Saving Families Money Since 2007
Here are the freebies that showed up in my mailbox this past week:
Frizz-Ease samples
Ocean Spray Craisins sample
Purex sample
Shout color catcher sample
What freebies have arrived in your mailbox recently?
By the way, if you want to start getting great freebies in your mailbox, just start signing up for the freebies I post every day that interest you. Within 4-6 weeks, your mailbox will start filling up with great freebies!
Don’t forget! Thursday, April 5, 2012, I’ll be hosting a free live webcast and giving away a bunch of prizes — including an iPad 2!
My husband and I recorded our Q&A session together this weekend and we had a lot of fun doing it. We just started the video rolling and I started asking him some of your questions. He didn’t know what I was going to ask, so that made it even more lively. 🙂
We talked about how we balance business and family, how we reconcile our differences when it comes to finances in marriage, and much more.
Be sure to tune in at 8 p.m. EST. We’ll have a live chat so you can talk amongst yourselves and ask me questions, too!
We’re so thankful for April’s sponsors:
iBloom is on a mission to inspire and empower every woman on the planet to live a life she loves — and ultimately live a life that honors God. Click here to download our “10 Ways to Get Inspired” article. Sign up for the iBloom weekly email newsletter to receive receive ongoing inspiration and encouragement.
Karen at MommyLuvs2Save writes a column every day where she encourages her readers to join with her in sharing what they do everyday in an attempt to get debt-free. She has currently paid off over $115,000 in debt by saving money at the stores and finding extra ways to save and earn money towards ditching debt. You can win $50 by sharing your debt-free adventures.
Are you considering homeschooling but wonder if the costs are too high or maybe you’re currently homeschooling and are looking for ways to lower your costs? Check out the list of free homeschool resources in the How To Homeschool For Free section of Surviving The Stores! Be sure to enter your email address to sign up for the latest updates in the series, too.
We Love Deals is a free browser extension that tracks Amazon deals and gives you instant notifications when a new deal gets posted. They search high and low to provide you with the best prices on popular items. In addition, this month they’ll be giving out a brand new Kindle! Try the browser extension here.
Build A Menu is an online customizable menu-planning service. For $8/month, you get access to weekly recipes (with current store prices, so you’ll know what your groceries will cost each week) and an organized shopping list. You choose the store, mix and match the recipes, and put together a weekly meal plan that works for your family’s taste and budget. Join by April 21, 2012, and take advantage of their Spring BOGO sale.
YouSaveHere is Canada’s newest city guide to savings. Their city directory lists trusted local businesses in your community, and their up and coming daily deals page will get you saving money on things you really need. Their goal is to introduce Canadians to reputable business owners that they can trust will do their best to satisfy their needs and save them money.
Want to be a featured monthly sponsor? Fill out the contact form here and we’ll send you more information and details.
Interested in Guest Posting on MoneySavingMom®?
We’re specifically looking for guest post submissions on the following topics right now:
::Testimonies of how using cash has changed the way you think about money/handle money.
::Testimonies from people who have recently started the process of getting on a budget.
::Testimonies of how a budget has changed your life.
::DIYs, We Paid Cash stories, and Ask the Reader questions.
Find our guest posting guidelines and submission details here. Please note that we have limited space for guest posts so we only accept some of those that are submitted.
Martha emailed in the following tip:
The trend now days is to send out birthday invitations and Christmas cards with pictures on them. However, these trendy types of cards can get really expensive.
To save money making these cards I downloaded a free program, Picasa, on my computer. With this program I can create a collage of pictures any way I want to place them, add text in any font or size I’d like, and add any colors I want for background, lettering, and much more.
The pictures can be filed into different folders and then can be edited. You to fix red eye, change photos to black and white, sepia toned and other editing options are also available.
Best of all, the collage you create can be sized to 4×6, 5×7, 8×10 (or other sizes) so that you can send them to where you want to have them printed (as a picture), and only pay for the price of printing one picture! So, instead of paying a company to create a more expensive invitation or Christmas card for you, you can create it the way you want it, pair it with a photo deal (think Walgreens free photo deals) and get your cards really inexpensively — or even free!
-submitted by Martha who blogs at Take Ten Again
Motherhood on a Dime shares how to teach your children the meaning of Easter by making Resurrection Cookies together.
Today’s question is from Linden:
Do you have any recipes for a gel or liquid dishwashing soap to use for hand washing dishes in the sink? -Linden
Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Thanks so much for joining me in this four week challenge. We’re only three days in and I’ve already seen some great results!
Here’s Assignment #3:
Day 3 Assignment
::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.}
::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
::Complete your morning routine {if you don’t have a morning routine, take some time to create one today! Read my How to Develop a Routine That Works–And Stick With It series for step-by-step help.}
::Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your bedroom: throw out any trash, put away items that are out of place, get rid of clutter, tidy up, vacuum, and make your bed.
