dollardiet

We have a winner for our crock pot cook book giveaway.

AmyDunn — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 10:42:18 -0500

Congrats to BabyBarber, who has won the crock pot cookbook giveaway here on The Dollar Diet.

I'll be mailing her a copy of Stephanie O'Dea's "More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow."

Thanks to everyone for entering. And many, many thanks to all of you who have followed along on the blog during February.

Day 28: It's over and our wallets are fatter for the effort!

AmyDunn — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 10:54:17 -0500

We've made it.
Barring any impulsive behavior today, my family and I will have successfully managed to live a relatively normal life without spending a single extra dime in the month of February.
I'm pretty proud of that.

How much money have we saved?
That's been the question many of you have asked over the course of the month. And a question I've pondered myself. Until today, I really hadn't kept track.

I tallied up the numbers this morning and was kind of surprised at just how much we saved. It just goes to show how much mindless spending goes on in the world even by the so-called frugalistas of the world like myself.
I did not include any money saved on purchases that were merely delayed, such as my much-whined-about laptop that died about halfway through the month.
Since we'll be buying one pronto, that isn't really a savings.

I did, however, count the $200 in grocery money that we normally spend over the course of any given month. Some of you challenged whether that was a true savings, saying we would likely spend more than usual in March to replenish the stash. That's a good point and something I will be keeping an eye on. But in past years, I've kept to my $50-a-week budget after our no-spend challenges.
Truthfully, we will be so excited to have a new infusion of food in the pantry I don't think we'll mind the few inconveniences that are likely to come up until we're totally restocked.

In the end, I estimated we've saved $550 in our experiment in shunning consumerism. Here's a little cheat sheet of how I arrived at that figure:

$200 in groceries
$110 in dinners out had we treated our company when they came to town
$21 for six boxes of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies (That's our typical order.)
$48 in deal-of-the day Internet deals that I almost certainly would have purchased
$60 in Friday night date night takeout
$20 for a birthday party gift that we ended up making ourselves (our fabulous juice pouch purse creation)
$25 for new clothes for a middle school dance my daughter attended (She made do with what she had and lived to tell about it.)
$25 for Valentine's Day dinner out (We ate in with candles and a cloth on the table, and I made cheesecake for dessert.)
$40 in "weak moment" spending. (This is my catch-all for money spent on a bad day, an unexpectedly busy day or any other excuse we make to ourselves to rationalize a purchase. At just 10 bucks a week, this is pretty low but we're pretty good about curbing this type of spending.)

Now we've got to figure out what we'll do with that hard-earned cash.
Read about that, and other thoughts about our no-spend challenge, in this Sunday's paper.

Day 27: One day left

AmyDunn — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:08:19 -0500

It's Day 27 of our self-imposed moratorium on spending! Just one more day and our little experiment in anti-consumerism will end.

We've already started talking about what we'll do on March 1.

There was a unanimous vote for a pizza to celebrate. And I will make a quick run to the grocery store to get some fresh fruit, bread, milk and a few other items to carry us through the week.

To tell you the truth, I've kind of enjoyed my furlough from deal matching and coupon cutting so it will take me a few days to get back into the swing of things.

The first big purchase we'll make is likely to be a replacement for my now-dead laptop. Mr. Dollar Diet has been doing some research and has a stack of sales circulars to go through to see what kind of deal we can get.

Other than that, I don't foresee us going wild in the aisles of our local retailers.

On Monday, our very last day of no-spending, I'll be tallying up how much I think we have saved during the month. Is it a true savings or merely a delay in buying? Stay tuned.

Day 26: Menu planning when the cupboard is bare

AmyDunn — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 14:40:50 -0500

(In case this is your first time reading The Dollar Diet blog, my family and I are on a quest to go the entire month of February without spending any money. No kidding. We'll pay the monthly bills, put gas in our cars to get to and from work and spend just $10 a week on milk and produce, but that's it. If it's discretionary, it's off limits. Click here to read the introductory post.)

With just three days left in our frugal February, we don't have much left in the pantry and freezer.

Well, let me clarify.

We have more left than I thought we would have, but our meal choices are limited because of other necessary ingredients that have long since been used up.

For instance, as I was mixing up last night's blueberry pancakes I realized I needed two more eggs to complete the recipe. Oops. Good thing I had invited my mom over for dinner already so I didn't feel too bad about asking her to bring a couple eggs along with her.

