SUMMER FUN

My mom has been visiting from Virginia since right before Benji's 3rd birthday.  Since we live so far away from each other now, we don't get to visit often, but the visits are long so it kinda makes up for the infrequency.  I cannot for a second pretend her visit was completely frugal, but it was F-U-N!  When I got our tax refund this year, I thought a lot about how we should break it down.  It's the last refund from when I was working, and it might be the last time we get a bulk check.  Most of it went towards savings, but I also set aside some for summer fun.  A summer is meant for exploring and traveling, and we definitely have been on the roll with that this year. We did lots of frugal things but we mixed it up with not-so-frugal adventures too. This is what we have been up to in the last month:

1. Manasquan Reservoir is a big water source near our town that has a visitors center, paddle boats, playground, hiking and biking trails, and fishing.  Benji loves the playground, so we went a couple times to let him run out some energy.  All it takes is bubbles and a slide to keep him occupied for a long time.  We also had lunch at the visitor's center that overlooks the lake.  My mom wanted to try the paddle boats but we never got to that- next time!

2. Adventure Aquarium is the state aquarium of New Jersey, and it was one of our non-frugal activities.  The admission was $25/per person, though I purchased $28 tickets online that included a lunch of pizza, fries and a soda.  I debated spending even the $3 since you could bring your own food, but it ended up being a GREAT decision.  Without the pass, a soda cost $3 by itself, and I haven't fully adapted to water only when I am out and about. Plus, Benji got his first slushee type drink, and he was mightily impressed.  The aquarium was fascinating, and I have wanted to go since we moved here.  My favorite exhibits were for the hippos and jellyfish.  My mom hates jellyfish because she was stung a lot growing up in Florida, but I think they are too beautiful to be that hated.

The top floor of the aquarium was for kids, and there were lots of places to play, and touch the stingrays and baby sharks.  My mom got a kick out of Benji grabbing my hand, and telling me to hop on the stingray!  It WAS big... but let's not get crazy.

3. Popcorn Zoo is a sanctuary for rescued animals including elderly wildlife, exotic and farm animals, and birds.  This was one of our frugal adventures since it only cost $5 for entry, and $2.50 for a box of popcorn from which to feed the animals.  Benji shared his popcorn with the birds- as in, one nibble for you, and then I will eat it.  Germaphobes beware.  :)  Our zoo day was relaxed and fun. Benji got to feed the animals, eat loads of popcorn, chase the peacocks and talk to the pigs.

4. Storybook Land was probably the most fun trip of the summer so far, but I'm not sure if I should categorize it as frugal or not. The friend that recommended it thought it was expensive. It's $25/per person, and if Benji didn't end up riding much, I could see how it could be considered expensive.  But Benji LOVED it.  The park was only about 45mins away, which is a big plus in my book, and consists completely of toddler rides.  He rode most rides twice, and I think there were only 2 that he took one look at, and said no way.  There was a tram that went all the way around the park, and a train that went another route around the park.

The theme is nursery rhymes, so we spent time with Mother Goose, Mary and her lamb, Jack and Jill... you get the picture. Since we ended up spending ALL day there, which is almost unheard of for Benji, I really feel like it is a frugal alternative to that big Florida theme park for a couple years.  That fact makes it EXTREMELY frugal for us!

We also planned it for the last week that kids were still in school- so there was never a line, no crowds in the shaded areas, and lots of room for Benji to run and play without worry of losing him in a crowd.  There was also a house that Santa lived in, and a barn with all of his reindeer, so I imagine this would be a lot of fun at Christmastime as well.

Benji and grandma

5. July 4th! Free fireworks in town. Now, that's a lotta frugal.

As for the rest of her visit, we did a lot of this:

We ran out of time before we ran out of fun things to do.  New Jersey really is a great place to have kids. Although, people probably think that about their town too!  Keepin' it frugal.

Frugal Appliances: Slow Cooker

During the summer months, I try to keep the heat down in the house any way I can do so.  One of my tricks is to use a slow cooker.  A slow cooker will heat your house only a fraction of what an oven would do, and it also costs less to operate.  (When researching the cost savings, there seems to be an argument about how much of a savings it is between a slow cooker and oven.  It apparently goes by size, and whether or not you are cooking more than one thing at once in the oven.)  But I take it one step further.  The slow cooker in the photo above?  It's sitting on a TV tray in our sun room.  I set it up outside, then shut the door on the heat.  :)  In a few hours, our dinner will be ready and the house will have remained cool the whole time.

It's the end of June now, and we had our air conditioner on yesterday. The humidity was wretched, and I decided saving the money wasn't worth being that uncomfortable.  That was the 3rd time we turned the air on since the weather started turning warmer.  Luckily, our house is surrounded by very old, tall trees and the resulting shade saves us money on heating in the summer.  We also have ceiling fans in every bedroom, and lots of windows for cross-breezes.  Of course in the fall when the ENTIRE half-acre is covered in leaves?  I don't feel quite so grateful.

Hope you are keeping it cool wherever you are!

Frugal Habits: Clothesline Drying

It is officially too hot to garden outside during Benji's naptime.  All of a sudden, time has opened back up to get back to blogging.  Works for me!  The spring is such an important time for my garden to get started that I pretty much devote every free moment to it.  I have strawberries sprouting, tomatoes growing and flowers aplenty.  The cantaloupe and cucumbers seem to be taking their sweet time, and the quick change from spring to summer killed the remaining lettuce and cabbage instantly.  I hope to have a lot of fresh produce to show for all this work in the coming months.  Only time will tell on that front.

