Saving Families Money Since 2007
Today’s question is from Carrie:
Our oldest daughter is starting kindergarten this year so it is going to be a real adjustment for us to get up and get 0ut the door in the morning. I was wondering if you had any suggestions for quick and easy breakfast ideas that kids will love? -Carrie
Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Guest post by Kyle Taylor from The Penny Hoarder
I started clipping coupons with my mom when I was just 10 years old. At the time it wasn’t just a fun hobby, but a serious way for us to help make ends meet. Nearly ten years later I started college and I really put my coupon clipping hobby to work to help pay for the costs of my schooling.
The only problem was that every semester my tuition bill seemed to get a little bit higher, until suddenly clipping coupons was no longer enough. I simply was already cutting every corner I could and I needed to increase the other side of the ledger–my income.
I already had a full-time job, along with school, so I had no choice but to get creative. I now blog full-time about my wacky adventures to make extra money and I think some of my favorite ways to make money are when you can leverage the assets and skills you already have at your disposal. For many people the biggest asset that they have is their house, so I wanted to share with you four of my wacky ways to use your house to make extra money.
As we Americans accumulate more stuff, huge storage facilities have been popping up at a rapid pace. A few years ago, two veterans had the novel idea to start an online marketplace that gave homeowners the opportunity to rent out their extra space thereby creating a lower-cost alternative for storage seekers.
The result is a great website called Store At My House, where you can create a free listing to rent out your attic space, extra shed, spare closet, etc. As the renter, you get to choose who to rent to, what is allowed to be stored, and how long the contract will last.
A few years ago I worked for a non-profit organization that wanted to do some environmental work in Key West, FL. We had a very small budget and thought that we could save some money on a hotel by pitching a tent in the state park.
The only problem is that campsites in Key West are booked six months to a year in advance and we needed a space in a few weeks. Our solution was to contact one of our members who graciously offered up their backyard as a place for us to set up camp.
Camping in backyard ended up being tons of fun and a great way for us to save money. Well, it turns out the idea is not so novel because there is a whole website dedicated to letting people rent out their backyard to campers called Single Spot Camping. It’s free to list your backyard or extra lot. However there are several terms everyone must agree to so that your property is protected and the camper enjoys their stay.
Roommates aren’t just for college kids anymore. More and more families are taking in renters to make use of an extra bedroom or a mother-in-law suite. It’s a great way to make extra money and despite the connotation some of us have, it can be a fun experience to have someone new around the house.
If you do decide to rent out an extra room, be sure you run both a background check and a credit check before agreeing to rent. If you need helping finding a roommate there are several great resources online such as Roommate Locator and Craigslist.
If you live near a large city or in an area with limited parking, you probably know that parking costs are skyrocketing. This may surprise you but according to a new report the average monthly parking costs in downtown Manhattan are $541! Agh, can you imagine?
It turns out that parking garages aren’t the only ones taking advantage of skyrocketing prices, because you can actually rent out your driveway on site called JustPark.com. You also get to decide how much to charge and the terms of the contract. If you’ve got an extra lot on your property why not think about renting it out for special events?
For more information about ways to make money, visit The Penny Hoarder.
photo credit
Kikka emailed in the following tip:
We have found that if I cut my husband’s hair and he colors my hair, we are saving a minimum of $840 a year.
To get started you can watch free how-to videos on YouTube.com, look for a sale at your local beauty supply store (like Sally’s) to purchase what you need, do your research, and then give it a try! Just remember that practice makes perfect, or close to it. Also, the good thing about hair is that it does grow back! 🙂 -Kikka
Download free home and life management printable planners that Amy Bayliss has put together. I especially love the Personal Page!
We also offer a number of free printables you can download–many that are customizable.
My salad at lunch today
I mentioned on Saturday on my Facebook Page that I’ve been in a lunch rut. There were over 200 people who commented with great ideas and links. I’m inspired and looking forward to trying some of the different ideas over the next few weeks.
Breakfasts
Pick-Me-Up Smoothies, toasted bagels
Yogurt Bar (yogurt with toppings people can choose to sprinkle on)
Whole-Wheat Pancakes, cantaloupe
Whole-Grain Hot Cereal, fruit
Granola Bars, fresh carrot & apple juice
Orange Cream Smoothies, toast
Pumpkin Scones, scrambled eggsLunches
Taco Salad, apples
Homemade Uncrustables, carrots, peaches
Tossed Salad with chopped hard-boiled eggs & Homemade Croutons, toasted bagels
Cheese quesadillas, carrots,
Refried beans, cheese, chips, salsa, steamed peas
Leftovers
Lunch with friends (I brought bread.)Snacks
Granola bars
Fruit/Veggies
Chips/Salsa
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana SmoothieDinners
Taco Chicken Bowls, fruit salad
Dinner with extended family x 2
Grilled Gyros (I’m substituting lamb instead of the beef), fruit
Whole-Wheat Pancakes, bacon, scramble eggs, cantaloupe
Crockpot Barbecue Chicken, Au Gratin Potatoes, frozen vegetables, fruit
Dinner outFreezer Cooking in an Hour
What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.
