Frugal Christmas Dinner Shopping List & Favorite Recipes

Sample Menu: Cheese Ball & Crackers, Frugal Hot Chocolate, Fruit Salad, Ham w/ Brown Sugar & Pineapple, Roast Turkey & Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Dressing, Rolls, Sweet Potato Pie (or Sweet Potato Casserole).  Click the linked items to see my favorite recipes. And remember, even if a recipe lists a name-brand ingredient (Campbell's Soup), it's always more frugal to substitute the store brand! Photo from http://www.sxc.hu/

Shopping List with Best Deals in Lawrence, KS: (prices good until 12/24 unless otherwise noted)

Brown Sugar- $1.49/lb @ Aldi
Butter- $1.78/lb @ Checkers, $1.99 @ Aldi
Clementines (Cuties)- $4.98/5lbs @ Checkers, $4.99/5lbs @ Target
Crackers (gourmet style) $1.19/box @ Aldi
Cream Cheese- $0.99/8oz @ HyVee (until 12/20), $0.89 @ Aldi
Eggs- $1.19/dozen @ HyVee (until 12/20), $1.88/18 eggs @ Dillons (until 12/20)
Green Beans (canned)- $0.44/can @ Checkers, $0.49 @ Target,
Ham (Spiral)- $1.68/lb @ Checkers, $1.69 @ HyVee
Ham (Whole)- $1.19/lb @ Dillons (until 12/20)
Hot Chocolate- Make your own! See recipe here.
Milk- $2.99/gal @ Aldi, $3.19 @ Target
Onions- $1.69/3lb @ Aldi
Onions (French-fried)- $1.99/6oz @ Aldi,
Pie (pumpkin)- $1.48 @ HyVee (until 12/20)
Pie Crust- $1.89 @ Aldi, $1.99 @ Target
Pineapple (canned)- $0.78 @ Walmart
Pineapple (fresh)- $0.99/ea @ Aldi, $1.88/ea @ Checkers
Potatoes- $1.98/10lb @ Checkers, $1.99/10lb @ Dillons (until 12/20)
Rolls $1.00/12ct @ Dillons (until 12/20), $0.99/12ct @ Aldi
Soy Milk- $2.39/64oz @ Aldi
Soup (Cream of Mushroom)- $0.59/10oz @ Target, $0.69 Walgreens
Stuffing/Dressing- $0.99/12oz @ Target, $0.89/12oz @ Aldi
Sugar (granulated) $1.99/4lb @ Dillons & Hyvee (until 12/20), $2.79/5lb @ Aldi
Sweet Potatoes- $0.48/lb @ Checkers, $0.99/3lbs @ Aldi
Turkey- $0.78/lb @ Checkers, $1.09 Aldi
Whipped Topping- $0.69 @ Hyvee, $0.99 @ Target

Don't forget to share this list by clicking the buttons below!

Frugal gift-wrapping ideas.

Wrapping paper and gift bags can add what I think of as "hidden costs" to gift giving. You're thinking about how much you are spending on the gift, but did you factor in the cost of wrapping it? For a medium size gift bag and coordinating tissue paper and maybe a ribbon, it is easy to spend $3.00 - $7.00. There have been times where I realized I spent more on the wrapping than I did the gift! I'm here to tell you how to wrap gifts for free or very cheap.

• Brown paper from grocery bags- Free! Check out these great ideas to dress them up, from ApartmentTherapy. I am very excited about these and plan to try some soon.

• Paper, gift bags, and ribbon bought on super-clearance after Christmas in past years. I like to buy solid colored paper or bags in gold, bright green, or blue and use it year round for all occasions. As a rule I don't pay more than $1.00 for a roll of paper/ribbon or $0.50 for a gift bag (less if they're small!) I've found Walgreens and Target to be good places to pick up cheap wrap after Christmas, but most any place will have some good deals. 

• Fabric scraps leftover from projects. I use fabric and wrap it up just like I would with paper. Then I put ribbon or string around it to keep it closed. Sometimes with larger packages you may need to use a few safety pins. Or, you can try these gorgeous ideas, again from ApartmentTherapy. I like to do this method for crafty friends, because I know they'll enjoy having a piece of fun fabric to use. 

• Reusable fabric gift bags. Sew up a bunch of these on a cold dreary afternoon and use them the rest of the year! Lots of ideas and how-to guides on GreenGiftGuide.

