Making Life Sweet...one deal at a time!: Frugal Living Friday

Showing posts with label Frugal Living Friday. Show all posts

Friday, March 26, 2010

Frugal Living Friday: Excel Money Tracker

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

We all know that budgeting and keeping track of your money is very important when it comes to being frugal. I am so excited to share with you something I found that will help you in this endeavor! A few weeks ago I ran across this incredible spending and saving tracker online at The Coupon Project. (I love talented people like this!)

She has made a spreadsheet in Excel where we can see everything at a glance...most importantly our savings! LOVE IT! Now I don't have to keep track of it all separately...which took a long time and was a pain.

I downloaded the spreadsheet a few weeks ago and here is an example of the last few weeks of receipts I have entered: (click image for a larger view)

Isn't this awesome? I love seeing at a glance what I spent, how many coupons I used, and how much I saved. Now I can print this off and show people exactly how good using coupons can be! (I still have lots of skeptics talk to me.)

Here is what she says the spreadsheet can do:

Easily imput your monthly and yearly goals
Enter data from your reciepts and let my preset formulas tally your spending, savings, actual-to-budget, and more
Track and manage your rebates (NEW!)
Determine how much you saved with coupons, store sales, and rebates
Have your monthly and year-to-date savings ratio update instantly

I have only played with it for a few weeks and haven't explored everything it can do yet. But I am already loving it. So will you! Head on over to The Coupon Project and download your spreadsheet today! Start keeping track of your savings!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Frugal Living Friday: Discipline

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

Something has been on my mind a lot lately. Discipline. We need discipline in many ways in our lives: children, food, exercise, cleaning, education, and goals just to name a few.

But the one area where EVERYONE needs discipline is with money. We all need to be better at not spending our hard earned cash on things we won't want next week. Or only buying what food we will eat. Or not giving in to the begging child at the store just to keep him quiet.

Discipline is hard. Really hard. No matter what you need it with. But it can even be more difficult with money and budgeting. Just like I am an emotional eater, I know emotional spenders. Spending money can make you feel better, just for that moment, or just for that afternoon. Then you come home and say to yourself, "Why did I waste my money on that?"

Let's stop the spending!

Set up a plan for yourself, and a small goal. A goal that WILL be attainable. You need to be able to reach it so you can move forward. And keep your promise to yourself. If you decide you will save $50 every month then do it! Don't cave in. It will become a habit before you know it.

Here are some things to remember that I have found helpful in my life as I have worked with my husband to reach our financial goals. Maybe they will be helpful to you as well. Just remember, everyone is in a different place in their life with finances, debt, and obligations. So don't compare yourself to others. Just start where you are and move forward!

1. Objects won't buy happiness. No matter what you think, that certain toy or that certain pair of shoes will not make you happy. I promise!

2. Pick a day once a week to go over your budget together. Decide how much you will spend and don't go over it. Period. This way you can both know where you are and if changes need to happen you can discuss it.

3. Pay yourself first. Before you spend any money you must pay yourself. Decide how much money you will put into savings, IRA's or whatever and do that...THEN you may spend.

4. Only buy what you really will use. This includes food storage and other items for emergencies. Not only does this help with the budget, but keeps clutter down.

5. Don't use your credit card for purchases unless you know you can pay for it in full the next month. I have really strong opinions about this. Your life will be so much better if you don't get into debt with credit cards! If you don't have the money for it, don't buy it. Period.

6. Plan for big purchases or expenses ahead of time. Not only do we save ahead for vacations or other large expenses, I also save ahead for dental, auto insurance and emergencies. We don't have dental insurance so I figured how much we spend per year, divided by 12, and I save that amount every month. When we go to the dentist every 6 months it is already paid for. It is such a nice feeling!

7. Don't buy something just because it is on sale. There will always be another sale. Believe me. Unless you need that item immediately.

8. Don't tempt yourself. If you find yourself spending money when you go out, stay home! Find free activities to do in your area. Take the kids to the park, or on a bike ride. You don't have to spend money to have fun!

What are your tips for having more discipline with money?

