Homemade Ketchup (Merrick)

As you know, this we're posting about homemade condiments, and this is the one that I chose to make from Everyday Cheapskate.

Clone of Heinz Ketchup

1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until smooth. When mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often. Remove pan from heat and cover until cool. Chill and store in a covered container in refrigerator. Yield: 1 1/2 cups.

I have to admit that I never buy name brand ketchup. Too expensive, and not really worth it for something that we so rarely use. So I can't see myself making this too often (unless of course my baby grows up to LOVE ketchup), especially because when I looked at the ingredients for my Kroger brand ketchup, they were almost identical to this recipe. No weird chemically ingredients.

But despite all that, the recipe was actually pretty close to the real deal. Mine was a tad bit sweeter than store-bought ketchup, but that may have something to do with my lack of accurate measuring. If you're a big Ketchup fan, definitely give this a try because it will save you money and get you pretty close to that taste you're used to!

Homemade Ranch Dressing (Janssen)

Vegetable oil, egg yolk, sugar, salt, buttermilk, spices, garlic, onion, vinegar, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, modified food starch, MSG, artificial flavors, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid, calcium disodium EDTA, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate.

Appetizing list, yes? I do love some disodium guanylate with my dinner. That's what's in your standard bottle of Ranch Dressing (this list is from Hidden Valley Ranch, although let me tell you, it is NOT easy to find the ingredient list ANYWHERE on their site).

In my ongoing attempts to limit the amount of processed foods we eat, I've started making my own ranch dressing. I have a glass bottle that something else came in that I washed and saved (do I sound like I lived through the Great Depression?), so that it's easy to keep in the fridge and also pour from. The recipe is super easy and I think it's delicious:

Homemade Ranch 
(adapted from Annie Eats)

¾ cup mayonnaise (light is fine)
¾ cup sour cream (light is fine)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup parsley or cilantro (frankly, I like cilantro better)
1 green onion (green part only) or chives
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp Black pepper
2 TB -1/2 cup buttermilk

Put all ingredients except buttermilk in the blender and process until smooth; add buttermilk until desired consistency is reached. Store in fridge for up to two weeks.

As a side note, I tend to like my ranch somewhat thinner than the kind from the grocery store. I feel like it coats my salad better, instead of being a few large clumps. My husband, on the other hand, likes his more the consistency of a dip, rather than a dressing. The amount of buttermilk you put in is what's going to make the difference - if you like it thick, go really light on the buttermilk. If you like it a little more runny, put in a little bit more.

Homemade Mayonnaise (Carole)

Like you, I read lots of blogs.  One that I check out on a regular basis is Everyday Cheapskate by Debt Proof Living.  

This past week they posted 3 recipes for basic pantry items.  The girls and I decided that we would each take one of these recipes and make it this week and let you know how we liked it.  Since my jar of mayonnaise was down to the scraping stage, I got that one.

I remember making homemade mayonnaise years ago when I first bought my Cuisinart food processor.  It was not a huge success, messy to make and oily to eat.  So, this time around I was still a bit skeptical, but willing to try it out for the sake of you, our readers!

Here's the recipe:

Clone of Best Foods (Hellman’s) Mayonnaise

1 egg

1 tablespoon lemon juice (bottled ok)

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

dash white pepper

1 cup vegetable oil, at room temperature

Break egg into a 1-quart glass canning jar. Add lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, white pepper and vegetable oil. Place handheld emulsion blender (turned off) all the way to the bottom of the jar, pressing down over the egg. Turn it on high speed. Hold in place for about 5 seconds until you see mayonnaise begin to form. Slowly lift the blender upward until it reaches the top of the jar, about 5 more seconds. Cover and leave on counter for about 8 hours, to give the vinegar and lemon juice sufficient time to kill any bacteria that may be present in the egg (or use pasteurized egg). Store in refrigerator for up to two weeks. Yield: 1 cup.

