Uses for Newspaper Roll Ends

Thanks to a previous boss who had me pick these up for him while he was moving, I was made aware of newspaper roll ends. They are the ends of rolls that newspapers print on that they can't use. The Seattle Times here in Bothell, WA give them away for free. Here are just a few ways to use them:

• packing paper
• art paper
• sewing patterns
• wrapping paper

I'm sure the list could go on and on, but I'll leave that to those of you who comment!

Here's how my daughter used it today.

Coupons and Making The Drive

I needed material to make some PJ pants and decided to order the material online. However when I looked at the shipping price ($6.95) I decided to take the time and make the drive (about $2). The other reason for my trip was that I had a 50% off coupon and didn't want to let such a valuable thing go to waste and expire.
My coupon saved me $20.61 and my drive saved me $5. I just saved $25 by making the drive and using a coupon. I know it may be the opposite in some situations but take the time to figure it out, it might just save you money.

Here's another thought your way. Those PJs that I'm making, they are for a Christmas present. I have already figured out what I'm getting most of the people on my list and have started to look for them on sale or are gathering materials to make them. I am almost done shopping and have hardly spent anything. I can't quite divulge what I'm making and give you break downs for fear of someone on my list figuring out what they are getting, but I will try to remember after Christmas to tell you how I did.

To Costco or Not to Costco

In my money saving schemes I once made a deal with another family to split their Costco membership just so I could save $25/year. Before I did anything rash I actually sat down and did the numbers.

At the time, and just looking at gas, our local gas station was $.10 more expensive than Costco gas. We filled up about once a week for a 11-gallon tank car.

52 weeks in a year*(.1*11) = $57.20

A Costco membership is $50 a year, so just in gas I save $7.20 a year. However, this does not even count the groceries (or cellphones--coming soon) that I save on every year from shopping there. You do have to be careful though because not everything is cheaper. They get you on some items.

So, if I had paid for part of the membership I would have only gotten groceries since we wouldn't have had our own card and would have been to the mercy of whenever my friend went to Costco. Since we get gas there too it is worth it to have our own memebership.

It goes to show that sometimes you should crunch the numbers. Your findings might surprise you!

Wheat Grinding

Over the weekend my husband and I ground wheat into flour. This was a brand new experience for both of us, but we are pleased with our results.

The budget is pretty tight right now so after we ran out of flour we decided to use the buckets of wheat we had stored. I can't remember how much the wheat was (we purchased it over three years ago), but by borrowing someones wheat grinder we didn't have to pay a cent for three 4-gallon buckets worth of flour.

We used the flour twice yesterday, once for pancakes and once cornbread, and it was so good! I couldn't believe the difference fresh flour made on taste.

THE NUMBERS: My source of wheat (LDS Church's Home Storage Centers, http://providentliving.org/) costs $11.45 for a 25lb bag. So 25lbs of whole wheat flour is $11.45 by grinding your own wheat. Going to the store and buying whole wheat flour costs me about $6 for 5lbs which is about $30 for 25lbs. I just saved myself $18! Even if you bought a grinder, the cost of it would be covered over a few years and you would be surprised how many people have grinders just sitting around being useless. They are begging to be used! Begging! (Can you hear them?)

Speaking of Rapunzel....

We're on our way to see "Rapunzel" at Molbaks in Woodinville, WA. For those of you who don't know, Molbaks is a garden nursery and boutique. In addition to other fun events they have year round, they also do plays. And they are FREE. My oldest is pumped! I couldn't be a cooler mom right about now. :)

Below is Molbaks "Rapunzel" times and days. It runs through the end of October.
http://www.molbaks.com/rapunzel.html