$1,200

I can only recall one other time that I spent more than $1,000 in one store at one time. It was at Ikea, and I'm sure you can imagine what I came home with... Three day beds, one rug, bedding, pillows...

Yesterday I spent more than $1,000 at a baby store. $1,200 before tax to be exact. Want to know what I bought? It's super exciting...



Yep. That's what four $300 car seats look like. Super exciting. Wanna see how exciting?




Stone looks about as thrilled as I was to be practically doing gymnastics in 100 degree heat to install the suckers. Yuck!

Now, you guys know me well enough to know that I didn't just run out and purchase new seats because I wanted them (although having matching seats sure is nice). The boys and I were rearended yesterday, hard. The fireman allowed me to drive home (about a block) with the damaged seats, but wrote them up as condemned.

Hopefully insurance will pay us back. These aren't the exact seats we had before, but they are comparable.

Frugal Friday - Closeout Stores

If you aren't gluten free, you might not appreciate this post.  If you are, or know someone who is, you'll totally get what I'm about to say.  Eating gluten free can get expensive.  I cook mostly from scratch, so I'm pretty sure that our average grocery bill is right in there with the majority of Americans, but when we had to change to gluten free, our personal grocery budget went up tremendously for us.

Convenience foods and mixes became a thing of the past as I learned to cook more and more gluten free items through the help of websites, blogs and overall experimentation, BUT man, it's nice to have some convenience every once in a while.

And convenience I got (and loads of it) when I stopped by my local Big Lots the other day.  OMGoodness!

I spent just under $200 ($199.42 to be exact, then I used a 20 percent off my order coupon on top of that!), and walked away with more than $600 worth of gluten free products.  The above photo is not a store shelf, that's my pantry.  We're stocked!

I also grabbed quite a few of these Enviro Kids bars, at $2/box how could I resist?

If you have a Big Lots (or similar store) by your home, I suggest you stop by often.  You never know what they are going to have!  There are some good deals to be had, but you also need to check expiration dates.   I found some that were just about to expire and loads that were good until Oct. 2012.  Just dig and look!

For more frugal living ideas, head on over to Life as Mom!

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Frugal Friday - Compost

A lot of people think that composting is gross. That it will smell bad, bring bugs in, make a huge mess...  I probably wouldn't have started composting on my own.  In all honesty, I don't think I'd ever thought of composting on my own.  I might have even fallen into the stereotype of the people above, but I didn't have any pre-conceived notions when our neighbors asked us to compost with them and were kind enough to show us how!

Since we started, composting has been a huge money saver for us.  Composting, in conjunction with cloth diapering, has saved us from having to get an additional trash can from the city. It's also a great way to go green!

For more frugal living ideas, head on over to Life as Mom!

If you like this post, will you show some linky love? Just hit the button in the top right corner to instantly share this post on Facebook or Twitter. I appreciate your help in spreading the word about Living with Three Boys!

Frugal Friday - Make it Yourself

 Is there honestly anything better than homemade salsa?  Maybe I'm biased?  I do live in Texas!

It's so easy to plant a salsa garden, and the fruits of your labor are just about the yummiest thing on earth!

And there really aren't any special skills needed to make salsa, just a lot of chopping and cutting.

To make, dice:
- six large tomatoes (seed them first, it's super easy, learn how here)
- 1/2 a large onion
- 2 jalapeño peppers
- A small bunch of fresh cilantro
- 2 cloves garlic

Top it all off with a squeeze of lime and a bit of salt and pepper then let it set overnight.  Serve with chips, our favorites are Xochitl. Yum!

You can also blend all of these ingredients together.  We happen to like ours chunky, more like a pico.

This is part of a series of Frugal Friday posts which focuses on items that you routinely buy that you can actually make, cheaper and yummier!  Here's the full list:

- Fancy Desserts

- Natural Cleaners

- Laundry Detergent

- Smoothies

- Yogurt

- Tomato Sauce

- Trail Mix

- LaraBars

- Baby Food (I still can't read this post without laughing, then shaking my head in shame)

- Granola

- Pancake Mix (like Bisquick)

If you like this post, will you show some linky love?  Just hit the button in the top right corner to instantly share this post on Facebook or Twitter.  I appreciate your help in spreading the word about Living with Three Boys!

Frugal Friday - Make it Yourself

We recently got a ton of tomatoes from our CSA.  Well, a ton of tomatoes and this...

