Summer Savings

The weather is slowly starting to cool off and some of the leaves in the backyard have started to turn red. Fall is on the way! There are sooo many things I love about fall. So many awesome apple and pumpkin recipes that I'm dying to try in the next few weeks. But first, I am just trying to deal with and find recipes for all the produce from our garden! Picking fresh beans and tomatoes from the garden got me thinking about all the ways that the summer months help us save money and I thought I would share a few of my favourites.

1.) Gardening, obviously. I started getting produce, lettuce to be exact, in June and continue to harvest an abundance of vegetables to this day. I figure there are still a few weeks left for the garden. Despite what some people may think, you really don't need to put a lot of time or money into gardening in order for it to be worthwhile. You also don't need a ton of space. My husband spent an evening preparing my garden, I spent an afternoon planting and then we probably only spent a few hours weeding it over the entire summer. It would look a lot better if we had done more, but it still grew a 'ton' of food. Even if you don't have a large yard for planting, or even if you live in an apartment, you can grow lots of vegetables in a small space or in pots. We only had two cucumber plants grow this year and still got about 20 cucumbers so far, and I have seen people plant cucumbers in a pot on their porch before. Check out the links below to learn more about small space gardening. Garden food is so fresh and delicious, plus it is free!

Container Gardening

Five Best Container Vegetables

Vegetables That Anyone Can Grow

How To Plant A Compact Garden

2.) Use the Sunlight. Choosing to open the shades and light your house with sunshine rather than electricity is common knowledge, yet lots of the time people don't do it. Sometimes I walk into a sunny room in my own house and turn the light on, even though its basically as bright without it. Maybe it's just out of habit? Either way, I am working on opening all of the blinds and curtains when I wake up, especially in the warmer months.

Next, let your laundry dry outside in the wind and sunshine. I read an article the other day that said the average cost of using a dryer was $0.31 to $0.49 per load. Definitely more if you do it at the laundromat. So, a family doing about 5 loads a week, or 260 loads a year is spending $80 to $127 on energy for their dryer.  Drying outdoor as often as you can will help bring down the cost, make your laundry smell fresh like sunshine and flowers and force you to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. Also, this doesn't just apply to people with the convenience of a pre-strung clothesline hanging in their back yard. Metal drying racks work really well, or you can be like me and use whatever you have available to you. I use a shoe rack we happen to have, our patio chairs and sometimes the fence.


These don't just apply to summer either. Let the sunshine light your house all year and hang your clothes out to dry on any sunny, windy days throughout spring and into late fall. Apparently freeze drying items in winter is a thing too, though I have yet to try it out!

3.) Entertainment. We've only gone for dinner once since spring and the movies maybe twice but we still had plenty of fun! Why pay for activities that keep you cooped up inside when you could be out enjoying all the free ones. My favorite frugal things to do in summer are:

- Go to the beach
- Outdoor pool
-Hiking! Even if you aren't athletic (or you are pregnant!) trails range from super easy to more difficult. Plus nature is basically a free stress reliever.
- Water park or splash pad
- Picnic! Find a nice spot by a lake or river or even just at a park
- Picking fruit! Even if there are no great berry patches hidden around your home, you could always go to a local farm. This is obviously more expensive but in the end you get both fresh fruit and a great experience.
- Have a baking session with all the awesome fruit you just picked.
- Invite some friends over and have a potluck BBQ.
- Bonfire... unless there's a fire ban.

I hope these suggestions will help you to save money over next few weeks, the very last few of summer. Also, start planning your garden! Do the research now and you will be a gardening expert when it comes time to plant next spring.

Cream of Carrot Soup

Since the weather today feels a little bit more like the middle of October than the end of August, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to make soup! Cream of carrot soup has been one of my favorites since I first made it in a cooking class in college. I have been craving carrot soup for the last few weeks and it completely lived up to my expectations. While making it I also decided it was fairly frugal considering it makes a fair amount and it is healthier and tastier than canned soups. I decided to share my version of the recipe and the price breakdown. 

Cream of Carrot Soup

- 2lb Carrots
- 1 Potato
- 1 Onion
- 3 cups Chicken Broth
- 1/4 cup Butter
- 1/2 cup Cream (I use 18%)
- Salt and Pepper

There aren't a ton of directions to follow since this soup is really easy and pretty hard to mess up. First peel and chop the veggies, they can be in chunks about 1/2 inch. Melt the butter in your pot over medium heat. Add vegetables, chicken broth and some salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stir occasionally.

 Once the time is up, make sure the vegetables are soft and then let it cool off. Should look like the photo below. 

Next, blend the soup. If you're lucky, you have an immersion blender, if you're like me you will do it in batches in the single portion blender which is all you own... 

