Baggie Challenge Successful and Another Reason to Call Me Crazy

With two weeks of school remaining, I think it's safe to say our baggie challenge has been successful. Here's what's left of the 200-count box we started with in September: 

When friends are waving their hands in the air dismissively and reminding me that "a baggie is, what, a penny or two?", it really almost sounds silly even to me. I mean, if I see a penny lying on the ground, I won't pick it up. A nickel? Maybe. A dime? Probably. A quarter? Definitely. So why do I insist on reusing baggies? (You can read more about that here and here if you want.) Because pennies add up to dollars!

We got through nine months on less than half a box. If I had thrown them away after just one use, I think I would've needed about a box a month. That's an extra eight and a half boxes of baggies! At around $3 a box, I saved over $25. Brand name Ziplocs cost at least a dollar more per box, so you can add in another $8.50 for purchasing the store brand. And that's without even mentioning the one box of quart-size baggies for the freezer, and one box of gallon-size for storage which I expect to last until this time next year.

Maybe you can't buy anything with a penny. But if you had an extra $25 (or $33), would you spend it on baggies? That's what I thought. That's why I wash and reuse mine!

Another Reason to Call Me Crazy

I'm actually a bit flattered when people call me crazy. It feels like a good kind of crazy when you know you have $25 in your pocket that most people spent on baggies...

So here's another reason to call me crazy:

We haven't bought plastic trash can liners in 16 years. When we moved into this house, we discovered that paper grocery bags fit our pull-out kitchen trash can just fine. And we don't just repurpose them once. We use each bag many times, until it becomes stained or torn. All you have to do to make this work is refrain from putting liquids in your trash can. If you really need to put something wet or sticky (like eggshells or coffee grounds) in there, you can enclose it in the plastic packaging from another food item, a worn-out zip-top baggie, a plastic grocery bag, or the bag your newspaper comes in.

Again, I urge you to think about your use of disposables. Reusables may be the key to saving money at the grocery store. But before you start thinking I'm all environmentally conscious, I should admit that's not what motivates me to do these "crazy" things. I just don't like to buy things just to throw them away! But I did make my contribution to the landfill with three years' worth of disposable diapers. Some conveniences are worth the cost.

Disposable Paperbacks (Tuesday Tips: Travel Edition)

We're in the midst of planning a family trip to Europe this summer, complete with a vow renewal ceremony to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. So I've been thinking a lot about how to squeeze a lot of travel into a little suitcase (or at least one that will be easy to carry on a train, store in a ship's stateroom, stuff in the trunk of a taxi, haul up stairs, cram into elevators...).

I really look forward to lots of light (no pun intended) reading on my vacations. The Queen Mary 2 has a huge, beautiful lilbrary, so I'll have plenty of books to choose from while crossing the Atlantic. But what about hotels and trains (and train stations)? Last year I had a brainstorm. Why not take along a few paperbacks from the thrift shop (50 cents apiece)? Once you're done with one, just leave it for someone else to enjoy! So I left one on the train, two in the hotel in NYC, and another on the train back to Virginia.

Library on Queen Mary 2
The shelves all have locking fronts in case they need to "batten down the
 hatches" to keep the books from falling out in rough seas!

The room curves with the shape of the ship's bow.

This year, I think I can top that. In the free bin at the YMCA Thrift Shop, I found three newer novels by popular authors! They didn't have front covers, but who cares? (I know they're not supposed to sell those, since credit for them has probably been claimed from the publisher by the retailer who couldn't sell them for some reason, but as far as I know they are allowed to give them away). So my suitcase will just keep getting lighter and more spacious, and it costs me absolutely nothing to read the entire time!

If the thrift shop or second-hand store doesn't work for you, try asking a friend to save you some as they finish with them. All it takes is a little planning ahead! Or, if it's your style, you could just buy them and still leave behind, but I never buy new paperbacks myself.

