After Christmas clearance sales

Time for those after Christmas sales! Now that it is a few days after Christmas you need to go to the store and save money on all those after Christmas sales. Now is the time to save 50% or more on what is left.

Check out your wrapping paper, bows and ornaments that will be marked down. This is where I save big because I stock up and have enough bought for at least the next couple of years. Paper and bows will not go bad or out of style in a couple of years.

 

Buy those Christmas cards and stock up  now. Buy enough to last a couple of years and save big. Go to the post office and stock up on those forever stamps because stamps are always going up.

I like to buy my Christmas napkins, plates and table clothes after Christmas for the following year. Saving money is always the ultimate goal here. Take advantage of the 50% or more off and save big time.

If you have children, here is a great way to buy St. Nick gifts for next years.  Don’t forget that this is a great way to buy those $5 to $10 dollars gifts you need for school exchange of work exchange.

 If you like your chocolate this is the time to save.Christmas candy is also on sale at this time at 50% off.

If you can wait for about a week some stores will have Christmas items left for 75% or more off.

Have fun shopping for all these deals and saving money in the process. Happy New Year’s from Suzie Homemaker.

Christmas Trees

Christmas Trees! Should I buy a real one or an artificial tree? When we were first married money was very tight so we decided to buy an artificial tree. This way you could use it over for the next year. Then my husband’s parents said we needed to buy a real tree when the children came around. Now that my children are almost grown up, do I need to have a tree at all? Every family has traditions, but depending on where you are in your life you can  decorate for Christmas any way you like. Today I will tell you all the ways that we have decorated for Christmas over the years.

When I first met my husband he never had a tree so I surprised him the next year with an artificial tree. This is where I saved a lot of money.  I bought the tree after Christmas on a clearance sale. I waited until almost all the trees were gone and then bought my tree at 75% off. I also bought all my decorations and garland at 75% off. This tree was used for over 6 years before we decided it was time to sell it at a rummage sale.

When the children came we were told they needed a real tree. As you know real Christmas trees are very expensive. They can range from $30.00 dollars and up. This gets very expensive when they are only up for a few weeks. To save on a real trees try cutting down your own. What we did as a family was find a tree place that sells trees cheaper if you have the whole family buy their trees there. We had over 6 families buying a tree at the same place and they gave us a discount.

Now that my children are grown up we decided not to have a Christmas tree. 21 years ago I received a fern as a gift, and it was only 6 inches tall. Today my fern is over 8 feet tall and is now my Christmas tree. I put an angel on top and bows and candy canes on for decorations. This has become my Christmas tree now for the last 3 years.

Have a very Merry Christmas from Suzie Homemaker.

Christmas Wreaths

Christmas time is for family and what better time to make some Christmas candy, cookies, and my famous Christmas wreaths. Every year at this time, I have people asking me to make my Christmas wreaths.  This has become a family tradition for over 25 years. Today I will give you my family recipe so you can start your own tradition.

Green Christmas Wreaths Ingredients

o   1 Package of Marshmallows                                 ¼ Cup butter

o   1 Package Red Hots                                                Green Food Coloring

o   6 Cups Corn Flakes Cereal

o   Makes about 2 dozen wreaths

1.       Take a very large glass bowl and put in ¼ cup butter and one package of marshmallows. Place the bowl in the microwave oven for about 1 minute. When marshmallows start to get big and fluffy they are melted enough and ready to be taken out.

2.       Take out of microwave and stir until butter and marshmallows look creamy. Add a few drops of green food coloring. Depending on how dark of green you want, you can always add more drops for a deeper green.

3.       Add your 6 cups of Corn Flakes Cereal. Stir until all cereal is cover and looks green.

4.       Line a couple of cookie sheets with wax paper.

5.       Make 1 to 2-inch size balls and put them on your wax paper lined trays. Take your finger and put a whole in the middle and then shape your circle to look like a wreath. Place your red hots around the wreath for color. (To make this easier you need to butter your fingers and hands every couple of wreaths. This way the wreath doesn’t stick to your fingers so bad.)

6.       Let stand for 1 to 2 hours to harden. Keep on wax paper until you are ready to serve.

I hope you enjoy one of my families Christmas traditions for Suzie Homemaker.

             

 

Cheap and Easy Christmas Pillows

Christmas Gift Ideas

Now here's a great Christmas gift ideas that won’t break the bank. Did you ever wonder what to do with those old pillows that are going flat, don’t throw them away reuse them. As you already know I don’t like to throw things away because I like to find ways to reuse them at a later date. Today I would like to give you a few ideas on what to do with those old pillows going flat. 

1.       First take out the stuffing and save the cover. Wash the cover and stuffing and reuse it. Sometimes I take the stuffing from two pillows and put them into one cover to make a pillow.  Now you have a brand new pillow. If you don’t want to do this just save the covers and turn them into rags.

2.       The second thing I like to make is a little pillow to give as gifts. This is why I save the stuffing and covers from old pillows. Go to your local material store and pick out patterns or prints that would make a nice pillow. This will be the fronts of your pillows. The backs of your pillows you can reuse the covers cut down to size or old sheets or scrap material.

