Penny Pinching Peach

For the semi crunchy, homeschool friendly and totally frugal!

Tag Archives: frugal


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Easy Mexican Bean Salad

I love to cook, but don’t always have a lot of time to spend on making dinner. This super simple Easy Mexican Bean Salad is ready in a snap, healthy, delicious, kid friendly, and cheap enough for the penny pinching people among us! I mean, this is a meal I felt great about feeding to my family, but literally spent  less than 15 minutes int he kitchen preparing from the time I opened the fridge to get out things to start chopping! Who needs more meals like this? I know I do!!! 🙂 Keep reading for the how-to of this yummy meal!

Easy Mexican Bean Salad

Easy Mexican Bean Salad

Ingredients? You can choose your own! This time I use canned black beans (two cans seasoned with cumin, garlic powder and chili powder to taste should be about right for a family of four), avocado, tomato, cilantro, onion, cheese and sour cream. You can also use ground beef, venison, turkey, pork and chicken, shredded chicken or beef, pre-cooked dried beans of any kind you like, other types of canned beans, lettuce, green pepper, jalapenos, olives, fresh spinach, green onion, corn, sprouts and a variety of other things that sound appealing and reside in your kitchen at any given moment. The beauty of this meal is that it is so flexible to your individual tastes, pantry, dietary needs, and budget without being a hassle to throw together something different for everyone.

Give everyone a bowl, spoon in a healthy helping of your protein(s) of choice, then let them pile on their own choices from the rest of your ingredients you have set out for your family! My kids absolutely adore getting to pick all of their own toppings for their bowls of beans! It makes the battle of the belly filling non-existent, because most kiddos love to eat things they help prepare. Even my five year old, who is currently waging battle over half of her meals even when she likes them, didn’t give me a bit of trouble when she realized she was in control of all of her ingredients other than the beans she was piling them all onto! Since she chose it, she worked to make it herself and she is doggone proud of her own work in pretty much every instance…no arguments for the prissier side of my table. Bambam loves making his own selections, but he has a lifelong love affair with food, so if he ever protests a meal….well, the child is sick. 😉

If you pack lunches a lot, like I do for my hubby, this container is amazing for being able to carry leftovers to work or school for a healthy lunch without making a big soggy mess. Stay Fit Deluxe Salad Kit, EZ Freeze

Are there any toppings I didn’t think of that you think would be the bomb diggety on this easy Mexican bean salad? What do you think you’d like on yours? Are you hungry yet?? 🙂

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Little Boy Approved!

Little Boy Approved!

Little Girl Approved!


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Frugally Fashionable

Her outfit came from this consignment visit, worn the day she found out the new baby is a SISTER! :)

Her outfit came from this consignment visit, worn the day she found out the new baby is a SISTER! 🙂

Soooo….my children were beginning to look like neglected waifs a lot of days, especially my long legged oldest with her floodwater pants and the many stains on my rough & tumble Bambam’s clothing. I am also finding myself scraping the barrel for clothing options for those times when short pants and stains were just not appropriate (like winter, for the former…LOL), since I wore out so many of my maternity items with my second pregnancy and prolonged recovery. I was pondering the horror of deciding what would actually fit into the budget, knowing I wouldn’t put myself in there, when the phone rang. *RING!!! RING!!!!* It was an auto call from a local consignment shop, informing me of half price days. Whoop, whoop!! Clothes shopping time, y’all!!! 😉

For just $31, at two consignment shops that are beside each other and run sales at the same time, we got a ton of very nice clothing in like new condition!!! For Princess Peachy: 4 pairs of pants, a ruffly skirt with a bow on it, a sparkly purple long sleeved top, a gymnastics/swimming suit and a short sleeved shirt. For Bambam: A jacket, 2 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, a pair of footie jammies. For Mommy: 2 shirts, a pair of pjs,  a dress, all of which will work through pregnancy and breastfeeding, both. Just the dress would have cost about $50-$60 new, and it looks brand new.

