Christmas Saving

I have been thinking about saving money this Christmas. Sometimes I lose the spirit of Christmas because of all the money it takes just to get your family something, then the neighbors, and your friends at work or church, then the parties and the food. Oh my expensive! Then I think about how important all those things are. Wouldn't I rather get a hand written note from a friend instead of a gift. Wouldn't I rather an experience with my family than any gift they could give me. How can I teach my children to love and serve and give of themselves? I guess I just feel like less is more and the older I get the more I feel that way. I see why after my parents divorced, my mom gave us a brown lunch bag of Halloween candy and 25 dollars cash for our Christmas. If my kids weren't still so little I think I would change Christmas for us in a big way. I read a book where a family would use the money they normally used for Christmas to fly to Africa and do a family service project. I see Christ in that. It just makes sense to me. What do you think about all this?

Sanity and spending money

I have been wanting to share my latest way of saving money that is close to making me go quite mad. It is called staying at home and losing my mind. I have tried to stay away from the stores especially Target and have been able to save almost 300 a month for two months.

I actually have been working on a quilt for K for christmas made completely from left over fabric from my box. I love it. It has our hand prints quilted on it and hearts. Which sounds totally lame, but really it is cute for an eight year old. I hope it turns out. I will post a picture when it is done.

I hope to give all the kids homemade gifts this year that can become keepsakes. We will see, I am running out of time.

Glasses on the cheap

My son has gone through glasses like it was candy. I have finally found an affordable way to keep him seeing clearly. First I take him to Americas Best Contacts and Eyeglasses to see if there is one near you click Here. I can get an eye exam and two pair of glasses for 69$. I also get the warranty for breakage 10$ for one pair 15$ for two. I have used this warranty every year. But it does not protect against loss. Also a good friend of mine just told me about Zenni_optical. It is an online optical store where you can buy glasses for as cheap as 8$. Shipping is 5$ no matter how many pairs you order. You just need to know your prescription. They have some really cute/cool glasses for great prices. Happy Seeing!

Saving Money is no Accident

I went to yard sales with my kids on Saturday. My husband was helping the flood victims over in Austell and I wanted a place to take my kids. I took 20$ with me and by the end of the trip had .25 cents in my pocket and a bunch of junk in the trunk. I began thinking, why do I value junk over keeping my money in my pocket and saving for something I will actually use or need rather than stuff I just get rid of after keeping for a short time. I decided that saving was no accident. Rather to save takes discipline, strategy and motivation. I need help. What motivates you to save? What are your strategies? I know we could all use a little help.

We have a Winner

I loved all your ideas. I loved the idea of making your own soap. Very cool. I hope you will share how you do that. I would love a post on it that I can share. I needed the list idea and am putting it to work immediately. And yes I would agree that unrolling your two-ply is not worth it. But this week our winner is Marchet. She has a son with CF to learn more about it click here http://www.cff.org/ . I can't imagine what medical expenses that must include but I love how positive Marchet is and love the idea of saving money on prescriptions. I know that must help out tremendously. She will be receiving a basket filled with ideas and things to do with toddlers. Enjoy that sweet boy Marchet. Congratulations! We always welcome your money saving tips!

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN SAVE?

I want to know what you do to save money. The best way will win a prize. I know I have something cool laying around here to give away. Contest closes Oct 1. Let others know about our crazy contest. Lets see how you save!
For example, there was a lady that unrolled her two ply toilet paper to make two rolls. Was it worth it?

Target and Back to School

I have a great system for saving on back to school items like back packs and lunch boxes. I bet most of you frugal moms already know this, but I will tell you how I do it. Back to school always gets very expensive, and only two of my five are even in school. This is how I do it. Targets back to school items always go on clearance about 3 weeks after school starts, I don't purchase loads of pencils or glue at 30% off because I hate buying things and storing them unless they make a big difference on price. So I won't store glue sticks that saved me .06 cents. But if you wait until about 6-8 weeks after school starts, the back packs and lunch boxes go on 75% off. I have tried to use old lunch boxes but they start to reek and so I always end up getting them new ones. Which if I wait I can get for 2-3 dollars. I can also get the really nice back packs for 5-6 dollars. I save these for the next year and pull them out. The kids get new lunch boxes and back packs and I get so excited seeing the red price tag that reminds me how much less I paid than all the rest. I would love to hear how you save on back to school.

Target Clearance

I LOVE Target clearance. I love to see what I can find for 75% off on the back isles of Target. The problem I find is finding something cheap, and buying it because it is cheap not because I need it. This actually doesn't help you save money, but helps you spend it. I have really cut back on my Target spending by doing a couple of things. I put whatever I think I might like in the cart, walk it around for a bit. There is a feeling of ownership just having it in my cart. I almost feel as if I have bought it just by having it there. After walking around a bit and my adrenaline cooling from finding super sweet deals on things I don't even need, I look through it again. Putting things back that were impulse grabs. Then just before I check out I ask myself, do I REALLY need this, or will it just sit somewhere and not be used. I normally put 90% of the junk I almost wasted my money on back. It works for me, give it a try. Also would love to hear how you keep from spending your entire budget at Target.

Baby Shower Gifts

I was helping host a baby shower and was put in charge of theme and decorations. They wanted something to hang on a clothes line and something for the entry way. I also did the take home gift. The theme I came up with was what are little boys made of/what are little girls made of. The lady we were doing the shower for had just adopted twins. I found 5 pack of boys onsies on clearance at target for 2.51, I used embroidery thread I already had on hand and bought the craft paper on sale for .19 each. I had to pay for the girl onsies full price because of the small amount of time.

Painted this cute picture for the entry way, I fell in love with this picture and wanted to keep it for myself. I used a canvas that someone I knew was going to throw away, but had to buy new gesso and paintbrushes.

The shower colors were pink and green and I found this cute basket at my favorite thrift shop for a 1.99, with the tags still on.


With a little creativity and some good ideas it came together so nicely. Would love to hear some frugal ideas for baby showers, please share!

How it all began

I want to be good at something. The world is constantly calling for me to make something of myself. I have talents. I have five children. Yes you read that right, no mistakes. But as I look out my fingerprinted windows I have a yearning. To be seen. I want to be with my kids, I need the love and security they offer, yet I want to share myself. It may be more than I can handle. Trial? Sure, lets trial offer this baby. Lets see what becomes of my cheapskate ways. Can you handle what I do to save a buck? Will you want to try some yourself? Lets just see. Maybe in a world slowly losing its love of credit cards I can inspire someone to be frugally minded as well.