Frugal Babe

A few times in the last year I’ve told you guys about amazing e-book sales, and a lot of you have loved them and asked me to keep you posted when new ones pop up.  Today marks the start of the latest 72 hour book sale, which will end at noon eastern time on Thursday, June 23rd.

You can click here to see all the details on this sale.  It’s a pretty amazing collection of books, being sold for more than 90% off the normal price you’d pay if you bought all of these books individually.

There are 22 books/courses in the sale.  If you bought all of them individually, it would run you $1087.  But until Thursday, you can get the whole collection for $97.

The e-books and courses in this package cover all sorts of topics:  fitness, cooking, relationships, learning foreign languages, travel, study techniques, productivity, creativity, family fun… and the list goes on.  Check out everything you get for $97.

$5 from every sale will be donated to Cath Duncan’s Kidney Raffle project, which is raising money for kidney disease research.

Enjoy the sale!

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that we’re big fans of do-it-yourself projects.  Even when I was in my third trimester of pregnancy, I was happily transforming a backyard shed into a cute little office, and we managed to get all 27 of our garden beds planted this spring, even though we had a new baby in April.  My husband made a concrete path to get to the backyard office, and he’ll be spending tomorrow building a sandbox for our son while I work on painting the porch we just finished putting on the office.  Sometimes it feels like our project list is never-ending.

But I am also learning to step back and consider other options besides the DIY route, and sometimes it just makes more sense to hire someone.  We have a 3/4 acre lot, and more than half an acre of it is fenced with six foot wooden fencing.  The previous owners put in the fence, but never stained it or treated the wood with anything.  It’s very weathered, and ever since we moved in we’ve talked about staining it.  To do it ourselves would involve renting a pressure washer and a sprayer for the stain, and buying lots and lots of stain (probably $500 – $700 worth, depending on what we got).  Then we would have to find time to get out there and do the project, using rented equipment – which means we’d be on the clock the whole time.  With two little boys, we almost never have large chunks of uninterrupted time to devote to a project.  Nursing, diaper changes, and snuggles with our baby have to take priority, as do all the things that a three-year-old needs.

So after talking it over, we decided to look into hiring out the fence project.  We got a few estimates, and ended up choosing a company that uses a product that will supposedly seal our fence permanently (it comes with a 30 year warranty), as opposed to just coating it with stain.  It’s going to cost us about two thousand dollars (gulp).  Obviously that’s more expensive than doing it ourselves would have been, but there’s a big convenience factor involved, and it’s hard to put a price tag on that.  We don’t have to go rent the equipment, buy the stain, figure out how to use the equipment, and then try to find the hours and hours of time that it would have taken us to wash and stain the huge amount of fencing we have.

We’re still big DIY-ers.  We love projects, and we have a lot more planned.  Most of them we’re happy to do ourselves, from regular maintenance to appliance repair.  Our son is able to “help” with some of them, and we love involving him (he has his own little garden bed this year, with lots of radishes in it).  But while I used to have a DIY-at-all-costs mentality, I’m starting to be more flexible on the subject.  Part of that is because we’re not broke anymore.  As long as we’re frugal most of the time and stretch our dollars as much as we can, we’re able to afford to hire someone occasionally.  And another part of it is that I value my time more than I used to.  I would rather be with my boys than spend several days sprucing up our fence.

What do you think?  I know a lot of my readers are frugal DIY-ers too.  What projects do you think are worth hiring out rather than doing yourself… if any?

Aromatherapy Cleansers

You can make a gentle aromatherapy cleanser for dry skin by blending 1/4 cup of sweet almond oil with 9 drops of lavender oil and 9 drops of sandalwood oil. Once mixed, use a funnel to pour it into a dark colored glass bottle. For oily skin types, blend 1/4 cup jojoba oil with 9 drops of tea tree oil and 9 drops of rosemary oil. If your skin is neither dry nor oily (normal), mix 1/4 cup of olive oil with 9 drops of geranium oil and 9 drops of bergamot oil. To use, simply apply a small amount of the oil all over the face, and rinse well with cool water.

