Even though we live at the edge of a growing suburb with new houses springing up around us every year, we sort of think of our house as being in the country. It is still a little isolated and teeming with birds, bugs and lawn-destroying rabbits. And now that summer is coming on, the yard smells like roses and grass (we are actually terrible gardeners, but the roses proved incredibly hardy).

And because we call this country life, we built a country themed shelf for our kitchen with a dairy cow pattern on the sides. The purpose of this shelf is to keep clutter off the counter and store towels and non-perishables in an attractive manner.

The materials for this shelf cost about $10, comprising entirely of leftover lumber, paint, and nails from household projects and repairs. Because large furniture will not fit in our car and shipping is so expensive, we usually opt to building large shelves and cabinets ourselves. The cost of this shelf is even less than the shipping we would have paid had we purchased a similar sized item.

It was lucky for Penelope and me that we attended an unusual private elementary school when we were kids where we were required to learn how to saw and hammer and do carpentry as early as age 7. We have built a lot of unique and pretty furniture with these very basic skills and would like to recommend that fellow frugalites give furniture making a try.

For kitchen storage, we like a country market look. This is easily achieved by lots of wicker baskets, egg baskets, and mini milk crates from the dollar store. Clean, unused trash baskets make nice bins for apples, onions, oranges, and bread. We keep rice and flour in large Christmas popcorn tins which come cheaper than storage containers sold without food.

As for the refrigerator, it looks the way it does, because P. Pince is fond of cleaning my paint brushes there (so as not to waste paint) before they are washed.

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• Warm Weather Food Safety Tips

The directions for making this suitcase are thus:

1. Start with a cardboard food carton with one end shut and one end open.
2. Cut a piece of paper or fabric to the dimensions you would use to gift wrap this box.
3. Cover the box using either white glue, wallpaper paste, or decoupage medium. Cover each flap of the open end.
4. When glue is dried, use either Velcro, a button, string or ribbon to keep the open end closed.
5. Attach a handle of your choice with hot glue. Some possible handles are folded paper or fabric, pieces from old purses and backpacks, sections of dog collars and leashes, old jewelry.

My suitcase has bronze studs on the handle and a decorative luggage tag. It holds four pairs of shoes belonging to our two dogs.

Related posts:

• Affordable Storage Solution: Covering a Cardboard Box to Make a Treasure Chest
• Thinking inside the box: Some Uses for Cardboard Cartons
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The Box

1. Leave the top of the box open to start.
2. Draw a line around three sides of the box at the level you want the box to open.
3. Using a box knife, or other old knife, carefully cut the lid on three sides.
4. You can now flatten the top, which skews like a parallelogram.
5. On the fourth side, score only halfway through the cardboard to make a hinge.
6. Tape the top of the box shut and you have your chest with a flip top.

Covering the box
Either fabric or paper (gift including wrapping paper) is suitable for this. I usually use white glue, but you may prefer wallpaper paste or decoupage medium as being more durable. It is easiest to cover a chest in several pieces. Have a little extra covering to wrap around the lip of the chest for a nicer finish. I used a navy twill which had to be withdrawn from my costuming business because of imperfections. A lighter or floral print material would give the box a completely different air. if you so desire, you may apply one or two coats of clear varnish to protect the box.

Trim (optional)
The edges of your chest can be trimmed with fancy paper, lace, fabric strips, fringe, ric-rac, other sewing trims, or things found around your house. For sewing and upholstery trims, hot glue is the easiest method of application. The same trim can be used to make matching handles on either the top or sides of the chest.

Closure (optional)
This chest will stay closed on its own so closures are optional or purely decorative unless you intend to carry your chest by a handle at the top. Closures can be as simple as two pieces of ribbon or cord to tie together or around a button. Clasps and buckles can often be salvaged from an old purses and bags. The button and loop on my navy blue chest are non-functional.

Lining (optional)
If you want your chest to be really fancy, or intend it as a gift, it can be lined with additional paper or fabric. The lining can be simply glued on like the outside covering, but who wouldn’t want a chest padded with a little polyester fill and lined with satin?

Savings

By using boxes, fabric and paper you already have around the house, you can create attractive storage boxes for little or no cost. If you don’t have enough of one type of fabric to cover a large box, you can piece together various scraps to make a collage. As for paper, use any paper you already have in the house – leftover gift wrap that’s just sitting around taking up space, construction paper, etc.

Compare with commercial storage box prices:

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While going through my piles of unopened mail (mostly bills) the other day, I decided I’d had enough and finally took the plunge into the world of Paperless Billing and Statements. Even though I’ve been fully online – shopping, selling, socializing, banking and bill paying – for years now, for some reason, I’d always felt hesitant about not receiving hard copies of my bills. But after years of accessing my accounts and paying bills online, and running out of places to stash all my account statements, I’ve decided that it’s probably a better system that will end up saving me money, time (which is also money), space and paper cuts.

The Benefits of Paperless Statements

• Saves Time
  Time is money, so the time you would spend organizing and filing your account statements would be cut down. Filing would just consist of logging into your account and downloading the statements to your computer. Most accounts will allow you access to several years’ worth of statements, so you don’t need to do this every month, but can wait and do all your filing at once a couple of times a year.
• Saves on filing equipment
  No need for file cabinets (which are very costly), folders, labels and organizers, and no need to upgrade to larger or additional file cabinets as your files increase in volume.
• Saves space
  Digital storage is becoming more affordable and space efficient so they take up considerably less space than file cabinets, making it easier to keep your home and office organized and clutter-free.

  For example, this Iomega Desktop Hard Drive, USB 2.0, 750GB – 33750 for just $110, costs considerably less than a file cabinet, takes up a fraction of the space of a file cabinet and has capacity for at least a decade’s worth of bills and statements. It also looks a lot nicer than a file cabinet, which often doesn’t look that great in a home environment.

• Saves money
  Some companies have already begun to charge for paper statements. When I enrolled in Paperless Billing for my T-Mobile account, I was informed that I will be charged $1.99 per month if I revert back to paper statements. Perhaps if companies can save on billing costs, they can pass the savings on to us consumers by offering lower fees for their services.

  Also, by paying bills online, not only do you save paper, but postage. Check out an earlier post of mine, Pay Bills Online and Save, on how we save about $70 a year by paying our bills online.

