Sign up for a free one month trial of Amazon Prime. I you aren’t familiar with Amazon Prime, it is basically a program run by Amazon that offers you free 2-day shipping on all eligible purchases (some third party vendors don’t participate). This program typically costs $79 a year, which is a good deal if you frequently shop online, but you can sign up to receive a free one month membership by clicking here.

Since I cashed in most of my Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards I am definitely signing up for a free trial. What a great way to save even more money this Christmas!

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Many of my childhood memories revolve around traditions. Every Thanksgiving my dad would make cinnamon rolls out of the leftover pie crust. Every Christmas morning my brother, sister and I would look for clues hidden around the house in search of a special present. We spent our summer vacations at the same little motel on the gulf coast of Florida.

My parents thought creating memories were more important than stuff, and I am thankful they instilled that same desire in me. Stuff breaks, gets lost, or is forgotten. Memories last a lifetime.

You don’t have to be rich or even comfortable to start creating family traditions. Start simple, you could watch the Macy’s Day parade with the kids while eating a special breakfast. Make a pumpkin pie together, or little turkeys out of pine cones or paper plates.

It doesn’t matter what your tradition is, what matters is that you create traditions that can be passed from your children and then to your grandchildren. Fifty years from now your children will not remember what toy they received for Christmas or how much food was served on Thanksgiving day. They will remember the napkin ring craft or the turkey made from their hand print. They will remember you letting them help you make the pumpkin pie every year, or that on the Friday after Thanksgiving you all hiked through the woods to find the perfect Christmas tree.

For our family, Thanksgiving is the start of a month full of traditions. Over the past several years we have purposed to spend Thanksgiving with friends, near and far. Recently my husband has started the tradition of hunting on Thanksgiving morning. The boys look forward to being old enough to accompany dad on Thanksgiving Day. We have continued my family’s tradition of making pie crust cinnamon rolls, and we cut down our Christmas tree Thanksgiving weekend.

My children look forward to these special events, and talk about them with great anticipation. Many of our family traditions cost little or no money (not the hunting tradition!), but the benefits are invaluable. Each year we create new memories for our children and traditions for them to pass on to their children.

Our Frugal Traditions

Spending Thanksgiving with friends

Creating a fun Thanksgiving craft

Finding the perfect tree

Christmas Pancakes

What memories are you making with your kids?

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Click over to A Full Cup and find a message board with tons of Black Friday deals. This is a great way to share a deal you know about, or find a deal for yourself. Many posts have links to Black Friday flyers from your favorite stores, I was excited to see ads from JoAnns and AFFES among the many links.

It is almost enough to make me want to venture out on Friday morning!

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I do the majority of my shopping at the thrift store, but when I need to shop elsewhere I almost always use the internet. With seven kids and a 15 passenger van that does not get the greatest gas mileage, I truly believe online shopping saves me money.

I only shop when places offer free shipping. Amazon usually runs great free shipping specials, especially around Christmas time.

Another way to save this Christmas is to shop online through Ebates. Click through the Ebates website when shopping at your favorite online stores and earn a cash back on each purchase. To sign up, all you need is an email and a password. You can also earn cash for referrals, so tell your friends and family about it and earn even more.

Alyssa just introduced me to Shop at Home, which is similar to Ebates, in that you earn cash back when you make purchases. You get $5 in your account just for signing up. You receive your payment when your account reaches $20. The cash back received varies with each store, and on Black Friday there are even better deals. I have not used Shop at Home, but I plan to start using it soon.

Thanks to Swagbucks, our Christmas isn’t going to cost us a dime this year. I hope all of you are using Swagbucks for web searches. There are two main ways to win Swagbucks, the first is to download the Swagbucks toolbar and start searching. I usually win a swagbuck or two each day from searching. The second way to earn is to tell your friends about Swagbucks, when friends you refer search and win, you win a swagbuck too! A buck a day doesn’t seem like much, but after a year you could have over 300! You can cash in your swagbucks for electronics, music, or my favorite – gift cards.

While shopping online this December, don’t forget about Price Protectr. This website allows you to enter the url of the product you purchased, then if the price drops you receive an email alert. With so many stores offering price matching and price protection, this is a great tool to save you money!

