Wool Dryer Balls~Saving Money, Naturally. *Giveaway*

I posted a picture of Woolzies a couple weeks ago on Facebook, glad to see I wasn't last to the party!

We have been using them for a little while now, and goodness do they help!

I had been trying to find ways to cut down on laundry expenses.

We already make our own laundry soap and hang drying is a lovely idea, except we have trees and a big empty field and SPIDERS like crazy. I just can't do it! I have tried hanging some in our laundry room but 2-3 loads of wash a day, there just isn't enough room for it all.

We have a h/e machine already, other than making sure I get every stray sock in the load I don't think there is another way I can save on the washing part, we just use soap, sometimes vinegar. I won't pay for or use fabric softener, it's not softening anything, it's coating the fabric with chemicals. ICK!

So I started checking out drying options, lots of DIY fabric sheets but same chemical coating, no thanks.

In my search I read about these wool dryer balls. Claimed to help drying time and soften clothes.

I had seen the plastic ones and was not convinced I would want heated plastic in with our clothes, I envisioned more holes and less help with the drying or making anything softer, and was pretty sure the noise would be crazy.

I read about Woolzies then tried them out, I new the first week I was hooked!

They work by helping separate the clothes in the dryer and allowing the air to circulate more efficiently. I barely notice a difference in noise.

 I didn't really have an issue with static before, and still don't. But I don't over dry stuff. As soon as it is dry stuff comes out, I think static is partially over drying.



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February Resolution!

But first! How I did in January? Proud to say I bought 1 or 2 coffees in January and I plan to keep up that trend! I did find a tool that sure made it SO much easier! I love an extra foamy latte, that was my go to drink at Starbucks and other places. But with this, I can make my own controlled ingredients as foamy as I want in just 2 minutes! No driving, no paying $4 for a drink, no waiting in line. I was totally skeptical at first, I mean really? Look at it! It doesn't appear to be anything special!

And here is what it can do! Worth the few bucks!

Ok, enough about that and the $60 plus dollars I saved last month!

February's goal is another money sucker but not nearly as bad, although it is probably WAY worse for my health!

Diet Pop! I don't keep it in the house but we will get one when we are out running errands. This goal is really 2 fold, give up the gross and replace it with water. Something I have been struggling with my entire life anyway!

I've got my at home drinking glass and a couple tricks I might try. 

It's really going to be when we are out that I struggle. Stocking up on water bottles as soon as they are on sale! Then stocking the bottom of the fridge with them.

I also have been adding a couple drops of Lemon or Grapefruit Essential Oils

That seems to be helping me a little bit.

What are your goals for the month?

*This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own.

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How We QUICKLY Built Our Baby Emergency Fund

When we sold our house our property tax wasn't showing paid at the assessors office yet (it was being processed) so we had to pay it AGAIN at closing for the deal to go through. We had to use almost all of our emergency fund to make that happen. We got it back as soon as the tax office showed an overpayment, but it took just over a month.

During that month I was on a mission to build our Baby Emergency Fund ($1000) as fast as I could without it affecting our budget. This is Step 1 if you follow Dave Ramsey's plan. I was able to get us almost all the way back up to $1000 before we got the money back. This is how we did it.

 SELL IT!!
Goodness did we have a ton of excess! So much so that I was able to sell stuff at a great deal for other folks but enough to be close to our Baby Emergency fund.
Be real with your needs. Do I LOVE drinking glasses, sure do, but did we need 5 different sets? NOPE. It wasn't fun and wasn't a 1 time process. The first go around I eliminated 1 set and made some $. A few weeks later, did the same thing and was even more real with our needs. We hadn't used all that we had so 2 more got sold!

Use Your Skills
Maybe you can sew, paint, watch some kids? Whatever it is, put yourself out there and create something you can make money from. It doesn't have to be a full time or long time gig, just enough to get to that baby goal.

Put it away RIGHT AWAY!
This was sometimes the hard part for us. Sell $100 rug, and it can be SO tempting to go DO something, or get something with that cash. Having a designated SAVINGS  spot for it before the bank and WRITING IT DOWN is really what helped us. That ongoing tally of cash was a good visual.

Other ways, not as quick as others but still efficient

• Set up a savings account, automatically have a % from each paycheck directed there. Out of site, out of mind. Even if it's only 2% that will add up 
• Cash in your change. Maybe it's only $20, it will still help
• Cash in your gift cards. I didn't know trading in my gift cards for cash was an option until recently.   

And because we were able to build it mostly back up before we got the refund, when we did get the refund we were able to put that directly to some debt!

