For the last few years I have participated in the Works for Me link carnival where many bloggers shared all kinds of tips and tricks for everything from saving money to cooking to decorating and beyond. If you have ever clicked over from my site to hers you will see nearly 200 people participating each week.  Some of the ideas are great, some are not so good, but sifting through so many can be daunting.

Kristen, over at We are that Family, who hosts the link party, has taken all the ideas that have been shared and has created an ebook of some of the best ideas out there. That’s right, she did all the work of sifting through and pulling out the best ideas that have come across her site Lucky for me, she chose one of my ideas and I am now featured in her new book.

The ebook has over 800 categorized tips that have been organized into 24 different categories and there are over 300 bloggers that have contributed their ideas. Click here to visit wearethatfamily and buy the ebook today.

Here’s an example of a few of the topics she has covered ::

Holiday
Recipes
Tech/Computers
Garden
Time Management
Travel
Frugal
Baby
Organization

and the list goes on……

I think the idea is just brilliant Kristen!!

photo courtesy

For this small town girl, getting away to college, experiencing life on my own, living in the dorms, learning self discipline, all while getting a great education to catapult me into life, was the way to go. The experience was so magical and amazing I think any and every kid needs to experience it.

UNTIL NOW…….

The cost of my education at a private college was $8,000 a year to live on campus. I lived on campus for just 2 years, so the last 2 years were much cheaper. The cost of education at that same school 20 years later, $35,000.

That’s fine you say, they have scholarships, loans, grants, loans, work study and of course loans. Well, here’s the news. You know all those unclaimed scholarships of the the 90′s and and early 2000′s? Well, with the cost of education going up, they are no longer unclaimed. Even if you work harder and do only the essay ones, also all claimed.

My daughter has applied for over 100 scholarships and hasn’t received one. As a matter of fact, on one of them in the email stating that she had not received the scholarship, it also stated she was one in 400,000 that had applied for that scholarship. (also keep in mind she is applying for anything from $10-$5000)

So where does that leave the parents and the kids?

Good question. If you have the answer, please post it here!!!!  I’m not kidding.

There are options. My daughter applied to 3 schools, all private (we will get to the public in a minute). Each financial package was nearly the same. If you make over $40,000 or $50,000 a year you are considered able to pay for your child’s education. But they do help you “pay” for it.

Each package we received had a loan for the student, and 2 loans the parents can take out and the final amount that you can then “afford” to pay after all the loans.

I called the schools and I started asking this question.  How are kids paying for college? Not the poor kids or the rich kids, but the middle class Americans?  Here is what I have heard ::

• Parents are mortgaging their houses
• Some want the experience so bad they are just taking out loans and will deal with it later.

Sorry while I pick my jaw up off the ground……hearing it once was bad enough, writing it out for all to see, makes me cringe all over again.

As parents we want the best for our kids and we never want them to miss out. EVER!  We hate to say no, sometimes we don’t know how to say no.

My daughter agreed to take out some loans and put cash down so she could go. Even with her very small contribution, she would still come out with $20,000 in debt. I said to her, “We are not going to deal with it later, we are going to deal with it RIGHT now!”

It’s hard to convince an 18 year old that they don’t want that much in loans after graduation. If I don’t educate my daughter on the issue, no one will, because the schools clearly said “they do what they can to get in, they deal with it later.”

Let’s look at the state schools around here. Each of them are about $25,000 a year. After what the private schools offered us, it would have only been $5000 a year savings to do public. Still a lot to pay.

I’ve been hearing that the next big bubble to burst is going to be the school loan bubble. Education is so expensive that students are taking out astronomical loans. The rates are horribly high, there are origination fees on some of them and even if you ever file for bankruptcy years down the road, these loans never go away. You have to pay them. If you can’t and you defer, they grow, but just because you aren’t paying doesn’t mean the interest stops accruing. Kids graduate,they can’t find jobs and they are locked into a life of debt. Some loans you can take up to 25 years to pay off, that’s probably because some of the lending institutions allow you to take up to $275,000 in loans.

I wanted my daughter to experience college the way I did. I pushed hard for it and in the end it’s not the wisest thing we can do as a family or to our child.

Instead for her first year she is going to do community college. (I still cringe when I say that.) I know community college is not bad and it’s just the Gen Eds she is getting out of the way, but I just never thought she would have to do school that way. But better to be wise now than over our heads in debt later.

UPDATE :: Just found we can send our daughter to a local community college for free if she has a 3.5 GPA or better.

So the question comes to this:: Are we doing our kids a disservice by letting them go to college?  That question mostly goes out to the parents that can’t pay, yet let their kids go anyways.