I got all the ingredients out, dug out my immersion blender and found a quart jar.  I dumped everything in the jar, put in the immersion blender for the required 10 seconds (that's right, 10 seconds!).  Instantly I had real-life mayonnaise!  I tentatively tasted it and it was SO CREAMY and luscious!  I must say it is beautiful.  Can mayonnaise be beautiful??  

Right now it's sitting on the counter working its way through the 8 hours that hopefully (I'll let you know. . . ) kills any bacteria in the egg and then it will go in the fridge for the night and onto our sandwiches in the morning.  

Happily, this recipe doesn't contain the "Concentrated Natural Flavors," and Calcium Disodium EDTA (whatever they are?) -- that are in my bottle of store bought mayonnaise.  Anytime I can avoid a mass-produced, processed food, I'm happy!

Homemade Baby Food (Merrick)

Two months ago I started my baby on solids. We did rice cereal for the first month and then moved on to pureed fruits and veggies. My friend had some left over Gerber baby food from her son, so she gave it to me and we have used that for the last month. And all the while I thought that after all that free baby food ran out, I would probably just continue buying it from the store because it wasn't that expensive and was convenient. That is, until my friend mentioned that as babies get older they eat about five jars of food per day, and it was costing her nearly $20 extra on her weekly grocery bill. And that's only for one baby.

So I did a little online research, scoured the baby isle at the grocery store, made some homemade baby food, and then came up with this little comparison.

Gerber is the cheapest at my grocery store (Smiths). The cost for 5 ounces of baby food (for my son's age group) is $0.95. These are several of the options they offer at my store, so I made each of these from fresh produce and here are the price comparisons*:

Bananas
- Homemade: $0.19 for 5 oz.
- Store Bought (Gerber): $0.95 for 5 oz.
- Savings: $0.76 or 80%!
Pears
- Homemade: $0.34 for 5 oz.
- Store Bought (Gerber): $0.95 for 5 oz.
- Savings: $0.61 or 64%!
Green Beans
- Homemade: $0.61 for 5 oz
- Store Bought (Gerber): $0.95 for 5 oz.
- Savings: $0.34 or 36%!
Carrots
- Homemade: $0.42 for 5 oz.
- Store Bought (Gerber): $0.95 for 5 oz.
- Savings: $0.53 or 56%!
Sweet Potatoes
- Homemade: $0.27 for 5 oz
- Store Bought (Gerber): $0.95 for 5 oz.
- Savings: $0.68 or 72%!

So although another mouth to feed will certainly increase your weekly grocery bill, making your baby food can make the blow a little lighter. Also keep in mind that different stores have different produce costs. If I had a bigger freezer to store a lot of baby food, I would go to Sam's or Costco and buy produce in bulk, and then these prices and savings would be even better.


Now you do have to take into account the cost of your time, because time is money! If you are incredibly busy and you're straining to make time to do this, then $0.95 is probably worth it to you. And there is nothing wrong with that.

However, let me tell you that the amount of work that I put into making this baby food was minimal (the amount of mess, on the other hand...that was not minimal). I have a vegetable steamer, so all I did was wash, peel, and chop the produce, throw it in the steamer for 15 minutes until it was soft, then toss it in the food processor with a bit of water. Once it was pureed I poured it into ice trays (that I got at the dollar store, 2 for $1), froze it until they were hard, then put them back in the freezer in labeled baggies.

Total hands on time for each item was probably five minutes. So easy.

This coming week I'm going to try making it from canned fruits and veggies to see if it cuts down on the preparation time (since many items probably won't require steaming), and see how the price differs from fresh produce. So stay tuned for a post about that next week!


*this comparison chart involved some math, and I'm an artist. Don't judge too harshly if there are some calculation mistakes..

Bulk Spices (Janssen)

I love to cook and generally I can feel pretty smug about how much money we're saving by eating at home rather than going out, but sometimes there is a recipe I really want to make and it calls for three or four spices I don't have (and only need 1/2 a tsp of) and suddenly that dish is going to cost me $15-$20 to make and all my smugness is forced to die a sad little death.

And then, recently, I discovered something life changing - some stores sell spices in bulk! You can buy as much or as little as you want and it's a fraction of the price of the little bottle on the baking aisle.

