Time is money

What does one do when one believes they don't have time to do all the thrifty things to save money.  What if you don't have time for making clothes or rugs or

flash freezing foods to be eaten later?  Suppose you don't have time to do thrifty D-I-Y things?  Well, yes, there is time required when you do things yourself.  Yes, reupholstering a chair, quilting or rug braiding, scouring stores for discount items, and other tightwad things do take time.   

BUT.... there's always a but..... being busy does not have to mean spend more money.   Focus on the time you DO have to accomplish what will give you the greatest return for the time spent. 

Be sure you are not working more only to buy more convenience.  In other words, don't work overtime hours just to buy more take out foods so you can work the overtime hours.    Many people don't really calculate how much more money they spend as a result of working extra hours.  Are you really getting anything from all the extra hours if you spend it all just to work?

Being organized is THE most important thing to do if you want to be thrifty.  Being organized will save you both time and money.  For example:  You know that Christmas comes every year.  You know there are birthdays every year.  You know kids go to school in the fall.  You know you will need to change the oil in your car.  You will be replacing your glasses eventually.    Many things are predictable.  

Did you know that changing the oil when you see a coupon in the sale flyer this week takes no more time out of your schedule than getting it changed without a coupon a month from now?   Buying a marked-down toy in January for a July birthday requires the same amount of time as paying full price at the last minute.  It takes about the same amount of time to look through clothes on a thrift store rack that it does to look through clothes on a department store rack. Actually, thrift stores have a larger variety which may mean not shopping at several stores searching for the right clothes.

Some organizing requires a very small amount of time but will save a great deal of money in the long run.  Lists are a form of organizing.  List take only a small amount of time to create yet help save you a lot of money and time.  For example:  If you set up a grocery shopping system and list, it saves you time and money because you won't be wandering through isles thinking to yourself  "Do I need some of this or do I have plenty already?"   If you write out a list of needed back to school clothes and carry it with you, you can casually watch for those items at yard sales through out the whole summer. 

I repeat.... Focus on using the time you do have to accomplish what will give you the greatest return for the time spent.   For me that means keeping lists.  Five minutes making a list can save me hundreds of dollars over a year.  So let me say also that "no organizing system (or list) will work if you don't use it".

Super easy chicken dinner

You ever think about what might be a very easy and quick dinner? Well I did.

This is what I came up with. Put some pieces of chicken in the crock pot. Pour in a bottle of your favorite salad dressing and let it cook. Serve it over rice or noodles or what ever. It's that easy.

If you want a thicker sauce you can put corn starch in the juice before starting it to cook. By the time its done you should have a gravy like sauce. You can change the flavor by changing the type sauce you use. Mexican? Use Salsa. Italian? Use Italian dressing. Etc.

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I had 20 bottle of salad dressing I bought a few months ago. I paid 20 cents a bottle with coupons. That was before I stopped using coupons. These were getting close to expiring and I had to come up with a way to use them or donate to the food bank. I'm sure my idea isn't original. Surely someone someplace has already thought of it. Still, it's original for me.

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You can vary the type of meat you cook. Pork, beef, chicken, fish, polish sausage, spam.

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You can vary the sauce. Thick sauce, thin sauce, catalina dressing, italian dressing, salsa, french dressing.

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You can vary what its served over. Rice, beans, mixed vegetables, noodles, spaghetti, macaroni.

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You can vary the bread to accompany it. Homemade, french loaf, texas toast, biscuits, crackers.

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This should give you a few hundred different meal ideas. The combinations are endless.

Organize or simply clean?

Sometimes, when you think everything is completely out of control and you start repeating to yourself the mantra.... I've got to get organized, I've got to get organized.


Maybe what you really need is to simply clean? Organizing often means to get rid of as much stuff as you can then find containers for what's left. But what if you need everything that's there? What if you can't toss anything? Well, do some spring cleaning.... which in my case happens to be summer cleaning because I missed spring this year. I closed my eyes for a minute and spring sneaked right on past me.

My organizing will sometimes be a result of making sure everything is clean. That's what happened today. What started as me checking on winter items that might need to be washed, repaired, or replaced before winter resulted in an organized closet.

This is the left side of my double closet. See the quilts ready for Xmas charity? These had become lost in a plastic bin under other plastic bins and stuff. The space heaters have been checked, cleaned, and re boxed ready to use. I won't have to do that when the air gets chilly but it's too early to turn on the furnace.




