Frugal Tip: How to Clean Your Microwave Without Chemicals

Cleaning food splatters from the sides, bottom and top of your microwave doesn't have to be a tiring job requiring your elbow grease. There's a simple and healthier way to clean your microwave without using harsh chemicals and having to scrub away at caked on food particles. With just some water, lemon juice and heat, the food particles will easily wipe clean. Here's how you do it:

Mix 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (I prefer fresh lemon juice) and 2 cups of water in a microwave safe bowl (I use my large Pyrex measuring cup). Microwave on HIGH for one to two minutes. Once microwave stops, use a cloth and the slightly cooled mixture to wipe down the inside of your microwave. The steam created by the water in the bowl will make the particles easier to wipe away.

This is a natural and SAFE way to clean your microwave, plus the lemons leave a nice fresh scent. Remember, if you use chemicals to clean the interior of your microwave, any residues left inside can come in contact with the foods that you heat or reheat.

Click here for more handy tips using lemons around your house

20 Ways to Save Money on Everyday Expenses

Saving money and cutting expenses has become a necessity for many Canadians and their families. There are literally thousands of ways that we can save money by making simple changes to the habits that we've developed.

Today we're looking at 20 various ways to pinch those pennies:

Household Expenses   

Grocery Shopping 

Use coupons for the products that you already purchase whenever possible.

Utilize price matching guarantees to save the cost of fuel by driving to multiple grocery stores.

You can save hundreds of dollars each each by comparing price per units on shelf labels. This is great information to store in your price book.

Cleaning Products   

Use sponges rather than paper towel for clean ups and spills. If they become smelly, give your sponges a bath in baking soda and water to refresh them.

Use newspaper rather than paper towels to clean your windows and mirrors. Plus it's the best at a streak-free clean.

Make your own cleaning products rather than purchasing heavily marketed products.


Banking   
Chequing Accounts  

Choose no fee or low fee chequing accounts. Some great examples are PC Financial (with rewards points for groceries) and BMO Club Sobeys (also with rewards for groceries)

Opt for direct deposit whenever possible for employment income, government returns, etc. This will give you immediate access to your money without spending the fuel and time to drive or take pulic transportation to your bank every week.

Inquire about fee discounts for child accounts, student accounts and senior accounts.

Savings Accounts  

Although the interest rates are pretty low these days, it's still best to try to get the most return on your investment dollars. Choose higher interest savings accounts like ING Direct or ALLY.

Credit Cards  

Lower the total interest you pay by paying off your balance every month.

Choose credit cards which have rewards so you get more for using their card services. Remember to pay your balance each month to get the full value of the rewards you've earned.

Do not pay annual fees to have a credit card in your wallet. There's plenty of credit card options that are free of annual fees.

Tax Time 

Complete your taxes as soon as your slips arrive. The sooner you file, the sooner you receive your refunds and can invest it to start earning a return.

If you owe money at the end of the year for taxes, it's best to pay your outstanding debt as quickly as possible to avoid accrued interest charges.


Transportation   
Fueling Your Vehicle   

Avoid the weekend prices by refraining from filling up on Fridays as well as the day before long weekends and holidays.

You can save up to $100 a year on your gas bill by keeping your engine tuned and your tires properly inflated. Check your vehicles manual or wall of tire for proper inflation details.

Reduce the amount of money you spend on fuel by following these fuel conservation tips.

Insurance 

If you don't drive very often, your car insurance may be less. Check with your insurance company to see if they offer a discount for individuals who drive fewer than the specified number of kilometers each year.

Take advantage of affiliate discounts such as College Alumni, employer, club, etc when applying for or renewing your insurance. Ask your insurance company if they have association discounts.


Car Rentals  

Rental car companies offer various insurance and waiver options. Check with your won auto insurer in advance to avoid duplicating any coverage that you may already have.


We continually discuss and review the various ways to save money. For more ideas on how to cut expenses and put more into your pocket, click here. We love to hear the ways our readers save their biggest dollars too! Please leave us a comment below.

Quell The Smell Using Products In Your Home

There is nothing worse than bad smells in your home. What do you do when they attack? Do you buy expensive fragrance sprays and cleaners that just masks smells, or you get right down and fight the bad smell scent moving through your home?

Let's look at the ways to beat the bad scents:

Stinky shoes: Sprinkle salt inside the shoes to cover the insoles. Let it sit overnight, then shake out the salt. The salt absorbs the odours in the soles.

Fresh Bathroom: Put baking soda or crumbled charcoal in an open container and replace weekly.

Smelly Dog: Sprinkle baking soda on the dog's coat and work it into the fur with your hands. Brush out the baking soda.

Stinky Trash Can: Put crumpled newspaper at the bottom under the bag. You can also put crumbled charcoal in your tightly closed empty trash can overnight. Alternately you can use 1 cup of baking soda in the bottom of the pail.

Fish in the Air: To clear the air of fish smells you can either soak fish in milk prior to cooking it or you can hang a wet towel in the kitchen to absorb the smell.

Cheesy Feet: Soak feet daily in 2 cups of brewed black tea combined with 2 cups of water.

Smoke Smells: Scatter orange and lemon peels around or better yet put them in glass candy dishes to be more ornamental.

Musty Smelling Closet: Fill an old sock with a few tablespoons of fresh unused ground coffee and hang in your closet.

Pet Accident Odours: Are best dealt with using white vinegar. 

Toilet Odours: Pour approx 1 cup of white vinegar into the bowl and let stand for a few minutes.  Scrub the toilet and flush.

Food Odours in Your Wood Chopping Block: Scrub it down with lemon juice and baking soda.  Rinse and then season it with mineral oil.

Improving Air Quality: If you don't have a HRV system in your house, you should crack a window for fresh air, improved air quality and to exchange stale bad smelling air from your home.
 
