I was thinking that since this is the first Thrifty Tips post of the New Year, I would tackle learning something new for this month. For myself, one of the things I am trying to do is learn to be a little more organized in my life. I have jumped full force into Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie. I cannot begin to tell you what an amazing feeling it is to come home from work and not be stressed about what is for dinner or leaving work and knowing that I can't go straight home because I have to pick up something for dinner. It is total bliss!
LEARN SOME COMPUTER ONLINE
How about a little free computer education? HP has free online classes at the HP Learning Center. These classes are free and available 24/7!
Here is just a sample of some of the classes:
Linux 101: a beginner's guide (Ideal for me. I just learned to not call it Linus).
Adobe Photoshop CS4 for photography
Organize, archive and retrieve your digital photos (quick lesson)
Facebook and Twitter: getting started (quick lesson)
There are many others. Give it a browse. Some lessons very nicely explain things to those of us who are simply not that savvy. Some help you get started with simple things that you might not know how to do or who to ask.
LINK: HP Learning Center
MAKE THAT BATH BEAUTIFUL
Home Depot's Free Do-It-Herself Workshop on Bathroom updates will be held on Thursday, January 14th from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. Some of the following subjects include installing a faucet and installing a toilet. They will go over some brands that can help you save money too!
KIDS GET PENNY WISE
Lowe's Build and Grow Clinics for kids are featuring a cool bank your kids can make. This is a great way to get them extra enthused about saving. Get in touch with your local Lowe's to register. This activity takes place on Saturday January 9th from 10:00 am to 11:00 am. Remember the clinics are recommended for children in 1st through 5th grade.
On January 14th, your kids can learn to make their own Tic Tac Toe board. This is so cute, and something that they can keep for a long time. The clinic runs from 10:00 am to 11:00 am. The link below will take you to a where you can sign up for one or both clinics.
LINK: LOWE'S BUILD AND GROW CLINICS
RECIPES!!!!
Because Safeway has a very nice sale on Fresh Whole Chicken, I thought it would be nice to go over some ways to stretch that chicken out for a few days to really take advantage of their 47 cents a pound savings. The main thing to do when you are planning on stretching out that chicken is to plan what you are going to make in advance. This way you can focus on what parts of the chicken you are going to use for each meal. My family is a white meat chicken kind of family, but I have noticed that you can totally use the dark meat in other recipes when you are adding other ingredients and the flavor is pretty sweet! That is sweet as in awesome not as in sugary. :)
Roast Chicken with Lemons by Marcella Hazan Knopf
This seemed like a great and fairly inexpensive way to start things off. You need a 3 to 4 pound chicken, though I would go higher for the stretchability, two lemons, and pepper. It says fresh from a peppermill, but I don't think it HAS to be peppermilled. then again, you can purchase that fairly cheaply at Ross.
Garlic Chicken Lettuce Wraps (recipe from Thrifty Fun)
Really I think there are many ways you can work this out. It all depends on the items you have on hand. The recipe calls for butter lettuce, but you can totally get away with inexpensive iceberg lettuce for a decent cup and maybe line it with green leaf or romaine for more nutrition.
Crock Pot White Chicken Chili (recipe from the Recipezaar)
The cool thing about the chicken chili is you can just add whatever chicken is left at this point, and it is kind of nice to do something different from the usual chicken soup. This is a great treat for this time of year.
I have also used left over chicken to make chicken enchiladas, burritos, tacos, and stir fry (great when you have any random frozen veggies on hand). Certainly, the options are quite limitless. The above recipe links are good because you can pretty much make any of them with limited additional shopping.
FREEBIES!!!!
I love getting a little freebie here and there. Here are just a few.
If you are a Sam's Club member you can get in on a freebie for a sample of Clorox Disinfecting Wipes. This is definitely a good time to have those on hand. A nice thing about a free sample like this is you can pop it in the car or in your office desk to have on hand rather than a bulky container.
