Posts tagged as:

frugal tips

Frugal Ways to Decorate Your Baby Nursery

by BlondieWrites on February 24, 2010

There are a lot of things to think about when there’s a baby on the way. You’ve got to come up with the perfect name for your little bundle of joy. You have to line up childcare when it’s time to go back to work, or make plans to stay home with the baby. There are clothes, diapers and supplies to buy. And there’s a nursery to decorate.

Decorating the nursery is a favorite part of new baby preparations for many parents. Until it’s done, you just don’t feel like you’re ready to welcome your child into the world. So many moms- and dads-to-be go all out, buying expensive designer cribs, bedding and décor. But if you’re on a tight budget, that’s money that could be better spent on more practical things.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t decorate your baby’s room in style, though. It just means you’ll need to go about it a little differently. Here are some tips.

* If there’s a certain motif you want to use in the nursery, create a baby registry and make sure that your shower organizer lets invitees know where you’re registered. That way guests will be likely to purchase the items you’ve selected in that motif. But keep in mind that if you choose a lot of expensive items, you might not get them, because your guests may be on a budget too.

* Don’t get your heart set on doing everything in a certain motif. If you don’t get all of the things you want at your shower, you might have to go with something else. If you get some of the items you wanted, however, perhaps you can buy the rest in a color that co-ordinates with them.

* Make some of the items for the nursery yourself. You could buy some fabric featuring the characters you want to feature in the nursery and make all sorts of things out of it. Curtains and blankets are easy if you have a sewing machine. You could also make decoupage wall hangings by cutting the characters out of the fabric and using Mod Podge to adhere them to a piece of wood, then top with another coat of it. And framed pages from children’s books or calendars also make lovely wall art.

* Visit consignment shops, flea markets and yard sales. You can often find great deals on gently used nursery items at these places.

* Go to outlet stores, or shop from the outlet section of your favorite online baby store. There are spectacular deals on new items to be found here. Some might have minor flaws, but in many cases they’ve simply been discontinued by the manufacturer.

Decorating your nursery on the cheap doesn’t mean it won’t be beautiful. With a little creativity, you can make it look just as wonderful as it would if you had spared no expense. And best of all, you’ll have more money to spend on diapers, formula, and those adorable baby clothes!

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Tighwad Group, Come Join!

by BlondieWrites on January 14, 2010

Tighwad Group, Come Join!

I’ve recently been granted to take over the Tightwad group, a long time Yahoo tightwad living group.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tightwad

The group’s owner had disappeared long ago, leaving the group to spammers posting yucky stuff. I have deleted a lot of messages and hopefully got rid of all the nasty ones.

We are wanting to jump start the group again, bring it back to life, to what it was intended for… tightwad tips, frugal living, budgeting, freebies, and coupons. So I am asking my readers here to join up and share their freebies, tightwad tips, frugal recipes, coupons, etc. Basically any and everything that pertains to tightwad living.

The group posts are moderated to keep the icky spam out.

So come on and join and spread the word to your friends!

Tightwad
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tightwad

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Frugal Ways to Decorate Your Baby Nursery

by BlondieWrites on December 2, 2009

That doesn’t mean that you can’t decorate your baby’s room in style, though. It just means you’ll need to go about it a little differently.

Here are some frugal tips for decorating your baby nursery:

* Visit consignment shops, flea markets and yard sales. You can often find great deals on gently used nursery items at these places.

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Tips to Teach Students to Live Within Their Means

by BlondieWrites on November 2, 2009

The college years are a time of learning, and a time for young adults to get a sampling of what it’s like to be out on their own. They are also a very expensive time for parents. By the time they pay for their children’s education, there’s often little left over to help with their living expenses.

Perhaps it’s best for college students to fend for themselves, to some degree anyway. When they’re done with their schooling, they will be out in the real world, so it’s good for them to start learning how to manage money. The college years are a prime opportunity for them to learn how to budget and live within their means before it becomes mandatory for them to do so.