My closet will be my new garage since my daughter and grand daughter will be moving back home this fall. Here is where I will keep things that should be in a garage.... which I don't have. The kerosene heater has been checked for good working order. The kerosene can had quite a bit of rust on the bottom so I tossed it out. A new one is on my list of things to buy. I keep the kerosene heater just in case we loose power in the winter.

These rolley carts used to hold fabrics for rugs and were in another room. As I made rugs and the drawers became empty, I simply haven't used them for anything else. Now they are being used for tools, painting stuff, hardware, and odds & ends. This is so much better! When I had plastic boxes in here.... the box I needed was almost always on the bottom. With the drawers this won't be a problem anymore.

Remember the small drawer units I used a few days ago to clean out my junk drawer? Well here they are again. A nice new home for them in the right side of my double closet. The drawer unit on the right is where the batteries and things are. The unit on the left is for medical supplies like cold meds, bandages, Tylenol, and stuff like that. All of it out of reach of a curious small child.

Well, for goodness sake.... would you look at that.... there's a wood floor in the bottom of my closet! I haven't seen the floor of my closet for several years. It had large plastic boxes full of stuff hiding it.

What is still not in the closet are my winter clothes. These are in a clothes basket ready to be washed and mended. These will be sealed in space bags and put into another drawer unit. I still plan to put more on the shelf above. I'm sure I will find items that need a home as I clean other rooms before winter. All I'm doing right now is what I should have done in the spring. I'm also getting things done that normally are done in the fall. I'm doing fall things early so I don't have to do it all at once.

Store items at point of use

I took half a ME day yesterday to change things in my cabinets. In order to be better organized in the kitchen its important that items be stored where they are used most often. I started with this cabinet. The top shelf holds my least used set of dishes. I inherited these from my aunt and I use them very rarely. Anything rarely used is kept on the highest shelves.

I got rid of all the unused plastic stuff in there. The food got moved to the food cabinets. Except for the yeast. I prefer to keep the yeast in this cabinet for now. I moved the mixing bowls, measuring cups, and mixing jars to this cabinet because I do my mixing on the counter directly below this cabinet. The jars are used to store anything I mix to drink. (after its mixed) Powdered milk, kool-aid, juice, tea, etc. I mix it here then put into the fridge.

Next was this cabinet. This is where some of my mixing bowls used to be. The top shelf has inherited bowls and platters. Some of those are depression era dishes. Rarely used. The second shelf has another set of inherited dishes. These came from my grandmother. They contain gold (metal) designs on them so they can't be put into the microwave. They are Bavarian China.

Remove the mixing bowls. Re stack the dishes. Move the plastic and paper stuff. Now I have room for items that are used at the stove. Cooking oil, spices, and utensils will go in this area. I haven't figured out the best way to store them yet. Oh look, I still use plastic drinking glasses. The kids constantly broke all my glasses every time I bought new ones. So, I stopped buying glass and started using plastic. Now that the kids are gone I can look around for a bargain on real glass glasses again.

Ok, the next cabinet looks like this. All the food gets moved to the food cabinets.

This cabinet is above the stove. I use these pots but not very often. I move these to the top shelf of the cabinet next to it. Leaving this area to be used for other stuff.

See where they went? The top shelf. In this cabinet is anything used in the microwave; which sits on the counter just below the cabinet. The salt and pepper got moved to the other cabinet after this picture was taken. I use paper plates and plastic forks etc when my SIL is here for a day of sewing. I also use them for microwaving instead of my dishes that contain the gold designs. The microwave would ruin it or it would blow up the microwave.

Want to see a close up of the drawer units? I love this idea. I like drawers instead of plain shelves. I sure wish my base cabinets were drawer units.

This was the next cabinet to tackle. It was actually installed upside down. I didn't notice that until after I had signed the mortgage papers. I just had to live with it. This cabinet is only 6 inches wide. Geeze, what a mess in there.

Now that's better! I moved most of the pans to above the stove. I left only the largest items that would not fit in another cabinet.

See, it all fits nicely here. The only thing I haven't found a place for yet is the pot lids. I do have an idea for storing them but I have to buy something first. Some of my pans are stored in the bottom of the stove. My cast iron pans are stored in a bottom cabinet because of their weight. I have several.

