I’ve never purposely bought beef short ribs.  Like, in my whole life.

But when we buy a quarter of a cow, we sometimes get cuts of beef that are wholly unfamiliar to me.  Short ribs are one of those cuts.

A couple of you said that they’re pretty expensive to buy, so my apologies for posting this recipe on a blog about frugality.  While they might not be a very frugal purchase, for those of us who buy portions of a cow, it IS frugal to use up all the beef we bring home.

So, that’s why I’m posting it.

Having no idea how to prepare these bad boys, I browsed through my Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook and came across a recipe for Korean Grilled Ribs.

This recipe calls for taking the meat and excess fat off of the rib bones, which is (not gonna lie) kind of a laborious process.  The recipe then calls for cutting the boneless meat into slices and then pounding them to an even thickness.

This probably works great if your ribs are the predictable, uniform sort they sell at the store, but the ribs I had were very not uniform.

So, I deboned them as best I could and sliced and pounded them.  But as you’ll see in a later photo, my finished meat wasn’t exactly neat and tidy.

Anyway, after you debone the meat, you make a marinade by blending up a pear with a number of other ingredients.  This is a great use for a pear that’s gone a bit mushy, by the way.

The meat needs to be marinated at least 4 hours.

Heat the grill until it’s very hot (15 minutes or so), and then grill the meat until it’s browned on both sides, turning it often.

All six of us thought these were really good…I think the marinade was key.  The pear gave the meat a nice subtle sweetness, and I’d definitely consider using the marinade for other cuts of meat.

I still have more short ribs, and I think I’m going to try a slow-cooker recipe next.  And then I think I will have successfully used up all the rib packages in my freezer.  Sweet.

Printable Korean Grilled Ribs (no picture)

Printable Korean Grilled Ribs (picture)

Korean Grilled Short Ribs

1 medium pear (ripe), peeled, halved, cored, and roughly chopped
6 medium cloves garlic, peeled
4 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
6 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 scallions, green and white parts sliced thin
5 pounds bone-in English-style short ribs, meat removed from bone, trimmed of excess fat, sliced widthwise at angle into 1/2- to 3/4-inch-thick pieces and pounded 1/4 inch thick
Vegetable oil for grill rack

Combine pear, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and vinegar in a food processor and process until smooth.  Stir in the scallions.

Pour a third of the marinade into a pan or bowl, add the meat, and top with the rest of the marinade.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Heat grill on high for 15 minutes. Place ribs on grill, and cook, flipping frequently, until both sides are well-browned.

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Today’s 365 post: I didn’t take any pictures at all yesterday.

Joshua’s 365 post: The club is now open!

1. Lisey and I baked something super cute.

You should totally go take a peek (clicking on the picture and the link will open up a new window, so you can still keep reading here.)

2. We bought a mattress for Zoe!  And set up her bed.

But I have not painted her drawers, and her new quilt hasn’t arrived yet either.  So, pictures of the installed bed will have to wait until next week, probably.

3. I’m thinking about painting my cabinets white.

I’ve been a little nervous about the idea since my appliances are all black.  But I’ve seen several showroom kitchens now that pair white cabinets and black appliances, so I might give it a go this summer.

I really don’t prefer my cabinets the way they are now, so I figure I don’t have a lot to lose.

4. I’m trying out a new online bank.

AbleBanking contacted me a few months ago to tell me about their new online bank.  It’s a similar concept to ING, but AbleBanking has a really great twist on the online banking concept.  Instead of spending a bunch of money on advertising, they give that money to you so that you can give it to your favorite charity.

You get $25 for your charity when you open an account, and every time the anniversary of your account opening rolls around, they’ll give you 0.25% of your average balances to donate as well.

You don’t have to pick from a predetermined list…you can donate to any (501c3) charity.

(Mine is so going to Living Water.)

I just got my account funded, so I haven’t gotten a chance to test-drive it much yet, but I’ll keep you posted as I use it.

AbleBanking is brand-spankin’ new, so if you’d like to get an account, you’ll just need to hop on over to their website and sign up to get an invite.

5. I don’t clean behind beds very often.

It was pretty bad underneath Zoe’s old bed.

Ooh, and if you look closely on the right side of the picture, you can see rows of dirty marks.  The sides of a crib are sort of like dirt stencils.