Next add cream, it can be more or less than half a cup depending on your preference, then add more salt and pepper to taste. 

Warm it back up on low and serve. My batch made about 1.5 liters, or four big bowlfuls.  Here was the price breakdown:

Carrots              $1.50
Potato               $0.10
Onion                $0.10
Chicken Broth     $0.75
Butter               $0.40
Cream               $0.50
Recipe Total        $3.35

In this case it may technically be cheaper to buy a few cans of soup at the store for less than $1 each (do they even make cream of carrot in a can??) but this delicious, homemade version is sure to leave you more satisfied, with less preservatives and a lot more vitamins, for a very decent price! Enjoy. 

1 Chunk Pork, 7 Delicious Meals

The other day my Mom and three brothers came up to visit. The increase in people meant a quick, unplanned, trip to the grocery store. While there, we came across a huge bin containing giant cuts of unseasoned pork loin for $1.39/lb. Since I try to buy all my meat for less than $3/lb (except salmon cause that's never going to happen around here) this was a huge find. It was the highlight of my day, other than seeing my family of course!

I didn't really feel like dealing with this huge thing when I got home but since throwing the whole chunk in the freezer at once would mean cooking the whole freakin' thing at once later on,  I decided to take the time to pre-portion it for the freezer. My husband put the groceries away once  few months ago when I wasn't feeling well and didn't divide the meat up... we had pork for like a week straight. 

In the end, it didn't take very long to deal with. I cut half of it into three chunks for pork roasts or pulled pork later on, grabbed some good freezer bags, labelled them with the date and tossed those in the deep freezer. Here are a few recipes to try with your pork roasts:

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Applesauce Pork Tenderloin

Pork, Vegetable and Gravy Roast

The rest of the meat I cut into strips to make pork and broccoli, which I will most likely serve over rice or noodles. I used this recipe for beef and broccoli from mommysavers.com, (obviously replacing the beef with pork) and just tossed the marinade ingredients together in a bowl then poured over the meat in the labelled freezer bags. I separately bagged the broccoli in smaller ziplocs, since it doesn't need to cook as long, and added that to the bigger freezer bag containing the meat. It made four good sized packs, leaving me with a total of seven future meals from the one, $11 pork loin. 

I think that I am most excited about the pork and broccoli meal packs as they are a head start on all the pre-baby freezer cooking that I'm hoping to get done. They are something simple that my husband or I can throw in the crockpot without even having to add anything! Seriously, do not be afraid to buy large chunks/portions of meat at the store. They are usually cheaper and don't take very long to divide up and freeze, plus it means less trips to the store for meat as your freezer will get stocked up more quickly. 

Big Changes

The past few months have been so crazy that I've barely had five minutes to think about blogging, let alone actually write anything out! Here's the short version... We got approved as foster parents, we found out we were expecting a baby, we fostered five different kids and then my house got really quiet as the kids moved on and my husband left the province for a two month training course (one month down, one to go!). I've basically been gone doing a lot of visiting family, adjusting to being pregnant, recovering from all the kids and social workers and attempting to organize the house.

But now I'm back and excited to start working on some new posts. Over the next few weeks I am going to share some of my favourite ways that summer time can bring big savings; food, energy and entertainment wise. Then I plan to work on a short series about freezer meals, how they can save you money, and my favourite things to freeze (with recipes). Be sure to check back!

Homemade Flour Tortillas

I've had some time off lately and finally got a chance to do some organizing! Now that it's done, I've been able to keep on top of the housework, which has left me with a little bit of time to experiment in my kitchen! Since we've been trying to make more food homemade rather than buying processed products, I decided to try making spinach tortillas this afternoon. I've tried them before and the results weren't great but today I found a new recipe and they were a success! Beside for the fact that no matter how hard I try, I can't get them even close to actually being round. Oh well....

Price Breakdown
Store bought (8 Pack): $3.00
Recipe Cost (8 Tortillas): $0.85

Making your own tortillas will save you $2.15 per pack. If you buy tortillas once a month, you could save almost $26 a year and if you buy them weekly, you'd save over $100! Plus, they're really good. I admit to eating one while making the rest and I almost ate a second one.

My spinach tortillas. They may be slightly deformed,

 but they are still completely delicious!

Click here for the recipe I used from Hot Pot Cooking. I made spinach tortillas but the site also gives instructions for making regular ones. 

Freebie February

I absolutely love freebies. Free samples, which show up to surprise me in my mailbox months after I have ordered and completely forgotten about them, are my absolute favourite. BUT they are definitely not the only way to get stuff for free. When I decided to write about getting freebies, I started thinking about all the stuff we've received over the last few years and was surprised to realize how much it really is. We have got thousands of dollars worth of free stuff and, the best part, it was totally easy! 

