Tuesday Tip: Hang Onto Free Coupons

(I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday...)

The 'Net has been full of free coupons that are snail-mailed lately. Your first impulse when you get them might be to grab them next time you are out. But, if they have a longer expiration, consider holding onto them. (Unless you are prone to losing coupons, of course!) :)

Since we have a lower budget for grocery and household items, I sometimes have a hard time reaching those higher dollar thresholds that CVS and/or the grocery chains have for $$ off coupons, especially if I split my groceries over a few stores. This is when I'll pull out a chunk of my FREE coupons to help me bump myself up to that threshold.

For example, CVS does $5 off $30 from time to time. I'll use my free coupons, pick up their weekly/monthly free-after-ECB items and a few items I need and there I am at $30. Instead of just getting free items, I tend to make money on the transaction (accounting for ECBs earned) or I'll get the whole order for free.

So allow yourself to be patient and let those free coupons work out an even better deal for you. Just make sure you check a few things: Does that store actually sell the free item? and Is there a requirement on the coupon threshold that the say $30 limit has to be AFTER all coupons? (CVS almost never does that but grocery stores and Walgreens do that a lot.) Also, what is the store's policy on free coupons? One of our local Jewel branches refuses to take Internet printables for free items now but they do take those that aren't printables.

Happy Shopping!

Tuesday Tip: Special Swimsuit Bag

My Mom started this and I've since followed in her footsteps. I keep a special bag for all our swimsuits in my laundry room. Whenever we go to the pool, beach or to a hotel, I don't have to dig in four different dressers trying to find the swimsuits. I just unzip my back, do a double-check to make sure they are all there and I'm on my way.

I've even gone as far as to keep our sunblock, sunglasses and swimgear in there. When we get back home, I wash up the suits and throw them right back into the bag. It's a huge timesaver!

Tuesday Tip: Unique Thank You Cards

I had heard about this before and always wanted to try it. Maybe I'll do this for Nathan's b-day thank yous.

Rather than sending out regular thank you cards, consider sending out photo cards. Take a photo of your child playing with the toy they got or wearing the outfit someone picked out. Send a little personal message with it. (You can use cut up computer sheets, sticky notes, etc.)

With all these photo sites offering free photos, you can actually save money doing it this way! And not only do they get a unique thank you, they also get to see that their present was treasured by your child. There's more of a chance your thank you will make it to someone's fridge rather than the trash (recycle bin!)

Tuesday Tip: Tomato Ties

Don't you just hate how they box up toys these days? We opened a Mr. Potato Head Play-doh kit and there were about 15 wire ties just in that one box! My FIL gave me a great tip last year...save them for gardening! They are great for using on tomato plants to tie them to the stabilizer sticks you may need to keep your plants upright!

So whenever I am frustated when unwrapping these things, I just tell myself that they'll be useful later!

Tuesday Tip: Two-fer Today

I forgot to post a tip last week so I'm doing a Two-fer today.

Tip #1: Snacking
Back when Nathan first started eating adult foods, I picked up a set of Gerber Bunch-a-Bowls. Since then, these bowls have been used non-stop! They seem to be just the perfect size for everything. I started using them for myself for when I grab some kind of "junk food" snack. Rather than eating out of a chip bag, I throw some in these bowls and I don't have to worry about eating way too much. What I like about these bowls is that they stack so nicely inside themselves and don't seem to take up a lot of room in the cabinet.

Tip #2: Laundry
I seem to have a hard time getting the kids laundry done during the day. Almost every outfit has to be spot-treated and it takes up so much time. Since our laundry room holds our stockpiling shelves too, Nathan takes great joy in coming in when I do laundry and wants to unload all the shelves, making extra work.

So lately, I've been spot-treating the clothes at night after they are in bed. Since I don't want the noise of the machines to wake everyone up, I just throw everything in the machine and add the detergent and get all the settings ready. Then in the morning, all I have to do is pull out the washer button and let it wash while we eat breakfast. By the time we are done eating, a load of laundry is ready to go into the dryer! It's a nice time-saver.

Tuesday Tip: Finicky Eaters & Containers

Nathan has reached that age where he's starting to get pickier about what/when he wants to eat. I've tried so many "gimmicks" to get him to eat at every meal but there is one that seems to usually work.

I've kept some of those Gerber tubs and little containers from diced fruit. At mealtime, I'll put one or two of his food items in these containers and give him a kid-sized spoon. Yes, it does make a mess but I think the fun of scooping the food out of the containers seems to distract him from noticing that he's eating! :) Just a little tip to try if you get frustrated over a finicky eater!

