Money Saving Mom®

Guest post from Rachel of Nothing if Not Intentional

In the world of photography, Adobe Photoshop is the gold standard for editing software. However, as anyone who has priced this software knows, it can be expensive. Lucky for you (and me!), there are several alternatives that will allow you to edit, create, and manipulate images for free!

Smartphone Apps

Camera phones have come so far that many people have abandoned their regular camera in lieu of their smart phones. If this is you, there are a variety of free phone editing apps. Instagram, PhotoFunia, and Photoshop Express are well-liked options.

Picasa

For those who prefer a traditional point and shoot or DSLR camera, Picasa (by Google) is one of the most popular and user-friendly choices.

The program is intuitive. Open a picture and then click through several tabs that offer basic edits (such as crop, redeye, straighten), lighting and color issues (like color temperature, fill light, shadows), and fun effects (border, black and white, vignette, etc.).

There is also an option on the toolbar that will allow you to make a photo collage. Click here fo a tutorial on adding text and creating a milestone pictures using picasa.

Gimp

One of the most powerful image editing options is Gimp. (Many people claim it rivals Photoshop!) With Gimp, you can explore advanced editing techniques like manipulating layers, adjusting color levels, editing with curves, and applying filters.

Do these terms sound unfamiliar or foreign? Unfortunately, since Gimp is a free program, it doesn’t come with customer support or a fancy user manual. However, there is a thriving community of Gimp users online who are happy to share their Gimp-related tutorials.

Internet-Based Options

Both Gimp and Picasa are software programs that are downloaded to your computer. If you’d prefer not to download a program, there are several internet-based editing options:

• FotoFlexer
• Pixlr
• iPiccy
• Ribbet
• Photoshop Express Editor
• PicMonkey
• and many more!

Online programs will often offer basic edits and effects for free and then allow users the option to upgrade and pay for premium features.

So which of these programs is best? For those who remember Picnik, Ribbet will feel and look very familiar. Personally, I prefer PicMonkey and iPiccy. Picmonkey is simple and organized. I often use it to make collages for my blog or Facebook page. Ipiccy is completely free and offers more advanced options (like curves, clone, and levels).

While most professionals will continue to pay for their photo editing software, there are plenty of free alternatives for anyone who simply wants to capture and edit family pictures or even explore photography as a serious hobby without spending money on editing tools.

What are your favorite free photo editing programs?

Nothing if Not Intentional started as a blog to share stories from Nate and Rachael’s ten trips to Guatemala. It is now an outlet for Rachael’s writing (she’s a former English major), and a place to share stories from their travels (Nate’s a pilot) and life with two young girls. Photography is one of their favorite shared hobbies.

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Note from Crystal: Today is Valentine’s Day and I thought this beautiful post was such a great reminder of the importance of not taking any of our relationships with those we love for granted. In addition, it’s fitting because baby Kyle was due today, on Valentine’s Day.

Testimonial from Kim of Kimz Kitchen

I’ve always been a planner. And when we decided to try for our third little baby back in October of 2011, we knew we should begin setting aside cash for our high deductible insurance plan. Using our Health Savings Account, we were able to set aside money (tax free) each week from my husband’s paychecks.

I was also very thankful that we had our Emergency Fund. After two miscarriages and a few medical bills that our insurance didn’t cover, we again realized the importance of keeping that fund stocked at all times.

In June of 2012, we found out we were pregnant again. We were ecstatic! But, in August, we found out our sweet baby boy, Kyle Nathaniel, had a fatal genetic condition that would most likely claim his life before he was even born. This was certainly not in MY perfect plans.

As agonizing as the next several months were, the financial costs of a labor and delivery — immediately followed by a funeral and burial, were not a concern to us.

Little Kyle was born into Heaven after 31 wonderful weeks of life where he knew only love — right into Heaven, where he’ll forever know only love. God allowed his precious tiny body to be born into our arms on December 19th, 2012.

At that point, our HSA was funded to cover our deductible, and our emergency fund was available to cover the costs of the burial 3 days after his birth.