To save money on clothing while still looking fashionable and fresh, consignment shops and thrift stores are a terrific option! For me, I honestly don’t give a flip what is in style, but I don’t want to look like I got my outfit from a dumpster, either. Even if you care about the latest style, you can often find what you’d like at these places. Dumpster chic is not my thing, and consignment stores and thrift stores don’t leave me with that undesirable look. You can choose to consign your own clothing that is outgrown or just not worn often enough in exchange for money or credit toward clothing your family can actually wear. Half price days at these stores are a great way to save, as well as supporting local business and inadvertently being green in your choice of clothing. What’s not to love? 😉

Of course, this isn’t my only trick. I hit up online sales, piling coupon codes onto clearance and sales prices. I buy the next season’s clothing at the end of the season when everything is seriously marked down. There are countless little tricks that add up to serious savings!

What do you do to clothe your family on a tight budget? Another trick of mine is Schoola Discount Clothes!


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Dinner For a Dollar

Dinner For a Dollar

Dinner For a Dollar

“Dinner for a dollar?!?”  they exclaim, “It can’t be done!!”.

Let me tell ya, honey, it most certainly can! Tonight I made this delicious pasta dish for less than a dollar. It fed my five year old, two year old and me with leftovers…and we all ate seconds!

I am challenging myself to stretch our grocery money as far as possible, and cook from the pantry as much as I can to help with a money crunch while my husband is taking a career furthering class for several weeks and missing a lot of work to do so. I haven’t been shopping in about a week and a half, so I am doing pretty well with it thus far.

I found some pasta with no crazy ingredients, just semolina and durum flour, marked down for 25 cents each when I was shopping a couple of weeks ago, so I grabbed several packages. I used half a pack of those noodles for this dish, plus a can of Italian diced tomatoes (66 cents), a sprinkling of parmesan, a handful of mozzarella cheese and the last few slices of ham lunchmeat we had in the pack before we go grocery shopping tomorrow.

Dinner For a Dollar? It's Doable!!

Dinner For a Dollar? It’s Doable!!

I mixed the cooked pasta with the tomatoes, let my oldest sprinkle on the cheese and the shredded lunchmeat and warmed it in the oven for about five minutes. TADA!!!! A super cheap and yummy supper created in less than 10 minutes! 🙂

While this cost me less than a dollar, with more average prices it might cost closer to two dollars. Even still, it’s a budget friendly and speedily prepared meal for the penny pinching parent who is crunched for time.

“Penny Pinching Peach is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com”

Need more recipes on a dollar budget? Check out this ebook on Amazon, Easy Recipes: Budget Dinners: Eat Well for A Single Dollar, as low as free!

What is the cheapest home cooked meal (that your family actually enjoyed ) you’ve made recently? Want another delicious pasta recipe? Try my You Can Have Your Cheese and Tomato Sauce, Too, Pasta Casserole!

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Canny Canning

Canny Canning

Canny Canning

Most folks who are avid canners also appreciate the art of saving a buck. I have gathered together a few ways for myself and other savvy food savers to preserve their food and pennies at the same time. Read ’em and whistle! 😉

Outdoor Cooking is running a special through August 18, 2014, giving you 20% off of canning stoves and canning supplies when using the code CANNING14. This code only applies to items in the Home Canning category, but it is a fantastic savings!

Amazon has some wonderful bargains on canning items right now, as well, such as this less than half price Granite Ware Water Bath Canner and this Back to Basics 286 5-Piece Home Canning Kit at 35% off and a Presto 01781 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker at 29% off!!

Ball has a coupon for 10% off using the coupon code C88367. If you need me to explain who they are, you probably have never seen a shiny new mason jar in real life! 🙂

I found something that says you can get a free jar scraper with any online order from  Canning Supply using the code CS2013JS or a free set of four wooden corn on the cob holders with any online order using the code CSS812A.

Please note that I haven’t used any of these bargains. I discovered all of them through sources I have found accurate and useful in the past, so I have every reason to believe that they are valid, but I certainly can’t guarantee anything without having used them myself. Please let me know if you try them out!

 

“Penny Pinching Peach is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com”


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Home Flavored Yogurt

Home Flavored Yogurt

How to Make Your Own Home Flavored Yogurt!

My family loves to eat yogurt, but I’ve ran into a couple of problems with the pre-flavored yogurts available at the store.

First off, they are getting too stinkin’ expensive for my taste! Second, there is a ton of sugar, artificial dyes and extra junk I can’t even pronounce added into most of them, and I’m not too crazy about that when I’m trying to make a healthy choice by eating yogurt in the first place.

So, being the penny pinching peach that I be 🙂 , I decided to start experimenting with making my own flavored yogurt, starting with the big (and much cheaper!) tubs of plain yogurt.