Okay, maybe the fragrance sprays, candles, etc are not so expensive with coupons. However, while sprays, candles, oils, incense may smell nice they all do the same thing; they cover up the smell and leave you with toxic chemicals which you can end up breathing in and absorbing through your skin. No thank you, I choose to breathe easy!

We love to hear from our readers. What do you do to keep your home fresh smelling without the added chemicals?

15 Fuel Conserving Tips to Help Save Money With Soaring Fuel Prices

With fuel prices on the rise, it's wise to implement simple money saving tips to help conserve fuel when driving and to offset the soaring gas prices, such as these:

1. Keep tires properly inflated, having tires 2 PSI below optimal pressure increases fuel consumption by one percent.

2. Keep your car regularly maintained. Inspect and change car filters as clogged air and oil filters waste gas.

3. Avoid overloading your trunk and pack lightly on trips.

4. Avoid high speeds driving 20 km over 100 km a hour consumes 15% more fuel.

5. Plan all your trips for the week or day to avoid wasting unnecessary fuel by back tracking.

6. Consider car pooling to work with other co-workers.

7. Avoid idling your car for a long time long. Idling burns more fuel than restarting your car.

8. When driving on the highway keep windows closed too avoid drag. Open windows can increase fuel consumption by 10 percent. This is when air conditioning becomes most economical.

9. Do not accelerate or brake hard.

10. Use your air conditioning sparingly.

11. Use cruise control if available on flat roads but on hills it is much more economical to supply more power as the car requires, letting the momentum of the car do the work as much as possible. It takes some practice but it's easier on the fuel tank overall.

12. Avoid bumper riders, especially on long trips where fuel consumption is high as it is. If you have someone tailing you too close, they're probably using your fuel and coasting in your wind tunnel. Slow down, put your hazards on and let them pass. Don't let them burn up all your fuel.

13. In the wintertime, clear ALL of the snow off your car, not just off your windows. The extra weight of the snow adds to the cost of fuel consumption.

14. Don't add drag by carrying a load on your roof. It can significantly reduce your fuel mileage.

15. Walk where you can or ride a bike to destinations close by without using your car.

Rewards Programs For Fueling

1. If you shop at Refuel stations (part of No Frills grocery stores) save your receipts and then present them when you shop at No Frills to save a little off your grocery bill for each receipt presented.

2. Also if you like to shop at Canadian Tire fuel stations, then make sure you utilize the BONUS coupon on the flyer to get extra Canadian Tire Money! Lots of times you can earn up to 10X the CTC money. Plus once you save up $25 in CTC money, bring it to the store and purchase a gift card with it and then use it to purchase your fuel.

3. Use your Aeroplan card at Esso stations to get bonus points with each fill up. Plus you can get Esso Extra points too!

4. Some credit cards like Canadian Tire and Petro Canada offer 10 cents off per litre or other discounts.

5. Costco members save 10 cents per litre at Costco gas stations.

6. Pioneer has a Pioneer Bucks Card to get reward "bucks," save it up and you can use it towards gas purchases.

(Thanks to the members of Freebies Deals And Rewards)

Frugal Tip: Reviving Dried Out Dry Erase Markers

How to Revive Dried Out Dry Erase Markers ~ Your whiteboard markers may still have more life in them!!

Tip #1

Dip the tip of the marker into in a little rubbing alcohol. If color is drawn down into the alcohol, there's life in your marker, and you can write with it more, now that you have treated it. If this does not work, then the marker is probably out of lasting power.

Tip #2

Just use a pair of pliers to remove the tip and turn it around. You are good for another round of use. You can even turn the tip back around later and the old dried out tip may be good once again.

Tip #3

Use plain old gravity to bring the ink to the tip bu turning the marker onto it's lid in a cup or something similar. After a couple of days you can check if the ink has flowed down to the tip.

Tip #4

Tie a string around the marker and swing it around to encourage the ink to flow down to the tip.


A good way to think when living a frugal lifestyle is there's more life or use out of the things that seem to be empty or finished! Explore how you can get more!

Control Your Phantom Power Usage

A big way to save on your hydro consumption is to watch your phantom power consumption. What is phantom power? The drawing of power off your grid by electronic components that are not in use but yet still plugged in. There are many culprits which draw phantom power, including but not limited to:

• Digital photo frames
• Televisions
• Set-top boxes for your digital tv
• DVD players and recorders
• Computer speakers
• Printers (especially laser)
• Stereos and Home Theatre Components
• Video game consoles

One way to combat phantom power is to unplug electronics that are not in use. Another way is to put these items on a power bar and simply flick the switch when you are done. It's advisable to check the operating manuals on your equipment regarding unplugging or turning off to see if it affects your setup. The biggest downfall for me is resetting time displays when turning equipment off and on to use but other than that the savings add up over time! 

Some households have reported a savings of 10% when they reduced their phantom power consumption. Can you do better on your hydro bill? We want to know what you do about phantom power!

Tit For Tat: Bartering For Goods And Services

Bartering was once the main form of currency and now it's not utilized nearly as frequently as it once was. However as we see downturns in the economy, people tend to look back to more frugal ways of living. Bartering is a great way to trade products and services with one another while leaving the pocketbook unscathed.

Think outside of the box! What can you offer in return for what you need or want? Do you have a skill or specialty you can provide in exchange for goods and/or services?

Examples of bartering:

~ Bartering starts in our childhood years; you'll see it in the lunchroom as two kids exchange sandwiches or snacks from their lunchboxes
~ Wheat farmers cannot live on bread alone, but could trade surplus to local cattle farmers for meat
~ Let's get more relevant to saving money...coupon trading is one of the most popular forms of bartering these days

Bartering is only limited to your imagination, skills, your offerings and the ability to find another person who needs what you can offer plus have something that you want in return.

IMPORTANT!! If you decide to swap services like babysitting and pet walking, make sure that you have agreed upon an upfront monetary value for your service so your swapping will be fair and equal. Swapping services is often harder than swapping real goods because you really need to know what the going price is for the service you're offering.

