Money, Love, and Change

photo credit: ninjapoodles

Here is the Sunday newspaper coupon insert schedule for 2010.  Enjoy!

January
01/03/2010 – 2 SmartSource, 2 RedPlum & General Mills
01/10/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
01/17/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum & Procter & Gamble
01/24/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
01/31/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum

February
02/07/2010 – SmartSource
02/14/2010 – No Inserts This Week
02/21/2010 – SmartSource, General Mills & Procter & Gamble
02/28/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum

March
03/07/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum & Procter & Gamble
03/14/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
03/21/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
03/28/2010 – 2 SmartSource, RedPlum & Procter & Gamble

April
04/04/2010 – No Inserts This Week
04/11/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
04/18/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
04/25/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum

May
05/02/2010 – SmartSource, RedPlum & Procter & Gamble
05/09/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
05/16/2010 – 2 SmartSource & RedPlum
05/23/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
05/30/2010 – No Inserts This Week

June
06/06/2010 – SmartSource, RedPlum & Procter & Gamble
06/13/2010 – SmartSource
06/20/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
06/27/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum

July
07/04/2010 – No Inserts This Week
07/11/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
07/18/2010 – SmartSource
07/25/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum

August
08/01/2010 – SmartSource, RedPlum & Procter & Gamble
08/08/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
08/15/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
08/22/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
08/29/2010 – SmartSource, RedPlum & Procter & Gamble

September
09/05/2010 – No Inserts This Week
09/12/2010 – SmartSource & 2 RedPlum
09/19/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
09/26/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum

October
10/03/2010 – SmartSource, RedPlum & Procter & Gamble
10/10/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
10/17/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
10/24/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
10/31/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum

November
11/07/2010 – SmartSource, RedPlum & Procter & Gamble
11/14/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
11/21/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
11/28/2010 – No Inserts This Week

December
12/05/2010 – SmartSource, RedPlum & Procter & Gamble
12/12/2010 – SmartSource & RedPlum
12/19/2010 – No Inserts This Week
12/26/2010 – No Inserts This Week

photo credit: plindberg

If you are looking for something fun and cheap to entertain the little ones, try making this sidewalk paint.  I found this recipe at Easy Fun School:

¼ cup cornstarch
¼ cup cold water
6 to 8 drops of food coloring

Basically, add the water to the cornstarch until you reach the desired consistency.  Then add the food coloring!

We are going to make ours in some old Cool Whip containers so that we have lids for storage.  According to the website, if the paint dries out, just add more water. Also, since cornstarch is all natural, it won’t harm our plants.

I am going to make red, blue, and yellow so that the kid can mix the colors himself (free art lesson!).  Also, since food coloring can stain, we’re going to be sure to wear old clothes.  Have fun!

photo credit: ninjapoodles

I don’t bother to buy a Sunday paper unless I know that there are grocery coupons in it.  In addition, I can get away with buying a local paper if there are only SmartSource inserts, but need to buy the larger city paper if Red Plum inserts are printed.  So, I am always interested in knowing the coupon insert schedule.

The original link that I found was here on GottaDeal.com.  I also included a cut and paste of the information below:

2009 Coupon Inserts Schedule

January
4 – 2 Smart Source & 2 Red Plum
11 — Smart Source & Red Plum
18 –Smart Source & Red Plum
25 –Smart Source & Red Plum

February
1 — Smart Source & Red Plum & Procter and Gamble
8 — Smart Source & Red Plum
15 –No Inserts scheduled
22 — Smart Source & Red Plum

March
1 — Smart Source & Red Plum & Procter and Gamble
8 — Smart Source & Red Plum
15 — Smart Source & Red Plum
22 — Smart Source only
29 — Smart Source & Red Plum

April
5 — 2 Smart Source & 1 Red Plum & Procter and Gamble
12 — No Inserts
19 — Smart Source & Red Plum
26 — Smart Source & Red Plum

May
3 — Smart Source & Red Plum
10 –Smart Source & Red Plum
17 — 2 Smart Source and 1 Red Plum
24 — No Inserts scheduled
31 — Smart Source & Red Plum

June
7 — Smart Source & Red Plum & Procter and Gamble
14 — Smart Source Only
21 — Smart Source & Red Plum
28 — Smart Source & Red Plum

July
5 — Procter and Gamble only
12 — Smart Source & Red Plum
19 — Smart Source Only
26 — Smart Source & Red Plum

August
2 — Smart Source & Red Plum & Procter and Gamble
9 — Smart Source & Red Plum
16 — Smart Source & Red Plum
23 — Smart Source & Red Plum
30 — Smart Source & Red Plum

September
6 — No SS or RP Inserts – Labor Day One Procter and Gamble
13 — 1 Smart Source & 2 Red Plum
20 — Smart Source & Red Plum
27 — Smart Source & Red Plum