::Clean out your freezer(s). If you need step-by-step help, read this guide on How to Clean Out Your Freezer.
::Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.
Note: If you work outside the home or have a really busy week with little time for extra projects, just do the bolded project above.
At 9 p.m. EST tonight, I’ll be posting my progress and pictures, along with a link-up for you to share your progress and pictures, too. Here’s to our productivity today!
If you missed Assignment #2, you can find it here.
Today was a good day — even if I didn’t end up getting everything done that I’d hoped. Oh well, that’s what tomorrow is for!
My day started early in the morning with my Bible reading and coffee, just like almost every single day does. I love the quiet morning time to sip my coffee, soak up encouragement from God’s Word, and prepare myself for the events of the day.
And then I made out my to do list for the day and got my morning blogging done before heading downstairs to sneak in a 2.5 mile run before the children got up.
Tuesdays are the day when my mother’s helper comes — one of my very favorite days of the week. 🙂 She gave the children baths and started the girls on some of their homeschool math worksheets and Explode the Code books while I took a shower, ran downstairs to do a radio interview (with sopping wet hair and no contacts in — not a good idea since I couldn’t see to read my notes for the interview!), and then came back upstairs and started our homeschooling for the day.
After we finished all the homeschooling for the day, we ate a very late lunch (at 2 p.m.!), the children played in the backyard while I fixed my hair, put on my makeup, and did a little blogging. Then we all headed out to Target for a quick shopping trip.
The rest of the afternoon was a blur and I didn’t get to the kitchen and refrigerator until 7 p.m. tonight. Better late than never!
Truth be told, I think some of it was because I was somewhat dreading this project. There are some house cleaning things I enjoy doing. The refrigerator is not on that list.
But it must be done, so I tackled it with gusto. 😉 {Kaitlynn and I were being silly and posing with crazy faces while cleaning out the fridge together!}
I didn’t find any “science experiments” growing things in the back, but I did find a clothespin, a number of items I didn’t remember we had, and four opened bottles of salsa. Yes, I really should tackle this more often than once every other month or so!
Once everything was out, I wiped down the shelves with soapy water, threw out the expired items, and re-organized the rest of the stuff. You can’t tell a huge difference, but it’s nice to know it’s clean–and nothing’s hiding back at the back anymore!
{In case you wondered what Silas was doing while I was cleaning out the fridge, he sat on the floor and made chocolate milk, er, a mess! :)}
And here are the 7 items I put in the garage sale pile today. All odds and ends from the kitchen that we no longer need or use.
How you do on Assignment #2? I’d love to have you share your progress and success with us so we can be inspired. Either post a link to your blog post below or leave a comment with your update.
I am a stay-at-home mom and my husband works based on commission. I have been trying to work out a budget rather than living paycheck to paycheck, but am not sure how to budget when his checks can vary up to $700 per check. (He gets paid every other week.)
Some months we have a nice surplus, and other months we borrow from our savings to make sure our checking account stays out of the red. We don’t usually have a problem paying our monthly bills and usually can save a little, but are really hoping to pay off some credit card debt and our car. Any suggestions are appreciated! – Casey
Budgeting on a commission or variable income is very doable. In fact, my husband and I have never had a fixed combined income our entire married lives! Here’s what I’d recommend:
In my book, I outline a step-by-step plan for getting on a budget. First, I encourage people to learn self-discipline through setting up a grocery budget. Once you’ve practiced the discipline of creating and sticking with a grocery budget, I encourage you to move on to developing a Barebones Budget.
If you’re already somewhat familiar with budgeting or already have a grocery budget in place, I’d encourage you to jump ahead and create a Barebones Budget. This will include all of your basic living necessities: food, basic utilities, shelter, and transportation. In your case, you’d also want to include your credit card bill(s) every month, too.
Write all of these budget categories down on paper and decide how much you need to set aside every two weeks to adequately cover all of the expenses. If there are any expenses you can lower by cutting your grocery bill, asking for a discount on your utilities, moving to a less expensive housing situation, or selling your car, I’d highly encourage you to do it temporarily in order to free up more money to save and pay off debt.
Once you have your Barebones Budget in place, begin following it to a tee. As much as is possible, don’t pay for anything that isn’t a complete necessity right now. It’s a short season and your sacrifices will pay off. Instead, throw every extra penny you can toward building up your emergency fund to three to six months’ of barebone expenses.
Depending upon how often you are dipping into savings would be the determining factor for us as to whether to only set aside three months’ of expenses or to go ahead and set aside six months’ of expenses. This will then give you a cushion going forward on months that you come up short.
After your emergency fund is full funded, it’s time to focus all of your energies on knocking out your debt as quickly as you possibly can. Continue to live on your Barebones Budget and put everything else that you can scrounge up toward your debt.
Be as aggressive and as creative as possible in attacking your debt and getting rid of it. The sooner it’s gone, the sooner you’ll be able to have some breathing room in your life again!