• Saves the Planet
  Obviously. Some companies, again T-Mobile for example, are promoting Paperless Billing by planting a tree for each customer that changes to paper statements, so you’re no only saving current trees but adding to them.
• Earn money
  This depends on the company. Certain companies such as my Chase Amazon Visa account, offered 500 reward points, the equivalent of $5.00, for switching to Paperless Statements. Not a bad deal for doing something that’s going to save me time and money.

So not only is this the smart choice for those with regular computer and internet access, but the green, environmentally-friendly choice. Most of our bills and bank statements received via snail mail remain unopened anyway because I usually just go online to check the amount and make the payments when the bills are due.

Of our 12 monthly bills and bank statements, we are able to receive Paperless Statements for 9 of them, which will reduce our annual mail volume by 108. This will be quite a relief as our file cabinet really can’t take anymore. I only wonder what took me so long.

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Related posts:

• Interesting Reads from Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #8
• Why I Will Not Change My Mindset, Plus the Difference Between Justifying and Being Optimistic About Spending
• 20 Minutes Can Save $180 & Tips for Receiving Better Customer Service
• Pay Bills Online and Save
• Pay Bills Online and Save (Re-Post)

Originally posted 2008-09-11 10:00:05.

Tan Milk Carton

I have to admit that I am quite proud of my newest idea for free printables. These milk cartons with dairy cow prints are perfect for gift boxes, decoration, or storage. If putting cookies and treats in these cartons, be sure to choose a non toxic glue like Elmer’s Glue. Using a glue stick to seal the top will make it easier to tear open later. A plastic blag can be inserted to keep food fresh.

For myself, I am considering using one or more of my milk cartons to store jewelry that I don’t plan to wear in the near future. Other uses I can think of are table decorations for baby showers, packages for party favors, store-and-pour containers for buttons and beads or mini time capsules filled with keepsakes.

Mini Black & White Carton

Carton templates come in two sizes, regular and small. The tan and pink cartons have the word “Milk” in English, Italian, French, German, and Spanish. Printing on card stock recommended. Select landscape paper orientation and “scale to fit media”.

These free printable milk carton templates are provided for your personal non-commercial use. Enjoy! And more colors coming soon!

Click on the thumbnails to view and print. Instructions are printed on the templates.

Black & White Dairy Cow

Black & White Mini

Brown & White Dairy Cow

Brown & White Mini

English

English (Mini)

German: Milch

German: Milch (Mini)

French: Lait

French: Lait (Mini)

Italian: Latte

Italian: Latte (Mini)

Spanish: Leche

Spanish: Leche (Mini)

Check back soon for more colors!

To see more free printable templates, visit our Freebies section.

If you enjoy our free printable templates, please consider making a donation to support the future development of more. Every little bit helps and no amount is too small.

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Quite a few years ago, when P. Pince and I were starting out, we rented a tiny studio apartment. To make a little more space, we built a free standing loft over our beds where we had a computer, some little shelves and cabinets and one of those pouffes for a chair.

After moving into a comfortably large house, we gradually disassembled our loft and reused the boards and hardware to make furniture more befitting our new lifestyle. Most of the pine boards went into making a large wardrobe called “the Monstrosity” and the top of our computer desk.

After making two little beds (like the ones in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) for our puppies on their first birthday, all we had left of our old loft was a rickety set of steps.

We had often been on the verge of tearing apart these three crudely made steps, but we felt sentimental about the last traces of our former and relatively poorer life. So, I finally decided to keep our loft stairs as a step stool for our library/master bedroom where we had built a wall of ceiling-high shelves.

But I like everything to look pretty in my life in as well as to having a dual purpose, so I turned the stairs on end, nailed on a back and bottom, installed a hinged top on each step, and painted it pink with leftover paint from doing Penelope’s bedroom floor.

Our renovated little staircase stands three feet high and is great for hiding things out of sight, especially long rolls of wrapping paper. Our steps also make a pretty display for baubles and antique books. It goes with our mother’s old dining table which has also been redone with the same leftover paint.

Making new things from old or broken objects is one of my favorite creative/useful activities. To anyone interested in this sort of craft, I suggest reconsidering the potential of any old or broken furniture you own, consider taking them apart for lumber, turning them upside-down or sideways, and reusing ornamental parts or hardware. You could even volunteer to “dispose” of unwanted things for your friends, family and neighbors. One could even start a business selling unique furniture made from reassigned materials.

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As the weather is getting warmer, and the neighborhood birds are returning from their winter holiday, I was inspired to make birdhouses for my next set of printables. These birdhouses can be used as gift boxes, storage, ornaments, or nesting boxes for small birds and pets (indoors only).

There are two kinds of walls, vertical panels or stucco, in various colors. The roofs are also available in many colors. Simply assemble and insert the bottom. String may be threaded through the center of the roof (punch a hole with a needle) for hanging.

I have had finches who nested and raised babies in cardboard boxes fixed to the side of their cage with a twist ties. If making a house for live birds, make sure the cardstock is thick enough to endure a little moisture and secure the bottom with packing tape. You will still have to provide nesting materials such as grass or shredded paper. These houses are also an ideal size for pet mice. If using for rodents, avoid toxic inks.

Print on cardstock, landscape orientation, and select “Scale to fit page”. Instructions for assembly are printed on the templates.

Click on thumbnails to view and print templates.

These printable templates are provided for personal (non-commercial) use only. If you wish to share them with your friends, please link to this page.

To see more free printable templates, visit our Freebies section.

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Food safety practices should actually apply all year round, but in summer and any time of warm weather, regular precautions might not be enough. For example, you might be able to leave food unrefrigerated for several hours in February without seeing any major effects, but the same practice may not work for you in August when the environment is warmer and bacteria multiply faster. Also, just because you can’t see any change, it doesn’t mean it’s not there.

Everyone knows that food goes bad, but it occurs to me that the average person might not be privy to all the specific details. Madoline and I worked in the very non-glamourous industry of food services for about 10 months in 2003 (more details in Our Family Financial History). When first hired, we had to go through food safety training and learned a lot of things that we otherwise may never have known had we not happened to get jobs in the industry.

Practicing safe food handling and storage will not only save you money by preventing food waste from spoiling, but more importantly, it will protect your family’s health. For some of you, it might be common sense, but my experience with the general public and relatives is that these are things the average person is simply not aware of. I won’t go into detail about bacteria and all that fun stuff; this is just a basic introduction to food safety.