Works for Me

I love happy accidents, especially when I am really hungry and want something good and quick. Tonight was just that. I just got back from Eastern Oregon. It was a long 6.5 hour drive, but with 4 dozen farm fresh eggs in the back I knew I could come up with something creative.

I had a few left over veggies in the fridge.

Half of a sweet potato
4 brussel sprouts (who leaves only 4?)
some leeks that needed used.

I shredded all of them and sauteed them with some olive oil. I put the sauteed veggies on top of quinoa and then topped all that with a fried egg.

Not only was it easy, but the thing came together while I was waiting for the quinoa to cook. And did I mention that it was super yummy??

Sorry I have been MIA. When my birthday month rolls around I go into full on vacation mode. And then I start eating all over town, and therefore I blog on my EATING blog.

Anyways I am back. I will start working on a few posts here real soon.

If you have followed along you know that we have a senior this year and she wants to go to a Private college. We are working on ways to get her money. It hasn’t been as easy as we thought because ALL kids are applying for scholarships these days since school is so expensive. My mother in law is helping my daughter and she sent one in and noticed that 400,000 other kids applied for the same scholarship. UGH!!!

We have a few more tricks up our sleeve as we have talked to other parents, so hopefully I will have more information for you soon and hopefully it will be really good news for us as well.

Also spring is in the air for some and not quite for others. For instance here it is March and we had snow all day today. Not very common in Portland, Oregon this time of year. But if you want to break in to your spring wardrobe I can help you out.

Again sorry I have been gone. I will leave my mental vacation and come back to earth and continue to help you save money, prepare home cooked meals and get creative with living on less.

UPDATE ::  Not all baking sodas are created equal. More info at the bottom.

That’s right, I am no longer shampooing my hair.  I am sure you have heard about this since it seems to be all the rage. And I’m not gonna lie, I am LOVING it.

I heard about this almost a year ago. I was intrigued, but never tried it.

THEN

I was with a group of friends back in April and we were talking hair. I was sharing my frustration because my hair had become so dull and lifeless. I had tried several shampoos, yet nothing seemed to make my hair shiny or make it feel like it had more body.

So I again Googled “no more shampoo”.  I then forwarded my info on to my friend and we both began the no shampoo.

For the first week I still had to use product in my hair after I “shampooed” with baking soda. My hair still was dry and fly away hair. By week 2 I didn’t have to use any product in my hair at all. I do have to straighten my hair when I wash it because it has an annoying ugly curl. I tried to let it go, but there is not enough curl in it.

My hair is shiny and it does have more body than before. I am now 5 months in and I will never go back to actual shampoo. There have been a few occasions where I ran out of my baking soda mixture and grabbed shampoo because I had worked out and I was sweaty and gross.  I regretted it each time. My hair instantly felt heavy and limp again.

This is great for traveling because you can just throw baking soda in a baggy and add it to water when you get to your destination.

Why You Should Consider This ::

Shampoos and conditioners are full of chemicals. They are made to strip your hair of product, but they also just strip your hair. Like I said before, I am no longer needing other products, so now there is nothing to strip anything.

It’s cheaper. Even if you can get shampoo for under $1, this is still cheaper. I have products that I purchased for 25¢ and I won’t even be using those.

What’s the harm? That was my thought. I would at least try it and if I liked it I would report in with all of you. Well, I am reporting in, just like hundreds of other bloggers. We all like it. We are all happy with the results and we like our hair even better.

How To “Wash” Your Hair Now ::

1-2 Tbls. of baking soda mixed with 8oz of water. This will be enough to last you for at least a week. Mess around with the amounts. I like mine with a little more baking soda.

For the conditioner use 1-2 tbls. apple cider vinegar also with 8oz of water. Use this just on your hair and not on your roots. It will make your hair greasy if you use it on your roots. The apple cider vinegar works a a detangler, so if you don’t need it for that you can even skip it as I have.

You need to give yourself at least 5-6 weeks to work through the greasy phase. Your hair is being striped daily when you put chemicals on it. So it’s producing extra oil to keep it healthy. Once you stop striping it, it does take awhile for your body to know to stop producing extra oil, but it will.

Not only is it good for your hair, but it’s also great for your budget. I bought a huge bag of baking soda from Costco for around $5.

Anyone else tried it?

Here are other uses for apple cider vinegar if you decide not to use it in your hair. Using it as deodorant or getting rid of cold sores.

UPDATE :: Not all baking sodas are created equal ::

• If you are trying this and its just not working use less baking soda in your mix.
• I have also found that only Arm and Hammer works for me.
• And only the small boxes not the Costco container.
• Trader Joe’s also does NOT work for me.
• Your hair should feel light healthy, not heavy and thick. It will become greasy way too fast if it’s like that.