The best thing about all these programs is that they are totally free! It costs you nothing to participate, and if you are shopping online, why not earn a little cash back in the process?

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Do you know someone who has contracted H1N1 this year? I do. It seems like each week I hear of someone else who is sick with the flu.

No one wants to get the flu, and I am doing my best to protect my family from the flu and all the other illnesses that seem to affect everyone during the winter months.

If you have young children who put their hands in their mouth, nose, and other parts this little tip could prevent the spread of a cold or flu this season.

What do all these items have in common? They are high “touch” zones in your home. Frequently wipe these areas down with  antibacterial cleaner to help prevent the spread of nasty germs.

While I can’t guarantee this will keep your family flu free this year, it will keep what you already have from spreading!

This post is linking to Works for Me Wednesday.

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One of the best climbing trees on the east coast, located behind the courthouse in Colonial Williamsburg.

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This bread is so delicious, I made for French toast, but it tastes quite good with some butter and a glass of milk. There are three variations of this bread. The first would be to avoid the swirl. Second, follow swirl directions but instead of using butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, just use cinnamon. The third option is the one below. This bread is very, very sweet, and I would recommend using the butter/ sugar swirl combination if you plan on cooking the bread a second time, either in a casserole or French toast.

Maple Oat Bread with Cinnamon Swirl

Bread dough ingredients

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
• 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened)
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats, ground to a powder (use a blender or food processor)
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon gluten
• 1teaspoon orange juice
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt

Swirl Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• cinnamon

Combine all the dough ingredients. Knead until the dough is soft.

Let rise until the dough has doubled.

Once the dough has risen, roll out as thin as possible. The thinner the dough, the more swirls.

Melt the butter and mix with brown sugar. Spread on the bread dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll up, like a cinnamon roll, making sure to seal the edges and tuck the ends down in the loaf pan.

Let the dough rise for another 1 1/2 hours or until doubled.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. After 20 minutes tent with foil to keep the crust from burning.

Slice and serve.

Note: This is a heavy bread. It will not rise like a typical loaf of bread, but it should at least double in the loaf pan before baking.

This recipe is linking to Tasty Tuesday and Tempt my Tummy Tuesday.

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Many bread recipes call for the yeast to “proof” in warm water before mixing the other ingredients. You can skip this step by using instant yeast. Using instant yeast allows you to convert most bread recipes to bread machine recipes.

Another tip, buy yeast in bulk. Costco, Sam’s and BJ’s all sell yeast in 16 oz containers. You an also order it from most food co-ops and even Amazon.

Yeast should be stored in an airtight container in a cool dry place. I normally store mine in the fridge and it lasts for about a year. I have read that you should never freeze yeast, although some people still do and have good results.

This post is linking to Kitchen Tip Tuesdays.

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Breakfast

French toast, Eggs and Biscuits, Oatmeal, Whole Wheat Waffles

Lunch

Sandwiches, Muffins, Quesadillas, Cheese and Crackers, Fruit, Smoothies, Carrot Sticks

Dinner

Oven fried chicken legs

served with Lynn’s Parmesan Potato Wedges, salad, green beans, whole wheat bread

Mexican Pizza

served with corn

French Dip Sandwiches

served with sweet potatoes, carrots, and potato chips

Stir Fry

Must Go’s

Sailor and ds will be hunting next week so I need to empty out our freezers in anticipation of their success.

Stuck in a menu planning rut, or not planning at all? Check out my Menu Planning 101 series.

For more than 300 menu plans each week visit Menu Plan Monday.

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I visited the dentist today for my regular check-up. Once again I was reminded that sometimes spending a few dollars can save you hundreds. Flossing your teeth every day is an excellent way to prevent tooth decay and gum disease. Fillings and periodontal care are expensive, dental floss is cheap. According to this article, buy the floss you prefer, because type of floss doesn’t matter, it’s frequency that counts!

If you want to make sure you are flossing properly check out this video my friend (whose husband is a dentist) recommended.

Spend the money and the time and floss your teeth every day.

How do you spend to save?

For more frugal tips visit Life as Mom.

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