Guest post by Maggie Larche at Free Market Mommy
Renting can be a cost-effective option for housing, but too many people leave money on the table when leaving an apartment or rental house by forfeiting part of their security deposit. Follow these steps to ensure that you will get back as much of your security deposit as possible.
Waiting until you move to undertake a huge cleaning effort is a recipe for stress, headaches, and missed details. Instead, keep on top of the cleaning while you are renting (this gives you the added bonus of having a clean home!). Spot-clean your carpet as you spill things, dust all the woodwork every few months, clean out your storage closet every season, and so on.
Frequently, your housing manager will be happy to warn you if there are any areas that commonly trip people up in the security deposit. For instance, one apartment we lived in charged $20 per carpet stain, no matter how small the stain. We never would have known this–and have been able to prepare–without a friendly leasing manager willing to dish.
When you move out, most landlords will give you a checkout list outlining everything you need to do before leaving the rental dwelling. Follow this list exactly. If it says only 60-watt light bulbs are allowed, don’t leave a 75-watt in the back hall closet. If it requests you sweep the parking space you never used, do it anyway.
Little things can cost big money from your security deposit. If there’s a cheap way to fix a problem yourself, go ahead and do it. For example, I once accidentally broke one of the glass globes in our dining room chandelier. Rather than waiting for them to charge us to replace the entire light fixture, I did a quick internet search and found a replacement globe for just $5.
If even after all your precautions, they do take some money out of your deposit, ask for an itemized list of charges. Then, don’t be afraid to call and argue against any charges that seem unfair. Most leasing offices will be reasonable if you clearly made a good effort to clean the dwelling and followed the checkout list to the letter.
Maggie Larche is the lucky new mom of a beautiful eight-month-old baby boy. She blogs about education issues, personal finance, and entrepreneurship for women at Free Market Mommy.
Someone commented on the goals post last week lamenting the fact that she wasn’t able to get many of her goals accomplished since she had a toddler and a newborn. You know what? I wouldn’t be doing much of any of this if I had a toddler and a newborn, either! In fact, it’s hard for me to even remember what those days were like now that my children all sleep consistently through the night, can dress themselves, help with the chores, and are pretty independent.
I’m sharing my goals as a way to keep myself accountable and to (hopefully!) inspire you to live life on purpose, instead of just letting the hours and days slip by without intention. However, please do not feel like you need to be accomplishing similar things to what I have on my list.
I’m in a relatively easy season of life since my children are 6, 4, and 2 (compared to having them be 4, 1, and newborn, it’s definitely much, much easier!), so I can challenge myself to do more than I have at other seasons because I’m sleeping at least 6 or 7-hour stretches every single night (this makes a world of difference!) and my children are now at the age where they can help out and play independently instead of needing me to do every single little thing for them each day like they did when they were younger.
If you are the mom of very young children who depend upon you for just about everything, make sure and read my post of encouragement to you here. If you accomplish nothing more than keeping everyone fed and diapered and you spend quality time enjoying your children, you are accomplishing a lot! Set microscopic goals and don’t be discouraged if even those don’t get done. Really and truly, it will get easier.
Don’t compare yourself to other moms and feel inadequate if you’re not doing as much as them. Give yourself grace, smile, make your own health a priority, and just love on your babies while they are little! You’ll never regret making them a much higher priority than a clean house or a checked-off to-do list.
