Venue

I was looking after my most recent blog post for ceremony related things.  I took the step that scared me the most, looking for venues.  Venues are expensive, and when I searched for anything with the word "venue" in the search, we were looking at between $1,500 and $5,000.  Fuck that noise.

Then I got smart.  I looked for simpler, but still in keeping with my mental theme.  First, state parks... cheap, but the good spots are several hours drive from Denver.  Then, with little hope for something pretty, I searched Denver parks, and I found the perfect spot for $350. 

Washington Park Boathouse is a historic structure, has the space, plenty of parking, is on a lake, will be great for pretty pictures, and it has that southern gothic feel I wanted.  The fee gets us the venue for almost 12 hours.

Here's some pics of it....

Two years

In two years, my owner and I will be having a commitment ceremony to honor our relationship and exchange locking bracelets.  I already feel a twinge of nervousness for announcing this, planning it, and the haunting whispers of phrases that I know I'll have to repeat over and over. 

 "This is not a wedding."  There may be similarities to a wedding.  Two people are making a commitment to each other, and I have no social reference for what we're doing.  In effect, I'm creating a ceremony based on who we are and what I know.

"I'm sorry, but we're keeping it small."  There will be people not invited.  There will be people close to us that aren't invited.  I have to make some crucial choices about guest list.  No, my mother is not going to understand the M/s aspects of the ceremony, but since I'm never having a wedding, she gets to come.

 "Be nice"  I really won't have to say this, but it's one of the phrases in my head.  If I don't think that you can be nice to the other people invited, you won't be invited.  There will be both vanilla guests and "lifestyle" guests.  There will be guests of different faiths.  There will be guests who differ in every way people can possibly differ, except one.  Everyone invited will have manners.

"I need help."  This is a hard one for me, but once this thing begins, I will need some things taken care of for me.  I'm not doing cleanup from my own ceremony.  There are just some things I know shouldn't happen.


There are probably a bunch of other things I'll have to tell people when I'm planning this thing.  I'm hoping that everyone will be supportive of our pseudo-public statement of love.  Two years is a long way off, but will go so fast with our already busy life. 

 

More craftiness: Delicate Hamper

I've been redoing my room and I've come up with some adorable crafty things to do.  Well, come up with is a little off... this one I saw on the internet some time ago and I've just now figured to do it... lol.

I needed a delicates hamper for my girly stuff, and I just happened to have a couple embroidery hoops from the thrift store. 

I grabbed one and stretched the top of a pillow case over the smaller half of the hoop and screwed the larger half on over it and added some ribbon.

Here it is!

Craftiness: Monkey Bulliten Board

I feel the need to post my craftiness. I'm redoing my room and needed a little bulletin board.  I took an upholstery fabric sample with monkeys on it, put it in a picture frame with a little backing behind it, and I took out the glass.  Voila!

Christmas in June

Things get busy for us during the summer.  Giz plants a garden and the shop gets busy, and I get to spend the summer entertaining kids and harvesting fruit when it's time.  We go apple, cherry, plum, and grape picking as things ripen, along with any other fruit that people have too much of.  Then I spend hours in the kitchen boiling, canning, jam making, freezing, and dehydrating the produce so we have lots of fresh goodies come wintertime.

With summer (into fall) being the time to prepare for winter, my inner Christmas love comes out.  How could I be thinking of Christmas in the hot summer, you ask?  Because I hate scrambling in November and December, scraping money together during that last month to make the holiday special.  I find that a little preparation each month, beginning in summertime, means that your budget won't take a hit at all come the holiday season.  Some people don't like the holidays enough to do this much planning, but fortunately, I'm a little nutty.

Example, I just picked up a 7.5 foot tall, prelit tree that retails just over $200.  What did I pay?  Exactly NOTHING.  How did I do that?  Well it's the middle of summer and I watch craigslist free ads, freecycle, and barter group ads for little gems like this.  Someone spring cleaning or moving doesn't consider their tree a priority when they have to move it around.  So I get an expensive tree that's barely been used thanks to someone not wanting to fool with it.  Yes, people can be that wasteful.

It's been a banner month for holiday prep too.  I picked up a wreath for an estimated $2 at the Goodwill Outlet near me.  Goodwill outlet carries all the leftovers that did not sell at other Goodwills (and even other non-goodwill thrift stores).  Everything is in bins, so you have to dig through a little.  It's a lot like a treasure hunt, and when you hit pay-dirt, it's worth it.  They charge clothes and household merchandise by the lb. and books are 99c each.  If you get over 20lbs, your purchase is 99c a pound.  If you get over 70lbs, which we've done a few times, your price is even lower.  For heavy items, they will give you a flat price that makes other thrift stores look expensive.  Once, I even found a sterling silver bracelet in a bin amongst some discarded costume jewelry!