Those pancakes also took the absolute last four tablespoons of canola oil we had on hand.

I'm also down to my last quarter stick of butter and my last two cups of milk.

So even though I still have plenty of flour and sugar left in the house I won't be doing any baking before the end of the month, which means no more bread, which means no more sandwiches.

No eggs also rules out any ideas I entertained of making a quicky supper of omelets or scrambled eggs.

What we do have a lot of: oatmeal, Cheerios, canned fruits and veggies, cheese and chicken.

That leaves us with only a few choices.

For lunch today, we all had leftovers of this and that. For dinner tonight, I'm got chicken corn noodle soup simmering in the crock pot. We'll have crackers to go with it.

On Sunday, I'll crank the crock pot back up and make chili since I still have a good supply of canned tomatoes and canned kidney beans and black beans. For supper, I've promised my picky daughter she can whip up homemade mac and cheese in the crock pot. We'll have to use our last little bit of dry milk to pull that recipe off because I want to leave our last drops of milk for cereal in the mornings and Mr. Dollar Diet's coffee.

On Monday, we'll have cereal for breakfast and leftovers for lunch. For supper, I'm thinking we'll have shredded barbecued chicken, once again employing the handy dandy crock pot. We won't have buns to put it on, but who needs the extra carbs, right?

I'll serve that up with some of those canned fruits and veggies and call it a month!

Day 25: Friday night date nights

AmyDunn — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:24:03 -0500

Today's Friday, which, in a normal month, means date night for Mr. Dollar Diet and me.
Our daughter heads over to Grandma's house for their weekly sleepover and we indulge in a little take-out at the end of a long week.
This just might be the thing I have missed the most in February as we've challenged ourselves to stop spending for the entire month.
Cooking on a Friday night is not my idea of a good time.
Tonight, with company in the house, we'll turn date night into family night.

Blueberry pancakes are on the menu. Followed by some serious games of Bananagrams.

It will be fun.

But next Friday night, when we're solidly into the month of March, we'll return to regularly scheduled programming. I'm voting for pizza and a movie.

Don't forget: Enter to win a crock pot cookbook

AmyDunn — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:41:53 -0500

Time is running out to enter to win a copy of Stephanie O'Dea's "More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow" crock pot cookbook.

You must go to my original post here to enter.

Comments left on this post won't do you any good.

The deadline to enter is noon Sunday, Feb. 27. Good luck. I'll post the winner on Monday, the last day of our 28-day experiment in extreme frugality.

Congrats to the winner of our recycled juice pouch purse giveaway

AmyDunn — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:25:38 -0500

Congratulations to Amy P., the winner of The Dollar Diet's contest to win a recycled juice pouch purse.

My daughter and I made several of these earlier in the month in response to a birthday invite she had received. With no cash to spend, we crafted a super cool handbag made from empty juice pouches we had set aside. If you missed seeing our final product, you can check it out here.

Amy chose to have her bag finished with decorative fringe so I'll be getting that out to her during the first week of March.

Congrats, Amy. And thanks to everyone who entered.

Day 24: My favorite frugal blogs

AmyDunn — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:45:21 -0500

Over the course of this month, some of you have asked where I get my frugal inspiration.

While nothing can replace a frugal friend in the flesh, my fellow frugal bloggers are often a close second.

Over the years, I've gotten some of my best ideas from frugal blogs.

The problem is the sheer volume of blogs out there that specialize in thrifty living.

For a time, I became so hooked on reading frugal blogs, I had little time left to actually be frugal.

That's when I started trimming my list.

I now limit myself to just a handful of blogs that I check daily and another handful I check in on periodically.

Though some of my favorite blogs overlap, all of them fall into three basic categories:

1. Deal blogs that provide info on the latest grocery and internet deals as well as up-to-date coupon info.

2. Idea/tip blogs that offer basic how-to information on saving money.

3. Day-in-the-life blogs that illustrate how families live frugally.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Money Saving Mom: A young mother of three, Crystal blogs from the Midwest about grocery and drugstore deals, Internet bargains and freebies. Interspersed amid the deals are glimpses of her own compelling frugal story, which began in a basement apartment. Thanks to her thrifty ways, her husband graduated from law school debt-free and they recently paid cash for their first home.

The Frugal Girl: Kristen, a homeschooling mother of four on the East coast, is handy with a camera and loads her frugal every-day living posts with lots of photos. She bakes her own bread, is a big advocate of cutting food waste, prefers Aldi's shopping over coupons and generally turns "making do" into an art form instead of drudge work.