Hand-Washing

These hand-washing practices should apply everywhere, not just in the kitchen, and especially when using the restroom – and even more importantly, when using a public restroom.

• Before handling food – be it preparing, eating or storing – wash your hands.
• Wash your hands in hot water and with an anti-bacterial soap.
• When finished washing your hands, do not use your hands to turn off the tap. Whatever bacteria was on your hands (and the hands of every other person who used the sink before you) is also on the faucet handle.
  • When in your own home and you are able to control the cleanliness of the facilities, this may not be as vital as opposed to a public facility. When at home, I often use my wrist or forearm to turn off the tap after washing my hands.
  • When in public, use the paper towel with which you dry your hands to turn off the tap – after drying your hands on it. Yes, it leaves the water running for a few seconds longer, but it keeps your hands germ-free. I also use the same paper towel to open restroom exit doors before disposing of it. This may seem overly paranoid, but you never know when you’re in public what other people have touched and left on a door handle or faucet for you to pick up (and later ingest).
• If using a towel, make sure the hand-drying towel is clean and used only for hand-drying. Change them frequently as damp towels in warm weather can mildew quickly. If using paper towels, make sure the paper towel roll is clean – hasn’t fallen on the floor, isn’t often handled when hands are dirty or used for cleaning around the house.

Some people may call this behavior paranoid or obsessive-compulsive, but it is important to be aware that bacteria is transferred by touching. This is an important factor when it comes to safe food handling. When working in food services, we were taught that if your hands touch anything that has not been sanitized, they are dirty and must be washed again before handling food.

Food Preparation & Storage

• When preparing hot food, it should be heated to above 170° F (77° C). If you don’t have a food thermometer, a good way make sure it is sufficiently hot would be to heat to boiling point, which is 212° F (100° C).
• Try not to leave hot food sitting out for longer than 2 hours.
• Try to keep hot food above 140° F (60° C) if not being consumed within 2 hours to keep bacteria from multiplying too fast.
• Cold foods and meats should be stored at temperatures below 40° F (60° C).
• After 2 hours, store the food in the refrigerator.
• Always wash your hands before and after handling raw meat, poultry, fish and dairy.
• Use an anti-bacterial dish detergent – at least for items used in preparing meats.

We’ve probably all left food out for more than 2 hours and have never gotten sick from eating it. I myself have done it and still do it sometimes, despite knowing the rules. But I feel is important to be aware of the correct practices and keep them in mind when dealing with food.

And remember that bacteria multiply faster in warm environments. So try to take more precautions than you usually would when handling and storing foods in warm weather. Teach your family the importance of good hand-washing and food safety habits. For the whole family to be healthy, it is important for each member to do his or her part.

One Last Tidbit – Grocery Shopping Carts

Shopping carts are one of the germiest things to be found in public. According to an article on ABC New, shopping cart handles have more germs than a public restroom. People touch it after handling food and money; kids stand or sit in them and teethe on them; food, raw meat juices and milk leak in them; birds poo on them in the parking lot; etc. It seems grocery stores have become more aware of cleanliness issues in recent years and some now offer sanitizing wipes for shopping carts.

When we lived in L.A. there was only one store in our neighborhood that offered cleansing wipes for shopping carts. Their prices were higher, but we often opted to shop there just because of it. If your grocery store doesn’t offer sanitation wipes, suggest it to the manager. Our local grocery store offers them and I always wipe down my shopping cart upon entering. The amount of black gunk that comes off it really quite frightening.

These were just a few basics garnered from from memory of training I received 5 years ago. For more information on food safety, visit FoodSafety.gov.

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These images are provided for personal non-commercial use and may not be published elsewhere. If you want to share this with your friends, please link to this page.

If you enjoy our free printable templates, please consider making a donation to help us produce more.

Gingham Carrier Bags

For carrier bags, regular printer paper is recommended. Directions are provided on image:

1. Fold down top of bag.
2. Crease on lines to make rectangular shape and glue into a tube.
3. Fold bottom of bag end as if gift wrapping a box.
4. Use yarn, ribbon or string for handles and make a crease down each side as you have seen on paper bags.

Click on the small images to enlarge and print.

Yellow Gingham Bag	Violet Gingham Bag	Spring Green Gingham Bag
Red Gingham Bag	Blue Gingham Bag	Pink Gingham Bag
Orange Gingham Bag	Green Gingham Bag	Brown Gingham Bag

For more original free printable templates by Madoline Hatter, visit our Freebies section.

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• Disposable trash receptacles. Food cartons stand up nicely and are good for catching bits of trash while you are cooking, saving you the cost of trash bags. The foil-lined and plastic bags inside these cartons are often sturdier and more leak-resistant than trash bags proper and are ideal for holding food scraps and bones.
• Throw-away cat litter boxes. Very few people relish the task of dumping out cat litter, lifting liners full of sopping litter, or scrubbing the gray-brown clumps from the bottom and sides of cat litter boxes. You can avoid this age-old task by cutting a rectangle from of the side of a cardboard carton instead of opening the top, filling this homemade commode with litter, and throwing the entire litter box away once a day. These litter boxes can be set on newspapers or other floor protectors if you have large cats.
• Cheap homemade notebooks. Use flat cartons as book covers, using one narrow edge as the spine. Paper can be stitched or stapled in folded sections or simply stacked. To be efficient, cut the box to fit the size of the paper rather than cutting the paper to fit the box. I made an exception with the sample pictured here because the idea of a notebook in a Jello box was too good to resist. Affix the pages to the spine with hot glue. If you want a bookmark, glue a piece of ribbon or string to the spine before gluing the pages. These are good for address books, shopping lists, anything. They can be covered with pretty paper or fabrics for a fancier look.
  
