Lydia Abhors a Vacuum

This was shared on our personal private blog, but I wanted to share it here as well. It was written by my husband.


In her 14 months, Lydia has seen a lot of things, met a lot of people, and has generally liked most of it (her uncle Eric aside...she just does not like that poor guy). But there is one foe so fearsome, so menacing, that even our intrepid little explorer cowers in fear before it:

The Vacuum.

Ever since she was a youngling, Lydia has been terrified of our newfangled automatated cleaning apparatus. Any time we bring it out, she will seek out the nearest corner to shove herself into--guarded by her blanket, of course. She will there sit and watch the vacuum's every move--every move--until she is satisfied that it not coming to get her...THIS TIME.

That's the great secret of the Vacuum Watcher: Vigilance is the price of safety; complacency is the beginning of the end.

Unfortunately, this morning the Watcher forgot her credo and let her guard slip down. After all, she was playing safely in Mom and Dad's bedroom as they made the bed and straightened the place up. Nothing could get to her here. Little did she realize that she had entered the very lair of the dread enemy.


The realization struck suddenly as her parents left the room, calling after her to follow. She toddled boldly toward the door, and then she saw it, crouched in the corner, ready to strike at any second. The vacuum stared at her, and she at it. She realized she had been betrayed and was now at the mercy of her nemesis.

The only reaction left, obviously, was to freak right the heck out.

Frozen in her tracks, she screamed and stared down the adversary, knowing that if she broke eye contact it was all over. No amount of coaxing from her father could compromise her position. Even as he held her hands and walked her from the room, she kept her head turned to lock the opponent in her stare, screaming at it the whole time, certain that this was the only way to keep it at bay.

As any good warrior knows, the heat of battle can really drain you. And like most good warriors, Lydia needed several minutes of cuddling with Daddy and her blanket.

Emergency Essentials

Right now Emergency Essentials is doing an awesome promotion where bloggers get to try out their Food Storage Analyzer and review it and get a free $10 gift card! So I thought I'd give it a try. Here's the link. I thought it was a great tool. I remember my mom trying to keep track of all that information and having elaborate spreadsheets, but not anymore. They do all the hard work for you. You can even save your information and order products straight from there. I thought it was a neat tool that I plan on using when we start working on our food storage.

Rite Aid $26+ Moneymaker!

So I've really been loving Rite Aid the last few weeks. First there was the amazing Huggies deal where I made $6.50. Last week I made about $17 buying mostly cold medicine, and this week was even better. After rebates and coupons, I made $26.59 after tax. Here's how I did it:

Blink Tears--$7.99
used $1.50 IP coupon
Total: $1.50 Moneymaker

EOS Lip Balm .14-.25oz $1.99
Submit for $1.99 SCR
Total: Free

Zucol Coldcare--$5.99
Submit for $5.99 Single Check Rebate
Total: Free

Neilmed Nasa Mist Saline Spray--$9.99
Use $2/1 printable here
Submit for $9.99 Single Check Rebate
$3.00 Rebate found in box
Total: $5 Moneymaker

Neilmed Drip Free Gel Spray 45ml $5.99
use $2.00 IP coupon
Submit $5.99 SCR
$3.00 Rebate found in box
Final: $5.00 Moneymaker

Cepacol Fizzlers 12ct $4.99
Submit $4.99 SCR
Final: Free

Chloraseptic Relief Strips 40ct $4.49
Submit $4.49 SCR
Final: Free

Children's Coldcalm Pellets $7.99
use $1.00 IP coupon
Submit $7.99 SCR
Final: $1.00 Moneymaker

EOS Lip Balm $1.99
Submit $1.99 SCR
Final: Free

Little Allergies Allergen Block $9.99
Submit $9.99 SCR
Final: Free

Little Colds Cold Formula 1oz $3.99
Submit $3.99 SCR
Final: Free

Little Colds Sore Throat Melts or Mucus Relief Melts 12ct $5.49
Submit $5.49 SCR
Final: Free

Sambucol Lozenges Immune Booster 30ct $7.99
Submit $7.99 SCR
Final: Free

Zantac 150 $8.99
use $2.00 Peelie found on box
Submit $8.99 SCR
Final: $2.00 Moneymaker

Tresemme Shampoo--$3.33
Use $2/1 Rite Aid coupon here
Submit for $1 Single Check Rebate
Final: $0.33

Tresemme Conditioner--$3.33
Use $2/1 Rite Aid coupon here
Submit for $1 Single Check Rebate
Final: $0.33



I also used the $5/$25 Rite Aid coupon found here 3 times (in three different transactions)

Baking Day Ahoy!