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Laundry Room Savings~No Coupons Required

I really meant to share each month for the whole year how we are doing with our goals, but life happens and honestly some months I didn't feel like we had made any progress or have any huge set backs, so I didn't share as much. One of our main goals is getting rid of consumer debt. We haven't made any huge progress the last couple months but I did want to share a little more about how we save money around the house. That saved money goes right to debt and can rapidly add up! I've shared some of these before, using them all together saved us quite a bit the last year!

We still don't use coupons, so keep reading to see if some of these might work for you too!

The first REAL frugal thing I ever did for us as a family was make our own laundry soap, I think this might be the go to for saving in the laundry area.

What am I doing now?

~if you use store bought soap, use a little less each time until you find the right balance to get clothes clean. For us this was just over half the recommended amount. Buying laundry soap every other month instead of every month meant a whole month of a payment to a credit card in 1 year. That 1 littttle teeny change gave us a month sooner of not owing Target anything!

~Keep that change from the dryer, cash it in the 1st and put it towards debt, maybe it's only $5, that is still $60 a year!

~We use these dryer balls! I swear they have made a big difference in the time it takes for the clothes to dry and clothes are SO soft!
 

Also safe for super sensitive skin! No icky chemicals! 

~Wash full, but not overfull, loads. Less loads=less energy and less $

~Do the quick wash or rapid wash on your machine for everyday laundry.
Save the long wash cycles for stained loads.

This one I am torn on, sometimes I do it one way and other times I do it totally opposite.

~Do all the laundry on 1 day and take advantage of the dryer being warm from the previous load
OR
~Do a load first thing every morning and let the dryer help warm the house up
They both have their pros and cons.

To help you get started on your laundry savings, I am giving away a pack of the Woolzies
Enter below through the 25th and share with your friends!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Meal Plan Monday

It's that time again! I swear the weeks are flying by since our little guy was born. I am not ready for it to go by so fast! Our kids have a lot of this week off of school so we are not as rushed for time. 

Monday~Enchilada Tater-tot Bake

 This is the recipe we use, altered a little for our family 

Since we need ground beef for this meal, I am thawing and browning enough for 2 meals. Save me a step in the next couple of days.

Tuesday~Chicken and Pasta 

I already have some baked shredded chicken in the freezer, going to thaw that, toss it with some veggies and pasta in some white sauce with herbs. Easy and everyone will eat it.

Wednesday~Taco's

Using up the other part of the ground beef!

Thursday~Meatballs and Potatoes

We all like the Trader Joe's Turkey Meatballs, Thursday is a busy soccer day for us. This is easy to toss together and doesn't require an extended time over the stove. I usually do mashed potatoes but on busy days I "bake" the potatoes in the crock pot during the day.

Just wash, poke and wrap in foil. In the crock pot for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.

Friday~Chicken Spaghetti
I started making this recipe just a few months ago. Everyone here will eat it without complaining or bribery. I do alter the recipe a little, no canned soup here and we use a bit less sour cream.

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Back to School Shopping

Back to school SAVING

#1 way to save?!

Don't go OVERBOARD!

Believe me, I KNOW how hard it is! Back to school happens to be one of my favorite holidays! We can call it a holiday right? Set a budget and try to watch the sales!

2. Know what you have, what you need.
This chart is an awesome tool for that as far as clothes go. Print one for each kid.

Be realistic. Do they NEED 8 pairs of shoes? Probably not, is it hard to not buy the cute floral ones that match 2 shirts, yes! Make your lists and BRING THEM! It's so easy to get caught up in the cute and fresh to forget you already have 4 short sleeve shirts!
I am going to share how we decided what the kids actually needed next week. I made this list about this time last year

While I did try to stick to that, and I got rid of a lot, we still had a lot of clothes. Actually we still do! I haven't bought much for any of the kids other than a couple cotton dresses for our girly.
Our schools sends the supply list out at the end of the school year, that helps us watch for the deals!


3. Start Early
It's the beginning of July and stores like Target and Staples have been sending back to school stuff for a couple of weeks! If you have your LIST ready then you aren't paying full price when it comes to the end of the summer break. Our Target already has all of the patio stuff on clearance, it will only be a couple weeks before it is full of school supplies.



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No Spend July!

It's been a good while since we, scratch that, I have done a NO SPEND month. I am the one that makes the day to day purchases around here and I am the one that tends to blow money on things that we don't really NEED. I am a sucker for cuteness, and clothes and coffee. I know I need a month to reign it in, July seems like the perfect month! It's before I have to get serious about school/fall clothes, before baby will be here and before Halloween stuff comes out (BIG weakness!)

I will absolutely need to plan beforehand, like NOW, or I will have some slip ups.