  

  

  

   

• Storage and desk organizers. Cartons covered with paper or spray paint can be used for storage on shelves or desks. Cereal boxes can be cut into trays for holding paper and file folders. I have covered all sorts of boxes with gift wrap paper (bought on sale) and Japanese rice paper (received as gift) with good effect. A good coat of varnish preserves these items for years.
• Gift boxes. For presents to family members, recycled cartons should be acceptable. After all, they will be wrapped . . . or not.
• Craft materials for children. Encourage creativity by having children make useful or decorative items with the nice cardboard from food packaging. Providing a wastebasket (or cardboard carton) at the project area will prevent mess. Some possible crafts are:
  • Doll houses. Simple or multi-level doll houses (or horse barns) are easy to make. Boxes can be stacked or adjoined, with doors cut between them. Plastic from packaging provide transparent window glass. Furniture is easily procured from cardboard and small cartons (Jello again). These houses can be papered, carpeted (old towels?), or painted. If used as cozy homes for small pets make sure they include no unsafe materials as rodents and guinea pigs tend to eat their homes.
  • Message box. Cover and decorate cartons for each family member to hold mail, messages, gifts and treats. They can resemble mail boxes, bear the owners name, and be hung on bedroom doors. It is also easy to cut boxes into heart shapes as pictured.
  • Picture frames. Cut one face of a carton into a frame and use the other face as a backing. Cover with paper, fabric, lace or other trims (flowers, candy, knickknacks). Glue on three edges, leaving one edge for inserting artwork (or photo), or glue entire frame with artwork inside.

Related posts:

• Interesting Reads from Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #2
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• Covering Cardboard Cartons: The Simple Suitcase (Storage Box)

Originally posted 2008-03-17 06:38:26.

Productivity

• Check out one of my earlier posts Save Hundreds with Open Source Software for a list of open source applications with short descriptions of their functions and links to the websites for free downloads. These are not free trials but completely free programs that stay free and upgrade for free.
• Google Calendar is a handy online calendar that can send alerts to you by email or pop-up reminders. The program allows you to share your calendar with friends and family who also use Google Calendar so you can coordinate schedules with each other.

Computer Protection

• ZoneAlarm Free Firewall can filter all traffic in and out of your computer. The most secure setting will warn you of even legitimate access to the internet and of every attempt by a program installed on your computer to access the internet to check for updates, etc.
• ZoneAlarm Spy Blocker Toolbar protects you from spyware while surfing the net.
• McAfee SiteAdvisor warns you of bad sites and has profiles for each tested site with details on downloads, spam email count, and user reviews. It also shows the safety rating for web search results with a small icon next to each link: green for safe, red for unsafe, yellow for caution, and gray for untested (you can submit a test request for gray sites).
  

Communication

• Skype allows you to make free computer to computer video and voice calls, and calls to phones for a small charge. We use the free computer to computer calls to talk to our overseas relatives
• If you use Hotmail, you can also use Windows Live Messenger for voice and video chat sessions with your contacts. You can also send mobile text messages to contacts in your address book.
• Gmail is my favorite free web based email program because, not only does it give you ever increasing storage (6.76 GBs as of this writing and counting), but it lets you forward your email to a desktop email client such as Outlook or Thunderbird. If you access your mail online, it has a nice filtering tool to help you sort your mail and also has a built in chat program, Google Talk, that allows you to chat with your online contacts without having to download anything.

Entertainment

• Hulu has an ever growing collection of new and old television programs and movies which you can watch for free online with a very reasonable amount of advertisements. The commercial breaks are shorter than you would have to sit through (15 or 30 secs) when watching a show on TV. For some newer shows, only the last 5 or 6 episodes are available, but there are also full seasons and full series of episodes for some shows.
• Network channels all have websites that let you watch the last 5 or 6 episodes of their current shows online. Here is a list of links to the home pages:
  • NBC
  • ABC
  • FOX
  • ABC Family
  • Sci Fi
• SHOUTcast is a free internet radio site that has a large selection of genres and stations and good sound quality.
• Joost is a player that allows you to watch thousands of TV shows and movies on your computer.

Reference

• Wikipedia. If you’ve performed a web search on the net, you’ve probably already stumbled across Wikipedia, which is a free, open encyclopedia that anyone can edit. It may or may not be 100% accurate, but it is convenient and has a great collection of articles and images on just about any topic, person or place including cities, actors and operas. Wikipedia is available in English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Portuguese, Dutch and Italian. (Time Saving Tip: To search for something straight from your Google toolbar or search, just type the keyword and the word “wiki”, i.e. “horse wiki” and the link to the entry will most likely show up first in your search result.)
• High Beam Encyclopedia is a collation of articles from Britannica, Oxford University Press, Columbia Encyclopedia as well as other published newspaper and magazine articles.
• Google Translate provides fair (though not the greatest) translations for 23 languages. It can translate typed/pasted in sections or entire webpages. This allows you to make use of websites you otherwise might not understand or save you time where you already know the language but take longer to read. It also has a dictionary for looking up words from those 23 languages.
• Reference.com has links to a host of reference tools including atlases, almanacs, a dictionary, thesaurus, literature and more. (Time Saving Tip: To look up a definition of a word, for example, “antithesis”, type “definition antithesis” in your search window. To look up synonyms (thesaurus) of the word “simile”, type “synonym simile”, and the search results will link you to the page of the entry.)
• The Gutenberg Project is a digital library of works that have fallen into public domain through expired copyright. The library includes fiction and non-fiction literature, audiobooks, sheet music and more.
• Google Calculator is a handy tool that lets you type in a formula or question in your search window and it will calculate and show you the answer. For example: type “1+5″ in your search bar and it will give you “1 + 5 = 6″. It can multiply, divide, add, subtract as well as calculate units of measurement such as miles, kilometers, megabytes, grams, degrees, pi, currency exchange rates and much more. Check out this great Google Calculator Demo at the Learn Google Search blog.

Free Downloads

• Download.com has a large collection of safe, free and trusted software downloads with editor and user reviews.
• Softpedia also has a large collection of downloads.
• Mozilla, home of the Firefox browser has a large number of great open source software including web browsers, html editors, email and calendar programs. Be sure to also check out the list of Mozilla-Based Applications which include other interesting and useful programs.
• Firefox Browser Add-ons: If there is a function you wish your Firefox browser could perform, chances are someone has already had the same thought and created an add-on for it.
• Google Pack includes the following (you can select which items you want):
  • Google Earth: a map program that lets you look at satellite, terrain and street level images. Includes driving directions and businesses
  • Norton Security Scan for viruses
  • Google Desktop to help organize your files, pictures and web history
  • Mozilla Firefox Browser with Google Toolbar
  • Adobe Reader
  • Skype
  • Star Office word processing, spread sheet, presentation and other office programs
  • Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer (helps block pop-ups)
  • Spyware Doctor (starter edition)
  • Picasa for editing and organizing your photos
  • Google Photos Screensaver to create slideshows with your photos
  • Google Talk for chatting online or by voice and sharing files
  • Real Player for playing media and transferring music to iPods or other players

Shopping

• Amazon.com is our favorite shopping site for almost everything we can’t get at our local grocery and drug stores. The Free Super Saver Shipping for orders over $25 allows you to spend your money on things rather than shipping charges. We also have the Chase Amazon Visa Card that gives us 3 points for every dollar spent at Amazon.com and 1 point everywhere else, and a $25 gift certificate when we reach 2,500 points.
• We occasionally shop at Overstock.com when the price is considerably less than can be had from Amazon. In our experience, their service is just as good, if not better, than Amazon’s due to the online customer service chat and faster shipping time, because Amazon’s free shipping takes an additional 4-5 business days before leaving their warehouse. They offer flat $2.95 shipping on all orders, and cheaper media shipping for 1 or 2 media item (books, music and DVDs).

