Frugal Money Saving Ideas

Coffee Break Whatever Has Whatever You Need!!

2007-05-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

Frugal Money Saving Ideas, has just joined the Coffee Break Whatever Family! Come on over to

At Coffee Break Whatever Save Money!, you will still learn tips and tricks to find money you didn't know you had, or were wasting! You'll also learn ideas on how to save a little, even tho you don't have much to save, or just to stretch your dollars a little bit farther!

Coffee Break Whatever is the "mother" blog. Here you can read alot of different things - things you just want to grab a cup of coffee or tea and just sit and read soem interesting things, fun things, and just all about family, kids and life in general.

While at the Coffee Break Whatever Family, you can also visit her "children"....

Coffee Break Whatever Freebies - I surf for freebies and samples all the time in cyper space. A good way to save money - if they are offering, I'm gonna accept! So I just share these along to my readers!

Coffee Break Whatever Get Paid To- I have learned how to make a little extra money! and you can to! No, you won't get rich over night, and no, it doesn't make money while you sleep. You again, accept some free offers, buy things that you normally buy, just through a particular web site and get cash back - things like that. My current goal is a free christman - GIFT CARDS! Most offer you your cash-out in gift cards or PayPal or by check! My daughter is going to love her Starbucks Gift Card of hopefully $50!

So come on over, join the newsletter so you can hear of all new things going on at the Coffee Break Whatever family! I have new postings to each site about once a week, so keep that coffee pot or iced tead maker ready - come have some fun, learn some things and make a little money for you to "save a little to save alot"!

See you 'round the coffee maker!

Come over to Coffee Break Whatever - I will be closing Frugal Money Saving Ideas

2007-03-04T11:30:00.001-08:00

I have opened a new blog and will be combining Frugal Money Saving Ideas in with this new blog.

Come on over to Coffee Break Whatever and continue to read about saving money, but also about MAKING MONEY - that is MAKING MONEY FOR FREE!! Yes, it can be done! I am doing it! No, you won't make millions over night, and yes, you will have to put in some effort, but it works. I have had good sucess with this system. This is not one of those hoax-y "get rich quick" schemes. I am a stay at home grandmother. The things that I talk about are things I have researched and currently participate in. No, you will not make a million over night - you won't even make it in a year! The earnings will be as you set them. How much you can "make" or earn, is totally up to you! Paid surveys, free gift cards, paid to read emails and other options are where I have been researching and have come up with some places that have been very sucessful for me, so I recommend them to you!

Coffee Break Whatever tells you about my research and what has worked for me. Actually, I have taken alot of the work out FOR YOU! The places I recommend are ones that I have researched and work with and have had sucess with. So I have done the hard part for you! You just have to click, join and start earning free gift cards and free cash!

So come on over and join the mailing list for Coffee Break Whatever and you'll be notifed of new sources (that work!) and new ways to save and make money - often for free!!

Coffee Break Whatever
http://coffee-break-whatever.blogspot.com

Hope to see you there!

How To Be Yourself and Save Money!

2007-03-04T11:30:00.000-08:00

You may not have a college education. You might not be related to someone famous. You probably aren't independently wealthy. That is why you are reading this article! So, how can "being yourself" make you any money? "Where you are" in life can save you money!! "Who you are" can qualify your for discounts and that means saving money!

How Do You Get The Discount?

That's easy! All you have to do is ASK! All you have to do is say "Do you offer discounts for....?" and show them your ID. All they can do is say no, HOWEVER, there is often a good chance that they will say YES and you can pocket that savings!

Where Do You Find These Discount Places?

Watch for the signs on the doors or near the registers for discounts that they offer. Go online and check it out! Ask your friends if they know of any discount places! Watch coupons and flyers that you get in the mail. While watching TV, lend a small ear to the commercials to see if they are offering a discount. Usually this will be mentioned at the end of the commercial, so you just need to lend a bit of attention.

Are you a Student?

Carry your Student ID with pride, but let it work for you since you are working so hard for it. Many establishments offer a discount to students. Just show your ID and pocket the savings! Movie theaters often offer a lower admission fee for students. Car insurance often offer a lower rate or discount for students. Bus fare - hey, you have to get to school, show your ID and see if you can put that change in your pocket!
Some banks will wave a fee for students. Resturants will even have a student menu or office supply stores often have a low cost program for students. Museums and similar educational attractions sometimes offer students a discount.

Are You A Senior Citizen?

Are you a senior citizen, 55 or over? Have your ID ready and you can get a free cup of coffee as some fast food places - that alone could be a buck a day or $365 a year! Over 55 often means a discount at pharmacies, or club stores. Discounts are offered at many resturants for over 55. Some places have Senior Menus just for over 55! Ask about a "senior discount" wherever you go! Again, all they can do is say no, but many times they will say yes and you can add to your savings.

How about senior day at local facilities? Near me is a local day- old bakery that I go to every Sunday. It has "Senior Day" on Wednesdays and seniors get 50% off their purchase. You save 50%! Save the other 50% or buy more bakery goods to last you longer! A local car wash has "Senior Day" on Tuesdays and you can get a car wash for half price. You SAVE HALF!!! Use that half for another bill, or add it to your savings account!

Watch out for advertisements directed toward seniors.

AARP is one I am watching for as soon as I turn 50. Yes, 50, not 55 or 60 or 65 - but 50! You ge the discounts sooner than you think! They advertise so many senior discounts, there's gotta be enough in there to cover the monthly fee while cashing in on many, many more discounts!

Are you in the military or law enforcement?

Two fantastic professions that deserve a whole lot more than they are given since they are defending this countries freedom (that means YOU). And many establishments will offer a discount to show their appreciation for what these brave men and women do. I commend them for doing that!

Are you a mother, father or have children in your care?

Ask about a free meal for the kids under 13. Many resturants have a certain night where kids eat free. I took my kids to the best mexican resturant in town every Wednesday night for about 3 years straight because kids under 13 ate free. It was our weekly family night out and we saved about $10 each week - that was $40 a month! Pretty large chunk of change! And we had so much fun while saving that large chunk!

Many resturants offer free meal for a child's birthday. Some offer free desserts for straigh A report Cards! A local kids game room, offers free tokens to kids for all their A's in school.

Are you an Excellent Driver?

Does your record prove it? Show it to your insurance company and a lower rate can be yours. Just stop and think of who you are and then keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for promotions, discount offers and speciality offers.

AND REMEMBER, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ASK!!!

Other Discounts for All

Many resturants have early bird specials - same menu as their dinner menu, but between 3pm and 5pm they offer the menu items for up to $3 less! Going at 3 or 4pm means no crowds and quicker service, but if you absolutely have to eat at "dinner time", go at 4:45pm and you will be there at "dinner time" and still get the Early Bird Special price!

Watch your sales reciepts. Some stores or services offer a "$2 off your next purchase" or other promotion to get you to come back. Watch for those free checking accounts at banks. Why pay up to $12 a month for the service when you can get it free? And again, look at the junk mail and flyers that you get. Check out coupons in the paper and promotions in ads on TV. On-line shopping often offers discounts. Ask friends, family members or co-workers if they have heard of any specials or discounts.

Many resturants have promotions that you get a "free appetizer" or "free entree" if you purchase one or "in addition to" kind of thing. Bring a friend and split the bill! Or do it yourself and bring half home to have for lunch tomorrow!

But watch out for things like "buy one get one free" or Buy one, Get one half off". Those can be good deals, but only if you REALLY need that other one. Obviously it can be a good deal, but it can also be a waste of money. You buy 2 pairs of shoes. You only really needed one pair, but for free... gotta get it. So now you have more shoes than you can wear! Okay, no biggie as the other pair didn't cost you anything or "only half price". But why not make it save you money? Buy a "work shoe" and a "casual shoe". Buy one for you and one for your spouse. Buy one for your child NOW and one for a gift later - just get the next size up!

Or my personal favorite senario: I was looking at one of these sales once and found a pair of shoes that I absoluely LOVED! It was when pointed-toe shoes were the style, and I hated pointed-toe shoes! How uncomfortable! But the rounded toe shoes were hard to find. Well, here they were! The most beautiful, perfect pair of lovely round-toe dress shoes! Exactly what I wanted! So I bought 2 pair! One pair I wore and the other pair I left in the box and put up in my closet. I knew that as soon as I wore out the first pair, I had another pair of my favorite shoe right there waiting for me! Paid for and everything!

Save Money - Find it in your statements!

2007-01-14T07:20:00.000-08:00

Save Money - Find it in Your Statements

The Problem

A big problem is that in this hectic world we live in these days, alot of people DON'T look at their credit card and bank statements. They get them in the mail, toss them on the desk or put them in the "To Pay" box. When it comes time to pay the bill, they pull the payment coupon off and write a check and just throw the bank statement in the "To Be Filed" box. They didn't look to see that they were charged $25 for a late payment last month or that they were charged $22 for overdraft fee from spending what they didn't have in the first place.

What could you do with an extra $25? Put it in your savings for that goal you are saving for. $25 will go a long way at the grocery store (with coupons!) or how about paying ahead on a utility bill?

Another part of the problem is that people think "Oh, it's just 25 bucks". Yes, it is $25 bucks but if you have 4 of these "just $25 bucks", suddenly you have $100 bucks! And that is alot to not think about having thrown away. Depending on what the fees are, and these credit cards can be rather hefty, especially with the credit companies increaseing minimum payments, those late fees can add up faster than you think.

The Solution

Remember: Spending is not only related to the cash you have available, but also how you LOOK at and USE the cash you have available.

Don't sweat about "balancing your checkbook". Do it the simple, common sense way. ADDITION AND SUBSTRATION!! Add your deposits in, and subtract the payments out - and watch your balance. THE ONLY MONEY YOU HAVE AVAILABLE TO SPEND IS THAT BALANCE. Don't spend more than your accounts balance. Just because you have blank checks in the book, doesn't mean there is money to cover them! If your balance is $292, then you only have $292 to spend. Don't spend more than that until you make a deposit! It is as simple and easy as that

Pay your bills on time. Of course you know that, but how do you do it? Organize your bills according to due dates, and make payments twice a month. Those that are due by the 15th and those that are due by the 31st. If you organize a system and use it wisely, this horrible task will not be so horrible, and you won't be looking for reasons to "put it off until tomorrow". You'll be glad to get it done so quickly!

Pay online: I just started learning how to do this, and it is pretty easy. Some allow you to pay online, some don't. Just find out which ones and pay accordingly. Every time you pay online, you save yourself 39¢ in postage, and it is there and done with. If you have to mail it, then you have to watch when it gets there, incase it gets lost in the mail. JUST REMEMBER: As you pay online, have your checkbook in front of you and record the transaction immediately! If you don't record the transaction, you might forget you made a payment and think you have more money in your account. Bounced checks are not only costly in fees, but they are bad for your "reputation" in the checking industry and can cause you big time problems!

Put your credit cards away. If the balance is high, take the card out of you wallet and hide it safely. No sense carrying it around if you can't use it. Plus, the less you SEE your cards, the less you'll think "Oh, I can use that card...." REMEMBER: Everytime you use your credit card, your minimum balance required for payment next month RISES!!! It was only $60 last month, but with charges this month, it will be $75 - will you have the extra to cover that?

Don't carry your credit cards around all the time. This just makes it easy to buy on whim. If you have a specific shopping spree you need to do, okay, carry one card. But just "shopping" at Target or someplace, you know you are going to find a bunch of things, that you will buy but really don't need - thereby running up the credit card balance and increasing your minimum monthly payment.

So watch your cash, watch your spending and watch your brain when it tells you to spend,spend,spend. You need to tell it No, No, No and give it a time-out!

Saving Money Is ONLY for Smart Folks. How Smart Are You?

2007-01-09T19:33:00.000-08:00

You read all those "save money" and "stretch your dollars" articles. You hear about coupons, freebies, a dollar here, a dollar there, take your lunch, buy generic - - - and you still say "what the heck is the big deal? How can you expect to pay your bills on this silly little stuff?".

All it takes is commitment and common sense. Do you know what those mean? A commitment means a promise you make to yourself to do something ALL THE TIME! To stick with it. Make it your goal. Every goal has to have a commitment. Without commitment, how do you know if or when you meet your goal? Or are you just wasting your time and money? Commons sense means just that. Common sense. Not what "everybody else" says or does. Not what the current money guru says is "how to do it". Neither of those entities pay YOUR bills at the end of the month. YOU have to think about what YOU have and what YOU want and use YOUR common sense to put them together. Here's what the smart folks know.....

Saving money is the goal. What you do with it is the choice.

This is what the smart folks know..... How smart will you be? You've done the coupons, the freebies, rebates. You've shopped the clearance racks, bargain tables and made compromises. Now what? "Where's my savings?" you ask. Well.......what did you do with them?

To know what savings you have and to know how much you have saved, you have to do 2 simple things.

Simple Thing #1: Like everything else you do in life, you have to keep track. Keep track of what you spend and how much you saved. If you bought something regularly priced at $20 and it was on sale and you paid $15 - keep track - $15 is the expense, $5 is the savings. Knowing this as you walk out the store is one thing, SEEING it on paper is another! Visual comprehension is a HUGE part of "finally getting it!"

Simple Thing #2: Set aside what you actually saved! Literally... set it aside! In a savings account, a piggy bank or that hiding place you have in your bedroom! Somewhere, set your actual savings aside.

How Do You Know What You Actually Saved?

