Freezer door won’t seal?

We had a bad seal on our freezer (the one on the refrigerator) a while back.  It had come loose in places and was a great collector of mold and ice but didn’t seal.  I called the manufacturer and ordered a new seal.  When we finally got around to actually putting  the new seal into place, quite some time had passed (months, yes, really. . . . . .)

We discovered when taking the seal out of it’s packaging that it was bent/kinked just a little.  The  instructions told us not to worry about such things.  The instructions said to use a blow dryer to warm up the rubber and all would be well.  We did this and it all seemed good!  My husband very carefully replaced the old seal with this new one and reattached the freezer door.  Hmm??  Kink was still present and right at the side where it opens too!  I used the blow dryer again, for quite some time and it seemed to pop back into place. 

Over time that exact spot started gaping again.  Ice started collecting and every few days I was scraping ice from the freezer just to keep the opening the same size so the door would at least go where it was supposed to.  We hated to put more money into another seal and my husband joked about putting a fastener of some type (probably one that used to be used to keep a pasture gate closed or a chicken coop latch LOL) on the door to keep it shut tight. 

I got tired of scraping ice one day and decided that perhaps duct tape would keep the door shut tight enough to force that seal against the opening of the freezer.  I got out about a 10 inch piece and pushed in on the door to make sure the seal was touching really good (squished, even).  I slapped that duct tape into place and for the last few weeks it has been our freezer latch!  Now, I know this sounds a little rednecky okay, a lot rednecky  but hey it was working and I’m sure saving our electricity bill quite a bit!!

My husband and I noticed something strange today. . . . . . The duct tape, that had been removed and replaced numerous times, was no longer very sticky but. . . . . . . .the door’s seal was now where it was supposed to be!!

Yet another miracle use for duct tape!  Praise the Lord!!!!

Dumb and Dumber

Yesterday I took the kids and went to town to run errands.  It grew later than I had expected and so I decided to drop by one of the many fast food chains and get us all a snack to tide us over until we got home to the ribs I had on low in the oven. 

I pulled up to the drive through thingy and noticed that Icees were cheaper than soda- 1.29 vs 1.59!!  I also saw that fries and onion rings were a buck.  So I ordered, and I quote, “I need 2 small fries, 2 small onion rings, 2 small orange Icees, and 2 small Coke Icees.  Oh, and some ketchup packets.”  The voice on the other end said, “that will be 12.49″ (it was something more than 12 anyway)

You all do the math here:

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.29

1.29

1.29

1.29

Should equal 9.16  plus tax. 

So, I say to the voice, “are you sure that’s right?” 

The voice repeats my order back to me just like I had given it to her. 

 I then say, “for 4 dollar items and 4 1.29 items?” 

The voice then says, “you ordered smalls not value menu” 

I say, “what’s the difference?”

The voice answers rather sarcastically as if I’m the idiot, “The size and price!”

You dork!  I know it’s the size and price but WHAT IS THE SIZE DIFFERENCE AND PRICE DIFFERENCE??????  (I said the capitalized stuff in my head, Really)

I then say to the voice, “I realize that.  What is the difference in price?”

She then rudely explains to me that smalls are actually larger than value sized items and I tell her to change the entire order to value size items. 

Lessons learned-

1. Assume the entire world is stupid! (not really but come on!!!)
2. Never assume that small might actually be the smallest size available. 
3.  Apparently small is now the new medium.
4. Ask LOTS and LOTS of questions before placing any order with anyone- you never know what you might get or how much it might cost you!!

Tip for Bread Pudding

I made muffins the other day and no one seemed to be eating them so I decided that I needed to do something with them before they got moldy.  I made bread pudding with them!!!  It turned out, even!

These particular muffins were the raisin bran muffins – the ones you can store the batter in the fridge for several weeks and use as needed.  I did not have quite enough for the recipe so I added enough regular bread to make it work.

Not bad!

What odd tips do you have today?

The importance of an emergency fund

I heard on the news the other day that a very large number of Americans (forgive me for not jotting down the numbers) could not financially survive any longer than a month if they lost their jobs.   Living in the 2nd highest unemployment rated county in my state and living in a state that ranks right up there with many of the highest unemployment rates of states, I felt the need to address this.  It concerns me, not only for others but for me too! 

Our family does have a meager savings account but not one that would last very long.  I set out to figure out a way to pump that up a little.  A friend had started using the cash envelope system to help her get a better handle on her spending so I started that.  (you can learn about this style of budgetting on www.daveramsey.com or www.crown.org )  I figured out what I needed each week in order to pay for weekly expenses like groceries and my church giving.  I divided my monthly expenses like utility bills  by 4 so I would know what had to go into the checking account each week in order to have enough money in there to pay the bills at the end of the month.  A couple things I had not taken into account when trying to budget before was Christmas/Birthday spending, vacation money, and emergency fund .  I decided what I wanted to have available for gifts, estimated how much our vacation would cost, figured out what my goal for the emergency fund for a years time would be and added them all together.  I then divided that by 52 (weeks/year) to figure out what I should deposit into savings each week.  A good savings goal to start with if you have nothing saved for an emergency fund would be $1000.00. 