Sugar Cleanser

Sugar is an excellent ingredient to use in facial cleansers. It gently exfoliates the skin and the granules melt away when combined with soap and water. You can make sugar cleanser with either brown or white sugar–just mix 1 teaspoon of sugar with 1 teaspoon of liquid Castile soap and it’s ready to use!

Honey Cleanser

Honey is highly beneficial to the skin, especially when used on dry skin types. Honey cleanser can be made by combining 1/4 cup of honey, 1/2 cup of glycerin, and 1 tablespoon of liquid Castile soap. Once the ingredients are well blended, use 1 teaspoon to gently wash the face. Store the cleanser in a small jar or bottle for future use.

Aloe Vera Cleanser

This cleanser is so easy to make, and it’s wonderful to use in the hot summer months after long days in the sun! All you need to do is mix 1/4 cup of Aloe Vera gel with 2 tablespoons of whole milk. Be sure to store this cleanser in the refrigerator to prevent the milk from spoiling.

Strawberry Cleanser

Strawberries are naturally high in Vitamins A & C. They’re a sweet choice when it comes to making cleansers. To make a fresh strawberry facial wash, blend 9 strawberries, 2 tablespoons of almond oil, and ¼ cup of witch hazel in the blender. Pour the finished cleanser into a glass jar or plastic container and store it in the refrigerator. You only need 1 to 2 teaspoons per wash.

Oatmeal Scrub

Old-fashioned oatmeal is not only good for exfoliating, it prevents blackheads as well. It’s inexpensive and a must-have ingredient if you want to make your own scrubs. To make a simple oatmeal facial scrub, grind equal parts of oatmeal and brown sugar in a coffee grinder or food processor until you have a soft powder. To use, mix 1 to 2 teaspoons with your cleanser and gently massage into your skin.

Rose Petal Scrub

You can make a lovely rose petal scrub by combining 1/4 cup of oatmeal, 1/4 cup of almond slices, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, and 2 tablespoons of dried rose petals in a food processor. Once a fine powder is formed, pour it into a clean container. To use, mix 2 teaspoons of the powder with warm water and apply it to the face in soft, circular motions. Rinse well with cool water.

Almond Scrub

To make a scrub that is especially beneficial for oily skin types, grind almonds in a coffee grinder and measure out 1 tablespoon. To that, add 1/2 teaspoon of honey, 1 tablespoon of chamomile tea (let the tea steep for 30 minutes before measuring out the tablespoon), and 1 to 2 drops of tea tree oil. Ready, set, scrub!

Now that you have learned some basic recipes for homemade facial scrubs and cleansers, indulge yourself! You can experience the luxury of spa-worthy products at home without spending a fortune. And you’ll have the added benefit of knowing exactly what goes into the cleansers and scrubs that are making your skin glow.

Guest post from Bailey Harris, who writes about homeowners insurance quotes for www.homeownersinsurance.org.

Last summer, a friend gave me a bag of maternity clothes.  The bag also had a couple of nursing tops, including a Bravado nursing tank top.  The top was in great shape, except that one of the closures was broken, so the flap wouldn’t stay closed.  It turns out that those tank tops retail for $50, so I figured it was worth trying to fix it.  I called the company to see if I could buy a new clasp, but they said they couldn’t do that.

So yesterday, I stopped at Goodwill and browsed through their tank top section to see if I could find a shirt with a clasp I could use.  I found this, for a dollar:

You can see the little clasps where the straps connect to the shirt – they unhook easily, and are already mounted on brown straps, which are the same color as the straps on the nursing tank.

Here’s the nursing tank top before I fixed it:

The closure on the left is fine, but the one on the right is missing the bottom part of the clasp.  So last night I removed the top part of the broken clasp, cut one of the straps off the Goodwill tank top, and used it to make a new closure for the nursing top.  Here’s a close-up of the finished project:

It works perfectly, and blends in nicely with the rest of the shirt.  For now, I left the other side the way it was, as it had a perfectly good clasp already.  I could replace it with the other hook from the Goodwill shirt if I wanted the two sides to match, but at least now the shirt is functional.  Not bad for a dollar and about half an hour of sewing.