Create a log or balance sheet for yourself. It can be on the PC, but hey, do a quick handwritten list. This way is quick and easy and you can do it at anytime, instead of waiting to get back on the PC.

Title columns the following:
Item / Regular Price of Item / Price I Paid / I Saved...

For example:
Sweater: Regular price $20 - Price I paid $15 - I saved: $5
Lunch: Regular Price $8 - Price I paid $5 - I saved $3
Groceries: Regular Price $150 - Price I paid $122 - I saved: $28

Total savings $36 - NOW GO WRITE YOURSELF A CHECK FOR $36 and put it in your savings account!

You can also include things that you usually spend money on, but have made the committment to NOT spend the money on. For instance - If you have decided to give up your flavored coffee each morning - That's $3.75 a day you can write in the balance sheet

Coffee: Regular Price $3.75 / Price I paid $0 / I saved $3.75

Now add that $3.75 to your total. Do this daily. Keep the balance sheet in the car. Keep a tablet in the car and write it down and then transcribe it to the balance sheet every night or at the end of the week. Which ever is easiest for you. At the end of the week, add up the savings and write yourself a check! Now sometimes, you aren't able to save the entire amount - maybe just half because you need some of it for an unexpected expense. Well, just write the check for half of what you actually saved. If you are stretching your dollars, instead of saving, sometimes you just need that money to go elsewhere other than a savings account. That is good to - keep track of it. Write where it went so next month you can see where you got that "extra" money last month and do the same thing this month to collect it again!

Where else you can find things you spend money on so you can choose not to spend it?

Would you REALLY miss that magazine if you didn't renew it for another year? Do you really want to renew a membership to someplace you don't really go to often. Would it hurt you to miss one months issue of your favorite magazine? How about renting only 2 movies every Friday night instead of 4? Can you cancel that automatic deduction for that program you have that you hardly use? Do you really have to eat out EVERY Friday night? Can't you eat out just 2 of them and make a fun, easy meal at home and relax the other 2 nights? And the kids...do they really have to have all those cool and expensive snacks - couldn't a generic brand do? The name doesn't mean they will taste any better! Here is where alot of the common sense comes into play.

Think about what you are spending and ASK yourself:

"Do I really want that item MORE than I want my GOAL?

This balance sheet procedure helps in a big way for you to actually SEE how much you really are SPENDING! A little here and a little there, adds up over the week! You don't realize it while you are spending it ("it's ONLY 3 bucks!") but that $3 bucks adds up over the course of 7 days to the tune of $21 a week or $84 a month and $1,092 a year!

In addition, SEEING what you have SAVED is a sure fire way to perk your eyes open and see that it is possible, you aren't any worse for the "wear", it wasn't that hard to do, and didn't cost you anything to do it - and wow! Look how close you are getting to your goal!

Commit to 30 days - commit to it honestly! Get your balance sheet ready, tablet handy and start writting. When you swipe that debit card, when you pull out the dollar bills, when you write that check - enter the amounts in your balance sheet. Talley your savings weekly - it will show you that you can do it and that it is working. Just think of what will happen if you keep doing what you are doing?

On a limited budget and have to stretch the dollars instead of saving it?

Been there, done that! That is how I figured out alot of these "tricks of the trade" and how I was able to support a family of four on limited income due to unemployment all the time in the construction field. To me it wasn't a choice - there was no choice. I streteched my dollars or my kids didn't eat. Period. That alone is the only factor I needed to commit and use common sense. I would add up my coupons BEFORE I went to the store and add that much back into my grocery budget for a bit more to spend. I watched the sales and followed those big red CLEARENCE signs to the back of the store so I could cloth both kids instead of just one. I bought generic instead of name brand. I often did "without" some little thing, until I realized that it was a waste to have it in the first place or found a cheaper way to "have it". And our lives were good and happy and my kids grew up to be great adults with a great mind set for their own budgets now. They are now doing much better than I was their age! Guess they learned something for ol' Mom!

Quite frankly, and I say this as I know it to be true, you can turn this savings thing into a game! You see that first month or 2 of savings and know your goal is on its way...you see that you were able to buy that necessary item this month, because you saved elsewhere last month. You will start looking for new ways to save and the game has begun! Try to beat your own earnings every month! Look for new ways to save! Commitment and common sense - they can be your new best friends!

How to Choose 2007 New Year's Resolutions that You CAN Keep

2006-12-28T09:25:00.000-08:00

How To Choose 2007 New Year's Resolutions You CAN Keep

And HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE from Frugal Money Saving Ideas

5 Ways to Use Left Over Christmas Wrapping

2006-12-26T08:15:00.000-08:00

Come check it out and get some ideas to save yourself some money and have some fun at the same time!

5 Ways to Use Left Over Christmas Wrapping Paper
http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/18929/c_moseley.html

A Program for Free Cash!! I'm Loving It!! (It's on the level)

2006-12-10T09:48:00.000-08:00

I have been working with this site and have decided it is a good place to be! My experience with the site has been great so I want to pass it along to you all!

No, you won't make a million dollars over night. But since "save a little, to save alot" is my motto, and it has been working for me for years, this site is a great addition to that way of life. Plus, it costs you nothing, totally free, little to no work, do what you want, when you want and you only benefit! How cool is that! You can click on the banner box above or click here, And if you join now, you will be credited $2.00 right off the bat just for joining!

SUNSHINE REWARDS

This site is great for collecting cash, not points! A few minutes a day and you collect, collect, collect and at no expense to you! Don't let the name discourage you...it really is a read and get paid for it---among other options! There are surveys, (maybe 15 minutes or less), freebies, drawings and other things that you can just click around, participate and earn the cash! You can start with $2.00 just for signing up! Now you only need $18 more and you have your first balance to redeem!

They DO NOT spam you with tons of emails. They send a daily email (sometimes every other day) telling you some of the things new today and then you go over and log on and take care of the business that you choose. There is a category for daily freebies/surveys/drawings that you can do and be entered and also collect some earnings just for participating (there is no email for this, you just have to log on every day). Ocassionally they will send an email about specials they have for current members only, but definately, SUNSHINE REWARDS does not spam your mail box.

I have been collecting for about 2 weeks and having fun at the same time and am creeping close to my first $20! The site offers redemption of cash through gift cards or cash! The one thing I like about this particular site is it offers gift cards to theme parks - well for sure, Sea World and Disney Dollars which is great for my grand daughter. I can collect until a month before her birthday, cash in for the gift card and she can have fun at these two parks and learn about spending money and for the parents - it means less cash they have to come up with to have a great park day! (those food purchases tend to be quite pricey!) It costs nothing and only offers you your choice of ways to make some money.

Although you can buy things through this site instead of going to a store, I have not done that yet. I have been doing the click thrus and the "read this and get $xx", surveys (no more than 15 mintues or less) and other things they offer. My balance is raising!

And remember, don't step over the pennies to pick up the dollars. Pick up the pennies, then grab the dollars too! Those pennies add up! No, not today, and no, not by the end of the week, but at end of month those pennies can add to a few dollars! And since it only takes seconds to do some of these things, why not? PLUS...since this is just going into an account that you don't have to accomodate the bookkeeping of, those pennies just sit there (at no hassel to you!) and continually add up...one penny can be the difference between nothing and a $20 gift card! You can redeem your balance for gift cards or as cash deposited to your PayPal account. Or just let it sit all year, cash in next November and have your Christmas money ready to go! A Free Christmas! What a fantastic goal!

You can also make purchases through SUNSHINE REWARDS and they offer members special sales and percentages off and things like that so if you need anything, check here first. With the promotions and sales they have, there's a good chance you can get the item cheaper plus save gas money and your time! I didn't find this until recently so the Christmas shopping can't be done due to time, but I will be watching during the year and check here first.

Check it out and give it a try. If it doesn't work, you unsubscribe, if it does - keep at it and save, save, save! I'm staying with it!

And don't forget to check out QUIZ POINTS where you Get free gift cards at Quizpoints.com
It is also a great program I have been working with. Again, very few emails to you, NO SPAMming your inbox. You go to them. It's one that you just log on to every day, do what you want to get what you are there for and move on in life, while your earnings add up!

I've been participating in Quiz Points for about 3 months now. (Click on the banner above). Lots and lots of freebies, samples, discounts and more! You collect points to redeem for gift cards. If you contribute an offer, you get points for that! Take a survey, get points! I am close to my first free gift card! Not to mention all the money I have saved on freebies, free samples and discount offers to things I would buy elsewhere anyway. Check it out!

These are two programs I can vouch for. I have had great sucess with them both. I am participating with another similar type of site and as soon as I decide it is "worth it", I'll let you know so you can join and save even more, for doing hardly anything! So go over to the right side of my blog and join the mailing list so you will be the first to know when I find more "easy ways to make money"!

Santa Will Send a Letter to the Children, Very in Expensively!

2006-12-03T17:52:00.000-08:00

What a great addition to the Christmas holiday festivities! A Letter from Santa! The kids are always writting TO Santa, but how many letters do they get FROM Santa? Mostly likely not many!

Well, be a Santa Partner and give the old gentleman a helping hand - and create a wonderful memory for your child - very frugally inexpensive.

I did this last year - paid someone to do it, but this year I asked around and got the "how to" to do it myself! I have not done this this way before, but it doesn't seem to be a problem and was recommend by several. It is a common thing for this post office to do, so I am going to give it a try!

YOU write the letter to your child or grand child "from" Santa. Find some nice stationery - google: free stationery and you'll get lots of sites with great stationery you can copy or download for free. Just make sure you use stationery that the child DOESN'T know you have! Use a creative font and color on your computer and give it a festive look. Something Santa would write!

Create the letter from Santa's point of view. Include things specific to the child that "Santa" would know. Mention family, friends, their pet, school, anything that is important to the child and would be something that "Santa" would know. Mention the city and state they live in and that he will be visiting on Christmas Eve. Mention the reindeers, by name if there's a favorite, and the long trip ahead of Santa. Keep the theme of the letter going with what the child already knows by including the traditional things Santa would say like, "I know you have been good this year" or "It was very nice of you to have helped ___________this year" or "I know you had some sad times this year, but I will bring you some holiday happiness........" Anything that will relate to your child specifically. Of course, sign it with a beautiful script signature of Santa Claus!

Choose an nice festive envelope and address the envelope to the child. Or again, Google:free envelope clip art and you'll find some nice things you can print out on your own envelope.

Go to the PO and get some holiday or christmas themed stamps. Something the child has not seen! You will need a 39¢ postage stamp on each letter. NOW>>>>>>>>>> This late in the game you might want to use USPS Priority Mail - ($4.05 and 2-3 business days) In the Priority envelope (free at the Post Office) place your letter(s). In this case you can write letters to many kids, place in their own envelopes and place ALL of those letters in the same Priority envelope. It is $4.05 up to a pound so you can fit lots of letter in there!

Mail it to: North Pole Christmas Cancellation, Postmaster, 5400 Mail Trail, Fairbanks, AK99709-9999. The post office there is perfectly accustomed to this, and will take care of opening the Priority Mail envelope you sent the letters in and mailing the individual letters for you to the children WITh a North Pole post mark! (When you child gets the letter, find an inconspicious way of pointing that out to them!)

On that surprise day - the little ones get a letter from Santa! I can already hear the squeals of excitment and wonder! Have your camera ready for that wonderful photo of that adorable face when they open the letter! THEN........... after Christmas......... a scrapbook layout is created! And all you have to do is make a pocket for the letter so it can be taken out (repeatedly I am sure!) and looked at, matte the photo(s), add a title, and you are done with a most wonderful and precious memory!

About $5.00 for some wonderful memories and a thrill for a child. Frugal and perfect. Just what we are all looking for!

Top Ten Children's Stocking Stuffers

2006-12-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

Santa Claus comes to every house! He leaves wonderful gifts under the tree. Fun gifts, amazing gifts, and luxury gifts. HOWEVER....there comes a time when "Santa" needs the help of his "Parent Partner". With all the wonderful Christmas gifts children get, there comes a time when practicality comes to the surface and needs to be accomodated! BUT... Santa still says it has to be fun and enjoyable! Just because it is practical and useful, doesn't mean it has to boring!

Top Ten Children's Stocking Stuffers

Check it out and help Santa Claus fill your child's stocking with some great, usable, fun and even unusal things that your child will love to receive!

While you are there, check out my articles:

Top Ten Gifts for GrandParents
Great Gifts for Teachers.

Get some great ideas at a low cost. You'll be surprised at how much you can really save (and not spend!) and still have wonderful gifts and those receiving will be so pleased!

Merry Christmas to all!

10 Stocking Stuffers for Adults

2006-11-26T20:07:00.000-08:00

Just because they are "older", doesn't mean adults have to stop getting a stocking from "Santa". It just means we need to adjust our thinking to accomodate adult life instead of a child's life! IT really isn't that hard! You can go fun and frilly, goofy and mindless or..... practical and useful - and therefore welcomed and enjoyed! The laughs and smiles will still show up giving everyone yet another reason to enjoy the holiday! Just because it is practical, doesn't mean someone won't want it and won't appreciate getting it.

Here are Top Ten Stocking Stuffers for the adult in your life!

Top Ten Stocking Sutffers for Adults

Thanks for reading and I hope you will get some great ideas for the adults in your life! Don't forget to vote for my article!

Merry Christmas to you!