Things I got on my last trip to the outlet-
Christmas stocking - est price $0.25
Huge box of perfect condition wooden building blocks - $3.00 (saving those to give the girls for Christmas!)
Baby bouncer - $1.99 (retails $35)
Leapfrog Music Learning Table - $1.99 (retails $45)
Framed Print from NYC Museum of Art - $2
New Monster Stuffed Animals (for girls' christmas) - est. $0.50 each (retail $13 each)
Nice Plush Easter Basket - est. $0.25
Sleeping bag, kids clothes, childs backpack (all 99c a pound)

Trip before that I got a Baby Einstein exersaucer that retails well over $50 for $5.

Some toys and the like, I save for the kids for Christmas.  The girls are as spoiled as any other little ones during the holidays.  The difference is, I don't go broke to make that happen.  I don't go broke because I shop smart, and I don't do all my shopping in the same 4 week span.  I spread it out with a little purchase at a time.  The same goes for other gifts I buy.  If you get a present for Christmas from me, it might have been in my closet since summertime waiting just for you because I found what I wanted to get you on sale at the time.

Thanks to free groups and thrift shops, I now have all our holiday decorations save the ornaments.  That means I can get one nice set of ornaments to reuse year after year because I saved so much with the other things.

This may all read like one big cheap lady's brag post, but it's a spelled out plan that you can take advantage of.  Who cares if your tree is new or when you picked up your gifts?  Does your little child really care if every toy they receive is new?  Up to a certain age, they don't really know the difference.  They just know they got a toy!  The upside is, while you are still teaching them to take care of things, the few toys they break aren't so hard to replace since you didn't spend $50 on them to start with.

Clothes are another thing that I refuse to buy new until they are a certain age.  My girls are 2 and 3 right now.  They stain things, they grow out of things quickly.. I'm not paying $20 for a dress that they might wear only a few times.  I got their beautiful dresses for the Easter egg hunt for 50 cents each.  They looked brand new and both girls were happy.  While I was getting their dresses, I picked up their baskets, a ton of plastic eggs, and 5 of those egg dye kits for next to nothing as well.  For about $20 total, I was able to host an egg hunt for my kids and a friend's kids!

Both their Halloween costumes for this coming fall might have cost $1 each.  They'll wear them ONCE and I could have spend $30 each to get them retail.  Call me cheap if you like, but how far would an extra $60 go in your house?  We can afford nice things sometimes because we are frugal about other things.  The youngest will be a monkey and the oldest a ladybug.  Both will be warm.  Denver has been known to get it's first snow of the season on Halloween.

By winter, both will have a few high end party dresses from the thrift store... we're talking the ones that some parents shell out $50-$75 each for!  I'm not kidding... go look at www.mygirldress.com or www.bestdressedchild.com sometime.  The same parents that shell out that dough donate these things to thrift stores, where I'm smart enough to pick them up (sometimes still with tags) for 95-99% off what they paid.  My kids look amazing at our holiday parties and I don't freak out if they spill something.

What's the take away on this long ramble?  Shop early, shop often, and if you can avoid it.. don't shop at all.  Why pay for what's free?  Why let perfectly good stuff go to the landfill because of snobbery or shame?  Why spend for cheap, poorly made crap from Walmart when your home, your kids, and even you can have nice, quality things for less than you'd pay for the cheap stuff?  Why stress about whether to spend a fortune or let your kids miss out on something when you can go above and beyond for pennies?

The only tools you need are pre-planning skills and one big closet or storage area to keep boxes in.  Make a list of the things you need for each holiday.  Get a box and label it with the name of the holiday.  Start collecting the stuff you need.  Then, reuse what you can year after year.  Easter baskets and plastic eggs can be boxed up and reused year after year.  So can most of your holiday decor (for any holiday).  Birthday candles and gift bags can be picked up in bulk, so you always have them on hand.  Don't forget hand-me-downs either.  This year the oldest is a ladybug... next year, her younger sister might be a ladybug.  I just have to save the costume in my Halloween box.  If you can make a list and keep an inventory, this process is simple.  It also means you can be constantly upgrading what you have.  Last year I had a 4ft tree on a table.. this year, a better one.  I can give my older nice things to people that need them and consistently upgrade what I have.

Guilt free ranch dressing!

There are things we all have trouble giving up, and the thought of having salads regularly without creamy, yummy ranch dressing worried me.  So I took to the internet and did some research.  Now I've made my own ranch dressing, and there will be no guilt when I squeeze it on my veggies!

To package it after I mixed it up, I just funneled it into an empty, washed out italian dressing bottle and labeled it.  If your dressing is on the thick side (like mine) you'll have to stir your dressing with a fork inside the funnel to get it to drain through.

For my nutrition info below, I calculated the nutrition info for a half cup serving size... remember that half a cup = 8 tbsp.  The serving size is much bigger than regular ranch dressing, so pour it on if you like.

