Today’s post comes to our courtesy of Faylee, who shares some of her favorite frugal tips!
Faylee can be found blogging at Hassie’s Kitchen Table, a website lovingly dedicated to preserving her mother’s recipes. Don’t miss her delicious meal ideas!
With so many people talking about the economy and asking what they can do to help themselves save money, or stretch what they have, I’m amazed that they overlook the simple things.
When we were children our parents gave us piggy banks so we could save our pennies. We sometimes forget that those pennies turned into dollar fairly often. So if you are looking at more ways to save, look at your pennies.
One way I do that is checking my kitchen cub boards. I think we all would be surprised at what we would find in most of them. Even when we think we do not have any food, most of us still have an abundance of eatable ingredients for one meal or more. So before you start to the grocery store check your pantry, write a list of what you already have and make out a couple of this week menus from what’s on hand.
Second, clean out your refrigerator. Are there produce items going to waste? Pull them out and check them to see if you can salvage anything to ad to your on hand menus. If your lettuce is starting to look a little wilted, take the head apart and soak the leaves in warm water for 3-5 minutes then cold shock them in iced water for about 2 minutes. Drain thoroughly then pat dry with a towel. If space allows, roll your lettuce up in a towel and put in a plastic bag before putting back in the vegetable drawer. The towel will keep it from remaining wet and rotting.
If you have noticed those green plastic bags that have been popping up in produce departments, start using them. While they may not be as reliable as the “as seen on TV ones”, they work quiet well. Plus they are free and you can’t beat that.
Be flexible in your planning. If you had planned to use bananas for Fridays dinner and on Wednesday you notice the bananas are turning dark and will be over ripe by Friday. Make that banana pudding now. Using is better than wasting any day of the week.
We can grow pennies into dimes and dimes into dollars. It’s a matter of keeping our eyes open to the possibilities.
Today’s post comes to us from Jason, who shares his tips for saving money by utilizing your local library!
About Jason:
Jason Fisher writes for Improve The Quality and has been practicing a simpler more frugal lifestyle for several years.
If you are fortunate enough to live in an area with a good library like we do, you have great resource you may not have completely utilized. There are a ton of great ways to use the Library that most people don’t think of.
Kids Video’s – One of our greatest concerns when wecut our cablewas kids shows. Although I hate the TV as a baby sitter is was nice to have out DVR with tons of kids shows for my daughter when she wanted one.
Most libraries have a ton of Kids DVDs, we get a few each week and since we all know kids never get tired of the same stuff, it works out very well.
Books on CD – Most people claim to not have enough time to read but if you are like me books on CD are a great way to redeem your commute or any time you have where you can listen, doing the dishes, mowing the lawn etc. Try a few out though, the reader makes all the difference. I have had great books destroyed by a horrible reader (some authors just shouldn’t read their own books).
Children’s Story Time – Our library has a great little class for different age groups. They get together and sing songs read a story and meet new friends. You don’t have to pay for a kids club or other special play school.
Meeting rooms – If you ever have to schedule a meeting but don’t want to spend money many libraries have rooms of different sized that you can reserver for little or no cost. Much less than renting a conference room in a hotel. And our library is a Wi-Fi hot spot so that helps when you are doing meeting.
Learning Curriculum – Ever wanted to try Rosetta Stone software to see if it is really all it is cracked up to be? Our library has it, hooked on phonics or many other expensive programs. Check your local library, if they can’t get it for you odds are they can get it from another branch as most libraries work together to expand their catalogs. Again it is no extra cost to you (your taxes already paid for it)
Home School Groups – If you are like us, interested in home schooling there are support groups that meet at the library to work together. You may just find someone who is better at algebra than you are and can help you child though a tough chapter.
After school Homework Programs – If you don’t home school but you do work your child can get help from tutor at some libraries while giving them time to focus on their work
Used book sales – Often times the libraries get rid of old books that do not circulate well by selling them off cheap. Our daughter has gotten a good deal of books for less than a dollar.