Friday, February 26, 2010

Frugal Living Friday: Homemade Foam Soap

How many of us have had these empty foam bottles left over? Thrown them in the garbage? Or even in the recycle bin?

Well....no more! Save those foam soap pumps, because when the soap is gone you can refill it yourself...for a fraction of the cost!

It is really easy. Just take your regular liquid soap, any scent, and fill it about an inch or so in your pump container, like so.

Then fill it up with warm water (slowly or it will foam up like crazy and go everywhere) until the container is full. Put the lid on and shake it up to mix the soap and water together. Warm water helps it mix together better.

See how nicely it foams when all done?

I really like to use foaming soap with my kids. They don't waste so much soap this way. I have also done this with scented soap. Works great and it gives the soap color too.

Have you tried this before?

Friday, November 20, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Used Item Swap

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

Let's face it: money is tight right now for many people across the country. The stress on many people's shoulders for financially supporting a family is overwhelming. Costs for everything is so high...clothes, toys, food, education, etc. I feel overwhelmed many times too with how to make sure we can stay ahead somehow.

Here is one idea I wanted to share with you that may help. Maybe you have done this before but if not.....consider putting a swap together! A swap where you bring unwanted items to share with others and in return you can take another's unwanted items. And it's all free.

We did this at my church last week and are doing it again this weekend on a stake level. It's such a great way to help others. Participants coming bring things they don't need or want anymore: books, clothes, toys, home decor, shoes, etc. Just make sure it is in usable condition...no junk. Everyone puts their items on tables. Then you can go "shopping" and take whatever you need. Awesome, huh!

It's a win-win: clutter is cleared out of homes and people get some things they need at no cost. It is a good way to recycle things and help those in your community.

Have you participated in a swap before?

Friday, November 13, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Re-purposing Items

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

If you haven't noticed, re-purposing items is all the rage now. I have to laugh sometimes because I grew up doing things like this and back then it wasn't 'so cool.' It's great now to see so many people jump on the bandwagon of re-purposing! It's also awesome how all these creative ideas show how re-purposing items can be very fashionable.

I see ideas all over the internet, and I have posted about a few ideas myself here , here, and here on this blog. Here are a few ideas on re-purposing items I found recently.

This is a great idea from Amy. She shows us how to turn a door into a shelf! Beautiful.

Short on packaging materials? Look no further than your pantry. Jess shows how easy it is to turn a cereal box into a beautiful package.

Ashley had many, many great tutorials for re-purposing clothing. Here is a cute one. Make some girls pants from an old knit shirt.

I don't have a photo for this one....but Wendy over at The Shabby Nest had a great idea! Turning an old dresser drawer into a loved place for stuffed animals or quilt storage.

What good ideas do you have for re-purposing things?

Friday, November 6, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Clearance Shopping

Most of you know I am sure about shopping the clearance sales after holidays. I was able to get some cute things at Joann's yesterday on their 75% off halloween clearance. I love being able to get things for next year at a fraction of the cost! Right now you can find fall decor and Halloween decor on clearance at many stores. If you are out and about this weekend, you can get some great deals!

Michael's has their stuff at 50% and 75% off, depending on the item.

Target should be at 75% off now. HERE is their schedule info. Call your store to see what the current discount it.

Joann's stuff is at 75% off. Not just Halloween, but fall decor too!

Walgreens stuff is also at 50%-75% off.

Rite Aid has their fall decor at 75% off, most of my store's supply was gone at the beginning of the week.

Shopko's Halloween clearance is at 75% off.

Did you find any good clearance deals this week?

Friday, October 23, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Frugal Recipes

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

We all know that eating out can add up. If we want to eat well but go easy on our budget then the solution is to stay home. It can be a challenge to find meals that fit into our budgets as well as our tastes.

Many of the recipes that I use regularly are frugal because I make them with items I got for free or really cheap...like the Ragu sauce at Albertson's I got for .30 a jar. Also items like pasta, baking goods, chicken, beef, etc. Having a stockpile of these things allows me to be flexible when I am planning menus or even making something spur of the moment. Then I can supplement the meals with fresh veggies and not feel like I spent a fortune on dinner. GO HERE to see a list of several meals I like to make that don't cost very much.

