Monthly Archives:

May 2014

Cleaning Ideas: Remove Rust with Cream of Tartar!

 

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Here is another great way to save on cleaning your whole home! When I find some of my stainless steel appliances, such as my over, toaster, coffee maker, and refrigerator, all of which are stainless steel, have small spots of rust, gunk, spots, or dirt, I use a simple paste of cream of tartar and water, along with a toothbrush, to clean these items to a shine! This trick works well, is economical, and a real time-saver! Enjoy the sparkle your appliances, and pots and pans for that matter, will have after using this trick!  Also note, from time to time my local Dollar Tree carries this spice rack staple, and when they do be sure to stock-up with this purpose in mind!

Homemade Ceasar Salad!

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Good morning, savvy savers! If you’re anything like me, you are in the mood for the emergence of warm weather, and tasty summer garden salads! With this idea in mind, today I want to share with you my recipe for Ceasar Salad! Though some of the ingredients are pricey, I shop BOGO deals, Dollar Tree finds, and stockpile my goods, and once a month I treat myself to a midweek Ceasar Salad treat! I can make this Salad for $5.50, and it feeds four.

Here’s how I make it:

Ingredients:

2 Small Garlic Cloves, Minced
1 Teaspoon Anchovies, Pureed
2 Tablespoons Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 Cup Mayonnaise
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper

Instructions:

1) Puree two anchovies, set aside.

2) In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic, anchovy puree, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce.

3) Add the mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and whisk until well combined.

4) Taste test your dressing.

5) let dressing sit on counter, and meld, for 10 minutes.
Now let’s make croutons.
Ingredients:

Day old French bread
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Cut bread into cubes and place in a large bowl.

3) Drizzle cubes with olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Mix well.

4) Spread seasoned bread onto a sheet pan and bake for about 15 minutes.
Now, take one head of Romaine lettuce, and toss with dressing, and top with crotons and additonal cheese.

Enjoy!

Wednesday Ways To Save: Things I Freeze To Save Money!

 Good morning, savvy savers! For this weeks Wednesday Ways To Save, I wanted to post about some of the items in my home, that I purchase in bulk and freeze, for savings down the road!

Here are few things here, that I freeze:

1) Cheese: Freeze blocks of cheese for up to a year; shredded cheese works well also, and you can prevent clumping by adding a dash of corn starch prior to freezing! Remember to let cheese thaw on counters before refrigerating, after freeing!

2) Pancakes: I make large batches bi-monthly and freeze servings in snack baggies, as needed; I save $30.00 annually by doing so for breakfast!

3) Bananas: I freeze banana, peeling on, and use for smoothies and bread; to use, microwave for 30 second, cut the peel tops, and squeeze out!

4) Rice:  I cook monthly batches of rice in my rice cooker, and then freeze for quick night sides.

5) Pies: I always bake pies in multiples, then freeze covered in wax paper, then bagged in large gallon ziploc; these last up to a year.

6) Corn: I freeze corn, husks and silk intact. in gallon ziploc, and then pull out to grill when needed; fresh corn in the winter is amazing this way, when paired with 4/$1.00 summer pricing! Be sure to compost scraps!

7) Pasta: Whenever I cook pasta, I usually cook the entire box and then freeze portions as needed for nightly meals.

8) Flour: I store my flour, double bagged, in my freezer to prevent infestations in summer.

9) Mashed Potatoes: I always freeze unused mashed potato portions, in smaller snack bags, up up to two months in my freezer!

10) Stock: I always boil and use leftover bones to make stock. Once stock is made, let completely cool, strain, and then place in ice trays to freeze; I like to add herbs to mine and seasoning as well. To store, pop the cubes in snack baggies for up to a year!

11) Uncrustables: I make my own uncrustables by using biscuit cutters to cut sandwiches, crimp the edges with a fork, and freeze in lunch bags up to a year; I save $42.00 annually by doing so.