The walls and the floor are all spiffed up now.

Although, I think the walls really just need a good repainting.  Zoe has never liked the pink (I picked it when she was an opinion-less baby), and I think something other than pink might coordinate better with her new quilt.

We’ll see.

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Today’s 365 post: “I wish we could have these chairs at home, Mommy!” (spin, spin, spin)

Joshua’s 365 post: Falcon 9 Launch

This past weekend, we sat on a local beach, enjoying a lovely May day.  Out of the blue, this bottle rode in with a wave.

And that made me sad.

Beaches should have sand and pebbles and happy people, but not plastic bottles.

Plastic water bottles can be recycled.

But the problem is that most people drink bottled water when they’re not at home, which means that recycling facilities aren’t readily available.  So, a shockingly small percentage of water bottles actually make it into a recycling bin (about 75% aren’t recycled.)

When we drink water out of disposable bottles, we’re just not nearly as careful with them as we are when we used non-disposable bottles.

Nobody in their right mind would leave a Klean Kanteen sitting on the beach or picnic table, but plastic bottles have so little value to us, we leave them all over the place (and leaving them all over the place is far worse than sending them to the landfill!)

I’m not picking on bottled water because it’s so much worse than all the other plastic waste we produce.

No, I’m picking on it because it is so largely unnecessary.

The vast majority of us have access to high-quality tap water that’s almost free, and considering that as much as 40% of bottled water is filtered tap water, it’s a little silly to pay a huge markup for it.  Plus, bottled water is less strictly regulated by the FDA than tap water and there are safety concerns about drinking from those ubiquitous plastic bottles.

If you’re a bottled water consumer, consider buying a Brita Pitcher or installing an on-tap filter.

And then get yourself a nice, sturdy water bottle that you value, because we’re inspired to take care of things we value.

(We really love our stainless steel Klean Kanteens…I highly recommend them.)

Even with the up-front costs of a filter and a canteen, you’ll be money ahead in the long run, and you’ll be treading a little more lightly on our planet.

Or if you really need bottled water, maybe you could use the really large, refillable jugs in your home, and carry reusable water bottles with you.

And if you end up with a single-use water bottle in your hand, do make sure it ends up in a recycling bin, or at the very least, a trash bin.

My beach will be grateful.

P.S. For more of my thoughts on bottled water, see my post about the Tapped documentary.

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Today’s 365 post: Science + Sparkles

Joshua’s 365 post: I love coffee!

Amazon links are affiliate links.  See disclosure for more details.

Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you’d like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!

What do you think about Tumblr as a blog host? Too juvenile? I agree that Blogger is cumbersome, but I just haven’t ever committed to WordPress.

-Sydney

I haven’t personally used Tumblr for blogging, but my initial thought is that Tumblr is more helpful if you’re posting more photos than words (which sometimes is the case around here,  I suppose!).

I think Tumblr looks nicer out of the box than Blogger does, though, so that’s an upside.

Just so you know, WordPress doesn’t have to be a big commitment.  You can start a WordPress blog for free at WordPress.com!

If, down the road, you decide that you want more design flexibility and the freedom to run ads, you can always move your WordPress.com blog to a self-hosted WordPress blog.  That’s what I did after a few months on WordPress.com and it wasn’t a hard process.

A lot of people who get serious with their blogs eventually move to WordPress, and if you start out on WordPress.com, the transition is a whole lot easier than if you start on Tumblr or Blogger.  So, if you think there’s a chance you’re going to be in this blog thing for the long haul, get yourself over to WordPress.com and start a free blog there.

Do your kids participate in any extra activities (scouts, dance, sports, lessons)?

-Ingrid

At this point, no, although we’re planning on starting them in a Kung Fu program soon.  My mom gives the kids lessons in Latin, Spanish, and composition each week, but of course, that’s not a terribly formal situation.    And the older three take piano lessons, but the teacher is yours truly, so that’s not exactly formal either.

We’re not opposed to extra-curricular activities, but Mr. FG and I are both very committed to avoiding an over-scheduled life for our kids because we think free playtime is really important for their health and well-being.

The girls have expressed interest in stringed instrument lessons in the future, and Zoe would like to learn how to dance, so down the road, we’ll probably have more extra activities on our plate than we do right now.