We love to hear from our readers, tell us if you've ever bartered before. What was your bartering arrangement?

Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipes

I make a some of my own homemade cleaners, but I've never tried making my own laundry detergent at home. I know many people who do make it rather than buy it, and swear it's better than any commercially made soap. They would never change back to store bought laundry soaps. I gathered a couple of different recipes to share with you.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent Recipe #1

7.5 litres hot water
1 bar soap (grated)
2 cups baking soda

Directions:

• Melt the grated soap in a saucepan with enough hot water to cover it. 
• Heat on medium-low heat, stirring frequently until soap has melted.
• In a large pail, pour 7.5 litres of hot water and add the melted soap. Stir well.
• Next, add the baking soda, stirring well.
• Store in a sealed pail or in plastic laundry detergent jugs.
• Stir or shake soap mixture (depending on storage method) before each use.

Using the Soap: Use 1/2 cup per full load or 1 cup for heavy soiled loads

Approximate costs of supplies: $0.60 to $2.00 (plus electricity to heat the water)
- Bar Soap $0.10 to $0.50
- Baking Soda $0.50 to $1.50

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent Recipe #2

2.5 litres hot water
5 litres cold water
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax
1/3 bar soap (grated)

Directions:

• In a large pot, heat 1.5 litres of water. Add the grated soap and stir until melted. 
• Next, add the washing soda and borax. Stir until powder has dissolved and remove promptly from heat.
• In large clean pail, pour 1 litre of hot water and add the heated soap mixture. Add 5 litres of cold water and stir well.

Using the Soap: Use 1/2 cup per load, stirring soap before each use (mixture will gel)

Approximate Cost of Supplies: $1.18 to $1.92 (plus electricity to heat the water)
- Bar Soap $0.03 to $0.17
- Borax $0.55 to $0.75
- Washing Soda $0.60 to $1.00

Homemade Powder Laundry Detergent Recipe

8 cups baking soda
8 cups bar soap (grated)

12 cups borax

8 cups washing soda

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients well and store in a sealed tub.
• Use 1/8 cup of powder per full load.

Helpful Tips:

• use bar soaps such as Ivory, Sunlight and avoid heavily perfumed soaps
• washing soda and borax can be found in the cleaning/laundry aisle
• recipes can be adjusted to suit your needs, experiment
• make larger batches in pails and then transfer to laundry bottles for storage (ask a friend or neighbour for their empty bottles) then just shake it before using
• hardware store carry 5 gallon pails for $4-6, watch for a sale or store coupon

There's many variations for homemade laundry detergent. If you have a recipe that works for you, please share with us by commenting below. We love to hear from our readers.

Couponing and saving money – Go on to pay off your debts

Guest Post By: Jason Holmes

You may not be interested even in checking out the fliers that you get from
the supermarket or in your mail box. But, from now on try to check out the
fliers as these may help you lower the costs of shopping; mainly grocery
shopping. Though it is true that this helps you save only few dollars, few
dollars in reality can add up to a large amount. So, if you are still not
into couponing, you should start off with that. Couponing along with
budgeting may help you pay off debts through consolidation.

*Benefits and tips on couponing*

The main benefit of couponing is that it helps you lower the money you are
required to spend in general. Now, when you spend less, you may be able to
start saving more. In addition, you can use this money to pay off your
debts through consolidation. So, in order to save money through couponing,
what are the things that you will be required to do? In addition to cutting
out the coupons, it is also important for you to remain organized.

   1. *Use coupons to buy national brands* – Though it is true that the
   national brands cost you more, use the coupons to get these for low costs.
   Though the generic or the store brands are cheaper, the production houses
   for these products are without the money to promote the products. So, there
   may or may not be good offers on these.

   2. *Don’t show brand loyalty* – Products at different stores can vary in
   price. So, it will be wise of you to check out different brands and stores
   to make the maximum savings. Plan to check out each store each week and
   then decide on the best offers. This helps you ultimately to save lots of
   dollars.

   3. *Remember to check the receipts* – When you buy items from a store,
   you are handed over a store generated receipt for the goods. Generally,
   people tend to throw away this receipt without a second thought. Remember
   to check out the receipts before throwing them out. This is important
   because the stores sometime print discount offers on the back of the
   receipts.

   4. *Use the Internet to find coupons* – The Internet is the best place
   for you to find numerous coupons. There are so many websites and offers,
   that you will be spoiled for choice. So, try to give yourself some time on
   researching the couponing websites to get the best of offers. Not all
   online websites provide you great offers. Again, there may also be
   websites that provide really good offers on some items while not on others.
   So, you will have to check out all of these and use the coupons as per your
   needs and requirements.

   5. *Organize the coupons as per the dates* – Buy a coupon organizer as
   this can help you use the coupons in the right way. Maintain separate
   counters for separate stores. In addition, organize the coupons date wise.
   In this way you will never forget the date within which you will be
   required to use the coupons.

   6. *Know what your friends have* – In addition to finding the coupons of
   your own, you should also be aware of the coupons that your friends have
   been able to collect. Such situations can arise when you are in need of
   some particular coupon which you can’t find of your own. Now, if you can
   find one such coupon with any of your friends, you can exchange one of your
   coupons for the one you require. However, your friend will have to agree to
   this and he/she must be sure that he/she needs the one that you are
   exchanging.

So, these are the things that you will be required to do in order to save
money through couponing and budgeting.

Jason Holmes is a regular writer with Debt Consolidation Care and is also a
contributory writer with other financial sites. His expertise is woven
around various aspects of the debt industry and with his e-books he tries
to impart to people the different situations and simple solutions to get
out of difficult situations. Some of his works include e-books like 'Credit
Score The Quintessential Therapy for a Happy Pocket', Take Creditors and
Collection Agencies to Small Claims Court' and, My Story- From Depression
To a Smile'.