• Paper lunch sacks brown or other colors (white looks very nice.) Dollar Tree sells packs of 40 brown bags for $1.00  You can also sometimes find other colors for a little more. They used to carry a wide variety of colors of paper bags at Michael's for something like $2.00 a dozen, but the Lawrence location doesn't anymore. Has anyone seen these elsewhere? Punch holes through the top and weave ribbon through to finish it (from FamilyFun.)

• Pages from old calendars, books, or magazines work great for wrapping small gifts. Or, use the pages to make origami boxes. 

• Make origami boxes from inexpensive paper. The photo above shows some tiny boxes I made a few years ago when I was giving earrings and pins as gifts. Easy instructions here from Origami-Instructions.com .  I love their tagline "spreading joy one fold at a time".

Please share your frugal gift-wrapping ideas, I know there are lots more!

My Frugal Holiday Baking shopping list

Hi all! I've researched the best deals on baking supplies in Lawrence (prices good through 12/3 unless otherwise noted.) I have not gotten to Checkers to get their baking goods prices yet- please let me know if you go before I do and see some deals that beat these. Their ad did show a lot of good deals on fresh produce this week. Also, I did check Target, but they did not make the list on any item. Happy shopping!

My Holiday Baking List:

• Butter Quarter- Aldi 16oz $1.99
• Candy Canes - Walgreens 32 pk Mini $0.99 (with in-ad coupon)
• Chocolate Chips-  HyVee 10oz. $1.38 // Aldi 12 oz. $1.69
• Corn Bread Mix- Walgreens $0.34 (with in-ad coupon)
• Eggs dzn - Aldi $1.59
• Flour 5lbs- Hy-Vee $0.88 (12/1 &12/2 only, limit 2) // Aldi $0.94
• Icing, Betty Crocker cookie squeeze icing, 7oz.- Aldi $1.99 // Walmart $2.98
• Icing, Spreadable- Aldi 16 oz. $1.29
• Oil, Cooking Spray 5 oz- Aldi. $1.29
• Oil, Vegetable - Aldi 48oz $2.49
• Oil, Olive - Aldi 16oz $3.49 // Walgreens 17oz $3.49 ($2.99 w/coupon)
• Pie Crust (2pk) - Walmart $2.46 Pilsbury ($2.21 w/coupon) // Aldi $1.89
• Pumpkin, canned- Aldi 15oz $0.99
• Sandwich or Storage bags - Walgreens $1.19 (with in-ad coupon)
• Sugar, Granulated- HyVee 4lb $1.49 (limit 1) // Aldi 5lbs $2.49
• Sugar, Brown- WalMart (Dixie Crystals brand) 1lb/ $1.18 ($0.63 w/coupon) // Aldi 2lb/ $1.49
• Sugar, Powdered- WalMart (Dixie Crystals brand) 1lb/ $1.18 ($0.63 w/coupon) // Aldi 2lb/ $1.49
• Whipped Topping- Aldi (regular or lite) $0.89
• Vanilla Extract- Didn't spot any deals, but you can make your own!

See this weeks ads here: Aldi Weekly Ad, Dillons Weekly Ad, HyVee Weekly Ad, Target Weekly Ad, Walgreens Weekly Ad, Walmart Weekly Ad. As always, Couponmom.com was a great help in my research!

Photo from http://www.sxc.hu/photo/591704

$0.00: Talking myself out of buying a video game.

With all the focus of getting “great deals” on all kinds of things over the Black Friday weekend, I’ve been thinking about one of the most important tenets of frugality: No matter how great of a deal something was, you still spent money. You used to have that money, and now it is gone forever. The most frugal action is to not spend ANY money.

Here is my example: I really really really really want The Sims 3: Pets game. (I know, I’m a nerd.) I was thrilled to see that this game was 50% off today through EA’s Origin, making it $19.99 (regular $39.99). Wow, that is a great deal, I’m thinking. I'm going to buy it! Then I’m thinking some more... in my budget this month, I certainly did NOT include $20 for a new video game for myself. As a matter of fact, I’m more than $30 over my grocery budget for the month,  and besides that, Mr. Townie and I are taking our belated honeymoon trip in January and need to put any extra funds we’ve got towards that.

Sooo... even though finding the game that I have been wanting for months at half off is a great stroke of luck and it is a great deal, I made the most frugal choice and spent $0.00.  This is not to say that I will forever be a martyr and never ever get a video game again. I’m looking at this as delayed gratification- maybe I will get this game for Christmas.  Maybe I will get a giftcard for Christmas and buy the game. Maybe if I don’t get this game for Christmas, one of my friends will and I can borrow it.  Maybe if I still haven’t gotten my hands on this game after we get home from our trip in January, I can use money we have leftover to buy it.