As parents, we are in a position to help our children learn to manage money wisely. But many times it’s just too easy to throw them a lifeline if they have trouble. Here are some tips for teaching university students financial responsibility.

* Strongly encourage your child to do work study or get some other part-time job. While it’s important that college students have time to concentrate on their studies, it’s also important that they learn to support themselves to some extent. Even if they just work for a few hours on the weekends, it will foster good habits and help them earn some money.

* Help them find ways to save money. Encourage them to get a meal plan (and use it) instead of eating out. Find sources for inexpensive used textbooks. Point out sources for discounted clothes and other necessities. This will help them get what they need for less and show them the benefits of being frugal.

* Carefully consider whether or not to help them get a credit card. Credit cards can be very handy in emergencies, but they can also present temptation to overspend. If you feel that your child is responsible enough to use a credit card wisely, you could get a card in his name on your account or co-sign for him to get one of his own. But it’s a good idea to make sure it has a low spending limit, and to encourage your child to pay it off each month.

* Consider a prepaid card as an alternative to a regular credit card. Parents can get prepaid credit cards for their college students and reload them with their own money. If you want to help your child with expenses, you could add a certain amount to it each month or each week. And if there is an emergency, you’ll have a way to get money to your child quickly and easily.

Young adults who learn to live within their means during the college years are better equipped to make it on their own after they graduate. As parents, it’s our job to help them become more independent while helping them develop the right attitude toward spending. These tips can help achieve that.

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Coupon Clipping Tips

by BlondieWrites on November 2, 2009

When it comes to saving money, the most important thing we can do is change our spending habits. We often buy things we don’t need, and that can throw our budgets off track. By reigning in our spending, we can have more money to pay down debts, buy the things we really need, and put some in savings.

But even when you’re buying the bare minimum, there are still ways you can save money. You can look for sales on the things you need. In some cases, you can buy second hand. And you can often find coupons that will save you money.

When we think of coupons, we often think of saving money on groceries. And there are lots of grocery coupons to be found. But you can also find coupons for health and beauty items, clothes, electronics and much more. Here are some tips for finding coupons that will save you lots of money.

* Check the Sunday paper. Most newspapers include an insert full of coupons in their publications every Sunday. These are usually for groceries, but you may also find coupons for other things you need around the house, and occasionally even for clothes and other items.

* Look in the magazines you read. It’s rare that magazines have coupons in them that save you enough money to negate the cost of the magazine itself, so don’t go buying up a bunch of magazines you won’t read just for the coupons. But if you enjoy a magazine anyway, pick up a copy or order a subscription. Look carefully for coupons soon after you get it so that you don’t miss the expiry date.

* Visit coupon printing websites. Sites such as Coupons.com and SmartSource.com offer coupons that you can print straight from your computer. You just choose the ones you will use and click the “Print” button. You may have to install some software that controls the number of coupons you can print, but this rarely takes more than a few seconds. Make sure that your printer is on and has paper and ink in it before you try to print, because you may not get another chance.

* Visit the websites of manufacturers and your favorite stores. They often feature coupons that you can print and use offline.

* When shopping online, seek out coupon codes. Sometimes they are placed prominently on the merchant’s website. If not, there are lots of websites that post coupon codes for various merchants. A Google search for the merchant’s name plus the words “coupon codes” should point you in the right direction.

There are plenty of coupons to be found if you just know where to look. Check out these coupons sources before you shop, and you could save quite a bit of money. And if you’re lucky enough to find a sale on an item you’ve got a coupon for, you could save even more!

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Frugal Traveling Budget Tips

by BlondieWrites on November 2, 2009

Travel has a reputation for being expensive. And it certainly can be if you feel it necessary to go first-class all the way. But it’s also possible to travel on a budget. You just have to be vigilant about finding the best prices on everything.

Here are some tips that will allow you to travel without spending a small fortune.

* Find the best deals on flights, hotels and car rentals. Sites like LastMinute.com and Travelocity.com are great for finding deals on these travel essentials. But it’s also a good idea to check with individual airlines and hotels, too. Sometimes they offer deals that you won’t find on such sites.

