Saving Families Money Since 2007
Target Shopping Trip
1 GoGo Squeez (4 ct) – $2, used $0.90/1 printable – $1.10 after coupon
2 Advil (24 ct) – $3.49 each, used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 9/1 P&G insert – $2.49 each after coupons (Buy 2 – Get $5 Target gift card)
Total before coupons: $8.49
Total after coupons: $6.08, PLUS received $5 Target gift card for buying 2 Advil (like paying $1.08)
See the full list of deals at Target this week here.
{Making Sock Bubbles}
I live in a small home and we have two boys, a 2-year-old, and a 7-month-old. Every day I am struggling to keep our house neat, because they have so many TOYS! I am also struggling to keep the laundry done, because they have so many clothes! Grandparents, along with other relatives, are constantly buying them toys and clothing. I really appreciate the gesture, but enough is enough! Do you have any suggestions on NON-toy items for Christmas and Birthdays? -Kayla
This is a great question, Kayla!
It’s a wonderful problem that you have grandparents who want to bless your children so much, but I totally get where it is hard because you have limited space.
I’d encourage you to lovingly talk to the grandparents, expressing how much your appreciate how they want to bless your children, but telling them that since you have a small house, you don’t have much room for many extras. (For more on how to approach this with your relative, read this post.)
Here are some ideas:
Books & Magazines
While books do take up space, they can be easier to store, much less messy, and very worthwhile. Give the grandparents a few ideas of titles you’d like to add to your library.
Magazine Subscriptions
Your boys are still small, but when they get a little older, magazine subscriptions like Ranger Rick or Thomas the Train can be a lot of fun. They enjoy getting them in the mail and then you can recycle them or pass them on when you’re through with them.
{Experimenting with Fizzy Sidewalk Chalk}
Bubble Bath or Crayons or Sidewalk Chalk
My children have so much fun with bubble bath and sidewalk chalk, but it’s not something that I usually am going to spend money on. It can provide lots of fun — and is completely consumable!
Time Together
What about suggesting Grandma & Grandma plan a special date with your son instead of buying them a gift? This takes time, but it is often much more meaningful and memorable.
Treats
Is there a special food item your sons love? Maybe juice boxes or fruit snacks or animal crackers? Ask for these as a special treat instead of toys.
Craft Supplies
Crayons, paper, coloring books, and other craft supplies can enjoy hours of creative play!
Gift Cards for Restaurants/Treats
What about asking for a gift card to a restaurant or ice cream shop your child loves? Maybe even encourage the relative to take the child on a date there and let them pay with their gift card?
Memberships to Local Attractions
If you have some local museums, a zoo, or other fun places that offer memberships, ask for a membership. These are pricey, but can provide hours of fun, memories, and entertainment. Best of all, they take up zero space in your house!
Related: Dealing With Toy Overload, Four Weeks of Frugal Family Fun, and Consumable Gifts for Christmas.
The following shopping trips were submitted by Alisha:
After finding great “Pick Up The Values” coupons from Kimberly-Clark, I printed them out and spent some time taking advantage of Ibotta offers this weekend. I found some great deals and was able to get 10 items for free (after “Pick Up The Values” coupons, and before tax).
Here’s what I bought at Target:
Paid (after coupons) = $7.94
I received $4.25 back from Ibotta (individual offers and $2.00 for buying two Huggies items in the same transaction).
Net Cost = $3.69
Here’s what I bought at Walmart:
Paid (after coupons) = $32.31
I received $36.25 back from Ibotta (individual offers, $3.00 for buying Kleenex, Scott, and Viva in one transaction, $5.00 for buying two products on two different days, and $20.00 for buying 10 items total).
Net Cost = Like making $3.94!
After the two shopping trips, I made $0.25 and everything but the Depends are items we use.
Have you gotten a great deal thanks to a tip you’ve found here on MoneySavingMom.com? Take a picture of your deal/purchase and write a short post on the deal details and submit it here. If your submission is chosen to be posted, I’ll send you a $25 Amazon gift card! Note: the more creative, unique, and well-written your post, the more chance it will have of being posted.
Guest post from Jamie
No matter how bad economic times are, there are some things we need to (or want to) buy — whether we can find a great deal or not. Of course, it’s always a pleasant surprise when we find these things for less than expected!
Whether you’re buying necessities, or simply things that make life better, everyone loves bargains… right?