Don’t forget to include more than the minimum on your credit cards bills and make it a goal to get them paid off ASAP.  Paying the minimum only pays part of the interest on those accounts and you end up owing the credit card companies sometimes double what you charged to them in the first place.

Here’s the trick:  The total of that jibberish above cannot be more than your weekly paycheck!!!  If it is, look into your spending habits and see where you can trim until your bills are less than or equal to your income. 

We are self-employed.  I have a blog article on self-employed budget making- here it is:  http://ruralmomof3.wordpress.com/2008/01/10/self-employed-budget-making/

An emergency fund can be (should be) more than a money emergency fund.   There are other ways that you can prepare for a time of no income or a time of natural disaster type emergencies.  I live in rural America and have access to a generator, have food growing in my back yard, etc.  However, anyone, living anywhere can prepare for emergencies of any kind.  Here’s some ideas.

1. Store extra food.  You don’t have to go “survivalist” but it is smart to store extra food.  Start out by buying one or two extra things per week.  If you don’t have access to a generator, you will want to store extra food that does not require heat or electricity in order to eat it.  Dry fruits and nuts, canned meat, canned vegetables, etc. 
2. Store extra water.  Spring water in gallon containers (store brand) is only 70 cents a gallon.
3. Store extra first aid supplies.
4. Store extra toiletry items.
5. If you have kids, store a few items of clothing in the next size up.  If your kids have a growth spurt and you don’t have a job, you’ll have a few things to help them get by until things improve.

The excuse of “I don’t have any place to store stuff” is not a good reason to fail to prepare for an emergency of any kind.  Under the bed is a perfect place to stash things.  What about the very back of your closet where stuff gets lost anyway?  Get creative!

Lastly, don’t forget to use what you store.  When you run out of something in the main house, example bandaids- go to the store and pick some new ones up.  But when you get home, replace the ones in your emergency stores with the new ones and use the emergency ones.  This will help keep our emergency stuff fresh and within expiration date.

We need to plan for financial hardship and then pray that it never comes.   If you don’t plan for it, it will show up for sure when you least expect it and when it will be the most difficult to make it through.

More electricity saving tips

I noticed that our electric company auditor left some brochures on my table.    They were full of more tips!!  A couple of points of interest in them were:

1. If every household in the USA raised air conditioning temperatures by 6 degrees, we’d save the equivalent of 190,000 barrels of oil ever day!
2. 15% of residential energy is used for heating water
3. Another 15% goes for refrigerators and freezers
4. 24% goes into lighting, cooking, and running appliances

The Touchstone Energy Cooperative websites are full of more tips for you on how to make your homes more efficient and spend less money.  You can find them at www.touchstoneenergy.coop or www.tsesavers.coop

#18 Have a consumer audit done by your electric company

Today we spent several hours with a representative of our local electric company co-op as he went through our house from top to bottom looking for ways to help us save money on our electricity.   He used the new infrared camera to detect cold spots (leaks) in our walls where there is little or no insulation.  He used a smoke stick (no actual smoke was used) to detect air movement around/near windows, outlets, etc.  He inspected our duct work, our attic, etc. and gave us tips on what we can do to make things run more efficiently.  His official report and recommendations will come in the mail at a later time but here are a few things I remember:

1. seal up the joints (where one piece of duct work hooks to another) in your duct work.  And duct tape is NOT good enough.  There is special tape and a paint- on substance (whose name has left me) to use for that.
2. seal up air leaks around door frames with non-expanding spray foam.
3. leaks around your foundation can be sealed with expanding spray foam
4. make sure your exhaust fan duct work is in proper shape (he discovered that ours was broke- this let cold air come right into the house and exhausted the shower steam into the crawl space rather than outside)
5. make sure your dryer vent has a flap at it’s exit.  This keeps air out when not in use (and keeps small creatures like kittens out of your dryer vent too! lol)
6. Fluorescent light bulbs should last for more than a year (2-3 years is good).  If they do not, there may be an electrical problem in your wiring.
7. Good duct work has close to equal balance between cold air returns and heat registers.  If there’s not enough air coming in to your furnace (from the cold air return), there won’t be much air coming out (the heated air through your register).  Like trying to breathe with a stuffy nose.  This restricts the speed the hot air can travel at, which makes it hard to heat areas furthest from your furnace.
8. Furnace Filters and traditional “pink panther” insulation are made of basically the same stuff.  Air flows through your filter and so it will flow through your insulation as well. 
9. When getting quotes for insulation from contractors or installers.  Don’t just compare price.  Compare the number of  bags of insulation they plan to use.  Often times what appears more expensive, might actually be a better insulation job instead.
10. When trying to increase your homes efficiency, look at the pay back.  How quickly an improvement will pay for itself.  If you can’t afford to fix everything, start with the improvements that will pay for themselves the fastest.

