Six Simple Solutions to Saving Money

I woke up at 4am this morning and for some reason my first thought was "oh, I haven't done a Frugal Friday post yet. oh well, I'll do it later since it's only Thursday." Then it hit me, no... today IS Friday!!! So then began the hour and a half long struggle of me trying to fall back asleep knowing I didn't have even the slightest idea of what to do for a post.

My mind was running, my brain was ticking. I couldn't think of anything.

Everything that I came up with ended with either "I already blogged about that" or "everyone already knows about that."

Then I came up with six simple things I do that combined together actually save a lot of money for us.

At this point I tried to fall asleep. I figured "ok, I have my idea, I can sleep now." I was wrong. I had to get out of bed and find a piece of paper and a pen to write my ideas on before I fell back asleep.

Here they are:

1. Avoid Walmart. Actually, make that avoid all stores. I like Walmart and Kmart and Target. The list of stores I like could keep going since I really like to shop. However when we go into Walmart or Super Target because we need a gallon of milk, we come out with three bags full of stuff that we didn't need. Lately when we need milk or bread we've been going to the grocery store instead of a store that carries other things. It's kept a lot of dollars in our pocket and out of the cash registers. Believe it or not, milk is actually a couple cents cheaper at Food Lion and gas stations than it is at Walmart.
2. Keep the Change. If you have a Bank of America in your area you're probably familiar with that saying. When we moved here we switched to them and signed up for their keep the change program. What happens is every time you use your debit card Bank of America rounds it up to the next dollar putting all the change into your savings account. We have been here for 2 months and if we wouldn't have spent any of that we would have over $50 in there by now. Just from change. If you use cash make sure you put all your pennies (nickels dimes and quarters too) in a jar or something at the end of the day. You'll be surprised at how fast change adds up
3. Share. This one is my favorite I think. Not only does it save money it helps out other people and keeps the amount of boxes being stored to a minimum. If you have something that you're not using right now, let someone who needs it borrow it! Right now I have 2 boxes of maternity clothes at my sister-in-laws house. I also have one box of size 2 clothes at Beth's for her daughter. And when my sister-in-law has her baby, half my baby stuff will be gone too! It's great. Make sure you only share with people you trust if you want it back though. The great thing is other people will share with you! (Beth is sending the box back full of clothes for Lexi!!)
4. Recycle/Reuse. I'm not talking about bags, newspapers or aluminum. I'm talking about everything. Clothes especially. If you have a pair of jeans that has a hole in the knee, cut them off into shorts. If the whole is higher you can make all sorts of things out of old pants including aprons, purses, and skirts. If the straps on your tank top are too long resulting in a VERY immodest shirt, use your handy dandy sewing machine (or needle and thread) to make them shorter. If you've out grown it completely, give it to someone else.
   
5. Make it yourself. It's so easy to go out and buy things isn't it? I've realized lately just how easy it is to make things that other people are selling. Laundry detergent, as an example is very over priced in the store and it's very easy to make following a recipe. The other thing I've noticed lately that is way over priced is girls hair bows. I found some I loved at a site and they were between $6-$8 for one!! That's a bit high for a frugal homemaker like me.
6. Avoid Disposables. I could write a whole blog here, but I think Beth is going to take care of that for me. I'll keep it simple. Many things that you think you need can be replaced by reusable stuff. We have not had paper towels or napkins in our house for almost a year. (We have one roll of paper towels hidden for when I want to clean glass, I haven't found a rag that works good yet). I've discovered that rags and "cloth napkins" can replace these very easily and cheaply! Plastic baggies are another thing that we don't keep in the house too often, I have a jumbo roll of plastic wrap that I use in their place. Plastic wrap is a lot cheaper. When we do use plastic bags I wash them out and reuse them. The next two things wont affect you if you are male, they might even embarrass you so I apologize if you're a male reader. Disposable nursing pads can be replaced with cloth ones, or lilypadz. I found this product after I stopped needing nursing pads, so I haven't tried it yet. Maybe with #2. Another product I found but haven't gotten yet is the Diva Cup. This can replace all the tampons and pads you have to buy- that would save a lot of money.
   

Just a side note, we do use disposable Toilet paper, I'm not that desperate to save money yet.

These six steps together have saved us a lot of money in the past and will continue to do so in the future. As I read more Frugal Friday posts I'll probably find more solutions to saving money too.

Get free books

My mom and step dad are both book lovers. There bedroom walls are lined with floor to ceiling book cases (the have more in their extra bedroom too).

I'm not a big fan of books, but there are a few I like. My mom seems to always be talking about new books they got or want to read and one day I finally asked her how they support their book addiction.

She told me about paperbackswap (www.paperbackswap.com). It's really quite neat. It's a place designed to trade books. If you have some books you have read and no longer want you post them on there and earn credits for the books you post. Then you look at the books other people have posted and use your credits to "buy" their book.
No money is used except what it takes to ship out a book- shipping is paid for by the sender. So the only thing you need to start is a pile of books you don't want anymore and $2.50 to mail books that other people might want.
If you sign up, tell them I referred you! Enter my email address mccurdygirl @ yahoo.com (just remove the spaces)

Find more money cutting ideas at Biblical Womanhood

Buying Children's clothes

Frugal Friday is here again!

