Columbus Day Sale at Jo-Ann's for All My Crafty Friends

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store is having a Columbus Day sale today through Mon, Oct 9-12 both online and in the store.

I received an email with a coupon for 50% off one product, but if you go to Joann.com you should be able to save 40% on one item at regular price by using promo code TTE288A at checkout.

All OttLite's and Halloween costumes are on sale for 50% off, and save $120 on a Provo Craft Cricut Expression Cutting Machine.

While there, make sure to sign up for the email specials so you'll get notified of future great deals and coupon specials.

Remember to always search for a coupon code before ordering anything online. There's always a deal out there somewhere!

Cheap Halloween Costumes and Decorations

Halloween is just around the corner and it's never too early to start planning how to celebrate the event on a budget.

Some of my fellow Content Producers at Associated Content have written articles full of information on just how to pull off a frugal Halloween, from costumes to decorations to treat bags.



I'll feature cheap Halloween costumes today, but watch for other frugal Halloween ideas in the next few days.

Cheap Halloween Costumes for Kids by Jolynne M Hudnell

Cheap Halloween Costume Ideas for Teens by Reena Das

Cheap Halloween 2009 Costume Ideas for Kids by Luna Hanie

Top 5 Cheap Halloween Costume Ideas for Tweens by Lindsy Emery

Cheap Halloween Group Costumes by Kris Calhoun

Best Cheap Halloween Costumes for College Students by xoxcharityxox

Cheap Halloween Costume Ideas for Couples 2009 by Erica Williams

Win Free Groceries - Kroger and Save a Lot Sweepstakes

Feeding your family is one of the biggest expenses in the home today, outside of the house itself. If you have a Kroger or Save a Lot in your area, you could win free groceries, gas and more.

Enter the Save a Lot Fuel Your Family Sweepstakes to have a shot at winning free groceries for a year - a full 60 weeks - or one of many other great prizes. Sign up for the reminder email so you won't forget to enter daily.

Kroger's Gas and Groceries Sweepstakes ends 9/11, so enter today before time runs out. Up to 5,000 instant win prizes available - try your luck with a spin now!

It's Cool to Be Frugal

Always forget to thaw meat for dinner?
Shop at more than one store for the best deals?
Power out due to storms?

You spend a lot of your hard earned dollars on food, and a lot of time preparing it. Your cooler is a little known tool that can help you save both time and money.

Read how at Frugal Shopping and Cooking Ideas - Cool!

Free and Cheap Sources for Books

Free and Cheap Sources for Books
If you're like me and love to read, stocking your library with your favorite books can become quite expensive. Over the years I've found many ways to satisfy that passion much cheaper, with a good number of them free.
Read more ...

Using 'Throw-Aways'

I apologize for not posting for so long, but I just moved into my house and things are still a bit topsy-turvy around here. My blogs are just one of the long list of things I need to get back to, but I'm determined to give it a good effort.

Do you throw away foodstuffs in the kitchen that can be used in another way? I did, but since I've been pinching every penny until it screams, I've decided to watch what I'm doing in the kitchen more carefully and have these few ideas to share with you.

If you buy canned vegetables, instead of emptying the 'juice' down the drain, pour it into an ice cube tray set aside for that purpose, and freeze to sneak into soups/stews later. You add liquid to the soup anyway, so why not use something flavorful that you already have? You will probably not have to add as much salt or other seasonings too. Once frozen, the cubes are easy to pop out and put into another container until you're ready to use them.

Since plastic trays can retain odor, I used an indelible marker to put a small mark on the tray that I will use for this purpose, so I don't use it again for regular ice cubes. I don't think iced tea or water would be very tasty flavored with green beans.

If you use boxed meals that require water, use the liquid from the canned vegetables that you're eating at the same meal in place of the water. The 'juice' from a can of corn or green beans will add a subtle flavor to boxed stuffing or potato mixes too.

Do you make meals with tuna that say to add water? Pour the water from the canned tuna into a measuring cup and use the appropriate amount of that instead of plain water (obviously this won't work if you use tuna packed in oil). Why pour it down the drain and then turn on the tap for more water when you could use what you've just thrown away, and get more flavor for your buck? If you're making tuna sandwiches and have no need for the liquid right then, it can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days. Your cat would love it as a gravy poured over her dry food, too.