Now on to the goals. Here’s what I accomplished off of last week’s list:
Mothering Goals
1. Finish reading Homer Price aloud to the children. {I ended up doing some other reading to them for our school weekly theme and didn’t get to Homer Price. This week, hopefully? :)}
2. Take children on a Nature Walk.Personal Goals
3. Run 12.5 miles (total).
4. Finish reading Good to Great and Raising a Soul Surfer.{Still working on finishing up Quitter — I’m enjoying it so much that I’m just slowly reading it to try and soak everything up!}
Home Management Goals
5. Vacuum underneath beds.
6. Make homemade soap.{Still haven’t tried the Homemade Scrubbing Bubbles — must do that this next week!}7. Wash, dry, fold, & put away one load of laundry every day. {Well, I didn’t quite manage to do this, but I did a pretty good job of staying on top of the laundry this week, so that’s progress, right? :)}
Business Goals
8. Re-shoot videos and send to publicist. {Hopefully I’ll get to this this week, time got away from me last week!}
9. Go through my formatted and edited manuscript from the publisher to check for errors in format or content.Ministry Goals
10. Meet with a friend who asked for counsel.
And here’s this week’s list:
Mothering Goals
1. Finish reading Homer Price aloud to the children.
2. Continue teaching children table chores.
Personal Goals
3. Run 13 miles (total).
4. Finish reading All The Money in the World (advance copy that I was asked to write an endorsement blurb for), Quitter, and Friendship for Grownups.
Home Management Goals
5. Keep the master bathroom clean. (This seems to be the one area in the house that has been sorely neglected recently. I want to implement the ideas from Totally Together to see if I can keep it looking great with just 3-5 minutes of maintenance every day.)
6. Make Homemade Scrubbing Bubbles (third time’s a charm, eh?)
7. Wash, dry, fold, & put away one load of laundry every day.
Business Goals
8. Re-shoot videos and send to publicist.
9. Start working on my presentation for an upcoming speaking engagement.
Ministry Goals
10. Meet an acquaintance who asked for counsel regarding her business.
How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? If you feel comfortable doing so, I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!
You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.
I had some extra money leftover in the grocery budget from this past month, so I had fun buying a few extras in my grocery shopping trip today (including, ground lamb–something I’ve never purchased before!):
Bob’s Red Mill Hot Cereal — clearanced to $2.09
Kroger White Whole Wheat Flour (I’m all out of wheat and haven’t had a chance to get to the bulk foods store yet!) — $3.49
Organic Leaf Lettuce — $1.99
Organic Spring Mix Lettuce — reduced to $1.79
2 Pure Protein Bars — $1, used 2 $0.55/1 coupons (“doubled” to $1 off), free after coupons
5 packages of Garlic Bread (I’m bringing this to a get-together tomorrow.) — $2.49 each
Hebrew National Franks — $3
Total with tax: $26.71
Gala apples — $2.99
Dried cranberries — $1.39
Yogurt — $1.99
Salsa — $1.79
Roma Tomatoes — $1.29
2 bags of frozen peas — $0.99
Oats — $1.99
Cucumber — $0.69
Grapes — $1.58
Cheese — $1.99
Tortilla chips — $1.19
2 dozen eggs (my brother’s hens aren’t laying much so I bought store eggs for the first time in months!) — $1.19 each
Total with tax: $22.80
Lamb — marked down $4.99
Bacon — marked down $3.99
5 cantaloupe — $0.99 each
Rudi’s organic hot dog buns — marked down to $0.99
Total with tax: $16.01
Would you like to know what the best deals and coupon match-ups are for your local stores? Be sure to check out the Store Deals section of our site where we post the best deals and coupon match-ups each week for over 100 different stores across the country. You can sign up to receive the top deals in your email inbox each week as soon as they are posted!
Did you snag any great deals or bargains this week or save money in other ways? If so, be sure to post about them on your blog and leave your link below. Please remember that this weekly round-up is to share deals you personally got and/or money you were able to save this week. In order to keep this weekly round-up focused on helping and inspiring others in their efforts to save money, links which have little-to-no content other than promoting affiliate links, etc. will be deleted. Also, to make it easy for everyone to navigate quickly through the links, your link must link directly to your Super Savings Saturday post.
I know many of you are struggling with difficult financial situations and I thought Sarah’s testimony might give you some hope and encouragement:
In February of last year, I felt led to go on a medical mission trip to Peru. I work in the health field, and until January of last year, my husband was a banker. He lost his job, but was fortunately able to find another in auto parts.
In the seven years of our marriage, he did all the finances, and I mean all. I simply used my credit card for everything and assumed he paid it off every month.
I was wrong.
I started looking into our situation to determine if we had the money to support my trip and, in doing so, I was shocked to discover we had over $15,000 in credit card debt alone, not to mention two mortgages, a student loan, and two cars! I felt betrayed and angry. I asked/demanded my way into taking care of the bills. He grudgingly allowed it, except for his credit cards.
He refused to talk to me about the situation or let me see his statements. We lived like angry roommates for a few months and my two-year old daughter cried whenever we were all together.
Close to our breaking point, he finally admitted that he was buying alcohol and that’s what he was hiding. He tried to stop on his own, but had to go to a hospital for detoxification. The alcohol, like our debt, had been a slow slide into the pit.