Now I have nice empty counter tops and items are placed where used most often.

By the way, did you know it takes 18 gallons of water to fill one side of my double sink? Of course not.... why should you know that? I found out when I started carrying buckets of water from the bathroom to fill up the sinks. I make 6 trips from the bathroom with 6 gallons in each bucket full. Three buckets per side. Carrying buckets of water reminds me of my childhood when I had to draw water from the well outside and carry it inside to the kitchen.

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I do miss the convenience of running water in the kitchen. I need to buy a new faucet unit before I call the plummer. A trip to the hardware store is on my shopping list for next shopping day.

This was the next cabinet to work on. It's very awkward to use. It's the corner unit above the sink. The door is narrow and the back of the cabinet is wide. In a triange shape. I can't reach into the cabinet without using a step stool. I decided to leave it as is until I figure out a solution for the best way to use it. I'm thinking that some of my little used items are best stored here but I'll think about it for a while.



Well that's it for my ME day. Still lots to get organized in the kitchen..... on another day.

Meat slicer bargain

Today, while waiting for my prescriptions to be filled; I went to the thrift store across the street from the clinic. I was very lucky again. I happened to be there on a day when they had everything 75 percent off again. I was told they have this type sale two random days a month to clear things out. That's good to know. So for a second time I was there at just the right time.


This is what I got today. A food slicer. The box was taped shut when I looked at it. The clerk said I couldn't open it. Not allowed on 75% off days. I hesitated buying it because there wasn't any way to know if all the parts were there. I looked at the original price tag which said $34.99.






Next I looked at the thrift store price which said $9.95. I calculated the 75 percent off price to be about $2.50 so I bought it without knowing if it was complete. I figured the worst that could happen is I loose the $2.50.

When I got home I was very happy to find that the slicer was still in the original plastic bubble wrap and that was still sealed. It had never been opened.

Yup, it was a really good find. Now how will it help me save money? It will save me money because I can buy bulk cheese or lunchmeats. I can slice homemade bread in thinner slices than using a knife. I can slice roll sausage into patties before freezing. I'll find other uses as time goes by.

What is frugal living?

Today's post is for the younger generation. The folks reading my blog that are my age probably know all I'm about to write but a younger generation may not have learned it yet..... especially my daughter.... and will appreciate it being explained to them. Some youngsters may be like my daughter and rebelled against a frugal way of life but are now searching for ways to live during our energy crisis.

Ok, I'm a tightwad, skinflint, penny pincher, or whatever you choose to call me. I'm proud that I live frugal. These are not derogatory names. They are names of a way of living to conserve resources. Badges of success so to speak. The newest word used is "going green" to mean the same thing.... conserve resources.

fru·gal (fröö´gel)adj.

1 not wasteful; not spending freely or unnecessarily; thrifty; economical

2 not costly or luxurious; inexpensive or meager

[a frugal meal]—SYN THRIFTY


Living frugal is not the same thing as living deprived.


Yes, I will wash storage bags and reuse them but I'm not about to spend time turning a double sheet roll of toilet paper into two single sheet ones. A person who does something like that seriously needs to get a life. I will; however, turn a bottle of something almost empty upside down over a new replacement. The bottles drain on their own. I don't stand there watching them drain. And... I absolutely refuse to cut open a tube of toothpaste to get the last remaining bit out of it.


I do use coupons and match them with sales items..... but I don't carry a hugh shoe box of coupons around in a store. I admit I used to carry the shoe box in my car at all times..... in the days when the stores would have an unadvertized day for triple coupon values. I hated driving into a store parking lot to see a sign in the window saying..... today only, triple coupon values.... and didn't have my coupons with me. So the permenant home of my coupon box was in the car trunk. These days my coupon organizer is a plastic check file left over from paper check days.


I do like to reuse items as much as possible. Especially card board boxes. It keeps them out of the landfills for just a bit longer. When I no longer need it then it finds its way there just like the rest.