Tuesday Tip: Surviving Dishes

If I were asked, I'd have to say my least favorite household task are the dishes. And what's sad is...we have a dishwasher! But most of you may have this same problem... either everything doesn't fit or can't go in the dishwasher. Especially all those baby items.

So I figured out this little tip and I thought I'd share it with you. I've come to realize that if before I even start my cooking/baking for the evening, the first thing I need to do is to unload the dishwasher. Why?

There are several reasons:
1) If I wait until after supper, there's more of a chance I'll just throw the dishes in the sink and drag out the inevitable.
2) While I am cooking, I can throw in any dishes that I needed for cooking/baking but not for serving.
3) If the dishwasher is empty, there's more of a chance that Rich will help me put the supper dishes in.

It's almost to the point that I want to add to every recipe: Step #1, unload the dishwasher! :)

Another thing I started doing while I bake is to fill one sink 1/4 of the way full before I start baking/mixing. All those little measuring spoons and cups don't fit that great in the dishwasher and this way, they can soak and I can hand-wash them while my items are baking. This way, when the items are done cooking, I only have pans/cookie sheets left. It is soooo nice!

So these may be "no-brainer" tips but they really have been helping me to keep my kitchen clean the last few months. Hope it may help you, too!

Tuesday Tip: Where's That Sock?!

It seems to happen with almost every laundry load...there's always a sock missing! So we've tried to keep them in a separate pile in the drawer but they always seem to get mixed in with the others.

Simple Solution: Keep a Ziploc bag in every sock drawer and place the lonely little sock in there until its mate is found! Matching them up will be a cinch later.

Or, keep a separate container in the laundry room for the stragglers. This is always a good stand-by, but you end up having to dig through everyone's socks rather than just that person's.

The great thing about keeping them in the bags is, you'll also have a better idea of how long it's been in there and when it's time to give up hope and pitch it. (or use it for cleaning!)

Tuesday Tip: Christmas Expectations and Kids

This tip is especially for newer parents but can be useful to all. We have to be careful as new parents of what expectations we set for our children the first few Christmas seasons. If we teach them that Christmas is all about the number of presents that are under the tree, they will learn to expect that same amount of presents each year. Yes, we may have visions of the children running downstairs to the sight of the presents from floor to base of tree but quite frankly, it's a little much.

I was reading in the Tightwad Gazette about the fulfillment curve. How kids would be content with just opening a few gifts but we push them to keep opening and then their expectations change the more presents they open. I am reading an older version but it's on pgs 77-78. It might just open your eyes to what children really DO think about gift opening!

And remember, gifts aren't about the money spent. These first few years, you can get by with spending less! Buy things that they like but you needed to buy anyway, like Winnie the Pooh Toothbrushes in their stockings or Pajamas for a present to open. Wrap up things like crayons, colored pencils, coloring books--that can all be purchased very cheaply at Dollar Stores or Target's $1 bins. They will love them as much, or more, than $30 toys! You can also find books for $1 or less there, too!

Just try to keep the true meaning of Christmas alive...create some great family traditions..and if you have time, check out the fulfillment curve I mentioned. I think you'll find it interesting!

Tuesday Tip: Does $20 REALLY Matter?

Two weeks ago, I shared a tip of how avoiding "It's Only" shopping for even $5 a week (around $20 a month) could save you $260 a year. Now here's a new way to view $20.

Say you apply an extra $20 a month to your house loan. Here is a link to a mortgage calculator to figure out how much you'll save through the course of your existing loan by adding even a mere $20 to the principal.

One example. Say you have $150,000 left on your loan to pay, at 6% interest and you have 25 years left on the mortgage. If you just paid your basic payment of $966.45 a month for the remainder, you'd have 300 payments to make. Now, if you applied $20 extra a month to the principal of your loan, you would only have 287 payments left to make. Or you'd save yourself 13 payments, cutting off a little over a year of your loan! Look at it this way: $20*12 months*25 years=$6,000 you'd apply. It would result in $12,563.85 you wouldn't have to make or a total savings of $6,563.85!

That's what you could save by shaving off $5 or so a week. And what is $5? A few Starbucks coffees. Making one less convenience meal a week and opting for a cheaper homecooked meal. Cutting back on bottled water and getting a filtered pitcher. Downgrading your cable and/or phone plans. Or simply cutting spending.

So next time you think $20 doesn't make a difference...remind yourself of how many house payments you'd save!

Side Note: Depending on the type of house loan you have, this calculator may not work. Also, paying the $20 on your house loan may not be your best option if you have existing debt and/or other loans with higher interest. The purpose of this tip is not financial advice but to merely show you that $20 can go a long way! :) (I also had fun playing with the calculator so I thought some of you might, too!!) It's just a way to get you to train yourself to never think that making small cuts to your spending habits doesn't add up. Some people think 10 $.50 off coupons a week aren't worth clipping/using. Those few coupons could be the $20 you use!