The Non-Consumer Advocate: Katie blogs from the West Coast about her efforts to refrain from buying anything new with the exception of consumables. She lives by the Depression-era saying: Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.

Small Notebook: Rachel writes about the joys (and struggles) of simple living in modern society. She normally blogs from Texas but she and her husband and two kids recently pared down their belongings and moved to Italy where she is blogging about simple living European-style.

Frugal Dad: One of the few male bloggers I read, Jason offers common sense advice on saving money, getting out of debt and planning for retirement - all from a dad's perspective. One recent post, titled 10 Things I Want My Kids to Know About Money Before They're Adults, was thoughtful and insightful.

Man Vs Debt: Baker and his wife and toddler are touring the country with all their worldly belongings tucked inside their RV. (Unbelievably, he has pictures up on his blog of every single item his little family owns.) He blogs about getting out from under the weight of debt to do what you love. This guy is following his own advice and having a good time.

What about you? What frugal blogs do you frequent?

Day 23: House guests, again!

AmyDunn — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:32:40 -0500

As I write this, I have house guests enroute. Again.

My oldest son and his fiance are coming to visit while he's in town for a business conference.

They'll be here with us in the waning days of our no-spend challenge.

Oh my.

Day 22: Three weeks down and a bit of frugal fatigue

AmyDunn — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:22:15 -0500

In case this is your first time reading The Dollar Diet blog, my family and I are on a quest to go the entire month of February without spending any money. No kidding. We'll pay the monthly bills, put gas in our cars to get to and from work and spend just $10 a week on milk and produce, but that's it. If it's discretionary, it's off limits. Click here to read the introductory post.)

We're into the home stretch on our 28-day experiment in living off the consumer grid.

With just one week left, I'd be lying if I said it has been easy, mostly because of the death of my laptop.

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit how much this has rocked my world but it has. I guess I'm a material girl when it comes to my computer.

If nothing else, my whining over my laptop has made me ponder my dependence on it and my addiction to surfing the Internet. And I've pretty much decided it's probably been a good thing that I've been too cheap to take the plunge and purchase a smart phone or an iPad. The laptop is distraction enough; I can only imagine how much less I would get done in a day if I had constant access to the virtual world in my pocket or purse.

Another positive about postponing thereplacement of my laptop has been the time it has allowed Mr. Dollar Diet to research the latest models and look for the best deal.

In other frugal developments:

My second attempt at bread-baking went well. Or so I thought. When I pulled the loaves out of the oven, I realized they didn't rise nearly as high as they should have. They are edible. Barely.

We've continued to eat our meals at home, crafting our menus from what we have left in the pantry and freezer. I'm now out of my favorite Kashi cereal but moved on to Cheerios. Our stash of frozen veggies has disappeared so we'll be eating canned from here on out.

All of us, I think, are a tad grumpy over the more limited choices but what a great reminder of how fortunate we are to have enough to continue to eat balanced, if somewhat boring, meals after three weeks of buying nothing at the grocery beyond milk and a handful of fresh produce.

In our spare time, we haven't had any problems finding fun things to do without spending money. We've watched some family TV shows together, played Scrabble, ridden bikes, walked and visited the library. At our nearest branch, Eva Perry Regional in Apex, did you know a free magazine exchange is available?

This week, I also took advantage of my time at home to ruthlessly root through our possessions, giving away, selling and donating the stuff we no longer want, need or absolutely love. A couple of lamps, a statue of a girl reading a book, never used tablecloths, hockey memorabilia, a chair, an old TV....the list of stuff headed out our door is long and varied. This process of decluttering and clearing out has become somewhat of an annual tradition during our no-spend challenges. There's something about living without, and making do, that has made us realize how much stuff we have and how much simpler our life can be without all the stuff.

Day 21: Crock pot love.....and a giveaway!

AmyDunn — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 11:43:44 -0500

I love my crock pot.

Let me count the ways:

1) It allows me to cook a decent meal no matter how insanely busy we are.

and

2) It saves us tons of money.

What more could a busy frugal mom ask for in a kitchen appliance?

I came to adore my crock pot a little late in my career as a mom.

Crock pots, after all, were an ill-fated cooking fad of the 60s, weren't they? Why else would yard sales across the land be dotted with the olive-green and harvest-gold models of yesteryear still in their original boxes? And then there were all those recipes using bad cuts of meat smothered in cans of condensed soup.