Here are 10 ideas to help you find bargains on those unexpected items.
It’s good advice to buy airline tickets in the morning, before business travelers start shopping. Buy tickets as far out as possible before your travel date as they are cheaper and probably won’t change much in price. Saturdays are good days to fly while Sundays and Thursdays are often the most expensive.
When clubs or theaters have unsold seats, they rely on websites like Goldstar or resellers like Stubhub to fill those seats. Great deals are available — especially close to, or on the day of the show. Some of the hottest events can now be seen inexpensively.
For some, coffee is a MUST in the morning, or all day. However, expensive brands aren’t always better. Cheaper brands like Dunkin’ Donuts are popular and sell for less than brews from couture coffee houses like Starbucks. Better yet, buy the beans and brew your own at home.
If you have a prescription from the last time you saw your eye doctor, use it to order inexpensive glasses from Eye Buy Direct. When you’re using glasses as a complement to contacts, it “pays” to spend less on them! Prices begin around $40.
Find unused gift cards cheaper at websites like Gift Card Granny. Many options are available at an average of 15% off — so, for example, you could get a $100 gift card for only $85. Now that’s smart!
Websites like Royal Discount sell new software (that is guaranteed to work) at bargain prices. Students love getting deals on things like software, so they have extra money for the really important things.
Websites like Noveau Cheap help fashionistas find all the best deals in one easy-to-search spot. Look your best every day, for less.
Ladies clothing is available for bargain prices when you know where to look. Places like the 10 Dollar Mall and 6pm help shoppers find prices that are up to 75% off.
Everyone needs shoes, right? Bluefly, 6pm, and Zappo’s are great places to find deals — when you want great looks at lower prices, you’ll be amazed at what you might find.
Places like Sunglass Hut and Sharp Shades are great places to find amazing deals on designer-inspired sunglasses.
See, there are bargains everywhere!
Bargain hunting has never been more fun or exciting. Since you might buy many of these things anyway, why not be smart and save as much as possible?
Saving money is always such a great feeling!
Jamie is a not a mom but a sister of two younger brothers. As the oldest in the house, she always felt the need to help out by taking on an extra job searching for the occasional deals. Since her recent move to Colorado, Jamie fell in love with hiking. She also loves live music, spending as much time with the family as possible and puppies (who doesn’t – smiley face!)
Three of the most popular posts on my blog are the 10 Chore Ideas for Toddlers, 15 Chore Ideas for 4-Year-Olds, and 20 Chore Ideas for 7-Year-Olds.
So I asked Jeff from FiveJs.com to put together a free Chore Ideas for Kids printable for those who might want to print the ideas out for inspiration. You can download and print it here.
Nothing If Not Intentional shows you how to make personalized pictures books for babies.
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
I loved this post from Christa on Six Ways to Make Laundry Fun.
How do you make laundry more fun? You can see one way we’ve made laundry fun here.
Here is a unique deal that I have only seen a few times before! Order a one-year subscription to Hobby Farm Home Magazine for only $7.50 when you use coupon code MONEYSAVING at checkout. This magazine gets excellent reviews on Amazon and this is the lowest price that I have seen on this magazine.
About Hobby Farm Home Magazine: Hobby Farm Home celebrates traditional farm life with modern flair. Articles include cooking with home-grown produce and farm-raised meat, the decor of the farmhouse, reviving farm traditions, and the handmade creation of objects-bringing the farm indoors.
This offer expires tonight 09/03/13 11:59 PM EST.
Are you looking for other magazine titles? You can use coupon code MONEYSAVING to save 20% off of most titles at DiscountMags!
(Note: The link in this post is my referral link. Read my disclosure policy here.)
As I mentioned in my menu post, there were a lot of unexpected things that cropped up last week, so some of my goals had to get bumped to the back burner.
I also decided that I’m going to hold off on doing the ChaLean program in favor of just running. I’ve gotten into a good groove with running and I want to stick with it for now.
Last week’s goals:
Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals
1.
Read 3 chapters of The Borrowers and
3 chapters of The Tanglewoods’ Secret to the children.Finish reading The Queen’s Smuggler with Kathrynne.Read 3 chapters of Caddie Woodlawn with Kaitlynn.Read a few picture books with Silas.