* Consider traveling by train. It’s less expensive than flying, and you’ll experience fewer security delays. The biggest disadvantage is that it will take you longer to get where you’re going.

* When traveling to a foreign country, do some research on exchange rates. Your best bet is usually to withdraw money from your bank account at an ATM, but different ATMs offer different exchange rates. You’ll also pay some fees to the bank that owns the ATM, and probably your bank as well. Try to find out how much these fees are in advance so you’ll be prepared.

* Consider a traveler’s cheque card. These cards are not linked to your bank account and will be replaced if they are lost or stolen. You’ll have to pay an issuance fee, but withdrawal fees are often lower than those charged by banks.

* Avoid eating in restaurants for every meal. Most hotels include a breakfast of some sort with a room rental, so you can take advantage of that in the morning. If you can get a room with a kitchen, you can cook your own lunch and dinner. Or you could take along some bread and sandwich meat and pack picnic lunches.

* Take vacations in the off-season. If you’re going to a theme park with a small child, for example, plan your trip for the spring or fall. If you check with the ticket office, you’ll often find that admission is discounted. And the school-aged children will be in school, so it will also be much less crowded.

* Consider vacation packages. Travel agencies offer packages that include travel, accommodations, car rental, admission to popular attractions and more for one low price. Some packages even come with gift certificates to restaurants and shops, so you can eat and get souvenirs at no additional charge.

If you’re on a tight budget, travel might seem out of reach. But if you are willing to spend some time finding the best deals, you might be surprised at what you can afford.

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Frugal Fuel Tips

by BlondieWrites on November 2, 2009

With gas prices much higher than they were just a few short years ago, many of us have stopped driving as much as we used to. Leaving your vehicle in the driveway is without a doubt the most effective way to avoid high gas prices. But we can’t stay home all the time.

Of course, not driving doesn’t necessarily mean staying at home. You can often ride a bike to your destination. If you live close to school, you could walk the kids there instead of driving them. And in cities, public transportation is cheaper and more economically friendly than driving a vehicle of your own.

When it comes to saving money on gas, the next best thing to avoiding driving is changing your driving habits. The way you drive plays a big role in your vehicle’s fuel consumption, and there are certain things you can do to get more miles out of each gallon.

* Drive at a steady speed. Speeding up and slowing down, even just a little bit, uses more gas than maintaining your speed. Use cruise control when possible, and avoid unnecessary fluctuations in speed when cruise is not an option.

* Avoid stopping at red lights when possible. That doesn’t mean you should run them, just that you should slow down well in advance. By the time you get to the light, it may have turned green, and you won’t have to stop. And accelerating when you’re already rolling uses less gas than accelerating from a dead stop.

* Keep the pedal off the metal. Speeding can be expensive, and not just because you could get a ticket. The optimal speed for fuel efficiency is around 55 MPH. If you drive faster than that, you’re using extra gas to maintain your speed. So stick close to the speed limit.

* Keep your car well maintained. A dirty air filter can seriously impact your fuel efficiency, as can underinflated tires. Perform maintenance as scheduled, and check tire pressure and fluids regularly. You can check your air filter by removing it and holding it up to the sun – if no light comes through, it needs to be changed.

* Avoid using the air conditioner at low speeds. If you’re on the freeway, however, running it may be more economical than rolling the windows down, because it doesn’t create wind resistance.

Not driving is the simplest way to save money on fuel. But when you need to drive, these simple changes to your driving habits can make a noticeable difference in your vehicle’s fuel consumption. An extra mile or two per gallon might not leave you with enough money to go on vacation right away, but over time the savings really add up.

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How to Save Money on Your Grocery Bill

by BlondieWrites on October 17, 2009

How to Save Money on Your Grocery Bill

10 Frugal Ways to Cut Down on Your Grocery Bill

If you are at your wits end trying to manage your grocery bills, you are not alone! Prices of groceries have jumped a ridiculous amount in the past year alone and people are facing the biggest price increase since the 1970’s. Thousands of people are scrambling to feed their families and feed them well somehow, on a painfully small budget.