You never know what your Library may have in store for you until you look into it. Check it out because it is more than just some old dusty books.
Going green and saving money can go together! Choosing to be friendly to the environment and taking advantage of green products doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg, there are ways to buy green and stay within your budget at the same time.
Shop Second Hand or Borrow – Let’s face it, shopping is fun, but it can break the bank pretty quickly. By shopping second hand stores, yard sales, or Craigslist, you can save money, and it’s green because new products aren’t being created just for you. Shopping second hand isn’t limited to clothing and toys, Craigslist is well known for furniture and used cars. New companies are coming on the scene as well like Green Demolitions, which sells donated kitchens and baths at amazing prices when families remodel their homes. Sharing or borrowing pricier equipment like your neighbors chainsaw is another great way to cut costs and go green.
Reusable Coffee Filters – A lot of the newer coffee machines comes with reusable coffee filters that cut down on costs and waste. The costs are fairly minimal for a brand new machine when you compare the savings of not having to buy paper filters each month, and can pay for itself in less than a few months.
Razors – Nothing annoys me more than the price of disposable razors these days, and when you add in how much plastic they are wrapped in, well, there is a better way to do things. Buying safety razors that come in flat packs at reasonable prices will save you hundreds of dollars a year and eliminate 90% of the plastic that ends up in landfills due to disposable razors.
Water Filter – We all know how expensive bottled water is, so switching to a simple water faucet filter will save money, produce less plastic, and give you clean, healthy water.
Bathroom Faucet Aerators – Bathroom faucets produce water at the same flow rate as your shower, a bit much for brushing your teeth. Adding a simple faucet aerator that screws on just like a light bulb for $2-3 can reduce your water flow 50-70%, saving money and reducing water waste. Go a step further an install a grey water system so all the water you use for brushing teeth, showering, washing clothes and dishes can be used to flush the toilets and you’ll save even more water and cut reduce your water bill further.
Unplug – Even when your TV, cell phone, computer and other electronic products aren’t turned on, they are still using energy. Get into the habit of unplugging everything when it’s not in use.
Buy Local – Farmers markets, road side vegetable stands, and even building products that are manufactured locally all help cut down on carbon that is created by buying in stores where the products have been shipped. Organic produce is also usually cheaper when bought locally.
Make Your Own Cleaners – There are lots of green cleaners that are non-toxic, but it’s incredibly simple to create your own cleaning products for almost nothing. The key ingredient is baking soda, just mix it with water to make a paste and you can clean your kitchen and bathroom safely and economically.
CFL’s – Today’s CFL’s come in more sizes and shapes to fit almost any lighting fixture, so if you haven’t switched already, now is the time. CFL’s use less energy, helping your reduce your electric bill, and last longer than traditional light bulbs.
Today Joyce from Saving My Centsgives us the scoop on how to save at Target!
About Joyce:
As a SAHM to 2 little boys, two little cats and one big golden retriever saving my SENSE will never happen, but saving my CENTS has to happen. Anyone who knows me knows my favorite saying is “I’m not cheap, I’m thrifty” and I hope with my website you can be too!
Have you ever heard the term “perimeter perusing” at stores. This is when you walk around the “outside” inside of the store (the perimeter) and where you will find most of your clearance items. Clearance items are always shoved in the back of the store or along the outer shelves inside stores.
Target is a great store to head for with your coupon binder and your “perimeter perusing” shoes on! Target keeps their clearance merchandise clearly marked on end caps of many aisles, or will have an entire aisle dedicated to just clearance. Keep your eyes open down all the aisles for a small red sign sticking out that say clearance also, do not always assume it says sale. One thing I love about Target is that they are constantly marking down items, not just clothes, but food, toiletries, baby supplies and more. Most grocery stores will have a small shelf filled with a few clearance products, even my 2 local Walmarts have a small shelf filled with clearance on non clothing items, but Target always has plenty of food, toiletries and more than clothes on clearance prices.