Last week, I needed some curry powder. A one ounce jar of it (McCormick's brand) was $2.32 at my local grocery store. In the bulk aisle at Sprouts (my new favorite store), it was 69 cents an ounce. I filled my little bag and it rang up for $0.88. I left feeling very pleased (and also glad to finally have an excuse to buy these ridiculously cute little spice jars).

If you have a Sprouts nearby, check out their bulk spice section and swoon at all the recipes you now can make without breaking the bank. I also called Sunflower Market and they confirmed that some of their stores already carry bulk spices and other locations will soon.

Holiday Baking (Carole)

Two weeks ago, when we asked you for your best gift ideas for the holidays, many of you mentioned baking.  That is music to a frugal wife's ears!  All you have to do is find a good recipe, buy your supplies in bulk and heat up the oven.  It's just about that easy.  And think of all the money you'll save on scented candles during the holidays, since your house will already smell like a pumpkin pie is in the oven -- because it is!

Here is one of my favorite holiday recipes that only costs a couple of dollars to make.  From October until New Year's, I make a batch 2 -3 times per week.  These really are that good.  It's adapted from the pumpkin bread recipe in the Williams-Sonoma Muffin cookbook.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins   

1 1/2  cups sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup chocolate chips

I just mix everything together, fill 12 pre-greased (or sprayed) muffin tins and bake at 350 for 15 - 18 minutes.

I've heard that it's been another bad year for the pumpkin crop, so if you are planning to buy canned pumpkin, you probably ought to pick them up soon.  Just to be on the safe side.

Living On One Income (Merrick)

Since Janssen and I both recently became stay at home moms, and consequently went from a two income family to a one income family, we both decided to respond this week to Aleta's email about preparing to live on one income.

Janssen covered a lot of the important and basic things to think about before the switch to a one income family, so I want to talk about a few specific things that I have done to contribute to the finances now that I'm a stay at home mom.

In January of this year, I was laid off from my job, so we unexpectedly became a one-income family a few months before we planned to (I was already planning to quit when the baby was born). However, it wasn't too much of a concern because one of the years of our marriage I was in school and Philip was able to cover all our expenses with just his income, and now two years later he was making significant more money. However, our "extra" money (my income) that was all going straight to savings, was suddenly gone. So although I didn't need to financially contribute, I still wanted to. And as a stay at home mom, so can you.

Here are a few things that I do to contribute to the family finances:

1. Babysit my neighbor's little girl four days a week
2. Make homemade shirts, headbands, and other crafts to sell
3. Sell commissioned drawings and paintings
4. Teach children's art lessons out of my home once a week

Now, each of these are pretty small things that don't really bring in a ton of money. But all of them combined add up and contribute a significant amount to our finances each month. So although I don't need to do these, it gives me something to do, gives us more of a financial cushion, and adds a tiny bit to our savings account each month.

And all the while I can stay home with my baby and feel good about that.

Living on One Income (Janssen)

Aleta, one of our lovely readers, asked recently about preparing financially to drop to one income so that I could stay at home with my daughter. Although I didn't make up my mind for certain to stay home until well into my pregnancy, I'd anticipated that it was likely the route I would choose when the time came, so we began preparing for that possibility before the baby was born.

If you are considering dropping down to one income, whether for a baby or for other reasons, here are some things to consider:

1) Look at your expenses and determine if you can pay your bills with just one income. I know. . . not fun. But you need to know if it is really actually feasible to live on just one income. Are you going to end up unable to pay your electricity bill on one income or will it just require a slightly (or substantially) less rich lifestyle?

2) Decide what you're going to do with your second income while you still have it. Last year, we did not use one cent of my income to live on. We paid for our second car in cash, paid off our student loans, and used the last three paychecks to bulk up our emergency fund. Having no debts, no car payments, and a chunk of money if we needed it made going down to one income both easier and less terrifying. It also meant that we knew we could live on one income because we'd already been doing it for a year.

