Nicole

Battle Of The Bulge, Budget-Style: Monthly Seamstress Tape Measurements!

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 60 lbs., 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 weigh 199 lbs; I am down two 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!

For my 10th post, I wanted to discuss a new lifestyle strategy I have implemented, monthly measurement logs. Using a seamstress tape, I measure my neck, arms, bust, waist, hips, thighs, and calves, then log my progress each month, good or bad, to see a visible result of my diet strategy. I have found this method daunting at first, but now, in my weight lose, find that seeing my actual results, is amazing and euphoric!

More reasons to measure yourself monthly, as part of a healthy lifestyle plan are:

There are the best ways to track yourself OTHER than a scale! I generally do not weigh myself. I find that in the process of both losing weight and toning up, there will be periods where you will not show progress on a scale, but you will have instant results when using seamstress tape!
A photo is worth a thousand words. Stand in front of a mirror in a bathing suit or your underwear with your cell phone camera and take a picture. Then turn to the side and take another picture of your profile view. Store your photos in an album on your computer, and over time, using a slideshow, you will see results more effectively and concretely than by way of a scale; between each segment of photos show a photo of your seamstress tape measurements for effective record keeping.
Take stock in your measurements. Your seamstress tape will help you pinpoint areas of weight lose success. Be sure to measure the following areas:

-Neck: this will help you see immediate water lose weight.
-Shoulders: this will help you see toning results further into your weight lose.
-Chest: this will help you see toning results further into your weight lose; for women bust reduction is also a great indicator of carb ad fat reduction as well.
-Biceps: this will help you see toning results further into your weight lose.
-Waist: this will help you see immediate results, by way of clothe sizing.
-Hips: this will help you see toning results further into your weight lose.
-Thighs: this will help you see toning results further into your weight lose.

You will be surprised at how an inch lose in any of these areas will alter the way your clothes will fit, your attitude will change, and you health will better!

I highly recommend pushing your boundaries to the side, and see how you measure up to your own personal, obtainable healthy lifestyle goals!

Here’s to the Journey!

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Weekly Gardening Update, 8/17!

Happy Sunday, everyone! Here is this weeks gardening update!

This weeks Gardening Update revolved around my $1.00 rose bushes from Fred’s Super Dollar have thus far produced some of the most beautiful roses I have ever grown, as seen above. They are just so lovely, and I will be giving some today to my neighbors as a little community happy gift! I also love my free lattice, as it was recycled from discarded pallets, and works just as well as anything purchased at my local supercenter! I feed my roses a special homemade blend, which i will be blogging about in the weeks to come!

Here’s to next week!

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Weekly Menu: Feeding A Family of Four, For Only $23.87!

Good morning, savvy savers! This weeks menu consists of Cupboard Clearing ideas, so stepping out to the market is not necessary! Without further ado, here is my weekly menu, for which was derived from couponing deals, freebies, and cupboard cooking; I will be feeding a family of four this week for only $23.87!

This week we will be having:

Monday
Breakfast: Mini meatless mushroom frittatas, Fruit cups, and Juice.
Lunch: Turkey and Cheese roll-ups, with Humus dip, sweet potato chips, and Crystal Light.
Snack: Almonds, Grapes, and String Cheese.
Dinner: Crockpot Cola Chicken, Green Beans, Baked Potatoes, with Corn Muffins, and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Key Lime Cookies.

Tuesday
Breakfast: Cereal of Choice, Milk, and Apple Slices
Lunch: Freezer Cooking Chilli, crackers, carrot sticks, and Crystal Light.
Snack: Trail mix.
Dinner: Taco Tuesdays!
Dessert: Brownie Ice Cream Sundaes Sandwiches.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Yogurt with granola, and juice.
Lunch: Taco Salads, with juice.
Snack: Grapes and apple slices.
Dinner: Grilled Hamburgers, steamed corn, and crystal light.
Dessert: Homemade flurries, with leftover brownies.

Thursday
Breakfast: Cereal of choice, with fruit cup, and milk.
Lunch: Tossed Salad with Turkey, Crystal Light, and homemade banana chips.
Snack: Hummus and crackers, with grapes.
Dinner: Baked Spaghetti, and tossed salad, with milk.
Dessert: Butterfly Cake.

Friday
Breakfast: Smoothies.
Lunch: Tossed salad, with walnuts, grapes, blueberries, and homemade Greek dressing.
Snack: Granola and fruit cup.
Dinner: Kosher Dogs, With Slaw and Chili, Baked Sweet Potato Fries, and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Coca-Cola slushies.

Saturday
Breakfast: Pancakes, with sausage, and milk.
Lunch: Grilled Chicken sandwiches, with Sweet Potato chips, and Crystal Light.
Snacks: String Cheese and grapes.
Dinner: Grilled Bratwurst, with steamed corn on side, pasta salad, and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Cupboard Clearing Cake

Sunday
Breakfast: French Toast, with Milk, and Honey.
Lunch: Grilled Salmon Fillets , baked mini macaroni and cheese cups, steamed Broccoli, with Crystal Light.
Snack: Grapes and walnuts.
Dinner: Crockpot Pot Roast, Twice Baked Sweet Potato Souffle, and crystal light.
Dessert: Hot fudge sundaes, with splenda fudge topping!

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DIY Summer Fly Killer Bags!