Frugal Tip: Kleenex Hand Towels (Accidental Discovery)

Frugal Tip: Reuse your Kleenex Hand Towels

I've been reusing the used Kleenex hand towels for house cleaning to get extra use out of them. But over the weekend I washed a load of laundry and I must have had a few Kleenex hand towels in one of my clothes pockets. When I opened the dryer door there were a couple of cleaned and not ripped ortorn Kleenex hand towels.

They aren't as durable and I wouldn't suggest washing any ripped ones. But there is certainly more life left after one use. Next time I'm going to try putting the used Kleenex hand towels in a lingerie bag to wash them.

Here's what a Kleenex Hand Towel that has been washed and dried in our washing machines look like:

Another tip for the Kleenex hand towels: cut them in half for the little hands in your life! Thanks for reading, please feel free to leave comments below.

Resolutions to Save Money in The New Year

With post holiday season and the start of a new year, it's time to get back on track with your personal finances while most of us are motivated to accomplish our new year's resolutions.

Here are a few simple steps to help you save money in the new year:

1. Create a realistic budget that will really work!
2. Go back to the days before ATM cards and withdrawal the amount of cash you need for your weekly or bi-weekly expenses (depending on your pay schedule) rather than using your card for each and every transaction.
3. Stop using those credit cards.
4. Make sure that you have a cushion or slush fund to cover you financially in the event of a downturn or an emergency.
5. Split up unexpected winfalls of money that come your way!
6. Avoid the budget busters.

Creating a Simple But Effective Budget

• Establish a savings goal (education, retirement, renovation, vacation, etc)
• Track your spending habits, using your sales receipts for 1 or 2 months to see how your spending compares to the amount of money coming into the household
• Review your spending habits and figure out where you can cut or trim some expenses; viewing where the money is spent can really put a perspective on wasted dollars
• Return to your budget on a regular basis to confirm that you are on track to reaching your savings goal; make adjustments when necessary

Why Cut Your ATM Card?

You don't have to literally cut your ATM card or debit card. However, unless you have free or unlimited transactions with your bank, these are fees you can avoid by using cash instead. One of the best examples of using cash in a manner that is effective, is the technique taught by the money maven Gail Vaz-Oxlade on Til Debt Do Us Part. She instructs the guests of her show to divvy up the money set forth in their budget in jars labelled for their expenses. They can literally see how much or little the jars contain after they spend from each. If jars aren't your thing, an envelope labelled with the expense name would work just as well.

Stop Using Those Credit Cards

Unless you are strictly disciplined to pay your balance off in it's entirety each and every month, I would recommend that you put away those credit cards. The interest that you accumulate on borrowed purchases will not end up being cost effective overall. If you always practice paying your credit card in full, then there is an advantage to earning loyalty reward points on your purchases.

Split Up Unexpected Windfalls Of Money Into Thirds

Whenever you have an expected windfall of money, such as a gift card from a survey, a bonus from work, contest prize, etc; divvy it up into three equal shares as follows:

• The Present - Use one third of the money to buy something for yourself personally or towards a home improvement or personal improvement
• The Past - Use one third of the money to cover past debts that you owe
• The Future - Use one third of the money to save for the future in a savings account, TFSA or another investment vehicle

An Emergency Fund Or Slush Fund For Unexpected Expenses

Experts state that a three month operating budget is the MINIMUM that you should set aside as your emergency fund. How do you figure out this number? Track all of your spending for a month including all of your bills and incidentals, then multiple by three. This money should remain liquid for you in some form of a deposit account. (Liquid means that it should not be locked into an uncashable investment tool, it must remain accessible.) While it's nice to make some interest on this money, it's really there to bail you out of a jam. The amount of interest earned in really inconsequential to the peace of mind this money will give you.


Avoid Blowing Your Budget With The Worst Budget Busters

1. Having no emergency or slush fund. In the event of an emergency where you do not have a cushion in place, it can set you back by needing to find some kind of loan or using any asset you have to bail out.
2. Budgeting too rigidly. If you budget too strictly and don't allow yourself some fun, then you could end up deviating from your budget and overspending. It's like a dieter who doesn't allow themselves a dessert now and again, they might end up binge eating. Allow yourself some small indulgences in your budget to keep you on track.
3. Gift giving. Buying our friends and loved ones gifts is a type of emotional spending that can have people dish out more cash than they can actually afford. Limit gift exchanges to a couple of close people in your life and include these expenses in your budget.
4. Impulse buying. Following a detailed budget will allow a person with impulsive buying habits to see exactly where the money would be coming from. For example, should they borrow from their grocery money to buy a new pair of shoes. The impulsive buy may not look as attractive when you look at where the money is coming from.

What are some other simple yet effective ways that you save money and trim your expenses?

• Use coupons and price match your purchases whenever possible
• Learn about SCOP and take advantage of price errors
• Join loyalty rewards programs and get rewarded when you buy
• Complete compensated surveys online to make extra cash/gift cards
• Follow gas savings advice and tips 

Coupon Matchup Shopping Trip

Each and every week there are sales all around that can be matched up with coupons to make great deals with little out of pocket expense. It helps to have an organized coupon binder and a coupon database to match sales flyers to.

In the last SmartSource Coupon Insert Flyer, there was a coupon to save $5 off Scrubbing Bubbles Daily Shower and conveniently Walmart 'rolled' back the price to $5.97 the following week. As I live in Ontario, I paid $1.75 per bottle after taxes and I had 2 coupons, so I used them both.

I also had 2 coupons left to save $10 off Multibionta Vitamins and took advantage of the Shoppers Drug Mart Sale that ended Friday. I got 2 bottles of vitamins for $3.99 each pre-tax. My camera battery is charging, so I couldn't take a picture this time around.  