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• Ludwig & Wolfgang

Originally posted 2008-05-26 12:33:47.

You may not know it, but you may be waging long term biological warfare on yourself and your family. There is increasing awareness about the harmful effects of exposure to chemicals such as pesticides and household cleaners, but did you know that air fresheners are also poisons?

History has taught the human race that bad smells mean disease and infection, so naturally we all want our homes filled with good smells. Unfortunately, chemicals used to carry these good smells into your home may give you lung problems and cancer. You should be especially vigilant about uses of air fresheners if you have cats because cats can be fatally poisoned by airborne substances absorbed through the skin.

Here are some alternatives you might consider to aerosol or plug-in air fresheners. You can make or purchase these items made with natural plant oils.

Scented candles

Scented candles are ideal for bathrooms as they are resistant to humidity. Light these whenever needed. They are great for eliminating odor from strong smelling foods after cooking or eating. I like to read and write by candlelight and always have votive candles in wine glasses on my desk.

If you are afraid of fire, place short, fat candles in heavy glass jars. Small flames usually extinguish themselves when a candle is dropped, but if you want to be extra safe, place candles in sturdy glass jars taller than the candle, so that the flame is contained should the jar tip. Light sunken or hard to reach candles with a burning spaghetti noodle.

Potpourri

Keep in bowls, pouches, out of reach of pets and small children who might eat sweet smelling things. You can even pull out the poly-fill of a stuffed animal, mix potpourri into the fluff and re-stuff. A scented stuffed animal can be placed on shelves, in drawers, or near your bed if it contains sleep enhancing herbs. Do not give an herbal toy to children or pets unless you are sure that the ingredients are safe.

Cloth Sachets Filled With Dried Herbs

Good for keeping your clothes fresh and bug free. You can make or purchase very pretty ones. Add scented oils if desired for a stronger scent. We use cedar filled pouches for closets and inside the piano.

Pomanders

These are scented balls made with oranges and cloves (instructions below) that last for years. They are natural, very fragrant and deter insects. Pomanders can be decorated and hung in your closets, around your home, and in your car. They can also be placed in drawers and storage boxes. You could make a bunch for Christmas ornaments and then redistribute them for use around the house after the holidays.

Fresh flowers

These don’t last as long, but are not expensive if you have a garden.

Pet Perfumes and Colognes

If your home has pet odors, you might consider using colognes and perfumes formulated for pets. If your pet is prone to allergies, ill, very old, or very young, you should get your vet’s recommendation for a product. Remember that not all products marketed for pets are entirely safe and that products formulated for dogs may be harmful to cats. The best air freshener may be a bath for your cat or dog. If odors are cause by skin conditions, herbs with antibacterial and anti-fungal properties may be helpful. But always research ingredients so that you do not accidentally poison your pet.

How to make a pomander

You might want to make a dozen or more at a time because a pomander will last forever (unless they get wet).

1. Take an orange, lime, or lemon.
2. Prick holes in the skin with a large needle and insert whole cloves until you have a prickly ball. For a neat appearance, space the cloves like longitudinal lines on a globe.
3. Cure the pomade by rolling it in powdered herbs and letting it dry for several weeks.
4. During the drying process, coat regularly with powdered herbs to prevent mould. Pomander will shrink as it cures.
5. Decorate with ribbons and flowers if desired.
6. To renew scent after long use, treat with essential oils and roll in powdered herbs.

Powdered Herbs for curing pomanders (use one or more)

• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Clove
• Myrrh
• Nutmeg (toxic to cats and dogs)

Some Common Fragrance Herbs

• Lavender
• Lemon
• Rose Geranium
• Rose
• Orange
• Cinnamon
• Allspice
• Bayberry
• Pine
• Citrus
• Sandalwood
• Mint

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Originally posted 2008-10-02 06:00:38.

I have no trouble with the yarn I purchased for myself; these I keep in resealable plastic bags organized by fiber type. The real trouble is the accumulation of “interesting” yarns which my grandmother—a highly skilled knit and crochet artist—gifted regularly to me as a solution to her own yarn buildup. These yarns come in a larger variety of fibers than I usually buy and range in appearance from extremely beautiful to frightfully gaudy. There is rarely enough of one type of these miscellaneous yarns to make a whole project.

I have now resolved once and for all to reclaim the hours I spend reorganizing yarns for more profitable use. Having just become aware that many people are troubled by yarn accumulation and resort to giving away or donating materials which had cost them money, I would like to share my solution for disposing of yarn without waste.

Convert yarn into useful items

Yes, this is done by knitting or crocheting. You may say that not having time to knit and crochet was the cause of your problems. I do not insist, however, that you make the project you planned when you purchased the yarn. Instead of painstakingly following patterns and counting stitches, easily dispose of your yarn of by forming them into square or rectangular shapes. Knitted or crocheted squares and rectangles can be sewn into charming pillows. These pillows may be plain or trimmed with lace crocheted from more of your extra yarn. Crocheted squares make very charming blankets, large or small, for yourself, children, or pets.

It is logical to use one type of yarn for one project, but I did make one blanket from an incredible hodgepodge of my grandmother’s old yarn including silk, wool, natural & synthetic fibers of all colors and sizes. I expected the resulting blanket to be quite ugly, but was proven wrong. Each crocheted square has a resemblance to something such as strawberries, owl feathers, Japanese kimono fabric, etc. The whole is unified by a white border and is only slightly lumpy due to the combinations of so many types of fibers and has been machine washed and dried without warping or shrinking. This blanket which rid me of a great box of yarn is my favorite throw for reading in the winter.

