Thrifty Thoughts - #21 - 25

21. Rethink those "extras" when baking.  Sure those heath bits would make those brownies extra amazing, but you just added at least $2 to your pan.  And dumping a bag of shredded mozzarella on top of my pasta and baking it would add so much yumminess (and calories!!) but then again, I'm adding at least $2 to the dish.   If you just did those two things, that's an extra $4 that you didnt' need to spend.  Bear with me now.  Let's just say you did the above scenario (with different dishes) 15 times in a month.  You've just added $60 to your monthly grocery bill.  On the other hand,  if you look at it the other way around and start "rethinking" those extras, you've just SAVED yourself $60!!

22. Don't get frustrated with that hard-as-rocks brown sugar and throw it in the trash. Stick a piece of bread in it.  It will be as good as new in a day.  Or less.
23. MY AMAZING NEW DISCOVERY!!!  (wellllll, I THOUGHT it was a new discovery until my good pal Melly Mel burst my bubble and said she already knew this trick!)  But I had some cookies that I over baked and the next day were pretty hard.  I decided to try the bread trick and low and behold, the next day my cookies were SOFT and fresh tasting!  I could hardly believe the good fortune!  I for one, am extremely disappointed when I have to "chomp" into a chocolate chip cookie.  No, no.  You should be able to eat those without putting your false teeth in.
24.  Another discovery to save money.  I hate buying vacuum cleaner bags.  Seems like they fill up soooo fast.  (Maybe my carpets are just extra dirty?  Goes with having two boys?)  Anyways, I cringe when I pull the last Y bag out for the Hoover.  Well, it was my last bag, and it was full....  I pulled it out and said to Hubby, "hey Dude, just take this outside and empty it out.  Here's a needle nose pliers to help you with that job."  He obeyed like a good puppy, I mean Hubby, and put it back in the vacuum.  So there, you can recycle those too.
25.  Shop the dollar store!  But WISELY.  Some of that "dollar only" merchandise really is cheaper elsewhere.  But here are a few things you SHOULD buy at a dollar store:
-wrapping paper.  But make sure you get a roll that has at least 30 square feet.  Sometimes that takes a little detective work.
- picture frames
-books for toddlers.  Some are cheesy, but some are great!  Just look!  And some have CD's that read along with the story which my kids love.  Great gift idea.
-Greeting Cards.  Most dollar stores sell them two for a dollar!

-jewelry.  Okay, laugh at me.  But I really do get lots of compliments on my necklaces and those complimenting people would never guess where I got them!  Don't knock it, till you try it.

I really had to scrounge to try to come up with some pics of me with my cheap jewelry, but here ya go.  Unfortunately, you can hardly see my favorite piece - the turquoise one on the left - but that's okay cuz there's a sweet little face covering it up!  Sorry for the bad pics, but you get the idea.

Before publishing this post, I decided to look up Dollar Tree online and was quite excited to see you can shop there online!!  I think I'll be checking that out.  I see some cool organizing bins that I'm pretty sure I'm in the market for.  Adios, Amigos!!!!