12) Potato Chips, Crackers and Pretzels: I keep my snacks in smaller bags, frozen for up to a year, and thaw for one hour before serving.

13) Milk: I buy milk on sale and freeze for up to a season; also note you should shake up milk before drinking after freezing!

14) Eggs: When eggs drop in price to $0.99 a dozen at Walgreens, I stock-up, crack eggs, and put portions in snack bags to freeze for recipes down the road!

15) Lemon/Lime Juice and Zest: I often freeze lemon juice from my potted citrus trees, in ice trays, then transport cubes to snack baggies for up to a year; as well as freeze the zest for homemade stove-top potpourri in winter!

16) Hamburger: I often cook extra ground beef and turkey, then freeze the extra seasoned amounts in snack baggies for recipes, especially in the crockpot for later on!

I hope these money-saving tips help you, as much as they help my family!

Here’s to saving!

Saving On The Go With A Cup Of Joe: Coinstar Machines In Local Banks!

 

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Good morning, savvy savers! For this weeks Savings To Go With A Cup Of Joe post, I want to discuss ways to save money with spare change. Recently, my local Credit Union installed a Coinstar machine in their lobby. I thought this was such a strange occurance, as these machines tend to be in grocery stores.

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My branch manager explained to me, that more than 30,000 banks across the country will be installing a newer version of the machines, which will no longer change a counting and sorting fee, and allow users to deposit their change, via the coinstar slips, directly into their account, saving the tellers time in counting and weighing the coinage. She also informed me that these machines will give users the ability to place some coins in an account, and load other amounts onto pre-paid gift cards usage at local grocery and retail stores; I was able to use the card at my local Winn-Dixie! In addition, there will be an option to donate coins to local schools or redeem coins for Amazon.com gift card codes, which can be printed as a slip or your email address associated with your account can be entered, and the gift card copde sent directly to your amount balance; the Amazon cards would be wonderful to stock-up on Subscribe & Save purchases, or put back for holiday shopping later this year!

Adding to this the new data from the National Banking Association, which states that in 2013, the average bank user deposited $124.00 worth of change into their checking accounts, and just imagine adding the other coinage sitting around out homes, collecting in jars, l and laying hidden under the couch cushions! Be sure to check with your local branch and see if they have a coinstar machines as well!

Here’s to saving!

Book Review: Schism: The Battle For Darracia, by Michael Phillip Cash & $25.00 Barnes & Noble Gift Card and Book Giveaway!

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

 


Good evening, savvy savers! Today finds us with yet another awesome book review, and this time Schism: The Battle For Darracia, by Michael Phillip Cash. For genre fans of futuristic science fiction, this book, and its future installments are for you! The premise of the novel takes places, on the planet Darracia, where the omnipresent social mores of an an ever-widening, society-shredding social gap between conflicting clans causes social and political unrest, in a once peaceful world. Struggling with his changing personal identity, nineteen year old Prince V’sair, must prematurely harness the power of the Fireblade, a weapon that is the secret to both warrior’s heart and lineage, in order to overcome his uncle Staf Nuen’s, who’s eternal thirst for supremacy reigns supreme! This book is an action-packed, rollercoaster of an intergalactic ride! A must read for this coming summer, especially for tweens and teens looking for increase their between terms summer reading programs! 

To find out more about this book, and its author, click here!

Also, one lucky LadyPrefers2Save reader will win both a copy of this book, as well as an $25.00 Barnes & Noble Gift Card! To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter prompts below; this giveaway will run until 5/27 at 11:59 p.m CST! Good luck, everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Save $20.00 Annually By Selling Back Your Aluminum Cans!

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Good morning, savvy savers! For this week’s Greener Living Tip post, I want to discuss a rather old, but novel way of making-aback a few dollars annually, by selling your aluminum cans to your local recycling center! Sure this may not seem like a great or vast way to make money, on average you would get back $0.02 per can, and according to the EPA, the average American family throws away 400 cans a year, that could be a savings of $20.00 annually! This may not sound like a lot of money, but think if the cans were not thrown out you would earn $20.00, which equates to six 12-packs of soda.