Back in the 60's (or maybe it was the 70's) I decided to become a frugal living person. I had already been raised as a frugal living person; but, taking the vow to live that way was different than doing it because my parents said I had to. I bought books called, "How I feed my family of 4 on $16 a week and have meat on the table too" and "Good recipes for hard times" and a few others about how to save on living expenses. The "Tightwad Gazette" was in its infantsy and so was the "Penny Pincher". Oh yes, back then I also read a brand new magazine called "Mother Earth News" which helped solve do it yourself project problems and promoted energy alternatives like solar or wind power.


I still spend only an average of about $5 a week on groceries. Feeding one person is a whole lot easier than feeding a whole family. No I don't live like a pauper without meat and living on beans and such. My meals are not the kind made with all types of fillers. I have healthy meals and will also cook meals for my neighbors sometimes. All within my budgeted food amount.

It seems that my way of living has come back into vogue. I'm no longer the odd lady who clips coupons and does once a month cooking marathons. Now I'm fashionable again!! Even the neighbors who always gave me their coupon inserts are asking me how I use them...... there goes my coupon supply.


So every now and then this blog may contain some posts about how I save money and time on other things like cooking or shopping. Why? Well if I spend less time cooking or shopping or cleaning or whatever...... it gives me more time to quilt. It kind of goes hand in hand with being organized. The more organized a person is..... the easier it is to save money and time. Time is something we can all use..... right?


Here is only one example of how my way of life saves me time as well as money. Ok, let's say I would spend an averave of an hour a day preparing an evening meal for a hungry family. Let's say Sunday is an eat out day so no meal need be cooked. Well that means 6 hours for the week dedicated to cooking evening meals. 24 hours for the month.


Ok, I must also have the food to cook right? This means a shopping trip each week to buy groceries. Say it takes 30 minutes to get to the store, an hour to go through picking out what is needed and standing in the check out line, and 30 minutes to return home. Then another 30 minutes to put it away. That's 2 1/2 hours a week for shopping. 10 hours a month.


If my math is right that's 34 hours a month dedicated to just the evening meals. It only stands to reason that if I buy all the food needed for a whole month in one shopping trip I can cut the shopping time down to one per month. 2 1/2 hours a month instead of 10 hours. Don't worry about the budget right now, this is only an example.


Ok, let's say I take one Saturday after a shopping Friday to dedicate 6 hours to making a month's worth of entres all at one time to put in the freezer. All I would have to do is take one out of the freezer each morning, heat it in the evening, add a couple of quick side items and the meal is done. Average preparation time? Maybe 10 minutes? So instead of 24 hours a month spent cooking I've cut it down to a mere 6 hours for actual cooking and 4 hours of daily prep time per month. 10 hours a month. For a total of 6 hours cooking, 4 hours of daily prep time, and 2 1/2 hours of shopping. That's a difference of 12 hours if my math is right. A whole 12 hours that can be used for more quilting!

For me... this equals one whole extra day of quilting a top for someone. For anyone who does Judy Laquidera's hour a day quilting or Bonnie Hunter's quick piecing.... just think how much you could get done with 12 extra hours of time each month.

Hmmm.... did you know it takes no more time to brown 4 pounds of hamburger than it does to brown one? Just use a bigger pan to distribute the heat in a bigger area. Did you know it takes no more time to bake four whole chickens than it does to bake one? Put them all in the oven together. Did you know that boiling a dozen eggs take no more time than boiling two? Or that mixing and baking 6 cakes at once take no more time than mixing and baking one? Use a bigger bowl and more baking pans. You think this could qualify as multi-tasking?

You see the theory behind my way of living? Time..... saving time is just as important as saving money. Or maybe I should say that saving time also saves money. With doing certain tasks all at once instead of spread out, it saves time. Sort of like spending one whole day cutting fabric and making quilt kits. Or chain piecing. Doing one repetative task all at once saves time later.

As I said, this is only an example of how I save time with my cooking. I prepare some entres to be put into a crock pot so those are put away uncooked but with all ingredients in one bag. Ready to thaw and put into the crock pot. Some entres are partially cooked then frozen. Ready to finish cooking and add other ingredients to the cooking that can't be frozen.

A person doesn't need a big chest freezer to put this type of time saving to use. It does help with storing a larger number of meals but it can still be done without one. All that's needed is a regular refigerator freezer to make one or two weeks of meals. If the entres are stored in bags instead of containers you save even more room in the freezer. Think of it this way; it takes no more room in a refrigerator freezer to store cooked meat than it does to store uncooked meat. It's your choice of whether to cook it before or after its frozen.