Ingredients-

2 cups Oikos fat free plain greek yogurt
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch mix
Water


Mix the packet into two cups of the yogurt til it's fully incorporated.  Add water just a little at a time til your mixture is the consistency of ranch dressing.  Refrigerate and enjoy!


Nutrition Info:  Serving Size 1/2 cup

Calories - 65
Carbs    -  5.5
Protein  - 11g
Potasium - 120mg
Calcium -  12.5

Let's compare this recipe to regular ranch and pretend that you actually only eat the 2tbsp serving size.

Nutrition Info for Regular Ranch Dressing:
Serving size: 2 tbsp (1/4 the quantity of the above recipe)

Calories: 145
Fat: 14g
Sat. Fat: 2.5
Carbs: 2g
Sugars: 1g
Protein: 1g

Cake Batter Protein Shake

This was an interesting recipe to come across.  I made some minor alterations to the original, and there are some notes I have to add.  First, don't add the recommended Splenda til you've made and tasted the shake.  This thing is SWEET!  I added the Splenda in the recipe and I think I'll choose to leave it out next time.  For those of you that like the heavy dessert flavor, you might opt to add it.  This really does have a great cake-batter flavor to it, and I've not had a "diet" dessert that I could indulge this much in that tasted so authentic.

2nd, don't be turned off by the ingredients here.  The cottage cheese really gives this milk-shakey texture to this.

Lastly, after you blend, if you think the shake is too thin, put it in the fridge for 5 minutes.  The pudding mix will thicken it up a bit.  If it's still too thin for you, add a little more cottage cheese or a few more ice cubes.


Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup	Low fat cottage cheese
1	Scoop vanilla protein powder
3-5	Drops vanilla
1 tbs	Sugar Free Vanilla Pudding Mix (I used Jello brand)
1-2tsp	Splenda
1/2 cup	Water (Alter this according to desired consistency)
5-10	Ice Cubes (Depending on how thick you like it, use less for a thinner consistency)

Put the ice cubes in first, then add the rest.  You'll have to scrape the sides of the blender once or twice depending on how good your blender is.  You don't want any lumps.  Check consistency and alter to suit your tastes.  There is plenty here to split with someone if you don't want a huge dessert.  This can be stored in the fridge overnight!

Nutrition Info:

1	Shake
187	Calories
2 g	Fat
5 g	Carbohydrate
3 g	Sugar
35 g	Protein

Here are some pictures. I just added about a cup of shake to my glass, since this is such a sweet treat.

Diet

Crazy Aunt Angel is going on a diet in preparation for possible lap-band surgery.  I'm going the high protein/low carb route with a heavy lean toward fresh produce.  I'm going to start putting up some recipes that I've tried with pictures of my finished product.  I'm researching low carb versions of holiday treats too!  Keep a watch and see how it goes.

There are some criteria as I look for recipes that I can alter, or just good ones that I can use right off the page.  So if you plan on borrowing some of these from my blog (or my pinterest page), know these things.

Rules:

1.  It has to (mostly) contain things I'd have around the house anyway.  No complicated ingredients.  I have to caveat that the ingredients are normal - to someone on a high protein/low carb diet.  Protein powder, Splenda (or other substitutes), etc. are being considered normal here.

2.  It has to be easy to make.  I have two kids and don't have time for 37 step recipes that dirty up half my pots, pans, and appliances.

3.  They have to be nutritionally sound.  That means that they have to fit into my diet.  I'll try to post nutritional information if I can.

4.  It has to be a verified and tested recipe AND it has to taste good!  That means that I won't post a recipe til I try it, and the picture will be of MY finished product.  No mystery recipes or things I wish to make.

RecycleBank

I'm pretty skeptical about some of the points sites.  If I join, I want to know that I have a hope of earning enough points to get something... even a little something, but preferably a decent reward.

I just joined Recyclebank.  It's a site that lets you earn points by taking green actions in your home or by just learning about ways to be green on their site.  Watch a video, get some points.  Take a quiz or click on pictures in EcoSchool, earn some points.  It's pretty freakin' simple.  The first day I joined, I ended up with over 1,000 points in about an hour!  That many points is plenty to get me a reward.  It's good enough to pick up 2 or 3 decent rewards. 

Rewards include magazine subscriptions (Cosmopolitan, Redbook, and a bunch of others), restaurant coupons, and even gift cards.  Obviously gift cards are more points, but having only been on the site a few days, I'm half way to a $10 gift card.

Join through a link on this blog and start earning rewards fast!

New ink for Aunt Angel

New ink for me, courtesy of my favorite tattoo artist. 

Freegan values (also known as anti-waste opportunism)

We're not fully freegan, meaning that we don't operate under all the stated principals of the freegan community.  We do find that some of the freegan principles mesh well with our philosophy of village living.

Today, we scored well over $300 in free groceries (based on retail value).  We had some groceries in our pantry and freezer because we keep long term food storage (and had scored some other free goods recently).