To make it easier to plan your Target Perimeter Perusing trip, here is a breakdown of the schedule of markdowns at Target, keep in mind that one week nothing in a particular department may get marked down so if you head to the store you may see no clearance on soap, but the next week, same day you may get your pick of 5 brands of marked down soap.
I have three suggestions to keep in mind when perimeter perusing at Target and here they are:
1. This is a good suggestion for any clearance/stockpile shopping. Check expiration dates, products go on clearance for different reasons, maybe they do not sell well at one particular store or the manufacturer has discontinued the item, sometimes though they are on clearance because it is close to the expiration of a product. If you know you will use the product before the expiration, or it is something you feel comfortable using beyond the expiration then get yourself some awesome deals!
2. If Target clearance items have a 4 at the end of the bar code, that means it is the end of that item. Target will mark down their clearance items a few times, one week it may be marked down to $2, the next week $1 and the next week .50 cents, but if the bar code shows a 4 that means there will be no further markdowns and even if the product does not sell out, it comes off the shelves, so get it while you can if you see that 4.
3. Print Target coupons! Target has printable coupons available on their website, even if you think you do not need the coupons, if you have a printer, have the ink, print them off and hold on to them, the coupons change frequently so a good coupon you see this week may be gone next week. You can use Target coupons on clearance items, so if Target had Market Pantry Spaghetti Sauce marked down to $2.09 and you had a $1 Target printable, you got yourself the clearance item even cheaper! And Target coupons are combinable with a manufacturer coupons. I once bought a few canisters of Crystal Light for about .35 cents each. Target had them marked down to $2.35, I had a Target printable good off one can of Crystal Light any flavor (keep in mind to that it is usually certain flavors or styles of product that go on clearance, just because a box of size 2 diapers is clearanced does not mean size 6 will be to, which is why it is important to check weekly with their new clearance deals, they always change) and I had a manufacturer coupon good for $1 off any Crystal Light any flavor, so instead of using those on a $5 non clearanced canister, I found a flavor I liked on clearance and was able to get 4 boxes at .35 cents each!
Today we have an inspiring story from MoneySavinDiva. She makes some very important points about how coupons changed her whole outlook on spending!
About Jill: Jill, aka the MoneySavinDiva has been couponing for just under a year. She is currently finishing up her college degree in marketing and is looking for a job in the world of finance. Her true dream is to be a stay at home/work from home mom when that time comes. Until then, Jill enjoys spending time with her husband Mitch, her cat Frosty and with her family. And of course, hunting down deals!
I have been couponing for just under a year at this point. I remember the first trip to Walgreens that I ever took, I was so nervous! But what a rush I got when it all went smoothly and I walked home with some Ziplock baggies and TUF garbage bags…a supplies worth that I’m still living on…for almost nothing out of pocket. The first months were rough going, I spent a lot OOP to get things rolling. But now, a year later I am spending hardly anything out of pocket to stock my cupboards.
But there are more benefits to couponing than just filling my cupboards. I have learned so much financially in the past year, and without stumbling upon couponing, I would never be the person that I am today. When I started this venture a year ago, I didn’t even know the meaning of a budget. The word scared the daylights out of me. I hardly ever knew how much was in my checking account, and if I remember correctly the balance in my savings account was 24c…yes, twenty four CENTS. Things weren’t looking too promising if I kept on that financial road…
Thanks to finding couponing/frugal blogs and learning how to live a financially rewarding life, my life has done a complete 180. I now have a budget…and I love it. I don’t know how I ever went without! We have more food in our cupboards than anyone I know (except for you other bloggers…most of you have more than me!) and we have a savings account with enough money to make ourselves proud of our accomplishments.
And just this week, my husband and I bought our first house. We have money saved up already to make the changes we need to and to purchase our first deep freeze (more deals, yay!). It such a good feeling to know that we don’t have to take a loan out anymore just to buy a freezer.