3.       Take some scrap material and make a patch work pillow. This pillow was made to look  like a Christmas pillow

4.       If you have a hunter or fisherman in your family, this pillow is a great Christmas gift.

5.       If you have kids these pillows area great for Christmas gifts to throw on their beds.

6.       For the adults add some lace to make it a little fancier and decorative.

7.       Take your stuffing from your old pillows and make new ones. Stuffing from Fabric Stores is very expensive. Reuse your old pillow stuffing for free. Plus for your backs if you do not want to use your covers from your old pillows or old sheets, look for little scraps from your local fabric store.    Buying little pieces of scrap material is a lot cheaper and more practical than buying yards of material.

Making pillows for the whole family is a  great gift and not too expensive to make when you reuse your old pillow covers and stuffing. Everybody love pillows to throw on their bed. Hope you like my cheap and easy way to make pillows for a Christmas gifts from Suzie Homemaker.

Different types of Rags

Rags! Rags! Rags!  What are rags and what do we use them for? Rags are anything that are getting to old  too thin, or just don’t need or want any more. I do not buy rags from the store when I have all I need just lying around my house. To me, a rag can be an old shirt, stained or thin dish towel, old bath towel or wash cloths or any scrap of material. Anything can be turned into a rag. Today I want to show you some ways I use my rags

1.       Old shirts can be used for many different things. I use old shirts for bedding for my cats. I have a pregnant cat and this is a great use of an old shirt.

2.       I use an old shirt to wrap around a broom or dust mop to clean. When spring cleaning time comes around this is great for knocking down cob webs and wiping down walls.

3.       My kids hate this one. Old cotton under wear is great for using as dust cloths. They are also good for wiping up floors, sinks, toilets and bath tubs.

4.       The one I love the most is rags for a Swiffer Duster or mop. When you buy these in the store they are really expensive.  If you have a Swiffer duster or mop that all you do is press in your replacements, why not just use an old rag cut down to size and just wash when you are done. This will save you a lot of money and time. Using the rags over and over again makes more sense than buying those replacement ones every couple of weeks.

As you can tell I do not like to waste things, so why not use what you have available at home instead of buying them in a store. This is just another way I save money by using old or worn out clothes and towels for rags. Why should you spend more when you don’t have to.  I hope you liked  my ideas for rags for Suzie Homemaker. 

Thanksgiving Tips and Ideas

Happy Thanksgiving! Here are a few ways that I save on the Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving is my holiday that I prepare for 14 people. With a little help, I do not have to make everything m self. My mother-in-law makes all the pies and my sister-in-law brings the cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes. As a family we each pick a holiday and mine is Thanksgiving to prepare. As you already know I look for deals to save money and Thanksgiving is no exception. So today I will share with you Thanksgiving savings tips.

1.       The first and most important things to save on are the turkey and ham. I wait to the last week before buying my ham and turkey because this is where you will get your best prices. I went into the store for my last minute items and spent my $25.00 dollars to receive my turkey for 57 cents a pound for a 22-pound turkey. My ham I paid 79 cents a pound.  To make my day easier, I make my turkey and ham the day before in my Nesco roasters than just rewarm on Thanksgiving Day.

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2.       The second thing I make is that famous green bean casserole. This week I had several coupons for those Frenches Onions so this saved me about 50 cents a container. Since I grow all my own vegetables and can them my green beans were free.

3.       The third food item I save on are those brown and serve rolls. Don’t buy those name brand ones for over $2.00 a package when you can get a generic brand for under 80 cents for 12. I like Aldis and Save A Lot for these deals.

4.       Now for the table cloth and napkins. Every year after the Thanksgiving Holiday I watch for the clearance sales to buy next year’s table cloth and napkins.  My table cloth cost me $1.00 and my napkins I picked up for 50 cents a package.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday to get together with family and friends.  Serving 14 people doesn’t have to break the bank when you shop right and look for those bargains and use those coupons. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving from Suzie Homemaker.

Coupons, Coupons, Coupons

Coupons, Coupons, Coupons, what to do with coupons! This is another big way I like to save money. Groceries can be very expensive, so I do everything I possibly can to save on my grocery bill. Today I will give you several ways to save with coupons. I went grocery shopping a couple of days ago and saved over $15.00 dollars just by using coupons.

There are several ways to use coupons:

The first way is to cut out those coupons from your Sunday News Paper. If you do not get the paper just ask a friend or neighbor for the Sunday ads. If this doesn’t work go to your local library for the Sunday paper.

The second thing I do is check out magazines for coupons. Plus I cut all the coupons off the boxes of cereal and baked goods.

The third thing I do is check out your local grocery stores for store coupons. Some grocery stores even have double coupon days. This is where you can save big. I have gone into the grocery store and bought cereal for under a dollar a box because of double coupons and the cereal being on sale at the same time. My tip is to go into the store with the intent to only buy the sale items and use my coupons to save big.

My most important site I visit each week is Coupons. Com. Just print off the coupons you want and save them. Don’t be afraid to print off more than you need each week because some last for more than one week before they expire.  This is one way I get to try different products that I wouldn’t have normally tried before.