I had a question for you about how you did Bible study with your kids when they were younger. I have a 4 year old and a one year old and while we read their children’s Bible almost daily I am at sort of a loss for more activities to do with them to help them grow in their faith. If you don’t mind sharing I would love to know your approach.

-Mary

Well, with younger children, I do like to keep it simple!  As you know, four-year-olds and one-year-olds don’t have a very large attention span. 

We’ve always done family devotions with our kids, and that usually includes a short Bible reading, prayer, and sometimes singing.  Every day, one of us is responsible for the prayer portion, so each kid gets a turn praying throughout the course of the week (kids the age of yours may need some help remembering things to pray for.).

You could have your children memorize Bible verses too…children are so great at that.  Songs make this fun and easy, so we love the Seeds albums.  They’re fun, catchy songs that will make verse stick in your head.

Aside from formal things like family devotions, there are lots of opportunities throughout the day to teach children about Jesus, so don’t miss those!  For instance, when you see a lovely sunrise, you can talk about how we can thank God for the beauty of that. Or when your child wants to repay evil for evil, you can talk about how Jesus loved us when we were His enemies, and we should follow in His steps.  And when your child does something wrong, there’s a great opportunity to talk about how we all do wrong things, and that’s why we all need Jesus (I make a point of explicitly including myself in that.)

If you’re like me, your faith isn’t just something you think about on Sunday mornings…it’s something that’s soaked into every day living.  So, talk about your faith as you go about your days with your children.  You’d be surprised how much they’re paying attention!

In a nutshell:

1. Keep the formal stuff simple.

2. Don’t miss all the informal instructional opportunities throughout the day.

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Readers, feel free to add your advice to mine!

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Today’s 365 post: Mulberries on the Beach

Joshua’s 365 post: Haunting

…but the basic parts of the bed are painted. Yay!

I always have a moment of doubt when I start a project like this, but I’m happy to say that I am now 100% sure that I like the bed better this way.

I talked to Zoe about it yesterday and asked her if she thought we should leave the bed wood-toned.

“No!”, she said.

I asked her why, and she said, “Then it would look….not good.”

There you have it-the authoritative word from Zoe.

I haven’t even started on the drawer part at all, but I don’t think that’ll be terribly time consuming (though it’s going to be a bit of  a pain since these drawers are the type that won’t come out all the way).

Did I tell you that one of the slats for the box spring/mattress area broke on the way home?

Well, it did.

But just last night I found a board in our scrap pile that appears to be just the right thickness, so once Mr. FG chops it down to the right length, I think we’ll have ourselves two more slats.

So, we’re getting pretty close to the point where Zoe can actually use her bed, and she and I are both pretty excited about that.

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Today’s 365 post: The short ribs, they were good.

Joshua’s 365 post: Sunny, again.

Every week, I post a picture of the food that has gone bad over the last seven days. Why do I do this? Because in March of 2008, I finally got fed up with the amount of food I was wasting, and I thought that showing my waste to other people would motivate me to use up my food instead of wasting it. Because this often embarrassing practice was so helpful for me, I invited other bloggers to join me in posting their food waste photos, and Food Waste Friday was born.

So, I cleaned out my fridge and found these two things….some soup and half an orange.

But when I opened up the orange container, I realized that the orange was not, after all, bad. It was hidden in the back of the fridge by one of my offspring, and I’d just assumed it was rotten.

I ate it instead of composting it. Excellent.

Just mentally remove the pyrex container from that photo, ok?

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How did you do this week? If you blogged about your food waste, link us up by entering your info into the widget below. You’ll save money, reduce your trash output, and get a little publicity for your blog! And if you don’t blog, you can still share about your food waste by leaving a comment.

Those of you who participate in Food Waste Friday can now grab a fancy-schmancy button to perk up your posts. If you copy and paste the following code into your Food Waste Friday post, this little graphic will appear.

If you blog on WordPress, just make sure you’re in html mode when you copy and paste the code, or it won’t work properly.

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Today’s 365 post: And so it begins.

Joshua’s 365 post: A guest photo from Sonia

It’s been a while since I’ve painted a piece of furniture, hasn’t it?