Good morning, savvy savers! If you are anything like me, you are always looking for more natural ways to clean and remedy situations in your home, and pest removal is no exception! For this weeks House Wife Solutions, I wanted to share with you how I have found to naturally rid my home of flies, and that is with Homemade Fly Killer Bags!

This project could not be any simpler to create! Any room, or area that is prone to flies, just fill a one gallon Ziploc baggie 3/4 way full of water and add four pennies. How does this work you may ask? Great question! Pulling out my former knowledge in the areas of Chemistry, I can state that the myriad of water molecules each act as a natural prism, and as flies have multiple eyes, the bags create a blinding, dizzying, and neurological need for the flies to leave the presence of the bags, generally for the good. I place the bags in groups of three on my patio and a group of three, hung from clothespins, in my kitchen in the Summer and early Autumn season each year!

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How to Make Blueberry Freezer Jam!

Hello again, savvy savers! To finish today’s Health-Minded Monday posts, I wanted to share with you all one of my favorite ways to save money, and that is by making various forms of Freezer Jam!

I know you may be thinking, freezer jam? Yes, I often freeze prepped, but not processed jams, for use on toast, pancakes, french toast, and as toppings for ice cream. Though I still make the traditional, simmered then canned, jellies and jams, this method in many respects, is easier, cheaper, and tastes better. Also, it is worth mentioning for those traditionalists, when it comes to jam, this method of freezing kills the same microbes boiling would, as so this method is just as safe for your family! As yesterday found me with an extra pint of blueberries needing to be consumed, I thought this would make an awesome post.

So, here’s how I make it!

Ingredients:

Fresh blueberries; organic is always better and Driscoll’s generally has coupons on their website taking the cost of the berries down by as much as half.
Sugar (or sugar substitute)
Pectin

Instructions:

Prepping your berries; make sure all berries are clean, have all stems removed, and are patted dry with a clean towel.
Consider the math; for each pint of berries you will use 2/3 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons pectin powder.
If using a sugar substitute, for each 2/3 cup of substitute used, add 1/2 teaspoon agave or yacon syrup.
To begin, add your berries to your bowl; be sure to place paper towels under bowl now to prevent blueberry stains on counter tops!
Mash your berries with a potato masher until smooth. If making large batches a bender can be used, and any retirements in the blender can be transformed into smoothies, as well!
In a mixing cup add your sugar and pectin and form to incorporate; this blend should be lump-free.
Add your mixture to your mashed berries, and whisk to incorporate.
Let your mixture sit for 15 minutes; this will allow the pectin to congeal.
Add your jam to prepared containers; if making in large batches or giving as gifts use prepped jelly jars, for this session I used BPA-free freezer-burn resistant, stackable plastic tubs.
Make sure to leave 1/2-1 inch of headroom at the top of each container for expansion of the jam while freezing.
Freeze your jam!
The jam will last 12 months frozen.
Before use, allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator; refrigerate leftovers will last two weeks in refrigerator.
Enjoy!

So, that’s it! Easy-peasy! I love how simple this jam is, and it is honestly one of tastiest jams around, it I do say so myself! If you make freezer jam, or have other jam or jelly suggestions please leave me a comment below, as I would love to hear about them!

Here’s to making more out of Monday meals!

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Battle-Of-The-Bulge, Budget Style: Gardening To Lose Weight, Part II!

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 weigh 198 lbs; I am down one pound 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 this changes! Spring has sprung, and so shall I! I have taken up yoga, and have started working out with a pedometer on as well!

For my 8th post, I wanted to discuss a new measure I have implemented to help in my healthier lifestyle choice, gardening! Did you know that according to the American Heart Association, gardening 1 hour daily will burn up to 400 calories, and considering that the average weekend project tales 4-6 hours, and that maintaining your yard weekly, in warmer weather, will take nearly 1 hour a day, you would, on average burn upwards of 2,400 calories a week! An entire days worth of calories! This is a staggering number! For me, I make sure to water the plants, lawn, and mow as often as I can, as its no longer a chore for me, but an exercise! I love that performing tasks for hobby can lead to better health!

How awesome is that? For a small, simpler routine, here is my suggested, and used, gardening workout routine:

Pull weeds in 1 flower bed for 10 minutes
Rake mulch back into place in all beds, as needed, for 10 minutes
Fertilize roses, bushes, and low-lying shrubs for 10 minutes
Manually edge 30 feet of driveway, sidewalk, or straight-edged areas, 20 minutes
Water front flowers beds, 10 minutes

So, by my routine, all of which I can accomplish before 8 am, or after 6 pm, and will burn 400 calories! No gym membership or lawn service needed! This is an awesome way to put on a few podcasts, listen to a cd, or just have some time to yourself, and your yard, for nothing more than time! I also keep my Shih-Tzu, Sassy with me while gardening to lose weight; I have metal screw-into-the-yard hooks in various places in my yard, which I leash and harness Sassy to, and move her from area to area; so I can bond with my fuzzy-love, lose weight, and clean my yard at the same time! This is one of my favorite ways to burn extra calories, while creating a more serene home for my family and myself!

Also, if you are looking for other ways to save money, lose weight, and maintain your yard, beds, and landscaping, be sure to check out my frugal garden tips, here!

Here’s to the Journey!

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

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.

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!

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