Want more information? Check out Simple Mom. I like the way she laid it out and even she even includes some extra tips.

My husband and I were out driving around the other day and we passed one of those Payday Loan stores. You know what I’m talking about,  you’ve seen them around town and heard about them on the news years ago.
As we drove by we were surprised to see a huge line inside. Surprised and saddened I should say.

I know for some people they do live paycheck to paycheck. I also know that sometimes there are circumstances outside their control and situations we wouldn’t even know how to handle. No matter what it seems to be, these people eventually make their way down to the nearest Payday Loan stores and apply for a loan just to make it another month.

An alternative to the traditional storefront Payday Loan places is online loans. Getting online loans is pretty simple and easy now days, but because it is very easy, please be very careful when applying for these that you don’t take out more than you need. Because of the easy access, some people tend to take out more than they really need. These loans will need to be paid back in a timely manner, so be responsible with what you apply for.

In the past getting payday loans was rather risky, and with all kinds of hidden costs, it was causing more problems than what it would solve. Now the Payday loans are under more guidelines and are much more secure making it a better option for those that have no other options.

Things to remember if this is the option you have to choose:

• Never get more than you need
• Better yet take out as little as possible
• Ask about any additional costs
• Ask about pre payment penalties
• Pay it back quickly and on time to avoid additional fees
• Cut your spending in the meantime in hopes of not having to take another loan
• Reevaluate your current budget

I am pretty proud of myself. I think this is the 3rd week in a row that I have had my menu plan. We are trying to keep our food budget as low as possible, so this is helping a ton. Weird week ahead. I will be gone for a long weekend, Friday – Monday and the family will all be gone Thursday night. So 3 family dinners this week.

Monday

Hamburgers on the Traeger
Sweet Potatoes Fries with Chipotle Mayonnaise

Tuesday

Baked Turkey Cutlets in Panko
Roasted Cauliflower OR
Cauliflower “Mashed Potatoes”

Wednesday

Pasta Carbonara
This uses cream, as does the cauliflower mash. That should use the whole container. Also considering trying this with spaghetti squash instead of pasta. We’ll see.

Thursday
I’m home alone, but making a huge pot of Chicken Tortilla soup to last through the weekend.

Friday – Monday
I’m gone.
Left over soup
Pizza on the Traeger
Sandwiches

Check out what others are eating this week.

Photo credit

Need some extra cash? No time to get another job? Sounds like it’s time to give up a few things. Some are realistic, some aren’t. Even choosing one or two things could save you $100 a month.

Let’s start with the basics

• Stop getting your coffee at the local coffee shop
• Stop eating lunch out
• Stop buying flowers for your significant other.  Just kidding, keep doing that!!

IN THE HOME

• Unplug things when you aren’t home. Seriously who remembers to do that?
• Replace your old bulbs with the new bulbs. I won’t lie, that’s a tough one too, since the new ones are so expensive.
• Close the curtains in the winter to keep the heat in and close them in the summer to keep the sun out.
• Make home super enjoyable. The more you like to be there the less you will be out spending money.
• Get on Pinterest and find easy home projects to furnish and decorate your home. Just because you have Pottery Barn taste doesn’t mean you have to pay those prices.
• Don’t keep up with the Jone’s. Turns out, they are in debt over their head. Instead buy what you can pay cash for.
• Get rid of your home phone. Do you even use it anymore? We got rid of ours 2 years ago.

ENTERTAINMENT

• Use Living Social, Groupon, or any of your favorite deal sites. You can score some great entertainment deals on food, activities and even trips.
• Buy the Entertainment book which has great movie ticket coupons.
• Enjoy Happy Hour instead of a dinner at a nice restaurant.
• Watch for free concerts around town. These happen a lot during the summer, but even in the winter you can find a few here and there.
• Instead of grabbing a coffee with a friend go for walk. You usually just want to talk anyways.
• Get rid of cable. There is really never anything on anyways.
• Replace cable with Hulu. I think it’s about $100 a year.

CAR

• Do all your trips together. This is another one that comes up often, but my husband can’t think like this. Some people just need to make an conscious effort to get it right.
• Take 15 minutes and see if you really can save on car insurance. After we added a kid, we spent more than 15 minutes and easily saved ourselves $75 a month.
• Consider selling your car for a car with a lower payment. Or better yet look for a car you can pay cash for and get rid of the car payment altogether.
• Ask for discounts even when getting your oil changed. Last time I had the wrong coupon, so I asked them (after the oil change was done) what they could do for me. They took care of me. (keeping up on maintenance will save you more money in the long run.)
• Share a car if you can.  We actually could have kept sharing if my daughter didn’t have 2 jobs. But we did have 3 drivers and 2 cars for almost 3 years. The 3rd car was a car we paid cash for.