These easy projects can be done while watching television and made shorter by the use of large crochet hooks or knitting needles. I myself knit and crochet in the evenings while watching a DVD and pedaling an exercise bike. Avoid wasting the money already spent on your yarn and save extra money by making something you would otherwise buy. Some easy rectangular projects are: blankets, pillows, scarves, arm and leg warmers, bags and purses, square pockets or patches for clothing, bed skirt or ruffle, curtain valance.

 

Uses for odd bits of yarn

After you have made useful things out of your yarn, roll the leftovers into neat balls and store them on a basket for miscellaneous use. Some possible uses of yarn remnants are:

• Tie yarn around rolled up paper containing handwritten or typed messages. This is a economical substitute for greeting cards, note cards, and gift tags. Insert a sprig of herb or small flower under the yarn for a special touch. 8.5” x 11” papers look fine, but smaller pieces such as 3” x 4” are prettiest.
• Use yarn instead of ribbon to tie around a present. Two strands in related or contrasting colors look very nice.
• Tie around papers such as computer printouts, research papers, poetry and manuscripts to keep them together.
• Use to secure sets of stationary and envelopes for attractive storage on your desk.
• Bind notes, music, recipes, & scrapbooks by threading yarn through punched holes in paper. I use this method to secure sheet music in manila folders. Paper bound this way can be easily added to, reorganized, or taken out for use. Attractive covers can be printed on card stock.
• Crochet trims such as ruffles, lace, or furry cuffs onto plain sweaters and gloves.
• In crafts such as with plastic canvas which can be purchased for about $0.3o a sheet, creating attractive small storage solutions (see monogrammed suitcases pictured).
• Yarn can often substitute for twine and string.
• Stitched with blunt needle to secure braided hair on your head.
• Hang Christmas ornaments or Easter eggs from ceilings, windows, or other places.
• Use as embellishments: threaded through fabric or baskets, in bows, tie closures for clothing and boxes, curtain tiebacks, decorative stitching.
• Holding some desperate broken thing together.
• Replacement shoe laces?

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Originally posted 2008-02-29 15:55:08.

Wise Bread: Carnival of Personal Finance #205: Pay it Forward Edition included our post DIM (Did-it-Myself!) Country Kitchen Storage Shelf.

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For our very first Frugaltroph article, we decided to feature our new favorite frugal dessert. Whenever we bake a whole cake, it often begins to go stale before we’re halfway through it. Therefore we came up with the idea of Cup-o-Cakes, an easy, time- and money-saving way to prepare personal-sized cakes as a snack for yourself, to enjoy with a friend or everyone at your dinner table.

How to Make Cup-o-Cake

1. Prepare cake mix as directed in an airtight container. If you do not consume a lot of cake, just mix 1/3 of a pack of cake mix with 1 egg and cut the other ingredients (oil and water) to 1/3.
2. Store unused batter in the refrigerator.
3. When you feel like having cake, put a few spoonfuls of batter in a microwaveable cup or mug. Do not fill cups more than 1/2 full because the cake will rise quite a bit.
4. Microwave for about 1 – 1½ minutes or until cake is fully cooked.
5. Top with frosting and sprinkles if desired.
6. Eat or wrap as gift.

Sack/School Lunch: Tup-o-Cake

If you have children or bring your own lunch to work, imagine how nice it would be to have a beautiful, personal sized cake for a snack or dessert. To do this, follow the same directions for Cup-o-Cake, but make it in a small microwave-safe Tupperware or food storage container. Top it with frosting and/or sprinkles to make your children feel special.

For convenience, you can prepare a week’s worth of Tup-o-Cakes on Sunday evening.

Varying Cake Flavors

• Swirl different cake mixes together
• Change frosting colors and flavors
• Mix in chocolate chips
• Top with jam
• Mix in blueberries, mashed bananas and other fruits
• Top with maraschino cherry
• Use brownie instead of cake mix
• Top with instant pudding instead of frosting
• For the health & weight conscious, mix some oats or bran into your batter before cooking
• Layer different colors of cake mixes in your cup or container
• Add vanilla, lemon, almond or other extract in your cake mix

Benefits of Cup-o-Cakes and Tup-o-Cakes

• Saves utilities: eliminates oven preheating and baking
• Saves time: only requires 1 or 2 minutes to cook a cake
• Saves money by buying in “bulk” and using as needed
• Prevents waste from making more than you can consume
• Reduces risk of forgetting and burning a whole cake
• Portion control

Cost of a Cup-o-Cake

We tend to eat small servings and usually use about 2 tablespoons of batter in an 8 oz. cup. With cake mix at $1.00 or $1.50, we estimate the cost of each serving to be around $0.20 including the egg, oil and frosting.

Gift Ideas

A Cup-o-Cake makes a great gift for any occasion.

• Present it to a friend or co-worker on his/her birthday.
• If giving a mug as a gift, you could prepare a Cup-o-Cake in the new mug as part of the gift.
• Add candles for a birthday.
• For coffee lovers, make a coffee flavored cake.
• Wrap the Cup-o-Cake in cellophane and tie with a ribbon.

Family Member’s Birthday

On your child or spouse’s birthday, prepare a Tup-0-Cake with his/her lunch. Put pretty frosting on it, or write Happy Birthday in frosting or candy letters, include a candle or put a bow on the Tupperware.

Be creative and have fun.

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Not surprisingly, we, with the help of our rambunctious dogs (especially during their puppy teething stages), inflict a noticeable amount of wear and tear on our home and furniture and it is lucky for us that the distressed look is so popular nowadays. Nevertheless, we have a cabinet stocked with paints to keep our lifestyle on the romantic side of shabby and away from woefully distressed. We are constantly painting, decorating, patching, repairing, refinishing, and making things for our house. Over the years, we have developed some economical and efficient habits which we would like to share.

Thrift store chairs purchased for $5-15 each that we painted in our favorite colors

• For both home or crafts Buy gallon size un-tinted latex/acrylic paint which costs less per ounce than small bottles of craft paint.
• Mix your own colors by adding colored craft paint to white paint.
• You can also purchase pigment to mix as much as you need for a project instead of buying a whole gallon of a certain color.
• Save food containers with lids (such as yogurt and cream cheese tubs) for mixing and storing paint.

