relatableroni

I originally forgot this point on my post about Building Better Money Habits but I thought I’d write a separate post on it to explain things in more detail. You probably won’t be ordering any of this online because you have to order in bulk and I don’t see many people doing that unless they’re wedding planning but this post does contain affiliate links and I may be compensated. BUT all opinions are my own. FYI, a nice option Dollar Tree does have so they don’t run out when you need a lot of one thing when you get there, is free pickup at your local store.

Hello again!

In adulthood, you realize you need a lot of shit. Shit costs money. Sometimes you don’t want to spend money, but you still need that shit. What do you do? You go to a dollar store!

It’s great for getting those minor things like gift packaging. Above, I have a picture of my “Will you be my bridesmaid” gifts. The items I used to make these that are from dollar stores are: the container, the letter stickers, and the decorative shred inside. I also bought little sachets that I filled with personalized M&M’s. If I went to Michael’s, I would’ve paid at least double for all of that.

The dollar store I frequent here in Vermont is Dollar Tree. It’s concept is that everything is $1 of course. I’m not keen on buying a lot of things there but some things that make sense buying are:

1. Hangers

A pack of 10 hangers on Amazon is $4. It’s $1 for 8 hangers at Dollar Tree. So to compare for you math whizzes out there, at Amazon you might get 80 hangers for $32 but at Dollar Tree you’d get 80 hangers for $10. I bought a ton of these yesterday so I can finally put away my laundry.

2. Spray Bottles

This spray bottle would be ideal for diluting bleach and using to clean. It would also be great for spritzing water in your dog’s face.

3. Plastic Bins for Organizing

I’ve been using these bins to organize our bathroom and kitchen. They’re really low quality but they get the job done. The smaller ones come in sets of 2-3 for $1.

4. Toilet Brushes

Nobody needs to brush their toilet and then keep it just chilling next to the toilet. I like to buy them from the dollar store and then toss them out after one use. Nastiness…If you’re going to get anything from the dollar store, just get this. I’m all for saving the earth and creating less garbage but I just can’t with this.

5. Greeting Cards

Most people don’t care about getting fancy cards. They just want the money inside. Just get a cheap card. Dollar Tree‘s cards are 50 cents to 1 dollar. Other stores often have cards that are 99 cents or up.

6. Gift Bags

I feel most stores completely overcharge for gift bags. The bags here are $1 and sometimes they come in sets of 2-5 bags for $1 if they’re smaller.

7. Decorative Shred and Tissue Paper

It’s shredded paper and tissue paper for goodness’ sake so it shouldn’t cost a lot and it’s going to end up in the recycling anyway. Michael’s charges $3.99/bag of shredded paper. I use paper confetti or tissue paper often when I’m putting together a gift bag. I mixed white and pink decorative shred in this picture for my “Mean Girls” themed bridesmaid’s gifts.

8. Vase Fillers

The glass gems and seashells are nice for filling vases. I think the seashells would be great if you were having a beach-themed wedding.These are half the price than what I see on other websites.

9. Foil Balloons

Balloon, Paper Shreds and Base all from Dollar Tree

I put this together for my husband’s 30th birthday. The balloon overall is sort of small but it lasted a veryyyyy long time. How do I know? Well, I like to see how long balloons take to die. It died after a month or so. This actually really pissed me off because I had bought other balloons from iParty as well for his 30th….

Above are the balloons I bought from iParty . And I attached them to our porch the night before my husband’s birthday since he was working overnight and would be back in the morning. Well…I woke up in the middle of the night and heard the whistling wind and realized putting out the balloons the night before may have been a bad idea. And FYI the big balloon cost me about $12 and the smaller ones at least $1 and iParty charges you extra if you want the balloons to last past the 12 hr mark which is, I think, absolutely ridiculous.

So when I got out of bed the next morning, I immediately checked on the balloons.

^^^^^^ This is what I saw. MANNNNN, WAS I PISSED! The giant balloon was GONEEEEE!!! Never have I ever been so disappointed in life. And I could only think about how the neighbors were like “No shit Sherlock, of course that’s going to happen.” I was especially concerned because my brain surgeon of a husband’s boss lives across the street. He must’ve thought my husband married a dumb girl. Obviously, I was also upset my husband wasn’t coming home after a 28-hour shift to a nice surprise while driving up.

Anyway, I tried undoing the strings that I so uselessly securely affixed to our porch, but they were there to stay so I had to cut them off.

So the lesson here is: USE THE DOLLAR STORE BALLOONS OUTSIDE AND THE EXPENSIVE BALLOONS INSIDE or just put them out later. By the way, about a week later is when that windstorm happened that knocked down tons of trees and power lines in the Northeast…so ya…

I’m clearly still upset about this balloon fiasco.

Do you shop at the dollar store? What do you buy? Leave a comment below!

This post does contain affiliate links. I use a lot of gadgets and special ingredients/items in the kitchen so I’ve linked them if people are interested in purchasing them. My costs for homemade and restaurant meals are approximations. And by no means are all these dishes healthy, but everything in moderation. Mind your portions and always try to add vegetables whenever possible.

There are a lot of reasons I decided to start cooking at home more often:

My husband and I are foodies, no doubt about it. My husband planned our whole European engagement trip around eating at several Michelin star restaurants. Like I’ve said, I’m not fancy but I don’t mind a fancy meal or three.