October
4 — Smart Source & Red Plum & Procter and Gamble
11 — Smart Source & Red Plum
18 — Smart Source & Red Plum
25 — Smart Source & Red Plum

November
1 — Smart Source & Red Plum & Procter and Gamble
8 — Smart Source & Red Plum
15 — Smart Source & Red Plum
22 — Smart Source Only
29 — No Inserts scheduled

December
6 — Smart Source & Red Plum & Procter and Gamble
13 — Smart Source & Red Plum
20 — No Inserts scheduled
27 — No Inserts scheduled

Happy coupon clipping!

photo credit: milele

In a previous post, I mentioned that we hoped to spend $250 total on Christmas this year.  We had $95 dollars left and quite a bit to still get.  So in the end, how did things turn out?

• We actually ended up with $105 to spend, since my mom wanted to contribute to the gift certificate for my stepfather (we had budgeted $20, but only spent $10).
• We spent $15 on my brother – we redeemed $20 in gift cards from Amazon, and split the cost of a Wii game with my grandmother.
• We didn’t get my sister-in-law anything.  Things have been tough for her this year, and she didn’t want to exchange gifts.
• We spent $48 on the tree, which was $13 more than we expected.
• We spent $20 on a gift card for my sister-in-law’s boyfriend, and $20 on a simple train to put under the tree for the kid.  I also spend $5 for some alphabet foam stickers (the kids only request to Santa).

Overall, that put us at $3 over budget for Christmas.  I can live with that!

I would highly recommend a Christmas budget for everyone.  It really forced us to pick and choose what was most important to us, and as an added bonus, we don’t have a ton of useless crap after Christmas!

Did you follow a budget this year?  If so, how did it go?

photo credit: inoc

Wow – it’s environmentally friendly, and it’s free!  Treat yourself to a one year digital magazine subscription from The Read Green Initiative. All you need to do is pick your magazine and enter your e-mail address.

Then, sign up for an account with Zinio, which provides sales and distribution of digital content.  When I signed up for my Zinio account, all I had to do was provide an e-mail address and create a password (no physical address or credit card information was required).

Being a personal finance geek, I picked Kiplinger’s for my free magazine, but there is definitely something for almost anyone (US News and World Report was one of the choices, for example).

I also installed the reader so that I can download the digital issues to read at my convenience (sans internet connection).  If you’re really into supporting the green initiative, you can also purchase subscriptions from Zinio.

If you decide to try this out, please drop a line and let me know what you think!

photo credit: naviniea

Christmas is going to be so much fun this year. Our little one is almost 3 years old, and he’s going nuts with all the Christmas lights around town. He’s been asking about a “Kees-mas tee” all week long, and today is the big day!

Since all of our Christmas shopping is done, it’s going to be a very relaxing holiday season. Here are some of the things we plan on doing as a family this year. Some do cost money, but we feel they are well worth it!

1. Cut your own Christmas tree – Yes, we are buying a real tree again this year. However, we planned ahead and included this cost in our holiday budget. There is a wonderful tree farm near our house – we take the dog and make it into a big event. There is a petting zoo, and you can print coupons for free hot chocolate online. As an added benefit, we always get some of our best holiday pictures on this day!

After the holidays, we cut off a small piece of the trunk and woodburn the year on it. After placing a small hook in it, we have a great holiday ornament!

2. Go see the lights! – Consider both going by foot and by car. I would also recommend seeing if there are any local light displays. For example, we travel to Baltimore each year to see Hampden’s Miracle on 34th Street, where every house is decorated. While many homes here could be considered just “over-the-top” with lights, there is also local art on display, including our favorite Hubcap Tree by Jim Pollock. Luckily, we have friends on 33rd Street, so we get parking earlier in the day and have made a tradition of visiting our friends and taking cider on our walk.

3. Bake some of your holiday gifts – It does cost money for ingredients, but I pick one or two recipes and scale them up to keep things simple. The kid always gets a special job, and after all the cooking is done, we have presents in a pinch. Besides, it’s nice to turn on some Christmas music and smell cookies in the oven!

4. Make holiday crafts together – It doesn’t have to be complicated! This year, for example, we are making construction paper rings for our tree garland. The fun is in the creative process itself – the end product is just an added benefit!

What are some of the fun and frugal things you like to do over the holidays?

As you may know from some previous posts, we have a $250 self-imposed budget for Christmas this year.  We had a budget left of $227, and I have definitely made a dent in it.  Here’s the breakdown:

$41 – the Christmas shopping for all of our little friends.  We have three little ones that are like family to us, and I combined this with two birthday gifts for kids (the total order was $69) to get free shipping.  All of the gifts are made from sustainable wood and are earth-friendly.  I had budgeted $15/kid for Christmas, so I came under budget by a few bucks.  But now I am sad since all the fun gifts have been purchased!