If you have some hiccups along the way — and you probably will! — don’t be discouraged. Stop and re-fund your emergency fund, if need be, and then get back to getting rid of your debt.
Finally, once your debt is gone, make sure you have a fully-funded emergency fund of at least 3-6 months’ expenses, and then create a prioritized list of additional savings and spending goals. Use this list as your guide for months when you have extra: put the extra toward the first thing on your prioritized and slowly start working through it.
If your debt is gone and you have a good emergency fund in place, you’ll have a lot more breathing room and will not only be able to put more into savings, you’ll probably also be able to enjoy some strategic splurging, too!
What advice and tips do the rest of you have for successfully budgeting on a variable income?
I wrote about six ways moms can contribute to their family’s finances over on The Better Mom today.
Psst! None of these ideas involve actually getting a paycheck–but they can all save you hundreds of dollars each year!
By the way, I’ll be talking more in-depth about some of these things in my Live Webcast this Thursday evening. I’d love to have you join us for lots of great discussion and Q&A.
Need some motivation to get rid of excess stuff? QueenBee Coupons shows how their family made an extra $1,000 in March — just by selling extra stuff they had on hand!
Smashed Peas and Carrots shows you how to make homemade Air Freshener.
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.
If you missed Assignment #1 of the 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home Challenge, be sure to read the details here.
Are you ready for another productive day? I know I am! Here’s Assignment #2:
Day 2 Assignment
::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.}
::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
::Complete your morning routine {if you don’t have a morning routine, take some time to create one today! Read my How to Develop a Routine That Works–And Stick With It series for step-by-step help.}
::Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your kitchen: wash the dishes/load the dishwasher, clear off the countertops, and, if you have time, wipe down the countertops and the outside of the cupboards with wet rag or cleaning cloth.
::Clean out your refrigerator. There’s a step-by-step guide for cleaning out your refrigerator here.
::Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.
Note: If you work outside the home or have a really busy week with little time for extra projects, just do the bolded project above.
At 9 p.m. EST tonight, I’ll be posting my progress and pictures, along with a link-up for you to share your progress and pictures, too. Here’s to our productivity today!
If you missed Assignment #1 for the 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home Challenge, be sure to read the details here.
So, how’d your day go? Here’s a recap of some of what I got accomplished:
I got up early, read my Bible, ran two miles, followed my morning routine, and got dressed — including makeup, hair, earrings, and even some perfume (which is something I rarely ever wear.).
No, my outfit was nothing to be too excited about, but then, I’m a pretty simple gal when it comes to clothes. In fact, what you see here is my basic standard “uniform” that I wear every day.
After our morning & afternoon homeschooling was finished and the chores were done, Silas went down for his afternoon nap, the girls went outside in the backyard to play, and I sat down to make my list of goals for the week.
{Roxaboxen was one of our read-alouds today for school. Guess what the children did during their afternoon play time? Yep, they spent it trying to build houses for themselves in the backyard!}
And then it was time to tackle my purse. Some of you may have expected that minimalist me would have a teeny-tiny purse.
Well, I actually have a clunker purse. It doubles as a tote bag and sometimes holds diapers, extra kid clothes, books, knitting stuff–or even my laptop. It just seems more practical to stick with a big bag right now since it can multi-task when needed.
But the problem with a big bag is that it can also hold more junk and unnecessary stuff. Gulp.
I pared all the stuff that was currently in there down to this and threw the rest of the stuff out or returned it to its proper place.
Much better!
And finally, I came up with seven items around our home to get rid of: three vases, some smell reducer thing that I have no idea where it even came from, two shirts that are worn out, and two books. All of the items are going into the garage sale pile except the Unshaken book which I’m passing along to reader, Cassi!
How you do on Assignment #1? I’d love to have you share your progress and success with us so we can be inspired. Either post a link to your blog post below or leave a comment with your update.
Breakfasts
Cereal
Baked Oatmeal
Scrambled eggs, fruit, Grain-Free Coffee Cake
Blueberry muffins, fruit, hard-boiled eggs
Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Waffles, scrambled eggs, fruit
Healthy Homemade Poptarts, hard-boiled eggs, fruit
Baked OatmealLunches
Leftovers
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples, granola bars
Snack-y lunch
Chips, refried beans, veggies, fruit
Rice & beans, carrot sticks, apples
Salmon, veggies, fruit, corn chips
LeftoversDinners
Dinner with extended family
Goulash, veggies, fruit salad, sweet potatoes
Hamburgers, corn on the cob, steamed veggies, fruit, Salt & Vinegar Broiled Potatoes
Marinated chicken, steamed veggies, fruit salad, rice, sweet potatoes
Haystacks
Dinner with extended family
Dinner outFreezer Cooking/Make Ahead Projects
Healthy Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Healthy Homemade Poptarts
Sweet Potatoes
What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.