Madoline’s closet bookshelf with rosy-pink wall.

• Slightly water down paint for more even application (except with oil-based paint). You may end up doing an extra coat, but will use less paint overall. I find thin coats of paint more attractive.
• Add water to keep leftover paint from drying up and store covered for several weeks. This paint can be used to paint matching decorations or mixed into new colors.
• Instead of throwing away or donating leftover paint as instructed on the can (they want you to buy more) hammer the lid back down and store in a cool place. If very little paint is left, transfer to smaller container to minimize evaporation.
• If you don’t want to use masking tape, carefully paint trims, edges, and corners of your walls with a small artist brush.
• Keep pets and children away from wet paint and be sure to have sufficient ventilation.

Homemade cabinets

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These images are provided for personal non-commercial use and may not be published elsewhere. If you want to share this with your friends, please link to this page.

If you enjoy our free printable templates, please consider making a donation to help us produce more.

Gingham Gift Boxes

For gift boxes, print on cardstock or heavy paper.

1. Print colored top and one plain bottom template.
2. Cut on dark lines
3. Fold on lighter lines.
4. Glue tabs to sides.

Yellow Gingham Gift Box	Pink Gingham Gift Box
Green Gingham Gift Box	Blue Gingham Gift Box
Print one of the following Gift Box Bottom for each box you make. Gift Box Bottom

For more original free printable templates by Madoline Hatter, visit our Freebies section.

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With the charms of summer also come not-so-charming and unwelcome visitors. With consistent 100+ degree weather in the desert we call home, 6- and 8-legged visitors (or really more like trespassers) are almost a regular part of life. But we have discovered a few safe and relative effective ways to keep the trespasser traffic under control without endangering our health or that of our children/pets Ludwig and Wolfgang.

Ways to Safely Repel and Kill Ants

Ants are the largest problem for us. In this desert, there are more types of ants than we have seen anywhere else we’ve lived – there are tiny red ants, medium ants, and jumbo ants (luckily the jumbo ones don’t see fit to come inside).

Prevention is the Best Medicine

The most basic, safest and easiest way to keep the ant traffic down is simply keeping the kitchen as clean as possible.

• Avoid leaving dirty dishes in the sink.
• Wash pots and pans immediately if you cook anything with meat or a lot of oil.
• Wipe the counters several times a day with soap. A minuscule crumb or little drop of something sweet can quickly bring a hoard of ants.
• Take out the kitchen trash everyday. Take out trash immediately if it contains meat, bones, greasy paper towels and napkins, meat packaging and sweet things.
• Avoid eating in bedrooms, and be careful of dropping crumbs in other rooms of the house.
• I’ve also found that having the air conditioner on helps.

Creepy Fact: When you dispatch an ant on duty, you are in fact killing a “she” and not an “it” (or “he”). Worker ants are all female. The males are only used for breeding.

Ways to Safely Kill Ants

Sometimes keeping clean doesn’t keep them away completely (scouts sometimes explore squeaky clean counters), or if you miss a crumb or two. If you have children or pets as we do, the fewer poisons you use around the house the better. Even if you don’t have children or pets, it is best to avoid using toxins as they will affect your health.

• Vinegar
  Vinegar is our preferred ant killer. It kills small ants almost immediately and is completely safe. Simply spray the ants and wipe them away.
• Yeast and Sugar
  Mix some dry yeast and sugar and leave it out in a place ants frequent. The sugar will attract the ants to the yeast, which once brought back to the nest and consumed, will expand in their bellies and kill them. This method might cease to work after a few times as the ants might wise up and avoid the yeast. Caution: Make sure the yeast is in a location that can’t be reached by your pet(s). It’s not poisonous, but ingestion can be dangerous.
• EcoSmart
  I recently discovered a natural and effective insecticide called EcoSmart, which is made of organic vanilla, cinnamon and rosemary oils. It kills ants and other insects on contact and smells nice while at it. It is also affordable at $3.87 per can at Walmart. This is the only commercial insect repellent and killer we use in our house.

Keep reading for tips on repelling and killing other insects (spiders, roaches, silverfish, etc.)

To Repel and Kill Other Insects (Spiders, Roaches, Silverfish, etc.)

Our main non-ant pest here is the black widow spider, which flourishes during the warm months. When we moved into our house in 2005, we were ecstatic to find that there were no roaches here. However, since then, many new houses have sprung up in the area and people moving in seem to have brought more than their kids and furniture with them. Starting late spring of this year, we have begun to see the first signs of cockroaches in the yard. Argh!

Really Creepy Fact: After a single mating the female cockroach may continue to produce multiple egg capsules for many months. The male cockroach may give the female an edible gift as part of courtship.

To prevent insects from frequenting or nesting in your home:

• Keep clutter down. Insects like hiding in boxes and among paper.
• Keep your yard free of dead leaves under which they can hide.
• Keep all food sealed tightly.
• Keeping humidity level down by having your air-conditioner on can help reduce cockroach population as they like humidity.

Ways to help repel insects:

• To keep them out of the house
  Spray EcoSmart (or your preferred repellent) around doorways, windows, and any other points of entry.
• To Keep them out of cabinets, drawers and closets
  • Remove the contents of your cabinet, drawers, etc. and spray EcoSmart into the storage space. Let it air-dry for a few hours and put contents back in the drawer when dry. There may be a little oiliness so be careful with delicate things.
  • Pouches filled with dried lavender flowers or cedar shaving (you can pick up a large pack in the pet section at Walmart fo $3.00) in your drawers can help keep insect population down. We like to use cotton, polyester, linen, and burlap fabrics, and you can get creative with your cedar pouches to make them look nice in your closets. For extra protection, you could spray the pouches with EcoSmart or some other safe repellent before putting in in your drawer. We also put a few pouches inside the bottom of our piano to discourage insects from nesting.

Creepy Fact: The average spider has eight eyes.