Our little guy had a huge impact on thousands during his short life. Even now, his video is being shown in crisis pregnancy centers and in OBGYN offices around the country. His memorial fund for Compassion International will sponsor a Mother Baby Survival Center in South America for 39 months.

I wouldn’t trade the 220 days we had with him for anything.

Now, as we are recovering, we are working to restock our fund. I’ve kept my grieving mind and and empty hands busy this month de-cluttering our home and selling our things on Craigslist. There are even a few local “yard sale” Facebook pages I’ve had great success with selling things on.

We spent the month of January living on a tight budget, with minimal eating out and only spending money on necessary things, to put all of our extra cash into our emergency fund, and at this point, we’re pretty close to getting it right back to where it was a few months ago.

Sometimes, I think we think of that emergency fund as being a go-to account for flat tires, or blown transmissions, or repairing central heating units. I never planned to use it to bury one of my children. And while our specific case is certainly rare, having an unexpected expense that you haven’t planned for is not. I can’t say enough about the peace of mind that an emergency fund can give when peace can otherwise be very difficult to find.

Kim Rackley is a blogger at Kimz Kitchen. She’s the wife of a very special guy and mother to two girls here and three children in Heaven. She blogs about her life as a mother, homeschooler, and a small potatoes caterer.

Guest post from Anne of Modern Mrs Darcy

At my house we love our coffee, and not just any coffee will do. We enjoy high quality, freshly roasted beans — and if you know anything about great coffee, you know that gets expensive, and fast.

But we found a way to cut our coffee costs in half, without sacrificing quality, and I’m shocked more coffee lovers don’t know about it:

Cut your coffee costs in half by roasting your beans at home. 

The process is simple. You only need two things:

1. Green (unroasted) coffee beans. Your local coffeeshop may sell these (in my town green beans typically sell for half the price of roasted) or you can order online from Sweet Maria’s, the go-to source for home roasters.
2. A hand-cranked popcorn popper OR a baking sheet, and a wire perforated colander. (Both are easy to find secondhand.)

There are two methods for inexpensive home roasting:

1. Oven roasting (on a baking sheet)
2. Air roasting (in a popcorn popper).

Both methods take 8-15 minutes a batch.

Oven roasting isn’t hard, requires no special equipment, and is cheap to try out. Find directions here.

Air roasting requires more hands-on time and nonstop cranking, but your results will likely be better. Find directions here.

Home roasting isn’t perfect: you’ll probably have to throw out your first batch. Roast level can be inconsistent. Your kitchen will get a little smoky. And you’ll never be able to use that popcorn popper for anything else.

But the benefits are pretty fabulous:

• You can custom roast your beans to suit your taste.
• Green coffee beans stay fresh much longer than roasted, so you can maintain a steady supply of freshly roasted coffee without running to the grocery twice a week.
• You can cut your coffee costs in half.

Home roasting is for serious coffee lovers!

Don’t try this at home if all you care about is the cost savings. If you don’t love it, it’s not worth it; you’ll be happier buying Folgers with coupons. But if the craft of coffee roasting appeals to you — if you think roasting your own sounds fun and fascinating — try the DIY route. Many serious coffee geeks enjoy the process, and the savings.

(For further reading, I recommend Home Coffee Roasting: Romance and Revival.)

Anne Bogel loves strong coffee, long books, and big ideas. She puts a timely spin on timeless women’s issues at her blog Modern Mrs Darcy. Head here to get her free ebook Paper Gains: A Guide to Gifting Children Great Books from Modern Mrs Darcy. 

Guest post from Kathi Lipp of KathiLipp.com

One of the most frequent questions I get is “I know you leave a lot of notes for your husband, but how do you do it?” It seems some women are intimidated by leaving little, encouraging notes for their man – as if they aren’t going to do it “right”.