2. Write a love note to Jesse.3. Go on a date with Jesse.
Personal Goals
4. Work on memorizing & reviewing Romans 1:1-23.
5. Continue with the ChaLean Extreme Program.
Run 10 miles.6. Read Loving the Way Jesus Loves,
First: What It Takes to Win by Rich Froning, Leaving Yesterday, and Love Works.Homemaking Goals
7. Work for 30 minutes on my embroidery project.
8. Try two new recipes.
Business Goals
9. Work on updating 10 more posts for Pinterest.10. Write at least 3 posts for the 52 Ways to Save $100 a Year series. {I only got two posts written, but that progress, eh?}
This week’s goals:
Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals
1.
2. Write a love note to Jesse.
Personal Goals
3. Work on memorizing & reviewing Romans 1:1-23.
4. Run 12 miles.
5. Read Loving the Way Jesus Loves, Leaving Yesterday, and Love Works.
Homemaking Goals
6. Work for 30 minutes on my embroidery project.
7. Try two new recipes.
Business Goals
8. Work on updating 10 more posts for Pinterest.
9. Put together outlines for two new upcoming talks.
10. Write two posts for the 52 Ways to Save $100 a Year series.
How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!
You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.
Well, last week ended up having some extra responsibilities and some pretty major and unavoidable interruptions… so I finally decided to throw in the towel on my freezer cooking plans. That’s life sometimes, isn’t it?! But I’m going to try again this week — and hopefully it will actually happen! 🙂
Jesse and I are traveling on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week for some business meetings, so other than freezer cooking, I’m keeping everything else simple this week:
Breakfasts
Breakfast Cookies, Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit
Lunches
Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch {veggies, cheese, yogurt, fruit, crackers, etc.}
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3Snacks
Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Boiled eggs
Breakfast CookiesFreezer Cooking in an Hour (I’ll share more how this goes later on this week!)
Healthy Choco-Cherry Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
To Die For Blueberry Muffins
Breakfast Cookies (different recipe than I tried before — just because I wanted to compare it!)
World’s Easiest Crockpot Refried Beans
Dinners
5 Star Cheeseburger Casserole (from the freezer), steamed veggies, fruit
Breakfast for dinner: Pancakes, fruit, scrambled eggs
Quesadillas, fruit, veggies
Bean & Cheese Burritos, fruit, steamed veggies
Dinner with friends (I’m bringing a fruit salad.)
Dinner with extended family x 2
Dinner out
What’s on your menu this week? Tell us in the comments or leave a link to your menu plan post.
Do you often go thrift shopping with kids in tow? These are some great tips, if so!
{Looking for more practical advice on thrift store shopping? Read this post for some great thrifting tips!}
Guest post from Trina of TrinaHolden.com
It’s that time of year again — time to take stock of our closets and plan a shopping trip to bring our family’s wardrobes into the the cooler months. The best place to do this is frugally is at the thrift store!
But what to do with the kids?
Take them along! I’ll be the first to admit that thrifting with kids is not a walk in the park. But as a homeschooling mom of a 2, 4, and 6-year-old, I’ve had to embrace the challenge of bringing my kids with me on our shopping trips.
If you find yourself in a similar place, with the desire to clothe your family frugally, here are my tips for thrifting with kids in tow:
The quest to find a good deal can feel as epic as Lewis and Clarke looking for the Pacific ocean. Go ahead and carry the theme by putting ample thought into provisions for your journey. My kids enjoy the thrift store the most when they’re munching dried fruit, each from their own little plastic baggy.
Any kind of snack that won’t end up staining the clothes you’re trying to buy works great for happy distraction on the journey. Think cheese sticks, raisins, crackers, and nuts. Also, water bottles and sippy cups. And don’t forget wipers for little hands that might have been crawling around under the clothing racks just before being handed a snack.
If snack time isn’t a normal part of your daily routine — all the better! It will be one more highlight in their day, causing them to ask you when they get to go thrift shopping again!
It’s tempting to look at a giant thrift store as a one-stop-shop for all your wardrobe and houseware needs, because that’s often what it offers: from curtains to furniture, shoes to pots and pans, you can find it all!
But that doesn’t mean you should.
For the sake of you and your kid’s endurance, you will probably need to narrow the focus of your trip to one section of the store, or even one child’s clothing needs at a time. If this means you have to go back weekly until you’ve covered all the bases, that’s better than a 3-hour marathon, and dreading the idea of ever going thrifting again.