The first thing I tried was a recipe I found for chocolate chip cookie dough yogurt. It was just a couple of scoops of plain yogurt (Greek or regular works, although the recipe asked for Greek), a couple of scoops of creamy peanut butter, a sprinkling of vanilla extract and a small handful of chocolate chips. It was surprisingly good!

Next, I used some of my son’s baby food to flavor some of that same plain yogurt. Both of my children were crazy about it! It actually tasted very similar to the store bought fruit flavored yogurts, just slightly less sweet because there was no sugar added. This one is 100% healthy and sugar free, which is fantastic since too much sugar makes my munchkins act like they’ve been transformed into the Energizer bunny until all hours of the night. 🙂

Banana baby food and a generous dollop of peanut butter mixed into yogurt was a definite hit, with both my daughter and myself! Some other baby food flavors I’d suggest: strawberry banana, apple blueberry (sounds weird, but my kids loved that one), peaches, banana, apricot & mixed fruit…pretty much anything fruity that sounds yummy to you will work.

My husband brought me a yogurt mix treat the other day, bringing with it more yogurt mix-in inspiration. Try almond slivers, dark chocolate shavings or chips and shredded coconut. Can we say delicious? Ooooo, yeahhh! 😉

A winning flavor is mashed banana and peanut butter mixed together and then mixed into your yogurt.

Cinnamon, honey and raisins makes for a different twist, with flavors reminiscent of rice pudding.

Does anyone else flavor their own yogurt? What’s your favorite?


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CVS Coupon Spree

CVS Coupon Spree

CVS Coupon Spree

Yesterday was one of my occasional “coupon sprees” at CVS.

My tallies came up pretty dandy! As I’ve stated before, I don’t have the time or patience to “extreme coupon” with two small children, but my savings percentages were in that league. All I did was spend a few minutes scanning the deals online, printing out my matching coupons online, grabbing the coupons I already had clipped that went with the deal, loading my deals from my CVS club emails and folding it all into the CVS flier from the Sunday paper. If you aren’t signed up for the emails, do it! I get special deals almost weekly for 20% or 30% percent off or $5 off of a $30 or other similar discounts on top of coupons, sales and Extra Care Bucks. Annnnyway… on to the details of my awesome score! 🙂

My total (between two transactions) would have been $123.33.

My out of pocket expense was $13.81.

That’s a savings of $109.52, or 88.8%!!! 🙂

I’m not even counting into this equation the fact that I have $5 in Extra Care Bucks to use on my next transaction, so I’m more than pleased. I’m especially pleased because most of the items are things we use alot of, and not just “extras”. See the diapers? Yeah, buddy!!! 😉

Anyone else have a good couponing trip this week?


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The Liebster Award!!

The Liebster Award

Liebster Award

Liebster Award

I was given an unexpected compliment & honor this week, by being nominated for the Liebster Award! Liebster means “favorite” in German, and is given to new bloggers who are building their audience by people who believe they are doing an exceptional job.

Thank you so much to My Fabulous Frugal Life http://myfabulousfrugallife.com/ for nominating me! Be sure to visit and follow her frugally fashionable blog.

These are the Liebster Award rules; “When nominated, the blogger must list eleven facts about his/herself, answers questions given by the nominator, and come up with eleven questions for the bloggers he/she nominates.”

♥ Eleven Facts About Penny Pinching Peach♥

•Above all, I love my family.
•I was raised on a farm, and I miss it.
•I come from a long & proud line of penny pinching peaches
•I enjoy cooking and baking yummy vittles, then share them.
•I was homeschooled, graduating at age 15 in the top 1% of graduating seniors nationwide.
•I lost my mom in 2006, and I miss her every day, but she lives on in the hearts of all who loved her.
•My children are the reason I get up every morning.
•My pet peeves are parents who don’t parent and rude people.
•I love animals! We have two dogs, two cats, and are getting chicks before Easter.
•I’m new to the Wonderful World of Blog, but I’m finding folks friendly here. 🙂
•I’m pretty creative, and love making random things beautiful.