In the meantime, we are officially in the high 80s and love 90s temperature-wise, so my fair skin has taken a needed break from afternoon gardening.  Not to mention that I hate the heat.  I seriously should have been born and raised in Maine.  Benji came out with me this morning and only lasted about 30 mins before asking "to go home."  I am really surprised since he has spent the last few months crying to go outside, and banging on the sun room door.  It looks like he isn't moving to Florida anytime soon either.

Since it is flaming hot, I washed a lot of Benji's clothes this morning, and put them out on the line to dry.  The easiest way to save money in regards to laundry is to line dry your clothes. In the winter, we have to use drying racks and the clothes can take a while to dry.  In the summer, we have a line that runs from the deck to a nearby tree, and these clothes will be dry within the hour, no doubt.  Since many people do not line dry their clothing, I came up with a list of reasons you might want to try it out. So...

Here are 5 reasons to line dry your clothing:

1.  It saves money.  

Have you seen the energy efficient dryers?  No?  That's because they don't really exist.  It takes a tremendous amount of energy to dry clothes, and they are very expensive to run.  A clothes dryer accounts for 12% of electricity use for a typical household.  At a sample rate of $0.15/kwh and 7.5 loads per week, you can save $196.00 a year by line drying your clothes.

2.  It keeps your house cooler.  

The heat from the dryer is now warming your house, and I certainly don't appreciate that with these temperatures.  Even if your laundry is in a basement, it will still add to the feeling of warmth in your house.  Keeping the clothes dryer off not only saves money from the dryer itself, but also the money it takes to cool your house back down.

3.  Your clothes will last longer.

That lint in your dryer used to be part of your clothing.  The more the clothing gets put in the dryer, the shorter its life span.  If you are worried about stiffness, you can use vinegar in your washer where you would normally use fabric softener.  The only fabrics that still remain stiff are towels.  I just call them our loofahs in the summer. :)

4.  It uses fewer chemicals.

We no longer have to use bleach, even with a toddler in the house.  The sun's natural bleaching capacity is enough to keep our whites white, and nothing smells better than line-dried clothing.  A lot of my friends who use cloth diapers swear by the line-drying as the way to keep the diapers looking bright white.

5.  It eliminates static cling.

I do not know the science behind this, but I always had static cling with my work clothing before I started line drying.  Immediately after- gone.  This also plays into the fewer chemicals point, because it eliminates the need to dryer sheets.  And since those are filled with a crazy amount of chemicals, good riddance.

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Some other random tips for line drying clothing is to always use clothespins rather than folding them over the line, and be sure to use the vinegar in your rinse cycle to help with softness.

And as a bonus- it kept Benji occupied outside for an extra 10 mins today.  He enjoys handing me each clothespin.  May that never grow old.

Gardening: Newspaper Seedling Pots

Since we just had snow this week (craziness!!), my garden is getting a late start.  My husband and I spent last weekend cutting down a tree that is in my future garden plot.  Normally I would be against cutting down trees, but it had taken quite a hit from Hurricane Sandy, and didn't seem to be coming back.  Oh well, now at least I have a sunny plot for the garden.

My first prep work is to make my seedling pots.  You can buy seedling pots from just about any store, but you can also make your own using newspaper.  I like to make my own because it's extremely cost efficient, takes about 20 minutes to knock out around 50 or so pots, and I never have to buy anything new each year.  I use a pot-maker that I bought for $6.00 a few years ago. This is the one I use:

However, I have heard that you can also use a soup can pressed into a tuna can if you want to use what you might have lying around.

Here is a quick tutorial:

Measure strips of newspaper into approximately 3.5" x 11.5" strips.  I use double-ply newspaper so it won't break down too quickly to easily transplant the seedlings.

Then wrap the strip around the cylinder of the pot maker...

And fold the ends under.

Press the bottom into the pot maker and give it a little twist...

And voila, your DIY seedling pot!

I made about 50 of them in one sitting, and I probably need 50 or so more.  I put them all into baking pans so that they can lean against each other as they grow.  As they get bigger, the roots will grow out from the bottom, and you just plant the entire pot in your garden.

I am going to start this year with a smaller garden, and see how the soil/sun works in the area I picked out.  Now I just need to plan the garden, buy the seeds and till the plot... so I guess I will be busy in the next few weeks!

Home Haircuts

My son has really beautiful, wavy, blonde hair.  I don't know what genes we have to thank for that, but I'm a definite fan.  However, it also grows really quickly.  The ringlets are adorable, but since they tend to fall in his eyes, and make him hot, I knew it was time for a haircut.  Even though this is always fun:

I think he spent an hour dancing in front of the mirror with his mile-high ponytail topper.  These pictures are going to be so much fun in his later years!

When it was time for his last haircut, I went to the local kid-friendly shop in the mall.  He got to sit in a firetruck seat and laugh at himself in the mirror, and he was having a great time- until the scissors came to the front.  Then it was screams, and trying to jump out of the chair while the hairdresser held a pair of scissors a half inch from his eyes.  I felt so bad for the lady, that in the end, I had to tip her 50% on top of the price of the haircut.  So I walked out with a bawling child with a crooked haircut, and $20.00 poorer.

Thanks but no thanks.  So I just pulled out my husband's clippers and 10 minutes later...

Swag. Major swag.

It's still crooked, and he didn't like the sound of the clippers, but I kept my $20.  All in a day's work.