Happy Tuesday!

Tuesday Tip: No Place, No Right!

Throughout the last few months, I have been, I guess you could say, Nesting? I decided that I spent WAY too much time picking up, which would take away from my playtime with Nathan. So I started to keep track of the areas that kept requiring my time everyday. And it basically came down to...we have too much stuff! I implemented a "no place, no right" rule for our house.

Now this basically means, if it doesn't have a place of its own, it has no right being in our house! We have slowly begun the de-cluttering of our house one room at a time. We kept bins for Goodwill, bins for garbage and bins for "Let's try to sell this." Now this wasn't an overnight process by any means, but the house is really starting to show signs of improvement! Just about everything has it's own place! And my picking up time is very minimal now!

So consider implementing the "no place, no right" rule in your house! If you are a Mommy of a young one, the best place to start is...the toys! You only have to pick up so many if there are only so many of them to start with! :)

Good Luck!

Tuesday Tip: It's Only...

First of all, I have no idea why I am up! I rolled over and thought, what day is it? And then I realized it's Wednesday now. I really have to add Tuesday Tips to my to-do list! (Can I blame preggo-brain for everything I forget these days? Please!) On to the tip...

I don't know how many times in the past that I have justified purchasing something because..."It's Only..." and I hear myself saying a dollar or five bucks etc. Well, traveling down this frugal journey (I am still such a newbie compared to most of you. And I do still falter at times!) I have discovered that anytime I say, "It's Only" it's usually best to put the item back! :) Anytime that phrase pops up, I REALLY rationalize whether I truly need it or if I am being sucked into buying it because of the pretty red clearance tag, so to speak.

Anytime you fall into this trap, remind yourself this. If five times during the week, you say, "It's Only a Dollar" and throw it into your cart, it's costing you $260 at the end of the year. And for most of us, $260 is a car payment. ONE WHOLE CAR PAYMENT!

And to be honest, most "It's Only" purchases end up in the trash or donated. Think you don't tell yourself this a lot? Every time you WOULD have bought something when you've said that, put a $1 in a tin and see how much you end up with at the end of the month! You might just surprise yourself!

Now if you do find a great "It's Only," by all means, throw it in the cart, pat yourself on the back...and then email me so I can buy it, too!! :)

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!

Tuesday Tip: Time Your Tasks!

With taking to Nathan to class and getting ready for his playdate, I forgot to send out a Tuesday Tip yesterday! Here it is:

To help with household procrastination, next time you do each household task, time how long it REALLY takes. (Washing dishes, loading/unloading dishwasher, vacuuming, starting laundry, dusting, picking up toys, etc.) You'll be surprised to find that most tasks take 10 minutes or less. Then when you are telling yourself you don't feel like doing a task, just tell yourself, "It's only 10 minutes!" and you'll be more motivated to get it done.

When I started doing this, I found out it was so much easier to keep up with keeping the kitchen cleaned. I get the clean-up done and then I have the rest of the night to not think about it and I go to bed with an empty and CLEAN sink!

Hope your Tuesday was a good one!

Tuesday Tip: Removing Dried-On Food

You know the scenario. Supper's over. Your kid's covered with food so you clean him up, get side-tracked and next thing you know, you forgot to wipe down the highchair or table. Now the food's caked on and you'll be using the last of your "elbow grease" for the day on it. Don't!

Take a paper towel or cloth and dampen. Place the cloth on the dried food area and let it set for a few minutes. The moisture from the cloth will soften up the food again and you'll be wiping it clean very easily! Just don't forget if you've left a paper towel on it. Otherwise, you'll be scrubbing off paper towel AND food! :)

(Thanks to Kristen for giving me this tip many months ago when Nathan was still in baby food. What a timesaver!)

Have a GREAT Tuesday!
~CG

Tuesday Tip: Re-Use Newspaper Bags

This is my tip for this week: Our newspapers are delivered in plastic bags everyday. I would usually just recycle them, but then I found a use for them. They are the perfect size/shape for tying up a dirty diaper. I'm not talking the everyday diaper but those that occur when you are visiting relatives or at an outdoor outing. In the past, I've used grocery sacks or the special scented bags they make for "dirty diapers on the go." (My sister gave us some.)

So if you are out and about and need a place to seal off a dirty diaper, consider re-using those newspaper bags. They fit nicely in a zippered compartment of the diaper bag.

If you have any tips you want to share, please leave them in the comments field!

Happy Tuesday!