♥Questions From My Fabulous Frugal Life♥

•Why do you blog? I blog because it is the way I have expressed myself since I learned how to scribble words on paper, and I wanted to try a new avenue of sharing some things I love. You know, like pinching pennies and the funny kiddos.
•What is the last book you read? Organizing For Dummies. I got some great pointers out of it, too. I guess I’m a dummy when it comes to being organized with all the clutter we have around here. 🙂
•What is the last item you purchased? Groceries. Exciting, I know! 😉
•What is the last meal/food you prepared? My great-grandma’s recipe for Ritz cracker chicken, accompanied by some yummy mashed taters & green beans with onions, washed down with a cold glass of sweet tea. (Yep, I’m from the South! How’d y’all guess?)
•Where do you find home decorating items/inspiration? I find inspiration in my favorite things and colors, as well as nature and things others have done with their homes.
•What do you love? I am so in love with God, my family, friends, pets, writing, cooking & creativity.
•What’s something you know you do differently than most people? I don’t care where I am or who is looking. If I want to do the chicken dance with my daughter or look like a monkey to make my baby laugh, I’m not too embarassed to do that.
•What would you do if you won $1 million? Pay off all of our bills, buy our dream home on acreage, invest some for the future, and help out a few deserving folks a bit.
•What is your guilty pleasure? Yummy, delicious, delectable chocolate, especially of the dark & creamy varieties! Drool city! 🙂
•What is your favorite store and why? This is going to sound weird, but right now my favorite chain store is CVS. It is the easiest local store for stacking coupons and deals together for ridiculous savings! 🙂 Besides that, I have a lifelong friendship with thrift stores and consignment shops. You can find all sorts of nifty treasures on the cheap at those spots, and they keep my munchkins beautifully clothed for pennies on the dollar.
•What are you grateful for? I am grateful to be alive to be with my family. I had an extremely complicated pregnancy (due to a grapefruit sized dermoid cyst and delayed discovery by my original doctors) with my 10 month old son, and both of us nearly passed away. It was a hard fight to carry him as long as possible, then they nearly lost both of us when he was born. He went into respiratory arrest due to being three weeks premature and the meds I was on to keep from going into labor any sooner. I lost too much blood during an emergency c-section & surgery. Had my husband not fought so hard to force them to switch me to specialists at the best hospital in the state, I honestly believe that we might not be here today.I thank God every day that I am here to enjoy my life, family and babies, and even be annoyed & exhausted by them, because I was so close to not having all of this. We are very blessed.

♥Penny Pinching Peach’s Liebster Award Nominees♥

 •Our Thrifty House http://ourthriftyhouse.com/
•The Dissocial Mom http://thedissocialmom.wordpress.com/
•WAH Families Live Green http://wahfamilieslivegreen.com/
•Goodwill Hoarding http://goodwillhoarding.com/

♥My Questions for the Nominees♥

•What inspires your blogs?
•What is your favorite way to save?
•If you could spend your weekend any way you wanted, what would you do?
•Do you have any pets?
•Which beauty item can you not live without?
•What is your favorite place to shop, online or offline?
•What’s your favorite meal?
•What two words best describes your personality?
•What is your favorite way to treat yourself?
•Do you have any hidden talents?
•What would you like to be remembered for?

Congratulations to all of these fantastic bloggers!

I look forward to reading your replies and to continue keeping up with all of your blogs! Please visit and follow all of these creative bloggers. I know you’ll enjoy them as much as I do!


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Saving At CVS

CVS Trip Feb. 16, 2013

Saving at CVS

So, I’ve made it clear that I am by no means an extreme couponer. This little mommy doesn’t have the time for it! 🙂 I honestly didn’t plan out today’s trip at all, other than making a list of things I needed and taking my coupons with me. Normally I’m much more prepared, but I was busy the past few days and just trying to get out of here with the munchkins this morning.

The above photo is today’s haul at CVS. I used a 25% off non-sale items, CVS coupons, in-store sales, and manufacturer’s coupons. Since I don’t get things I won’t use or be able to quickly give away/donate, there are alot of deals I completely ignore, and I buy the things we really need whether it hurts my final tally or not. Anyway, today was not my best score by a long shot, but it wasn’t too shabby for an unplanned trip to CVS to get several things we were needing. 🙂

Grand Total: $131.23
Total Spent: $51.63
Total Saved: $79.60
Savings Percentage: 60%

I also have $14.00 in Extra Care Bucks to spend for my next trip, since I didn’t have time to plan it out well enough to use them up during today’s transaction.

Since I was mostly buying things we really do need, and other things we’ll very much enjoy, I’m happy with that. Hopefully next time my savings percentages will be more “normal” for me, though. 🙂