So here are a few fun, creative, and inexpensive ways to leave a note of encouragement for your man to get you started:

1. Use Post-it Notes.

As a certified “Office Supply Junkie” I always have a variety of Post-it Notes at my disposal. I leave love notes in his car, in our bathroom, on the fridge, and in his lunch. Anywhere that I can “plant” it in advance for him to find at a later date.

2. Write in Lipstick on Your Bathroom Mirror.

3. Spell “I Love You” With Hershey’s Syrup on a Plate.

Add vanilla ice cream and strawberries for an elegant and tasty add-on.

4. Send A Banana-gram.

When silliness is called for, nothing brings it on like a banana. Just use a Marks-a-lot maker and get creative.

5. Leave Chocolate and a Note on His Pillow.

6. Create a Background On His Computer That Says “I Love You!”

7. Leave a Love Note in His Jacket Pocket.

8. Text Him a Love Note While He’s at Work.

9. Send a Note to His Work Address.

Don’t send a big red envelope with hearts and flowers all over it (unless he enjoys being the center of attention!) but a plain white envelope with some sweet nothings tucked inside would be a welcome break from him day to day work routine.

10. I Love You Because… Mailbox

Come up with your own list of why you love your husband, and then create little messages for each of those reasons. I bought the mailbox in the Dollar Bin at Target and cut up some festive scrapbook paper to create the little notes.

11. Spell it Out on a Scrabble Board or With Pepperoni on a Homemade Pizza.

These are just a few ideas to get you thinking. If you need more creative love note ideas, check out my free “21 Post-it Note Sized Encouragements” download on my Facebook Page

Kathi Lipp is the author of seven books including Praying God’s Word for Your Husband. For more free goodies from Kathi, check out her website at KathiLipp.com

Guest post by Elisha

My husband and I are huge fans of Dave Ramsey. We became debt-free after we got married and used the cash envelope system to stick to our budget.

We strongly believe in the cash system. But when my husband started getting his paycheck directly deposited, I would have to go get cash out to put into the envelopes. It became one more thing to do.

After we started having kids, it became more of a hassle and struggle to count out the cash, get my coupons, make sure I had my price-matching items organized, and control the tots.

Some other issues we began to have with the envelopes:

• My husband or I would need a specific envelope, only to realize that the other one had it. This mainly happened with the restaurant envelope! (Most of the time, we’d just take out how much we thought we’d use. Then, we wouldn’t use it all, and we’d forget to put it back — which meant cash that we then didn’t know what it was earmarked for.)
• If we had to use money from one envelope, only to reimburse it because we used it for something other than it’s purpose, we’d often forget.
• If I forgot to grab the envelope (which started happening a lot after having kids) I’d have to remember to hold on to the receipt, which often got trashed while the kids were helping me put groceries away.

This probably sounds like I’m really unorganized — but I’m not really! It’s just that with our 3 kids under 4, life somehow gets a little more chaotic.

A few months ago, we discovered Mint.com. Boy, has it made life easier! Now, we pay for nearly everything using our debit card. No more envelopes….just the checking and savings accounts to keep up with.

If you’re not familiar with Mint.com, it’s is a great, free website that helps you manage your money. There is also an fantastic free app you can download.

Some of the wonderful things about Mint.com:

• You can enter your budget, it shows how much you are spending and warns you if you are about to over spend.
• You can categorize every purchase, then it breaks down your spending so you can see exactly where your money is going.
• It creates a beautiful pie chart (for those who love to see numbers in picture form!) to show what percentage of your money is going where.
• The app lets you see how much is in your account and how much you’ve spent from your budget.
• When you enter your budget, it shows what the national average is for spending in that category (which is so interesting, and exciting when you see you’re spending a lot less than everyone else!)

Like I said, the cash envelope system helped us tremendously for several years! But this system of only using our debit card and Mint.com is so much easier — especially for this season of life we’re in. If you’re trying to get out of debt and working to follow a budget, this is another great option.

Elisha is more than happily married to her husband of 6 years. They have 3 kids: 3, 2, and 8 months — and she loves being a stay-at-home mom! Her family enjoys the outdoors, gardening, and snuggling.