Things that are not making the OK LIST

~Coffee Drinks (or bought smoothies, or any of that stuff) This doesn't happen too often anymore

~Clothes for me (other than exceptions I have listed)

~Clothes for kids (minus exceptions)

~House Decor~ So hard with all the awesome shabby shows going on!

~ Eating out with kids

~Extras at the grocery store

And I have my list of exceptions
I keep it on my phone, no excuses not to use it.

Kids Backpacks, there is usually a good sale on them in July
A few things for me for the hospital
A pedicure, already planned
Cami's for the girl, if they are under $2 on clearance
Some baby outfits, once I figure out how much we have for him.
School Supplies, ONLY if they are on a GOOD sale.

How I plan to manage it all?

Make my own coffee at home,no brainer right?
Stay away from the stores I tend to spend at, like Target
Find stuff to do besides SHOP. That shouldn't be too hard!
Don't look in the big kids sizes at the resale shop, stick to the baby section if I go
Check the ads instead of making a trip to the store to see what is on sale.
Stop notifications and news feed from the facebook groups I usually get great stuff in
Go through baby stuff and make a REAL list about what this little guy will need his first couple months. Not going to buy ahead this time. 
I probably SHOULD stay off of Pinterest, there are always SO many yummy looking recipes. I don't want to be tempted to try a new one every few days and have to buy extra ingredients. Maybe I will just keep them for August!

What am I hoping to SAVE?
$30 on Coffee for sure
And at least another $200 on random stuff I won't be buying!
Will be saving on Gas, won't be going into town as much

Kind of excited to see how much we will have left at the end of the month!

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Meal Plan Monday~Week 6

Our weekend was filled was craziness, 2 birthday parties and then the Super Bowl. I haven't prepped anything and I have no idea what is in our fridge! Chances are this plan will change once I have recovered enough from the weekend to actually LOOK in the fridge! I would rather not have to spend any additional money on this weeks meals. Hoping these will work out that way! We have big budget goals for February too!

Monday~Pizza.. It's our girly's birthday today!

I have NO idea how 7 years have passed since that day! I can remember SO much about it, feels like it has been weeks, maybe months but absolutely not years.

Tuesday~ Beef Stew with lentils, cause I didn't make it last week! Horse riding lessons start again, 6-8 PM. I have NO idea when the actual eating of dinner is going to happen.

Wednesday~Probably leftovers, chicken taco's as a backup

Something with Chicken is always my backup!

Thursday~Chicken Chili, because I will already have chicken thawed and mostly ready!

Friday~Grilled Cheese and Soup. By the end of the week I am going to be ready for easy!

Saturday~Turkey. I really need to make some room in the freezer! Hopefully I remember to take it out in enough time to thaw! Always the problem I run into.

Sunday~Leftovers with Turkey. Probably Wild Rice and Turkey Soup.

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How we Save on Groceries~Part III

 ~Buy Smart~

*FIRST.. I use CASH! If I take my debit card there is a
good chance I will not stick to my list as well as I should!*

When I make my grocery list, I arrange it by isle. 1. So I don't waste time.  2.  I don't go down isles where I don't need anything and I am not tempted by anything not on the list. I usually end up with a couple of things that weren't on the list anyway. But it's better to have 1 or 2 than 12-15.

I try to grocery shop only once a month. Then pick up the produce and whatever else (milk, yogurt, etc.), but usually it's only once a week.
Find out when your grocery store does mark downs, our 2 most expensive things are dairy and meat.
We don't usually buy much as far as meat goes. We buy our Chicken and ground beef from Zaycon foods.  I usually buy a couple of pork roast and a couple of beef roast for the entire month.

I try to hold out on roasts until they are on markdown, usually within 2 days of the sell by date. I know I am going to go home and freeze them so I don't care about that date too much. This makes them minimum of 30% off the regular price. If they are on sale, they are still an additional 30%

I buy in bulk, not that I buy a bunch of it, but I buy it from the bulk section. It's usually less per ounce/per pound and I am not buying more than I need. Things like cereal, which we rarely buy, but if we do, they are half the price in the bulk section, and we wouldn't go through a box before it was stale, so we don't need the whole box!

I also try to start out at the discount store. We have Grocery Outlet here, I can get the best deals there! Our kids usually drink almond milk, when it's close to expiration its marked down to .50 a half gallon! I can freeze those, and our kids can usually polish them off before the expiration date anyway. They have lots of Gluten Free and Organic markdowns in their freezer section.

Read the per ounce/pound prices on everything! Sometimes we assume the generic is less expensive, or the bigger package is a better deal. If the store brand is a better deal, try it. I don't buy generic everything but I will usually try everything at least once.