10 Homemade Holiday Gifts For Grandparents

2006-11-16T07:32:00.000-08:00

Ten Homemade Holiday Gifts For Grandparents

1. Make a mini scrapbook photo album. The kids can do this themselves, with some help from you! Use a single photo on each page of the grand child and the grand parent (or one or the other) and on the opposite facing page, do some journaling about that photo or about feelings or memories the child had of the grand parent. Write the journaling like the child were writting a letter to the grand parent. "Grandma - I loved it that day you took me to the park and we fed the squrriels..." or "Grandpa - you helped me make that project and it got me an A in science class! I was so proud to have had your help..." If the photo doesn't particularily have a "reason" it was taken, just the two in the photo - have the child write their feelings about the grand parent. "Grandma - you mean so much to me and I am so glad that you are my grandma....". It doesn't have to be a long album - just a couple of pages. But make sure you put some blank pages at the end so more memories and photos can be added as they come along!

2. For distant Grandparents, take a couples days or weeks and prepare a "Here's My Life" kind of video. Walk through the child's day and video tape them doing chores and the comments they make about the chore. Video the child going to school, introduce their friends to their grand parents on video. Have the child talk about what they do, their enjoyments in life, show them doing something with their parents and "talk" to the grand parent like they are right there! For instance, if they are washing the car with Dad, and Dad sprays them with the hose, the child can run to the person holding the camera and saying, "Grandma, Dad is spraying me, make him stop!", kind of thing. This actually includes the grandparent and makes them feel like they are there. As a grandmother myself, I love it when my grand child runs to me for any reason! Include other members of the family and what they are doing. If you have more than one child, give each chlid a segment on the video to "do their thing". What distant grandparent wouldn't love to have 2-4 hours of their grand kids anytime they want it!

3. Create a Gift Card Collection - In the "olden" days, this was called a "coupon book". But in this new millenium where gift cards are the "in" thing, we can make that change too - and even elaborate on its creation! Cut some cardstock to size 4x6. Now, using your creativity and card aking/craft supplies, create 10, 4x6 inch "gift cards". Decorate them anyway you like and add the description of the "opportunity" being offered. Make the "opportunity" being offered fun and meaningful, as well as useful and specific to the grandparen's wants or needs. For instance, "Present this Gift Card to (child's name) and redeem it for 1 days work around your house. This includes anything you might need done, as well as waiting on you "hand and foot", working in the attic or helping you with a craft or hobby". Structure the gift card to what the grandparent does - whether it be fun or work! If the grandparent lives close enough, make a gift card for "breakfast in bed" or a "free lunch at (grandparents favorite resturant),but you'll have to drive!" How about "This gift card is good for 2 hours of my time to spend anyway YOU like". Punch a hole in the corner of each "gift card" and lace ribbon through each hole and tie a nice bow. This makes for a beautiful presentation as well as being able to remove the "gift card" for cashing it in! Give it some thought and find some new ways to make your grandparents not only happy, but enjoy the time with their grandchildren!

4. Make a donation to the grandparents favored charity. Make a "certificate" showing that X amount of dollars was donated to (name of charity) by (grand parents name) and put it in a nice frame. The grandparent will feel wonderful to know that the child is thinking of others while thinking of them.

5. If the grandparent has a favorite food or dish, prepare them a basket of all the ingredients. If Grandpa loves to make pizza, buy all the ingredients and assemble them in the basket! Include some tools useful for making the dish like a new pizza board, pizza cutter, etc. Add special napkins that reflect the theme of the food. If Grandma loves to bake cookies, get all the ingredients and include pans, spatula, measuring spoons, even have the recipe created on a beautiful card so she has it handy.

6. Find out what community service or organization the grandparent volunteers at and present them with a coupon or certificate stating "This certificate is good for 2 days volunteer work at (organization name) with you". They are helping others, and at the same time, creating a bond between grandparent and grandchild. Generations can connect if given the opportunity. And what grandparent doesn't love showing off their grand kids and how proud it will make them to have their grand kids at their side while they all help others.

7. For the younger kids, make some homemade clay and press it into a pie pan and have the child make their hand imprint (or foot!) then sign and date it. Put a hole in the top (before you bake and dry) for a ribbon to be the hanger. Decorate as you like. What a wonderfully cute wall decoration! You could also get cement (it comes in kits with a mold at craft stores) and make garden stepping stones. This would be a great gift to do every year - grand parents can line their garden or patio with their grand kids hand prints and remember the kids every day!

8. Make the grand parent a "Fun Box". Find out what they realy like to do - whether it be a hobby or an outing. Get a paint can (at a craft supply store) and decorate the can. Fill the can with things that fit the theme of what the person likes to do. For instance - if they love going to the movies - include tickets to the theater, gift cards for getting food AT the theater and also for dinner before or after the movie. A gift card to buy the DVD when it comes out! If they have a favorite craft, fill the can with tools and supplies for that craft. You could even offer them something different to try - fill a can with lotions, nail supplies, bath salts, bubble bath, etc for the grandmother for a "home spa" day. For the grandpa, how about a "Emergency Repair Kit" and fill the can with small containers of nuts, bolts, nails, and other household repair items. And what Grandpa wouldn't love to have a bucket filled with his favorite car cleaning supplies! A nicely deocrated can allows the can to be set out in the room so that the contents are always handy! You could also use a wooden box or any other style of item that has a closing lid.

9. If the grand parents love coffee - create them their own "coffee house". Fill a large wooden box or basket with a variety of coffee flavors, add some wonderful mugs with a design that they would like and matching spoons and napkins. Add some flavored creams and sugars, and include a elegant box of cookies or biscuits. They will think of their grand child every morning they prepare their wonderful, flavored coffee!

10. Personalize a calender for the grandparents. Buy a blank calendar and choose photos of the kids, and have the kids deocrate the calendar page with the photos and other embellishments. Have each child write a short message to the grandparent(s) on each calander page. If there are any holidays or birthdays or other rememberance days in the month, use stickers to mark them. The grandparent will have a wonderful note from their grandkids to enjoy all month while not forgetting the special days in that month.

10 Handmade Gifts for Teachers

2006-11-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

Here are 10 handmade gifts that are great gifts for any teacher. My children and I did many of them during their school days. See which ones you'd like to use!

10 Great Gift Ideas for Teachers

Thanks for reading and give me a star vote if you liked the article!

You Can Have a Wonderful Christmas on a Frugal Budget

2006-11-14T19:26:00.000-08:00

Everyone thinks you have to spend a ton of money at Christmas. Gifts, decorations, food, clothes and on the list goes. But these days, it just isn't that way anymore. You don't have to go into debt to have a nice Christmas. You don't have to max out your credit cards buying gifts. You don't have to spend every dime you have!

You CAN have a wonderful Christmas on a frugal budget!

I highly recommend lists! You can't go wrong! They are life savers! I am a list person from way back. They have never failed me and they continually make things easier to orchastrate. Whether you use old fashioned pencil and paper (my personal preference!) or a spread sheet or a PDA or day-timer.... MAKE YOURSELF LISTS!!!

Since they come out first, start with your decorations. Now this might be something that you "start" this year to accomodate your saving next year, but it is never to late (or early) to start! Like everyone, you probably have quite a few boxes of decorations in the garage or attic. Do you know what's in them? You probably have a general idea, but most likely, you don't remember EVERYTHING. So before you go shopping for decorations, go through your boxes and look to see what you already have and make a list of general things you need (like lights, ornaments - the usual stuff) and then make a list of things you would like to get this year (speciality things)

Weed out things you don't really like, or is broken or just something you don't want anymore. You have to make sure you know what you have so you don't waste money buying things you already have. After christmas when you are putting things away, don't forget to add to your list what you got this year. And remember....There does comes a time when you have all you need, so keep your list so you know when that time comes. Storage space could be your first clue that you have all you need! And don't forget, you can throw out broken things, or give away things you don't anymore. You don't have to keep everything for 20 years. Have a yard sale the first week in December and sell what you don't really want, and then you can collect some money to buy new things!

The biggest thing you have to remember is.... if it goes up, it has to come down. Things are usually easier to take out of the box and put up, but taking it down and putting it away - it can be harder and frustrating, and is more time consuming as you have to allow for proper packing and storage space. Make sure you want to take down what you put up. Also remember about storage space. That stuff has to be stored for 11 months - do you have room for it all? You really don't want to be tripping over it all year long!

Now, decide which things you NEED (things like ornament hooks, wrapping paper etc) that you don't have and things that you would like to get (decorations, new table cloth,christmas cards, etc). Make sure you actually need the items, not just want more or just because it is cute or just cause it is "on sale". Wrappng paper can be cute and fun, but don't spend a lot of money buying to much. A good idea is to buy a different color of paper for each family or family member you are buying for. The red print will be for family A and the green print is for Family B. Helps keep who gets what straight. And for any paper you have left after Christmas, it makes great shelf lining paper!

Once decorations are satisfied, the next step is to decide how much money you have to spend and settle on how many people you will be buying for and start a Christmas List. DON'T USE YOUR CREDIT CARDS if at all possible! But if you have to, set yourself a limit. Tell yourself "This will be a $500 Christmas" and stick to it. Divide $500 by how many people you are buying for and that is the amount you will spend on each person. If someone complains that you didn't spend enough on them, well, they must not care to much about you if the price of the item is what matters to them. They know you are on limited budget or trying to pay off bills or trying to make ends meet - They should be proud of you for sticking to your budget.

And now for the biggest decision: Check the number of people on your Christmas. How many do you have? 10, 20, 60, 70? Well, here's where you need to just sit down and make a very important decision. Can you accomodate gifts for 70 people on $500? If you can, great! If your "per person" amount comes to $5 a person, you may need to rethink your list. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY FOR EVERYONE YOU KNOW! Make the decision to buy just for immediate family. Christmas cards to the rest. Decide to buy just for the kids. Do name draws for adults. Buy one large "family" gift per family that they all can share. Make homemade cookies or treats for those that you don't buy a gift for. 2 dozen of the best chocolate chip cookies are a wonderful gift! Make homdmade gifts. Remember, it doesn't have to have a huge price tag on it to be a "good gift". My favorite gift to my family members was a very large tray or basket of a variety of baked goods. They told me that they looked forward to that every year!

Start NOW watching the store ads from the sunday newspapers. All stores will be having their sales from now till the day before Christmas. Your watching should include not only the decorations you would like, but gifts and food items. You could even take a look at Ebay and surf around to see if there is something there that you need. Buying online can save you money not only in the cost of the item, but also in gasoline costs!

Doing your shopping now and getting all the gifts done now, will help you save money on those impulse buys that grab us all. And with those last minute sales, you are facing the odds that they will be "out" by the time you get there so those types of sales are not always something to wait for. And if the store is "out of stock", you have to go search someplace else - there goes your time (time is money) expense of gas and you still might not find it and you end up buying something more than your expenses allow. Solution? Start shopping now!

Keep receipts...just in case. Get an envelope and label it Christmas Receipts and after each trip, drop the receipts in there. What a waste of money if you have a gift that has a problem and you can't exchange it or return it.

Remember the US Mail? They call it "snail mail" now. Well, I'm here to tell you that everything old can become new again! This year SNAIL MAIL YOUR CHRISTMAS CARDS! I love getting mail in my mail box! Just think of how happy your friends and family will be to go out to their mail box one day, and have not only something other than a bill or junk mail in there, but a beautiful Christmas card - addressed to them!!! And from their dear friend or relative! How good is that!!! You will have made their day, given them a smile, and isn't that really what Christmas is all about anyway?

Mark on your calendar with all the things you want to do - parties, get-togethers, shopping days, baking days, present wrappng days. Mark down what you know of right now. Keep that calendar handy and visible so you can add things as they come up.

Between the first of November and Christmas, all the baking items are always on sale at most grocery stores. Start stocking up! You don't have to open the item until you are ready to use it. Remember, we have New Years parties and Valentines Day coming up that baking is often a major part of. Buy the ingredients now at a low price, and have the ingredients you need for those holidays! You can even start your baking now on many items. Get the dough all ready and FREEZE it! Come 1-2 weeks before Christmas (or when you need it) take it out, thaw and bake! Cuts down on the time you have to spend at the last minute! If you are making sugar cookie cutouts for Christmas, double the recipe and freeze half the dough. Now, come Valentines Day, you'll have the dough ready for those heart shapes cut outs!

Don't wait for the After-Thanksgiving-Day Sales. There are sales right now, and no crowds! Stores can only make their prices so low - they have to make money too!

Don't forget stores like The Dollar Tree or Big Lots! They might not have fancy names, but these types of stores can save you a bundle! They have a great selection of housewares, decorations, toys,wrapping paper, ribbons, tape, foods and so much more - probably anything you might need for Christmas! It is also the most perfect place to shop for stocking stuffers!

And think about practical stuff for gifts. Does one of your people love a particular brand of shampoo/conditioner? Go buy them a couple sets of it! Do they love a certain kind of make-up? Put together a makeup bag of their favorites! What about favorite foods? Does someone like nuts? Put together a basket full of a variety of nuts! Put together a basket of the makings for their favorite dish! The options are only as limited as your mind allows them to be!

And for those great "year round" gifts - GIFT CARDS! I was never a fan of them, but now that most stores have them, you can get someone a card at their favorite store or a store that they love treating themselves at. This way, not only do you give them a gift they will love, but everytime they use the card they will think of you! If they buy something to wear, everytime they wear it, they will think of you! But look at what is out there - don't just get one at the local discount store. Find a "speciality" store. Buy the girls - even little girls - a gift card to Bath and Body Works so she can treat herself to wonderful soaps and lotions. How about a card to Starbuck's Coffee - everytime they get their favorite cup of flavored coffee, they will think of you! Gift cards are also great for those hard to buy-for kids - so buy them a variety of gift cards from their favorite fast food places!