Here’s the thing- I don’t have to buy that game today. That game will be available for years to come- why don’t I wait to buy it until I have extra money (and time to play it, for that matter?) I’ll just let Origin hold on to my game for me until I’m ready. Maybe it won’t be on sale then- but here’s another thought: video games and many other electronic toys continually go down in price the older they get. It could very well be that by the time I buy this game, it will have come down in price to the “sale price” of today. Or maybe by then I can find a used copy for much less than the price of a new copy.


If I would have bought this game today, you might think I would have "saved" $20 because that's how much it was marked down. But really, I would have saved $0.00 and spent $19.99 that I could have kept. So today, I saved $19.99 and spent $0.00


Photo from http://www.sxc.hu/

The Dollar Tree: goldmine!

I have recently been reminded of the glory of Dollar Tree (27th & Iowa) after a visit last weekend. I found a lot of great stuff there, including dried & fake flower bundles (lookit my centerpiece!), nice crackers, gourmet hot sauce, and great-looking metallic fabric placemats. All priced at $1! So I was able to get a dozen great placemats for Thanksgiving for $12 (cheaper than making them myself), plus 3 bundles of dried and fake flowers that I used for my centerpiece. (The vase is one I inherited from my Grandma Velma.)

Today I visited the Dollar Tree website and found that they have weekly ads! Here are some things I saw that are definitely worth checking out in the week to come, primarily holiday craft/decorating items.

15" and 18" wreaths
Wreath hangers
15' pine garland
6' extension cords
So many ornaments
Ribbon
Gift bags/boxes/wrapping
Indoor light strings

Black Friday and local Lawrence holiday sales

My conclusion is that a lot of "deals" on Black Friday are really not good deals, and I prefer to avoid the whole mess. That said, if you really want to do Black Friday, at least read this article from Lifehacker first.
How to Quickly Tell if a Deal is Really a Deal on Black Friday.

If you want to do some fun holiday shopping, I would recommend trying these local Lawrence holiday sales: 


Fair Trade Holiday Market is 11/25 – 11/27 from 8am – 7pm, 11/28 – 12/1 from 11am – 6pm, 12/2 from 11 am-7pm, 12/3 from 8am – 7pm at Ecumenical Christian Ministries. 
The market will feature the same great selection of handcrafted art, crafts, home décor, jewelry, clothing, personal accessories, toys and games that has made it so popular in years past, but this year Lawrence Fair Trade is hosting several fun events and educational activities in conjunction with the market.


Wonder Fair Holiday Market is Fri. Nov. 25 from 6p to 10p at Wonder Fair. 
Beginning Final Friday, November 25th, Wonder Fair transforms into a magical marketplace for your holiday gift-buying needs. All year we specialize in cleverly-designed functional art and original prints, and carry a carefully curated selection of affordable handmade goods. This special month, however, the Wonder Fair will host an expanded group of artists, and a greater variety of their thoughtfully handmade prints, jewelry, home goods, stationery, and unique art objects.


Adornment is Sat Nov. 26 from 7p to 10p at Van Go, Inc.
Let’s set the scene: wildly decorated warehouse and gallery….tons of unique art pieces made by JAMS artists…..200(at least) guests……food and drink…….what is it? Adornment! Van Go’s ‘Adornment’ art show has become their biggest sale all year. With the ever rotating inventory, every year is a must see! Always held the Saturday after Thanksgiving, ‘Adornment’ celebrates Van Go’s young artists and invites the community to join! Free event, open to the public! Prices start at $3.

Bizarre Bazaar is on Sat. Nov. 26 from 9 to 5 at the Lawrence Arts Center.
Bizarre Bazaar is held annually on Thanksgiving weekend. It is located at the Lawrence Art Center at 940 New Hampshire. Come and enjoy all the Bizarre artwork!


Lawrence Art Guild's Holiday Art Fair is on Sat. Dec. 3 at the Lawrence Arts Center.
Join the Lawrence Art Guild  for the 17th annual Holiday Art Fair on December 3, 2011.  This annual art fair is held at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire and features over 50 artists.  Held on the same day as the downtown holiday parade this is a wonderful opportunity to purchase your Holiday gifts!


Lola Giant is Fri/Sat Dec. 10/11 10 to 4 and 12 to 4 at Van Go, Inc. 
Ladies of Lawrence Artwork (LOLA) hosts shows, featuring the handiwork of Lawrence, Kansas women. The participants provide an intimate boutique style shopping experience for the community to browse & interact with the creators themselves. 


Photo from http://www.sxc.hu/