Moral of the story, if I have learned anything from couponing, it hasn’t been the deals (although I learned a lot in that area too!) but it’s been how to manage my money. If it hadn’t been for paying rent with pennies (yes, I did it once, on the eve of my couponing journey and it wasn’t the whole amount…just a part) I wouldn’t be moving into my first house, I wouldn’t have enough food to last us through an emergency and I would be constantly worrying about getting bills paid on time…and probably only the minimum payment at that.
So, to all of you wonderful bloggers out there…thank you. Thank you for imparting your wisdom to help me move from a difficult time to a wonderful time of learning and savings. Without all of you, I wouldn’tbe where I am today. I hope that I can be inspiration to all of you, and I hope that you can find knowledge in my blog that will help you out too. Because we’ve all been there…
Us coupon clippers always have multiple copies of the Sunday newspaper hanging around. So what do you do with all that paper once you pull out the coupons? Joyce from Saving My Centsshares her ideas for putting that paper to use!
About Joyce:
As a SAHM to 2 little boys, two little cats and one big golden retriever saving my SENSE will never happen, but saving my CENTS has to happen. Anyone who knows me knows my favorite saying is “I’m not cheap, I’m thrifty” and I hope with my website you can be too!
I talk about making sure you get your Sunday newspaper every week, sometimes even extras if the coupon supplement has some great coupons, but what do you do with all that paper on Monday when you have finished reading it? Add it to the garbage to fill up a landfill? Here are a few ideas for re-using your newspaper and also some ideas for what to do with the plastic bag it gets delivered in (and not just your weekly newspaper, don’t forget about the flyer’s that are thrown on your driveway or put in your mailbox, they are recyclable and many times come in plastic bags too!)
1. Perfect for the pooch!! You can use the plastic bags to pick up any messes your dog may make or lay down some paper if you think he may have an accident in the house while you are out or sleeping.
2. Plastic bags are great for a rainy day! The bags the papers come in are the perfect size to keep your wet umbrella in. Ran out of your car and into a grocery store but do not want to leave your wet umbrella sitting in the cart, pull a bag out of your purse and store it in the bag! This idea also works great for wet clothes. Are you heading to the beach, the community pool, keep the bags to carry your wet items home in.
3. Perfect for diaper bags! The plastic bags are a great size to hold baby clothes in, keep a fresh outfit in the bag and it will not get dirty from anything else that may be in the bag, hold dirty diapers in it, store bottles in it, anything you want to store and not roll around in the diaper bag will go great in here or it can be used as a trash bag.
4. Cleaning! Newspaper works great in place of paper towels/rags when you are cleaning glass and mirrors, just spray and wipe like you would with ordinary rags and towels.
5. Soak up the wet! Did you just come in from the rain and your shoes are drenched? Try putting some balled up pieces of newspaper in them to soak up the wet. Spill something in the house, put some paper over it to soak up the spill.
6. Great for the kitty too! Short on cat litter, can’t find any good litter coupons? Try ripping paper into shreds and using in the cat litter box.
7. Wrapping paper! This one is pretty self explanatory, and I know lots of us remember our moms using the Sunday comic strips to wrap presents in, it is one of those things that will never get old!
8. Help to ripen your fruit! Wrapping unripened fruit in newspaper will speed up the ripening process. This winter I had a beautiful tomato plant (we live in Florida so can usually garden year round) well with the unusual cold I had to pick all my tomatoes before they were ripened and before the cold got to the plant, they were still very green and I did not want to see them go to waste so I wrapped them in newspaper and a few days later they started ripening and I was able to use them and they tasted great!
9. Use in the garden! Lay sheets of newspapers about 1/4″ inch thick before covering with mulch, dirt, or whatever you use in your garden, it will help prevent weed growth. Make sure to moisten the newspaper before covering so it stays in place. Here is a really cool way to make seed starting pots out of newspaper.
10. Have fun with the kids! Check out this awesome looking newspaper hut HERE and go ahead and have fun with the kids building and playing in it!
11. Great for keeping breakables safe! I think everyone knows this trick already, if you are packing things away wrap your breakables in newspaper to keep from chipping and breaking.