Here are some good resources for finding some recipes that don't cost much.

Nourishing Frugal Recipes
Hillbilly Housewife Frugal Recipes
Ms Frugal
$5 Dinners

Do you have a favorite frugal recipe you would like to share?

Friday, October 9, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Frugal Crafts

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

As a mom I enjoy doing fun crafts...for my kids and for myself. Here are a few links that I thought you would enjoy. Have fun crafting without hurting your budget! If you have a frugal craft you would like to share, leave a link with your comment so we can check it out!

Isn't this the cutest thing ever! Make and Takes gives us the how-to on painted toast. And you can eat it too!

Last February I showed you how to make your own crayons. I made heart shaped for Valentines Day but you can make them in any shape you want!

Mrs. D. Lightful has a GREAT idea! Make your own decorative balls! Ingenious.

One Mom, Five Boys shows us how to make penny banks from things you have on hand at home! She made these with empty frosting containers. Formula cans would also work great.

What frugal crafting do you do?

Friday, October 2, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Green Tomatoes

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can stretch our budget and help us live more more frugally! If you have a tip you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become guest blogger for a day.

Now that fall is here, are you left with lots of green tomatoes? Don't throw them out. There are many things you can do with green tomatoes.

Fried green tomatoes

Mexina Salsa Verde (green tomato salsa)

Green tomato Relish

If you don't want to make anything with your green tomatoes that's okay! Did you know you can get them to ripen after you pick them? It's true!

Just pick all your green tomatoes before frost hits. Put them in a cardboard box in the garage. Wait a few weeks and they will ripen into red tomatoes. I do this every year and it's my favorite thing to do with my green tomatoes. It stretches my fresh tomatoes from the garden even farther into the year.

What do you do with your green tomatoes?

Friday, September 18, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Save more, spend less

Did you spend $10 less at the grocery store than you normally do?
Did you resist buying those shoes you just had to have?
Did you push aside the temptation to go out to dinner and stay home instead?

Whatever you did this week to live more frugally, good job! Most of the time it is baby steps to keep on track. We all have times when we spend more than we should. The key is to get right back to spending less and saving more.

This week I challenge you to cut one thing out of your life that you can spend less on. Look at your spending habits. Cut at least one extra spending item out. Put that money away. If you continue to do this you will be amazed at how fast the money adds up! Pretty soon you can be on track to saving around 10% of your monthly income, which is what we do. Start building up your emergency fund.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: From the Archives

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

One year ago I started my Frugal Living Friday series! I love posting these topics every week. Learning how to living frugally is a daily challenge, but with baby steps we can achieve success! It is also very fulfilling knowing you can be self-reliant and provide means for yourself.

For today's post, we look back into the archives. In fact, this was my very first Frugal Living Friday post. Dehydrating Herbs. Very appropriate for this time of year.

Read the full post to see pics and how-tos.

Have a great weekend everyone! I have company here...my favorite friend in the world...so I will see you next week!

Friday, September 4, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Make Your Own Board Books

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become guest blogger for a day.

Are you looking for a fun, new project or gift but also one that can be personalized and even possibly re-purpose items?

Look no further! Shannon at Yellow Fence shows us how to take a regular kids board book and turn it into a personalized gift! So clever and VERY cool! Here is one photo, but make sure you visit her blog to see the other photos and full instructions.

photo courtesy of Yellow Fence

Here in another twist on this idea. Jill shows you how to take a blank board book and turn it into something personalized and thrifty. Jill shows us how she did her amazing book on her blog.

photo courtesy of Homemade by Jill

You can take this idea and twist it to what will meet your needs or ideas. I know you can purchase blank board books in stores but this is much cuter in my opinion. Plus if you take a board book you already have you can turn it into a new story with personalized pictures! Have you done anything like this before?

Friday, August 28, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Common Sense Repairs

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become guest blogger for a day.

Have you ever found yourself calling a repairman for a home appliance problem? Then when they get there & inspect the issue, you find out its a simple fix? Then you are stuck paying a large service call fee when you could have fixed the problem yourself.