Some of the deals this week include:


Shoppers Drug Mart:

Neilson Sour Cream is $1.99 - use $1 tear pad coupon and pay only $0.99
Clubhouse Gravy is $0.99 - use B1G1 FREE save.ca coupon and pay only $0.50
Kashi Granola Bars are $2.99 - use $2 mail out coupon and pay only $0.99

Zellers:

Palmolive Dish Soap is $1.77 - use $1 mail out coupon and pay only $0.77
Hunt's Tomato Sauce $1.25 - use $1 WUB 2 All-Bran Box Coupon and pay only $0.75

Walmart:

Club House Gravy is $0.77 - use BOGO save.ca coupon and pay only $0.39
Summer Fresh Dips are $2.97 - use BOGO Facebook coupon and pay only $1.49

Zehrs:

Gay Lea Gold Sour Cream is $1.99 - use $1 save.ca coupon and pay only $0.99
Oasis Refrigerated Juice is $2.99 - use $2 magazine coupon and pay only $0.99
Palmolive Dish Soap is $1.99 - use $1 mail out coupon and pay only $0.99

View the current coupon matchups for this week

There were a lot of great deals this week and I managed to snag only a few but saved a lot in the process. Shoppers Drug Mart advertised the 473ml bottles of Listerine Whitening Mouthwash for $4.99 and right beside they had a coupon for $5 off the purchase price. While Shoppers does not allow overages on coupons, they reduced the purchase by $4.99 and I paid only $0.65 in taxes. As you can see from the photo below, I bought 2 bottles. However, it was limit 1 coupon per person, so I brought my spouse with me.

I price matched Arm & Hammer Baking Soda for $0.63 at Walmart using the Giant Tiger sales flyer. These are needed each month for the refrigerator and freezer to deodorize, so it's a good item to stock up on, a little bit anyways.

I also needed some shower cleaner, so I checked my coupon stash and found a BOGO for Scrubbing Bubbles Mega Shower Foamer. While the product was not on sale, 2 bottles for $3.89 was fairly reasonable.

There was one last price match at Walmart for Neilson Chocolate Milk at $3.99 for 4L. This was matched to Zehrs sales flyer ending today. The last 4L that I purchased was not on sale and I paid $7.99 without a coupon. That's a $4 savings to me and I think I did pretty good buying 2 x 4L bags. The expiry date is 2 weeks away, giving us plenty of time to drink 8L. (I don't personally do this, but some people freeze milk and chocolate milk when they find a good deal).

Join the Coupon Clipping in Canada Group on Facebook

This group covers couponing in Canada, where to find coupons, using coupons and so much more!

One the biggest ways to save aside being frugal and using coupons, is to take advantage of sales that happen at set times of the year. For example, this week has been Black Friday everywhere! The official day being tomorrow, November 25, 2011.

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Merchants offer big discounts to encourage customers to shop at their stores.

Then the grand finale to the US Thanksgiving shopping weekend is Cyber Monday where you can get huge discounts shopping online! The official day for 2011 is Monday, November 28th.

What is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday immediately following Black Friday, created by companies to persuade people to shop online. Look for e-codes or coupon codes to discount your purchases. Some e-retailers will automatically apply the discount without needing a coupon code. Be certain to read the terms and conditions of the sales discounts.

Click Here to View Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals in Canada

Frugal Meal on A Budget for Less Than $4

It's been a little while since I last posted because I can't seem to stay motivated once the cold weather hits! My spouse suggested that I do some cooking (that's not my job usually, I'm more the desserts creator). Tonight I challenged myself to make a balanced meal for 2 for less than $5!

Since becoming a member of Freebies Deals And Rewards I have learned many tips and tricks to reduce my overall expenses and one that I will forever cherish is buying meat from my local butcher instead of the grocery store.

I spend an average of $1.50 per pound to $2 per pound for my meats which really helps stretch a buck! Today I thawed a single chicken breast portion to make a sitr fry dinner which was $1.65.

And I was a little strapped for time, so I used a frozen stir fry mix called Zen Garden by Europe's Best. The bag cost $2.99 after a coupon and I used 1/3 of the bag, making the cost roughly $1 for this meal.

 

I decided to make a side of long grain and wild rice blend as well. It is the Sensations brand found at Sobeys stores. The bag was $3.99 but there's a lot of servings in this bag. From past experience, we can get eight 2 person servings, which works out to $0.50 per 2 person meal!

 

I used some seasonings and spices such as curry, vegetable seasoning, salt, soya sauce and saffron, which works out to only pennies for the entire dish! The final meal cost me only $3.15 (plus the spices and drinks). We had Nestea Iced Tea from a canister of powder mix that I bought for $1.99 on sale with a coupon. Since we can get 104 glasses from a canister, it's only about $0.02 per glass. We each had a glass with dinner making the meal less than $3.25 all in all!

I could have made it slightly cheaper by visiting a local farmer's market and buying fresh vegetables, preparing them for stir frying and freezing them for when I wish to make a stir fried dinner. I'm so happy that I was able to beat my self-challenge of dinner for under $5 and you can too! And think, you could go eat at McDonald's for $17! No thank you!

For more meal ideas, visit the Cuisine Forum at Freebies Deals And Rewards.

Make Your Own Christmas Crackers and Save Money

Save money this year and make your own Christmas crackers. Stretch your dollar even further plus be kind to our environment and reuse the Christmas crackers year after year!

SUPPLIES:
Toilet rolls or paper towel rolls - cut to desired size
Scraps of Christmas fabric
1 1/2 to 2" spools of ribbon
1/4" spools of ribbon
Christmas Cracker Snaps
Tissue paper to make paper hats - if desired
Jokes or sayings for inside Christmas Cracker
Small chocolates
Small gifts or prizes

INSTRUCTIONS:
Cut pieces of fabric approximately 7" x 11" using pinking shears, if available. If you use bigger rolls for the base of your Christmas crackers, roll the tube in the fabric before cutting, gather up one end to determine approximately how much fabric should be left to wrap ribbon around it. For a tube that is 4" long, I have a 3 1/2" overlap at each end. You also need to allow about 1 1/2" of the circumference of the tube for over lapping. (if you have a sewing machine, you can do a narrow zigzag around the edges of the cut fabric)

Mark the centre of the tube and the centre of the fabric

Using your glue gun, run a bead of glue the length of your tube near your centre mark. Match up the centre of the fabric to the centre of the tube and press the fabric lengthwise into the bead of glue.