And remember - shopping AFTER Christmas is a great time to buy those decorations you wanted but couldn't afford prior. Stores don't want to have to store all the christmas stuff that didn't sell, so they mark them down pretty good come January. You can buy then, pack it up when you take down your decorations and have it ready for next Christmas! Don't forget to add the new items to your list!

With just a little bit of re-adjusting your thinking, re-organizing your budget and re-analyzing your priorities, you can have a wonderful Christmas on a frugal budget.

Double-Duty Your Thanksgiving Day Work

2006-11-11T15:06:00.000-08:00

With Thanksgiving coming up - it is the perfect time for stocking up on things that will be on sale so that you can have good meals at a very low price in the future. It really helps if you do double batches and freeze half or later. You have all the ingredients and are making the mess at the moment - if you double the recipe now, you won't have the big mess or time-consuming chore to do late! You'll be able to spend that time doing something else. Pull double-duty when you can and watch your time and money increase!

Here are a few ideas:

Turkeys are always on sale! Watch the ads in the papers. Get one for Thanksgiving Day and another one or two, to freeze for later! If you don't have a freezer to use for multiple turkeys, buy an extra one and cook it the same time you do the one you will be having on Thanksgiving Da...just don't eat it! Let it cook, refridgerate it and the next day start picking it apart to seperate into meals portions. If you are not having T-day dinner at your house, pick a day and cook 2 turkeys then and seperate them both into meal size portions and freeze the meals! If you make your own soup stock - you now have the bones to do that. Cook the stock, pour it into containers or zipper freezer bags and freeze it!

Hams - same thing - buy additional ones if you can - I have seen them for 49¢ a pound at holiday time and that same ham for $1.99 off season. Why pay more if you dont have to! Again, bake it, slice it and freeze in meal sized portions. This way also takes up less freezer space so you have more space to utilize.

Canned goods - cranberries, pumpkin, vegetables - all those yummy side dishes... buy a few extra and have them in your pantry for meals next month. Canned goods have a long shelf life, so no worries about when you have to use them. Boxed stuffing is also a good thing to buy now so you have it ready to go with that turkey you have in the freezer. Just think, a turkey dinner in February!

Baking goods - sugar, flour, spices, margarines - all these great ingredients are usually on sale in November. Get what you need for the holidays, but grab a few extra while they are on sale and you'll have them for later months baking needs. You have baking for Christmas, New Years and Valentines Day coming up!

Fresh foods - like yams, sweet potatoes, scalloped potatoes - make 2 dishes, serve one and freeze the other! Remember to freeze in meal-size portions so all you have to do is grab a container out of the freezer in the morning and let it thaw in the fridge all day while you are at work. When you come home, pop it into the microwave or toaster oven to bake while you change clothes and get the rest of the meal ready.

If you make your rolls/biscuits from scratch - depending on the receipe, double the dough recipe and freeze half of it for baking near the Christmas holiday. Or to have on hand to bake for guests and drop-ins. And remember, Christmas is coming up next - so if you make double dishes now, you will have meals ready to eat that will cut down on your time spent cooking when you want to spend your time celebrating, caroling, or just visiting friends and family! These dishes are also great for those drop-in guests, unexpected or last minute, stay-overs guests!

The week or so after Thanksgiving Day, check out things like decorated napkins, paper cups, table cloths and other Thanksgiving theme items. These things are marked down pretty cheap as the stores don't want to store them until year. You can save them for next year, but hey - no reason you can't use a napkin with a turkey on it come January! Use this same method for after Christmas or any other holiday for that matter! Ijust purchased Hallowen napkins - 50 for 25¢. I cut the four-fold napkin in half. Now I have 100 napkins for less than a penny a piece! They are great for those not so messy wipes for adults, and perfect for little faces! My little grand daughter loves opening her lunch box to see a cute little jack-o-lantern (napkin) smiling at her! She is quite the talk of the lunch table as the "luckiest girl"! And the paper plates I got for 50¢ for 75 plates after 4th of July - perfect timing for Veteran's Day!

So keep your eyes open, your freezer available and a stock of freezer bags....time is important and time is money. Pull an easy double-duty when you can and you'll have extra time for later events.

Election Signs - How to Make Your Candidate Save You Money

2006-11-08T09:27:00.000-08:00

I'm all for voting and the "democratic way", but it sure is annoying that these political candidates and their campaign teams, put up a tremendous number of campaign signs, all over the cities of America.....and just leave them there. Whether it be city,state or national elections, the streets are literally littered with campaign signs. In my particular area - a nice size, popular, main stream city - for weeks prior to the election the streets of the city are bombarded with these "Vote for..." signs. The closer to election day, the more they put up. The city is littered with them. Talk about looking trashy.

But, okay, fine, get the work out to vote, but people are driving - they should be watching the road and traffic, not the advertisements along the way, but more than that...for weeks and even months after the election is over, these campaign signs are not taken down. They continue to litter the streets until the weather wears them out and they blow off their stakes and litter somewhere else. Seems to me that if the candidates can't be bothered to clean up their own mess, how am I supposed to believe that they will clean up the messes of where they represent to make it a better place?

Well, since that is never going to be addressed muchless taken care of, we have to look at it from a frugal point of view. Here are 10 ways for YOU to use those signs and banners to save YOU money!

Put 2 same size signs together, back to back (so both sides of YOUR sign are blank) and:

1. Make your own YARD SALE signs. These campaign signs have great stakes and they are very easy to put in the ground. No more taping or nailing on telephone poles, street signs or cement walls! They are a nice size with plenty of space to write your directions. Plus, they are easy to grab up and trash when your sale is over.

2. Make "direction" signs for the kids in the back yard! Have them "map" out their "imaginary" travel path. If they like to re-create the adventures in a book they read, or just create an adventure on their own, these signs can mark all kinds of places of destination! For instance, if the kids like playing Star Trek, have a sign for each planet they will visit in their playtime excursions through space! There's several places in 100 Acre Woods that they could go meet Pooh and his friends!

3. Save them for the holidays. Assemble them and then slide them to the side in the closet or in the garage. Come each holiday, create a sign! For Thanksgiving, it could be "All turkeys eat here", Christmas could be "Santa, please stop here". Easter is "The Easter Bunny hopes here". The kids would have a blast begin able to create their own sign. And who says it has to be limiited on one sign per holiday? Halloween could be grave stones (push the sign in all the way to the ground) and "beware" signs.

4. Keep some of the smaller signs for craft projects. Take the sign off the stakes and on the blank side of the campaign poster, have your child draw their best art work, then mount it on the wall! (No one will know what's on the back!) The heavier poster board style (the smaller campaign signs that literally litter the sides of the roads) are particularily good for any glue and glitter art work or gluing on beads, rhinestones or other "bulky" type of item.They are strong enough to handle the extra weight!

5. Use the stakes or stands as plant climbers! Tomatoe plants need support to do their climbing. Have some
house plants that you want to stake up? Use the campaign sign stakes! I have seen some pretty tall signs on
those streets! Don't be afraid to take a look at what's available!

6. Got a painting job coming up? Those really large campaign signs, (the ones that obstruct the view of a driver as they are driving by looking for direction signs!) grab those and use them to cover your carpet or other areas you don't want to get paint on. If you are using a spray paint gun, these large signs would be great for taping to the wall you don't want painted so no over spray gets on them. You could tape a few together to make a dividing "wall" to keep the paint spray out. If you are spraying or painting outside, the very large paper signs are great for protecting the ground around where you paint.

7. Are your kids actors? Use those really huge campaign signs, as the "stage curtain". Have the kids decorate the back side of the sign with the name of the play or whatever they are doing. Then, depending on where your home "stage" is, use the paper signs to roll up, roll over or pull away the "curtain" of the stage and let the show begin!

8. Most of the signs are thick poster board. So they would make great moving supplies material! Cut the smaller signs in half and slide them between breakable plates before you wrap the plates up. Make divisions in the box between the glasses that you wrap in newspaper. USe them to add strength to the boxes and any other protection you need. They are light weight so it doesn't add much weight to the box but are great protection materials!

9. Take the poster board sized ones, and cut them into smaller sizes - they make great like "tools" for when nothing else works. Got a table that wobbles because one leg is shorter? FOld a piece of heavy poster board up until it is the right height to slide under the leg to stop the wobbling. Need a door-stop? Again, fold some poster board up to the shape to fit under the door to keep it open. Need a wedge for a window or a "partition" between two things so they don't rub together - poster board fold-ups to the rescue!

10. Roll the smaller but heavier poster board signs into a roll, secure with tape or glue or a rubber band and stand it at a slant in a lizard's cage so the creature can have something to climb on. Cut the roll in half and lay it down so he has something to hid in. Use them to line the bottom of a pets cage, the bottom of a kitty litter box or the bottom of a bird cage.

There's alot out there available! Go take a walk and pick what you want your candidate to do for you!

Make Your Thanksgiving Day Meal Work for You!

2006-11-06T08:04:00.000-08:00

It's great to enjoy that Thanksgiving Day meal, but how about making that Thanksgiving Day meal work for you! Here's a few suggestions on how to accomplish that.

Know your turkey. A "tom" turkey is a male turkey and is usually on the tough side and a larger bird. Watch your cooking temperatures and if all else fails, if you cut this tougher meat into bite size pieces and pour some delicious gravey over it, the toughness isn't so bad! a "hen" turkey is a female turkey and smaller and and more tender.

When you are making up meal-sized portions to freeze for meals later, think about how much each of your family members eat and consider this when you are portioning your meal-sized servings. In your family of four - will the men/boys eat 1/2 lb. each and the women/girls 1/4 lb. each? Then make your serving size 1,1/2 lbs of turkey meat.

Most cookbooks suggest you thaw your turkey in the fridge, instead of out on the counter at room temperature. Being poultry, you have to be careful it doesn't get warm. So take your turkey out of the freezer a day or two (depending on how many pounds it is) before you are going to cook it and let it thaw in the fridge.

When you are cooking the bird, make sure you line the pan with heavy aluminum foil and cover the bird. You want all the juices and moisture to stay inside the foil, so as not to let the turkey get dry.

Some say stuff it, some say don't. But if you do, just make sure you tie the legs closed so that the stuffing stays inside, and doesn't dry out or spill out in all the juices. But don't forget to take the ties off for presentation!

In a way, you could say, that the bird will cook itself. So set the temperature, cover it properly and let it alone! Don't keep opening the oven door or pulling the foil cover back to "check" on the bird. It isn't going anywhere and every time you open that oven door, you let the heat out, and that lowers the temperature inside the oven, which means you aren't cooking your bird at the same temperature. It might take longer to cook or not get done properly because of major changes in the cooking temperature. If you choose to baste the turkey, then just open it at certain time intervals and open the foil as little as possible so the heat and moisture doesn't escape.

Peel ALL the meat off those bones! The tiny little bits are great to add to canned chicken stock to enhance the flavor. Small pieces are great for making a turkey salad. The dark meat is hardly noticable if it is covered in delicious gravey. Or course that white meat is great by itself or on a sandwich. As you are slicing, seperate the "pieces" by size and then just fill them freezer bags!

Also, in a favorite magazine of mine, Family Fun Magazine they have this to offer:

Defrosting Do's

Remember that you have to allow 24 hours for every 5 pounds if you're going to defrost a turkey in the refrigerator. That means a 15-pound turkey will take three full days, so get started on Monday. If you miss this deadline, you can defrost the bird faster in a sinkful of cold water, allowing about half an hour for each pound of turkey and changing the water occasionally. (It will still take 7 1/2 hours for that 15-pounder, so do it after work on Wednesday, then refrigerate it.)

Roasting Times For a Fully Defrosted Turkey

10 to 18 lbs. - 3 to 3 1/2 hours (unstuffed) or 3 3/4 to 4 1/2 hours (stuffed)
18 to 22 lbs. - 3 1/2 to 4 hours (unstuffed) or 4 1/2 to 5 hours (stuffed)
22 to 24 lbs. - 4 to 4 1/2 hours (unstuffed) or 5 to 5 1/2 hours (stuffed)
24 to 30 lbs. - 4 1/2 to 5 hours (unstuffed) or 5 1/2 to 6 1/4 (stuffed)

Happy Cooking!

A Family Oriented Magazine - I just have to recommend it!

2006-11-02T11:34:00.000-08:00

I just have to highly recommend this magazine to you all. It is the perfect magazine for moms, kids, teachers, scout leaders, grand parents - anyone that wants to have fun with kids and/or their families. It is the best family related magazine I have ever seen. I have had a subscription for 3 years now and just renewed it for another 3 years!

It has the best crafts, kids cooking/recipes, stories (even from the kids themselves!), games and activities and other features that are fantastic! Vacation places, best places to go, things to do, cooking and recipes for the kids, ways to help the kids and help them learn to help themselves. Tips for packing a lunch that a kid will love to eat, ways to teach them to help out and be responsible. There is just so much in this magazine!

It is absolutely packed full of usable and wonderfully helpful projects, ideas and creations! And they are all FAMILY ORIENTED! The holidays are covered, but also time themes like back-to-school, summer vacation times. I enjoy just reading it all! My grand daughter is nearing the age that she will be able to do all the crafts and cooking, so I plan to pull out my past 3 years and the two of us will have a blast! And with all the things offered, crafts, recipes, hints, tips and such, you are sure to save money while you and your family have tons of fun!