10 Frugal Ways to Cut Down on Your Grocery Bill offers frugal tips and ideas on how to save money on your grocery bill and feed your family healthy meals for less. Get your copy of 10 Frugal Ways to Cut Down on Your Grocery Bill.

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Think Green! Everyday Items Can be Reusable - Save Money by Reusing

by BlondieWrites on October 10, 2009

As the world aspires to become more “green”, my own household has jumped on the bandwagon. We recycle newspapers, shredded paper, plastic bottles and jugs, etc. Everything we can recycle we do recycle.

Many of the items that are used in our homes every day can be recycled. Paper, certain plastics, soda cans; the list goes on and on. But by the same token, many of those same items can be reused instead.

Here are just a few items that you use in your life everyday and the ways they can be reused:

Water Bottles
If your family likes bottled water, but you don’t like the cost, or you would like to find a way to keep those bottles out of the landfills (without overworking the recycling centers), then invest in a charcoal water filter for your kitchen faucet. While the filters will have to be replaced about every three months on average, you can still save money by installing it and refilling all those bottles. You can also refill soda bottles, sports drink bottles, even milk jugs with the filtered water.

Butter, Margarine & Whipped Topping Tubs
There are more uses for plastic butter and margarine containers than I could even begin to list! First of all they make great food storage! If you prefer to use your matching Tupperware for that, there are still a ton of reasons to keep these containers handy.

One of the best ways to reuse these containers is for mixing. I use them for cake & muffin mixes, pancake mixes and even pudding. Just pour in your measured ingredients, put the lid on and give it a good shake. Pop the lid off and pour! You can even give them a bit of a squeeze forming a “spout” to make your mix pour out smoothly! This makes cooking & baking super easy and it’s a great way to reuse the containers over and over again.

I also like to use the 3-pound sized tubs for coatings! Make super easy chicken nuggets! Mix up your favorite coating recipe, drop in your chicken chunks and shake, shake, shake! You can do this with any type of coating!

The small, one-pound tubs are perfect for mixing paint, for holding homemade play dough, for sorting beads, and many, many, many other uses! You are limited only by your imagination on what you can do with these handy little containers!

Plastic and Glass Jars
Many companies are now using plastic rather than glass jars. I reuse plastic peanut butter jars to store my homemade sauces and salad dressings. Some brands of spaghetti sauce use very nice decorative glass jars that are perfect for refilling with gift mixes! You can find gift mix recipes with a quick internet search. Top the jars off with a piece of fabric, cut with decorative shears, or use a lace doily and thread a delicate ribbon through it. Tie it on the jar lid and you are all set with a beautiful hand made gift!

My husband likes to reuse jars in the garage for nuts, bolts, stray nails and more! He fastens the lids of the jars to the underside of wooden shelves, fills the jars with the tiny items and then screws the jar up into the lid. They hang there, freeing up shelf space and since they are clear, it is easy to see what they contain!

Baby Wipe Containers
You can buy refill packs for just about every brand of baby wipes. Save the containers and refill them. If you find you still have too many of these handy plastic containers, use them for just about any small item you can think of. They are washable and stackable, and they are perfect for crayons, colored pencils, markers, hair clips, sponge curlers, cotton balls, cotton swabs; the list goes on and on! Use them in the bathroom, the nursery, the garage or even the home office!

Plastic Grocery Store Bags
There are many, many great ways to reuse the plastic bags you get at the grocery store!

I have little trash cans all over the house. I like to have one in each room so that when I am in that room and need to toss something out, I don’t have to go into another room to do it. With all those little garbage cans around, I need small liners. Instead of spending the money on new liners, I reuse my plastic grocery bags. They are a perfect fit!

We also save them up and use them when we hold garage sales. They are perfect to hold your customer’s purchases, or to wrap breakable items.

These bags make great packing for shipping too! Whether it is for business or you are shipping gifts, they will cushion your items and get them there safely! And unlike newspapers, you don’t have to worry about ink rubbing off and staining your packed items!

