What I Never Pay For

I have been couponing for over 5 years now. I have certain things that I will never pay for.  I will always wait until the right cycle comes when the items are on sale and stock up on them. Here is my list of things you can get for FREE with coupons:

• Razors
• Shaving cream
• Single paper towels
• Toothpaste
• Toothbrushes
• Shower gel
• Deodorant
• Floss
• Face Wash
• Feminine Hygiene products
• Mustard
• Ketchup
• BBQ sauce

I know I am missing A LOT but this still gives you an idea on what to never pay for, you can get them all for FREE!! I will have an updated list with a bunch more things coming soon to not pay for EVER! That's my frugal tip for the day. Thanks for stopping by =)

Why Pay Full Price??

I LOVE summer time for yard sale season!!

Being Frugal DOES NOT mean having to go without.  On the contrary, sometimes being frugal allows you to enjoy some luxuries that you wouldn’t normally enjoy if you were shopping on your “traditional” budget  or to be able to go on more vacations– it’s just a matter of changing your perspective.

For instance, It is a fun tradition for me to hit the yard sale circuit each Saturday in the summer in search of some bargains.  Normally house hold things or toys for my boys. In the past, I wouldn’t even stop at a yard sale that had clothes.  I would have such a snobby attitude!  “Who buys used clothing at a yard sale?  Who would even try to sell it? That was the old, wasteful, ignorant me. But that all changed for me last year.  I happened  to come across a sale that was selling tons of boy clothes. I looked at some, (kind of) and noticed gap, the children's place etc. all priced at .50 cents to $1.00 each. Then I really started looking through them! I checked each item for stains, rips, etc. and found nothing wrong with them.  In fact, they looked hardly worn at all.  It all changed from that point on. My attitude adjustment has gotten me some incredible bargains and has enabled my boys to wear designer brands and higher quality clothing than they normally would on my usual budget! It leaves me with more money in my pocket in the end.

(all of this was ONLY $3.25, there is a full Gap church outfit I got for .50, a Gap jacket for .50, Old Navy shorts for .25, 2 more jackets .50 each, shorts .50, shirt .25, pants .25)

But, I do have to admit that all the yard sales I go to, I will not spend more than $1.00 on clothes. It is not because I think higher is a bad deal, because it's not. (a couple bucks here and there are better than paying full price) I just know that if I go to a yard sale and they have a boy Gap shirt, jacket or pants for $3-$5 (which happens a lot) I know I can still score when I hit the right yard sales that have prices from .25 cents to $1.00 each. So you just have to have will power and walk away from the ones that are over priced and wait for the typical "yard sale" prices. So I challenge you to go give yard sales a try and you will be surprised what you can find. :)

Easy Sour Cream & Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas

These are one my husband’s top of the list meal choices. There are so many recipes out there for Enchiladas. Here is my way. It’s super simple and yummy.  
Here is what you need:

A precooked chicken at the store (shred it all in a bowl without the skin), 2 Green mild taco sauce (the one in my picture is my favorite), a can of green chilies, half of a block of cream cheese (soften), sour cream, cheese and, rice (cooked) I never measure out how much sour cream and cheese I put in. I just eye ball it for when it has a good consistency where everything is moist. Mix everything in a bowl except for 1 of the green taco sauce and some cheese. You will put that all on the top before you put it in the oven.

 This is the consistency you want after everything is in ( I taste as I pour in the grenn taco sauce, just put how much your taste buds like)

You need big tortillas and a 13x9 pan

I put a little sour cream and butter on the bottom so they don't stick to the bottom of my dish

Once you have them all filled with the filling put them in your dish

Pour the other green Taco sauce all over the top

Sprinkle with more cheese on top. Cook at 375 for about 30-45 mins (every oven is different) You don't need to do it long, just enough time to get the cheese to melt and get everything warmed. It is that simple. If you are a couponer this is another yummy and cheap meal. Enjoy :)

One of my Favorite Simple Snacks...

Sun dried tomato and basil wheat thins with the laughing cow light blue cheese wedges. Just make sure you have will power to not eat more than 2 cheese wedges. :-) Yummy in my Tummy! Again with coupons you pay almost nothing. When I bought these I got the cheese FREE and the wheat thins for .47 cents. You can't beat that!!