So, when we initially set up housekeeping in the early 80s, we didn't own a crock pot. And when I finally did purchase one, it made only occasional appearances for a batch of chili on a cold day.

It was only after we got really serious about saving money that the crock pot began taking front and center stage on the kitchen counter.

As I hunted for money-saving ideas in books and on the Internet, I began to notice a recurring theme: frugal-minded folks cook regularly with their crock pots.

Do the math: If you commit to filling the crock pot in the morning, there's no need for desperate measures, such as takeout, in the evening. Beyond that, crock pots meals can be made from less-expensive kitchen staples, such as whole chickens. And if you really want to get cheapskatey, crock pots use far less energy than ovens.

I was more than convinced.

And then I stumbled upon Stephanie O'Dea, a San Francisco Bay-area mom who made a New Year's resolution in 2008 to use her slow cooker every single day for a year and blog about the good, the bad and the completely inedible.

O'Dea estimtes her website, crockpot365.blogspot.com, gets more than a million page views a month. But in the beginning, only a handful of people were reading about her adventures in crock potting.

Then in February of that year, she made creme brulee in her slow cooker and it turned out so well she wrote the Rachel Ray show about her crock pot concoction.

One thing led to another, and O'Dea appeared on the show, which led to skyrocketing blog readership and a cookbook deal.

"Make It Fast, Cook It Slow" (Hyperion, $19.99) was published in 2009 and contains more than 300 recipes for everything from that infamous creme brulee recipe to lasagna to crunchy roasted garbanzo beans.

There are the expected chapters on seafood, poultry and meat and more unusual sections devoted to "takeout fake-out," baking and fun stuff, such as making crayons, play dough and chocolate frito candy.

Fast forward to 2011 and O'Dea has a second cookbook on the shelves, this one called "More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow" (Hyperion, $18.99). There are 200 new recipes with more of O'Dea's down-to-earth advice with a side helping of suburban-mom humor.

By her own admission, O'Dea "is not a chef."

"I have no formal training in anything culinary related," she writes in the introduction, other than having attended quite a few Pampered Chef parties.

She says she got her first slow cooker at age 21, which she said gave her "domestic side a much-needed boost of esteem."

"I was amazed at how effortlessly I could throw together soups and stews, and how tender and moist chicken breasts could become when almost completely ignored."

After having kids, O'Dea says she fell in love with her crock pot all over again.

"I quickly learned that the only way to ensure a proper family dinner at 6 p.m. was to get the slow cooker loaded up early in the morning while I was still caffeinated and coherent."

A woman who speaks my language.

Similar to her first book, this one offers a "verdict" with each recipe, telling you if her kids loved it or hated it, tips on using the leftovers or ideas on how to buy a pricey ingredient for cheaper.

What's new in this book is its organization by price. There are sections with recipes that cost $7 and under, $10 and under and $15 and under.

There's also a section in the back titled "Staples," which includes recipes on making your own baby food, beef stock, chicken broth, pasta sauces, shredded chicken and yogurt, among other things.

What a great primer for new cooks. Or old cooks like me who are slow learners.

Of course, I wouldn't be doing my frugal duty if I didn't point out you can get most, if not all, of O'Dea's crock pot recipes on her website, crockpot365.blogspot.com.

But there is also something to be said for curling up on the couch to page through a cookbook and cooking with a real book instead of having to constantly refresh the computer screen.

That's why I'm giving away a copy.

To enter to win a copy of "More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow," post a comment below. The contest is open until noon Sunday, Feb. 27.

Day 20: Frugal friendship

AmyDunn — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:42:01 -0500

One of the best ways to save money, I have discovered over the years, is to surround yourself with frugal friends.

If you have keeping-up-with-the-Joneses types of friends, you're an oddball for cutting up old t-shirts into rags. You're an eccentric, at best, for outfitting yourself in thrift shop finds. And you're downright weird if you happen to let slip that you dip into the recycling bins to hunt for coupons.

But in frugal friendship circles, you're a genius.

Here are a few more truths I've discovered about my dearest, most thrifty, companions:

*Frugal friends understand that when you suggest meeting for lunch you really mean, ”Let’s go to Chick fil-A, use a coupon and bring our own drinks.”

*Frugal friends get excited when you tell them you bought half a dozen cake mixes, used coupons combined with a sale, and walked out paying just the tax.