The magazine is called FAMILY FUN

This months issue features:
Celebrate Thanksgiving with crafts, Recipes, Traditions for the Holiday Weekend!
The Year's Top 10 Toys!
Make Our Magical Gingerbread Train
Creative Holiday Card Ideas
Treat of the Month
Simple Crafts
Get Ready for Santa Season
Instant Fun (games)
Snacks and Goodies
Family Solutions
and more!

If you are interested in this magazine, I offer you a place you can get it for only $9.95 for 1 year, plus you get a FREE $5 gift certificate for every subscription you buy from More Magazines, Please! It's a great bargain! And what a great Christmas gift! And quite accomodating to your Christmas budget! And that price! Amazing! I know the owner of this site and I know that you will get great service.

Note: I receive NOTHING from this magazine or the web site selling it, for making this promotion. I just think the magazine is wonderful and wanted to pass it along. And if I can help you save a couple bucks with a recommendation and you and your kids have a lot of fun - that is satifaction to me! Remember - Save a Little to Save Alot!

How to Save If You Don't Have IRA or 401k Options

2006-10-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

When you hear "save money" you automatically think savings accounts, money markets ,IRA's, CD's and other "forms" of saving money. Those are all good and well, but many of us don't have the money to open and contribute to those things.

IRA's and 401k's - if you are fortunate enough to work for a company that offers those - great! But what about those of us who work for companies that don't include such luxuries in their employment packages? It is quite common for them NOT to be offered, especially on the lower levels of job descriptions.

So what do you do? How do you get the money to open the savings, CD's or save for retirement?

Don't sell yourself short just yet!

Instead of your budget controling you, reprogram your thinking and budgeting to accomodate what you have so you control it! To get ahead you have to have more than you have right now, so that is where you have to start... Adjust what you have right now. Rearrange your availabilities, resources and expenditures and you can open your own version of a 401k or IRA!

First, you must reprogram your thinking about money. This is where I came up with my slogan "Save a little to save a lot". You only have so much monthly income - how do you plan to use it? If you're like me and have limited income - those options can be small and seemingly insignificant, but you put them all together, you'll be surprised at what the out come can be. Don't look at it as saving a dollar a day. Look at it as saving a dollar a day...FOR A MONTH! $30 a month is a good chunk!

Second, in order to make any money saving program work, you have to have a plan, a budget, a system - and YOU HAVE TO STICK TO IT. You must commit yourself to the program and follow through. If you don't, it won't work no matter how hard you try. If you are building a model airplane and get half way through and then stop working on it, you will never be able to enjoy playing with it or watching it fly!

Third, you MUST use common sense in your thinking. This world is full of get rich quick schemes, make millions over night offers, "I made $10,000 in one month" come-on's... well, use your common sense....if it was that easy to make that much money, why is anyone employed? Why does anyone have a job? Why is the employment field not shut down because everyone is at home making $10,000 a month?

Because, it isn't that easy and isn't always that possible, bottom line...to make money you have to spend money and if you don't have money to spend, you can't make that money. Read that fine print at the bottom of the TV screen - "not typical results" is on most of those ads - including the lose weight ones! Ergo, the theory "if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is". Common sense. It might have worked for a few, but if you are reading this article, it is most likely not something that will work for you. You must use common sense.

The most MAJOR factor to start reprograming your thinking about your money is to start at the bottom. If you give yourself an easy start, you'll see how easy it is and how quickly you can make a savings grow and next thing you know, it will be second nature to you and you can just watch that savings grow! Your thinking will adjust to "that was so easy...where can I find more?" You can even make a game out of it, and try to "beat" your savings this month over last month!

There are so many little wastes of money that we do - every day - sometimes a couple times a day. And we don't even think about them. It is only in relation to a buck or two, and at the end of the day you say, "It's two bucks! What's the big deal? I can't retire on that!!" Of course you can't retire on that, but we aren't talking about retiring. We are talking about saving money.

Again, common sense. $2 a day, is basically nothing. But $2 a day....for 365 days is $730 a year! Put that into a savings, CD, money market and let it collect interest! You do the math as to $730 a year for 10 years at X% interest rate, rolling over every year. Do it in writting. Once you see that final number on that paper - THEN you can think about what retirement has in store for you, or should I say what you have in store for retirement!

Just think, if you stop for a flavored cup of coffee ($3.75) every day, you spend $1368 a year! If you go through a drive thru fast food place for a large soda ($1.69) every day, you spend $616 a year! That's $1983 a year just for 2 drinks a day!!

Until it was recently increased, $2,000 was the maximum a person could contribute to an IRA - YOU HAD IT ALL ALONG.... YOU JUST CHOOSE TO SPEND IT ON SOMETHING ELSE!

Think about all the little things you do, how often you do them and do you really NEED to do that? Add up what those little things cost you EVERY MONTH. You can stop, cut back, compromise, re-adjust, re-program ... Take your pick on what you want to call it, but quite frankly, almost $2,000 a year just for 2 drinks a day - simple commons sense says that is most assuredly something that can be done without to further your savings!

Don't Let Your Utilities Grab Your Money? Save Your Money for Yourself!

2006-10-15T04:12:00.000-07:00

To Save 10¢ a day, is nothing to bother with. BUT.... TO SAVE $1.00 a day is a great start (remember, that's $365 a year) and if it doesn't cost you anything and is so EASY TO DO - why not do it!!. Whether you call it Make Money or Save Money or just Stretch the dollars you have, why wouldn't you want to do it!!

"10 Things That Are Grabbing Your Money!"

1. A fish aquarium can run you about $88 a year. Do you REALLY want it - and the work? Think about it.
2. Christmas lights: 10¢ an hour for 100 lights. HOW MANY LIGHTS ARE ON YOUR TREE? And how many more on your house or for decoration? All those lights times 10¢ an hour per 100... you do the math. Could be $60 just for the month of December alone for just your average amount of lights! If you do more decoration in your yard or on the house, it goes up with every bulb you light. Then there's the November and January times to add on! Not to be a Christmas scrooge, but just watch what you do! Light them every other night. Light them only when you are home. TURN THEM OFF when you go to bed. If you aren't in the room where the lights are, turn them out until you go back into the room. Just use some common sense at this time of year! Light them 6 nights instead of 7. Depends on how much you want to spend and what's in your budget. I'd rather spend the money on a gift for my kids to have the rest of the year!!

3. Set your thermostat to 65 degrees (in the winter). Saves $80-$100 a year! And we are only talking about the winter months - 3-6 months a year depending on where you live. Throw on an extra blanket or sweater. Light the fireplace if you have one! Add a thermal undershirt! Sip that hot tea or coffee you made yourself! How easy is that! And it doesn't take long to get "used" to the cooler temp. And since germs breed "better" in warm tempertures, if your house is a little on the cool side, the germs aren't going to want to stay around!

4. Water bed (heated, no cover) can run up to $1.00 a day or $365 a year! Get a cover or just turn it off some nights! Turn the temp of the water down. Don't use it in the warmer months, and only on those really cold nights in the winter. Again, Common Sense can SAVE YOU MONEY!!!

5. If you do alot of laundry each week, do back-to-back loads - meaning, do at least three loads at once - not 1 now, another after you get back from where ever, and another before bed. It is easy to figure out a schedule for laundry. It is such a "nothing effort" job. When you do loads back-to-back you are using hot water (gas or electric to heat that water) that is already hot. Seperating your loads means each time it starts, it has to heat up that water - thereby costing more money! Same with the dryer, It is already hot after the first load was dried, so it just starts drying at that hot temperture. Once it cools down, it takes the gas/electric to heat it back up. So get it all done at once and SAVE MONEY at the same time!

6. Make sure you wash ONLY FULL LOADS of laundry. And even use just COLD WATER on the loads instead of warm or hot! They still get clean just fine!

7.. Often there are "low rate" times for your utilities. Check your utility bill or call the company. In my case, after 7pm and before 7am the electric rate is a bit cheaper than during the day peek hours when the utilities are being used more. So I start my laundry at 7pm. Or I start it a 7am. Any that doesn't get done at that time, just sits until the 7:00 rolls around again. It isn't hard - and since you are saving money - think of what you want to do with that money while you are loading that washer at 7:01 pm!

8. Run ONLY FULL Loads in your dishwasher. About 80 percent of dishwasher's energy use, goes to heating the water and the dry cycle. Select "unheated" or "air drying" to cut that by about 12%

span style="font-family:verdana;">9. Turn out the lights!!!! You have heard this over and over - but it is also so easy to forget to do!

10. Make sure you NEED the wattage of the bulbs in your fixtures. Most don't need those 100 watts. Many can do with just a 25 or 40 watter!

So give a look around and see what you find that you can adjust (not change, just adjust! How easy is that!) to help you save your money! I have been working on my utility bills for the last several months and have seen the gas and electric drop $10-$20 a month. And all I did was "adjust" what I did. It is so easy to do and so worth it when that bill arrives! You will be so pleased with yourself and think - how easy was that!!!

If you Scrapbook - Here's a Money Saving Freebie You Will LOVE!!!

2006-10-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

Oh My Gosh!! This is the most FANTASTIC site for FREE scrapbook pages I HAVE EVER SEEN!! If you scrapbook, this site will save you TONS of money, not to mention free ideas!

It has TONS of themes and ideas and categories! So much you can do here! Pages, letters, stickers, die cuts, banners, journaling themes, and SO MUCH MORE and probably every theme you can imagen!
A friend shared this site with me and I am thrilled to be able to pass it on!

I'd venture to say "name it and it is here". There is just so much available! AND ITS FREE!!!!! Says so right there on the main page! You download them to .pdf files and print them out on your printer!

If you like digital scrapbooking, then this is also the place for you! I don't do digital, so I can't comment on that part of it, but it says that is what you can use it for so take a look and see what you think!
I am going to be using the themes and pages for a recipe book for my personal favorites recipes to give to my kids - pass on the flavor as they say!

Print Your Own Scrapbook & Cardmaking Supplies

A tip for printing out on printer but still making the die cuts look really nice is to use shiney or matte photo paper - like you use to print out photos. That way when you cut the die cuts out, they are on a thicker paper and a nicer finish to them (besides just regular typing paper) and they will look nicer.
If you have any tips for using thi site for digital scrapping, leave a tip! Lots of us would like to learn about that!

Shared with me by AudreyO. Thanks for this goldmine, Audrey!

Save $2,553 a year - Anyone Can! It's Simple, Easy and FREE!

2006-10-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

Save $2,553 a year - Simple and Easy and Free!

Saving money is not always hard. Often it just takes is commitment and that is free. Often it usually just takes a simple desicion - do I or don't I? And that is free

You simply have to look at what you are doing. How hard is that? Not very hard. And most importantly: Don't look at your expenses on a daily basis. A buck a day is no big deal. It won't make you or break you.

HOWEVER

and that's a BIG HOWEVER,

when you look at the expense on a monthly scale - a buck a day is actually $30 a month - and $30 IS a big deal! And can add up quickly before you even realize it!

Here are the 5 simple and easy ways to save over $2,500 a year!

Save $365 - A regular cup of coffee is about a buck. One cup of coffee a day is costing you $365 a year. (Make it at home or get it at work!)

Save $1,368 - A flavored speciality cup of coffee is about $3.75 (or more!). One cupof flavored speciality coffee is costing you $1,368 a year. (Holy Cow! Were you aware that you were spending that much? - do the math $3.75 x 365!)

Save $195 - - One soda from a vending machine is about 75¢. With about 260 work days a year, this soda is costing you $195 a year (buy a 6 pack at the store and take one with you every day!)

Save $260 - One bottle of water from a vending machine is about $1.00. With about 260 work days a year, this bottle water is costing you $260 a year (buy a case at the store and take one with you every day!)

Save $365 - Put $1.00 a day in a "piggie bank". That's $365 a year! Good way to use your change, clean out your pockets or purse at the end of the day!)

Add these up and you can save $2,553 in a year!

And these are just a couple things that are common -just to get the point across. If you don't drink the flavored coffees, what do you drink? A large soda from a fast food on the way to work? Those are about $1.69 x 260 days a year - your savings would be $439 a year! What do you do on a daily basis? Pick a few and stop doing them once a day and save that money! You'll never miss it!!!

JUST THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH $2500!!!

If you start now, you can collect that money in a savings account, collect the interest for the next year and you will have a nice nest egg for Christmas next year!! Or $1500 for your summer vacation next year! Or pay off a large debt by next year!

Want save $5,106 a year?

The above figures are for doing these things ONCE A DAY. Do them twice a day and
your savings will double! Most drink more than one soda a day or get a coffee on the way to work and on the way home!!!

Want to save even more?

Some of the above mentioned steps are based on "work days" in the year of about 260 days a year. If you were to expand the "work day" to all 365 days in a year - your savings would increase!

Take a look at what you are doing each day. Then add up what you have done and you
decide - "Do I really want all that stuff or do I want that money for something special?"

Remember, Save a Little to Save Alot!

I Found $75 in my Junk Mail! Yes, I Did!!!!

2006-10-07T14:34:00.000-07:00

I always look through the junk mail and flyers - never know what you will find! And we usually get the same stuff all the time, so I know what to not bother looking at. I don't need a matress, or furniture or sports equipment. I don't need a home loan or home improvement.