Any travel tips you'd like to share?

Freezing Leftover Tomato Paste

Ever since this post about freezing things other than water in ice cube trays, I have been obsessively doing just that! I have zipper baggies of half and half cubes, several varieties of broth cubes, and fruit juice cubes. No leftover wine cubes yet- only because I am still trying to figure out what leftover wine is.

In the past week I've made two dishes with tomato paste, each using about a tablespoon. I understand it should last about a week in a sealed container in the fridge. Since I have no tomato paste plans for the near future (and detest food waste), I decided to try the ice cube thing.

If you've tried this, you're laughing at me right now. Because you already know that putting tomato paste into an ice tray is a very messy procedure. What was I thinking?

Dollop Method of Freezing Tomato Paste

Then I remembered reading somewhere that you could place dollops, approximately one tablespoon each (you'll see why I say approximately when you try it...), onto a piece of freezer paper and freeze until firm. Then you put the frozen lumps in a freezer bag and pull them out as you need them. Each tablespoon is about a half an ounce of paste.

Martha's Method of Freezing Tomato Paste

I also ran across Martha Stewart's method, whereby you freeze it in the can and cut into slices.

Since I'm the Home Ec Dropout, and not Martha Stewart, I chose to freeze it into sloppy little dollops. Maybe not as pretty, but just as frozen and safe from spoilage!

How to Avoid Having to Freeze Tomato Paste...

I've recently learned that tomato paste is sold in a tube, sort of like toothpaste. I think I'll check it out next time I shop for groceries! If it's not cost prohibitive, that sounds like great alternative.  

How do you deal with leftover tomato paste? Or do you manage not to have any? Either way, I'd love to hear about it.

Ice Cube Trays: Not Just for Water Anymore!

The broth I made from the carcass of my rum-and-Dr. Pepper marinated Thanksgiving turkey filled 5 quart jars. I froze the remaining broth (after cooling) in the ice cube tray kept in my freezer for small amounts of leftover liquids. Once the tray is full (or almost full), I transfer the cubes to labeled freezer bags for storage. It's a great way to eliminate waste due to spoilage. When you need them, they thaw quickly.

So far, I've also had great luck with freezing:

• heavy cream or half-and-half (use in sauces or cream soups)
• fruit juice (use to replace some of the water in gelatin, blend cubes into smoothies, or use to cool fruity drinks)
• vegetable juice (add flavor to soups or rice)
• liquid from cooking sweet red peppers in broth (use in soups or rice, or to saute other veggies)

I've also heard you can freeze (and plan to try):

• fresh herbs blended with a little water
• leftover wine (if there ever is any...)
• evaporated milk
• tomato sauce
• almost any vegetable puree
• whole eggs, whites or yolks (with some preparation)
• leftover coffee (cool iced coffee with cubes, or blend into a frozen drink) 

A standard ice cube tray, by my measurements, holds 2 cups of liquid (16 ounces). If your recipe calls for precise amounts, thaw the cubes first and measure carefully. Approximate cooking conversions follow:

1 cube  = 2 tablespoons = 1 ounce

2 cubes = 1/4 cup

4 cubes = 1/2 cup

6 cubes = 1 cup

Any other ideas?

Leftovers is NOT a Dirty Word!

Back in April, I got on a rant about food waste and promised (or threatened, depending on how you look at it) to elaborate, but never quite got back to it. One tip in that post was to make use of all of your leftovers. Just like your fabric scraps cost the same $9-$10 a yard that the uncut yardage in your stash did, the leftovers in your fridge were once fresh groceries for which you paid your hard-earned money.

My sewing friend Lois mentioned once that her son-in-law "doesn't eat leftovers". I can't imagine anyone being so spoiled that they wouldn't eat leftovers. Dr. Phil wasn't on TV when I was dating, but he has said on his show that it's OK to have a list of a few traits that would be deal-breakers for you when choosing a mate. A sports nut, maybe I could handle. A smoker would only be allowed to smoke outside. A tobacco chewer would probably get on the no-list. But the guy who refused to eat leftovers would definitely not have been husband material for me (and wouldn't have wanted to be, I'm sure)!