If something is a GREAT deal I stock up, not overboard but enough that I can wait until the next big sale. This grocery trip had tomato sauce on sale (they were getting rid of the old labels) for .18 a can. We use a lot of tomato sauce, I bought the maximum you can to get that rate. It's not going to go bad and it will save us a few dollars in the long wrong.

Apps! Target Cartwheel and similar apps are good, as long as they aren't tempting you to buy stuff you don't REALLY need!

When you check out, watch to make sure things ring up right, especially if you are buying bulk items. I let our kids write on the papers and our daughter insists on adding a random heart in the 4 digit code somewhere. Their tiny kid chicken scratch can easy be read wrong and be a costly mistake.
 

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How we save on groceries~Part 1

 

Since coupons are out I have to use other ways to make our budget work. The grocery store is probably the 2nd easiest for me to blow money, Target of course being the first.
I am splitting this into a couple posts, because really it can be a long process.

 

It's not anything too complicated, just a little time consuming, nothing compared to cutting coupons.
I know meal planning is NOT exciting or fun. It's boring and sometimes tedious but it pays off!

 

~Meal Plan~

I make a plan for the entire month. We don't always stick to it 100% for each day. Some days I forget to take the chicken out to thaw, kids drink the last of the milk and I am not about to make another trip into town. We just make it work and swap days, this isn't a big deal because I am using washi tape and just write dinner on the washi tape, if things change, I just peel and stick it on another day!

Knowing that I need to plan for an entire month I get out my list of dinner ideas. When I start to decide on meals I make a list first, just a list of dates. That way I can highlight ahead of time when Ryan will be out of town, date night, holidays. Those types of days where dinner might already be taken care of or when I can make breakfast for dinner, Ryan isn't a fan so we have that when he is gone! If someone has a request I can usually get that on the list too.
 

I make a list of the things we have leftover or that are close to expiring, those have to be used in the first part of the month. I also make sure we have all the staples; flours, sugars, non stick spray, spices.

Check the flyer, but since I am shopping for the whole month I can't base it all on that one week flyer. I usually check for staples or the deals to mix with the card and save more.

Once I have a list and basic idea of days we may not need dinner, I start making the real plan!
I plan the quick stuff or crock pot stuff for evenings I know will be rushed. Once I have those days taken care of (with the washi tape) I plan around them for cooking once, eating twice. If I am baking chicken, it is going to be for 2 or 3 meals, not just one. This saves me time, dishes, and I don't have to use the oven extra times.

 Once I have everything decided, I start with the washi tape. Some meals I know we will have pretty much every month, so I just keep those in my mini planner.
 

That is ALMOST it for the actual planning, just one more thing I do. I make a little note for the day before if I need to take something out to thaw.  That is all the planning I do, if I had a block of 40 minutes with no interruptions I could get it done. Instead I work a little on my break, lunch and whenever I have a few minutes to sneak in.



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Little ways we save big

I've been hunting for more ways to save money and it seems like there are a number of people sharing on Pinterest and blogs. I love to read these, even if I just pick up 1 tip, it's worth it. Thought I would share ours all in one place, just in case it helps a couple people. Most of these are not going to be new but might be different.

 

1. Homemade Cleaning Products/Laundry Soap

~ We use the Homemade Laundry soap
~Inexpensive bathroom cleaner, amazing on soap scum
(equal parts blue Dawn and vinegar in a spray bottle)
~I clean everything with vinegar or baking soda

I think I probably spend a total of $5 a month on cleaning products. Vinegar in bulk one month, Swiffer pack a few months later and some magic erasers in between.
 

 

2. Buying in Bulk. We don't buy everything in bulk, just stuff we know we will for sure use and if it's a good deal.
~ We buy our chicken and hamburger from Zaycon Foods. Feels weird to pickup food out of the back of a truck in a random parking lot but the deal is great and we have been happy with the quality.
~We are taking advantage of our Costco Card for fruits/veggies and cheese a little more often, especially now that our Costco card is a work benefit.

 

 3. No prepackaged snacks.

~We just buy a big bag and make our own snack size, I try to get the kids to keep their snack bags so I can refill them.
Paying $4.00 for 16 bags of crackers seems insane to me when a box is $2.00 and it has 16 servings.
I don't mind buying an extra box of snack bags, although I would love to score a deal on reusable ones.
 

~And rarely drinks. The exception is from Grocery Outlet, no way will I turn down shelf stable organic individual milk for $0.20!
 