But every couple months we get this envelope from an advertising company that includes about 50 coupons from local merchants. Again, loans, home improvement and other services I don't need or want.

But I look for things like car maintenance - free brake inspection, discount on tires or a regular service procedure. Oil changes, etc - all can be expensive so a coupon always helps. Sometimes there are "so much off" at some local independent clothing stores or speciality stores.

There are also coupons for local resturants and internet service. I often use the resturant ones, and it never hurt to stay a on top of what is out ther regarding the internet. It is a way of life and here to stay.

But then I noticed one from a bank. Bank, Junk Mail - they don't seem to have much in common, so I looked at it. Here, with this "coupon", if I went to this local bank, and opened a FREE checking account with first order of checks FREE, NO minimum balance, NO monthly service fee, FREE online banking, FREE ATM/debit card, and I opened it with $1,000, if I left the account open for 90 days, they would deposit $75 into my account! Of course, I figured there was a catch some where, so I called. But, no, no catch. Just open it with $1,000 and you can use that money and/or add more as you like. You just had to leave the account open (with NO minimum balance!) for 90 days to get the $75!

So I did it! Got my first 400 checks for free. Got the ATM card (don't use it but nice to have if I want to!) No service fee, no monthly charges and a "post dated" receipt for the $75 on that 91st day!.

Just $1,000 of my money, to spend or save as I see fit and when I hit that 91st day, $75 goes into my account and is MINE, MINE, MINE!!!! I can close the account after that if I want to, or just leave it sit for "emergencies" or start using that bank instead of the one I currenly use! But for doing nothing, I got $75!

And all because I looked at the junk mail one day!

Save Your Money and Have the Best Cheap Lunch in Town!

2006-10-06T09:40:00.001-07:00

Don't let the word "cheap" determine whether you save money or not! Whether you read the word, hear it or say it, "cheap" can be one of your best friends!! I happen to love that word and it catches my wallet all the time! A lot of things I have are a result of not ignoring that precious, priceless word! Thank you, "cheap"!

Cheap is just the good stuff rearranged in your life - or in this case, on your plate!

For instance:

Local fast foods, offer Value Meals or $1.00 Menus. This is where they offer you many of the same items as they do in a combo meal, but seperately. For $4.99 you can get a hamburger, fries and a drink. On the value menu, you can get a hamburger, fries and a drink for $3.00. Mix and match and you have a wonderful array of lunches!

Ms Syd Barr sent me her way of stretching her dollars!

A certain fast food place has a $1.00 menu. A side salad w/dressing is $1.00. An order of chicken pieces (4 nice size pieces) is $1.00. Buy these 2 items, Break/cut up the pieces of chicken into small bite sizes pieces and place them in the salad. Bingo! You have a nice chicken salad for $2.00!!! The salad comes with dressing of choice. Add a small drink (with free refills) and you have a fantastic lunch both in price and nutrition!

The salad is only 20 calories and the chicken pieces are l70.
The least calorie dressings are: (if you used the entire pkg.)...
low fat Italian is 50 calories...
low fat Balsamic is 40 calories...
Ranch is 170

Plus, if you want to eat a little more, order 2 salads and 2 chicken piece orders! Just get a different dressing on each and you will have more varitey for your meal that day!

Check the $1.00/value menu at your favorite fast food. Mix and match and every day you can have a great and nutritional meal for about $4.00! Drop any change into your purse so at the end of the week, you can collect it and put it in your piggy bank for savings.

Give it a try! See what fun, nutritional and CHEAP meals you can create! And thanks for the tip, Syd

P.S. Ask your fast food place if they offer discounts for "seniors"- some offer seniors a small drink for 49¢ with free refills!! Again, it never hurt to ASK!!!

Don't let the word "cheap" determine whether you save money or not!

2006-10-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

Cheap is just the good stuff rearranged in your life - or in this case, on your plate!

For instance:

For example: A certain fast food place has a $1.00 menu. A side salad w/dressing is $1.00. An order of chicken pieces (4 nice size pieces) is $1.00. Buy these 2 items, Break/cut up the pieces of chicken into small bite sizes pieces and place them in the salad. Bingo! You have a nice chicken salad for $2.00!!! The salad comes with dressing of choice. Add a small drink (with free refills) and you have a fantastic lunch both in price and nutrition!

Plus, if you want to eat a little more, order 2 salads and 2 chicken piece orders! Just get a different dressing on each and you will have more varitey for your meal that day!

Give it a try! See what fun, nutritional and CHEAP meals you can create!

P.S. Ask your fast food place if they offer discounts for "seniors"- some offer seniors a small drink for 49¢ with free refills!! Again, it never hurt to ASK!!!

Bargains Are Great, But Don't Let Them Steal Your Money

2006-09-24T09:18:00.000-07:00

It is great to shop for bargains. They are a good way to save money. However, quite often a "bargain" can turn out ot be a waste of valuable money! Don't let the "bargain price" be the only cost you look at! Remember, the point is to save money!

There are alot of things that you buy and pay a "bargain" price for - it's on sale, it's discontinued, etc. There are things that you sign up for and pay a monthly fee for. These things are advertised as a bargain. How many times have you heard, "Just $29.95 a month!" or "Only $14.95 to start!" That is what grabs your attention, but BEWARE!!!! That is JUST THE BASE PRICE! Watch out for that "Add-on Monster"! He will grab your money before you know what you are spending it on! With all those extra's, add-on's and the cool features... once you look at that total, it isn't a bargain anymore! And we want to save money!

Solution

ASK YOURSELF QUESTIONS, AND ANSWER THEM!!!

Example #1

It is fun to add all those extra's to your cell phone. They sound so cool and neat. Now you're with the "in" crowd! Yes, you are but ask yourself this question.... is the "in" crowd going to be paying that bill at the end of the month? No, you are! So now, look at those features you choose and ask yourself, "Do I really NEED that feature and do I really want to spend my money on that instead of saving putting it in my Goal Fund?" If you are serious about saving money and meeting your goal, common sense will make you delete some of those extra features. Do you really need a video feature or a camera feature? Text messaging is an addition monthly charge, can't you just call them? Did you pay for additional options for a ringer? Do you really need it to play a current song instead of the phone just ringing?
Question: Do you want to spend your money on these features or save your money in your "Goal Fund"? You have to make that decision but remember, when your Goal Fund is not climbing, and you think "I'm not going to have enoung money in time", don't get discouraged. Just remember it was YOUR CHOICE not to add money to it. You spent it elsewhere, like on that cell phone that is sitting in your pocket. Use the Pick and Choose Method

Example #2

And what about TV? They have cable, satalite dish, Pay-Per-View and additional movie channels, etc. Yes, it is a fun thing to think about - all those movies, and dramas, and specials, and documentaries and re-runs!!! Plus regular local channels! Wow - are you set! Base price is only $XX dollars! Well, don't let the wording cost you money. BASIC price is $XX, but if you add all these other extras , the price rises to $XXXXX dollars! Question: "Do I REALLY need to be spending THAT much time in front of the TV to be able to watch ALL these shows and features I am paying for?" Well, if your answer is yes, then you must not need to save any money. But if you answer is no, then you backup, rewind and start over and use the Pick and Choose Method.

The Pick and Choose Method

Tell yourself this... "Basic package, plus required sales taxes is ______, and for that I get _________. Do I really want, muchless need, all those extras? If I pay for them, I don't contribute to my Goal Fund. If I pay for them, I spend that much more time in front of the TV (or on the cell phone) which means there are alot of other things that I could do and want to do, but won't because I am in front of the TV (or on the cell). If I order them, I HAVE to pay for them EVERY month. Is that really where I want my money to go?"

Remember, YOU are the one paying that bill EACH month! You make the desicion. And again, if you do choose the high bill, realize that you won't be contributing to your Goal Fund, so don't be disgusted when your Goal Fund doesn't increase. You chose not to save money.

You can use the Pick and Choose Method with any item that you buy. Just ASK YOURSELF QUESTIONS AND ANSWER THEM! That sales person that is talking you into buying the extras and add-ons, isn't the one that will be paying the bill each month! You will be paying the bill so you decide what you want to pay for.

I went to buy a toaster oven. Found one for $39 - perfect for my budget and exactly what I wanted. Of course there was state sales taxes. Can't get around that! It came with a 90 factory warrenty. Then they asked me if I wanted to buy another warrenty for 1 year for $10. It only covered manufactured, mechanical parts that might break, not wear and tear or anything that might happen to it while I used it. Do I really want to spend $10 on something that I have yet, in my life, to ever have used? If it goes bad in the year, the cost of the warrenty ($10) plus the cost of shipping it back to the maker ($10-15, maybe more because it is heavey) and then wait and wait and do without with the toaster oven (which I use several times a day!) and use my large oven in the meantime which runs up my gas utility bill, which costs me more money. Now, all money spent on the toaster oven is around $75!!!!

Buying the warrenty has cost me nearly twice the price of the toaster oven! And it doesn't stop there. You have to hope that they say the problem is "their" fault for the warrenty to cover it. If they decide it is NOT their fault, they just send it back.

And that is based on the toaster oven breaking within the first year! What happens when it breaks in the second year? The warrenty has expired, your $10 is gone and you still have to go buy another one. You have thrown away $10.

In this case, it was a better choice to not buy the $10 warrenty, add that $10 to my Goal Fund and then whenever it breaks (the last toaster oven I had lasted me 4 years before it just stopped!), watch the ads and buy a new one. SAVE MONEY!!!

10 Ways to Save Money - it is so EASY!!!

2006-09-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

10 Ways to Save Money - they are so easy, you'll be saying "I can't believe I have been spending so much!"

1. Coupons are literally FREE MONEY!! Use grocery coupons!. It really isn't hard, especially if you have a goal in mind. When you get home, see what your coupon savings were and write yourself a check for that amount and deposit it into your savings account. Once you see your savings grow, your inclination to use coupons will grow! This is a great way to save if you can afford to do it this way, but in my case, I had to use coupons to get that free money so that it would add to my available cash so that I could get enough groceries for the week. If my coupons added up to $10, that meant I had $10 more to spend than the actual cash in my hand. If my budget was $100, and I had $10 in coupons, that meant I could buy $110 in groceries! Either way, it is a great way to save! Just think - if you save $10 a week, that's $520 a year!!!!

2. Once you have your goal set, and your coupons funding that goal, get involved with a coupon exchange! Friends, family, neighbors - just ask them if they want to trade with you or if they would just save the sunday newspaper coupons for you! You are only allowed one coupon per item, but if you have 10 coupons, you can buy 10 items! If they are on sale this week - all the more savings! 2 weeks from now when you need that item, you don't have to pay full price for it! You can also watch Ebay for coupons. Watch out though! Don't forget you have to pay shipping fees on your purchase. Make sure you add your purchase price AND the shipping charges to see if it is a bargain or a rip-off!

2. Set aside a day when you will spend NO MONEY! Whether it be once a week or once a month - it is saving you some to add to your goal. Give it a cute name like "One Step Closer to my Vacation Day" so that you have something to hold on to when you say no to spending. Make it your reason! Brown bag your lunch to work. Don't buy your cup of flavored coffee on this day. Eat left overs for dinner. Drink a large glass of water instead of getting a soda out of the vending machine. Or bring a soda from home! Depending on what you do, there could be alot of savings in just one day!

3. When you see things on sale like pens, tablets, note cards, or other things that you use all the time, buy several of them while they are on sale. Back-to-school times are the best times to buy this kind of stuff.

4. Yard Sales!!! They aren't just junk! Trust me! You never know what you will find! I just went to one and bought 10 of those little Post-it sticky pads,brand new, still in wrapper - 10¢ each! And they are like $5 for 5 pads at the office supply store! I also bought sealed packs of lined, 3x5 index cards, some white, some colored - 10¢ each! And those run about $3 for 100. These can be used for flash cards for the kids, note cards, message paper, recipe cards, chore or job cards - the possibilities are endless! Keep some in your car's glove box. Throw some in your purse. The kids can keep some in their notebooks - and on the list can go!

5. When you eat out - check out the appetizer menu. Those tend to be good size portions and the price is reasonable. Remember, go out to eat but only eat till you are full. It's no fun and you can feel guilty if you gourge yourself at your meal and then go home and you feel miserable cause you ate to much. Or if you do get a meal, eat only half of it at and take the rest home for your next meal.

6. Don't subscribe to magazines - go to the library and check them out! But if you have to subscribe, surf the internet for bargains! Or ask for the subscription as a gift at christmas time or birthday. Or ask your friends what magazines they have and do a "magazine swap" the last day of the month!

7. You young kids might not know this, but we have this thing called U.S. Postal Service - it is where you write, (with a pen), a letter (on a few pieces of paper) to a friend or loved-one and these guys in blue deliver it to your friend for you!! Yes, write a letter and mail it!! Instead of paying for a long distance call, do a 39-center! You have "visited" with your friend, and just think how excited and surprised they will be when they get your letter! What a noval idea!

8. When particular foods are on sale, buy in bulk and then freeze in meal-size portions! For instance, when that ground round goes on sale for $1.99 a pound, buy 10 pounds. Once home, seperate it into quart size freezer bags - about a pound each. This way, the package takes up less space in your freezer, it is a great way to stack the packages so they don't fall out when you open the door and they thaw very quickly. (A thin slab will thaw much faster than a thick ball) Now you are set for 10 meals! Now that is for a family of 4 - okay I used about 1 1/2 pounds per meal for my family of four but I had a growing son and a husband working in construction! But you get the point! This is also great for boneless,skinless chicken breat - buy them on sale and freeze enough for a meal. Watch for your favorite meat!