12. Find out if you can donate your newspapers! Many schools, churches and community groups use the newspaper for craft projects, call around and see if anyone is accepting donations.
13. Combine your newspaper with an old toilet paper roll, roll up the newspaper and stick in the toilet paper roll and you have a nice fire starter log and you recycle more than just newspaper!
14. Remove nasty odors! Crumple up some newspaper and stick it in stinky Tupperware, coolers, shoes, even luggage and it will absorb some of the bad odor!
Today Joyce from Saving My Centsshares her recipes for awesome at-home spa treatments! Who says pampering yourself has to break the bank?
About Joyce:
As a SAHM to 2 little boys, two little cats and one big golden retriever saving my SENSE will never happen, but saving my CENTS has to happen. Anyone who knows me knows my favorite saying is “I’m not cheap, I’m thrifty” and I hope with my website you can be too!
Since I am a mom to two very active boys who have suddenly went from being happy watching cartoons and playing board games to now wanting to play sports, spend time with friends (and they are only 4 and 6 right now, I refuse to even think of the teenage years) I need to find ways to relax and since my pockets are not deep enough to afford a spa and even if they could I would never find the time I have a few things I try at home that I will share.
Blemish Blaster: Handful of fresh mint leaves (even if you do not have a green thumb, herbs will grow on their own and can be used for everything, from food to health care, so I highly recommend starting an herb garden of your own) A cup of oats (I use plain Quaker oatmeal) moistened
Take the herbs and pulverize them, you can buy the fancy bowl that has a pestle with it (like a mini club!) but I just use a rounded end of one of my kitchen utensils. Add in the moistened oats until it makes a paste and apply to your face for about 20 minutes.
Body Scrub: 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup honey a drop or two of essential oil (optional)
Mix together and scrub on during bath/shower. I like to use a loofah sponge and concentrate on dry areas, like my elbows and knees. I also add a drop of lavender essential oil for scent, but it is just an extra and not necessary to make this recipe work.
Dry Skin Mask: Beaten egg yolk mashed avocado
Mix together and apply to your face for about 20 minutes.
Skin Toner: handful of fresh basil a cup or so of water
Boil the fresh basil leaves in the water (I never learned a specific length to boil so I usually do it for about 20 minutes or until the basil is practically dissolving). Strain the water into a jar, let it cool and then apply to your face as needed with a cotton ball.
Strawberry Exfoliator Fill a mixing bowl with some ripe or over-ripe strawberries (I use about 10 to 12 for this recipe, if you have more or less just experiment with how much of the other ingredients to use) Two tablespoons of olive oil One teaspoon coarse salt
Mash strawberries then combine oil and salt and rub on dry spots for exfoliation. Rinse off with warm water.
(I know some of these may seem odd but I have tried them all and they seem to work for me. I always rinse off with some luke warm water and do not use soap)
Today, Nicole from Nicole’s Nickels shares her creative way of snagging a Wii for $36! Now, I normally avoid trial offers like the plague, but I can see how Nicole’s cautious and organized approach garnered good results. Have you guys ever tried anything like this? How did it work for you?
About Nicole:
Nicole lives in south Florida and is a career woman by day, blogger by night. Her blog, Nicole’s Nickels, is a mix of money-makers and money-savers from surveys, mystery shopping and online offers to coupons and free samples.