4. We skip the disposable stuff! No paper towels, napkins (unless they are leftover from a party)

Paper plates and cups are just expensive garbage.
 

5. We don't buy bottled water (very often) but we do have some filtered water bottles and drink from the tap, scored the kids filtered bottles on clearance, even better.
 

6. I always check the clearance section and marked down meat to see if I can make a couple meals.
It might not save much but that 30-50% difference in 1 meal will still add up over time.

 

7. Don't turn on the air/heater

It has to be really hot or really cold for me to use the paid for air.

~We use blankets and sweatshirts (and quick dance parties) to warm up when it's cool.
~To help warm things up, I do dishes in the dishwasher, and put the stuff in the dryer first thing in the morning. Since I need to use those anyway it's not using any additional energy.
 ~I open the house up at 4:45 when I get up to let the cool air in, ceiling fans help keep it cool when it's hot.

8. Less Driving
OK, I admit, this is the one I struggle with the most!
I TRY to make just 1 trip into town to work and do all my errands during the week so we don't have to go into town on the weekends. Rarely does that happen. Still working on it though. I know for sure 2 days a week we will be driving to town twice for football practice and every Saturday for the next 8 weeks. So I should be able to manage all our errands and in town stuff around those, that is my goal for Sept/October  NO more extra trips to town!

Anyone else have their own list, or a list they have seen and loved?



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Budgeting Part 1

I want to share how we are working towards meeting our goal.

Money is always a stresser for me!
One of our goals for the year is to reduce our debt. It's going, slow, but going!
One issue we have is Christmas, with 3 kids, all kinds of nephews and big family we could easily go broke and undo everything we work for all year. This year, I am planning ahead!
Using SwagBucks!
I talked about it before (a few years ago) but haven't really used it since, until this year when I am being as creative as I can (desperate much?) and doing anything to help out our budget!

If you haven't used them before, it's free, a search engine that randomly gives you points for searching for your everyday things (google, yahoo, Pinterest, Facebook) but also Swagbucks for completing surveys, watching videos and for shopping, you get swagbucks per dollar at Amazon, Target and the like. Sooo sign up and start getting that Christmas money, Birthday money, Wedding money... whatever you have coming up. I spend maybe a half hour doing actual things to make my daily goal.. but it's stuff I am doing anyway.
Here is a link to sign up (and I think you get bonus Swagbucks right now for signing up!)
HERE


So I am using them again, with a plan! 100 swagbucks a day is my goal, it's only $1 BUT there are still 318 days left in the year, and $318 (minimum) is not too shabby for gifts and won't effect our budget negatively!


There is also a Widget at the bottom of this blog, and you can easily check for a swag code to earn swagbucks. Looks like this

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Organizing Friday, or not

Instead we spent most of the day with some friends checking out garage sales!

The kids all had a good time spending their quarters on random toys and I picked a piece of vintage Pyrex! I am soo giddy over it too!

it's the big version of this and it has hot air balloons, moons and suns on it. The color is so cheerful!

So we weren't home long enough to do anything other than the essentials, dishes, a couple loads of laundry and playing with all our new treasures! 

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Home Management Binder Section 3: Groceries and Meal Planning

The next section I am working on is groceries and meal planning! One of the first pages in my HMB (it's not even in a section) is our Menu for the week (or 2 weeks)  I just printed this off and it is in a page protector so I can write on it with the dry erase markers and wipe it off if I need to adjust it or every other week when it's old news! The reason I have it in the front (right after my calendar) is because one of the first things I need to do every morning is make sure something doesn't need to be thawed for dinner, so having that right in front of me is just easy!

Since using coupons better this year is one of my goals I have to find a way to fit a easy way to use them in this folder. I went to office depot looking for something and spotted these page protector things that are for baseball cards (I think) but I am using them for COUPONS. Each page has 9 pockets, I can break each page into isles or grocery sections. Health. Dairy, Paper, Meat, Produce, Breakfast, Canned, Frozen and everything else!  I set this up a few days ago and was able to use it already on Sunday! So far so good, and I got a whole pack of these for just a couple dollars so if I get more than 1 page can handle I can use another.

   

Then I have a chart of most of the groceries we buy, the regular price at the 2 grocery stores we go to and sale price that comes up at other stores (to price match). Sometimes you have to buy something even if it is not on sale, but I wanted to have an idea of the lowest price it goes down to so I know when to stock up (and hope I have coupons for it then). I am always adding to this list and adjusting the prices as they go up and down, it is not fun or easy, but I do think it is worth it to really know how much stuff is, it helps me plan our grocery budget. It really is a LOT of work but I have been able to plan a week worth of the most inexpensive meals when needed because I had the handy little chart. It really isn't something that I enjoy AT ALL and you can't really do it from home whenever you want. I think the easiest way for me to keep track of it is to just make a quick note on the price from my receipt and do major updates when I can. 