Today I decided after a walk to the library that I wanted to do a baking day. I like having some food already prepared for those days when I forget about dinner and need something quick. I also wanted to get some breakfasts ready because I never quite feel like cooking breakfast. So here's my plan:

Meatballs (Turkey/Hamburger Combination)
Brown Rice Balls
Blueberry Wheat Pancakes
Peach Oatmeal Muffins

If I can get done with these, I will feel great about today!

RiteAid Huggies Deal

So I did an awesome deal this morning that would have been even more awesome if I had been on my toes, but as it is, I still got a fantastic deal.

I bought:

2 Jumbo Packs Huggies Pure and Natural Diapers
1 Jumbo Pack Huggies Regular Diapers
2 Huggies Wipes
1 Huggies Baby Wash
1 Clean and Clear Face Wash
1 Clean and Clear Acne Medicine
1 Pack M&Ms
1 Box Rice Crispies
1 Set Gloves (to be used for diaper laundry)
1 Proantinox

Before rebates or coupons, my total was $64.93

After coupons, rebates, and gift cards, my total was...

-$6.57

That's correct, I made $6.57 on this. Now, if I had done it right, I would have made about $5 more, but ah well, making $6.57 buying diapers and face wash is ok by me.

Line Drying

We (and by we, I mean me with Tyler begrudgingly saying ok) decided that it was a good idea to line dry all the diapers that we wash. I looked it up, and it costs about $.36/load to dry laundry. We are doing about 2.5 loads of diaper laundry a week now, which means that it would cost us $50/year to dry Lydia's diapers. I know this doesn't seem huge, but at this point, we are watching every penny we spend, and I am doing everything I can possibly do to help.

Unfortunately, we live in a small apartment, and both of us feel weird drying them outside. So, I'm trying to figure out where to put the line inside. My first attempt was in the bathroom, which is also the laundry room, but I'm not sure it's large enough. I'm happy to hear any suggestions on the matter.

Anyways, I line dried my first load of diapers yesterday, and I was proud of myself! It was actually strangely calming to put them on the line. I liked it. It's a calming, repetitive activity that's also useful, frugal, and green!

Making Homemade Bread

My husband requested that I start making bread for dinner sometimes. I don't like to bake, but I heard about Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, and it sounded perfect for me. I found online a copy of the recipe (published in the NYT, so it's legit) and it's changed our lives. Here's the recipe I've done:

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt

6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, more for dusting dough

Cornmeal.

1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

2. Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.

3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.

Yield: 4 loaves.

Variation: If not using stone, stretch rounded dough into oval and place in a greased, nonstick loaf pan. Let rest 40 minutes if fresh, an extra hour if refrigerated. Heat oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Place pan on middle rack.


We learned a long time ago to buy 4 unglazed quarry tiles at Lowe's for like $.50 each rather than pizza stones. My husband swears by them.

Anyways, making bread the easy way works for me!

The Last Cloth Diapering Post, I Promise! (Maybe)

So, I've officially finished with my diaper stash for now. When we have another baby, I'll have to get a few things that are smaller, but not too much. Here's what I did and how much it cost:

12 Infant Indian Cotton DSQ(Diaper Service Quality) Prefolds
24 Premium Indian Cotton DSQ Prefolds
1 Small Thirsties Diaper Cover
1 Small Bummis Super Brite Cover
4 Medium Thirsties Diaper Covers
1 AIO (All-in-one) BumGenius Diaper
5 Snappi Fasteners
1 BumGenius Diaper Sprayer
42 Flannel Cloth Wipes (I made these myself)

I decided to go with prefolds and covers for two reasons. The first is because they last the longest. Prefolds can last for pretty much all of your kids, and covers will last a while. Even if we end up needing to replace some covers, they aren't too bad on their own. Also, the prefolds were the cheapest option. At about $2.00 apiece compared to $18 for AIOs, and lasting much longer than AIOs, this was the option for us.