Zoe, bless her heart, is still sleeping in her crib, which is converted to a toddler bed.  She still fits, but it won’t be long before she’s really too tall.

I’ve been meaning to get a bed for her for a while, but what made me think of it this week was, oddly enough, a sale email from Pottery Barn.  The first sale item was a lovely, white twin bed, and it was on sale for $399.

Heh.

I don’t mind paying for high-quality stuff if it’ll last for a long time, but I hopped on Pottery Barn’s website and discovered that $399 doesn’t even get you a solid wood bed.

So, I decided to poke around and see what I could find on the second-hand market. Lo and behold, I found one affordable twin bed listing, and it wasn’t even that far from my house.

Excellent.

For a mere $50, I got a twin bed frame, and it’s the kind that has drawers underneath the bed.  I am SO excited about this part.  Yay for storage!

The bed is mostly made of solid wood, and it’s in pretty decent shape.

Oh, and a matching nightstand came with it too.  I’m not sure if I’ll use it or resell it, since Zoe already has a nightstand.  Her room isn’t enormous, so I’ll just have to see how everything fits in there and then decide.

The bed is perfectly usable as-is, but Zoe’s current dresser is a Freecycle find that I painted white and I’d kind of like all of her bedroom furniture to match.

(This post has a before and after picture of the dresser.)

Anyway, I’m going to paint the bed and drawers white.

I’ll be using the method I outlined in my post about how to paint wooden furniture, and I’ll need to buy some sandpaper for my orbital sander, some spray primer, and a can of the Painter’s Touch paint that I love so dearly.

I’ll also need to shop for a box spring and mattress, since the toddler mattress is obviously not going to work anymore.

And I think we’re going to sell the Ikea chair that’s in Zoe’s room, since her new bed is going to take up a lot more square footage.

So, there’s lots on my to-do list before Zoe can sleep in her new bed.  Hopefully I can get this done in a week’s time or thereabouts…I want to hurry and finish before the weather is miserable for painting.

Of course, I’ll share pictures when I’m done.

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Lisey and I baked a recipe.  And then we discovered we didn’t really like it.  Read more over on Lisey’s blog!

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Today’s 365 post: Our daily bread

Joshua’s 365 post: One more!

1. The PDF recipe picture question

Lots (and I do mean lots!) of you weighed in on this, and unfortunately, the opinions are split more evenly than I’d hoped.

I would say, though, that those of you on the “yea” side are more firm about your preference than those on the “nay” side. And there is the fact that you can take a picture out, but you can’t add one in.

If I were brilliant at coding, I could probably figure out a handy-dandy way to offer multiple print options.  But the fact of the matter is that code is basically Greek to me (only worse, because I do actually know a little bit of Greek).

So, when I offer printable PDFs, I have to make a document in Word, convert it to a PDF, save it, and then upload it here.  I could make two PDFs and upload them, but recipe posts are already pretty time-consuming, and adding another task is not that appealing to me.

(though maybe if I’m posting a recipe and I’ve got some extra time on my hands, I’ll upload two PDFs)

All that is to say that I’m thinking I’ll keep the picture in, but I’ll definitely make it on the small side.

I’ll also try to be very mindful of making sure the PDF is one page.  I always try to format it that way, but perhaps when I’m converting it to PDF, strange things are happening.  I do want it to be one page!

For those of you that are firmly anti-picture, I have two suggestions to hopefully make this work better for you.

• set your printer to black and white/draft mode.  The small picture won’t take a lot of ink this way.

• copy and paste the text of the recipe into a Word document.  That way you’ll have the recipe without the picture.

Oh, and for anyone that was confused, please know I am NOT considering leaving pictures out of recipe posts altogether.  That would be…sad.

The picture issue we’ve been discussing is just the one on the printable PDF version of the recipe.  The regular posts, they will still be picture-ific.

Mmm-hmm.

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2. Compostable Toothbrushes

I got a few of these WorldCentric toothbrushes in the mail the other day to review.

The toothbrushes come in a reusable plastic case that is actually compostable, and the toothbrush is compostable as well, except for the bristle section (no one has yet figure out how to make decent compostable bristles).

Now, the toothbrush won’t compost in a normal home compost bin or pile…it needs the heat of a commercial compost operation in order to break down.