Canvas Totes
If you find you have a surplus of the grocery store “can liners”, invest in a few basic canvas tote bags. You can pick these up at craft stores, in a myriad of sizes for very little. Use them when you shop for groceries, books, office supplies (or just about anything else) and ask the check out clerk to bag the items in your totes. Give them as gifts and encourage others to do the same thing!

Plastic Meat Trays
Plastic meat trays come in just about any size, from packaging for a single steak, to a large family pack of ground beef. I have reused plastic meat trays to sort all types of things! Outgoing mail, small toys, art supplies; the list goes on and on. And they fit great on shelves! Just wash them out and they are ready to go! The small ones are perfect for organizing the home office!

Foaming Hand Soap Bottles
Why buy a new bottle of foaming hand soap every time you run out? Those can be refilled with just about any type of soap, body wash or bath gel! For an 8 oz foaming hand soap bottle, refill with 2 oz (1/4 cup) of liquid soap, and 6 oz of water. This will save you a ton of money on buying a new bottle each time, and will help keep them out of the landfills!

Magazines
While magazines are a recyclable product, they also make it a lot less boring when sitting in the doctor’s or dentist’s office! Call around and ask the local clinics if they would be willing to take them off of your hands. You can also try nursing homes. And don’t forget all those Highlights for Children or National Geographic for Kids! If they aren’t badly beat up or written in, your local children’s shelter would probably love to have extra reading material for the kids in their care!

Make an artistic statement!
Art teachers at your child’s elementary school are always looking for donated things like cardboard paper towel and toilet paper rolls, juice containers, milk and egg cartons, colored paper, and much, much more! Call your child’s school and ask what types of things you can save to donate to the art program!

There are so many things that we can reuse in our homes if we just take the time to think about it and get creative! So the next time you get ready to toss something in the trash, instead ask yourself how you might reuse it! You never know what innovative ideas you can come up with!

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Kandi Traxel is a WAHM and the owner of Shop With a Mom www.shopwithamom.com and Simply Melt Away www.simplymeltaway.com

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Real Ways to Save Money in This Tough Economy

by BlondieWrites on October 10, 2009

In this economy it is getting harder and harder for some families to make ends meet. There are articles galore on how to survive the economy, but many of those aren’t for people that are really in trouble. If you’ve had to take a different, lower-paying job, or if you were used to living on two incomes and you are now living on just one, or if higher prices are just sucking you dry, then you aren’t concerned about stock portfolios, you just want to survive every day. And you might not know how you can do such LITTLE THINGS to save BIG.

There are a lot of things that real families, in real trouble can do to pinch a penny and it will not hurt a bit.

Save on Your Utilities, Cable and Phone Services

We’ve all heard this one before, but I am going to mention it, because it is important. Raise your thermostat a few degrees in the summer and lower it in the winter. This can really add up to a lot of savings over a year’s time!

If you have a home phone, plus cell phones, ditch the home phone. You are paying a bill that has become completely unnecessary. And if you have astronomical cell phone bills due to overages, then consider a prepaid service. Prepaid isn’t what it once was. It is much better and smarter now. Most companies have some excellent prepaid plans that have unlimited options in regards to text messaging, nights and weekends, mobile to mobile, and other unlimited features. Of course with these plans you don’t usually get roll-over minutes, but you don’t get ANY surprises when it is time to pay the bill each month either. If you have Cricket service in your area, then check that one out first. It is perfect for teens!

If you don’t have a water-saving shower head on the shower, then invest in one. If you don’t have the money to invest in one (and many people just don’t right now), you can still save a ton of money by turning the water on only half way when you shower (or at the sink when you wash your hands). There is no reason to have the faucet going “full blast”. You can get just as clean on half the water. You are literally letting your money go down the drain. And never leave the water running while brushing your teeth.

It actually takes more water to fill a tub for a bath than it does to take a short shower. But don’t take hot showers. Very hot water dries your skin out anyway, and it uses way more energy. Take lukewarm showers and use a kitchen timer, especially for the kids. If you want to be really frugal, turn the shower on and wet yourself down, turn it off and soap up, shampoo, shave, etc., then turn it back on and rinse off.