Roll the fabric around your tube and run another bead of glue on the tube and press the fabric into the glue so your tube is now completely wrapped in your Christmas fabric.

Take your wide ribbon, run a bead of glue at the end, centre it on the tube and press, bring the ribbon around, so it overlaps about 3/4". Cut and fold the raw edge under, run another bead of glue on the ribbon and place it carefully over where the ribbon started.

The length of thin ribbon you use to wrap the ends of your crackers, will depend on how big you want your bow to be. Before cutting off strips of ribbon, pull off about 2 feet so you have lots to work with (don't cut it) Now gather in one end of your Christmas cracker, wrap your ribbon around it, tie it and make a bow. When you are satisfied with how it looks and how much you want on the tails, mark it, then undo your bow so you can measure how much you used. You will now know how much to cut each ribbon, without wasting any. If you are going to reuse your Christmas crackers each year, you can put a small bit of glue in the centre of the ribbon, and glue it to the cracker where you will be gathering it in. That way you will always have the ribbons attached to the crackers.

While paper hats are always included in the Christmas crackers, I find most people don't wear them as they never fit and they are just added to the mounting pile of trash, therefore I don't bother with them. However if you do want to make them, take one sheet of tissue paper and fold length wise. Measure an adults head then divide by 2 and add about 1" so you can glue the edges together.

ie: if the head you measure was 24" you will need to cut your folded paper 13" (remember it's folded lengthwise)so you have 2 pieces that are each 13". Run a glue stick about 1/2" at each end of one sheet and stick them together. Draw 3 peaks in the folded edge, cut and you have your paper hat that should be 24".

What you decide to put into your Christmas crackers is up to you. I save chocolates from Halloween, but you could buy more expensive chocolates to use. Instead of the really cheap trinkets that are included in the store bought Christmas crackers, you could buy things to personalize them.

For young boys, you could use hotwheels. (These are often on sale) For girls, there are barretts, lip gloss, small gel pens. Often they have great stickers that are themed that both boys or girls would like. If someone collected angels, you may find a small angel that would be perfect or for someone who likes to sew, perhaps a fancy thimble. I don't think you can go wrong with Scratch tickets as everyone of all ages seems to like them.

If you have certain colours that you use in decorating your home, you could buy fabric for your Christmas crackers to complement your colour themes.

You could use the Christmas Cracker as the wrapping for a special gift for someone. Make a really fancy Christmas Cracker and it could hold a bracelet, necklace or watch for instance.

Of course you need to include a joke or inspirational saying. I used a search engine and typed in "Funny Christmas Riddles and Jokes" and found lots to choose from.
I have bought the Christmas Cracker Snaps at Michaels in the past, but you could also using search engine to see if you can find a distributor.

STORAGE:

If you plan on re-using your Christmas crackers, find a box that is big enough to store them in. I use discarded Christmas wrap, and stuff the tubes so they don't get flattened.

For more frugal Christmas decorating ideas, visit my Angel Decorations project and my Handmade Greeting Cards project.

Shopping Without Spending The Money!!

I like to shop online but I don't like to put out the cash to do it! Most of you would be thinking that I can't purchase then, right? Wrong! I shop without spending money out of my own pocket! How?

I participate in a number of online sites where I earn rewards and turn them into gift cards! Which ones pay me the most? Let's take a look:

1. Swagbucks - A search and win site to earn points and exchange them for prizes, I redeem for Amazon.ca or for PayPal. Either one feeds my desire to shop online. For more information, click here. If you haven't joined, click here to get started. My redemption table shows 61 prizes of $5 which is $325 for past 2 years which averages around $162 per year. Not bad for using a search engine. There are other ways to earn points too, but I only utilize searches, referrals and Swagcodes to earn my rewards.
2. Superpoints - A referral based point system which has been quite lucrative since my join date of May 2011. I've earned $100 in just 6 months of using Superpoints. They have a prize wheel, email points and surveys if you climb the membership ranks (by having friends join). I find the best way to get friends to join is to share my wins at Twitter and Facebook. Plus some forums allow you to put a referral link in your signature. This is how I found Superpoints. If you'd like an invitation to join, please leave a comment with your email if you wish, or you could leave a comment on FDR's Facebook page for an invite.
3. Web Perspectives - A survey site that pays various rewards including Chapters Indigo, PayPal, Cineplex and Air Miles Reward Miles (which can be redeemed for gift cards). The amount of money that I earn each year is roughly $100 dependng on the number of surveys I receive and qualify for. Click here to join Web Persepctives.
4. Asking Canadians - A site where you earn HBC Reward Points or Aeroplan Reward Miles for completing surveys. These reward points can be exchanged into gift cards for my shopping habit. This is the program which pays me the least but it's still worth the HBC Rewards that I get. I average around $40 each year that I've been a member. Join Asking Canadians today!

I've tried just about every site there is to check the validity and the earning potential. Many I opt out of after earning my first reward because there is too much time invested for such small payouts. This will vary from person to person due to differences in demographics. There are many more survey sites that pay well and can be viewed at FDR's Paid Survey's Forum. Plus there are other prizes sites that may be more successful for others, which can also be viewed at FDR's Prize Programs forum.

If you have any questions about these programs, leave me a comment and I'll reply back!

Angel Decorations Made Using Wall Paper

Completed angels: The first angel has wings that are pleated. The second angel has a heart for wings.