Here is an example. For a week or so I have noticed that our refrigerator wasn't getting as cold as it should. We turned up the temperature but it was not getting colder. My husband said he would look at it. The next morning as I got the milk out it was very cold! And it was a simple, quick fix.

The fridge and freezer work together to keep the temperature regulated properly. See this vent? It is in the top left of the fridge, and it goes to the freezer on the other side.

The problem was this: That bag of bacon bit was standing up blocking the flow vent. That's it! Once my husband folded down the bag the fridge started to become colder within the hour. If we had called a service man we would have paid at least $75 for him to just tell us that.

If you have something wrong with an appliance, toilet, or other item in your home, take some time to check into what might be wrong before you pick up the phone to call a repairman. My husband is handy, but if you are not maybe you know someone who is that could give you some tips. It just might save you lots of cash.

Here are some online resources to learning more about home repairs:

Do It Yourself

About Home Repair

eHow.com

Friday, August 21, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Burp Cloths

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become guest blogger for a day.

I like simplicity. Especially when it comes to something practical, and something I need.

Almost 4 years ago, my baby then was a HUGE spitter-upper. I am talking H-U-G-E. The poor thing was spitting up hours after eating. I was doing so much laundry I thought I would wear out the washer. I quickly found that I needed about 3 times the burp cloths that I had. But I didn't want to spend any extra money.

One weekend soon after I was at the Other Mother's Quarter Sale and found two soft, thin, and large receiving blankets that were in great shape. An idea entered my head....I could cut them up and sew them into burp cloths!

I was so excited at my little revelation. So I purchased four of those blankets for .25 each. I cut each blanket into the size of burp cloth I wanted.

Then I doubled up the cloth to make it thicker to hold all that gross spit up! Here are a few examples of ones that I sewed together. Mind you, they are not fancy AT ALL...like I said, I like simplicity. I was a tired mom of 3 crazy kids and I didn't care how fancy they were.

So out of those four blankets that I bought for $1, I was able to get 16 burp cloths! Now you tell me where I could have found that many burp cloths for $1. I was very happy. It helped with the laundry load A LOT.

Now I told you I was simple.....but I thought maybe I should put a decorative stitch on there instead of a straight stitch. I don't know if you can see it very well, but there it is.

You could do this same idea with fabric scraps or anything you are getting rid of. You can make it as fancy and cutesy as you want. It's one more way to re-purpose I suppose.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: From the archives

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become guest blogger for a day.

I am taking the weekend off from blogging. I hope you understand. My house and my kids need their momma!

Here is a Frugal Living Friday post from the archives to enjoy.

Shoe Boxes: what to do with them?

Friday, August 7, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Using those fabric scraps

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

Do you have a little (or lots) of fabric scraps lying around? Here is a good project to use them up. Make some mini I spy quilts!

I got the idea from Marie at Make and Takes. GO HERE for the complete instructions on how to make them.

Not only are the front sides usable for an I spy game, but the backs are too. These are lap size and perfect for on-the-go.

How do you use your fabric scraps?

Friday, July 31, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Summer Fun and Organization

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

Today's Frugal Living Friday is a guest post from Holly over at 2 Kids and Tired. Holly is a devoted and creative mother to her two boys in addition to being a talented writer and businesswoman. Today Holly shares some good summer organization tips and fun frugal ideas. Visit Holly at 2 Kids and Tired for bits of inspirational wisdom and more fun ideas.

It's summer time. Kids are home all day. Life is a bit more unstructured. You might sleep in, you might stay up later. What are you doing this summer to make your life easier and your summer more enjoyable? How are you staying sane? Any fun plans?

Last year I learned about the Snack Box. I love the Snack Box. I fill it each morning and it contains all the snacks for the day. When they're gone, they're gone. The pantry is locked and no longer gets raided all day long. My boys are also eating more fruits, vegetables and cheese, because those things aren't in the Snack Box, and there's not as much limit.

This year I learned about the "no friends until after lunch time" rule. My friend does this with her kids and I love the idea. The morning is then spent a bit more quietly: my kids each have a couple of jobs to do, we do some reading, J is going to summer school, whatever. There is some flexibility, but the main thing is that I don't have a myriad of children running through my house ALL DAY long. In the afternoons, they play with friends, we've been going to the pool, and on Thursdays we're doing the library thing again. I renewed our zoo pass and am considering an annual pass for one or two other attractions.