This part is new for me, a record of what we have stocked up! Some things I can guarantee we will use before it expires so I am trying to keep a couple months worth of our usual groceries, buying them on sale so we can wait if they don't go on sale again for a while. I don't want to just go out and buy it all at once and not get the best deal, so I am slowly buying when stuff is on sale. What we have so far I was able to get most for about 50% off the regular price! Still have a long way to go but I figure if something is on a GREAT sale I can spend $20 out of our grocery budget each pay period and stock up a little. It shouldn't take that long to stock up completely I hope.

I also keep the weekly circulars and my grocery list in the folder pocket.. I make my grocery list on Mondays usually, but then add to it all week as we run out of stuff. I use the circulars to see if anything I need is on sale and take them with me to the store since they price match! I am not a fan of dragging the kids in and out of more than 1 store, especially in this rainy cruddy weather!  I also keep another paper with what I needed from each circular and the coupons they match (if any) and what page they are on.. Nothing is worse than a grumpy checker waiting while you browse the ad's again looking for something :)

I used to have a section for recipe's but honestly I rarely cook from a recipe and when I do it is from a cook book or online.. if it's online I just print it out or bring the laptop over. I have a BIG box of recipes to try someday.. they are organized but I don't need to see them everyday so my HMB is just not the place for them.

The next section is kid stuff! 

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Planning for the new year, but shopping now!

I started a list a while ago of things I wanted to do in 2011, some things I just want to do better than I did in 2010 and others are entirely new things, not resolutions just things I can do better, like use coupons and NOT kill some plants this year! Lots of people make resolutions, they aren't for me, but I WILL take advantage of all the sales on organizational stuff the next couple of weeks!

The sales will probably have a few things I can take advantage of for my list. I do have a little organizing to do, but it's not big stuff it's all small and debt related. Reading the Dave Ramsey book gave us some great ideas and I think for my to take full advantage of it I need a few small office type organizational items and clear out what we aren't using.

Also plan on heading to the 2nd hand stores like Goodwill and St. Vincent DePaul over the next couple weeks, since it seems like some people wait until the last minute to donate and make it count on the taxes. I really enjoy 2nd hand shopping, there are always neat things I *could* use but I am sticking to my list while there and ONLY shopping for

~a food dehydrator

~Good canning supplies

~Cast Iron 

I am sure we will end up with a couple more things on the list, 

but for now those are the 3 I am really hoping to find!

We are looking for the food dehydrator and canning supplies because we really want to take advantage of the local u-pick places and whatever I can keep alive this year. 

BUT first I am going to go through all the rooms in the next couple days so I can get our last minute donations together!!

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Saving Money

Another way you can save money is coupons.. and especially now that there are SOO many bloggers doing all the hard work for you! It doesn't cost anything to follow these bloggers and pick and choose what your family can use as far as the groceries go! 

Some places want you to buy coupons or pay to sign up but that kind of defeats the purpose. Although there are a few times I will pay for coupons, on EBAY! But rarely, usually if I can find the "any Beef" or "any chicken" "or any cheese" then I will, and occasionally for soft drinks.  The way it works on ebay is you are bidding for a BUNCH of the same coupon, so you need to be prepared to stock up and USE the coupons so you get your money's worth! Here are some of the great couponing sites that have daily and weekly deals, for the major grocers and even some online sources.

The Frugal Find

Hip2Save

The Frugal Girls

Frugal Living NW

Ok those are my most used/favorite 4! But find ones that are specific to your area too! And don't forget facebook!

Most recommend you subscribe to the paper to get some of the coupons, but if you do that and you aren't a paper reader, see if you can subscribe for just Wed. and Sunday, it's usually a discounted rate and then the coupons and weekly advertisements are delivered right to you!

Also Facebook has some GREAT exclusive coupons, become a "fan" of products you use and they notify you right on the news feed of coupons you can print right there!

Target is one of my favorite places to use coupons because they allow you to use their coupons AND manufacturer coupons.. I especially like it when they match up with their $5 gift cards they give out occasionally!

So follow one or all of these blogs and I am sure in the few minutes it will take to read this week's deals you could find some things your family uses and get a great deal on them!

I *try* to put the money we saved from coupons/sale price matching towards paying stuff off.. I hope to be better at it next year and better at couponing, yes it takes time but if it's helping us get where we want to be then it's worth the time!  If I remember maybe I will keep track of how much I can save on groceries in 2011!

