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

Thrifty Thursdays

This Thrifty Thursdays post is about thrift stores! They are my favorite place to go! My best finds are books, frames, office supplies, and scrapbooking supplies!
With books, my local thrift store sells them for 50 cents to 5$ dollar depending on each book. I always check there first if I'm looking for a certain book. Sometimes your lucky!
Often I see brand new things at the thrift store. There's always unopened packages of birthday invitations, papers, dishes, picture frame, and new clothes!
Its always worth a try to me! Plus I don't feel so guilty about buying an extra book or so.
What's the best deal you've gotten at a thrift store? Please share!

Mrs. Frugality

Book Review Wednesday!

Instant bargins: 600+ Ways to Shrink Your Grocery Bill and Eat Well for Less, is worth the money when the author, Kimberly Danger, walks you through how to save your money. Danger is the founder of www.mommysavers.com and she's compiled tips and stratagies from members of the forum boards. This book covers everything you need to know about containing your grocery budget to a reasonable amount.
This book goes deeper than just using coupons. It introduces the reader to limiting your food waste, at home date night ideas, and how to stock a pantry.
I was surprised to see alot of recipes to make homemade versions of items you purchase at the grocery store. This book will help you squeeze every cent out of what your buying. It's alot easier than I thought it would be!
Instant Bargains is my favorite and most informative frugal living book that I've read. This is the only one you need!
Kimberly Danger is also the author of 1000 Best Baby Bargains and The Complete Book of Baby Bargains, 1000+ Best Ways to Save Money Every Day. You can purchase her books at www.amazon.com.


Mrs. Frugality

Crafty Tuesday!

Today's Crafty Tuesday challenge is to use something recycled on your next card or scrapbook page!

Some examples are:
*Cardboard from cereal boxes
*Greeting card fronts

Please share what you came up with!!



Mrs. Frugality

Money Saving Monday

Let's talk about gift baskets! Since Easter is coming up, why spend overspend your money on a premade gift basket? It's just as easy and cheaper to make your own!

Head to the dollar store! If you have more than one child, look for items that can be split up into different baskets. Best bet: pencils! Just think that they will eventually be used in school! Coloring books, candies, and I'm sure you can even find baskets or buckets there!

Does it need to be Easter themed? If not, here's some different gift basket ideas.
*book lover(book, snack, book light, ect)
*spa basket(bubble bath, nail file, lotion, ect)
*movie night(a movie rental gift card or a movie you bought, candies, popcorn, ect.)

The list can go on forever! *remember* to stock up after Easter! The supplies can be easily stored for next year!


Mrs. Frugality

One Week Ago.... A little something extra!

One Week Ago...Hubby and I went to nascar in Las Vegas!! We live a little over 2 hours away, and we had gotten free tickets!! (Cant get more frugal than that!) Seriously, the loudest thing I've ever been to! I LOVED it!!

A frugal weekend

It's almost spring! I'm not sure about your weather, but we had a sunny beautiful day! I hate being cramped up in the house during the winter so as soon as it's warm, I take my toddler outside.

A great weekend family activity is a picnic! Even if it's in your own yard, gather up the kids, make some quick sandwiches, get a blanket and go!

Don't forget to plan some activities! Grab a ball or frisbie or come up with your own game.

Besides having alot of fun and spending time with your family, your doing a free activity! Your wallet will love you. :)

Please share any activities that you and your families do during picnics! I'd love to hear :)

Mrs. Frugality

Thrifty Thursday

Like crafty Tuesday, today's challenge is Use It Up kitchen style!

If you make a meal planning list, go through your pantry and see what you can include it into meals for the week.

Meal plans are great! Besides knowing what will be for dinner everyday, it's a great money saving plan!

Have a list of your families favorite foods and interchange them every week. Include special days of the week like "meatless Mondays", " taco Tuesday", ect. to spice it up a little.

This woman is my inspiration! http://abcnews.go.com/m/screen?id=9618348
She planned meals for an entire year!





Mrs. Frugality

Book Review wednesday

Instead of a regular book review today, I'd like to share a website with you!

www.booksneeze.com is an awesome website that gives you free books but the catch is you need to post a review.

What an awesome way to enjoy a hobby for cheap!


Mrs. Frugality

Crafty Tuesday!

Today's crafty Tuesdays challenge is making your own stationary! It's super easy! Pick your paper size, find matching envelopes and go at it!

Grab your papers, stamps, whatever looks good and get going!

There are also templates you can print off to! This link has some good info!
http://m.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Own-Stationery

Please share what you made with me!


Mrs. Frugality

Crafty Tuesdays!

My first crafty post!! This weeks Crafty Tuesday challenge is Use it up! Look around your craft area and see what you have sitting around. What could you use for an upcoming project that you already have?

*No paper in the theme you need? Use a blank piece in the color of your choice and stamp it up!

*Can you use markers to color a button, brad, or skittles to a color that you need?

*Need a stable background for an ATC? Cut up cereal or soda boxes to the correct size.

Please leave a comment on how you use up your supplies!


Mrs. Frugality

Money Saving Mondays

Money saving with meals

How does your meal plan look money wise? Have you had to cut out a few things from your grocery list?

What meals could you make for 5$ or less to feed an entire family? There's pleanty of options!

Here's my favorite website that breaks it down. http://www.5dollardinners.com/

Have you considered sitting down with your local stores sale fliers to make a meal plan? Combining coupons with things on sale is a great way to get your families food budget down. You can get coupons from many websites, here's a few:
www.redplum.com
www.coupons.com

Happy couponing!


Mrs. Frugality

Frugal weekends!

What can you do on a snowy weekend with the family that costs nothing?

Go outside, of course! Build a snowman, or snow family, find a hill and go sledding, have a movie and hot cocoa day! There's pleanty of options for a family to do!

No hot cocoa? Try this recipe!
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,173,148188-253197,00.html

No sled? Look around in your shed and see what will slide! I did a little googling to find that black plastic bags even work for a few runs!

Sometimes being frugal means getting creative!


Mrs. Frugality

Money Saving Fridays!

The beginning of the year is filled with holidays, but the great thing is that you can stock up on clerance items for next year!

Watch for Valentines day clerance! You can stock up on decorations, stuffed animals, and valentines day cards for next year and you won't have to worry about paying full price for next year!


Mrs. Frugality

Welcome to Mrs. Frugality!

Hello!

This is my blog about saving money, scrapbooking, and book reviews. Just a few of my favorite things!

I'm Jessica, a married mother of a little boy. Since being a stay at home mom, I've been thinking of ways to save money and still get what we need. I actually enjoy bargin hunting and finding the best deal on whatever I need at the moment.

Certain days will have a certain topic:
Money saving Mondays and Fridays
Crafty Tuesday
Book review Wedensday
Thrifty Thursdays
Frugal Weekends

I hope you enjoy!


Mrs. Frugality