*Frugal friends brag about what they didn't buy.

*Frugal friends fully comprehend the depth of the loss when you realize you left your coupon binder in the grocery cart never to be seen again.

*Frugal friends consider coupon swaps a major social event.

*Frugal friends admire your skill when you tell them how little you spent on a gift for them.

*Frugal friends call you from their cell phones when they spot a good deal at the store.

*Frugal friends don’t let other frugal friends pay full-price.

Day 19: For the love of freebies

AmyDunn — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 22:27:14 -0500

As a frugal family, we love our freebies. So you might imagine we've been taking full advantage of the free stuff that has come our way this month as we abstain from spending.

Here's a sampling of our good fortune in February:

*We cashed in a Target coupon for a FREE full-size bag of potato chips.

*Thanks to Brueggers celebrating its birthday, we each got three FREE bagels.

*A friend of mine had planned to take me out to lunch for my birthday back in December but we'd never gotten around to it. February was the perfect time to check that off the to-do list.

*We've cashed in a few coupons at Chick-fil-A for FREE drinks and even a FREE meal. Did you know coupons at Chick-fil-A never expire?

*Mr. Dollar Diet was lucky enough to attend the Jeopardy viewing party at IBM last week, munching on all types of FREE food for dinner while watching Watson beat his human competitors.

*$42 in FREE money has arrived in our mailbox so far this month, courtesy of mail-in rebates on grocery expenditures.

And tomorrow, we're headed to Grandma's for Sunday dinner. FREE food and FREEdom from cooking and cleaning. Can't beat that.

Day 18: RIP, dear laptop

AmyDunn — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 15:31:16 -0500

It couldn't have happened at a worse time.

My laptop is dead. Officially pronounced so by my computer geek husband.

He had ressurrected it from the grave several times before over the last several months but this time he let me know there was nothing more he could do.

I'm trying to look on the bright side here but am having a tough time finding one.

I sure wasn't banking on going without a computer when I signed myself up for 28 days of no spending.

It's one thing to do without fast food or a diet soda from the vending machine. But my computer?

This will be a true measure of my materialism.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Day 17: When the bread runs out

AmyDunn — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:07:58 -0500

As you might imagine, 17 days into our 28-day no-spend challenge, our normally packed pantry has some gaping holes.

When you're replenishing with regular trips to the grocery, you don't really notice the steady stream of cans, boxes and bags of food that a family consumes each week.

If you've been reading along this month, you know that when the granola bars ran out, I made my own. No honey? No problem. I substituted corn syrup. Ditto for oil. I used applesauce instead.

Then we ran out of bread.

I had silently fretted as I noticed we were running low. Down to our last slices, I canceled a grilled cheese and tomato soup supper, but it was only delaying the inevitable.

Sigh.

I got out my bread pans, washed away the dust and baked my own.

I have baked bread before but not very often. I was definitely leaving my comfort zone.

I'm told by those who regularly bake bread for their families that it becomes second nature. But at this stage in my bread-baking journey. I'm not convinced.

Thankfully, I followed a recipe I found on one of my favorite blogs, The Frugal Girl, which came complete with photos. A sort of bread-baking for dummies.

With Frugal Girl's high-tech hand holding, along with a lot of serious hand-wringing over whether the bread would rise, I was able to produce two tasty golden brown loaves.

But it was a lot of work. And it took a lot of time.

I kept thinking how easy it is to pluck a loaf of bread off the store shelf.

And yet....it did give me that self-sufficiency high, knowing I had made something as basic as bread.

And it tasted so good, all warm and yeasty when it came out of the oven and paired with stuffed Italian shells. And later when used to make our postponed grilled cheese and tomato soup.

But guess what? Just four days after my triumphant bread-baking for dummies session, we've only got one third of one loaf left.

If sandwiches are in the plan for the waning days of February, I'll have to do it ALL OVER AGAIN.

This extreme-frugal-living business, while rewarding, can be exhausting.

Reminder: Only two days left to win a recycled juice pouch bag

AmyDunn — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 08:13:17 -0500

There's just two days left to enter to win a recycled juice pouch bag created by Dollar Diet's mother-daughter duo.

We started making them as inexpensive but eco-chic handbags but some of you have suggested they would also make terrific reusable grocery bags. Great idea!

Remember, you must leave your comment on the original post here to enter. The deadline is noon Saturday, Feb. 19.