13063364_10100997240034825_3297169555519099471_o (1) — La Chèvre d’Or in Eze, France

13063161_10100997239670555_6560493499058023637_o — Where did this cardigan go? I haven’t seen it since…

I like to know what I’m eating. I know how much salt or butter is added, I know if it’s deep fried, etc. The average dish at cheesecake factory is at least 1000 calories – if I add a pound of butter, cream and salt to anything, it’s going to be delicious of course.
Recreating dishes at home is definitely cheaper. The average dinner out in my area isn’t cheap but it is good quality food that’s usually locally sourced….because #VERMONT.
Being jobless and having the time to do so, I’ve learned to enjoy the process of cooking and putting together a good meal. It’s fun figuring out how to make dishes taste even better.
Cooking is a skill everyone should have – MEN AND WOMEN. Everyone should know how to crack an egg and not just be popping some Elios pizza into the toaster oven whenever they’re hungry.

So here are a few things I’ve attempted to make at home:

Experiment #1:

Avocado Toast (Homemade: ~$2.25/person; Restaurant: $7+/person)

Avocado Toast with Poached Eggs on top and Mimosas

Please stop paying for avocado toast. Yes, it’s delicious but it is literally so “basic” you can make it at home.

I like to add cherry tomatoes, red onions, lime juice (fresh or bottled), salt, pepper, Tajín Clásico Seasoning and 1-2 green chillies to my mixture. It essentially becomes guacamole because I mash everything together.

Everything but the Bagel Seasoning on Avocado Toast

And you MUST sprinkle Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend on top. It’s delicious on avocado toast and eggs. I was skeptical at first but now I’m a believer. Trust me on this one because:

Experiment #2:

Pizza (Homemade: $2.75/person; Restaurant: $7.50/person)

Vermont has several great pizzerias. Our favorite is American Flatbread and it’s buffalo chicken pizza. Back in college, I was addicted to Boston’s Il Mondo‘s buffalo chicken pizza as well. My favorite pizza chain is Papa Gino’s, but it just doesn’t exist in VT.

The key to a good pizza is the pizza sauce. Don Pepino Pizza Tomato Sauce tastes JUST LIKE Papa Gino’s. (You can find it at most grocery stores.) My husband was introduced to this sauce himself by his childhood babysitter and so he did me a huge disservice by telling me about it…because now I can make amazing pizza at home.

For a great crust, my husband purchased a Pizza Stone. I don’t think you realize you need this until you have it in your life. It keeps your crust nice and crisp. About three years ago, my husband and I decided to make a date night out of baking a pizza at home. We took the raw dough, topped it off with sauce, cheese and toppings and threw it in the oven. It didn’t cook through with the amount of sauce we piled on and the cheese was burning so that was a fail. So the lesson is: Always bake the crust a bit before.

So in enters our beloved Pizza Stone. Husband made the pizza and I died and went to heaven.

(And now I’m patient enough as well because the quality is great.)

We have tried several different pizza doughs and crusts from Trader Joe’s. Both the wheat dough and cauliflower crust provided no flavor so we went back to the original dough.

Experiment #3:

Pasta, Sauce and Turkey Meatballs all from scratch (Homemade: $4/person; Restaurant: $12+/person)

This one time, we went all out making everything practically from scratch. My husband made the pasta using a Pasta Machine and Pasta Drying Rack seen below.

26685297_10101549693862925_4830092850421339849_o — Pasta Machine & Drying Rack

For the pasta sauce, I wanted to use up the canned tomato sauce in our pantry and a package of dehydrated spices from Italy I bought on my last trip in 2016. I also added some minced veggies. My cousin and I had bought similar dehydrated spice packages in 2014 in Italy. While she was back in England and I in Massachusetts, we both decided to follow the directions on the packaging. We soon learned we should never use the entire spice package. It was inedible and we’re Indian…we should be able to handle our spice. Anyway, if you do bring home those spice packages, taste the mixture before you add it to the tomato sauce.

I made the turkey meatballs from ground turkey, red onions, and spices. I first cooked it on the stove a bit and then continued the cooking process by baking it in the oven so it’d be cooked through.

*This was probably our favorite homemade meal so far* #ILOVECARBS

Experiment #4:

Poached or Soft-Boiled Eggs (Homemade: $0 because I literally got the eggs for free using 2 coupons; see my blog post about building better money habits. Restaurant: $1.50+/person)

When I was traveling the Amalfi Coast with my cousin back in 2014, every hotel served soft-boiled eggs for breakfast. They had this little device that took all the guesswork out of it. So when my husband and I moved into our new home which is basically located in a major vacation spot, I thought, this would be nice for our guests to use if we’re not at home. So I purchased a Dash Rapid Egg Cooker. It boils 6 or poaches 2 eggs. It can make an omelette too but I’d rather make that on a stove. I wish I had actually purchased the Dash Deluxe Egg Cooker because it can boil 12 eggs or poach 7 eggs.

The Dash Rapid Egg Cooker. The buzzer sounds like an alarm so don’t be scared.

Experiment #5:

Acai Bowls (Homemade: $4/bowl; Cafe/Restaurant: $8+/bowl)

I buy Acai puree from Trader Joe’s for $4.49/4 sachets. (For comparison: A friend told me she buys them from Wegman’s for $6. Another friend said she has tried the acai powder but it feels unnatural and prefers the Trader Joe’s puree over anything else). I have yet to try an acai bowl outside of home, but I don’t think the flavor I’m creating is too far off from what it’s supposed to be.