So, people who have access to commercial composting facilities can simply break off the top of the toothbrush (there’s a notch to make this easy) and send the toothbrush off with the rest of the compost.  For the rest of us, WorldCentric will actually send us a prepaid envelope so that we can send our toothbrushes and cases off to be composted.

These toothbrushes aren’t as fancy as the regular sort, but they do get the job done.  At first, I thought the bristles were too tough (I have sensitive gums), but after a week or so of use, they’ve softened up nicely, and they’re not bothering my gums at all.

Both the brush and the travel case are really sturdy, and it’s kind of hard to believe they’re made from plants.

I think these toothbrushes make the most sense if you have local commercial composting services because I’m a little unsure of how wise it is to mail toothbrushes.  Shipping requires oil, after all, so if I was going to send mine off, I’d probably wait until I had a small collection to send.

I think the concept behind this type of product is pretty great, though.  I like to stick with reusable products whenever possible, but since no one has ever invented a toothbrush that lasts forever, there’s definitely a place for compostable toothbrushes.

And hopefully, down the road, composting facilities will be all over the place and these types of products will be practical for everyone.

You can check to see what stores near you carry WorldCentric products and you can also order their products online.

(I got three toothbrushes for review purposes, but I was not otherwise compensated. All opinions are my own, thankyouverymuch.)

3. A Frugal Girl birthday cake

We celebrated my birthday and my brother’s with my extended family a few weeks ago, but I never showed you the cake my mom made for me.  Check out my logo, in frosting!

My mom’s pretty good at this cake-decorating thing.

Unlike me.

Ahem.

She does occasionally have a cake disaster, though.  She was making one for my brother as well that day, and it stuck to the pan.  We didn’t waste it, though. 

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Today’s 365 post: Because you don’t get to pick what comes in a side of beef

Joshua’s 365 post: Goblins and Elves (of the paper variety)

I DO mean simple.

Also, free.

Schweet.

If your library is remotely decent, chances are good that they have a non-fiction section just for kids. If you’ve never perused those shelves in your library, then goodness, you need to!

(well, assuming you have children in your life.)

Our library isn’t huge, but we do have a fairly decent children’s non-fiction section, and as a homeschooling mom, I consider it to be quite the gold mine.

I browse through it when I’m looking for something in particular (I’ve been keeping an eye out for whatever president we’re studying), but I also love to poke around just looking for interesting books.

I think sometimes we get the idea that the only way to properly learn about history is to do it in a neat, orderly, chronological way.

And while I do see the value in that (we’re studying the presidents from George Washington forward, of course.), I also think that there’s value in picking up bits of historical knowledge here and there in a rather helter-skelter, enjoyable fashion.

So, I look for biographies, but not just any biographies.  I’m looking for ones with fun artwork and a colorful story…not the sort of book you’d dutifully check out while writing a paper on George Washington, but the kind you’d pick up and read just because you want to.

Less textbook, more fabulous, I say.

When I bring these home, my children are delighted. They read them just for fun, as though I’d carted in a Pippi Longstocking or Amelia Bedelia book.

But as they read these books, they’re learning about Rosa Parks, Henry Ford, Audrey Hepburn, John Audubon, Eleanor Roosevelt, and countless other famous people.

Since the books are engaging, my kids read them without me telling them to.

And since the books are engaging, my kids actually remember what they read, even without a workbook or test.  It’s effortless, enjoyable learning.

As you probably know, I’m a huge fan of the non-fiction books Mike Venezia writes for children, but there are other great authors out there too.

Really, just trust your sense as you flip through the books…if it seems appealing and interesting to you, it’ll probably seem appealing and interesting to your kids.

And if your kids aren’t old enough to read through these types of books by themselves, then read aloud to them.  I’ve always done lots of that during my children’s preschool and kindergarten years, because even if they could just barely read their Bob Books, they could certainly understand books on a much higher level.

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Do you have any favorite non-fiction picture books to recommend?

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Today’s 365 post: It’s just a little thing right now.

Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you’d like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!