Many nights in my house, if you don't eat leftovers, you don't eat! But no one minds, and I'm convinced that it helps us keep our grocery budget reasonable. In fact, I'm one of those people who plans leftovers. Last night's dinner almost finished up our pot of homemade clam chowder, so I scheduled one of my "cooking nights". That's when I put on some music and my apron and spend a few hours preparing several dishes to serve over the next few days. Here's what I made (all these items last several days in the fridge, if stored properly):

• Parmesan couscous from a boxed mix for Mabz to take in her lunch today and tomorrow, since her new braces made her teeth sore.

• A two-quart baking dish of macaroni and cheese.

• A delicious stir-fry full of colorful veggies:

My sister shared a great stir-fry recipe with me once, which I have used for years. For this one, I used my new, original, top-secret stir-fry recipe, which is much easier and tastes even better! Since you're such good friends, I'll let you in on my "secret".

Buy two 56-ounce bags of Birds Eye stir fry mix- one Thai and one Oriental (because there are slightly different veggies in each, and different sauces). Pour half of each bag into a stir-fry pan and prepare as directed. Choose one of the sauces (I used the soy-ginger from the Thai bag) and add it in. Fabulous!

• A big pot of rice for the stir-fry and other uses throughout the week.

All this gets placed in the fridge in clear glass storage containers with plastic lids. I don't mark them with dates because I don't seem to have a problem remembering when they were prepared. But it's probably advisable to do that just to be safe.

Now, for this planned leftovers concept to work for you, it's not enough just to prepare the dishes. You have to make sure that your family actually ends up eating what you have stuck in the fridge.

We have dinner rules, one of which is that we all eat together at the kitchen table every night. However, we are not required to all be eating the same thing, and often don't. Tonight, I ate stir-fry while Steve and Mabz had mac & cheese. Sometimes, all three of us may be eating something different. Other nights, I prepare something fresh that we all like. Sometimes, one night's main dish becomes the next night's side dish Sometimes it becomes the next day's lunch. You just have to keep an eye on what's in the fridge, and make sure it gets eaten before it spoils.

My hair-stylist prepares a fresh, interesting, and often elaborate meal every night for his elderly mother and himself. I asked if they ever have leftovers. He said, "Always, and I always put them in a container in the fridge, but we never eat them." If this is you, think about making good use of your leftovers. You work hard to buy food, and to prepare it. Don't throw away your money!

If planned leftovers aren't really your style, I found a meal-planning strategy on a quilting friend's blog that I plan to share with you. I've done a lot of research on meal planning, and tried lots of different methods, but Katherine's is so unique, yet so simple...  Stay tuned for those links in my next post.

Do you and your family like leftovers? 

Frugal Friday: Baggie Challenge

I already admitted that I wash and reuse my zip-top sandwich baggies (read about it HERE). I just feel like many of our so-called "disposable" goods are actually reusable! We bought a new box of 200 on grocery day, which happens to be just a few days into the new school year. Take note that these aren't your fancy-schmancy, expensive brand-name baggies- just Great Value from Walmart.

Now I've challenged my family to make them last the entire school year!

I also found that between the new gallon-size bags left in our box and a few slightly used ones, we have a full box of 40.  That should do us for nine months, as well. So let's see if my family can make it work...

Whether for financial or environmental motives (or some combination of the two), I challenge you to do the same! At the end of May, I'll let you how it went... and I'll want to know how it worked for you!