Here is some of the stuff we got, how we did it and how you can too:

Free Samples In The Mail

In the last few months, I opened my mailbox to a ton of awesome samples. These ranged anywhere from laundry soap to protein bars to a full sized bag of cat food. 

My favourite sites to browse for these mail samples are Todays Free Stuff and Free Stuff Finder. I check every few days or so. Some days there's nothing that interests me and some days I'll order 5 samples. 

Facebook Groups/ Kijiji

Another great way to get free stuff is to take it off of someone else's hands. There is a whole section for "FREE" stuff on Kijiji. Just browse through, or if you need something specific, try posting a "WANTED" ad. 

On Facebook I am part of a "Pay It Forward" group for my area. When I no longer need something, I post it on there for other people and I comment on other peoples ads when I see something that I like. Note, people usually like to get rid of stuff ASAP so make sure that you comment on a day when you are free and can literally jump in your car or walk over and pick up right away. You have more chance of getting stuff this way. Search for a Pay It Forward, Free Stuff, Buy Nothing etc. group for your area. 

All 3 board games turned out to be brand new with the cards still wrapped!

Huge box of free kids clothes

Even my kitty came free from Kijiji

The Library

Our library often has a table at the exit with all the discontinued books, free for people to take home. Most people walk past the table without looking... and then there's me. I've been seen struggling to walk home with a huge stack of books in my arms. Even if your library doesn't have this, you could always ask what they do with the discontinue books. Many will sell them off super cheap if not free. 

All Those Random Contests

You know all those booths that are set up at job fairs, farmers markets, trade shows, street fairs etc? Well many of those have free contests and lots of people don't take the time to enter. My husband has won a free ipod and a $25 Itunes card, on two separate occasions. 

Also, if your work has contests, draws or safety reports, do them! A contest at my husbands work is how we ended up with our Ipad, which is now a member of the family. Also, at my Dads work, whenever employees saw a safety concern, or something that didn't meet code, they could fill out a safety note and get entered to win prized. I remember my dad winning a fair sized gift card one month. 

Leftovers

Whenever large events are run, way too much food is usually brought in. Often times the leftovers will go to the volunteers or a catering company but it doesn't hurt to take what's free and ask if you're not sure. The worst they can do is say no. I'm always surprised when I leave somewhere to see that people leave water bottles and snacks behind. 

The other day I went to a 15 Hour Scrapbooking Marathon Fundraiser. Close to the end there were two yogurt parfaits left on the snack table so I grabbed them before leaving and we had them for breakfast the next day. 

Also, my husband was away training this weekend and their food is catered by a local hotel. I don't know if it's just because it was the first weekend, but he said there was WAY too much food and most of ended up in the garbage. After seeing a ton of perfectly good chicken thrown away, he was able to snag a full loaf of bread and some fruit. You can always ask.

The Dentists

Just thought I would throw this one in. Even when they don't ask me if I need a new toothbrush, I always asks for something at the dentist. They usually end up giving me a toothbrush, floss, sometimes those mini toothpastes and once I even got a 250 ml sample bottle of Listerine. I've never had them say no... yet. 

Receipt Surveys/Store Contests

You know those survey contests that are on basically every receipt you get? Yeah, they might be worth filling out. They're not too long... usually, and you can win some pretty big prizes. My husband won $1000 in Shoppers Drug Mart gift cards once when we filled out the online survey and lots of other stores give gift cards too. 

Also, lots of stores have promotions, like scratch and win cards, right at the cash. The other day I got two paper "poker chips" free with my $5 purchase and I won a free chocolate bar. Yet, many people walk away without even grabbing them! 

There you have it. Those are some of the different, not too difficult, methods of finding and getting awesome stuff for free. 

Frozen Pizzas

Homemade Vs. Storebought

Store-bought freezer pizzas may not make the healthiest, most delicious meals ever but there is no denying how convenient they are. We love homemade pizza in our house but they do take a lot of prep work so I decided that from now on I will make an extra one whenever I do pizzas and freeze it for a super easy, delicious future meal.

Preparing my toppings while the dough rises. 

Homemade dough, yum!

The freezer pizza.

 I made it the same as usual, rolled out my crust and partially cooked it. Then I topped it and added the cheese but instead of throwing it back in the oven, I wrapped it in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and popped it in the freezer. 

The final product. 

I already knew that my homemade freezer pizzas would be healthier and yummier than store bought but I decided to also do a price breakdown and see if it was cheaper.

Price Breakdown

Storebought: Average $5-$7 

Homemade: $3.05

Obviously prices will vary depending on the toppings used and whether the crust is homemade or not. Our pizza had pepperoni, ham, green pepper, onion, pineapple and pizza cheese mix. I figured it costed about $3.05 and it tasted great, so I am going to fill my freezer with a bunch of them for future use.