LINK: Clorox Disinfecting Wipes - Sam's Club
If you adopted a dog in 2009, you can sign up with Pedigree to get free dog food for a month. This is a limited time deal so get on it right away. You need to fill out a form that you can link to on their web page. They also need copies of all the important adoption documents including receipt for fee or donation receipt. They need to get this form by February 2010. What an awesome thing to do for people who adopted shelter dogs!
LINK: Pedegree Adoption Drive
Until March 31st or while supplies last 3M has free samples of their Post-it durable tabs. I have never had a tab stay nice and it would be nice to try these out and see how well they work. I have a new planner for 2010 and I would love to try these to separate the sections.
LINK: Post-it Durable Tabs
I love Emergen-C products. They are a great way to get a little vitamin C boost, and right now you can sign up to get a free sample of Emergen-C fizzy drink mix. I don't know how long this will last so check it out at the link.
LINK: Emergen-C Fizzy Drink Sample
I am sucker for recipe books and right now you can sign up for a free breakfast and brunch recipe book from Gooseberry Patch, Post Raisin Bran and Sun Maid Raisin and dried fruit. With my new goal of keeping a menu planned, I think this would be ideal for weekend meals.
LINK: Free Gooseberry Patch Breakfast and Brunch Cookbook
FREE MUSIC -
Amazon has tons of free music downloads. Here is a link to 13 free Christian song downloads including songs by BarlowGirl, Rachel Lampa and Big Daddy Weave.
LINK: Amazon Free Christian Music Download
Free CCM's download of the week is from the Catalyst Music Project and includes song and cord chart for “What A Savior” performed by Laura Story and written by Jeremiah Jones.
Learn a little bit more about the Catalyst Music Project here: Catalyst Music Project
LINK: Free CCM Download Of The Week- Catalyst Music Project
Parachute Festival 2010 has more music downloads for you! These are songs from this year's line up. The Parachute Festival is this amazing music festival in New Zealand centered on bringing Jesus Christ to people through music. You can learn more and sign up for your downloads at the link at the bottom. First, check out the music:
One - Rapture Ruckus
Count Me In - Leeland
Shout it out - Parachute Band
Streams Of Woe At Acheron - Falling Up
No Reason To Hide - Hillsong United
Dance Or Die (The Secret Handshake) - Family Force 5
Mess Of Me - Switchfoot
Writing On the Walls - Underoath
LINK: Parachute Festival Free Music
I picked up this link from the awesome Homeschool Freebie of the Day. It was for January 5th, but it still works now so go check it out. They have a sister site called Homeschool Radio Shows, just head over there and you can download The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It is a little radio drama from 1950 and very well done. They also have The Blizzard of 1888 and Sgt. Yukon. The titles make me chilly, but I love listening to audios of stories and radio shows. I don't know how long this will last so check it out at the link below:
LINK: Homeschool Radio Shows
ON TO GROCERIES-
Fry's -
-- Sweet California Clementines 3 pounds $1.99
-- Truckload Case Sale (many items are on special sale in this event here are a few)
Libby's canned veggies 50 cents each
Valley Fresh canned chicken 99 cents
Spam $1.88
-- Roast Sale - Many of Fry's roasts are on sale at a buy 1 get 1 free. This averages to around $2.49 a pound. It is a little over my limit but it may not be over yours.
Recipe you can use for Valley Fresh canned chicken -
Easy and Tasty Chicken Tortilla Soup (from AllRecipes.com)
Buffalo Chicken Dipping Balls (an appetiser from AllRecipes.com)
Albertsons
-- Russett Potatoes $1.88 for 15 pounds
-- Tilapia, Catfish, Swai or Pollock Fillets $2.88 a pound
-- Lots of items are also 10 for $10, but really you can by one or more.
Bar S Jumbo Franks
Half Gallon of Milk
Safeway
-- Rancher's Reserve Boneless Beef Top Round Roast $1.77 a pound
-- Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit 2 for $1.00
-- Safeway Fresh Whole Chicken 46 cents a pound (limit 6) --Dont forget to check out the recipes above for stetching that bird!
See you next week!
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