9. You have heard "make a menu and stick to it" to save money. Well, that never worked for me. What if something is on sale but not on my menu for that week? Do I pull a "stupid" and pass it by because it is not on my menu this week? For heaven sake, no! It works so much better and is so much cheaper to buy what is on sale, and then go home and make your menu based on what you had just bought.

10. Make "crowd-pleaser" size meals, and FREEZE the rest! I would do some cooking on the weekends and make a HUGe pot of chili, spaghetti sauce, or soups. Then freeze in meal size portions. That makes for quick and easy preperation after a long day at work!

The thing you have to remember is that it is not a complicated or confusing as it sounds! You just have to pick an issue and do it. Once that one is in place and you have it running well, pick another one and on down the line. Before you know it, your savings will accumulate and you biggest decision will be "what do I get to spend it on?"

Another 8 Ways to Save Money - or Stretch Your Dollars!

2006-09-13T11:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a few more ways to save money by economizing and being open-minded! Why buy something new, if you have something else that works just as well? Why buy something new if you have something to extend what you already have? Save money when you can!

Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and - voila - static is gone. Give it a try!

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill it with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry the cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
And for you moms out there - little ones LOVE a set of plastic measuring cups to play with!

Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair...

Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2" with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone!

Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it "home," & can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, esp. if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

Take baby powder to the beach
Keep a small bottle of baby powder in your beach bag. When your ready to leave the beach sprinkle yourself and kids with the powder and the sand will slide right off your skin.

Give them a try! I can't guarentee they all work, but what do you have to loose? Except money that you could save for something great!

Note: these are not my own personal tips. They are from a newsletter.

Save Money - Round Up All Your Payments!!!!

2006-09-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

It sounds stupid and childish, but sometimes the most simpliest and easiest and most accomodating way to save money is a penny at a time. Okay, maybe a nickel, dime or dollar at a time, but the point is if you want or need something in upper dollar amounts, and then think "I have to save THAT MUCH! I'll never do that!" so you tend to not bother. HOWEVER, it you use common sense and my motto " save a little to save alot", you'll have what you need or want (within common sense reasoning, of course) before you know it, and not even missed it while you are saving it.

It's always easy for those with money, giving out budgeting and saving advise, to say " when you get your paycheck, pay your self 10% FIRST - then pay your bills" Yeah, that's great if you have enough income where that is an option, but what about those of us that don't have the high paying jobs and we are just trying to make ends meet? That 10% is fine and dandy but what do you do when that 10% means "do I pay the electric bill or myself first?"

The key is to find ways to save, by stretching the dollars you already have! Pick up the pennies from the sidewalk, yeah, okay, but let's do a bit more than that.

When you pay a bill, the key is to ROUND UP TO THE NEXT DOLLAR. That is a savings you can afford, and won't miss, but you will be surprised at the outcome.

When you pay a bill, whether in a handwritten check or online, ROUND THE AMOUNT PAID UP TO THE NEXT DOLLAR!! Say $27.84 is the total due - write the check for $28.00. You won't miss that 16¢ in your budget, but that 16¢ goes as a credit to your account. Next month you will have a credit of 16¢ taken off your due amount. Continue to do this with each monthly payment. It adds up and every little bit helps! If you can afford more - round it up to $30.00. It isn't much, but as is the basis of saving money when you don't have it to save is, "SAVE A LITTLE TO SAVE ALOT'. This is a good idea for paying your utility bills since they fluxuate so much year round. Granted it is more advantageous to round to the next "10 dollar" increment - $27.84 to $30.00, but just do what you can do, when you can do it! It all adds up!! Round up to the nearest Even Dollar that you can afford. If it is only 16¢, take it, if you can do more, do it!

In addition, you can use this same strategy paying credit card bills too. The more you pay, the less the balance is that they rate interest on for next month means the less your paymnet and the sooner you can pay the card off!

Or, you could just pay the exact amount of the bill but then when you subtract the amount in the check book - ROUND THAT NUMBER UP TO THE NEAREST DOLLAR! Yes, this might make balancing a little complicated, but like in my case, I don't bother with balancing a check book, I just make sure I don't spend more than I deposit. Just because I have checks in the book, doesn't mean there is money in there too! Simple adding and subraction saves alot of time.

Plus, now that you are rounding to the nearest dollar, you don't have those cents to subtract in the check book! This makes the procedure quick and easy!!!

So let's see - you have paid your bills, you have saved some money, you have stretched the dollars you have AND you have done it quick, simple and EASY!!! How can you argue with that!!!

8 Easy Ways to Save Money - and Stretch Your Dollar

2006-09-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

There are more ways to save money, than just dealing with the cash in your hand. Conserving and economizing are also fantastic ways to make your dollars go farther and save some money. If you can use something else, why buy something new!

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a non-stick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza.

Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar/calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated breads
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Broken Glass
Use a dry cotton ball to pick up little broken glass pieces of glass- the fibers catch ones you can't see!

No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away. See if it works for you!

Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

Prove it's MINE!!!!!
If you purchase a new bike for your child, place their picture inside the handle bar before placing the grips on. If the bike is stolen and later recovered, remove the grip and there is your proof who owns the bike. Or just put your name and phone number and state as owner. This could work on other things like helmets - anything that has a parat covered. See what works for you!

Give them a try and see what works for you! I can't guarentee they all work, but what have you got to loose? Except money you could save for something great! Just think, if they work, that is money you have saved this week!
Note: These are not my own personal tips. They are from a newsletter I read

Steak Dinner - Make the Prices Work For You!

2006-08-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

I have been doing this for years, simply because it was a way to stretch my money - so that I could get more out of my dollar - make it go farther - whatever you want to call it. But now I see it as a way to just SAVE MONEY.

When I used to go out to eat, I'd just look for the cheapest item - whether it was what I wanted or not, the price was the deciding factor. Well, that works okay, but I have since learned how to order what I want, as well as stretch my dollars! And looking at prices is still the deciding factor! It is just in HOW you look at the prices! Make them work for you!

I went to a steak house. They offer a 12 oz steak for $11.49 which includes a large baked potatoe, good size salad and bread. The next step up was a 16 oz steak for $12.49, same extras. So for $1.00 more, I can get 4oz more of steak! That works well! BUT....if you order a huge meal and eat it all right then and there, what happens? You go home stuff, bloated, miserable and then you end up sitting on the sofa because you are so stuffed that you can't even move. How much fun was it to eat out? I my book, not much! I paid $12.49 to feel miserable the rest of the day! Not acceptable!!!! That takes all the fun out of eating out. So.... here's what you have to do and consider when you are eating out on a budget, and want to get the most for your money and still feel good after you have eaten......

I chose the 16oz steak. My bill is $12.49 and order the steak medium rare. I eat the salad that they bring first. That is quite filling. Then when they bring the meal, I eat the baked potatoe and start eating the steak, small pieces at a time around the outter 1 inch edges of the steak. The salad, the potatoe, the bread and water to drink - I get full soon enough. They say that it only takes 20 minutes for your stomach to "feel full" so what is in there after 20 minutes is what fills you and what goes in after that is what makes you "stuffed". So stop after 20 mintues!
Then I take the steak home. A reheated baked potatoe isn't very good, nor is reheated garlic bread. But the steak - lots of options there! I order it medium rare. Why? The outter edges are done well enough to eat right then and the inside is rare so that when I reheat it the next day, it just cooks to proper "medium" instead of cooking to "well done"!

Now I have 2 meals for the price of one! Tomorrow I have will have a nice steak and I can make a wonderful steak burrito, a steak quesadilla, make my own baked potatoe and reheat the steak as is. Lots that you can do with 10oz of steak! So 2 full meals for the $12.49 - that's $6.25 each - that's the cost of the average value meal at a fast food! But this way, you get 2 great healthy meals!

Share your comments about your favorite way to save money when eating out!

To make money, save money or just stretch what you have - continue reading for more tips, ideas and ways to do all 3!

Have You Got Money? Yes, You Have! You Just Don't Realize It!

2006-08-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

You have money in places you don't even realize! As I have said before, it may just be a buck here and 50¢ there, not much on an individual basis, but put them all together and what have you got? A whole lot more than bib-bide-bob-ide-boo!

A dollar a day is $365 a year. A dollar a week is $52 a year. Again, not much, but put them together and you have saved over $400 in a year and you didn't even have to do a thing to get it. It didn't cost you anything including EFFORT! It was TOTALLY FREE to get! WHY? Cause you already had it, you just didn't know it!!! $400 would cover Christmas gifts just fine!! (it is only 5 months away you know!)

WHERE TO LOOK....

Have you checked the bottom of your purse lately? Have you checked the compartments in your car for spare change you drop there? What about a "holder" that you have around the house or in your bedroom where you throw change?

I do my husbands laundry - and every time I take the jeans out of the washer to put into the dryer, I always find change in the basin (I know, I should check the pockets before washing, I just forget to!)

But guarenteed (for me)- at least a dollar a week - usually more! But based on one dollar a week - that is $52 a year. A birthday or christmas gift or 2!

And where did that buck come from? Not my wallet, not my savings account, not my pay check......my husbands pockets! Yes, reallly - just his pockets where it might have fallen out on the street anyway. From my husbands pockets where it'd probably just been dropped somewhere and forgotten about. From my husbands pockets....that might have just gone back into his pockets and wasted on something he didn't really need. He had it and didn't even know it.

"To make money, save money or just stretch what you have - continue reading for more tips, ideas and ways to do all 3!"

Save Money with Your Coffee Filters - Really!!

2006-08-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

Another way to stretch your dollars, or save your dollars, is to find other uses for things you already have. Most items have lots of uses, you just have to think about it. Here is one of my favorites - COFFEE FILTERS. They are of a non absorbant but retaining material - strong, but thin and so many uses! Here's 10 ideas - you can't live without Coffee Filters - particularily the circular flat ones!!!

1. Snack "plates"....that I don't have to wash!! I give my grand daughter treats and snacks during the day which results in dirty dishes or finding the snack on the floor. I used to use sandwich baggies, but was always worried about a child and plastic. Coffee filters are perfect for her little hands and hold a perfect amount for her (she is 6). I can fill the coffee filter with chips, cookies, granola, fruit snacks, popcorn, cut-up fruit or any other item for her to eat. PRESTO!! No dishes to wash. Nothing to pick up off the floor because it fell out of her hands. Mobile - can go anywhere. Holds most any food a child would want. Don't get better than that!

2. Cover up the food being heated in the microwave so it doesn't splatter. Use one of the coffee filters as the protective covering over a bowl or a plate. Then just toss! I was using paper towels or napkins - but this is easier, and very much less expensive. The circulare filters work best for this. This way is cheaper than using paper towels so you are saving money!

3. What a great packing material! Whether you are moving or just storing precious china - flatten a filter between each plate or wrap around a glass. Or if you have some nice dishes, that you use just sometimes, a flattened coffee filter between each dish as they set in the cabinet provides a bit of protection. Save money - you don't have to buy that expensive packing material to protect your china!

4. I used to make homemade popsicles for my kids because I couldn't afford to buy them (6 in a store for a couple bucks, but making my own out of juices was about 12 for a buck and more healthy!) But the problem was the dripping! The kids didn't like it, I didn't like it. I started out wrapping the stick in a paper towel.Worked, but annoying. Then I saw where they use round aluminum for holding candles so the wax doesn't drop on your hands, BINGO - why not the same for popsicles! I poked the stick of the popsicles into the middle of the coffee filter and voila! The drips go into the filter and absorb! No more sticky hands or drips around the house!

5. Food Holders! Depending on the style of the filter (the V-shaped ones might be a bit more difficult to use - the circular filters work for more things). If you are at a picnic, serve each sandwich with a circular coffee filter "holder". If the kids want to eat outside in the tent - give them their lunch with sandwich holders.

6. Party Snack Holders - the V-shaped ones would be wonderful for holding the party snacks. YOu could even have the craft be to decorate their coffee filters (get white ones) and then it gets filled when done decorating. Fill it with the little snacks that they can snack on while waiting to be picked up. Again, MOBILE!!!

7. Since coffee filters leave no lint or other residue they are perfect for washing windows! No streaks, no dust! And it saves on the cost of paper towels! SAVE MONEY!!

8. Ever get some of that cork crumbs in your wine bottle? Strain the wine through a coffee filter and no more cork crumbs!

9. Craft item holders - working with beads, sands, pebbles, rhinestones... the circular coffee filters with a flat bottom are great for holding all these small little things but still make them easily accessible for your craft. Save money - you don't have to buy those little holders. You can buy in bulk, store in bulk, but use the filters when you are working with the little items.

10. A great kids craft accessory. Coffee filters are strong - they can hold up to markers, crayons, colored pencils - give the kids a couple of them and watch their imaginations go! Throw in some glitter and the princess will all have beautiful hats and the prince's will have

So think about what you have around the house. Watch the sale items - maybe you don't use or need that item but the price is good if you did. Think of other ways to use that item that you can get for a cheaper price and save money!

THIS IS THE END OF THIS ARTICLE

Great site for Freebies, Samples and a FREE $1.00 just for joining!