Hope you find this helpful!

#17 Spend some money the day after

The day after any given holiday, that is.   The day after Christmas there will be tons of stuff marked down by 50% and by New Year stuff will be 75-90% off.  This is the perfect time to buy wrapping paper, bows, ribbon, gift bags, Christmas cards for next year, etc.  It is also the perfect time to think about gifts you will need to buy in the next year.  Many of the “gift packages” that are pre-packaged, wrapped in cellophane “sets” are perfect for birthdays, graduations, etc.  Some of them may be packaged specifically  for Christmas but you can take them out of the package and re-wrap them and still save a ton of money.  Health and Beauty items can often be bought for pennies on the dollar if you watch the sales and then make sure the cashier rings it up correctly.  Snack foods can also be bought at greatly reduced prices as well.

The key to this is:

1. Know how much you need
2. Know what you need
3. Don’t buy more than you need or will use up in a reasonable amount of time
4. Don’t buy something that is really cheap unless you already have a plan for what to do with it.

 

Some things that I often buy the day after Christmas are:

1. Those little lunch bag sized paper/plastic gift bags (.12 or less)- buy enough for my kids classrooms next year
2. Ribbon- solid colored only- can be used all year round
3. Wrapping Paper- I keep an eye out for solid colored paper or striped or plaid.  Many of these can work all year round
4. Gift boxes- go for the plain ones
5. Gift bags- Walmart often has plain paper ones in silver and gold or red and green
6. Lotion in gift sets
7. Foot pampering products
8. Nuts in gift packages (no one cares at home if the Planter Peanut Man is wearing a Santa Hat or not)
9. Gummy candy (kids snacks)
10. Chocolate (we can never have enough- 50%-75% off is a great buy!)
11. Tablecloths and “real” Napkins (often can find solid colored ones)
12. Paper Towels and Napkins and Plates (no one cares at home if we eat off of christmas tree covered plates in June)
13. Ornaments
14. Christmas Lights (Dollar General had really nice ones last year for .30 a strand- no kidding!!)
15. Craft Supplies (store them until next November and you are set for many homemade gifts)
16. Cologne and Perfume (watch for your own favorites as well as to give to others)
17. Stockings (if we need new ones or to use for gift bags next year)
18. Christmas Gag Gifts like Coal in it’s own gift bag (.25 last year)
19. Candy Quick or Chocolate Bark (this can be frozen until next year with minimal changes to it- expensive chocolate for candy making may not freeze as well)
20. Limited Time only Holiday flavors of creamer, hot drinks, etc.
21. Cany Canes (can be frozen also- I freeze mine to make peppermint bark the next year)
22. Pajamas (if your family needs new ones)- may not be greatly reduced but even 25% off helps!
23. Slippers (if your family needs new ones)- another that may only be 25% off
24. Long Underwear (may be cheaper yet after new year)
25. Lip gloss in gift sets
26. Greeting Cards and Stationery

 

Keep in mind that after each holiday there are significant things on clearance.  Keep a watchful eye this year and then you will start to get a feel for where to shop on the day after the following year!

#16 Don’t forget the basics

As news of the recession now being “official” I decided to try and be a little more regular with my money saving tips column.  If you are new to my blog, you can click on the “money saving tips” category on the column to the right and read all of them.

Anyway, back to the point of #16- The basics.  The other day I watched a family on food stamps buy a couple cases of pop, microwave sausage and egg biscuits, corn dogs, Sunny Delight orange drink etc.  They went over the food stamp amount and had to put something back- they chose an expensive cut of meat.  I am not writing today to whine and complain about people receiving hand outs.  My own family has experienced the pain of barely scraping by and I applaud folks who use government assistance to help them get out of the spot their in.  There are many good programs out there to help a family get back on their feet: WIC, Food Stamps, etc.  My point of sharing this story is this:  the family could have afforded the nice cut of meat if they had been a little more careful with what they purchased. 