SUPPLIES:
BODY - Wall paper - 3" x 12"
WINGS - Wall Paper - 1- 4" x 8" strip for Heart Wings OR
1 strip - 4" x 6" for Pleated Wings
Pre-gathered lace - 4"
Ribbon - 2 - 12" thin pieces
Wooden Bead - 1 x 1" with flat bottom(for head)
Small amount of curly hair
4" strand of beads for Angel with pleated wings
Small piece of foiled covered wire for halo
Glue Gun
Fine Tipped Black Felt Pen (to make face)
Q-tip to apply blush to cheeks (optional)

To make an Angel with heart shaped wings, you will need to fold the 4" x 8" strip of wallpaper in half, so you have a 4" square. Glue it together and after it has dried cut a heart that measures approximately 4" across and 3 1/2" in depth.

Pleat the 3" x 12" piece of wallpaper so it has an accordion effect. Crease each pleat really well. The straight edge needs to be at the back at the beginning and end of pleating, so you may find you need to trim a piece off. You can either use white craft glue, placing a small amount on each side of the pleat, then secure with a Bulldog clip until it dries, or use a glue gun dabbing the folds front and back - secure for a couple of minutes until set. If you are using Pleated Wing, after pleating, you will need to use a small dab of glue in the centre of each pleat. Once dried the wings should fan out at each end.



If you are using the Heart for your wings, take the piece of gathered lace and glue around the top of the pleated wallpaper. Then using a glue gun, run a bead of hot glue down the centre of the heart and glue at the back of the pleated section as shown.

For Angel with pleated wings, using your glue gun, run a bead along to top of the pleated body and press the centre of the pleated wings into the glue.
For either Angel use your glue gun and glue the flat end of the wooden ball, then press it firm onto the centre of the Pleated wings as shown, or press it onto the gathered lace of the Angel with the heart wings.
Using your felt pen make a face on the angel, if desired. Take your q-tip, put some blush on the end then rub it in circles under the eye area, for highlighted cheeks. Take your curly hair twisting it tightly then put some glue on the underside and glue to the top of the wooden bead. Take a thin piece of ribbon or gold thread, knot it and glue into the centre of the hair area, so you will be able to hang your angel. With the piece of foil covered wire, make a loop and twist it to form a ring. Run a bead of glue on one edge of the ring and stick it on the hair to form a halo. Glue beads and/or ribbon under the Angel's head and you are finished.

TIP: I used fancy paper scissors to create a fancy edge at the bottom of my angels, before I pleated them.

These are simple and inexpensive decorations which can be assembled for pennies to use for the upcoming holiday season. They make great tree ornaments or they can even be used as package decorations! Check with your local wallpaper store to find discontinued wallpaper books that are given away for free! They are absolutely essential to making crafts for next to nothing! Happy crafting!

Add to Your Stockpile For Next to Nothing!

Every week before I go shopping I check out the Coupon Matches which the Freebies Deals And Rewards members share at my favourite money saving forum! I copy and paste the best deals (that I have coupons for) and head to my local store(s) to snag the deals!

I would generally recommend that you visit one store like Walmart or Zellers and price match the items you wish to purchase from all store fliers in one place. Having said that, I've found that my Walmart and Zellers aren't stocking the same sizes as the sale items, so I sometimes make multiple store visits to do my best deals shopping!

My most recent deals include the following and a breakdown of how I paid so little:

• The $1, $2, $3 No Frills sale offered Dove deodorant for $1. I was lucky to make some coupon trades with friends in British Columbia and scored 4 Unilever insert coupons to save $1 off any Dove product! So after taxes I paid $0.13 each, totalling $0.52 out of pocket (oop) for 4 units.
• Zehrs had another sale on Cottonelle for $4.44. I traded coupons with friends locally and managed to score 1 printable coupon worth $3. So after taxes I paid $2.04 for 12 double rolls (after taxes were applied). 
• The $1, $2, $3 No Frills sale had 2 different laundry detergents on sale, Purex and Sunlight. I was able to purchase 2 of each variety. The Purex was $3 and I had 2 of the coupons left from trades with friends online for other high value (hv) coupons. My oop was $0.78 for 2 bottles (after taxes). The Sunlight was less savings but still a great deal. The sale price was $3 and I had 2 coupons for $1.50 savings. My oop expense for 2 boxes was $3.78 (after taxes).
• Another deal from the $1, $2, $3 No Frills sale that I was able to get were the Ziploc Sandwich bags (40 ct). I had 2 coupons that had no size restriction from Websaver.ca to save $2 when you purchased any 2 Ziploc brand products. So I grabbed 4 boxes and my out of pocket expense was the tax of 0.52 or a mere $0.13 per box (or I could break it down to per unit of $0.00325).
• I also utilized a rain check that I had in my wallet for 4 chocolate milk from Shoppers Drug Mart for only $0.99 each. I love the stores which offer rain checks when items go out of stock, especially sale items. It would be super if more stores would adopt the practice!

Although I was able to find other deals during my shopping excursions this week, these were the most notable and the best overall savings! What was your best deal of the week and how much money did spend for out of pocket expenses on your purchase(s)?

Halloween Decorating!

Well, it’s that time of year again. The leaves are changing colours, the air has a crispness to it... and the stores are selling massive, jumbo size boxes of chocolates and candy treats! Halloween must be near.

Whether or not you have little ones who partake in the off-putting, but well meaning “trick or treating” (such cute costumes!!), most people still like to decorate a little bit for these munchkins (and witches, and ghosts!) However, it can be expensive to decorate your house for one single night. Especially when older kids are apt to take that beautifully carved pumpkin of yours and smash it in the wee hours.

So how can you have Halloween without breaking the bank?? Here are some tips to get you by:

1. You don’t need a lot of decorations for your house to look good. A single pumpkin propped up on a small table and a glowing candle (or flameless candle to be even safer) can look wonderful. Add that with a pop of full mums and you’re good to go!

2. Looking for a little more? Go thrifty – dollar stores these days can work wonders. Get some cheaper decorations, like a couple of bags of spider webs and plastic spiders and see how far you can make these stretch (literally!) You can get a lot more bang for your buck this way.