3) Figure out how much of a second paycheck you will actually see after additional expenses. Sometimes you see the cost of keeping a job after having a baby and they put in all these things like "eating out more because you're too tired to cook!" and "professional wardrobe!" and then tell you how you'll actually be PAYING your job to stay. I didn't really buy this because we are committed eaters-at-home (if I don't want to cook, we have cereal or eggs - we don't run out and drop $30 on dinner) and also, I already HAD a professional wardrobe (and I was banking on the fact that I'd be able to fit back into it after the baby was born).

We took my income, deducted the taxes, the required union dues, the required retirement contributes, the cost of childcare (which would be less than in some jobs because my school day was only 7 hours, which included my lunch hour), and the cost of commuting (I worked about 40 miles from our home) and came up with $10,000 of money that I would make over the course of a year. I decided I was not willing to work full-time and leave my child with someone else in exchange for $10,000.

4) Know that there will be sacrifices. You may drive an older car while friends get new cars. You may not be able to go out to eat as often or buy as many new clothes. For us, those sacrifices are absolutely worth me being our daughter's primary caregiver.

I know many of our readers are stay-at-home parents - any secrets to preparing to live on a single income?

And the Winners are. . . !

Just like you, I got a ton of GREAT frugal ideas from your many comments last week during our Week of Giveaways!  I enjoyed reading how clever, thoughtful and frugal you all are when it comes to gift giving.  I'm sure there will be many of us who make these ideas our very own during the coming holiday season.  


And now the moment we've all been waiting for (just a reminder that the winners were chosen randomly -- we could never have chosen a favorite comment).  


Drumroll, please. . .


The winner of last Monday's giveaway (Dave Ramsey's Personal Finance Software) is Tristen!  She answered the question, "How do you and yours keep to your budget through the highly commercialized holiday season?" Her winning comment read:  "This year we have been better during the summer at putting our extra income that really comes only in the summer into our savings so now we have money for Christmas Yay and NO credit card! We are going to sit down and write down an exact budget for it as well so we don't go spend more than we want."  Great to see you planning ahead, Tristan, and making your  money do what you want it to!


Wednesday's winner had this to say when answering the question, "Tell us what gift you received in the last year that you loved most.  "As a semi-late birthday gift, I got a baby boy! It's the gift that keeps on giving..."  Hard to top that precious gift,  Chrissie!  You've won the Dave Ramsey DVD Cash Flow Planning -- you're going to love it!


And last, but certainly not least, is our winner from Friday's question asking you to tell us about the best gift you've ever given.  Saskia won the Dave Ramsey DVD Dumping Debt with her comment, "It's something I haven't actually given yet. I came across a poem that has turned into my favorite love poem ever. It doesn't feature very romantic language but to me it speaks of love. So I wrote it on the back of a beautiful card, and I'm giving it to my boyfriend on Monday (which is his birthday).   I hope he likes it."  Look at that!  He receives your thoughtful gift and you win our giveaway, both on the same day!!


OK, you lucky girls, shoot us an email with your contact information and we'll get your gifts on their way.  Just in time for the holidays.  


Thanks to everyone who participated!

Saving During The Holidays and GIVEAWAY (Merrick)

It is very apparent from your comments on the last two posts that many of you are great at saving during the holidays! We're all very impressed!

There are several things that I do to save money on Christmas.

First, I start early. I don't shop all year long, because I just can't think THAT far in advance. But I usually start around July, making a list of things that my family has mentioned, and then I have six months to wait for those items to go on sale, get a coupon, or find something better. And then all my gifts are done (and sometimes wrapped) before December even arrives. No stress for me.

Second, because I'm a spreadsheet fanatic, I write my list of "Gifts To Give" in an Excel spreadsheet with an "estimated cost" and "actual cost" column. I write down how much I think each item will cost, and then as I buy it I write in how much it actually cost (pennies and everything). This gives me a good idea of how much my total spending for Christmas will be before I even buy anything, and lets me know if I have to cut back on something if the total comes over my set budget. Also, if an item comes in over my estimated cost, I can go through my list of other gifts to cut out anything unnecessary or scour for coupons on bigger ticket gifts so that I stay under budget on my total cost.