1.  Biscuits made from scratch with flour, margarine, baking soda, and sour milk cost pennies in comparison to the already made ones. 
2. Coffee and Tea cost pennies in comparison to soda. 
3. Inexpensive hot dogs rolled in homemade cornbread batter cost less than frozen corn dogs. 
4. Real orange juice purchased in the frozen concentrate form and served at the recommended serving size of 4 oz. may be a little more expensive but it is healthier.  I know some families who dilute the real juice with water or mix it with generic kool-aid to help it stretch and be cheaper than Sunny D. 
5. Buying a whole smoked ham is an expensive purchase but it is usually less than half the price per pound of buying lunch meat.  Ham can be slow roasted and then frozen in smaller portions to be used for lunch meat at a later time.  The same is true with turkey, roast beef, etc.
6. Pizza crust made from scratch is mere pennies as well.  So is buying a can of tomato sauce  and seasoning it yourself, instead of already seasoned pizza sauce

My point is, many of the things that we buy because they are “convenient” are costing us a lot of money.  Think of those many things that you buy already prepared or in a box and do some trial and error “cooking” in your kitchen trying to find a simple way to make them from scratch.  Many people think they are not capable of cooking from scratch but the more one tries the better they get.  Truth in point, I make homemade pizza crust nearly every single time we have pizza.  When I first started making it, it took my over 30 min. to get it mixed up and ready to rise.  Now, it takes me 10 min to mix up.  Not much longer than mixing up a mix from a box.

One excellent website to help with this is www.hillbillyhousewife.com

#15 Pay Attention to your Paper Plates

I used to buy whatever the lowest price tag was in the paper plate aisle and then move on. Then the other day I decided to take a closer look. When we buy plain ole paper plates, we always use 2 at a time because they are not thick enough or strong enough. So, in reality, they cost double what I was thinking they cost because we have to double them up. While I was in the paper product aisle I did some math. The store’s brand of generic “Dixie” brand (the fancy ones with the design, typically a glossy finish), paper plates were like .04 each (4 cents). I used to buy these for special events and know that I only use 1 per person and not 2 like the regular paper plates. The plain paper plates were like .03 each. BUT, if I’m using 2 each time, that price needs to be doubled so they are actually costing me .06. It was cheaper to buy the fancy ones (in the store brand)!!!

Really, the point of this article isn’t paper plates. The point really is to do the math while shopping. Divide the price by how the product is used and not just by the ounce or each.

Our local Meijer Store is my favorite store because of their produce being excellent. I have noticed over the past few years that their store brand items are getting better and better. I have also noticed this paper plate phenomenon in the cereal aisle as well. Typically, Meijer brand cereal is slightly cheaper than what one would think of as typical “generic” cereal (MaltoMeal or similar bagged and not boxed cereal). Their brand of quick oatmeal is cheaper than the nasty cardboard tasting generic they offer as well.

I’m not good at doing math in my head so here are some choices to think about before you tell yourself you can’t do this. Most cell phones have a calculator somewhere- if you can’t find it, go to your company store and ask them. If you don’t have a cell phone, you can buy a pocket calculator at most dollar stores or you can take a small notepad with you and do it by hand!

Here’s the formula:
Cost / each or usage = cost for one use

EXAMPLE:
Paper plates cost $2.00
There’s 100 plain ones but I use 2 at a time so that number goes down by half to 50
2.00 divided by 50 equals .04
Paper plates cost 4 cents each.

Get Burned stuff off pans Automatic Dishwashing detergent

Yesterday, I pulled a stupid.  When my spagetti noodles got done cooking, I poured them into my plastic strainer/colander and then sat the strainer on top of the stock pot that I had cooked them in.  This is my usual way of doing this, except yesterday I forgot to turn the burner off that the stock pot was sitting on!!!  The heat from the burner burned the inside of the pot nearly completely black and that same heat had begun melting my strainer.  I pried it off the pan to discover that the heat combined with the weight of the spagetti had drawn the colander down into the pot.  It was not liquid plastic yet but it was like salt water taffy as it starts to set up.  The plastic colander sat in the sink, noodles and all until it was cool enough to put in the garbage and the pot went out on the porch, in the rain, to cool off. 

Anyway, this morning I put some dry Cascade (automatic dishwashing detergent) in the bottom of the pot and put hot water in on top of it.  They say that automatic dishwashing detergent is harmful to skin so I stirred with a metal spoon to dissolve the detergent.  I let this sit for a while and you could see the chemical moving around in the water mixture.  When it was nearly cool I stirred again and black flakes of burnt stuff started swirling around!!  I rinsed it thoroughly and then scrubbed with a scouring pad and nearly all the black stuff is gone!  My favorite sized pot from my stainless steel cookware is saved!!!

This same recipe worked on set tea stains in my plastic “diner” cups as well.

 

BTW- Angel hair pasta cooked up in 10 minutes, from before boiling water to ready to eat!!!  Lets say we had bread and fruit for an appetizer to the main course while we waited!! LOL