Money Saving Mondays

Where do you go when your looking for money saving tips? My favorite website is www.mommysavers.com. You can trade coupons or join a coupon train there. It's great! They also have coupon match ups for stores like walgreens, walmart, and cvs!

I started using coupons after my son was born and we went from 2 incomes to 1. I call it my job! You learn as you go. The most useful tips I've gotten were:
-compair coupons with sales in grocery stores weekly ads

-take a look at the coupons. Sometimes you don't need to purchase the exact item pictured

-invest in a coupon organizer! This way expired coupons won't catch you by surprise! There's alot of different ways to do it. A binder with baseball card holders, a mini file folder, a 3x5 recipe box. It pays itself off in the long run! What do you use? I picked up a brand new coupon organizer at the thrift store for .50 cents!

My favorite new magazine is All You! In this months issue it included over 80$ worth of coupons. The magazine itself was 2.99$ but well worth it!

All those have helped me out so much! I hope they help you out too!

Crafty Tuesday!!

Decorating Composition Notebooks

Take that boring composition notebook and make it your own! These make great gifts or something for you to stash all your notes in!

This is a very frugal craft! Composition notebooks are really cheap! I picked mine up for 1.34$ at my local walmart. Sometimes you can even find them at the Dollar Stores or unused at thrift stores. No need to buy any supplies if you already are scrapbooking!

The steps are super easy!

Your supplies:
Composition Notebook
Sissors or paper cutter
Cardstock
Decorated scrapbooking paper
Adhesive/glue
Anything you want to decorate it with (ribbon, buttons, ect..)

Step 1-
You can either measure and cut the paper or glue it on and cut the excess around the edges. You will need to do this for the front and the back.

Step 2-
Remember to cover up the inside to cover all the info, unless you plan on using it for school.

Step 3-
Decorate it up! However you want! Make it shine with your personality!

So simple!


Mrs. Frugality

Money Saving Monday

Recently, I've noticed just how much hair cutting costs add up! My husband said he'd be just as happy to get clippers and do it himself.
We picked up a 17$ set that came with 20 pieces and it's already paid for itself.
My husband usually spends 17$ including a tip and for our son a haircut would cost 7$.
I was amazed to see how fast it paid for itself! Is there any changes you've made to save your family money? How did your family take to it?



Mrs. Frugality

Crafty Tuesday!

Altering Altoids Tins!

Stop! Don't throw that away! An empty Altoid tin can be easily altered into something new!

There's pleanty of things you can do with them!

*a first aid kit
*coin purse
*gift tin for gift cards
*picture album
*hair tye holder
*mini make up kit
*emergency mini sewing kit

Now, let's put one together!

Get all your supplies together. You will need:
Scrapbook paper
Adhesive or glue
Sissors
An altoids tin
Any embellishments or decorations you want to use

Step 1:
Measure and cut the scrapbooking paper to fit on the front, top and bottom of the inside and the back side of the tin. Glue it all together! This can be done by tracing around the tin.

****Make sure you don't interfere with the hinges so it will still open and close.

Step 2:
For the sides you will need to measure the paper and glue it around the outside. A ribbon can easily be used too!

Step 3:
Decorate and wah-la! Your altoids tin is ready to be filled!

Please share what you came up with or what you used you tin for!


Mrs. Frugality

Frugal Weekends!

Happy Easter!!

Did anyone take advantage of any egg hunts? How did it go?

Frugal Weekends

Happy Spring! Who's ready to play outside?

I'm mom to a 22 month old boy, and we all know they need to run off their energy. Everyday as he gets older, he's trying new things and that includes exploring outside!

What activities does your toddler enjoy doing? My son is happy chasing a ball back and forth accross the yard, and of course chasing our three dogs.

Check out this website full of great ideas!
http://familyfun.go.com/playtime/




Mrs. Frugality

Money Saving Mondays!!

Money saving with coupons and store ads is so easy!! It takes just a few minutes to see any extra money saving oppertunities.
Grab your grocery stores weekly ad, grab coupons and compare to find any matches. Is there anything that's a really good deal you could stock up on? Can you include those items in your meals for the week?
I do this everytime I make a grocery list and meal plan and it's saved me alot so far. Recently, they had my husbands body wash on sale for 3/10$. I had one coupon for 4$ off 2 body washes and one 1$ off one body wash. Total: 3/5$. ($1.67 each-usually $3.50 each)!!
Your quick matching of the coupons and ads will save you tons in the long run!

Have a good Monday!


Mrs. Frugality