What else do y'all do to save money?!

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Saving Money.. on books!

I kinda talked about this before, over a year ago and I didn't get into it too much so thought I would share another way I save money easily.

Paperbackswap is a FREE website that allows you to trade in your books for credits, you can then use your credits for books, cd's and audio books.

Here is how it works, after you sign up you need to list the books you are willing to mail to someone else (usually about $2 using media mail). It is very easy to list them, no pictures, no fee's just post the serial number on the book and determine what condition you think they are in, that's it! When someone wants your book you get notification via email, then print the mailing label and drop it off at the post office, that's it, once they receive the book you get a credit. I know it seems a little weird to pay for the shipping but you get free shipping on the ones that are sent to you, and for me it would take more than the $2 to drive into town to get to Borders and Barnes and Noble is even farther!  I am pretty sure you still get a few credits just for signing up too, I did, but I don't remember how many.  

When you "order" a book you do not pay anything to have it shipped to you either.  So if you are continuing to post the books you have finished then you continue to get credits! You can create a wish list and be notified when books on your wish list become available! They have all kinds of books available, kids books, young adult and how to books! I just ordered a Suze Orman book and added the Dave Ramsey book to my wish list.  

I love getting books/magazines in the mail, some days it is SO nice to have a new little escape from the chaos!

And the library is another great way to get books and magazines, obviously borrowing them has some pro's and con's. I take advantage of our library's magazine swap. It's free to bring magazines you are done with and take any you have an interest in. I was lucky to pick up a few Country Home Magazines a while back ( I SO miss that magazine!)  I think hubby appreciates me not filling the recycling bin with magazines too.

I'd really hate to give up reading books to stay on budget so this really helps us!

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~Saving Money~ Swag Bucks!

First I want to say sorry it has been so long, between Thanksgiving and Black Friday things were crazy, and then my amazing Grandma passed away and things have just gotten even more crazy.  I missed the blog world!

Sooooo Swag Bucks!! I talked a little about theme here, but I was still new at that point. Now I know a little more and can say that I paid for a big portion of the kids Christmas gifts with Swagbucks, yes they are E gift cards and they have to be used online, but most places have free shipping codes when you spend a certain amount, or with codes. When I first started using them I was saving for paypal cash, but those expire and cost more "Swag Bucks".  Then I started getting some Amazon.com ones, but haven't used ANY because I can't decide and don't have quite enough to qualify for free shipping so I would still be paying for part of it. After I realized my mistakes I figured Target was my best bet and I started saving my Swag Bucks for Target gift cards! I was able to earn enough for $80 worth of gift cards in just a couple months, not spending ANY money to start or enroll, and not wasting time searching for codes. I just use it instead of google to search for the sites I visit, like Facebook, Blogger, Cafemom, and Yahoo and sometimes Google. Signing up and sharing with your friends helps! When friends and family sign up through your referral you also get their searching bucks up to 1000! No selling or buying in or anything like that. Swag Bucks can do this because they offer advertising on all those pages. I am hoping to pay for ALL of Christmas and Birthday for friends and family throughout the year with Swag Bucks this year.  If you have Face Book, become a fan of their site, and also Swag Bucks Hints on Facebook. Both will give you hints when there are new codes, and when you are here, check out the Swag Widget at the bottom of this page, just click codes and see if there is one. I am not really a code searcher, there are lots of people that do that, but I didn't want earning gift cards to take away anytime I wouldn't normally spend on the computer!

And again, signing up is FREE, earning is FREE, redeeming is FREE!

You can sign up HERE!

I really hope I can get back in the swing of things and share some Christmas stuff with y'all soon!

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~Saving Money~

The new year is fast approaching..  and I am NOT ready! One of our goals for the year is reducing/eliminating our debt. We have been following the Dave Ramsey plan (although I haven't been very good lately) and it is working, slowly but surely. We could probably do it a little faster if I were working outside the home, but neither my husband or I think putting the kids in daycare for me to work is worth the financial benefit and the loss of being with the kids all day would be very hard on all of us, just not worth it right now.  So I do my best to save in ways I can, and no not just clipping coupons! Thought I would share them over the next couple weeks as some of us prep for new years resolutions! I've posted about some of those ways before but some are new and I don't want anyone to miss the old ones either!