To be clear, we are pretty indiscriminate about the type of products we'll receive for free.  The big rule is safety.  We're received free electronics, toys, clothes, food, entertainment, and household items, as well as some miscellaneous blessings.

Below are some illustrative pictures.  This haul was thanks to a family who is moving and didn't want to take their many groceries with them.  We got meat, toddler food, boxed meals, breakfast food, frozen veggies, canned goods, sweets, condiments, and more.  Free, for us, happens because we are open to people who do not wish to waste things, so they give them away.  We are members of freecycle, swap groups, and we check the Craigslist free section about 10 times a day on average.

We've had people tell us that they would be ashamed to take something being offered, and we've run into people that turn up their nose at receiving free things.  As for us, we feed ourselves AND are able to give bags and baskets of food to our neighbors regularly.  When you get in a big haul where you don't get to choose each thing, there is a small percentage of items that do not fit the family due to allergy, handicap, or strong aversion to taste or texture.  For example, one person in our family can't eat spaghetti due to her handicap.  Another member of the family has acid reflux and bell peppers aggravate it.  The same family member hates the texture and taste of whole wheat pasta.  So if we get bell peppers, we may keep a few for salads, but we bag them up and give them to the neighbors.  Spaghetti, whole wheat rice and pasta, and a few other things will go too.  Our neighbors are always happy to take the overflow.

The same goes when we go handpick fresh fruit or veggies because someone's fruit trees produce more than they can handle or they get a big harvest they cannot eat or store.  We take as much as we can eat, can, and freeze, plus a little extra for our neighbors.  Even the crankiest neighbor becomes extra friendly when presented with random baskets of fresh produce and staple groceries!

Not all of the pictures are our free haul, though everything on the table is!  The freezer pics are just a result of several combined free hauls and a little actual grocery shopping (for a few of the meat pieces in the freezer).  Meat is the hardest thing to get free, though we scored an easy $70 of free meat in this haul.

Freeganism

Before I start, let me say that I'm writing this from a certain level and would prefer not to do the definition roundup. If you don't know what freeganism is, then hit up freegan.info to learn a bit, then come back and read. Please then note that I do not espouse every single idea of the freegan standard. I mean, my family owns an SUV, and an SUV is required to get us all around. Carpooling would be economical if our vehicle had any excess space. I am also a proponent of capitalism and entrepreneurship. This is not limited to the acceptable market, but also the sub (or black) market economy that keeps smaller countries and larger families alive.

The Denver/Boulder area does not seem to have a cohesive group of freegans, through it obviously has plenty of them. The site Meetup wants me to pay to start a group, but I wonder if they'd get me for spam if I started a yahoo group then emailed everyone on the Meetup waiting list to advertise it? I might find out. I looked up a dumpster diving yahoo group for the area, but its 75% sex ads easily and had no discernible moderation system. Look people, even hippie freegans need rules and free stuff shouldn't come at the cost of wading through bots looking for money.

As a part-time freegan, I tend to look for housewares, kids stuff, anything I can sell, anything I can use, and in the right cases... food. Freegans aren't just dumpster divers though. The movement espouses charity, friendship, and sensible amounts of eco-responsibility.

So I have some goals, assuming I start feeling better medically. My goals are pretty achievable, seeing as the bulk of their work relies on my ability to use the internet, speak coherently to people, and give/receive free items. Not too hard, huh?


1. Start a cohesive online freegan group for the Denver/Boulder area
2. Start a monthly dumpster dive club and foster others to do the same in their areas
3. Begin a mobile free market or swap meet (probably at the park, but the location varies).
4. Compile a dumpster map of my area to include both locations and best foraging times.
5. Eventually purchase land where my family might live relatively sustainably

Aunt Angel Is...

For this post, I'm making you a list because they work well in my head. Why you ask? Maybe you're a stranger reading this blog and wondering who I am. Maybe you want to know where I get my perspective. Maybe you're just some nozy-ass that likes personal details.

Aunt Angel is...

• well... an aunt, of course, to two little girls
• a slave
• a masochist
• a plus sized adult model
• a phone sex actress
• an entrepreneur
• one of the many who suffer from PCOS
• a writer
• fat
• cuddly
• someone who likes to be alone sometimes
• someone who hates being alone sometimes
• a huge fan of music
• a part-time freegan
• a full-time bargain hunter
• a shutterbug and coordinator of family events
• someone with more hair color choices than pairs of underwear
• an exhibitionist
• kinkier than a cheap garden hose
• surprisingly reserved and shy
• a little nutty
• a graphics geek
• a little gothic, a little pinup, a little classic, a little dirty rocker, a little colorful, a little romantic, a little hippie, and a little strange
• more comfortable in an unmade bed than a made one

The toddler leash debate

We recently hit up and arts and sciences thing held by the SCA. I came to terms that day with traveling with a toddler in period clothing. Keroywn wore an orange tunic, green pants, and little leather shoes. She went to classes with me, and I went to most of the children's classes so her noisy-ness wouldn't interrupt serious discussion.