Road Trip Essentials

Even if you're just running downtown for errands, there are certain things you seem to always need on the road:

• first aid kit (especially band-aids)
• pen and notepad
• change for parking meters
• pain relievers and other medications you may need
• feminine sanitary products
• water
• eyeglass cleaning cloth (if you wear glasses or sunglasses) 
• baby wipes for cleaning up messes or sticky hands
• hand sanitizer
• sunglasses
• sewing kit
• umbrellas 
• lint roller

Keeping these items in your car at all times will save you many expensive stops at convenience stores, where a handful of Advil or a box of tampons could cost as much as the full-size package you normally buy. And how many times have you had to buy an overpriced bottle of water just to take an aspirin (or used it as an excuse to buy a soft drink, which is even worse)?

For any trip longer than a couple of hours, we also pack:

• cell phone charger with cigarette lighter adapter
• dry snacks like granola bars, animal crackers and apples
• water bottles on a small cooler with an ice pack
• jackets (in case of nippy evenings); rain gear would probably be a good idea, too
• extra shoes (if lots of walking is involved in the day's activities and tired feet are expected)
• sunscreen (if planning to be outdoors)
• camera
• extra set of keys

Of course, we are all at least 13- the younger your children are, and the more you have of them, the longer your list will be.  Family Fun offers a helpful kid-oriented list.

Happy travels!

Decorating With Books (Economically)

"Who Read All Those Books?" 

That's what people say when they enter our library. There's a fireplace and lots of other great furniture and features in that room, but they always comment on the books. The answer is: no one in this family! Yes, we are avid readers, but most of these books were obtained from other sources, and they've been great fun to collect. And, although we haven't read them all, we have enjoyed many of them over the years! And a few are books we have purchased, but we primarily use the public library for our reading.

How to Furnish Your Bookshelves 

• Local thrift shops: My favorite source for hardback books. I usually try to pay less than one dollar each unless they're especially attractive (or I really want to read them...)
• Junk shops: A junk-dealer friend once sold me every book (paperbacks included) in his shop for one lump sum. When his wife found out, she said, "Honey, there's a lotta good readin' on those shelves." I felt bad for her and let her keep quite a few for herself.
• Book sales: Check one out sometime. The YMCA Thrift Shop has a huge one every October. We buy books there that we actually use, too- especially reference books.
• Dumpsters and giveaway bins: This is where I've found some of our very most impressive looking books. No kidding! Take a look at this bookshelf. Nice arrangement of books, right?

I brought home the green 1950s encyclopedia set from the "free" shelf at my favorite thrift shop a few years ago. The beautiful burgundy leather book just to the right and a few of the others were fished out of a dumpster out back!

Here's a picture of that book set up with a couple of its friends (leather as well) from the same dumpster so you can get a good look at the beautiful spine and front cover.  Inside, the pages are printed in German with letterpress printing. 

If someone takes it off the shelf, they'll notice the extremely damaged corner, but it was FREE! And check this one out (a Dutch dictionary)- it's practically perfect, By the way, did I mention these books are over one hundred years old?

What to Look For When Buying Used Books for Decorating

When I buy (or scrounge up) books for our collection, I always look under the dust covers for colorful bindings in good shape. Then I look inside to make sure the pages aren't deteriorated, terribly damaged or sticky. I also check for silverfish, because you don't want to introduce them into your home to eat all your paper! All these rules, of course, go right out the window if the book is incredibly beautiful in some way, or leather! My friend Randy who, like me, often brings home paper items of questionable origin, puts them in the freezer for a few days to kill any silverfish that might be hiding in the pages. Isn't that clever? I don't do that, but I do inspect very carefully and have never had a problem. If they smell musty, leave them out in the fresh air and sunshine for a while until they smell fresher (but watch for fading).

Books by the Foot

If you have extra money, and you don't feel like rummaging for inexpensive books, there are services which will do it  for you. You can even choose the subject matter. My husband furnished some larger bookshelves in our former home with law books purchased this way.

Books by the Foot

Strand Books

Book Decor

Or, I guess you could pay in the neighborhood of $25 per book at the bookstore, but at least you'd be able to say you read them all.   