I work nights, and bring something to eat most every night. My co-worker does not make much money and most times does not bring anything. Normally if I were alone, I would eat a leftover, boiled egg or just anything frugal. I feel like I have to buy certain foods for us to eat and share due to not wanting to eat in front of her, and due to the fact that she likes certain things. She laughs if I bring something frugal like a can of chicken and dumplings. This is costing me much more money and I feel it is a cycle I can’t get out of. She says that I should not feel as if I need to bring her food but yet she really expects it. If I bring something she doesn’t like she frowns and looks unhappy. I could save a lot more money if i didn’t have to do this.

-S.

This is easy for me to say since I’m not there, but I think that you need to have a forthright conversation with this co-worker. Let her know that you’re not going to be bringing food for her anymore, and then follow through on that.

Or if you feel like that’s too harsh, I would at LEAST stop catering to her wishes. Bring whatever you’d bring if she wasn’t there and if she doesn’t want to eat it, she certainly doesn’t have to.

It sounds to me like you may be a people-pleaser (Hi! I’m one of those too!), and your desire to please her is making you do something that’s kind of making you miserable. Remind yourself that you can’t make everyone happy and that you will drive yourself crazy if you try.

And something that helps me too is to remember that the world will not come to an end if I do something that makes someone else unhappy.  I know that sounds obvious, but my goodness, all too often I function as if I must maintain the happiness of All People In The World.

What do you think about all the Facebook deals lately, where you have to “Like” a company to get a coupon or deal. Sometimes it seems like these are good deals, but I do not have a Facebook account. I had one, but now it requires me to give a cell phone number to “verify” my account, and I do not have a cell phone. My only other option to verify my account is to send a photocopy of my driver’s license, and I refuse to do that. Why are these companies limiting their deals to only Facebook users? I don’t like Facebook anyway, and like it even less now that they want me to send something I’m not willing to send.

I realize you are not a deal site (and I thank you very much for that), but would like to know how you feel about this.

-Susan

Hmm. Could you use a friend’s cell phone to verify your account? I’m assuming you just need to receive a text or something like that.

As to why companies are limiting these deals to Facebook, I think it’s because they’re focused more on marketing than on being fair.  Once you like a company on Facebook, they’ve got yet another way to market their products to you, so every “like” is really valuable to them.

They’re not distributing coupons/free stuff out of the goodness of their hearts…they’re trying to successfully market their product.

If you can’t get a Facebook account opened or you don’t want to, my advice is to just not sweat the Facebook deals. We all survived before companies were giving away free stuff on Facebook, right? The freebies are what I would consider to be nice but not necessary. And like I always say, there are lots of ways to save money without doing the couponing/deal thing.

How do you live on less when you have been living that way all along? One can only go down so far without turning off the electricity, for instance.

-BA8

(this question was emailed in after I published Whoopee, we can spend again!)

Yep, you’re totally right. There is a limit to how effective frugality can be because we do all need things like food and shelter.

This is why I don’t think we ought to choose between saving and earning.  Living frugally will help you make the most out of the income you have, but it’s not going to do a ton to help you save up a nice nest egg if your income is really sparse.

If you’re in a situation where you’ve pinched every penny you can pinch and you still are having trouble making ends meet, I’d highly recommend figuring out a way to earn some more money.

I don’t know your situation, but if you’ve got a job, perhaps you could ask for a raise*, or look for a similar job with another company that would pay you more.

(*I should have added this when I wrote the post, but the career advice isn’t my own…I’ve just read a multitude of times that asking for a raise is a wise choice sometimes and that women in particular don’t think of doing that.)

Maybe a part-time second job would be a good idea…and that part-time job could be a self-employed kind of job (child-care, housecleaning, paid organizing, tutoring, etc.), depending on what your skills and gifts are.  Think about what you’re really good at, and figure out if there’s a way you could get paid to do that on the side.

If you have extra possessions, you could sell them in order to build up a bit of an emergency cushion.

Have you signed up for Swagbucks? Using Swagbucks doesn’t require any special skills, and you could use your points for things like Amazon gift cards.  That could give your budget a bit more wiggle room.  It’s not going to be as profitable as a part-time job, but hey, every little bit helps!

If you need more ideas, MoneySavingMom has a 27 Ways to Make Money list up, and at the bottom there are a few links where you can find freelance work.

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Readers, do you have any advice to share on these three topics?

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Today’s 365 post: Requiring Concentration

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