Also, selling-back to recycling centers can help in other ways such as:

1) Recycling can help minimize aluminum mining.  As aluminum doesn’t occur naturally in the earth’s crust, it has to be extracted from its ore, bauxite, in a costly, energy-intensive process that can be detrimental to the surrounding environment.

2) Recycling can help the rainforests. Mining bauxite disrupts rain forests, results in the loss of habitat for plant and animal species, erodes the soil and severely affects the water retention capability of the soil; noting that the degradation of Jamaica’s delicate coral reefs along its south coast is as a result of alumina spilling during ship loading, over the past half-century.

3) Mining can be carcinogenic. Caustic soda is used to extract alumina from raw bauxite, can leach into waterways and cause respiratory issues, and increased instances of cancer in select communities.

4) Recycling cans can cost manufacturers 1/3 less in production cost, which is passed down to consumers.

5) Recycling aluminum requires only 5% of the energy and produces only 5% of the CO2 emissions, as compared with primary production, according to the EPA; this is enough energy to run a  television for three hours.

6) A recycled can, that is both easy to recycle and easy to reconstitute,  cans appear on the shelf just six weeks after recycling!

So, by selling back your cans, you can save money, save on product cost, save on air and water quality in your community, and save the planet at the same time! To find out ways to buy back cans in your area, contact your local recycling center, public water works station, or your city managers office for more information! And if you have any information on aluminum recycling in your area you’d like to share, I’d love to hear about it below!

 

Battle Of The Bulge, Budget-Style: Control Your Portions With Children-Size Plates & Snack Cups!

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Hello again, savvy savers! Today I am starting another new blog series, Battle Of The Bulge, Budget-Style! I will be focusing on ways to live a healthier, more active lifestyle while be able to afford clean, organic, obtainable foods! I believe this series can be worthwhile for many, who like myself, wish to get more in shape, not through crash-dieting but by small attainable lifestyle changes!  All of the changes I propose will be free or affordable, and most meals and plans will contain couponed savings or deals! Fads are fancy, but coupons are a commitment! With that said, here is where I am currently: I have a family history of high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer. I am looking to lose 60lbs., find affordable non-gym membership options for working out, and change the way I consume food; this includes meals, snacks, and splurges!

Today I am 31 years young, I am 5’6”, and weight 191 lbs; I am down tw0 pounds since last week. I walk my dogs but beyond this am not terribly active. My lifestyle causes sedentary behaviors; I work-from-home, blog, run two internet businesses, and perform advocacy work online as well. I am an internet-based excuser! Today finds my continued yoga, meditation, walking my dogs, using a pedometer, portioning my meals, and now I also measure myself monthly!

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For today’s seventh installment in this series, I want to discuss a way I help myself maintain positive portion control, with children’s plates and snack cups.  Some time ago, when I started my quest to lose weight, in hopes of maintaining a more healthy lifestyle, I noticed that one of my biggest challenges was not that I ate too frequently, but my portion size was exaggerated. I found myself eating too many carbs, too little lean protein, and not enough fibrous foods. It dawned on me, that in addition to measuring out food using measuring glasses, perhaps I needed a better visualization of correct portion sizing at meals, especially dinner, and so I changed the plates and snack cups I use! I purchased inexpensive children’s plates and cups, from the Dollar Tree. Each pack contains two cups and plates, and also comes in an assortment of fun prints, patterns, and in my case animals; I opted for the happy, hungry-looking bear set! Each plate is seven inches, and holds two one-cup portions for side items, and a one cup main section, for lean proteins. I also use the snack cups to pre-pack fruits, nuts, and low-fat dairy for myself throughout the day. I have found that knowing just how much I can have forces me to both eat better portions, but be smarter in what portions I chose to eat from the get-go! I just bought two new packs, as seen above, for extras and back-up packs as well!

This solution has helped me greatly! Maybe it will for you as well!

Here’s to your health!