Thanks for reading such a long post! 

Reusing Baggies

We use at least five or six zip-top sandwich bags for packing apple slices and other items in our lunches each weekday. Mabzie buys snacks like animal crackers and packages them into her own "100 calorie packs". I know baggies are meant to be disposable- but why? They are so reusable I just can't bring myself to throw them away (unless they are really dirty, sticky or greasy).   

I'm not especially environmentally conscious, but I can't see disposing of plastic goods that can simply be rinsed and used again over and over! Shown at the left are the reusable sandwich containers we use daily- better than baggies because your sandwich doesn't get squished and your baggie doesn't get all peanut-buttery or mayonnaise-y (those would be the ones I'd just throw away).

I wash them whenever I have a few things to do by hand.. There are a few drying upside down right behind the Pyrex measuring cup in the image above. If they just have crumbs in them, I just rinse and dry. We are only on our second 100-count box this school year, instead of the box a month or more we used to use. It's not much trouble at all- I really think it's worth it. And you have to buy the fancy brand for them to last through many uses- we buy Walmart's Great Value.

We have almost eliminated disposables from our grocery list. We do buy paper napkins (we also use cloth when we're not being too messy) and paper towels (for cleaning windows and the stove top). And we keep a few paper plates and plastic ups on hand for picnics (I rinse out the cups and bring them home). I asked my husband and daughter if they could think of any other disposable goods we use and they both replied "toilet paper".  My daughter added feminine products to the list. I know there are alternatives to both that can be washed and reused, but I feel safe in saying to you that we will never be taking the elimination of disposables quite that far!

Updated May 20, 2012
Some other views and articles on the subject:

• Fake West Coast Hippie  hangs them on a little clothesline over the sink.
• The Simple Dollar  thinks it's a waste of time, but his post got twenty comments.
• Mother Jones considers it an environmental issue.
• A Penny Closer tried this tip from The Tightwad Gazette and thought she might keep doing it.

What's interesting, too, is that some of these folks did it in the dishwasher... and it worked. Why didn't I think of that?

Make Your Own: Bike Basket

Mabzie wanted a Nantucket-style bike basket. So, the other day I found this cute basket for $1.98 at the Y Thrift Shop. It said to me "I would make a great bike basket, take me home", so I did!

Today we got out our Minwax pecan stain and spray polyurethane*. I snipped off the top handle, Mabz stained and her Daddy sprayed. It stained quite a bit darker than the photo shows- the sun was very bright! Then we mounted it to the front of her bike with wire ties. Ta-da! 

It feels good to make your own lower-cost alternative to an expensive product (and to teach a young person how to improvise).

*We saved $33 plus shipping compared to purchasing the advertised basket. The Minwax products would've added around $10 to the project if we hadn't had them on hand.

The Whole Package

Mabz was on a budget for her friend's birthday, since she was invited to four birthday parties this month! She chose the cutest little pink and blue polka dot cosmetic bag and filled it with a matching manicure kit and two coordinating nail polishes. The birthday girl is sure to love it! Then, she wrapped it like we always do:

• She chose a gift bag from our stash. Some are from gifts we have received. This one was a shopping bag from Bare Escentuals.
• She covered the logos on the front and back with striped cardstock from her art supplies made it into a sticker with her Xyron sticker maker. (I usually just gluestick it on- the refills for that little gadget aren't cheap!)
• She found pink and blue polka dot tissue paper, also from our stash of recycled wrappings. Unbelievable that it matched the gift so perfectly!
• She made a card and envelope from coordinating cardstock.

Another inexpensive alternative is the selection of cheerful gift bags offered at Dollar Tree for- you guessed it- $1 each. They also have helium-inflated balloons. And their greeting cards are two for $1, but I still like the homemade ones best!