The retail value of these items is about $220.00, not counting shipping. But me being the bargain huntress I am, paid a grand total of $168.96 for these all new items(no used), a savings of 23%! I am so happy about this. Almost every source you see says it will cost at least $200 to get your diaper stash, and usually more like $500. But I did it for $170.

This means that it will take us almost 4 months to recoop our losses. That's figuring I only pay $46/month on diapers and wipes, which is about right when you count my couponing. I'm also looking into making our own detergent for the diapers, which should make the cleaning cost go way down ($.02/load compared to $.20/load). I also plan on line drying the diapers, so that will cut down on energy. Our monthly maintenance costs for the diapers will be about $1-2/month. Way better than $40/month!

Over the course of medical school (the next 5 years) we would have spend about $2700 on diapers and wipes ($46/month). However, now we will be spending about $200 over the course of medical school. This is a savings of $2500!

It's not most fun thing ever, but so far I don't think it won't be that big of a deal, and it's definitely something I can do. And I will be saving a huge amount of money, so whoohoo!!!!

Valuable Resource for Those Looking Into Cloth Diapering

I know I've been cloth-diapering heavy lately in my posts, but I thought I'd share one more thing. As I've been talking to others about this, I've learned that many people don't realize the cloth diapering options. One website I found useful this week as I've been learning was the Cloth Diapering 101 Series over at The Simple Mom. She explains the options, gives her opinion, and even made some how-to videos!. She's also having a giveaway to give some to someone who may want to try them out. Just thought I'd share about this valuable information.

Diaper Sprayer for way cheap!

So I just had to share this, because I'm proud of myself. We've recently decided to switch to cloth diapers because of the huge savings. I may make myself some eventually, but I've mostly decided to just use prefolds and covers. I have my first shipment coming in on Thursday. I'm so excited...

Anyways, so everyone is recommending that we get a diaper sprayer, which is a thing like the sprayer for your sink, except it attaches to the plumbing of your toilet. It basically eliminates the need for "swishing" the diaper. But the problem is, they are about $45, which is a little much for our convenience. So I saw online that it's easy to make one yourself.

So we went to Home Depot, knowing nothing at all about plumbing, but having faith someone there could help us decipher the things on our list. However, this proved to be difficult, and after several hours and much education about all things plumbing, we got everything. The only problem is that it ended up costing about $32 when all was said and done. So I decided to look into buying one a little more.

So here's the part you've been waiting for. On Diapers.com, they have a standard diaper sprayer for $45. However, they have specials for people who have never used their site before, so if you use them together, you can get a sweet deal. Here's two options:

Option 1:
Diaper Sprayer: $45
Smallest pack of diapers I could find that we could use (Luvs Jumbo Pack): $6.99
(This puts it over $50, which qualifies for the coupon codes below as well as free shipping.)
-coupon code MEAG7698 (Takes off $10 if you buy diapers in a purchase)
-$15 MIR you can get instead of the Parents Magazine subscription. You can find the form in the shopping cart before you check out, it's on the bottom.
TOTAL: $26.96!!!

This was the best deal moneywise, but I found one that worked better for me:

Option 2:
Diaper Sprayer: $45
Bum Genius One-Size Diaper: $17.95
-$10 coupon code MEAG7698 (You may have to call 1800DIAPERS to make it work, because the diaper was cloth rather than disposable)
-$4.50 coupon code 10PERCENT. This will take 10% off the diaper sprayer. The reason you didn't do this with the other one is because that would make the total under $50 and cost you $5 in shipping, making it not worth it.
-$15 MIR instead of Parent's Magazine subscription.
TOTAL: $33.41

So, I'll get a nice diaper and a sprayer for less than making or buying a diaper sprayer on its own! I was so excited about this deal, I just had to share.