The tomatoes actually weren't in the best shape, so I needed to use them up... quick!  My neighbor mentioned  using his lot of tomatoes to make tomato sauce, so I thought I would to!  You know, being disorganized and letting things go to waste drives me crazy, so creativity is key!

Not too long ago a task like this would have totally overwhelmed me... the whole peeling and seeding of a tomato seemed like crazy hard work, especially when a can of tomatoes isn't that expensive.  But, I've got to tell you folks, it's not hard at all!  See?

So, after the boiling, shocking, peeling and seeding, I added a diced onion, a head of garlic, a head of (de-veined) rainbow swiss chard, a handful of fresh basil from our garden and some olive oil and let it all simmer until soft.

If this yumminess was for me, I wouldn't have blended it.  I prefer a chunky sauce, but my kids tend to pick out all of the good-for-you veggies when it's chunky, so I blended everything up to oblivion... no picking out allowed!

My taste tester (and sous chef) approved!

We used some of our sauce immediately to make matzah pizza... we use these crackers for just about everything around here.  I usually add spinach to our lunch time pizzas, but I had just loaded the sauce with swiss chard, so I didn't want to push it. In hindsight, it would have been fine.  The  sauce has no real swiss chard taste...

The rest of the sauce was frozen to be used at a later date... We're pretty stocked!

I seem to have (inadvertently) focused lately on a lot of items that you can make, instead of purchase, to save money.  Here's a list of featured items:
- Desserts
- Natural Cleaners
- Laundry Detergent
- Smoothies
- Yogurt
- Trail Mix
- LaraBars
- Baby Food (I still can't read this post without laughing, then shaking my head in shame)
- Granola
- Pancake Mix (like Bisquick)

For more great ideas on ways to save money, head over to Life as Mom.

Frugal Friday - Make It, Don't Buy It

Other than my recent (so good of a deal I almost stole it) purchase of organic cleaners at the Babies R Us store closing, I don't purchase cleaners.  I have many reasons.  My largest?  I'm cheap!

We recently bought some bananas that harbored fruit flies... those fruit flies don't go down without a fight, and I was more than willing to fight back... but not with harsh chemicals.  You see, my kids eat on those counters. And I do mean eat on. Yes, yes, I give them plates, but often the food doesn't stay on them.

So, after taking some hefty drinks of wine, which is always good before you go on a bug hunt, I left the open bottle sitting on the counter overnight.  The flies flew in, got trapped and we were done with them.  Problem solved, without the use of anything that would harm my kids.

Most of my other recipes require a bit of prep work and a lot less drinking.  Sorry...

You already know I make my own laundry detergent and often use lemons to scrub and shine my sink, here are a few of the other things that keep my house clean:

Super Scrubber
1 part Borax
1 part baking soda

Use this recipe to get the soap scum off your bathtub or scrub your stove top.

Dishwasher Detergent in a Pinch
2 parts baking soda
1 part dish soap

This isn't something to use all the time, but it's great when you run out.  If you use this for too long, a film will build and it's pretty hard to get off.  Put some vinegar in your rinse cycle each time you add this.

Vinegar Window Cleaner
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm water

I actually use this as my all purpose cleaner, not just for windows.  I also use it to mop my floors.  At first I was scared that the smell would linger, but it's actually a great deodorizer and the vinegar smell leaves as soon as the cleaner dries.

I like that the cleaner I use to clean my floors and surfaces consists of things that my kids could (and do) eat.  That's important to me!  It also happens to be really good for the environment, and super cheap... all of these things make me smile!

**For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you'll be happy to know that my Super Scrubber mixture easily removed the ink that Holden scribbled all over the back on my front door.  Score one for this (cheap, frugal, green) mama!

Find more great ideas for frugality at www.lifeasmom.com.

Snack time!

My sweeties have been devouring fruit at snack time lately, leaving a wake of compostables on my counter. Such a simply, healthy snack - packaged to perfection by mother nature - just ready for on-the-go!





Yum!

Frugal Friday - Cloth Diapers

I've written about cloth diapers before, but wanted to give you another look at what we're using now...which is actually quite different from my original post.

We originally started our foray into cloth diapering with pre-folds, Snappies and covers. I actually bought the covers second-hand off Craigslist, so total start-up cost was right at $40. Recently, a good friend of mine bequeathed me a lot of FuzziBunz when her son outgrew them and I have to say that I LOVE them! When Analeigh was here full time and I was cloth-diapering two, we didn't have quite enough to go around, so I did some saving and purchased some Flips. If you're a family on the go - or if you're cloth-diapering several kids at once, you'll love Flips!