2006-08-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

I can highly recommend this site. I "shop" regularly. It is a great site for freebies and samples. Just join (totally free!) and work with it at your own pace and see what goodies you can find! If they are offering free samples, why not accept them!!! As you take advantage of the free samples, keep your eyes and ears open for offers that you might hear about (on TV in a magazine etc) and if you post a freebie (posting is free!), you get points. Collect points and turn them into gift cards! It's a win-win situation!

Just click here and take a look! It is totally free - you can't loose! If you join now, you will even get a FREE $1.00 Bill!!!!!! You've already made money!

QUIZ POINTS!

I usually spend an hour or two on Friday nights (okay, I have no life, but I do have fun getting the freebies and samples!) going through the list of offers. Granted, ocassionally I miss some as they sometimes close the offer before I get there, but its the only time I can get there, and I still find alot of great offers. And thre are other offers that do cost, but seem to be at a discount if you go through Quiz Points to make the purchase.

Give it a try! If you don't like it, just don't go back! What have you got to loose?

QUIZPOINTS!

THIS IS THE END OF THIS ARTICLE.

Use the "Intelligent Spending Decision" process = NO TAXES!

2006-07-31T18:49:00.000-07:00

I share these tips, ideas and suggestions with you under the theroy of "savings" and you visit my blog under the opportunity of " how can I save money?".

HOWEVER..... and that's a BIG - HOWEVER..........

You are not saving money, you are not making money - you are simply reorganizing the money you have to spend so that you get the most possible from your money - - - ergo "savings", "making money", whatever wording you choose to use - you are "stretching your nickels till the buffalo poops" as the old saying goes. With NO EXTRA TAXES!!!!

With this "new age" wording (like being a "mulit-tasked employee", only means that you can do your job and the job of 2-3 employees, therefore the employer only has to pay ONE salary and gets 3 jobs done... but I move on.....) it can all be misconstrued to be savings or making money - all of which are TAXABLE! But by using the "Intelligent Spending Decision" process. (Or in regular, ordinary words, "Don't be an idiot and throw your hard-earned money down a rat hole!" ). You don't have to pay taxes - as the outcome is not earned (thereby taxable) income!

So let's look at it the "new-age" way - If you were to work extra hours at your job to earn more money you are "making" money, right? Well, with the "Intelligent Spending Decision" process, you aren't "making money" you are just NOT spending so much!

Whatever wording you want to use, "made" money" make money", "saved" money, all you did was NOT PAY FULL PRICE !!! You didn't have buy the item, you got a free sample. You didn't pay regular price, you paid sale price offered by the store themselves. You made your purchases shopping wisely and intelligently and looking for the best deals, lowest prices and best opportunities! You can create extra money by making intelligent decisions, choosing smart options, planning and organizing and not wasting your time or money and not spending more than you actually NEED to.

And this "extra money" is NOT TAXABLE! You shopped wisely and got lower prices. PERIOD!! No business involved, no W-2 - it is just using the Intelligent Spending Decision" process.

On the 1040, you have to report your earnings and income. Any money you saved because you didn't pay full price is NOT income! The store didn't reimburse you the difference! The difference between the sale price and the regular price is NOT income - therefore not taxable! You didn't EARN the difference, you weren't employed, no money changed hands for the difference, you just DIDN'T PAY THE FULL PRICE!!! PERIOD!!!! Now if you actually put the savings between the sale price and the regular price in a savings account, yes at the end of the year you have to pay taxes on the interest you "earned" from that as you DID earn that interest.

But in my case, I didn't do all these things and figure out how to "make money" or even to "save money". I did it as it was the only way I could make ends meet! I either waited and shopped the sales and feed my kids, or I paid full price for what I wanted when I wanted it and the kids didn't get 3 meals a day. My choice was my kids- a no brainer. But if your "earned" income is different, you can use the outcome of these tips and suggestions differently. It's up to you. Just practice the "Intelligent Spending Decision" process

"Save A Little To Save Alot" is the theory, having enough MONEY is the outcome! A win-win situation! Doesn't get any better than that!

Save Money While Saving Your Vacation Memories

2006-07-31T11:20:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words, but so is memorabilia - and most of it you can get for FREE. SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!! And the memories are endless!!!

There is so much that you can collect for your scrapbook - you probably don't even realize! And you can even make a scrapbook without taking photos! Don't waste your money on buying junk, just look at what is right in front of you for FREE!!! SAVE MONEY!!! And if you don't scrapbook, here's your chance to learn or just do what you want the way you want to do it! Just so long as you remember your trips.

Gathering memorabilia: Put some plastic zipper bags in your suit case and purse to store memorabilia. Mark each bag with the date and the place. Store ticket stubs, shells, leaves, menus, receipts, business cards or other items you can pick up and put in the bags that will remind you of your day. Doesn't cost you a dime to collect this kind of stuff and oh, the memories!!! FOR FREE!!! SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!!

Journaling: You like to think that you will never forget this wonderful trip, and alot of it you won't, but you will forget some, even alot, of it and especially the little things that made up the major memories! Each night, journal (using the hotels free stationery they usually have in drawer!) about the day - things you did, places you went, what you bought, ate or participated in. Your feelings, and little events that happened. These are the things that you will forget in time. When done, just slide the sheet in a page protector! Or take a spiral notebook and journal in it. Journal while you are doing a transportation jaunt - like if you have to take a bus or train and dont' have any thing to do, or can't do anything else- journal about your day. Trust me, you won't remember it all - a year down the road and those little things that made the trip special, will be forgotten.

Take along page protectors. These are great for brochures, phamplets, maps and other larger paper items. Just put them in the bottom of your suitcase when you are not using them.

Don't forget postcards - for another reason! Often pictures that you take are fine if they are of people, but always check out post cards for the main attractions of the place you are at. For instance, if you go to Philidelphia to see the Liberty Bell, yes, you can take photos, but pick up a post card of this American Icon - the picture will be so much better than what you will take. Get postcards of the scenery - they will usually be better than ones you take (minus the people). Then just journal on the back of the card!

Mail your memories home! If you are going to be gone for several weeks, get some 9x12 manilla envelopes and address them to yourself. Fill them with memorabilia and then find the post office where ever you are and send the filled envelope home! that way you don't have to carry it around, hope it don't get lost or messed up. And you dont have to pay for the weight at the airport!!!

Make money, save money and do it on vacation! The more you save, the more you will have to spend!!!!!

Don't Let "FAST FOODS" Go By YOU TO FAST!!!

2006-07-31T07:16:00.000-07:00

Yeah, those wonderful places! I don't go often as the items I like are not that healthy, but I do treat myself once in a while. HOWEVER..... I might treat myself, but I DON'T WASTE MONEY while I am treating myself! And you don't have to, either.

JUST CHECK THE PRICES!!! Most of the fast foods have a "dollar menu", "value menu" - certain items that they only charge $1.00 for. I am not to picky about my fat and grease, so usually what they have there is what I like anyway. BUT... think about it this way...... If you like the large burger - before you order it, look at the value meal menu. There is usually a similar burger, often the same kind, on this menu and it is cheaper.

Example:
the regular burger and a jr. burger. The regular burger is $2.99 (or higher!) but the Jr. burger is only $1.00. You can buy 2 jr. burgers for $2.00 - which is less than the $2.99 for the regular burger! And most of the time, the 2 jr. burgers will weigh MORE than the 1 regular burger - so you are getting MORE FOR LESS!!! And look at them... do you really see that much differnce in size? Yeah, the regular burger is a bit bigger, but put 2 jr. burgers up against it and you have more food at 1/3 the price!

So bigger is not always better - many times, 2 smaller is better than bigger!!! JUST LOOK AT THE PRICES BEFORE YOU ORDER!!!!

"Save A Little to Save Alot" offers you these tips - you take a look and figure out which ones work for you. If I mention them, almost 99% of the time I have "been there, done that" so I know it works!

To make money, save money or just stretch what you have - continue reading for more tips, ideas and ways to do all 3!

For Those "Hard to Buy For" Folks.......

2006-07-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

We all have "hard to buy for" friends or family. We all have those times when "I don't have a clue what to get them". What's the solution? GIFT CARDS!

Now, I have never liked giving gift cards (or in my day they were call "Gift Certificates" and they were similar to a check format). I always thought a Gift Card was the most non-personal form of gift and that a gift card only yelled out, "I didn't want to bother shopping for you", "I don't want to be bothered to find out what you wanted" and "I didn't want to take time to think of you" kind of so called gift. Throw in that back in "the old days" only a few stores gave out the gift certs so what someone could get was so limited.

HOWEVER......In this new world we are living in, with everyone doing so much at so many differnet times in such different ways, quite frankly I think they are pretty good now. Probably most any store that is in business has the gift card available to you. For goodness sake, you can even get a gift card to shop on Ebay!!!!! And gift cards are great for any holiday you need a gift. Would your graduating high school senior rather have a gift card to their favorite hangout or something "practical"?
But in my "old habits die hard" thinking, I wont' get one at a "regular shopped" store. The local discount stores, the ones everyone goes to, the ones that my person shops at regularly - I won't buy a card from there. Why? Cause I know that they will end up spending it on household items, groceries, and just stuff that is on their regular shopping list. The point of a gift is that it is FOR THE PERSON, not just an item in general for whatever!

Instead, I will get them a card from a speciality store or "out of the usual" place that they like to go. Starbucks, Bath and Body Works, Boot Barn, Michael's Craft store. These are the stores my kids like but usually don't spend much time or money at - only when they absolutely need something. So I get them a gift card to one of these places and then they get the fun of shopping and spoiling themselves! Plus they think of ME everytime they use the card and remember ME when they are using or wearing the item! "Mom helped me get this" or "Mom bought this for me". Instead of just remembering me on the one day they opened the gift, I get to be remembered repeatedly! Plus Iknow that they will be smiling as they drive away with their choice of gift item. Better than buying them something you think they might like and then they either exchange it for soemthing else or it sits in the garage and collects dust until the next time they have a yard sale!

For instance, I got my daughter a gift card to Starbucks for Christmas. I was really just short on time to go shopping, so gift cards is where my mind went. But I figured, I know she likes the coffees there, she gets them often but because they are so expensive, she probably doesn't get them as often as she would like. This gift card she can spoil herself and get them more often, at least until the card amount is met! And everytime she hands over the gift card, she will remember Mom and a smile will grace her beautiful face and I will feel a little pitter in my heart that I made my child's day! Don't get any better than that!

So while you "Save A Little To Save Alot" you also get to make memories!!!

Watch the Holidays for Money Saving Sales

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And it doesn't have to be just home improvements needs! Household items, work tools, storage, misc hardware for hanging pictures, AA batteries, small appliances, washer faucets, flashlights, etc ....

Many of the "little guys" in home improvement/hardware/gardening stores have to compete with the "big guys" so they will have sales that the "big guys" won't. Granted they might not carry the humongous selection that the "big guys" have, but think about it - do you really need that hugmongous selection? Are you going in there for that? Or do you just have a couple items you need?

The "little guys" are also better if you just need a simple thing, just a couple items or you're just fixing or restoring an item, need to replace a work tool, need some shelves, need some gardening items, etc. You're not rebuilding your home, not adding on or making major changes! You just need a couple things. Remember, at those big ones, you have to wade through isle after isle after isle to find the one thing you are looking for - this takes time. Then you stand in a long line - this takes time. Time is money. Don't waste it.

That's why the "little guy" can be better for you both in saving money and time. There is a local "little guy" building supply/hardware/gardening store here in town. Almost evey holiday (and always for the summer holidays) they have a promotion where they will pay the state sales tax for your entire purchase! That means the price of the item is all you pay! NO STATE SALES TAX! That is a big savings right there! California is 7.75% or higher! Bacially speaking $8 for every $100 you spend. And since you HAVE to have the item, might as well save some money of it if the opportunity it there! I have read the ads, and see that the prices don't vary all that much in this area, as there are so many places to go - shop and compare, but just remember, save when you can. If you have to buy the item(s) why not save some money if you can?

Another promotion offered is 10% off your purchase (before state sales tax)

And these kinds of stores also have home appliances too - small appliances - coffee makers, waffle irons, work clothes, indoor plant items, household hardware like nails, tacks, picture hangers - things you use daily around the house. So don't think they are just "home improvement" centers.

Alot of times you can just start a "To Get for Home" list of household/outdoor items you need, and since they have these sales off and one all year, make a list and when the sale hits, go do your shopping from your list! Granted some things can't wait, but organize it, think about it. If it can wait, or if you don't need it at the moment, but know you will eventually need it, put it on the list! You know your coffee pot is on its last legs, put it on the list and save 10%!

Plus the check out lines are not as long in the "littel guy" stores and quite frankly, I have been to the "big guys" for things, and the employees are so much nicer at the "little guys: and even the shoppers are not as, how do I say it nicely, "high strung"? I was at one of the "big guys" once looking for a very unusual little hardware item, (which they didn't carry and I eventually found it at the "little guy"s place!) and I had to stand a wait behind a guy while he talked on his cell phone instead of putting his stuff on the check out table! The employee was talking to another employee so neither bothered to see (or care?) that the people in line were standing there waiting while they chit-chatted!

So give it some thought, make a list (check it twice, if you need to!) and save a little to save alot - add the NO STATE SALES TAX or 10% OFF to your yearly savings total! Have you noticed how high it is getting just by doing the little things mentioned in this blog? Looks like a very nice "no credit card"
christmas to me!

So remember, "Save A Little To Save Alot" - it isn't hard, you just have to want to do it!