The thing is, a toddler wants to run. A toddler who is missing their nap for a day of classes is especially fun to handle. I took a 6 foot piece of tablet weaving with me just in case I needed to leash her, but we had never done a leash before, so I didn't want to start that way. While I was, in theory, pro-child leash, I was worried about how it would effect her. At 2 years old, she goes from super shy to super social in the blink of and eye. She also doesn't understand why she shouldn't go anywhere she likes. Above all, she's incredibly independent and intelligent. I suppose that though I don't like to admit it, I've been slightly poisoned by the idea that a child on a leash is a dog who is not allowed to express themselves.

A few hours in, I realized that she just wasn't going to be safe in a big crowd if she could run off, but not letting her run at all wasn't an option either. I broke down and tied a basic x-harness around her, which left about 3-4 feet of "leash" for me to hold. The harness was so that if she pulled, it wouldn't stress her body. I got a few shameful looks, but all in all, the parents thought I was a genius.

She was able to walk through the food line at lunch without incident and I had my hands free to make us a plate. She was able to play with the other kids and meet adults without getting lost in the crowd.

The biggest myth about child leashes was dispelled. It doesn't turn your kid into a dog or take away their independence. She was as free, active, and social as any other time. In fact, having the leash made her popular with the older kids (10 and 11 year olds) who wanted to play with her.

At the end of the day, when we counted successes and setbacks, the leash was more of a help than anything else. The only perceivable negative effect the colorful homemade leash had is the looks and perceptions of OTHER people. She was able to safely participate in more activities than she would have without being tethered.

Points and Rewards Programs

We had some friends over recently, one of whom drinks Dr. Pepper like it's going out of style. I mentioned my Coke points and told him that Dr. Pepper had a program too. It doesn't seem to be right for him.

I will always fail to see how, if you pay for a product that offers a reward program, how you don't take that reward. The arguments seem to be based on time spent on the program or the low rewards.

Sure, it may take a year to save up enough points to do something, but after a year it's nice to have something to show for my caffeine habit!

I used my Coke points this year for holiday gift shopping. Little things like small amount gift cards and magazine subscriptions are easy enough to earn. I have people helping me with this. My mother saves the reward codes off of her CocaCola 12 packs, my friends save their caps for me when they hit the gas station, etc. If I know a Coke drinker who doesn't use their points, you can bet I farm them to my own account.

Now, I don't think you should all have an obsession with money-saving like I do, but fail to see the point in the waste of tossing out the little rewards we get while you complain about the prices of the same goods. To me, it's like having a Sunday paper and not clipping coupons or shopping at a grocery store every week and never getting their discount card. Money may not grow on trees, but you can keep more in your pocket with some gentle vigilance.

What to do if you want to start these things? Check out your rewards programs and get accounts. Decide how you want to use it. With grocery stores, you'll save money, but with things like drug store rewards or soda rewards, you get freebies, discounts, and prizes. I use mine as a "Christmas Club" type thing. It's one way I save for the holidays. For you, it might be a once a year treat for yourself, school supplies for the kids, or something else. Which rewards you use will help you decide how to stretch those points the most.

Here's a list of brands/stores/products that offer some kind of reward.

Godiva - one free piece of chocolate a month at their stores. Sign up online at their website

Grocery stores - almost every grocery store has a discount card!

Wallgreens and CVS both have programs. CVS Rewards is great.

Coke and Dr. Pepper both have programs

Huggies and Pampers both have points programs

Department stores - check with your local clothing stores to see if they have a frequent shopper reward

Restaurants - just like department stores, ask if they have a discount card

Finally, get on EVERYONE'S email list. You'll get some annoying announcement emails, but you'll get coupons and birthday freebies too!

Holiday Craft Time!

It's time to start on holiday crafting. Long fall days at home are great for simple and complex crafts, and I'd like to think that anyone can do them. Some foraging is required if you want to keep crafts low/no cost, but it's worth it. Homemade gifts show thought, care, and love. Any shmuck can go buy a gift basket, but it's a loving (and talented) friend who will make a useful or beautiful gift for you. Ok, so we all buy gifts, but make your crafty friends feel good by telling them that last bit.

What are you making? Here's my craft to-do list followed by some solutions for cost-reduction. This list is, of course, edited because some of my readers are recipients.

• Food gift baskets filled with all homemade or home preserved (though locally picked) food. Baskets will include a combination of... apple butter, apple sauce, cheeses, bread, jam, butter, candy, pastries/sweets, and preserved veggies.
• Christmas crackers (traditional English "poppers" filled with candy and toys)
• Blankets
• Framed photo/art gifts
• Holiday Stockings
• Dresses for the girls
• Hairbows and accessories
• Handmade wreaths
• Garland for the tree
• Word magnets (the kind where each little magnet is a word and you can make phrases)
• Plush doll (for baby)

There are a few more things I'm making that I have to keep secret but these handmade touches will help fill up your gift list with love.