Ok, I've rambled on enough for today. If anyone is interested in how I do my main grocery shopping only 2 or 3 times a year I would be glad to tell about it. Just let me know.

Use several trash bags

You want to save a minute of time when sorting to toss or donate fabrics? I use a tall kitchen trash can to hold the bags when I'm sorting through donated fabrics. Very often the fabrics are unusable. It might be the wrong kind or dirty or dry rotted. The can holds the bag upright and open for me so all I have to do is stand back and toss toward the right can.




I usually put several bags in the cans before starting. That way, when the bag is full.... all I have to do is tie it and remove.... the next bag is already there and ready to use. I don't have to stop to open another bag.

I do this for all the trash cans around the house too. The ones in the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and sewing room all have several bags in them. This saves time when cleaning house. This also saves space because instead of the trash bags taking up space in my utility cabinet... the bags are where they will be used.

Piecing with a quilting machine?

This is how I piece a quilt with my quilting machine. It isn't an award winning contest quilt technique.... just a simple way of creating quick charity quilts. The piecing is done log cabin style. I had very limited time to do one for pictures to put in this blog so I used really large pieces of fabric. This is also a good stash busting technique!

I start by loading the backing and basting the batting to it along the top and sides. This will allow me to roll back and forth as I add the pieces.


I marked the center of the batting with a marker. This is for centering the start piece.


I used a cheater panel for the center. If you don't have a cheater panel then a large piece of fabric would work.


I then used some 6 inch wide strips. I pinned the first piece then used the machine to sew a seam. The needle is 1/4 inch away from the edge of the hopping foot so I used the foot as a guide. If I'm having a hard time staying straight I will create drag on the machine with either my hand or lowering the take up bar to where it rubs the machine.


When the seam was done, I flipped the strip out and pressed it by hand. If you find your fabric won't stay in place you can baste along the edge to hold it or use a basting spray.

I then went to the other side and pinned another piece and sewed it with the machine.


Then I went to the bottom of the center fabric to pin and sew another strip.


Here is the piece ready for pinning and sewing.


Here is the strip sewn and flipped out and hand pressed into place.


Next I rolled back to the top of the center fabric to add a strip along the top. If your fabric strip is not long enough then sew two strips together with your household machine before pinning and sewing with the quilting machine. Sometimes I will sew many strips together ready to use.... letting the colors fall where they may.


Now back to the original side where the first strip was sewn. Pin and sew a second strip.


I continued to add strips along all the sides (log cabin style) until the whole batting and backing were covered. Then I quilt it.

And here is the finished charity quilt. All ready for binding. I used the Circle Lord square dance template to do quick quilting.


I normally would have sewn the binding onto the front with the quilting machine. I didn't have any binding ready to use and was running out of time so I will do this later. I also got the center marked in the wrong place on the batting and didn't notice. That's why it has more strips on one end. This quilt is using 6 inch wide strips already cut, ready to use, and stored away.

If I had had more time to choose fabrics and make the strips smaller it would have been prettier. This will be given to a homeless man or teenager (possibly living under an overpass) so the colors won't matter. What really matters is that it's warm and can be thrown away when it gets too dirty and ragged.

Stabilizers by the bolt

I buy interfacing by the bolt. I buy it this way because it's a time saver for me. I make custom made t-shirt quilts a lot. It was a hassle for me to catch a bus to buy a few yards at a time each time I had a t-shirt quilt to start. Bus rides are very time consuming. It's also hard to carry heavy bags of fabrics a couple of blocks to the bus stop.


I always remove the interfacing from the store cardboard and refold it my way. The refolding takes a little time now but saves time later. It's folded ready to cut into strips whenever I need it. The new folded size will also saves space in my storage room.

I sometimes get sheets from customers to use as the back of their quilts. I save the plastic sleeve and the inner cardboard but I throw away the advertisement part.


I roll my refolded stabilizer onto the cardboard like this. Then I remove the information from the bolt end and tape it to a bit of string then to this cardboard. This helps me to know exactly what I need to know about this particular brand and weight. It also gives me the information about which one may be running out. If I am down to a yard or two, its time to buy more.


I then place the stabilizer into the plastic sleeve to keep it dust free until I'm ready to use it. Here are the ones I have right now.