HOUSE

• Keep the lights off if you are not in the room. Don’t think this makes a difference? Check your electricity bill between the summer and the fall. The bill goes up in the fall even though you don’t use heat or air.
• It’s hard to do in this economy, but try and refinance. That could easily save you over $100 a month.
• Keep up on maintenance. Fix the small things, instead of waiting for the big problems.
• Do your own yard work.
• Clean your own house.  I know it would be nice to have help, but when times are tough, it’s one that needs cut out.

FOOD

• Do a weekly menu plan for your dinners. It keeps you from eating out and it keeps you from impulse buying at the store. Make that $4.99 Costco chicken into 4 meals.
• Here’s one that I hate to pass on…eat vegetarian once a week. I really do like my meat.
• Inventory you freezer, fridge and pantry. Come up with as many meals as you can with what you have on hand. I like to do this every once and awhile.
• Whenever you stop in for milk always check the markdowns in the meat department. If something is not marked down and it should be, just ask.

CLOTHING

• When you buy articles of clothing make sure they are super versatile.Then you won’t need so many pieces.
• Don’t feel like you need to buy quality clothing. I know, it seems wrong, but if you buy cheaper items you can afford to get new clothes more often. And some of my quality clothes are out of style.
• Don’t shop reused, well unless you want to. Target markdowns are usually better deals.
• Do a clothing swap with friends.

So you have done the basics. But What else could you possibly cut out??

• Look at switching to a cheaper hairdresser. I had to ask myself if it was worth paying $30 to have my layers trimmed. Not ready to switch? Try and make it last an extra week or two.
• Do your boys have short hair? Consider cutting it yourself. I started doing this 5-6 years ago. I paid $40 for good clippers and have kept them in good running condition.
• Plan days to just stay home.
• Ask friends to come over for coffee instead of out.
• Make nice meals at home and serve it with wine, beer or cocktails. It might not be a frugal thing to do, but they are a fraction of the cost to make as opposed to buying them at a restaurant.
• Don’t go to the mall or any store just to look around. Don’t check out Target clearance. When we were really, really poor I would go shop Target clearance. Yes I was saving money, but I was also spending money I didn’t have on things I might not have really needed.
• Write down what you spend. Just seeing where it goes will help you cut back. To save $100 a month just cut out $25 a week.

Over a year ago we really had to cut back on our spending and I put many of these to good use and I managed to save us over $500 a month. It can be done!!

What are you doing to save money?  I mean to seriously attack that monthly bill??

Check out some other money saving tips.
Works for Me

Nearly 2 years ago I bought towels on clearance at Target. Here’ s part of the post here ::

So now my rant for why I am willing to buy cheap towels.  My towels always end up stinking.  Before when I had a top load washer I would add vinegar to take out that sour odor.   Well, I have front load now and you can’t do that.  I am sick of my towels stinking and I have decided that if I can find them cheap enough I need to throw them out when they are that bad.  You also have to remember I have teenagers so they get left wadded and wet.  Now the hard part is going to be throwing away my old towels.  I am so frugal I can barely part with them, but gag when I dry off.  So out they go and NO I won’t donate those nasty things. That’s just mean.

Here I am two years later, and they still look brand new and they are still super soft. I paid just $2.48 for each towel. I made sure to keep them away from my kids. And they don’t smell at all. I do NOT need to throw them out like I thought I might need too. I made sure to hang dry them and I did find a way to add vinegar to my load on occasions.

I guess we don’t need to spend a lot of money on towels or replace them for that matter. Well, actually, I am going to replace some more this year.

In case you don’t know the best times to shop Target, check out the Target Markdown Schedule and plan your trip accordingly.

I am trying to keep up with my menu plans because::

1. It gives me future ideas

2. We all know it saves money

3. You can think through how to buy a special ingredient and use it up before it’s spoils and has to be thrown out. For instance Basil or last week I had Kale with a couple of uses.

Sunday
Breakfast Burritos – never got to these last week
eggs, sausage, hash browns wrapped in flour tortillas

Monday
Lemon Chicken
over pasta or spaghetti squash
roasted veggies or salad

Tuesday
Pork Bulgogi with Rice

Wednesday – I don’t want to cook day
Sausage – like Trader Joe’s Mango Chicken
Saute onions and red pepper -toss in sliced sausage
add can of black beans and corn – saute till warm
Serve over rice

Thursday – Girls night, boys are snowboarding
Roasted Veggies over Quinoa
needs a sauce and I’m taking suggestions

Friday
Pasta Carbonara
Bread
Caesar Salad

Saturday
I’m going to the Roller Derby, so dinner out!!
That’s right the Roller Derby!!!!!

Find out what others are eating this week.