We've also dug for fossils in the front yard.

Made a T-rex out of a box and brads.

Made yummy ice cream. And conducted a science experiment to make crystals.

What have you done? What new summer secrets can you share?

Friday, July 24, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Setting Priorities

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

Face it...there are LOTS of deals out there to be had. As couponers and deal finders, we all love the rush we get when we get freebies and deals. Who doesn't like it? Saving some cash feels so good!

However, if you are not careful, you can find yourself overspending and wasting money...even as a couponer and deal finder. You need to set limits for yourself. Use a budget.

After doing this for several years myself, I have found the following steps to be helpful for me and my family:

1. Set a budget. Decide what you can spend every month on groceries, food storage, household goods, etc. and stick to it. I allow a little bit of leeway room if there is a great stock up sale, but you have to be careful. If there is a week left in the month and you have already spent your allotted amount, use what is in your pantry or food storage and be creative! We only have so much money and I refuse to use my credit card when I know I can overspend. So I try to purchase enough at the stock up sales to get us through to the next sale.

2. Don't overspend on credit. I never use my credit cards on a regular basis. We tried it once....putting all our expenses on our credit card to earn more points. It didn't work for us. I ended up overspending and I had a more difficult time tracking my money. If using your credit card works for you, then just make sure you pay it off in full every month.

3. Keep track of where your money is going. Doing this is the only way you will know if you are really saving money on all those deals. Keep track of incoming and outgoing expenditures. I use Quicken, but there are many other kinds of financial software available for you to use. I review my spending and saving at least twice a month so I know where I am at. I am big on savings too. Every month I set aside an allotted amount for dental work, vision care, (we don't have dental or vision insurance) and auto insurance. That way when I have to purchase contacts, go to the dentist and pay my car insurance I already have that money set aside. If you would like to try out Quicken, you can. Use the Quicken Online Edition – Try it out for free!

4. Don't compare yourself to others. Every family has different expenses and income, so don't feel bad if you only got 10 boxes of cereal at the last sale and your friend got 30. Just do what you can and what your family needs. Couponing for you needs to fit your mold, so just concentrate on what you need.

5. Don't buy things you won't use. If you know you most likely will not use a certain item or kinds of food, don't buy it. Just because something is free doesn't mean you have to buy it. Sometimes I do buy things I know I won't use because I give them away to family, the food bank, or humanitarian drives. But on a whole I try to stick to that rule. I would say about 90% of what I buy we use. The other 10% I donate. I want my money to go for what I can use the most. Plus, I need to save my limited space for what I really need.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Save those containers

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

I shared this tip last year but I thought I would again since I have so many new readers. It's pretty simple...but if you have little children that love to pretend play, don't throw away those spice containers. They are perfect for adding to a play kitchen. They will feel just like mommy!

This tip can also extend to empty cereal, cracker, brownie and cake boxes, and really any empty food container. Then playtime seems more real and fun!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Frugal Living Friday: Crafty Goodness

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

Summertime is a great time to do some crafts with the kids. There is a lot of down time and crafts are also a way to keep their minds occupied and thinking. Craft supplies can be expensive though, so try coming up with a few ideas with what you have at home. Plus, when you are thinking about using what you have it keeps you from buying more stuff.

Use cardboard boxes
Boxes have endless possibilities! Make a stove for a little girl, a bed for a doll, an airplane...you decide. Kids can go crazy with a box. Most of the time they play better with a box than with the toys that came in it.

Have a marching band
Gather up empty toilet paper and paper towel tubes, empty oatmeal canisters, empty formula cans...anything of that nature that you can make into an instrument. Decorate them with markers and use rice or beans inside to make noise. Take empty plastic water bottles and fill with beans for a toddler to shake as a maraca. Family Fun has more ideas on this.

Here are a few more fun and thrifty craft ideas for this summer:
Lazy summer lunches
Many fun ways to recycle laundry detergent caps for crafts
Painting rocks
Toast art