Freebies for Christmas

Despite that fact that it is not even quite Halloween yet, I've been thinking about Christmas. For several years now I have occasionally gone to "freebie" sites and signed up to be sent free samples of various items. This year, I decided to do this again, but with Christmas in mind.

While I do not recommend giving people on your gift list ONLY random free samples, I think they can be a fun way to add some fun extras to a gift, or to help fill a gift bag or stocking.

 Pictured: freebies I have received in the last month or so.

• Lindt chocolate truffes- got a coupon for a free bag by liking their facebook page during promotion. 
• Harley-Davidson sticker (free by mail. I have some Harley lovers in my family). 
• Ponds wipes samples and blue make-up bag of cosmetics samples (free by mail from Target during promo). Aero Shot energy gel sample (free by mail). 
• Eucerin lotion sample (free by mail).  
• Solar grasshopper (not actually free, but less than $1 on Amazon and thinking a kid in my family would love it.) 
• Not pictured: free mini-candle from Bed Bath and Beyond (got coupon online and picked up in-store).

I've signed up for another dozen or so that I'm expecting in the mail soon, plus I am keeping my eyes peeled for more to sign up for.

These are the sites I check regularly that tip me off to these freebies (I use Google Reader for most of my blog reading, so I'm not actually going to each of these everyday, they just come up in my feed. Easiest way to do it in my opinion.)  Not all of these are exclusively freebies, but I have found them all to be useful for this purpose.

Absurdly Cool Freebie Finder
 Freebie Shark
FreeSamples.org
FrugalFritzie (Actually more of a coupon blog, but does post good freebies sometimes)
HeyIt'sFree!
JustFreeStuff
Living Richly on a Budget (Again not exclusively freebies, but does include sometimes.)
MommySavers (Not exclusively freebies, but does include good ones sometimes.)
Who Said Nothing In Life is Free (Not all freebies, but good.)

Are any of you freebie collectors? What are you favorite sites? Please share in the comments!

How to Organize and Store Your Holiday Stuff

I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing holiday!

The time is coming soon to pack away the holiday things. I find staying organized to be an important part of living a frugal lifestyle. The "recycle, reduce, reuse" mindset only works if you know what you already have, where it is, and can get to it easily! So here are some tips on how to organize your holiday stuff before you put it away- you'll thank yourself next year!

• How to Pack Away Garlands, Wreaths, Trees, Ornaments Neatly (without buying anything!) from LifeHacker

• How to Store Gift Wrap Rolls (on the ceiling of your closet!) from LifeHacker

• Repurpose a Laundry Hamper or Trash Can for Wrapping Paper Storage  from Coffee With Me

• Album of Gift Wrap Storage Ideas from Better Homes and Gardens

• Use a Large Hook to Store Lots of Gift Bags from Like Merchant Ships

• Top Holiday Storage Tips from BudgetDecorating.About.com (My favorite tip from this page: Remember to store away your non-decoration items too- like dishes, cookie cutters, towels, DVDs, etc and save your everyday storage for stuff you use all year round!)

Frugal holiday sweets

Lots of people make sweet treats for the holidays, but have you considered the expense (especially if you are buying pre-made dough, frosting, etc.)? There are certainly some goodies that are more frugal than others, and here is a list of my favorite "budget friendly" holiday treats! Better yet, they are pretty easy and won't take up too much time.

Photo from http://www.sxc.hu/photo/920495

• Slice & Bake Cinnamon Shortbread Cookies I haven't made these but they sound DELICIOUS and look really easy! 

• Chocolate Butter Cookies  I like these with buttercream-frosting accents, and they are really adaptable.

• Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars Very similar to my grandma's recipe.

• Sugar Cookies This is the same recipe I use. I cut out shapes and decorate with buttercream frosting and/or sprinkles.

• Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies I omit the nuts and add a few drops of green food coloring to make them "mint green". 

• Quick and Easy Gingerbread Classic!

• Betty Crocker's Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Easy to make and tastes so much better than store bought!

• Easy Microwave Fudge

• DIY Vanilla Extract!

And remember, homemade treats are a great gift!

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!

DIY Holiday Decor Papercraft

I'm really into paper crafts this year! These are my favorite easy & beautiful holiday paper crafts. Great paper can be had pretty cheaply- this week at Michael's I got pretty 12"x12" scrapbooking paper for 4 sheets/ $1.00. Click the links for the tutorials!

3D Paper Stars

Mod-style tree ornaments (love these!)

Spiky wrapping paper stars

Easy and great-looking looped-paper wreath

Great selection of paper-wreaths! Love the ones from book pages & sheet music

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!

DIY Vanilla Extract, and Easy Fudge Recipe

Two of my favorite frugal (and easy!) holiday recipes:


Make your own vanilla extract: Vanilla extract is expensive! Make your own for way less money and use it for your holiday baking, or give it away as gifts! There is a great DIY vanilla tutorial on JoytheBaker.com.

Easy microwave fudge: I used this recipe after I tried to make fudge the not-easy way that involves candy thermometers and soft balls (?). I ended up with chocolate soup. This recipes from Cooks.com is much, much easier, and IS DELICIOUS.

Image from http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1360809

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