You probably read the title to this post and don’t believe it. Well, it’s true. I did this by doing an online offer. Now, I’m not the expert on these offers, but Carrie over at Money Saving Methods has done them for a while and as of September of 2008 she had made over $15,000 doing these offers. I was skeptical but I trust Carrie, so on December 29, 2008 I completed the 8 offers required for the prize and site I selected. I ended up receiving the brand new Wii and Wii Fit on February 20, 2009 so the whole thing took less than 2 months and around 3 hours or so total. The next one I do will take less time though, now that I am familiar with these offers. You have probably seen these offers/banners before and said, “yeah right, that’s not legit.” Well, the ones I am highlighting here are legit. The parent company for these offers is I-deal though there are subcompanies such as Top Notch Media, Bullseye Media, etc. Once you do your first you’ll be hooked – but you can only earn $1,000 per sub-company in a 6 month period. You’ll need a credit card (ideally one capable of giving you a virtual card number – look on their website or call customer service), a calendar, pen, and some patience but you can do it! Block off at least 2 hours the first day to complete all the offers. You’ll want to get them done in one sitting. Choose the prize you want. Here are a bunch of options below. All the ones in this post are I-deal parent company site with different sub-companies. Please be advised that sometimes a component of completing an offer is to refer people to do the offer as well. Those can get complicated (not to mention ruin friendships) so all the ones included here are DIY (do-it-yourself) offers with no referrals needed at the time of posting (terms can change so please read the front page carefully to see how many offers are required and whether or not referrals are a part of that). Wii and Wii Fit – this is the offer I did
It appears as though the terms have just changed on this offer and you are now required to complete 12 offers and 2 referrals. I no longer recommend doing this offer as there are higher value offers posted here without referrals. Please remember to save the terms and conditions on the day you do your order.
$500 Visa Giftcard & T-shirt
Unlocked Blackberry Pearl Flip Phone
$500 giftcard to Kohls
$100 in Restaurant giftcards (Chilis or Fridays) $100 Visa Giftcard and Game Jersey There are more so please email me if you are looking for something different and I’ll look around. Ok, so now that you have found the prize that you want, look to see how many “offers” you will need to do to get the prize. Offers are divided up into 3 categories – silver, gold and platinum. Usually for a $500 value prize, you will do 2 silvers, 2 golds, and 4 platinums. It may be less offers if there is a referral or two involved. Again, I did not include any referral sites here at the time I posted but these offers can change so be sure to CAREFULLY read the fine print on the first page – you should also open the terms and conditions and copy them into a wordprocessing document that you will use to keep track of this offer. Set up a new free web-based email address for this – you will get spam from the offers you sign up with. Use this new email address for every offer you do. Fill out the registration on the first page. Then you will get page after page of questions. If there is a “skip” click it, if not make sure to select “no” for each and continue. You’ll finally to get the page that has silver offers on it. I keep going until I reach the platinum offers, then I work backwards. The platinum page will have the fewest and most expensive offers so if there’s nothing on this page for you, pick a new prize and start over! You should figure out which offers you are going to do before starting to do them. Make a plan. This is a good time to research the offers you are doing. You are only allowed to do one offer per parent company. The sites don’t tell you who their parent company is so you’ll need to do some research. For instance, if a site looks similar and/or especially if the checkout page looks similar then they are likely from the same parent company. Now you’re asking what an “offer” is – offers are trials for things like Netflix, skin and make-up products, book clubs, etc. Each offer will have its own terms. Make sure to copy and paste the terms of each offer (including price of offer, how long trial period is, price of trial, price after trial expires, number to cancel, etc.) on the same document you used to copy the general offer’s terms and conditions. Make sure to reference the first page to make sure you are doing the right number of offers under each category. Please make sure to read each offer’s terms VERY CAREFULLY. A helpful hint is to open an offer, wait a few minutes and then log back in under “check gift status” on the main page to make sure that the offer shows as “pending”. Many may show as pending, don’t worry. Each offer that you open should show as pending whether you complete it or not. If you have an offer open and it doesn’t show as pending, close it out, wait a few minutes and start over until it shows as pending.
Another hint is to use a virtual credit card number for these offers. My Discover and Citibank cards have that feature available on their websites. Using the feature I am able to disguise my true credit card number by getting a virtual credit card number. Check your credit card company to see if this number is good for one use only or for one vendor only. Each company has different terms.
Sign up for offers that interest you. These companies are subsidizing the fabulous prize you chose so try the product and give it a chance – maybe it would make a great gift for someone on your list?
After you have completed the requisite number of offers, you play the waiting game (on pins and needles). With my experience, all of my offers had approved within 2 weeks. 2 of my co-workers just did one and they were also approved within 2 weeks. It is also common to have an offer or 2 not approve. If this happens, you need to do a replacement offer. Replacement offers generally credit within a day or 2.
