This is one of my favorite quick breakfast recipes Vanilla Allspice Cinnamon Pancakes! It taste so good you wouldn't realize how low cost it is. Take a box of any brand Pancake mix I chose Kroger buttermilk pancake mix. The whole box is under $2.00 which is a steal because as a single person I will have that box for a long time.

Here are the couple ingredients that are going to turn your basic morning pancake into a gourmet five star restaurant tasting pancake.
This is all we are adding to the pancake mix. Water, Cinnamon, Vanilla Extract and Allspice. My cinnamon and imitation vanilla extract are from the Dollar Tree. The Allspice was from a farmer's market a very long time ago and was under $2.00.
I combine all the ingredients into a mixing bowl. I don't measure out anything just put as much of everything as you would like. Some people don't like cinnamon or allspice you can omit both and just add vanilla if you chose.
My batter made about (3) fluffy small/medium pancakes. I like to mix the batter for at least (5) minutes. In my mind it makes the pancake cook more fluffy.
And there it is! A (3) stack of beautiful golden brown vanilla cinnamon and allspice pancakes topped with some plant based butter and syrup. You can definitely stay in budget and eat great tasting meals. 

Here is the video I made on these pancakes on Youtube.

Thank you for coming by to read the blog! Hope you make these for your next frugal breakfast!





 






 This was more of an experiment. I saw a quick video with a lady grating a bar of  Zote melting it with water, adding essential oils and storing it to use on dishes, clothes, for cleaning and even a bleach alternative. I have plenty of Zote bars in my pantry and I love DIY so I gave it a try. I must say that this is one of the BEST DIY projects I've ever done and I will use it for LIFE!

This one bar of white Zote grated with a grater from the dollar tree, mixed with about a gallon of water, scented with eucalyptus & lavender essential oil and mixed with a hand blender made all of this soap!
I had to look for more containers! I had so much soap I couldn't believe how much liquid one bar of Zote had made! It was very soapy and creamy. I'm not going to lie after it sits it has the consistency of snot (I know I'm gross right?) But it's good clean snot. This was the perfect recipe in times like this were you have people literally fighting over soap, hand wash and toilet paper. I even gave one bottle to my Mom there was so much! The only word that came to my mind was "ABUNDANCE" I wrote it on my dry erase board.
This was a clear example of abundance and how we have everything we need right in front of us if we look for it. I was very humbled that day. I actually made this batch on May 8th 2021 (5/8/2021) It's close to a week of having this stockpile of soap and I haven't even put a dent in it! I've hand washed some clothes, washed all my dishes, put some in a foaming hand soap dispenser and I still have plenty. It's truly a blessing to learn these type of things at this day and time. No fighting over soap for me.

Another tip if you want it to come out more like a liquid. Put a little squirt or two of your favorite dishwashing liquid in each bottle. I used some lavender scented Dawn and it gave it more bubbles, more scent and it's a little less thick. I will be using this Zote DIY soap FOREVER! On my next batch I might just make a tutorial post because it's too easy not to try! I wish abundance for anybody reading and make sure to try this at home!


NOTE* A Bar of Zote is about $1.00 in some places $1.09 but the popularity of Zote and the simplicity of the ingredients is getting noticed and I expect the price to be going up. It's sold out a lot at Wal Mart so if you see it at the $1.00 or $1.09 price grab a couple while you can at that price.







 With everything going on in the world I have really started to take eating, drinking and entertaining to a whole new level! Coming up with new mocktails, foods and desserts it becoming my new favorite hobby. I'm not going to lie I was going for the " Unicorn" type drink but it looked more toned down so I renamed it "Magic Mocktail" lolol here is what I bought to make it.

All you need it any pink drink any blue drink and some club soda. All these drinks I found at the grocery store for $1.00.
I made ice with the pink and blue drinks. (You can also make popsicles with the juice it's super sweet and kids would like it)
Put the colored ice cubes in a tall glass alternating the colors.
Pour the club soda over top and serve with a cute straw! I thought it would be too sweet but the club soda balanced out the sugar in the ice cubes. I love the look of it! I do wish the pink would have been more of a deep pink so when they mix it turns purple but overall for how easy it was I'm impressed.
Now when your favorite show comes on or you have company you can make a signature mocktail for a couple cents each. Stay happy stay frugal thanks for reading make sure to try it!