Throwing Away Money

Get the most for your family's food dollar by eliminating food waste. Americans are throwing away their grocery money in a big way! According to a recent article in the the Wall Street Journal*, the average family of four is spending at least $500 a year on food that ends up in the trash. That's a huge impact on our budgets!  

Ways to Reduce or Eliminate Food Waste:

• Plan your meals for the week.
• Shop with a list, and stick to it.
• Purchase only a few days worth of perishable foods, and make sure you eat them before they spoil.
• Store food properly.
• Understand expiration and "sell by" dates.
• Organize your refrigerator and utilize your freezer.
• Make good use of leftovers.

Each of these tips is worthy of its own post, and will get one very soon! Meanwhile, start thinking (if you don't already) that food = money.  It's not enough to get the best price in the grocery store- we have to use all of the food we buy. 

Last week, after being so proud of myself for changing brands of butter beans to save six cents a can, I had to throw away some sour milk and a whole cucumber. My savings were more than canceled out in that transaction. Gotta be more careful... 

*Leftovers: Tasty or Trash by Sarah Nassauer

Ingredient Substitutions

Have you ever started a recipe and realized halfway through that you didn't have a required ingredient? It's happened to me so often that I now make it a practice to lay everything out on the counter before I start. This is called "mise en place", French for "everything in place". If you're not going use this concept, then you should know about these websites that offer suggestions for ingredient substitution:

• AllRecipes - Common Ingredient Substitutions
• The Cook's Thesaurus
• Joy of Baking

A mistake or shortage of ingredients isn't the only reason you might consider a substitution. Sometimes I consider a substitute ingredient when a recipe calls for a very small quantity of something I don't normally stock in my pantry, or to replace an expensive ingredient. I'm very adventurous with substitution in cooking- sometimes out of necessity, and sometimes just for fun! 

I'm more cautious, however, about ingredient changes in baking. Baking results are much more dependent on texture and chemical reaction. The Joy of Baking's recommendations make sense to me, based on what I have learned about baking, but I have seen some resources that I wouldn't trust. 

So, use the "mise en place", a French phrase meaning "everything in place". If you still need a substitution, give one of these lists a try!

Written on the Bathroom Wall

We spent some time this afternoon walking along the New River:

             

We were visited by this gorgeous cardinal:

                                                                             

We love this hollow tree along the path, though the light wasn't just right today for a photo:

___________________________________

Fresh Air & Sunshine   $0

Invigorating Exercise in a Beautiful Setting  $0

Elevated Sense of Well-Being  $0

Time Alone with Husband   PRICELESS

________________________________

Yes, my friends, a walk outdoors with someone you love is still absolutely free in this country, and much more fun than a treadmill in a smelly, expensive gym! I take advantage of that every chance I get and I urge you to do the same. 

Here's the "written on the bathroom wall" part- the opinion of someone passing through somewhere between here and Washington, DC:

Virginia is for losers? I think not.

Virginia is for lovers? Definitely.

Liar, Liar

I was once an advertising copywriter and I'm ashamed to admit that I used this one a time or two myself:

Buy More, Save More?

You know how I hate math, but here it is:


This convenience store's regular price was $4.19 for twelve 12 ounce cans (that's about 35 cents a can). If you buy 2 cases for $8, each case costs 19 cents less (38 cents in "savings") and the cost per can comes down to 33 cents. Three cases for $10 ($3.33 per case)... your "savings" is $2.57 and your cost per can is about 28 cents. Four cases for $12 "saves" you $4.76. This IS substantially more economical than feeding quarters or dollar bills into a vending machine daily. I'll give you that...


I could go on and on, paragraph after paragraph (and had planned to) about less expensive ways to purchase Coke products (2-liter bottles), and more frugal beverage alternatives (like stores brands and brewed iced tea). But as I was doing my pricing research at the grocery store, I realized I already knew the real key to this one. To really save money on beverages, you have to do what my family decided to do a couple of years ago...


