Mother Earth News is the ultimate resource for people who want to live in a simpler, back to nature style. If you are new to sustainable living and an organic lifestyle and want to jump in with both feet, you’ll love the Live on Less page that the magazine has put up on its website. The articles on debt free home building and home ownership looked like they’d be right up our alley. I also think I’ll check out the article on recycled wool rugs. My great grandma used to make beautiful hooked rag rugs and I have two left that I keep tucked away to remember her by. I’d love to learn to make my own rag rugs. Photo by VND VND/Stock Exchange [Read more]

Your little one fell in love with that Wii system an older relative has. However, you don’t have around $500 to spend on a game system, extra controller and a stack of games. There has to be a better option, right? Right! Get an Out of Date System for Less Our little guy actually got super excited about a reconditioned NES system we bought for $32. We dug out the huge box of games we played when we were young, loaded Duck Hunt and he beamed with happiness. So, if you have a stack of games for a system that no longer works, check around and see if you can find a cheap reconditioned system. Your little guy or gal is going to be so excited to have a game system of his or her own that it won’t matter if everything is brand spanking new... [Read more]

We had a bunch of stuff sitting in our “to donate” pile this week. Before I headed out to drop them off at our local thrift shop, I did a quick check to be sure we really wanted to donate it all. It only took a few seconds to riffle through the pile and it was well worth it. I found: Shoes that weren’t in primo condition but had good laces. I took out the laces, folded them neatly and saved them for later. Boys and guys always seem to snap their laces and end up needing new ones. Really nice buttons on a shirt with stains. The shirt wasn’t going to end up on the thrift store’s sale rack anyway, so we might as well keep the buttons for the jumper I’m sewing for the little gal. Speaking of jumpers –... [Read more]

Do you feel like one more reality show is going to rot your brain? Missing out on Burn Notice? Wishing you could see at least some of the older episodes of shows on HBO and other networks? There isn’t a perfect free solution, but you can watch a few cable television shows for free. First, head to the show’s web site. While you won’t be able to view an entire episode of one of the HBO shows, you can catch complete episodes of shows from some other networks, such as USA’s Monk, Psych, or Burn Notice, after the episode airs on tv. Next, check one of the online sites dedicated to offering free access to tv shows. I love Hulu.com, but there are several other sites, too. (By the way, if you watched the Super Bowl, you may have... [Read more]

I have peanut butter. I have jelly. I have bread. I have kids that just adore Smucker’s PB&J Uncrustables sandwiches. I didn’t mind getting them really on sale with a good coupon for a few cents a box, but paying full price when I don’t have a coupon and I have the supplies to make them at home? So not thrifty and so not happening. So, after repeated requests, I decided to make my own Uncrustables. I grabbed a loaf of bread, my peanut butter and my jelly. I used an upside down glass to cut circles from the bread and then added some peanut butter and jelly, keeping the edges pb and j free. I put peanut butter on a second set of circles, slapped the pb only circles on top of the pb and j ones and kind of smooshed the edges... [Read more]