Do you have houseplants? If you boil potatoes, use that water to give your plants a nourishing drink. Don't salt it first, and of course make sure it's not hot when you water them. If you have a fish aquarium, using water from your tank will also give your houseplants a nice pick-me-up. Either of these would be great to feed your garden too.

Most of us have a spoonful or two of vegetables left from a meal that don't seem worth the effort to save, but if you keep a container in your freezer, those small amounts will add up and make another wonderful addition to soups and stews. When chopping fresh vegetables, save the stalks and such that you would normally throw away and cut those into smaller pieces to toss into that freezer container too. It helps to steam or microwave them a bit first, then they will cook more evenly along with any of your already cooked leftover vegetables.

More tips on stretching your food budget in future posts - stay tuned!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

I don't know anyone that isn't concerned about the cost of energy to run their home today.
I also don't know anyone that couldn't cut back more with just a little effort and stepping outside of their comfort zone (pun intended).

At present I am renting an old house that has no insulation and large gaps around the front door. Even with the small square footage, it's a real challenge to maintain any type of efficiency in heating and cooling, but I do what I can. You have to do what feels right for you, but being able to pay the electric bill is more important to me than aesthetics.

If you live in a cooler climate, without a doubt your heating bill will be the largest use of energy in your home, so let's tame that beast first.

Turn the thermostat down. Simple enough, right? People that run around barefoot and in shirtsleeves have no reason to complain about being cold. If you're home all day, wear longjohns under your sweatpants, a sweatshirt over your turtleneck. Wear shoes, or at least socks with slippers. Keep an afghan on the couch and recliner.

Block off rooms that you're not using. Most heating systems work more efficiently with all registers open, so don't close the register, just close the door. The coldest room in my house is the kitchen because there is nothing but cheap linoleum with no form of insulation, so I have a thick comforter tacked up over the doorway between the kitchen and living room. Might not be pretty, but again, being able to afford heat at all is more important to me. It's easy enough to tack open when I need to be in the kitchen cooking, etc. If you have area rugs to put over bare floors, do it.

I keep the thermostat set to 61 or 62, but have a space heater in the living room and office that will keep those areas much warmer without the heat pump running all day in rooms that aren't being used. This old house has very thin carpet with no carpet pad, so I've put an old bathmat under my desk for an extra layer of insulation under my feet -my tootsies thanked me immediately. I leave a fleece blanket on the back of my office chair that I can put over my lap or drape around my shoulders on especially chilly days.

Turn it down more at night. Once you are snuggled in bed you won't notice the drop in temperature, even if like me you can't tolerate chilled bones during the day. In fact, most people will actually sleep better with it a few degrees cooler than the regular daytime temperature. During a recent power outage I had inside temps of 44 and 41 degrees overnight and I survived. I wouldn't go to that extreme, but I'm quite comfortable with mine set at 61 and I don't run a space heater while sleeping. Turn it down just as you go to bed and you'll be fast asleep before the temperature even has a chance to drop. Oh, and your kids will be just fine too and I doubt will even notice a change. Since you're probably up before they are, you can adjust the thermostat or turn on a space heater while waiting for the pitter-patter of little (stockinged) feet.

If you argue that it costs more to heat up a home after lowering the thermostat than it does to keep it at a constant temperature, think again. Your heating system is struggling to maintain a constant temperature and turning the thermostat up in the morning will cause it to run heavily for a short time rather than all night. If you have a heat pump, the backup (emergency) heat source will kick in automatically if you raise the thermostat more than a degree or two, and then it will level off. Better yet, leave the thermostat alone and use the space heater like I do. The same thing applies when you're not home - turn it down when you leave and adjust when you return.

Insulate your windows. If you live in an older home and don't have plastic or some other covering on your windows, get that done. Today. WalMart and home improvement stores have kits of plastic shrink wrap with everything you need at a very reasonable price (I believe I paid approx $10). The only tool required is a hair dryer and I was able to do the job myself without difficulty. In my tiny office, my desk isn't far from the window and I can definitely tell when the temperature drops outside. I shrink-wrapped the window and it helped some, but I still felt chilled. I found an old comforter and tacked that up over the plastic and it made a noticeable difference.

I hear a lot of grumbling that there's no way you could do thus-and-such and that's fine, we're all different. Personally, I place more importance on lowering my energy usage as much as possible so that I can pay the bill.

I'd much rather be a little put out than do without.

More tips on ways to save energy to follow. Stay tuned ...