If you don’t have a water-saving toilet, and again, if you have no money to invest in one, you can still save water with every flush. Take a 16-32 oz shampoo bottle and fill it with gravel, sand or water and put it in the back of the toilet tank. This will make the toilet “think” the tank is full and it will stop running more quickly and you will use less with each flush. Try flushing after placing it in the tank and if there isn’t enough water to flush properly, simply remove a little of the sand from the bottle and place it back in the tank. Keep emptying it a bit at a time until you have enough water to make the toilet flush completely.

Run the clothes washer and dishwasher only when full and on the shortest possible cycles. If your clothing or dishes aren’t heavily soiled there is no need to run either machine on a full cycle. And never wash any clothes in hot water. Warm will work just fine for heavy soil, and for anything else use only cold water. And ALWAYS rinse in cold. Never use heat dry on the dishwasher. Once the rinse cycle is finished, prop the door open with a plastic tumbler or bowl to let the steam escape and dry the dishes.

Add 1/2 to 1 cup cheap baking soda to your washing machine and use 1/2 the detergent.

Check your clothes in the dryer half way or ¾ of the way through the drying cycle. You may be able to use much less time than you currently do. You should also have an “automatic” cycle on your dryer that will run only until clothes are dry, also cutting down on the length of time that the dryer is running.

If you don’t have any family members that suffer from allergies, hang your clothes out on a clothesline; especially sheets, blankets, rugs, cloth diapers, etc. Not only will you save money, but they will smell wonderful when you remove them from the line!

Drop your cable service to just basic and your cable internet to the slowest speed. Even the slowest broadband is just as good as or even better than what most people need on a daily basis. If you must have your movies, either borrow from the library or use a mail service such as Netflix. We have Netflix and we LOVE it. Not only do you get movies shipped to your door, they have over 14,000 of them that you can watch online FREE, as part of your already paid service. I can’t say enough good things about it! And the best part, no late charges when you forget to return a movie!

Pay your utilities, cable and rent on time. I know that one can be tough, but if you will look closely at your bills, most charge late fees of $10, $25 or even more when they are late. Do your best to get on track and stay on track and you could save yourself several hundred dollars a year!

TURN IT OFF! I have walked through my house and found three of our televisions all on, all on the same channel, and only one of them being watched! If you are watching the same thing, do it in the same room. And when you aren’t watching, turn it off. Turn off thing such as printers, computers, CD and DVD players, or any electronic item you are not using. Don’t leave your cell phone plugged in after it tells you that the phone is charged. And, ALWAYS turn off lights and lamps when you are not in the room! Use nightlights on sensors so that they go off during the day on their own and come on when it gets dark.

If you or your kids must have the TV on to fall asleep, always use the timer so that it will shut off after you have fallen asleep.

Save When You Spend

Don’t buy refills for your foaming hand soap bottles when you can make it yourself. Save the bottles, then buy regular store-brand liquid soap, place 2 tablespoons in the bottle, fill the rest with water and shake it up. This is a great way to get your kids to use much less body wash in the bath too! Just save your foaming bottles and use their liquid body wash in place of the liquid soap.

Buy store brand products whenever possible. Many things such as sugars (granulated, powdered and brown), cooking oil, flour, corn meal, baking soda, baking powder, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, spices, noodles, cream soups for cooking, and many, many other items are just a waste of money at name brand prices. Skip the brand-name boxed cereals and get the bagged cereals (which are still name brand). My kids liked them better anyway and the price difference is amazing. When you do insist on a name brand, visit the website of the brand and sign up for money saving offers and coupons.

Canned vegetables tend to be cheaper AND healthier than frozen or even fresh because they are cooked right in the can. All of the vitamins stay in the vegetables rather than being boiled or baked out of them.