So I'll start with the first way I started making a change at home to save money. It was Homemade Laundry Soap, that was my first time making it and I messed it up so it doesn't look right. That was almost 2 years ago and I have only had to make 1 batch since and that was just recently. I think that the 10 Gallons lasts me about 18 months!! Which is amazing considering the cost for making it the first time was

Bucket $6 (I think), Zote Soap $1, Washing Soda $3, Borax $3

Total of $13 for the first time supplies (the borax, washing soda and bucket will be re-used) I try to gage a savings by per use, per pound or ounce, whatever I can break it down to. I do an average of 5 loads a week for 18 months is about 78 weeks, 78 weeks worth of loads is 390 loads!! Compared to the tide HE, Free and clear that gets 64 loads for $14. The price per load for tide is about 22 cents a load. For the homemade (also for the He and unscented) is 3 cents per load, the first batch! The second batch when you don't have to buy the bucket or washing soda or borax is only an extra dollar for zote, the price for those loads is less then a penny per load!

I figured the 3 year savings (2 batches) is HUGE since the average is just over a penny per load. If I used tide for those 780 loads in 3 years it would have cost us $171!! I could easily pay off my Gymboree credit card with that! So even though it was really a very small change for us, over time it will REALLY save, and it requires no more effort than loading the tide bottle in and out of the grocery cart and car every month. 

The recipe is on the original post, but remember I messed it up, so yours SHOULDN'T look like that, It should look like this!

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What do you clean with?

Keeping house is very important to me but not more important that spending time with my kids and family so balancing them can be tricky at times, but with the right tools it's safe to spend time with the kids while I clean! I prefer to keep things simple and as odor free as I can get them. But they also have to be efficient, I dont have ALL day to clean, I can usually get away with an hour of chit chat multitasking with the kids, so if the products don't work great, I don't use em! So that means very few commercial cleaners here, besides the toxic smells and environment issues, they are SPENDY! Hope some of my tips will help some of you ditch the expensive smelly ones!

First I have a couple of these cleaning totes, 1 for bathrooms and 1 for all the other rooms.Vinegar/water mix in a spray bottle.. works great as a disinfectant and the smell is gone by the time you are done cleaning, but if the smell really bothers you, add some lemon juice or essential oil!

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers... I LOVE them and use em on just about everything! Yes I have heard the rumors about kids being burned by them, but haven't found any solid evidence and I dont let my kids use them.. so they are good in my book!

Toothbrushes I buy the big packs at the Dollar Store.

Sprayway Brand Glass cleaner.. one of the exceptions to my anti commercial cleaners! I have never found another glass cleaner like it! You can find it at Target and Cost Plus. But if you really want to ditch all the cleaners, vinegar works here too.

Sprayway Brand Stainless Steele Cleaner.... I love the way Stainless looks, hate the way it needs attention!

Microfiber cloths or flour sacks (for washing glass and stainless)

I use a Dyson all floors vacuum and a Shark Brand Steam mop.. thats IT for floors! No chemicals, no huge buckets of water. I also use the Shark portable steamer for lots of cleaning.. Mattresses, I used to vacuum them every week, that was a LOT more work than just going over it with the portable steamer. I still vacuum them every couple weeks though.

Swiffer dusters are great, we have the long and short handled ones and my kids think they are getting a TREAT when they get to help dust.. you can bet I am not going to correct them on that!

We have microfiber couches... they show lots of marks since they are light colored but baby wipes once a week seems to take care of the spots pretty well and since we have them already it isn't an extra expense.

Olive oil/lemon juice mix for furniture polish.. don't rub it in too much, the wood needs to soak it up!

And it's not really cleaning but it's in my caddies..Homemade Fresh spray (like febreeze). I use the fingertip size spray bottles from the travel size section at the store because I like to change my scents up pretty often, if thats not your thing you could use a bigger spray bottle. I mix (approx) equal parts rubbing alcohol and any lotion/baby shampoo I have around that smells good, usually I use a bath and body works lotion. Shake them up often and spray away, the alcohol kills stinkies and the alcohol smell evaporates after just a few minutes but the yummy smell stays a while! I have used this mix on a ton of fabrics and never had any spot issue, of course I would check ahead of time where you won't notice just to be sure! We have velvety curtains, a silk bedspread, microfiber couches and they all turn out super.

Once in a while I will use a tiny bit of bleach, it has to be a major stain for me to get that stuff out though! And I still make my own laundry soap, still on my first 5 gallon bucket from almost a year ago!! It is such a money saver and there is no smell!! Here is the link to that blog post. Homemade dishwaser soap.. eh wasn't that great, felt like it was leaving the dishes filmy after a few weeks, but I did mix the homemade half and half with store bought, works great and still saves some money!

Rubber Gloves.. I personally think cleaning is a little easier when you have some *fluffy* gloves like these.. click picture for website.

My favorite cleaning accesory has to be my Apron though! This is one of my favorites, found it at Target!Have a Great Weekend!

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