Fried Zucchini

This is one of my Husbands favorite side dishes. It is very simple to make. It is a frugal side dish, all I paid for was the onion batter mix which is .78 at Winco. I have my own garden so I used my own Zucchini. The other supplies I got FREE with coupons that I stock up on when its on sale or free with coupons. Here is what you need:

 Zucchini of course, oil, California Style Garlic Salt, (don't pay attention to the Mrs grass onion soup mix), I thought I pulled out the onion batter for the picture :-)

This is what you need in replace of the onion soup. Onion Ring Batter mix. Mix it a little thicker than pancake batter, you don't want it too runny.

Cut up your Zucchini don't make them too thin or too thick

Mix together the California style garlic salt

(I like a lot of the California style garlic salt, just put how much you want)

onion ring batter mix

 (mix it how the package says) I don't put all the water it calls for though

Get olive oil hot in a skillet

(If you have a deep fryer it is faster and easier, I don't have one so I just use a skillet)

Once oil is hot start dunking your Zucchini in the batter mix (I put as many that will fit in the bowl at a time, make sure they get coated all over)

Put them in the hot oil until golden brown and flip them

Put some paper towels on a platter and let them set up all the way. You can eat them just like this and dip them in Ranch

OR THIS WAY...(my favorite)

 Freeze Dried Dill with Cotija cheese on top

Eat and enjoy by dipping them in ranch :-)

Hawaiian Chicken Crock pot Dinner

Whats for dinner? Try this yummy Hawaiian Chicken and Rice dinner. It is so Delicious and very easy to make. I love cooking with my crock pot, you just throw all the ingredients in and forget about it until its done. Great for a busy schedule like mine. It is also nice in the summer, you don't have to heat up your house with the oven but still get a great meal. Win win situation :-) If you are a couponer this can be an almost FREE meal. I just paid $1.27 for my chicken and the rest was FREE :-)
Here is what you will need:

Hawaiian BBQ Sauce (original one) 1 1/4 cups

Boneless/skinless Chicken

crushed pineapple small cans (if you are making it with chicken tenders only use one can of pineapple, if its breasts or a lot of chicken use 2 cans of crushed pineapple)

1/4 cup of water

1-2 spoons of brown sugar

Dried onions

Rice

This is how I layer it in the crock pot: water, sprinkle in some dried onions, chicken, BBQ sauce, more onions, pineapple, brown sugar.

 Cook it on low 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours

After its all done take 2 forks and start shredding it. It will seem a little runny but when you add the rice it will soak up a lot of the juice. :-)

Add in your cooked rice. You can use any rice.

It might not look very appetizing but I am telling you it is VERY yummy. Serve just like this on flour tortillas.

You could add guacamole and sour cream but just plain is my favorite. It has a lot of great flavor just like this! Enjoy.

Frugal McDonalds Breakfast Bagels for .50 each

I love McDonalds Breakfast bagels with ham. I don't buy them often and only certain McDonalds still carry them as a bagel. Most of them are just on a muffin. If I told you, you can make your very own for .50-.85 cents each instead of $2.99 each wouldn't you want to make them? Consider the fact that I am a HUGE coupon shopper so in reality you can make them FOR FREE but, if you’re not a coupon shopper you can still make them for .50- .85 cents each which will save you lots of money. The best part is you can make a week’s worth in about 10 mins, great right?. I think so. All my husband has to do before work is pull one out of the freezer and microwave in a paper towel for 90 seconds. They will last for about a month in a freezer bag.

Now for the breakdown

Bagels- $1.49 (.49cents -Free with coupon)
Eggs- .67cents (Free with coupon or register rewards)
Ham- 4 packages .50 cents each (free with coupon)
Cheese-.72 cents (Free with coupon or register rewards)

 Heres what I use

 

I like to lay them all out on the counter and do each step to all of them at the same time.

I put 2 pieces of ham on each one because they are thin.

Layer them all together put in a freezer bag and its that simple, finished!!!

I get the extra-large eggs so it will cover the whole bagel. This one I didn't break the yoke because we ate it fresh. But if you are freezing them make sure you break the yokes.

This time I made 12 of them and I spent $5.87 for all my supplies so that’s .48 cents each :-)

On a side note, not like anyone would go get these at McDonlads every morning but, lets say if you did what it would cost before tax is $932.88 a year but, if you made these at home and had one every day during the week you would only spend  $149.76 a year!! Or $2.88 a week. Pretty awesome savings huh??