After much, much prayer, and God-given forgiveness, we are on our way to healing. He traded in his decked-out truck for a smaller car and better gas mileage. We have both stopped using credit cards and have started our Dave Ramsey’s debt snowball and I use coupons and avidly read MoneySavingMom.
Best of all, we can now talk about our money now without it turning into a fight and my daughter is turning into a Daddy’s girl. In six months, we have paid off $8000 of credit card debt!
My desire from the first has been that this would make us a stronger couple, and that our family would be a testimony to God’s grace. We would have surely fallen through the cracks and become another divorce statistic without His help.
Sarah loves to run, bake, and raise her two-year-old daughter.
A testimony by Julie from The Family CEO
Exactly one year ago, our oldest child headed off to college. We knew this day was coming, but as with everything to do with kids, time goes much more quickly than you expect. We needed a plan for paying for our daughter’s education, keeping in mind her brother would follow her in four years.
Here were the facts:
Kind of tall order, huh?
Still, we were able to pay cash for her first year of college, and the money is in the bank for her second year, which she just started. We’re halfway there and the plan is to stay one step ahead of her college expenses, paying as we go.
Here are the things that have helped us accomplish that so far:
We looked at quite a few schools, both public and private. In the end, our daughter chose an in-state school, in no small part because of the affordability. Not only was the tuition reasonable, the school had a four-year tuition compact, meaning it wouldn’t go up during that time.
We’re blessed that our daughter is a strong student, and was a very involved in high school activities. That translated into scholarships and subtracting scholarships from an already reasonable tuition bill made that part of the college costs much more manageable.
Several years before she left for school, I started my blog and also started doing some other writing online. This resulted in a small income stream that I put into an online savings account, earmarked for college. When the time came, I was able to pay for her laptop, books, the balance of her tuition, and a big part of her room and board out of that account.
Our daughter worked during summers and over school breaks, and all of that money went into her savings account. She used that for spending money while at school. As she heads off to school this fall, she is applying for part-time campus jobs, which will cushion her bank account that much more.
Our daughter’s high school offered classes she could take for college credit. We still had to pay for them, but at much lower, community college rates. Ultimately, she was able to enter college with 18 credits – an entire semester’s worth. That should help her graduate on time, which will be the biggest money-saver of all.
So that’s where we are. Two years in and we’ve been able to pay as we go with cash so far. With some perseverance and a little good fortune, we should be able to make it the rest of the way as well.
In 2006, Julie hired herself to save her family money, make some extra money, and pay down debt, all while living a fulfilling life. She blogs about her experiences at The Family CEO.
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
It’s Thursday and that means it’s time for another Freezer Cooking in an Hour play-by-play post. I did the cooking this afternoon, because I made homemade soap with my sister yesterday afternoon (I’ll post more about that adventure tomorrow!).
1:40 — I crack the eggs and stick them in the pan to bake in the oven. While I’m doing this, Jesse calls to talk to me about the cover graphic for my book that my publisher just sent over and I’d emailed him to look at. (We’ve been going back and forth with my publisher doing some revisions to the cover art and they sent the final image through today. I wanted to make sure he was okay with it before I gave it a thumb’s up.) He was getting ready to head into court and could only talk for a minute, but we got things squared away.
1:45 — I put the eggs in the oven and look up the granola bars recipe. Kaitlynn plays Starfall on my computer while Silas is in and out of the kitchen.
Kathrynne finishes making her boats for our homeschooling project (we’re studying Christopher Columbus this week, so we made boats to float in the bathtub as a fun hands-on project.)
(In case you’re wondering what’s under the blanket, that’s my homemade soap curing. I’m not supposed to move it until tomorrow, so it’s stuck on our kitchen table for now!)
1:55 — While the liquid ingredients for the granola bars are melting and being brought to a boil on the stove, I clean up the mess that was leftover at the kitchen table from the boat-making project.
1:57 — One of the children starts having a bad attitude and needs to be dealt with. My assistant comes upstairs to ask me a question about something. I completely forget that I have ingredients simmering on the stove.
2:00 — What is that bad smell?? Oh no! The butter, honey, and brown sugar have been boiling for three minutes too long! Ack! I run back to the kitchen and take the boiling mixture off the stove and try to redeem it. It looks too hardened and goopy, but I add in the granola and rice crispy cereal.
2:05 — It looks like the granola bars just might fare okay. I pull the eggs out of the oven and transfer the granola bar mixture to a pan.
