Hi Kath, Congrats on getting your nursing degree! I'm sure you worked VERY hard for it! Use the DOLLAR STORES, esp. for laundry/cleaning items, Deoderant, toothpaste, misc. cutlery, glassware, plastic storage containers, etc. Get that crockpot out and use it! I work 2 jobs and I am so thankful for my crockpot! Plan ahead for meals, especially with you working. Get a FOODSAVER and make ahead meals and freeze them. Get the mixed salads at the lower cost grocery stores, roast some chicken...you've got dinner for that evening and a meal to take to work the next day! Take your own lunch and snacks to work. Refill water bottles. Buy a filter for the sink or a filtered water container. $10 at Walgreen. $5 to renew the filter every 3 months. Drink more water instead of fruity drinks or soda. You'll be surprised how you will get used to in and REALLY only WANT water. Buy secondhand clothing for yourself and your kids. CONSIGN any good clothes you need to get rid of, shoes, purses, belts. Our local Goodwill stocks underwear by HANES...'seconds' I guess. They sell for 80 cents apiece. Sell your nursing books you don't want to keep on the Internet (amazing.com half.com) Good Luck!

First, since again people aren't looking at what's said. This probably should be on a separate thread but food for thought, how does a person with egg allergies react to homemade cupcakes and not bakery cupcakes? The label argument doesn't hold water since virtually every time someone brings external food to a meeting or something, the package is thrown away and most people with such allergies know that cupcakes made in bakeries have eggs in them too. When someone has a serious allergy, is it the world's responsibilty to look out for them or should they bring a treat for themselves that they can have if they want to be safe? Perhaps everyone else is required to stock medications for everyone else so they don't have to bring the meds for their own diseases? I cannot imagine my child having a severe allergy and even taking the chance of allowing them to eat what someone else brings whether from a store or home, school lunches or otherwise. I certainly wouldn't allow it if it was a life-threatening situation. But I guess that's a difference in people. And BTW, my sister has celiac. So don't give me that, LOL. Being recently diagnosed she's being very careful to stabilize before testing if there's certain sensitivities. But I imagine laxsupermom feels the world should outlaw wheat, oats, barley and malt because of this. Fortunately sis is responsible enough or at least considerate enough that she doesn't require everyone else to provide special things for her at a party, nor does she feel the bakeries should all shut down, farmers quit growing crops or the like. And I applaud her for that. Additionally my friends and relatives who are diabetic don't feel the world needs to ban sugar either. You called your kid names, not me and that's pretty tacky IMHO. I gave and give no such "definition" you suggest nor suggest anything derrogatory about your son. I wish the lad nothing but the best and in fact I wish him far better than what he has. I will give a definition though, and I'm not talking about anyone in particular, but I think that generally speaking a parent is pretty pompous to say that my kids and my neighbors' kids can't have a cupcake, piece of fruit, cookie or pork cutlet just because theirs can't. What I said and you misunderstood is that sensitive people can simply bring something so they can be safe and still participate. It works. We did that way back when I was in school. Enough on that, it's off topic. Back to the topic. I didn't necessarily "save" money, but I did spend a lot less at Target. I needed foil and thought of it while there so I bought a roll on sale and rather than searching and looking and driving for a better price I got one there. I needed a hair trimmer since I broke two of them now, and found one last one for $9.99. Good enough price for me. Then I went past the clearance shelf and there was a far better one on there, but wasn't marked. Decided to check it in case someone left it there and it scanned up at $8.94. That went into the cart. Toothpaste on clearance 3pk for $2.25, and was waiting for a giant towel to go on sale and it was on sale this week so that was $2 off and I wanted two so I got them. Needed Q-tips and was getting the store brand until I went past the clearance rack and the name brand was on clearance cheaper than the store brand. So when I factor in I got things that I probably would have gone elsewhere to get, I may have saved some gas too, though I usually try to combine trips. There was a couple other things I got there too but don't recall offhand. Oh and I did save over $9 since the cashier charged me for three towels instead of two. I decided to double check that the towels rang in on sale and caught it. Usually I try to watch as the items are being rung in but this store has the monitor in a different position so I couldn't see it. Would have been really annoyed if I would have noticed it at home. Would have been nice to have gotten some compensation for it. Irritated with the cashier's attitude and blaming it on the computer must've scanned it twice. Yeah, it's the computer's fault! So check your receipts and happy frugaling everyone.