 It has taken me roughly 4-5 years to be able to use my DSLR camera for YouTube without the footage looking blurry and out of focus. I tried to make a YouTube video to say Thank You for 1,800 subscribers about a year ago it was so bad! It was a real struggle! I have been in photography class for about (3) weeks and because we have been working with camera settings I decided to come home and work on the video settings and here is a snap shot of the settings I'm using on the Canon 1300 D DSLR camera to do YouTube video:

Here is a quick break down of the settings I'm using:
Auto Focus (First Box - FlexiZone Single)
AWB (Auto White Balance)
Standard
1920x1080 24 (1080P 24 Frames per second)

The biggest change was going from 25 frames per second to 24 frames per second. It's the second button when you go into the menu for the speed of the video. Ever since I changed that there has been no problems going out of focus. Every single time I have recorded since I changed that button has been useable clear footage.
Here is an example just recording and playing around. Clear crisp and in focus. I wish I would have taken a little more time to learn my recording settings. My quality on my videos would have been better and the overall YouTube channel would probably be performing at a better rate than it has been lately. But I'm still grateful I learned these settings I will never forget it. I hope this helps someone out there if your having similar issues with your DSLR camera. Thanks for reading!




 Which is better Ebay, Depop or Mercari? I sell on all of them so I guess I will go in order based on how long I've been a seller on the platform and tell you my personal experience with it.

             EBAY

I've been on eBay since the early 2000's so I'm a little bias because eBay has gotten me through many of those tough times were I couldn't find work or just needed a side hustle in between work. Lately, I've been selling mainly press on nail sets and accessories on eBay. I mainly upload my listings through my camera and computer it's easier in my opinion. I rarely list from my phone for eBay but you can. Clothes do sell on eBay but for me it takes longer to get sales with clothing. It's a pretty steady platform lots of buyers. I get offers on a weekly basis. The good thing is you can set what is the lowest price you will consider an offer. It helps no having to deal with low ball offers you would not accept. eBay has moved in another direction and has put a lot of sellers under managed payments. Nothing has really changed my payments just go straight to my bank account instead of PayPal

DEPOP.
Depop is a newer platform I joined about (2) years ago. It's very easy to use. On Depop I list everything from my iPhone. Depop looks more like a social app and operates like one also. People on the app can heart your items and follow you. I don't get the point with that but it hasn't bothered me. Yes, you will get sellers messaging you to swap and look at there stores. I'm on there for sales only therefore I ignore and delete any of those types of messages. I respond to all inquires about my own items. I sell clothing, press on nails, accessories just about whatever you can think of on Depop. The buyers are very fashion focused so clothing and accessories do very well on Depop. Payments are through PayPal. I don't make a whole lot of sales on Depop but I think it's worth listing to.

MERCARI
Mercari is the latest selling app I have joined. I set up Mercari sometime in 2020 and it has been awesome! I have sold everything from T-Shirts, Sweatshirts, Wigs, Press On Nails the buyers are definitely on Mercari. Once you get some good feedback on your profile you will be fine. I get offers on many items. If you don't like the offer you can always counter it. Almost all of my counter offers are accepted. I also list everything on Mercari with my iPhone. Sales are right up there with eBay so I want to really focus on this app in 2021.

So which is better? Which one should you sale on? I say ALL OF THEM! It doesn't cost to list on any of these selling platforms. You only pay fees when you make a sale! All of them have a different reach and you have more opportunity to make sales having merchandise on all of them rather than just one.

I can't say if one is better than the other. Mercari, eBay and Depop all have there own style the fees are about the same when I sell my items. In my opinion all (3) are great to make money with. If your looking to make some extra cash or start a business look into getting on these platforms in 2021. Happy selling!