Money, Love, and Change

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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: Serendigity

If you’re a Rite Aid bargain shopper, you are already familiar with Single Check Rebates.  Basically, if you spend a couple of minutes looking through the Sunday Rite Aid ad, there will be products that qualify for a Rite Aid rebate after purchase.  All you need to do is enter information from your receipt online – your purchases are tracked for you, and a rebate check is sent automatically (you can also request it early if you have entered all of your receipts).

I have used this program to get things like shampoo, toothbrushes, and power strips for free.  I only buy what we will use, and usually I only purchase items that will be completely free after rebate.  Overall, I have never had any issues receiving my rebates in a timely manner, and am very satisfied with the program.

Since I get the items free after rebate, I was surprised to find that these same items qualify for the Rite Aid Gift of Savings program.  Basically, purchases from 11/16 -12/24 apply.  Spend $25-$50 to get $5 back, $51-$100 to get $10 back, and $101 or more to get $20 back.  When you enter your receipts for the Single Check Rebates, they are also applied to the Gift of Savings program, and the total applied to the Gift of Savings program is the purchase price before rebates.  That’s good stuff, since the only thing better than getting an item for free is getting paid to purchase it!

We do occasionally purchase things like the Sunday newspaper from Rite Aid – I am now making sure that I enter these receipts online as well.  If you find yourself making purchases from Rite Aid that don’t qualify for the Single Check Rebates, be sure to enter them for the Gift of Savings!

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?

photo credit: jorgemejia

I know, I know – it’s undies!  But this holiday sale from Figleaves.com is almost too good to pass up.  Figleaves has some of their bras, undies, and sleepwear available at their holiday sale, and the prices are up to 90% off.  And it’s not just the craptastic stuff that is 90% off – there are common sizes at deep discount.  I just scooped up 2 bras that had excellent ratings on Amazon for $7.60 total.

For extra discounts, enter WEL5 at checkout for free standard shipping (I’m not sure how long this code will last).  In addition, you can score 6% cashback from Ebates.  If you haven’t signed up for Ebates yet, please kindly consider using my affiliate link – I would greatly appreciate it!

And guys, they have lingerie available as well – this would make a great Christmas gift for your significant other (and you too!).  You don’t have to tell her that it was a really frugal gift…

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!

We’re definitely taking it easy on the holiday gifts this year.  Our goal is to celebrate Christmas for a total of $250 out-of-pocket (tree, dinner, postage for gifts, everything) – we did buy some train stuff for the kid earlier this year, but we’re not going to count that.

I’ve been scoping out holiday deals, and made my first big purchase tonight.  I mentioned in a previous post that I signed up for a pretty good Shutterfly offer, and I coupled this with some additional codes that I found on Slickdeals.net and a $50 gift card that I got for free through ShopDiscover (that 5% back we got for gas was a huge help!).

Basically, for $20 out-of-pocket (It will actually be $18, since we’ll get $2.00 back for shopping through the ShopDiscover link) we got 75 holiday cards, 50 prints, and 4 calendars.  The holiday cards are a big deal for us – we send along personal notes and pictures, and it’s a great way to keep in touch with more distant relatives and friends.  The prints are for the kid’s photo album, and the calendars will take care of holiday shopping for me (this is my one gift to myself!), grama, great-grama, and grampa.  Our families really like the calendars, and love to show them off!

I’m also really happy to be getting our cards early this year.  I would like to have the kid “decorate” the envelopes with stickers and scribbles, so this gives us some time to play with.

So to keep tabs, $250-$20 = $230 left.  Do you think I can do it?