Day 16: The super double temptation

AmyDunn — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:41:42 -0500

My mom, the very woman who taught me everything I know about couponing, was the first to break the news to me that rumors were circulating on the Internet that Harris Teeter would be offering Super Double coupons starting today.

Her email was way too chipper, given my circumstances, having pledged to the world that I wouldn't spend an extra dime in February.

Since the news was confirmed, many folks have asked me what I planned to do.

Would I or wouldn't I?

Couldn't I made an exception?

It's tempting. Way more tempting than the deal-of-the-day Internet deals I wrote about during the first week of our frugal February challenge.

With $1.50 coupons doubling to $3 and dollar coupons doubling to $2, I've scored all kinds of great deals in the past, paying pennies on the dollar for everything from mustard to dish liquid.

In the end, though, I've decided to stay the course and stay out of Harris Teeter. And any other stores that may try to reel me in with "can't miss" savings.
Instead of dwelling on the missed deals, I'm focusing on the opportunities gained by stepping off the consumer grid.

Day 15: Breakfast for dinner

AmyDunn — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 10:54:18 -0500

Once a week at our house, we eat breakfast for dinner.
It's a great way to trim the grocery budget. Pancakes, after all, are way cheaper to serve than even the cheapest cuts of beef or chicken.
And it's quick, easy, and typically, a kid pleaser.
I try to rotate the breakfast menu from week to week to keep things interesting.
Last week, we had whole wheat pancakes. This week, we'll have a baked oatmeal concoction. The original recipe called for apples but I throw in whatever I have on hand. This time around, I'll use up a few apples past their prime and a handful of cranberries I froze at Christmas. I'll also be using applesauce as a substitute for oil since we are about to run out.

Other breakfasts I like to serve for dinner are:

*burritos filled with scrambled eggs, salsa and cheese. If we happen to have any leftover chicken or bacon in the fridge, we might throw that in too.
*omelets filled with leftovers. (see above)
*scrambled eggs and toast
*a sausage casserole that uses croutons as its base, which I sometimes make myself using stale bread.
*apple pancakes

Anybody else have any favorite breakfast for dinner ideas? Or any other ways you cheat on your grocery budget? I'm all ears, especially this month.

Day 14: We're halfway there!

AmyDunn — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:47:28 -0500

We're two weeks in to our Dollar Diet challenge and I thought it was time again for a little update on how our family of three is coping with our attempt at puling the plug on consumerism for a month.

Overall, I would have to say we're faring well.

While spending money would have been easier, we have gained a certain sense of satisfaction by making do with what we have.

On top of that, staying out of the supermarket, drug stores and department stores has allowed us the time for other pursuits.

I am savoring the more peaceful pace, reading more, tackling the mountain of paperwork I had been ignoring and, of course, cooking more.

If you've been following along day by day, you already know Mr. Dollar Diet began carpooling twice a week to RTP and telecommuting once a week, cutting down hugely on our gasoline usage. You also know that as we've run out of items in the pantry, such as granola bars and hot cocoa, I've starting concocting my own.

And then came the birthday invitation, which was about to do me in and send me running to Target until I realized we could lug the sewing machine out of the back of the closet and make the birthday girl a gift.

The handbag we made using recycled juice pouches was a huge hit with all the girls begging for their own, which just goes to show you don't have to plunk down cash to give a good gift.

Over the weekend, we had another test of our frugality in the form of house guests, which was definitely not in the plan when we decided to forgo all discretionary spending.

Under normal circumstances, we almost certainly would have taken our guests out to eat but instead, I dug deeper into the pantry and freezer and cooked all our meals. For entertainment, we relied on good conversation along with a free movie code I had squirreled away.

So once again, I was reminded you don't have to spend money to have fun.

We'll celebrate Valentine's Day this evening around the kitchen table, as usual. There won't be any gifts but there will be candles and a red tablecloth, along with one of Mr. Dollar Diet's favorite meals, beef stroganoff, veggies and homemade cheesecake.

With apologies to retailers everywhere, who needs roses or another piece of jewelry when you can have financial freedom?

Don't forget: Enter to win a handmade recycled handbag

AmyDunn — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:16:03 -0500

Just a reminder to enter The Dollar Diet's contest to give away a nifty handbag made from recycled juice pouches. We made our first bag out of desperation when my daughter was invited to a birthday party during our month of no-spending.

You have a chance to win another one of our juice pouch creations by leaving a comment on the original post here. Deadline to enter is noon Saturday, Feb. 19.