A few ways to safely kill insects:

• Vinegar
  Keep a spray bottle of vinegar handy. Not only is it a good safe cleaning agent but, it is also very effective for killing small to medium-sized insects.
• Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol
  Rubbing alcohol (also kept in a spray bottle) is surprisingly effective on small to medium-sized bugs and spiders. We have not tried this on roaches though.
• Cleaning Agents
  For larger insects, spraying them with cleaning agents such as 409 and Lysol can kill them. While cleaning agents aren’t always the most eco-friendly things, I still prefer them over outright poisons such as Raid. My favorite is the 409 Multi-purpose Antibacterial Kitchen Cleaner, which we use for everything including floors, because I figure if it is designed for kitchen use, it should be a little safer than those not designed for kitchens. Be sure to completely wipe the area clean after to prevent children and pets from getting any on them.
• EcoSmart
  When the above don’t work quickly enough and that giant spider looks like it’s getting away, I pull out the EcoSmart, which does the job straight away. As with the cleaning agent, clean it up when you are done. It is child and pet safe, but because it is made of vanilla, rosemary and cinnamon oils, it is oily and you don’t want your child or pet getting it in their eyes.

You might ask “Why not just bust out the EcoSmart on every creepy-crawler I see?” The vinegar and rubbing alcohol come much cheaper than cleaning agents and EcoSmart, with distilled white vinegar at just $2.50 a gallon at our local supermarket. Rubbing alcohol is a little more expensive at $2.29 per quart at our supermarket, so that is my second choice. Also, they are the safest and most natural alternatives.

Creepy Fact: Houseflies can only ingest liquids. To eat solid foods, they first spit out saliva to predigest the food before sucking it in.

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It is generally understood that cosmetics should not be used longer than 6 months because they get contaminated with bacteria and other substances. Instead of throwing away your cosmetics upon reaching a certain date, try some of the following.

Uses for Expired Cosmetics, Lotions and Other Beauty and Personal Products

1. Old facial moisturizers can be used on hands and other areas less sensitive than the face.
2. Face moisturizer with SPF make nice hand lotion as sunlight causes wrinkly hands. Reapply every time you wash your hands.
3. Face moisturizer containing alpha hydroxy acid can be demoted to feet.
4. Instead of buying body makeup, use old foundation and powder for arms and legs.
5. Face makeup can also be used to cover up mosquito bites and other things that happen before a dressy occasion.
6. Facial toners can be applied to legs after shaving.
7. Clear nail polish can be used to protect rhinestones on hair barrettes and inexpensive jewelry. It can also be used as varnish for small crafts and decorative baubles.
8. Blush and eyeshadow are handy for making fake bruises for theatrical productions or Halloween.
9. Nail enamel, both transparent and colored, can be used in crafts as glass paint.
10. Lip balm that you no longer want to put on your mouth can be used for chapped skin. This is especially good for cuticles.
11. Makeup remover is effective in removing certain chemicals from the hands such as pine-sol and oil-based solutions.
12. Vaseline is a good lubricant for many purposes, keeping crafts from sticking to molds or preventing abrasions.
13. Vaseline on dog hocks and elbows prevent callouses.
14. Expired face cream can be used to oil horse tack—after all, what is leather but dry skin?
15. Razors can remove pills from old sweaters.
16. Save compacts with mirrors for other uses, such as plucking eyebrows, putting on contacts, etc. so as to avoid contaminating current makeup.
17. Old tweezers and cuticle scissors are handy for crafts, certain repairs, and pulling lint from electronics.
18. Old toothbrushes can be used to scrub pet toys, especially Galileo bones.
19. Liquid makeup and moisturizers often come in attractive bottles and that can be washed and used for visible storage of buttons, beads, coins, etc. or miniature vases for real and fake flowers.

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A few days ago, I came across a thread on a forum where a member wrote about something dishonest she had done in order to save money. This individual was cleaning out her kitchen pantry and came across some jars of pasta sauce that she had gotten in a Buy One Get One Free sale some time ago and forgotten to use. She had exactly ½ the number of jars left as she originally came home with, so technically these could be regarded as the free jars she had gotten in the BOGO sale.

She saw that these jars of sauce were coming up on the expiration date (a week away) and since she didn’t have time to use them by the printed date and didn’t want them to “go to waste”, took them back to the store to return them. She told the cashier that she had lost the receipt and ended up receiving a $10.00 store credit for these items that she had gotten for free in the first place. She knew that what she had done was dishonest but said that she thought it had been worth it.

Now, I am all for frugality (which is defined as “prudence in avoiding waste,” see Language Lesson: Frugality is a Virtue) and saving money, but there has to come a point where one draws a moral line and takes responsibility for one’s own mistakes. This person had herself neglected to use a product she had received for free and taken it back to the store under false pretenses and made a financial gain.

Besides, as my sister Madoline often says, the bacteria in that carton of milk (or package of food) doesn’t look at the expiration date and think, “I’d better go bad now.” It is most likely that those jars of sauce would still have been usable for a little while. If “avoiding waste” was her sole concern, she could have had pasta for the next few days, made a lasagne, calzone, ravioli, or even donated them to a food bank or charity. She could also have put the sauce in a bag or container and frozen it to use over time at her leisure.

Instead she took them back to the store where they most certainly would have been wasted. The likelihood of the store being able to re-sell those jars of sauce so close to the expiration date is slim, and they most likely would have to throw these close-to-expired products away if operating under business and food services policies.

I have heard people reason and rationalize about taking advantage of businesses saying, “Well, they can afford the loss.” It may be true, but it doesn’t make it right. It is true that the wholesale cost of a jar of pasta sauce might be small, but the retail price the store charges the consumer takes into account other costs associated with selling that jar of sauce – lease, tax, business fees, storage space and equipment, employee wages (to organize and clean the store and products, run the cash register, bag the items), and all other expenses of making that jar of sauce available to you. Of course the business makes a profit, for that is the primary and accepted purpose of a business.

So, in actuality, one could say that this dishonest customer really cost this business $20.00 – $10.00 for initially getting the products free of charge, and then $10.00 of store credit she received for returning them later. In my opinion, taking advantage of a businesses’ desire to provide good customer service in this way is no less than stealing.

Yes, it was only $20.00, but it was still $20.00 dishonestly earned. $20.00 is 3 hours of work for some minimum wage workers. $20.00 is capital for a business to turn into a much higher profit. If $20.00 is worth stealing, it’s worth keeping to the rightful owner.

Money is a wonderful thing. It may not be able to literally buy happiness, but it can buy a lot of things that contribute to happiness. However, as someone once said, “The love of money is the root of all evil,” and a high percentage of crimes is committed in the name of money.

I know there are many levels of wrongdoings and everyone has their own standards in their moral code, but there has to come a time when one draws a line between what is right and what is wrong in order to save, or make, money.

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