Now our little one just needs to decide to come out and meet us so that I can switch from maternity tops to nursing tops…

I forgot to take pictures of our backyard shed when it was first installed, but I did get a few pictures of the interior soon after we began the process of finishing it.  Here are some shots that show the inside after we had put up insulation and a little bit of drywall:

And here is how it looks now:

With the couch we got on Craigslist for $75:

I found the office chair at a thrift store for $20.  The desk is the one my husband has had for years (we got a new desk for his basement office from the same people who were selling the couch.  They gave it to us for $10).  The box under the window is where the battery and inverter are stored for our solar setup.  My husband built the box from 2x4s and plywood, and then I painted it and put on some recycled baseboard.  All of the baseboard and windowsills came from a used building supply store, and cost about $12 for the whole room.

We left the rafters exposed and went with a vaulted ceiling.  It took a bit more effort that way, but we’re really happy with the results:

Our current project is building a path to get to the shed.  We found a mold that makes concrete look like little paving stones, and the 8 feet or so that is done so far is really cute.  We also picked up supplies last week to build a little porch on the front of the office.  We’re thrilled with how the whole project is turning out, and my husband loves being able to go to work somewhere with a view of more than a concrete wall.

92 of you entered the giveaway for a copy of How To Shop For Free.  I’m glad it’s something that interests a lot of you – now would be a good time to request that your local libraries purchase a copy.  I just drew a winner, and the free copy goes to Sarah, who commented on December 16th at 7:34 am.  Congratulations Sarah!

I’ve written many times about my food shopping habits.  Although I’m frugal in just about every other area (and rarely shop for much of anything anymore, other than food), I never compromise when it comes to what my family eats.  Nearly all the food I buy is organic, and most of my grocery cart is filled with fresh or frozen produce, nuts, seeds, dried legumes and a few boxed/jarred items like whole grain pasta or coconut milk.  I rarely buy anything from the center aisles of the grocery store, and I don’t buy things that have non-food ingredients (all those 8-syllable words on ingredient lists).  I have long been of the opinion that I’m not interested in coupons for food, because most of what’s available is for stuff that I would never feed my family.

I’ll admit that I don’t put much effort into trying to save money on groceries.  I tend to do all of my shopping at one store (either the health food store or the co-op), and although I’ll always pick up things that are on sale when I’m shopping, I will also buy food that’s good for us even if it’s not on sale (but I still haven’t been able to bring myself to pay $10 for a little bag of pine nuts at the health food store – my frugal habits don’t completely disappear when I go grocery shopping…).

Since I’m definitely not a coupon queen, my first reaction when I was asked to review Kathy Spencer’s new book, How To Shop For Free, was to assume that it wouldn’t contain anything useful to me.  But the more I thought about it, the more curious I became.  I wondered if the book might have some tips for people like me.

I was pleasantly surprised.

How To Shop For Free definitely inspired me to change some of my grocery shopping ways.  I’m committing to shopping in more than one store from now on, and paying attention to what’s on sale before I plan my trip.  There’s a major supermarket about two blocks from the health food store where I normally shop, and another one a couple miles down the road, in the direction I have to go to get home.  Both stores have organic sections, and both run sales and offer coupons.  I’m embarrassed to say that I have no idea whether they double coupons or match competitors’ ads, because I’ve never taken the time to ask (but I will as soon as I go shopping again!)

I was also inspired to see if there might indeed be coupons available for things that I already buy.  I love coupons – what frugal person doesn’t? – and I always look for restaurant coupons if we’re going out to eat, and for coupon codes anytime I make an online purchase.  I just tended to assume that there weren’t coupons for the sort of stuff I buy at the grocery store.  How To Shop For Free made me reconsider that idea.  I started looking online (including eBay) for manufacturer coupons for products that I buy already, and was thrilled to find plenty.  It turns out that there are coupons for some of the pricey organic products that I buy, I just didn’t know to look for them.  And I found that the health food store I shop at has a website where they allow customers to write product reviews in exchange for store credit.  Coupons are available for all sorts of products, if you just take the time to look before you shop.  Anytime you’re going to be making a purchase on a large online retailer like Amazon, make sure you look for an Amazon.com coupon first.