Here’s my big thing I like to use. I used to use a little coupon container, but I found this very hard to sort through all the coupons. Now I decided to make it easier. I bought myself a picture album with slots for pictures, this is where I put my coupons. I label each page according to categories like meats, dairy, juices, soups, paper, plastics and more. When I am in the grocery store I just flip the pages and find the coupon items I am looking for. I am much more organized and able to find what I am looking for. Each week I take out any coupons that are expired and put new ones in.

This is just another way I save on my grocery bill. Like I said I ended up saving over $15.00 dollars just using coupons that I cut out of magazines, Sunday ads, off of box goods and from Coupons.com. I like the comment I get from people in the store saying I am organized and the looks I get from the check- out staff when I give them a handful of coupons. Yes, organizing and cutting coupons take time but it is well worth the effort when you see the savings. Have fun coupon hunting and saving money on all your grocery shopping trips from Suzie Homemaker.

What to do with Leftovers

What to do with those leftovers! Don’t throw them away, this is wasting money. There are so many things you can do and make with leftovers or food that is getting older or too ripe. Like most families, my children do not like leftovers.  So here are a few ways to use those leftovers without the children knowing about it.

1.       Use those leftover vegetables in omelets for breakfast or make a vegetable soup for lunch or dinner.

2.       Make some smoothies from fruit or vegetables. Take your very ripe fruit and freeze them to be used later for smoothies. I like to freeze raspberries, apples, strawberries and pears. All these can also be used in pies or sauces at a later date.

3.       Make your own stocks and broths from the meat and vegetable trimmings. After I make a roast or chicken I take the leftover juices and turn them into stock for soups and gravies. Just freeze the juices and use at a later date. Why buy broth and gravy from the store when you can make your own.

4.       Freeze those crusts or stale bread. I like to use these for French toast and homemade bread crumbs. Take your bread crumbs add a little olive oil and spice and bake. French toast, all you need is a couple scrambled eggs and milk and a little cinnamon. Dunk your bread in mixture and fry them up.

5.       We do not go out to eat very often, but when we do we ask for a takeout container. Most meals are way too large so the leftovers become a meal for the next day. Another great way to save is to split a meal .Just ask your server to bring two plates and share your meal. I do this a lot with the children because they can’t eat a big meal by themselves.

6.       Once a week clean out your refrigerator. Anything that doesn’t get eaten is now put in the freezer.

7.       Even though the children don’t like leftovers, I declare a day free so mom does not have to cook. Every leftover is taken out and is laid on the table. Everybody takes there pick and makes their own meal. This is a way to have no arguments, because everybody gets to choose their own meal.

Be creative with those leftovers and the whole family will be happy.  Throwing away food is a waste of money. As you can tell I do everything possible to save money.  Being a stay at home mom means finding any way possible to cut costs. Another food savings tip from Suzie Homemaker.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins

One last thing to can this year is my pumpkins. Today I would like to finish up with the holiday pumpkins. Don’t throw those pumpkins away. As you can see I have 5 very big pumpkins to deal with. My pumpkins were grown with seeds that were thrown in a mulch bin, so they were free. After I used them for decoration for Halloween, now I will can them and save the seeds for roasting. I will also give you some recipes for pumpkin bread and how to roast those delicious pumpkin seeds.

How to can Pumpkin

1.       Wash the pumpkins off

2.       Cut the pumpkin up into large pieces

3.       Scoop out all the pumpkin seeds and save

4.       With a large spoon scoop out excess skin

5.       Place pumpkin on baking sheets with a little water on bottom so they do not stick

6.       Place in oven at 350 degrees for about 1 hour

7.       Pumpkin is done when you can push a fork in and it come out soft

8.       Take a spoon and scrape away pumpkin from the skin

9.       Place in food mill and squeeze out excess water

Time to can the pumpkin

After washing your jars and checking for any cracks. Now it is time to fill your jars with your cooked pumpkin. Press your pumpkin in your jars to about ½ inch from the top. Boil your lids and screw on covers tightly. Place in your pressure canner at 10# of pressure. For quart jars can for 90 minutes and for pints 55 minutes.

Pumpkin seeds

Clean off excess pumpkin and place on cookie sheets to dry. I let mine dry for at least a week.  When dry melt butter and pour over your pumpkin seeds. Now salt your seeds and place under a broiler. Watch very carefully so your do not burn them. Your pumpkin seeds are done when they turn a golden brown. Place your pumpkin seeds in a sealed container when they are cooled down. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

4 eggs                                      1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cups water                         3 cups sugar

3 ½ cups flour                          2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt                        1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg                 ½ teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon ginger

15 ounces of pumpkin puree

Now mix eggs, oil, water and sugar. Add all spices and mix well. Just add your flour and mix well. Pour into 2 greased bread tins and bake at 350 degrees for 1hour or until a tooth pick placed in center comes clean. Let cool and enjoy.

I hope you enjoy your pumpkin seeds and bread from Suzie Homemaker.