More important than coupons, an organized list, or well-packed diaper bag, you will need your patience, mamma. Don’t head out unprepared for the fact you will have plenty of opportunities to grow in patience and unconditional love for your children. That’s why, in my list of thrifting tips in my book, I encourage you to “Pray — out loud!” as you embark.
Just as any challenge in parenting, God will use this to work beauty in you, if you let it. Keep in mind that our ultimate goal has nothing to do with a few cheap outfits, and everything to do with hearts — ours and our children’s.
One of the most challenging aspects of taking our kids with us to the thrift store, or any public place, is that people see when they misbehave. But seriously, mamma — is this such a terrible thing? Is the goal of your visit to the thrift store to have the best behaved children in sight? If it is, you’re putting way too big a burden on yourself.
On my last thrifting trip, I lost track of the amount of times I had to remind my 6 and 4-year-old to stay in the same aisle with me. If I had added shame at their poor behavior to the challenges I was facing on that particular day, it would have been a horrific experience indeed. Instead, I prayed for patience, hoping that if anyone was watching (and they weren’t, really), they might be impacted by a mother’s gentle demeanor under duress, not simply impressed by children so perfectly behaved they appeared to be drugged.
When we got home, it was definitely time to have a little talk about how we should obey mommy when we’re out and about, but that afternoon at the thrift store, I just had to let my pride go and embrace the fact that kids will be kids. The practically-new Bravado Nursing Bra I scored for $1.50 was totally worth any embarrassment I might have suffered at the hands of my babies. 😉
This post is an excerpt from Trina’s book, “Embracing Beauty: Practical Style for Every Shape and Season of Motherhood”, available in all electronic formats and paperback. Check it out for more tips on thrifting, defining your personal style, and finding beauty in the busy season of motherhood.
Trina is a homeschooling mom of 3 who regularly schedules field trips to the thrift store to clothe her family frugally. You can find her wearing purple most days, jotting down words that beg to be written in between cooking, cleaning and laughter-filled phone conversations with friends. She blogs about true beauty, deep community, and real food at TrinaHolden.com.
July and August were good months, albeit full. A few highlights:
Needless to say, summer wasn’t calm and quiet. In fact, I think we may have only had one day the entire summer that we stayed home all day! But it was a good change of pace and we made lots of memories.
However, I’m so thankful that we’re now back into our usual routine again… I just love the quiet at-home days. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I’m an introvert who doesn’t like much spontaneity? (Well, I take that back, I do like spontaneity provided it is carefully planned! ;))
At any rate, I was thinking I probably didn’t accomplish anything much on my goals list with all the running around we did. But I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I did make some good progress on a number of different goals. And that I’m on track to complete almost all my goals for this year. Yay!
Here’s my list of 25 Goals for 2013 and an update on how I did in July & August:
Personal Goals
Read through the Bible in a year using this plan. {I’m on track with this so far.}
Run in at least one 5K race.
Complete the Couch to 10K program.
Memorize Romans 1 and 2 with Jesse. {I’ve made some really great progress on this in the past two months — yay!}
Wake up by 6 a.m. and exercise, shower, and dress by 8 a.m. every day. {I’ve done a lot better at this the past two months — it helps that I had to be out the door for swimming lessons pretty early in the morning!}
Read 150 books/ebooks {See my list of 48 books I’m for sure planning to read here — I’ve read 85 books/ebooks so far in 2013, so I’m on a good track to hit my goal!}Marriage Goals
Read 3 marriage books.
Finish reading through the Psalms together as a couple.
Have overnight stay (sans children) at least every other month. {Done in August.}
Go on at least one date per month. {Done in August.}Mothering Goals
Continue memorizing together from the Grace and Truth memory book.
Ice-skating lessons for all three children during the first quarter of 2013.
Swimming lessons for all three children during the summer.{We signed the kids up and they start next week.}
Finish at least 37 read-aloud books. {We’ve finished 30 books so far this year, so we’re on a good track here.}Ministry/Friendships/Extended Family Goals
Weekly accountability meetings with a friend. {This has been SO helpful!}
Get together with friends for a playdate or lunch at least once a month. {Done multiple times in July & August.}
Continue being involved in our local church, couple’s group, and blogging accountability group. {Ongoing}
Continue with weekly get-togethers with both sides of our extended family. {Ongoing.}Financial Goals
Use a portion of the proceeds from my next book project to fund a well project.
Fund our Child Survival Program for 2013.{Done — yay!}
Buy a new bedroom set.
