, I realized that he had used one of the uncut pumpkins, and he was horrified at the idea of using the jack-o-lantern. A bacteria breeding ground! he said. So, I guess I'm glad he played it safe.

I conducted a poll rating the soup on a scale of 1-10. The results:
Handsome 6.5
Me 8
Firstborn 3.5
Skippy 8
Pinkerbelle 1

Average: 5.4 Not great, but the 3.5 and the 1 hardly count because I will never expect much more from them in the soup department.

Well, I liked it and I'm glad there are leftovers for my lunch this week. Plus, I have a lot of roasted pumpkin left to puree and freeze for muffins and stuff.