$2 – stocking stuffer for our kid.  This was an impulse purchase at the craft store – I got him 2 sticker books with stickers.

$20 – gift certificate for the stepfather.  We get him the same thing every year.  Whatever.

$46 – Crap from Bath and Body Works.  They kept giving me coupons for $13 in free stuff when I spent $10.  I am not a big fan of this store, but my sister loves it.  With the coupons, I took care of my sister, her boyfriend, my sister-in-law, and our niece.  Each of them is getting basically $20 – $22 worth of stuff for $10-$12.  I am glad that I found this deal because all of the people mentioned above are hard to shop for.

$23 – a clearance truck for the kid from Little Tikes.  The box is damaged, and the batteries may need to be replaced (I can handle that!).  This is one of those really big trucks that he can push around and play with in the yard.  We like the fact that Little Tikes toys are made in the USA, and this truck got great reviews for being durable.

This leaves us with $95.  We expect to spend $25 on my brother (we’re going in on a video game with my grandmother), $25 on my sister-in-law (gift card), and $20 for my sister-in-law’s boyfriend.  That will leave us with $35 for the tree, and nothing else for the kid.  I’m not sure that this is going to work, as we would like to get a couple more things for the kid; I want to at least spend a little money on yarn so that I can make him some more stuff.

I’ll have to show the numbers to the husband so that we can make a decision.  I am thinking that another $50 might be reasonable, but I don’t want to go overboard.  Any thoughts?

My husband has been a casual woodburner crafter ever since we met.  He’s not a master artisan, but he has made some really great plaques and gifts for friends and family over the years.

I’ve mentioned in a previous post how craft stores can be great resources for gifts.  I was in our local craft store today with my 50% coupon and was looking for something for the in-laws for Christmas.  I found a cute picture frame that lends itself to woodburning (there is a picture of it here), and it came to $3 with my coupon.

I’ll try to post a picture of the frame when it is done.  Right now, we are just planning on keeping it simple and adding some “I love my grandpa and grandma” text or something of this sort.  However, we have carbon paper for tracing, and are open to suggestions!

Just to keep track of the Christmas budget, we are now officially left with a $227 balance!

Everything seems to be in the crapper.  With election politics heating up (and not necessarily in a good way), an economic bailout that I am pretty sure no one has a real clue about, and the American dream becoming less achievable for many, things seem to be “not so great”.

Or is it?  I think that perhaps we’re really at a turning point — a sort of reality check where those that have not been realistic about what they cannot afford need to come to terms with the consequences.  While this is happening at a personal level, I am not really sure that it is happening on Wall Street and in the government.

I know that for us, things are a lot more tight financially because we are trying to rebuild our emergency fund quickly after some major truck repairs.  But we’re really coming together as a family, mostly because I am working evenings to generate additional income to rebuild our fund.  This is an added responsibility for my husband, since he has to come home from work and take over childcare duties.

Although initially it took some getting used to, I think that this is also a great opportunity for us to really evaluate what is important in life.  I think it has helped us develop a better appreciation for what the other person is doing, since now we are both working, and both taking care of the kid alone.

We’re also very thankful that we are frugal, and can currently handle our financial situation.  I don’t need to run out and make the big $$$, but can stay at home with the kid during the day.  At the same time, it has strengthened our resolve to get out of debt, and I am working harder to generate additional income streams.

How about you?  Are you keeping your head up in today’s economy?  Why or why not?

With the holidays approaching, I’ve been on the prowl for some good deals.  Although I try to make most of my purchases with gift cards, I do like using ShopDiscover (when you make the purchase with your Discover Card, you get cash back), UPromise, and Ebates.  The basic idea with all of these sites is that you shop online through their affiliate link and earn money back.  It’s great when you’re making a large purchase, and even small purchases add up over time.

Anyhow, I just received an e-mail from Ebates – if you use this link you can get $10 when you sign up (without the affiliate link, you get $5).  I also get $10, so be sure that if you do sign up that you get your own affiliate link to share (you can also send e-mails to friends and family if you don’t have a blog).  If you sign up 2 people, you get $30 instead of $20 – this could really help out when doing holiday shopping!

One thing to keep in mind that you won’t be able to cash in your $10 until you earn at least $5 cash back from purchases.  It’s not too hard to earn the $5; for example, I earned $1.43 when I spent $13 at Dale and Thomas for a gift, and $1.14 from a $38 purchase at Lands’ End.

Between the 3 programs, I can sometimes get more money back using ShopDiscover, and I have found that Ebates usually reaps the same benefits as UPromise.  ShopDiscover doesn’t have as many stores, though.  Also, if you don’t use a Discover Card, you won’t get cash back.

The $10 deal lasts until October 31st.  Enjoy!