Know Your Zone

Before planting, it is important to know what Hardiness Zone you are in. Knowing your zone will help you determine which plants will tend to do well in your area, and the best time to plant them! Most seed packets will have the zones on the back, but you will probably need to search the internet for your first and last average frost dates.
You can click on the map below for more information on your particular hardiness zone. 

Preparing to transplant seedlings

I sowed seeds for these tomato, banana pepper, and jalapeño plants several weeks ago using starter soil. I also started some cherry tomatoes and have already put them into larger containers. I kept them all under a florescent light that was installed under one of my kitchen cabinets and kept the soil damp.
Now that they have a couple of sets of leaves, I need to begin to "harden them off." That means to gradually acclimate them to the outdoors. They are tender and would not do well if they went directly from my kitchen to the garden. The sun and wind would be too much for them to handle. So, I have been leaving them outside for several hours each day, gradually keeping them outside longer and longer, so that when it is time for them to be transplanted outside, they will be ready!

Garden

I have started my garden!
I will be planting vegetables in these pots, and a few in between. I have already started tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, jalapeños, banana peppers, basil, and cilantro indoors. I have sowed lettuce and spinach seeds in the pots, as well as started potatoes in 5 gallon buckets.
I am tracking my spending and will compare it to my harvest.
Check back often to see the progress!

Laundry Detergent Revisited

The average household spends close to $70 per year on laundry detergent. Our family spends less than $6 - PER YEAR!

I have used my homemade, super frugal, laundry detergent for the past 5 years. Apparently, in our household, we will only need to make it twice a year which means we are spending less than $6 PER YEAR on laundry detergent! None of us have been able to tell a difference in the cleanliness of the clothes so we are sold on this recipe!

Here it is:

4 Cups hot tap water
1 Bar Ivory soap
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax 20 Mule Team Powder (laundry aisle at Publix next to the previous item)
A 5 gallon bucket with lid
Saucepan
Empty laundry detergent container

Grate the bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves.

Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add soapy water, washing soda and Borax. Stir until dissolved.

Fill bucket to the top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight.

Stir it up well (it will be "gloppy") and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (it will gel)

Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

Even though you use a 5 gallon bucket, it makes 10 gallons because you fill the empty container half full of detergent and fill the rest of the way with water.
The washing soda and borax cost about $5 and I used only a fraction of each. Buckets are about $5 as well from Lowes and can be reused each time.

FREE Jr. Frostys at Wendy's for the rest of 2015!

If you go to Wendy's and buy a key tag for $1, you can then get a FREE Jr. Frosty, with every purchase, for the rest of the year. PLUS, for every dollar spent on the key tags, 90 cents will go to support adoption. It is a win-win situation! You can go to Wendys and scroll down for more details, or visit your local Wendy's location. I am going TODAY!

Christmas Decorations - Cheap!

Christmas will soon be here and all of the decorations that are left on the shelves will be going on SALE! Last year we picked up hundreds of feet of lights for about 30% of the original price. So, if you want more Christmas decor and have a little money leftover after the holidays, remember to go hit the after Christmas sales for great items to use next year.

Fast and Cute Christmas Cookies

No time to bake? Try this!
Buy a package of butter cookies (the ones with the hole in the middle), green icing, and sprinkles. Decorate each cookie like a wreath by icing it with the green icing and then adding sprinkles. Super easy and so cute!

Blogging Again!

After a hectic year of job changes and a move to another state, I am ready to get back to blogging here! I have some great home tips and frugal ideas for winter weather and Christmas. Check back often for new information!

Egg Substitute

We recently made home-made applesauce from apples a friend gave us. It was very inexpensive and easy! The bonus was that when my daughter went to make a box of blueberry muffins and we were out of eggs, we discovered that we could substitute 1/4 cup of applesauce plus 1 teaspoon of baking powder for each egg. We could not tell a difference in the taste and it was cheap, easy, and healthy. We will definitely substitute applesauce and baking powder for eggs in the future.

Advanced Couponing Tip

A lot of stores let you "stack" coupons. This means that you can use 1 manufacturer's coupon AND one store coupon (or sometimes a competitor's store coupon) on the SAME item! Publix and CVS are two stores that generally let you stack coupons. When you stack with a sale item you can get that item for an unbelievably low price!

Be sure to ask the Customer Service representative at your store about their coupon policy!