I know that my shopping habits in terms of food are a bit extreme.  Same goes for the fact that the only cleaning products I’ll allow in the house are baking soda, vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide.  And that my personal care products are limited mostly to baking soda, organic conditioner, coconut oil, and Dr. Bronners soap.  And yet even with those strict parameters, I still found Kathy’s book useful and inspiring.  For most people, it will be a gold mine.

In addition to tips on reducing your food and personal care budget to nearly zero, Kathy also devotes chapters to shopping for all sorts of other stuff – even clothes – for free or next to nothing.  She also has a chapter (one of my favorites) about how you can utilize her methods to stock up on stuff that you can give away to struggling people in your community, or to organizations that will distribute the stuff to people who need it.

The book is 230 pages of really great information for anyone who could use some tips on how to spend a whole lot less on the stuff that they already buy.  And you can win a copy for free!  Just leave a comment on this post, and I’ll randomly select a winner on Sunday, the 19th.  If you want to get inspired right away, check out Kathy’s website and browse around for a while.

Although we don’t do Christmas shopping around here, we aren’t a bah-humbug family.  The holiday has no religious significance for us, but we do appreciate the idea of a season (supposedly) dedicated to the ideas of peace, love, and taking care of others.  We sometimes get a little Charlie Brown tree, although we’re not planning to do so this year.  We don’t spend a weekend stringing lights all over our house, but we do appreciate the lights that the town puts up, and the displays that some of our neighbors create.  We don’t do gifts, but we love getting together with friends and family during the holiday season.

Basically, we’ve taken all of the stressful aspects of Christmas and eliminated them (years ago, we did do things like climb around on the roof putting up lights and wander through the mall buying gifts), and that has left ample time to enjoy the parts of the season that we find pleasant.  December is not a stressful month in our house – it’s pretty much the same as any other month, but with a bit more time spent with family and friends.

For the last nine years, I’ve been making Christmas ornaments for our nieces, but I decided to let our son make them this year.  When we go to story time at the library, he loves using the glue during whatever craft session they have.  So a few days ago, I dug into my craft supplies to look for ideas.  I found a sheet of white craft foam, some ribbon, a bottle of craft glue, and oodles of little embellishments, stickers, and do-dads.  I cut the craft foam into circles, punched a hole in each circle to string the ribbon hanger, and then let our little guy dig into the bling.  I covered each circle with glue and then let him pick out fancy stuff to add.  He had a blast, and the ornaments turned out looking really cute. 

Yesterday, we walked to the post office to mail them, and he was quite proud of his creations, and sure that his cousins will like them.

We’ve explained to our son that later this month, our town will be holding a food drive for local families, and we’re going to take him to the grocery store to help us pick out food to contribute.  We want him to be involved in the process as much as possible, and we’ll use it as an opportunity to explain what Christmas is really all about.  He’s only two and a half, so the fact that we’re going to be spending our money on food for the food drive rather than gifts for him will be A-ok with him this year.  I know that as the years go by, that might not be such an easy sell, but we’re hoping that we can gently teach him from a very early age to reject the consumerism that seems so rampant around the holidays, and instead to reflect on how fortunate our family is.  We’re trying to raise a little boy who is happy and content with his life, just the way it is.  Because if you aren’t content already, no new possession will change that – at least not long-term.  We recently watched the movie What Would Jesus Buy, and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a little inspiration to have a different sort of Christmas this year.