Once all offers are approved and you “check your gift status” from the main page it will say that you have completed all offers and link to a redemption certificate. You must fill in and print this certificate as well as a W-9 form (these earnings are taxable) and send them in. I send them priority mail with delivery confirmation. I then wait until I see confirmation on the postal service website and give the company 2 week to process my redemption certificate and paperwork. If, after 2 weeks, your status has not changed, you need to email them with your delivery confirmation number. My status changed exactly 2 weeks from the date they received it and it said that my prize would arrive within 6-8 weeks. It arrived earlier than that, on February 20, via FedEx.
Ideal gives you 60 days from the date you first register until the date that everything must be completed and all paperwork mailed to them. Do the offers on the day you register as your clock starts ticking then. Keep track of all dates, company names, terms and conditions, cancelling instructions, phone numbers, etc. I found it easy to create a table (or spreadsheet if you’re more Excel-literate than I am) with that information for each offer I did.
Whew, this has been a long post and I’m sure many of you will have more questions. Please leave a comment or send me an email at nicolesnickels@gmail.com and I’d be more than happy to help. Please remember that organization is key to successful completion of these online offers! Good luck!
Today we have a fun video post from Ally of The Mommy Diaries! I’m planning on buying a Couponizer once I return from England – my poor little coupon binder is falling apart at the seams, and is currently held together with tape!
About Ally:
Ally is a budding new v-logger, so click here to watch her introducing herself on camera! You can catch more fun videos over at her blog, The Mommy Diaries.
Today Michelle from Saving Some Green shares some great hints for cutting child-related expenses!
About Michelle:
Michelle Wall and her husband Nate live in Boise, Idaho with their two small children, Owen and Audrey. Michelle works part-time outside the home, full-time inside the home, and blogs about the triumphs and trials of their frugal lifestyle at Saving Some Green.
One phrase I hear a lot when it comes to kids is this one: “Kids are soooo expensive!” I agree. They are expensive – but there are a million ways (I will not share all of them here!) to cut expenses when it comes to having kids. Here are a few that have worked for me:
Clothes – I almost threw up when my sister told me that she spent $36 on a pair of Levi’s for her son. Buy your kid 3 pairs of new Levi’s and you could be in the hole for $100! Yikes! I have been blessed with hand me downs – my son was the 6th grandson on my side and the 3rd grandson on my husband’s side. My family has been generous with the hand me downs…but you may not be so lucky. I also shop yard sales, thrift stores, and consignment store and get awesome deals. I just purchased a pair of sandals, a pair of light up tennis shoes, a pair of black dress shoes, and a pair of sketchers for my daughter at Other Mothers – (a local Idaho consignment shop) for $12!
Entertainment – Your kid does not need every Disney DVD as soon as it comes out. I promise. Seriously, though. Kids want to spend time with you – they don’t care what you do! This type of quality time is FREE. But if you want to keep your kids busy so you can clean the kitchen…be creative. Build a fort out of four kitchen chairs and a fitted sheet. Paper and crayons provide hours of FREE entertainment. Give them a box to play in. Kids want to be creative, let them!
Toys and Books – My kids have a lot of toys and a lot of books. Not because I have spent a fortune, either. I pick them up for next to nothing at garage sales. If I was paying full price for my kids’ toys and books they would have much, much, much less.
Holidays – In my opinion, most people overdo the holidays where kids get gifts. My kids got two gifts from us at Christmas. They get a few eggs and a small toy in their Easter baskets. We make home-made Valentines. We buy a few fireworks for the 4th of July. Our Christmas morning this past year was wonderful. My kids opened their gifts and were so excited and spent all day playing with their toys. On the other hand, other children we knew received so many toys that they didn’t know where to start and ended up playing with boxes. Keep it simple!
I could go on and on about ways to save money with kids. Here is the reality…you don’t have to spend a lot of money for your kids to know that you love them and to have loads of fun!