Food baskets are great for giving to other households when you cannot get each individual a gift. Just make the basket to their tastes. Each basket only needs a few items and a few trinkets to make it right.

Savory basket
Homemade bread
Homemade butter
Homemade ricotta cheese
Nice butter knife
Container of cherry tomatoes and mozzerella balls that have been drizzled with garlic infused olive oil.

Sweet basket
Homemade Fudge
Homemade Spice Cake
Homemade Apple Butter
Decorative Plate

Healthy Treats
Homemade oatmeal breakfast bars
Trail Mix made from local ingredients
Veggies home-preserved while fresh
Sugar free homemade jam
Homemade whole grain bread



See how easy it is to fix up a food basket? One you get all the ingredients together, fill the bottom of a big basket with shredded newspaper, tissue paper, etc. then neatly place your items in the basket. Wrap it with a clear celophane bag or colored plastic wrap and tie it all up with a pretty ribbon.


How do you reduce the cost of these time consuming gifts? Well, first start saving baskets. Free/low cost baskets are everywhere. Thrift stores, garage sales, etc. Also, start saving clear bags after you use the product in them. These clear bags can be used to wrap candies, bread loaves, pastries, etc. Other things to save include ribbon, twist ties from bread, jelly jars, newspaper, tissue paper, etc. I do my canning in the fall, so canning a few extra veggies or a few extra jars of jam is easy, especially when I pick up free veggies and fruit. Pick up non-perishable ingredients on sale during the year. Bread flour I already have at the house and a loaf of homemade bread in my machine costs about 50 cents. The nice additions in a basket like a pretty knife or decorative plate can be picked up from a discount store since you only need one for the basket. Thrift stores are also great to check for that kind of thing. I have found pretty antique plates in great condition that go well in these kind of baskets.

Instructions for everything else can be found by simple internet search. While you're using some free time online, look for crafts to do or search out some of the ones I listed.

No Cash Holidays... well... close

The holidays are coming up and I'm fretting about them. Not that I haven't been preparing since summer, but this will be my first holiday with a child old enough to know it's a holiday. The oldest will be 2 and 1/2 in December. She's very verbal and will hopefully love the season.

Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Yule/Christmas are all big deals here. Plus, in January, our youngest will turn 1! In total, between now and the end of January, I'll have FOUR birthday parties to throw.

Now, as a frugal woman, I know the danger in all of this. I know my system won't fail under the stress, but practicality sometimes gives way to convenience. Hopefully my successes can help you learn to live with less cash and more creativity. First, I'm going to post how I've made progress and managed to plan for holidays during the summer. Later, I'll put up some craft tutorials for truly great homemade gifts.

I've posted about saving money before and how to stock up for your child. Those principles can be used to prepare for holidays, birthdays, and any special occasion you know about in advance. I have one closet that I've dedicated to frugal storage, including holidays. I have one standing freezer for food storage (from which I have to parcel out a little corner for things to freeze for the holidays)

So what are my methods for a no-cash holiday. Well, here goes...

• plan ahead. If you get it early, you'll avoid any rush.
• Barter for things you need like toys, frozen turkeys, holiday decor, etc
• Watch the free section. Many people give holiday items away throughout the year. Right after a holiday, people will give away decor for that holiday, so pick it up and save it til next year!
• Make gifts. Homemade gifts don't have to be useless or cheap if you know what you're doing
• Planning ahead words for non-perishable food and things you can freeze too. I freeze stock, dried fruits, meats, and veggies throughout the year that can be used in a holiday meal. Canned goods you know you'll use can be picked up while that product is BOGO at the grocery store during the year.
• Make a "seasonal" section of your pantry to store the cake mixes, extra sugar, canned goods, disposable plates/cups/forks that you collect.
• Adopt freegan policies and hang out with those who do. Reuse what you can and don't buy what you can get for free.

I've been told that it's hard for people to do all this practically when they don't know how. In this interest, I'll list the things I have saved for the holidays and where I got them.

Fall decor, Yule decor, some toys, wrapping paper, a Father Christmas pie plate, storage boxes, ornaments, tree skirt, tree topper, window clings, and garland from various Craigslist free ads. This includes Craigslist free ads that offer yardsale leftovers, moving leftovers, a bunch-of-free-stuff-in-my-yard-if-you-come-right-now, and individual ads. Craigslist free section also got us a few bits of winter clothing for the girls.

Holiday cards, gifts, gift tags, and misc. nursery decor from Listia.com where you earn points to bid on free items. I only bid on ads with free shipping. I earned points by giving away handmade items on the site.