Went out "rummaging" last Saturday. Spent a morning of pleasant talk time with DH while enroute. Got a little exercise getting in and out of the pick-up, walking up and down the street (there was a neighborhood sale on one block). Bought some nice t-shirts in several sizes (DH and I wear XL, DGS wears L, DS and DD wear 2X) for 25 cents each. They were all glad to get them, and I have stained up most of the t-shirts I currently have, painting and gardening. I always watch for things that might make good Christmas presents for my family. They like to get rummage sale stuff because they know I have a set amount that I spend for Christmas and they'd rather have more stuff than just a few. I found a Cuisinart food processor, clean, didn't look like it had even been used, with the book, both blades and also two stems and a julienne and grating blade, for $10. I tested it out before buying and it works perfectly. DD will be so happy to discover that under the tree! I found a large, brand new, still-in-the-box George Foreman grill for $10. (no book, though) Used it to grill hamburgers last night. The weekend before I found a nice Fossil watch, still in it's original box, for $10. One of the DGS' will be the recipient of that. The weekend before that, I found a brand new Eureka Hot Shot steam cleaner that I had been wanting, still in it's original box with all attachments and the book, for $5. Sometimes, I don't find a thing I want. But even then, I get out and meet people and I enjoy my morning. Out of the garden this week, I got cabbage, beets and beet greens (they were yummy), plenty of romaine and a few onions. Last month we had baby lettuce, watermelon radish and asparagus. The beans are beginning to form and I have some green tomatoes on my plants. No squash this year as I still have some in the freezer. Next year, though, I'm going to dehydrate some like Grainlady does. There are tiny cucumbers on the vine and the dill looks like it'll be making umbrels right on time. I'll be using MIL's old recipe for garlic dills this year, that you can make a jar at a time. The sunflowers are heading up. I garden without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Every fall I collect my neighbors' leaves that they bag up and put on the curb for garbage collection. I save the leaves by sticking the bags under my porch, where, as long as they are there, they insulate the foundation along the east side. They keep the wind from blowing things under there and they keep weeds from growing along the edges. Then, as I need them, I use them for mulch all over my garden. I happen to have come into several bales of hay for free and I find that if I put a little "slice" of hay on top of the leaves, it keeps them from blowing away. By the following spring, that mulch becomes healthy soil. I did get some cow manure from a local rancher this spring but I think I will not do that again. Lots of weed seeds, though not nearly as bad as the horse manure I had several years ago. Cows must be more selective in what they eat than horses are. I get heavy cardboard from a local furniture store. The boxes are large and some of them are sized perfectly for fitting down into the spaces between my raised beds. Bermuda grass is a problem here, it gets into everything and chokes things out, sending it's long, sinewey roots clear to China. The only way to control it is to shade it out. I have to admit, I did splurge on seed buying from Baker Creek, as they are offering free shipping till the end of June. but I got things that you just can't pick up anywhere, and even if the package of seed costs $2.50 and $3.00 (isn't that outrageous?), I use my seeds very carefully and so just one plant that produces well will more than pay for the seed and the rest is "just gravy". A package of seed, stored carefully, will be viable for years. We always batch our trips, so when we get done rummaging we go by the grocery store and buy whatever we need, usually on sale. I hear gas prices are going to be going up again, so even if you do happen to have a 'gas guzzler' vehicle, you will get more for your $$ if you learn to do as many of your errands at the same time as you can. DGS got a ticket for not wearing his seatbelt! The officer told him it would be only $20 but what he didn't tell him was that if he waits for the court date and appears then to pay it, he will have to pay court costs too. Luckily we discovered in time and informed DGS of that, so he went to the court house and paid his fine and avoided paying court costs. Let this be a lesson to him, wear that seat belt!

I come from a large family and Christmas has always been a struggle. I love the season but hate the gift giving. I think part of it was because my parents only gave gifts to the children - I never learned how to graciously receive a gift, how to just say thank you and smile. Someone gives me a home made nik-nak and I rush out and buy them a new car (just kidding). Anyway, the holidays are over, I made it out alive without spending a fortune. The coolest idea for celebrating the holidays was by a friend of mine years ago. He had recently moved to my state, all his family lived far away. He loved his new city and had no intentions of going anywhere for the holidays so he planned a huge dinner party. He cooked all the food, made all the decorations even made up simple invites and mailed them out a month in advance. His deal was - the party was his gift to his friends and family. If you can't make it for whatever reason, he understood but had no plans to do anything other than throw the party. I imagine he spent some money on the food and stuff but in the end he solved a lot of problems. It didn't come off as a "take it or leave it" kinda deal, more like a "I can't make everybody happy, so this is what I plan to do". I loved it.