Invest in another rental property.Business/Blogging Goals
Release two new ebooks.
Attend one speaking conference.{I attended the She Speaks Intensive in January.}
Finish and submit the manuscript for my next book.
If so, tell us how you’re doing in the comments or leave a link to your blog post update below. Let’s encourage one another to live lives of intention and purpose!
Guest post from Ann of Modern Mrs Darcy
Last year, our household income nearly doubled overnight — that will happen if you pivot from ministry to tech, as my husband did.
We are both born savers and committed to living frugally. We caught up some long-deferred expenses (hello, retirement accounts) but didn’t start dropping cash on big-bucks purchases simply because we could.
However, we did make a new budget.
Now that we’re firmly settled into it, we’ve taken some time to reflect on what’s changed over the past year — and what hasn’t.
These changes are real, but my husband and I agree that the biggest change isn’t a line item on the budget: it’s our attitude.
Our budget worked before, thanks to foundational decisions we made a long time ago (small mortgage, old cars, modest lifestyle). But we didn’t have much margin for error. Now that things aren’t so tight, I’ve relaxed about the small stuff. I review receipts but I don’t scrutinize them. I don’t freak out when my husband makes a few impulse buys at Target.
To borrow Dave Ramsey’s terminology, we didn’t have an expense problem before, we had an income problem. Interestingly, now that our income is up, we’re just as committed to living frugally than we were before — perhaps even more so. We’re inspired by our rapid savings progress, and excited about what we’re able to give.
It’s definitely nice to not have an income problem at the moment, but I’m grateful for the many lessons we learned because of leaner times. Three of these stand out: to focus on the progress I’m making even when I feel stuck, that living frugally is worth it, and that even when I can’t change my circumstances, I can change my attitude.
Anne Bogel loves strong coffee, long books, and big ideas. She’s putting a timely spin on timeless women’s issues at her blog Modern Mrs Darcy. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, or with her nose in a new favorite book.
Melanie from Rev emailed me this week and said:
At Rev.com, we are growing fast and looking for dozens of work-from-home transcriptionists. Rev’s mission is to build an excellent online place for freelancers to work. If you have strong English skills and want a fulfilling work-from-home job, learn more and apply here.
Here’s how it works:
- You transcribe English language audio and video from home
- You choose your projects and work as much or as little as you want
- You set your own schedule and can work flexible hours
Here’s what we do:
- We pay $0.40 – $0.65 USD per audio minute. Average earnings are currently $241/month, with some earning over $1,000/month.
- We pay you every Monday via PayPal. You have to have a working PayPal account to get paid (no exceptions).
- We provide a website to find, claim, and submit jobs. We continually add tools and features to help you earn more money.
For more work-at-home ideas, be sure to check out my series on 31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash.
Creatively Cheap emailed me a link her post on how Costco saves their family $2,000 per year. Wow!
Here’s a snippet:
Before we started shopping at Costco, our grocery bill was around $130 a week for a family of four. That is my husband and I, a four year old, and a baby. We had a $520 monthly grocery bill. And that was way to much for me. We decided to give wholesale shopping at Costco a shot in hopes of saving us a little money each month.
Our first trip went ok, but it wasn’t as good as I hoped. We spent $500 on what we planned on lasting the entire month. Okay, so we saved $20…Not really that great! To our surprise, the meat we bought to last the whole month, lasted two months! And we had other items last a lot longer than we planned, like peanut butter, frozen fruit and veggies, and butter.
The next trip I had a new plan: Don’t buy everything we needed. Some things are cheaper elsewhere and we really didn’t need everything we bought last time.
The second trip we only spent $280 (I planned on only $160, but my husband put some extra stuff in the buggy!). And we got the necessities to last an entire month. I plan on spending about $15 a week (or less if I can) at a near buy grocery store to get things like milk and fresh fruit and veggies (stuff that’s hard to buy in bulk). So, if you add that up, we will spend $340 this month on food. We will save $180! And honestly, I think we can get out of Costco for less than $280, so next month my goal is to save at least $200.
You do have to pay a membership fee to shop at Costco or Sam’s Club, but ours was only $55 for an entire year. If we save $180 a month on groceries, that adds up to a total of $2,160 that we would save for a whole year! The $55 seems worth it!
Read the whole post with all sorts of great tips and price comparisons here.
I was very interested to read this article because we’re supposed to be getting a Costco in our city in the not-too-distant future.