3. If you have little ones, homemade decorations can really make Halloween fun! Even if you don’t have kids to do all the work, take a look online and in magazine for decorating ideas and get crafty! For instance, it doesn’t take much to stuff some old clothes with plastic bags or leaves and make a scarecrow. Paper bats hanging from your porch is easy to do and looks great!

4. Be sure to use what you already have around the house. Black sheets? Drape them around the house to make the place look spooky. Old costumes? Find a way to display them (or even better – get the kids to re-wear them!)

The internet is a great place to find more ideas, for less cost! Enjoy and be frugal.

Happy Halloween!!

Yesterday, I ventured out to do some coupon shopping and when I arrived at my grocery store, there was an abundance of tear pad coupons and booklets of coupons too! I didn't have any intentions of buying stuff but when I came around to the refrigerated section, the Pilsbury Back to School cookies were on sale for $1 and right beside was a coupon to save $0.50. Plus, on the reverse side of the package is a coupon to save $1 off any 2 Pilsbury Cookies.

I didn't know if the cookies were tasty or not, so I only purchased 2 packages. We baked one last night and half the plate was devoured before they even cooled. Worthwhile purchase? Yes, definitely! There are 24 cookies in a box for $0.50 after the coupon making the cookies only 2 cents each!

The above picture shows the coupons that I found! There were 13 tear pads and 2 booklets! So in total there were 23 different coupons available! Rock and roll coupon Gods! I also picked up a bag of Natrel milk to drink with our cookies (I used a coupon to save $1) and got another bag with over $12 in coupons on the back! I guess I'll have to buy 1 more bag of milk before the end of the month, when the $1 Natrel milk coupon expires.

Now I'm off to add some of these coupons to my coupon trade list at Freebies Deals And Rewards!

Have fun saving money!!

Make Greeting Cards using Scraps from Wallpaper

Here is a picture of three greeting cards I made using borders I took from discontinued Wall Paper Books. I picked the books up from one of our local Paint and Paper stores





 

These are a couple of borders with prints that I cut out and glued onto patterned wallpaper to make my card.






This picture shows one of the pictures cut out and matched with the piece I used for the card.







Here is the inside of the card. I have taken a piece of coloured computer paper and glued it on the inside of the card to cover the printing of the wallpaper. On another border print I found, I cut off the thin edge that was dark blue with stars on it and glued it at the top of the blank page.

On this card, I used the entire border print for the outside of my card. I cut a piece of complimentary coloured computer paper with decorative paper scissors leaving a border of about 1/4" and then it inside my card. After making your cards, you will need an envelope. I used an old envelope that my cards would fit in and carefully open the seams. I have marked the top and bottom of my template as I want to make sure when I trace it onto the wallpaper I use, there is no writing showing on the top flap. After I have folded in the flaps, I use a glue stick on the side flaps. If I'm mailing the envelope, I scotch tape over the top flap.

If you plan on making a lot of cards with envelopes, I would suggest you take the heavier inserts from your wallpaper book, that show finished rooms and trace your envelope onto that, otherwise the paper template gets pretty ragged and difficult to work with. These heavier pieces are also great to use when you are gluing to prevent getting your work surface covered in glue.



Using my envelope template, I have traced it on the backside of a plain piece of wallpaper. Notice the flap (far right) does not have any writing on it. It makes it look nicer when someone is opening the card if there is no writing showing. Most wallpaper books have plain off white pages, and these are what I use for my envelopes, however any pages will work and you can always attach a label if you are mailing it, so the address shows clearly.




Here are 3 finished cards with envelopes. Except for the inside of the cards where I used purchased coloured computer paper, everything has been made with wallpaper.


You are only limited by your imagination with the variety of cards you can create.

Weekly Shop N Save Deals

I like to consider myself a frugal shopper who buys what they need...but sometimes there are deals out there that are just too good to pass up! The regular coupon users know what I'm talking about! With coupon usage and price matching opportunities, I picked up a couple of items that I would normally not purchase. But I have some family members who do, so not a waste. I price matched and used coupons for everything pictured at my local Wal-mart store.

1. The relish is on special at Shoppers Drug Mart for $1.49 and I used a coupon for $0.75 and paid only $0.74 each. We don't use relish but our parents do, maybe we'll everyone a Christmas Hamper. Hmmm, that's an idea!
   
2. The flavoured Clover Leaf tuna cans are $0.99 each at Shoppers Drug Mart and I had a coupon to save $1 when I purchased 3, so I paid only $0.66 per can.
   
3. The Robax Platinum was a fantastic deal, they are on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart for $10.99. I was lucky enough to receive a $9 coupon from Diane Simon, thanks Shoppers Voice, I got this box for only $1.99 plus tax. Robax is going to be gifted to a parent as well!
4. The Degree Deodorant for Men are on sale for $1.64 at Real Canadian Superstore, but I also had 3 insert coupons and paid only $0.64 per 85g.
5. I had 2 P&G Brandsaver coupons left to save $1 off Secret Deodorant. On my last shop posted I paid $0.97 each (wish I'd waited), but today I paid $0.64 each after matching the Superstore and using the coupons.
6. The Dove Nourishing Oil hair care line is something I haven't tried before, but the Freebies Deals And Rewards Coupon Club Organizer sent me a coupon to save $2 off the purchase, plus there is a printable coupon to save $2 out as well. I treated myself to a shampoo and a conditioner for only $0.99 per bottle.
7. Lastly, I had 2 coupons to save $3 off Listerine Zero (any size) and since they are regularly priced at $3.37 at my Wal-Mart store, they were only $0.37 each.

After coupons and price matches, my pre-tax out of pocket (oop) cost was $11.37 but if I didn't use my coupons or utilize the price match guarantee, I would have paid $37.86 before any applicable taxes. So I'm pretty happy to save $26.49 on the items I could get with my coupon stash!

I'd love to hear other ways that people saved this week using coupons and price matches. If you have any questions about my shopping excursions, please leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer it for you!

Happy Labour Day everyone! Be safe!