Before I go on, let me say that this is extremely difficult for me (not the rest of my family- just me). You see, I am a recovering Diet Coke addict. I define the four basic food groups as follows: cheese, chocolate, wine and Diet Coke!


OK. Here's the secret to saving lots of money on soft drinks: Do Not Buy Them! Tap water is absolutely free, saving you the entire price of every 12-pack. If your water is not tasty (or you worry about contaminants like my husaband) and you splurge on filtered bottled water, the kind we buy (Great Value Drinking Water/Walmart/$.88 per gallon) costs us about 8 cents for 12 ounces.  


You can never save by spending (unless the item is an absolute necessity and you can get a discount off of the already absolute lowest price you could find anywhere). You only spend by spending and save by saving. Got it? Good. Now, all you have to do is convince yourself that soda is not a necessity!


Oh, and you'll get used to drinking water (I almost have) and you'll be healthier, too!


P.S. I still treat myself to a Diet Coke once in a while and a huge unsweetened iced tea (less than 5 cents a serving made with tap water) daily.


    


  

Meet Milburn & His Medicine

Milburn came to us as a scraggly stray in the summer of 2006, so he's not much of an inside cat when the weather gets warm. And since we are surrounded by a wooded area, he is troubled by deer ticks (which I recently learned don't have a "season"- they're around all year long!). I used to take him to the vet for prescription Frontline. I can't remember the exact cost - just that it was astronomical! Browsing around one day a couple of years ago, I found Sentry PurrScriptions Plus (pictured above) at Tractor Supply ($14.99 for 3 monthly treatments). There's the purple box for cats over 5 pounds and another color for under 5 pounds. For reference in this post, I called Milby's vet to check the current price.  They now offer a generic flea/tick medication which is less expensive than Frontline, but still $10 per monthly application. So, I'm saving 50% and Milby's tick free and happy.  How do I know it works? Whenever I slip up and go too long between treatments, he gets ticks!

NOTE: I hear a lot about 1-800-petmeds, so I checked there and couldn't find a better price on any of their products (they don't represent this brand). I am sure there are other good ones out there - look around and see what you can find!  

Cupcake Calculations

Lots of Moms say it's just as cheap to buy cupcakes as it is to make them, but I always get self-righteous and disagree.


So when Mabzie wanted to take 18 cupcakes to school tomorrow to celebrate her upcoming birthday with her friends, we got our stuff together to bake them:

    
1 box  Funfetti cake mix (makes 24 cupcakes); $1/Walmart
2 cans Funfetti frosting with sprinkles (13 servings each); $3/Walmart
1/3 cup vegetable oil; $.21/Walmart
3 eggs; $.48/Walmart
cupcake liners ($1.47 for 75); $.48/Walmart
2 pkg Peeps for decoration; $2/Walmart


So I figured 24 cupcakes would cost $7.19, compared with the decorated cupcakes Walmart was selling today for $6 a dozen.  We were going to save almost $5! (For ease of calculations, I didn't consider tax, but I think the rate is lower for groceries than for prepared foods, anyway, which is another post for later...)


The first dozen cupcakes baked beautifully and we were both quite proud. But for the second batch, we only had enough batter to make 7. So a box of mix made only 19- which is OK, still enough! But, I was worried that my math was not going to prove my point at all...


Iced and decorated with sprinkles and Peep bunnies, they were so cute!

Then, guess what?  One can of frosting (13 servings) was plenty for 19 cupcakes!  We can return one can of frosting for $1.50, so our cost ends up being $5.69, or 30 cents per cupcake.


Final analysis:


Walmart cupcakes:  50 cents each
Our cupcakes:         30 cents each
Making cupcakes together:  PRICELESS


In the end, we saved over $6, and we did have enough cupcakes, but the Home Ec Dropout part of me thinks that even if those other Moms are spending twice the money on inferior cupcakes, at least they know how many they are getting!