Third, I repeat gifts every year. Janssen talked about this yesterday and I think it's a great way to save money. Each year for Christmas I give Philip a photobook of the previous years photos. Because I know that I'm giving it to him each year, I spend all year working on it, waiting for sales, and looking for which photobook site has the best deal. I usually do mine through Shutterfly. I have also signed up for their email list so I get notifications of their sales and always order mine when they're 30% off, have free shipping, or some other good deal.

Today we're giving away Dave Ramsey's DVD: Dumping Debt . Whether you're struggling with credit card debt, trying to pay off your car or house, dealing with student loans, or have no debt and are trying to stay away from it, this DVD is for you. Leave a comment telling us about your favorite gift you've ever given, and we'll announce the winner on Monday, October 11.

Good luck!

Gift Giving for the Stressed Gift Giver (Janssen)

Some people are brilliant gift givers (my mom is definitely one of those people). I? Am not a good gift giver. In fact, both my husband and I find gift giving stressful enough that we don't exchange gifts for Christmas, birthdays or anniversaries with each other (best system ever, in my opinion). 

We do, of course, buy gifts for other family and friends. To make this easier on me, we've set up kind of gift "traditions" for various categories of people we buy for.

For instance, every year, we buy one children's book for each of our siblings' families with children (this is a total of six families). I choose one book, buy six copies, wrap them and hand them out. I have all year to find a book I like and think they'll like, I can buy them all at once, and when a particularly good deal comes along from a book retailer, I'm ready to jump on it because I know just what I'm getting those families.


My mom does this too - every year for Father's Day, she gets tickets for my dad to go to a show in Las Vegas with my little brother.

We plan to do what many of you commented on Monday that you do for Christmas with your children - something to read, something to wear, and something to play with.

These categories make my life so much easier and help me not spend a fortune and take advantage of good deals. What's not to love?

The item we're giving away today is a Dave Ramsey DVD called Cash Flow Planning (it's the nuts and bolts of budgeting). Leave a comment telling us what gift you received in the last year that you loved most (don't worry, we won't tell your mom if it wasn't the gift SHE gave you) to entered. On Monday, we'll announce all three winners.

Budgeting Software Giveaway (Carole)

With the holidays just around the corner, we thought it would be fun to have a week full of giveaways!

Today's giveaway is Dave Ramsey's Personal Finance Software, version 5.4.1  -- It appears to work exclusively on a PC, so if you win our random drawing and own a Mac, we'll choose something else for your prize.

On to the topic for the day. . .

Did you know that the average American family spends $935 on Christmas gifts each year?  Considering most families have no savings and live on the very edge of their monthly incomes, this amount typically gets charged to a credit card.  Of course, we frugal folks hate even the idea of putting nearly $1000 on a credit card at the end of each year.  What a terrible way to ring in the new year!


To help us all escape this terrible fate, please take a moment to share with everyone how you and yours keep to your budget through the highly commercialized holiday season.   Even though many of us are frugal, frugal, frugal, we are more than happy to learn a new trick or two.  In fact, it's the reason we love this blog!!

Homemade Clorox Wipes (Merrick)

Because several of you asked so nicely, I went on the hunt to find a way to make homemade clorox wipes. Turns out it's pretty darn easy, and surprisingly similar to making homemade baby wipes. I found probably five different recipes for it, and here is the common theme:

Homemade Clorox Wipes

1/2 roll extra strong paper towels (I've heard Bounty is good..)
2 and 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup bleach

Cut your roll of paper towels in half and place in your tupperware (just like with the baby wipes). Boil water, add bleach, pour over paper towels. Remove wet cardboard tube. To use, pull out wipes one at a time from center.



Also, here's another recipe if you want something a little more natural (aka. no bleach)

Natural Disinfectant Wipes

1 cup witch hazel
1/2 teaspoon tea tree oil or peppermint oil (natural disinfectant)
1/2 cup water

Prepare your paper towels in the tupperware. Mix the three ingredients together and pour over your paper towels. Remove tube.