I am very excited to say that my daughter is 1 year old and we have only purchased about 15 articles of clothing for her, only 5 were new from a store and we only paid full price for 2 of them. Oh, and did I fail to mention we pretty much have all the clothes she needs until she's 3? How do I do it? Most of the clothes came from friends and acquaintances, as their daughters or grand daughters outgrew the clothes they'd give them to me. I highly recommend used clothes. Especially when they are little because they don't wear the clothes very long. Some of our clothes were shower gifts or birthday presents, others came from consignment sales. This site is great because you can put in your state and it brings up a list of children's consignment sales in your area. I love consignment sales! If you're expecting a baby you should really check one out, it's a great way to save money. In TN I used to go to one called Just Between Friends, it was by far the biggest one over there. They have them in several states so check and see if there is one near you. There are also children's consignment stores all over the place which is where I have purchased a few things for her if we really need them and can't wait until a sale is coming up. I've also learned to shop in clearance sections as well as in thrift stores and at yard sales. My favorite by far are the consignment sales though! I just recently found another site which I haven't used yet but you can exchanged children's clothes, toys and items with other people. It's called Kidzoodle. No money is used except what you spent to mail out what other people request from you. You post items you have that you want to get rid of and you attain credits for those items, you then use the credits you received to get other people's items. Check it out.

Get it for FREE!!

My frugal friday tip for this week is get it for free! A friend of mine at my old church in TN told me about freecycle (www.freecycle.org). If you have never heard of it you need to check it out. It is a yahoo group, with different sections for different towns or counties. You sign up for the one that is near you and you can choose to recieve individual emails or daily emails of all the activity on the group. Here is how it works. If you have something you no longer want you post it on freecycle. Everyone in the group sees the post you wrote and the people that want it email you back and you set up a time that they come pick it up. It's that simple. And since you see what everyone else posts you can find things that you want and email them and go pick it up! It gets even better... If you want something- like poker tables, you post a wanted ad and people who have one that are willing to get rid of it email you back and you can go pick it up! It's great! So far on freecycle i have recieved a booster seat, a toddler swing, a really nice coleman cooler, and an outdoor riding toy. I have gotten rid of way more than I can type on here. This is just a great way to save money!

Check out more money saving ideas here!

The many, many uses for baking soda

I have been fighting with deodorant for years, I'd find a brand and scent I liked and after a few months it would stop working and I'd start stinking around noon, so I'd switch brands. This went on and on, every few months I'd have to switch brands and scents. I was getting quite annoyed with stinking by noon even when I hadn't done anything to work up a sweat. My armpits were always irritated and just seemed unhealthy. I learned many years ago that antiperspirant was bad for you, it clogs your pores so that you don't sweat; I wanted to get away from this but almost all deodorants have antiperspirant in it. About a month ago I came across this great site that has many healthy, safe, natural tips on everything from cleaning to beauty and cooking. One of the things I've learned from there is all the things you can use baking soda for.

One of these uses was as deodorant, you mix it with cornstarch and pat it on. This has been amazing! Not only does it save money on expensive deodorant, it works wonders! It doesn't make you stink, it doesn't leave white marks on your clothes, and it made my armpits look and feel healthy again!

Baking soda is also great for cleaning everything from the tub, to the fridge and even getting odor out. Not only is using baking soda for all these things frugal, it's natural too!

Here's more ways to save money!

Frugal Friday- no sew curtains

I've been married for 4 and a half years and we've never had curtains. We have never been able to afford them (they are rediculously over priced) and we've never been able to afford a sewing machine.

Recently we moved into an apartment that has no blinds and is right on the ground level next to a fairly busy street; you can see right into the apartment from the road. Being that I didn't want people looking in our windows we decided we needed something either blinds or curtains to be able to have some privacy. We looked and looked and looked and realized even cheap curtains were expensive. Then I got a brilliant idea. My husband and I were in charge of props for the KidStuf program at our old church and many times we needed things that required sewing. Well during that time I had found this brilliant product called HeatnBond Hem and I used it often. They even make an Ultra Hold for when you need it to stick even better than just a hem. You can make just about anything with this stuff, with no sewing, just an iron. So how could I afford to make curtains though? Curtain material is expensive, and how will I get it to hang on the curtain rod, and how am i going to be able to afford curtain rods?

I was already at the $1/yard fabric looking for fabric for another project when I saw this big bolt of very pretty charcoal grey colored material. I touched it. It was perfect! It was thick, soft and a very nice color for $1/yard! Then I recalled seeing little clips that clipped to curtains and had loops to go over curtain rods. Then I remembered I had two matching small curtain rods that used to hang in our bedroom in our old apartment, all i needed was a big one for over the big window. (God provided a matching big curtain rod for just $10 at Big Lots)

So here's what I got, 14 yards of awesome material (i bought the whole bolt , i made 6 pannels for curtains, a dust ruffle to match and I still have atleast 3-4 yards left), 3 packs of clips ($2.50 a piece) and one curtain rod ($10). That's a total of $31.50 for curtains for 3 windows (including rods) and a matching dust ruffle.

I love HeatNBond!!!

Find more Frugal Friday tips here!