I think one of the biggest reasons people don't cloth diaper is because they think that the upfront cost is too great. There are so many ways around this! Yes, a starter FuzziBunz kit will run you upwards of $500, but there are so many used options too. My favorite site to purchase cloth diapers, Squishy Tushy, also offers slightly used diapers. Craigslist and Ebay are great resources too!


Right now, Squishy Tushy is running some good sales, and they also offer layaway plans. Flips (even at full price) are a great, cheaper option and the one size really does fit most. I've tried it on several kids from tiny to Cash (age 3). Their site also offers a 30-day trial pack that allows you to try out a comprehensive line of diapers for thirty days, then return them to get store credit and purchase the kind that best fits your needs. If you've been dying to test the cloth diaper waters, this is the way to go! What's the gamble?

Many cloth diapering sites and companies state that you must use special (expensive) laundry soap with cloth diapers. It's true that most laundry detergent you can purchase do make cloth diapers less absorbent due to the softeners, but I've had lots of friend who have had good luck with Free and Clear detergents. Since I make my own detergent, I was bound and determined to come up with my own Free and Clear recipe, and I've finally hit the right combo! Just use the normal recipe, but replace the Fels-Naptha with Palmolive Natural Free and Clear dish soap. Works great! I have an HE frontloader, but the small amount of dish soap (especially when mixed with the Borax and washing soda) does not suds enough to create a problem.







Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way for voicing my ideas on cloth diapering. All opinions are my own, based on my experience with my children. I am, however, an affiliate with Squishy Tushy. Using the links above to purchase diapers will not increase your cost, but will give my family a referral fee.


For more ideas on ways to stay frugal, please visit www.lifeasmom.com. It's always better when we ban together to save money!

Frugal Friday - store closings

In our area, unfortunately, I'm seeing more and more stores closing. A lot of times they are places that I don't need anything from, but lately there have been a few places that I frequent closing their doors. I guess it's just a product of the current economy.

Recently, our local Kroger closed. I went weekly to scope things out and see what I could stockpile, but I made some blunders and learned a few things in the process. I was used to shopping advertised sales and matching coupons, but this was so different because I had no clue what to expect each time I walked in. I couldn't prepare ahead of time.

I like to be prepared.

A Babies R Us near us is currently in the process of downsizing and relocating. I've been going weekly and finding a goal mine of organic kids' foods, baby gifts and birthday toys, some future clothing, sunscreen, baby wash, toothpaste and organic cleaning products. Babies R Us only carries clothing up to 4t, which is a bummer because their clothes are good quality and massively reduced now. I'd have done a lot more stockpiling had they even just gone up to 5t, but alas.



What I've learned:

1. Go frequently. A lot frequently. You never know when things are going to mark down again and the stores usually aren't too open to sharing this secret.

2. Know your brands and prices. Know what they typically carry and what your price point is... Not just for this store, but others in the area as well.

3. Know your coupons and take them ALL with you. Familiarize yourself with your coupons, that way when you see an item you know whether or not you might have something.

4. Ask questions, don't be shy! This is where I struggle, I don't want to bother anyone, but I've learned that (for the most part) people are more than willing to help if you ask kindly.

5. Repeat. At least weekly.

My number four tip really came into play this week. There was a sign in the Babies R Us window that said, "Due to store closing, we can no longer accept coupons at this location."

Bummer!

But, I found a nice manager who said he would be happy to honor any manufacturers coupons I had, just no Babies R Us coupons. This ask saved me about $20, most of which was almost free organic baby food that I turned right around to donate!

Since the store was closing, I couldn't ask for rainchecks on items, but I did ask what they had in the back. This helped some of my couponing tremendously, think buy three and save $1 baby food coupons.

There are quite a few more items that I have my eye on, bit they weren't marked down enough yet. I'll be heading back next week to see about snagging some new deals with a new price drop!

Frugal Friday - Turn Down The Heat

In the majority of folk's opinions, I keep my house cold in the winter.  It's rare that our heat is set above 65.  It's not an uncomfortable temperature, but it will keep you in a sweater.  Our thought is that you can put on a sweatshirt and socks to warm up... not just turn the dial on the thermostat.  