2:10 — Whatever did the granola bar recipe mean when it said to “gently press” the chocolate chips in? That isn’t working at all. I finally give up and decide to melt them. I stick the pan of granola bars back into the oven for a few minutes.
2:13 — I start trying to get the cooked eggs out of the muffin tin. It looked like such a brilliant idea, but the eggs aren’t coming out of the pan as beautifully as I expected. Oh well, I’ll make it work.
2:15 — I pull the granola bars out of the oven, spread the melted chocolate chips around, and stick them in the refrigerator hoping they can yet be salvaged. I read the Egg McMuffin recipe and realize I was supposed to toast the English muffins while the eggs were cooking. Oops! The toaster will have to do.
2:25 — The Egg McMuffins are finished, so I pull the granola bars back out of the refrigerator to see if I can cut them. Um, that isn’t going to work. Instead of the evenly cut bars I was envisioning, these are cutting into pieces and shapes of all sizes and sorts since it seems too hard. And so much for them being chewy. However, I eat some of the small pieces that break off and decide that even if they don’t look good, they certainly taste good!
2:35 — I resolve to try the Granola Bar recipe again someday in the not-too-distant future (maybe during naptime when I can actually remember to watch pans of stuff that are boiling on the stove?!). I wrap up the Egg McMuffins and stick them in the freezer, clean up the kitchen, and feel grateful that even if everything didn’t turn out like I’d hoped, at least I won’t have to throw any food out this time!
Have you had any freezer cooking adventures or mis-adventures this week?
Many of you have asked for Busy Bag Ideas for preschoolers, so here’s one that Kaitlynn (4) has enjoyed (this was one of the Busy Bags in the Busy Bag Swap Box):
The Number Wheel is just a simple laminated circle, divided into ten “slices” plus ten clothespins with numbers 1-10 written on them. Each slice on the Number Wheel has a different number of dots in it that correspond with the numbers on the clothespins.
The object of this activity is for the child to match up the dots in each slices with the numbers on the clothespins. It not only teaches basic math and matching skills, but also has some fine motor skills practice thrown in, too.
Download a free printable Number Wheel here. There are also some variations on the Clothespin Number Wheel idea here. Find more Busy Bag ideas here.
Guest post by Lacey Wilcox at Live Loved
Crystal has talked a lot about stockpiling, which is a definite financial asset as you try to provide for your home. An important component of stockpiling is your kitchen pantry. Making sure it’s got what you need means you’ll always be ready for unexpected guests, a change of plans or water lines breaking (if you live out in the middle of nowhere like us!).
Keep in mind, I’m a far cry from Pioneer Woman. These are just a few things I like to have on hand:
Baking Supplies: Great to have when you just can’t fight that sweet tooth, or need a bread to go with a meal (unfortunately, they’re also the reason that I will never be able to wear skinny jeans—that and Nutella…)
–Flour
–Sugar (This includes all sweeteners: white sugar, succanat, turbinado, brown sugar, confectioner’s sugar, etc.)
–Honey (Great to use as a sweetener, and I would love to hear success stories you’ve had baking with it!)
–Yeast
–Cornmeal
–Peanut butter
–Oatmeal
Canned Goods:
–Canned tomato products (This includes tomato sauce, diced, crushed, and even stewed tomatoes. I love to experiment with all the flavors that are out there — don’t forget that Rotel falls into this category too!)
–Canned tuna/salmon
Dried Goods:
–Pasta
–Beans (You can definitely buy the canned beans. Lately I’ve started buying the dried ones, because they’re cheaper, and with less sodium and other things)
–Rice and other grains (couscous, quinoa, orzo, barley, tabouleh, etc.)
Cooking Essentials:
–Oils: I almost always use olive oil, but I keep some vegetable on hand for baking.
–Vanilla
–Spices/herbs
–Vinegars: red wine and balsamic are great for making your own homemade dressing!
–Dressings: we keep an extra bottle or two on hand for salads, but also as marinades for meat and things like that
Some extras:
–Dried fruits
–Nuts
–Bread crumbs (stock up on these on sale, or make your own!)
–Onions/garlic
–Potatoes
Now, since I don’t claim to be Betty Crocker, I know that my list is far from complete. What are your essential items that you always make sure you have on hand? Trust me, I’m taking notes!
Today’s guest post is by Lacey Wilcox — wife, blogger, and mother of Selah. She and husband Kade live in the Texas Panhandle and manage Panfork Baptist Camp. Visit her blog, Live Loved.
Clay In His Hands shows you how to make a Girl’s Ruffled Skirt out of a t-shirt.
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.