My barter groups and craigslist barter section gave me farm fresh produce and dried cherries that I packed in the freezer as well as a few gifts. From the barters, I also received paper plates, foam cups, plastic silverware, cake and cookie mixes, jello items, and other seasonal non-perishable food items. Finally, we got a ton of winter clothes for the girls including jammies, coats, and normal clothes... all in great condition.

Urban foraging gave me a few misc. items as well including winter clothes for one or two housemates.

A friend gave us childrens costumes that were not of use to them.

Closer to the holiday I hope to manage turkeys and more of the food for the season.

I hope this gives a better idea of how spending your time can replace spending your money. A few things still get bought, but the bulk of our special occasions involve putting lots of effort, thought, and love into the event rather than dumping money for convenient fun. I'm not trying to insult those who buy what they want. Everyone makes luxury purchases. I would like to help those who cannot spend that money or don't want to be anymore wasteful than they have to be.

Apple Instructions

Got too many apples? Here's what to do. Buying from the store to make these things is NOT cost effective, so don't do it. Pick your own, grow your own, etc. The apple butter recipe is written in per-pound measurements so you can make it in as small or large a crockpot as you want.

Apple Butter (in the crockpot)

Peel, core and slice a bunch of apples.
Put some in the crock pot.
For every pound of apples you add to the crock pot, add 1 cup of sugar.
Add 2-3 tbsp cinammon, 1 tbsp nutmeg, 1 tsp allspice, and 1 tsp ground cloves PER POUND of apples in your crockpot.
Add 3/4 cup water PER POUND of apples in your crockpot.

Put the lid on, turn crockpot on low and let it go for 8-12 hours.
Mash up the soggy apples. If it looks to watery, turn the crockpot on high and let it cook without the lid for an hour or two.

Allow the apple butter to cool in the crockpot. Dont worry if it's lumpy. Once it's cool, run it a little at a time through your blender on it's liquify setting. Pour into ziplock bags and freeze.

To use, thaw a bag and pour it into a jar with a lid. Use within 2 weeks of thawing.


Apple Sauce (spiced)

Fill a 12 qt. stockpot 2/3 full with apples that have been peeled, cored, and sliced. Add three cups sugar and cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice to taste. Fill pot with enough water to almost cover all the apples. Lid the pot and simmer it overnight. If there is an overabundance of liquid when you take off the lid (after at least 8 hours), strain away the liquid and save. Run the apple mush that's left through your blender once it has cooled. Bag the apple sauce up and freeze it.

You can take the liquid you pulled away, if there was any, add it back to a clean pot, add mulling spices and very quickly make cider to store/freeze.

Apple Picking and Grape Picking

You guys know that I'm a very excitable free shopper, but I feel that I did exceptionally well with this one. On craigslist (for my city) a friend and I found some people offering the fruit from their trees to anyone who wanted to pick. The best part was that it was FREE! All they asked is that you come pick your own. Well, a little work never hurt anyone, so with a few friends in tow, we went apple picking.

We borrowed an apple picker, which is a long pole with a wire basket on the top and tines to pull the apples into said basket. It was a huge help. At the first place, the only thing we could use was the apple picker. Oh, and some creative picking. I tossed a friend onto the roof of the shed (which the apple tree is over) and she grabbed the mostly unharmed apples from the roof. She filled a bag or two for us and a bag or two for a lady who had come without the benefit of a picker.

As we finished there, another post went up and we drove to another house with trees. These were low hanging and FULL of fruit. All told, we ended up with just over 200lbs of apples! A few days later, someone offered their grape vines for picking and we got FOUR reusable grocery bags full of grapes.

So... here's what we made and what we learned.

• A 12 quart stockpot will make about 4 quarts of apple sauce (or apple butter).
• 200lbs of apples might just be too much for an apartment
• Freezing in ziplock bags will save you money over mason jars in a pinch
• We were in over our head with the grapes. My jelly didn't set up and they are a pain to process, but fresh grape juice is delicious.
• Apple butter and apple sauce are both VERY easy to make. I'll put instructions in the next post.
  
• Grape jelly that doesn't set up can be watered down into very toddler friendly juice. Just mix one part liquid non-jelly into 5 parts water. That means that two quarts of failed jelly were turned into three gallons of awesome toddler grape-drink.
• Fresh raisins made in a dehydrator are great. Fresh raisins made from seeded grapes are crunchy.
• Apple pie filling is an amazing thing to have on hand, and very easy to make and freeze.
• The fabric diapers that come 5 or 6 to a pack (not the thick ones) are a great substitute for cheese cloth.
• Toddlers will steal fresh fruit given the chance. Our apple bucket regularly had a toddler hand in it to grab a piece of apple.
• Be patient with processing fruit.
  
• Get an apple peeler/corer/slicer. I cannot stress this enough.
• Men will help in the kitchen if you give them a masculine hand tool or a knife.
• Preparing and preserving food is a family thing. Get everyone involved.
• Stock up on cinammon, nutmeg, and allspice if you process apples in bulk

All told, it was a fun experience. I already knew how to process the apples and what to expect, but the grapes were new to me.