At night, we all enjoy sleeping with heavy blankets.  Something about that is just so comforting anyway.  Plus, I hate sleeping hot.  To take away the initial chill, we have a stash of corn bags that we heat up in the microwave before we crawl in bed.  If you've never tried these, buy some quick!  You'll thank me!

Of course, some people (and pets) in our family tend toward the dramatic side and like to say they are cold all the time.  For them I skip the corn bag entirely and cover them in the clothes out of the dryer...  at least they're warm until I fold them!

Frugal Friday - Bring Your Own Drinks

We spent this last weekend having an amazing time and escaping the cold weather at Great Wolf Lodge.  We were iced in the entire week before, so I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it was to have this time together - especially since it was out of the house... which we had been stuck in, minus one trip to the ER, the entire week before!

We received our stay at Great Wolf as a Christmas gift.  What an amazing blessing!  The Kid Cabin Suite was great - allowing us to be together, but still giving some separation.  I asked around on Facebook before we went and was urged to bring our own food... that the food there wasn't super AND it was extremely expensive.  That it was!  This simple act saved us a ton!

Each room had a fridge and microwave, so I took some pizzas to heat up, sandwich makers and some homemade Spaghetti O's.  We also brought our own drinks and TONS of snacks - trail mix anyone?

We did spend some extra cash and purchased MagiQuest wands for the boys.  Upon the advice of my friend Stacy, we just had the wands set to their free "demo mode."  This allowed the boys to turn things on, but the actual game didn't keep score.  They wouldn't have understood it anyway!  This alone saved us $45 ($15/wand), yet allowed the kids to have the exact same experience!

When playing the game, the kids had to use the stairs and not the elevators.  It was great... totally wore them out!

Again, eating in the room really saved us a ton!  We did eat several meals poolside and sprung for a huge breakfast together as a family, but the kids seemed to enjoy the downtime of eating together in the quiet of our room too.  If you do this, I do recommend you bring some plates and cutlery.  I didn't come prepared and we had to scrounge.

Of course, the main attraction at Great Wolf is the water park.  That's where we spent the majority of our time!  When we arrived, Cash looked out the big window overlooking the water park and announced, "I'm SO excited!  My legs are shaking!"

The kiddie area was perfect for all of the boys... they loved the slides!

And we also loved riding on the "motorcycle boats."  We went on lots of trips to the store and movie place using our imagination!

I also have to admit that the water park was our biggest area of blunder in the financial department.  Here's the deal... I loathe swim diapers.  When at all possible (like the lake house or in our back yard) I don't use them.  When they are required, I use them and then reuse them, and reuse, and reuse, and reuse.  The things don't soak anything up, so I don't see a problem with this unless there is poop.  Well, I got cocky and only brought one, that we were going to reuse.  Yep, it became unusable and we had to purchase more at the gift shop.  For $14.99.  Lesson learned!

For $14.99 I got five swim diapers.  I noticed someone else in need and passed one along.  I'm glad I was able to show a bit of kindness... considering the high price tag!

We went on Super Bowl weekend, unbeknownst to me because I know nothing about football.  Super Bowl this year was in North Texas, Great Wolf Lodge is right around the corner from the airport.  There were lots of football fans there and the Lodge was at full capacity.  Sounds like a bad weekend to go, but it was actually perfect... most of the people didn't have kids!  We had all of the kids' activities to ourselves!

Plus, the lines of buses to-and-from all of the events served at GREAT entertainment for the kids!

We spent two nights in the Kid Cabin Suite (and three full days in the water park). Our grand total spent was $1,025.  Our gift card was for $1,000, so we did great with budgeting!

Frugal Friday - Trail Mix

My kids love a good trail mix, and I love giving it to them!

I don't often purchase trail mix readymade from the store. To me, trail mix is the perfect opportunity to use up those little bits of left-overs to create a hearty snack.  So, my trail mix doesn't have a specific recipe, but we do follow a formula:

Around here, we like salty-sweet, so I alway throw in something crunchy and salty (Goldfish, Veggie Sticks, Pirates Booty).  Since protein is often something kids don't get enough of, nuts are a must, and dried fruit is ALWAYS a welcome addition (make sure your dried fruit isn't sweetened, it's sweet enough and your kids don't need the extra sugar).

The day I took this photo must have been a super special day because I spy some white chocolate chips!  This isn't something that's typical for me to throw in, but if I have it on hand, it is a nice treat!  Another sweet that my kids love in the mix is chocolate covered soy beans, yummy and packed with protein!

What do your kids like to snack on and how do you keep it healthy?