You will save a lot of money on meat if you use them in soups, stews and casseroles, rather than cooking and serving each family member an entire steak, for example. Use half the steak, and make beef and noodles with off brand noodles and brown gravy mix. Scour the internet for other great recipes, tips and ideas.

If you have the time and inclination, learn to cook in bulk and freeze the meals.

Buy off-brand lawn and leaf bags, instead of name brand garbage bags. Lawn and leaf bags tend to be higher density and the cheap lawn and leaf bags are usually as good as the name brand trash bags. Better yet, if your city is like ours and offers single-sort recycling, take full advantage of it! You will use fewer trash bags and do something so good for the environment! If your city doesn’t have a recycling program, try to get them to start one. I put out 2 to 3 times as many recyclables as I do trash because of our program. That saves me on the bags, and I am doing my part for the environment.

Keep your plastic bags from the grocery store and use them as trash can liners in your small trash cans, or to put wet towels and swimsuits in when you go to the pool or beach. They have a ton of uses if you use your imagination.

Keep your kids entertained this summer by getting them library cards and taking advantage of the summer programs they provide. Some cities also have “free movies in the park” nights. Ask your local chamber of commerce if your city does that and see if you can get a schedule.

When you buy clothing, buy wash and wear ONLY. It doesn’t matter how much it is marked down, it is NOT a bargain if it has to be dry cleaned or takes an hour to iron it!

For your kids, in the summer, at many places, such as Walmart, you can buy mix and match poly-cotton shorts and tops for as little as $2.50 to $3 each. You can get an entire outfit for $5-$6. Better still, when your child has a birthday, limit the toys and have everyone give them clothing as gifts. My great-nieces love to get clothes as gifts and I can buy them several of the mix and match outfits and it is a big help to my niece and her husband when it comes to clothing her kids.

With all the kid’s gadgets and games these days, invest in rechargeable batteries in all sizes. The cost is not that much more in the initial investment and it will save a ton of money in the long run this summer and from now on!

Use your hair conditioner for shaving cream. I started doing this to alleviate my dry skin, and it not only works great for that, it is a cheap shaving cream. Buy a cheap off brand and use it just for shaving.

Stop eating out completely and take your own coffee and lunch to work. A cup or thermos of coffee from home with some flavored creamer is much cheaper that buying Starbucks on the way to work, and a sandwich brought from home can save you $50 a week or more! You could buy a week’s worth of groceries for your family for what you are spending on eating out for lunch!

I do believe for the most part that you get what you pay for, so when you have to make an important large purchase, research all options and don’t necessarily go for the cheapest every time because you may get something that you will have to replace in no time. Make sure you are spending wisely by doing your homework first and finding the best price on the best quality you can afford.

Finding Money When You Need It Now

If you need extra cash now, clear out the closets and garage and have a garage sale. Ask the neighbors to have one the same weekend and you will all benefit from having more customers.

List large items on Craigslist! It is free to list on there! You never know until you try, and it will not cost you anything. You might have something sitting in a closet collecting dust that someone is willing to pay you for today!

Never underestimate the old fashioned “change jar”. Every time you pay with cash and get change, bring it home and toss it in a jelly jar. When it is full, take it to the nearest Coinstar. You will be amazed at how much money all those pennies and nickels will add up to. Use the money to buy something you have really been needing for which you didn’t have the money, to buy groceries, or to reward yourself just for saving it! And don’t forget to check the couch cushions, the bottom of the washing machine or your purses and check your jeans and coat pockets!

If you aren’t afraid of needles, sign up to sell your blood or plasma. Do an internet search for your closest bank to find out what they require, then give an hour or two of your time and get paid for it. You won’t get rich, but you could make gas or grocery money when you have none and help save lives at the same time!

The Bottom Line

If you are having a really hard time making it, then implementing these changes now can make a big difference for you. Even if you aren’t in a financial bind, you can make many of these changes to save a lot of money and you will have a great sense of accomplishment once you start seeing the difference it can and will make and the resources you can save!

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Kandi Traxel is a WAHM and the owner of Shop With a Mom www.shopwithamom.com and Simply Melt Away www.simplymeltaway.com

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