Planning Ahead and Sound Finances

I rant and rave about planning ahead, and I really do think that the reason most parents get stuck with massive holiday debt, intermittent debt every time major child purchases come, and money stress thinking about getting stuck like that is a lack of practical planning. Not a lack of planning, but PRACTICAL planning.

Even parents who have a savings account for dentist visits and medical emergencies get a little stuck when their child grows into a new bed or needs their next stage of toys and educational stuff. The same often goes with clothes and continuing expenses. All fo this comes to a head during holidays, especially birthdays and dreaded winter holidays.

Then I thought, maybe these parents don't plan for a reason! My best guess is that it's either very tedious to them or they lack space to buy ahead. So let me talk you guys through this process. It doesn't have to be time consuming or tedious, and after awhile, you might make a hobby of it.

Start early! Start planning ahead when they are born. The easiest way is by collecting clothing ahead of time for the first year or two they will need it. Put away the notion of not getting something because your child won't need it yet. Get it early and it's there when you need it. I'm not suggesting you collect 5 years ahead, but collecting for the next two isn't so bad.

Lose the term "buying". You aren't "buying" ahead, but "collecting". When you think of buying, it requires that you spend money and pushes you into that debt trap. Collecting implies many ways of getting what you need. Here are a few ways you can get these items without breaking the bank and tips for easy collecting.

1. Swap and Bartering Groups! Look for yahoo groups that focus on bartering items and services. You'll get rid of items you don't need and pick up things you do. Colorado has a group called Santa Swap for that exact purpose. If there aren't any around you, use the "barter" section on Craigslist.org or get together a group of local moms and start your own group.

2. Freecycle. Almost anywhere you are is a freecycle group. www.freecycle.org will help you find yours. People give away things they don't need and you pick them up from that person. Its aim is to keep our landfills free of useful items. The craigslist free section will also give you access to free items. Both these resources need to be checked often because things go quickly.

3. Choose your items to last. Avoid plastic furniture for young children. It's built to be disposable and keep you buying. Instead, watch your swap/free groups, yard sales, and thrift stores for real wood items that grow with your children. Who says the dresser in their nursery can't be the dresser they use in high school?

4. Embrace hand me downs! If you do this right, with the exception of some clothing, you should only be collecting for your oldest child or oldest couple children if you have a large family. This is another reason for choosing durable items. A toddler bed can be passed from one toddler to another. The same with cribs, dressers, lamps, diaper bags, toys, blankets, decor, books... getting the idea?

5. Clothes are another subject. Hand me down clothes are GREAT. Just be smart about them. If you have children of different genders (some boys/some girls), there's some clothing that cant be handed down or will have to skip a child. With clothing, collect ahead for your oldest boy and oldest girl, allowing for a wide range of clothing types. Not all clothing survives to be handed down, but you'll be buying much less if you save what can be saved.

6. Storage. Box clothing up by size if it isnt being directly handed down. Diaper boxes are great for this. Create a spot in your nursery closet or wherever you can for storing things. Things to store: clothes, disassembled furniture you are waiting for the next child to grow into, toys for holiday/birthday gifts as well as to keep up with general aging. Rule of thumb for clothes and toys: don't save anything they will not use in the next two years of development.

7. Use lists. List what you are watching for and watch for it until it comes. Don't get things not on your list or things that won't be used. For clothing, make numbers. List how many of each piece of clothing you want for each size and adjust it as needed. This will keep you from collecting 60 pieces of size 2T clothing and only 10 pieces of size 3T. Don't over-collect once you have plenty of something.

8. Young children don't know the difference between a new toy and a clean used one. If you have $50 saved for each child for whatever winter holiday you celebrate, you have two choices. You can get them a couple nice, new, toys from the store, OR you can get them any number of unique toys used. Thrift stores and craigslist will have a lot for sale throughout the year. Watch for things that are priced very well. Know what ages your children will be at certain holidays so you collect things that are just right when the holiday comes around. This means that you can buy ahead! When you spread holiday purchases over months and months instead of getting it all at once, you won't have the debt or money problems. Buying used also allows you to buy expensive educational toys or just expensive fun toys that you might not otherwise have afforded. Clean the toys up with gentle cleaner and get them as new looking as you can, then put them in your collection storage area. Box them up and wrap them in time for holidays.

9. Make your collection work for you. Number of children, gender of children, disabilities the children have, and many other factors will effect how you do this. Make your collection work for the space you have and the financial situation you're in. Be patient and remember that anything you have ahead of time (often for free or VERY cheap) is money that is set free to make sure your children live a good and full life. If I cut my holiday budget in half and get all their furniture and big expenses of the year for free, my children will have more varied and nutritious food and will have more enriching experiences like time at the zoo, train rides, etc. The money you save can be put into a savings account or spent on things that benefit your whole family.