Our son is very much looking forward to the town parade of lights this weekend, and is most excited about the string of fire trucks and ambulances that will be cruising down main street with lots of lights and sirens.  He likes going for walks and looking at all the holiday decorations people have up (he keeps asking if we can go into their yards to play with the “toys” whenever he sees a holiday statue or inflatable decoration).  He’s excited to hang out with his grandparents and aunts and uncles for Christmas dinner.  I love that he’s excited about the simple pleasures of the season – the same ones that my husband and I enjoy.

Leo Babauta of Zen Habits published a great article today called The Case Against Buying Christmas Presents, and it’s got plenty of inspiration if you’re looking to get out from under the stressful consumerism of the holiday season.

I hope your December is off to a merry start, with lots of laughter, happiness, and good times with family and friends.   None of those things can be purchased… they’re all free if we just remember where to look for them.

I’ve written many times about how the little insurance agency that my husband and I started in 2003 has set us up for a pretty awesome lifestyle. In the beginning, we were driving all over the place to meet with clients, but within a year or so of starting the business, we began transitioning our work to the internet. These days, we are able to earn a very comfortable income working from home, utilizing the power of the internet. This means that our time is flexible, and we can choose to live wherever we want. As a result, we were able to move to a house on a huge weed-filled lot in a small town, and we’ve been able to spend a lot of our time over the last year turning that weedy lot into an orchard, berry patch, and veggie garden. The flexibility of working for ourselves has been especially great since our son was born, as we’re both able to spend time with him throughout the day. I won’t say it was easy to start working for ourselves, but it was definitely worthwhile.

If you’ve ever wanted to work for yourself, work fewer hours, work from anywhere, or turn something you’re passionate about into an income, there’s an e-book package available for the next three days that will give you all the motivation and information that you could ever need.  Karol Gajda has put together an amazing package of 23 e-books, and it’s available until December 2nd at 10am, at 91% off the total price you’d pay if you bought all of the books individually.

$5 from every sale will go to Charity: Water, with the goal of building two wells.

If you bought all of the e-books in this package individually, you’d spend $1052.  But for 72 hours this week, you can get them all for a total of $97. Here’s what you get with this sale:

The Unconventional Guide To Working For Yourself by Chris Guillebeau (regular price $79)

The Essential Motivation Handbook by Leo Babauta and Eric Hamm (regular price $15)

True Strengths + The Metrics Of Ease by Danielle LaPorte (regular price $20)

Upsell 101 by Naomi Dunford and Dave Navarro (regular price $77)

Websites That Sell Webinar by Laura Roeder (regular price $47)

Guest Posting Guide by Chris Garrett (regular price $17)

3-Day Money by David Risley (regular price $47)

Email Triage + 2011 Premium Planners by Charlie Gilkey (regular price $32)

Location Independent Lifestyle Guide by Lea Woodward (regular price $37)

Zero To Business by Johnny B. Truant (regular price $297!)

Write For The Web + Beyond Bricks And Mortar by James Chartrand (regular price $54)

Reclaim Your Dreams by Jonathan Mead (regular price $47)

How To Live Anywhere by Karol Gajda (regular price $97)

Minimalist Business by Everett Bogue (regular price $47)

Affiliate Marketing For Beginners by Corbett Barr (regular price $77)

Beyond Blogging by Nathan Hangen (regular price $47)

Smalltopia by Tammy Strobel (regular price $27)

Guest Post Secrets by Erica Douglass (regular price $77)

How To Network Fast by Jade Craven (regular price $44)

Networking Awesomely by Colin Wright (regular price $20)

Article Marketing Traffic Booster by Henri Junttila (regular price $47)

As you can tell from the prices of the individual e-books, these are high-end products, and the author list is like a who’s who in the world of working for yourself online. Many of the books come with additional resources in the form extra mini-guides, video presentations, audio interviews, case studies, and worksheets. If you’ve been itching to read even one or two of these books, now is the perfect time to get the whole package. And if you’re serious about starting your own online business, $97 is a pretty low price to pay for this much tuition.

This e-book bundle would also make a great Christmas gift if there’s someone in your life who wants to start their own little online business but isn’t sure where or how to begin.  And it won’t take up space or turn into clutter – always a big plus for me when it comes to giving gifts.