Thrifty Mommy » frugal friday

Save Money with Rainchecks

Karen Weideman — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:08:33 +0000

It’s time for another friendly reminder to get a raincheck! If your grocery store is having a spectacular sale and they’re out of the item, be sure to ask for a raincheck.

For the past few weeks, I have been looking for a great sale on hamburger meat. I wasn’t able to find one but while I was cleaning out my van, I found my old coupon pouch. I am so glad that I found it because inside it I found some rainchecks and one of them was for ground beef. Hooray!

Yesterday I went to the grocery store. I got 18+ pounds of hamburger, 3 pounds of boneless chicken breast, 6 cans of chicken noodle soup, 1 gallon of milk, some grapes and bananas and I only spent $32. Oh yeah! Gotta love those rainchecks. The ground beef, chicken breasts, and soup were buy ahead/stockpile items.

And here are a few tips for using rainchecks:

See if there is a limit on the item.
Check to see if there is an expiration date on the raincheck.
Try to find a coupon to match with the sale price of the raincheck.
Give your cashier the raincheck before she rings up the item.
Check your receipt before you leave to see that you were charged the correct price on each item.

Do you remember to get rainchecks?

image sxc.hu

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

10 Ways to Save Money for Valentine’s Day

Karen Weideman — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:16:08 +0000

For many, money is tight this year. That doesn’t mean that you can’t have a great Valentine’s Day. Dismiss your expectations about what Valentine’s Day should be. This is a day to make your mate feel special and to spend time one another.

1) Make a romantic dinner at home. I don’t know about you, but in the past few years, I have given up on going out on Valentine’s Day. It is not fun to go to your favorite restaurant and wait an hour or more to be seated. It’s not romantic at all! Instead, make a special meal at home.

2) Create a romantic ambiance. Dim the lights, light some candles, and play soft music. You probably already have the candles in your home. If not, you can pick up some for just a few dollars. If you don’t have the music, set up a free playlist at youtube or borrow some music from your friends.

3) Make your own Valentine’s cards. A store bought card that says, “Love you” isn’t very special. What makes a card special is that someone took the time to write something meaningful inside the card. A handmade card also shows sincerity. There are websites out there with free clip art or you could make a card and put a picture of the two of you on the cover.

4) Swap babysitting with a friend. Offer to watch her kids on February 14 if she’ll watch your kids on February 15. Remember, you don’t want to go out on the 14th anyway. You could also wait until the kids are in bed to celebrate.

5) Enjoy a movie at home. Last year, my hubby and I did not have a sitter, so I made a special dinner and after the kids were in bed, we enjoyed the silence in our home and watched a movie together. I bought some sparkling grape juice for just a few dollars and some strawberries. It was fun just to spend time together.

6) Make your own decorations. The internet is full of crafts, garland, and the sweetest decorating ideas. Many of them aren’t time consuming. For a fun activity, get the kids involved.

7) Make your own fabulous desserts. Enjoy a special treat together such as the famous frozen hot chocolate. No Fuss Fabulous has a recipe that sounds pretty simple and they show you how to make it as a gift for friends. Or use your left over candy canes to makes the cutest heart lollipops and cupcakes or make heart shaped cheesecakes from Skip to My Lou.

8) Forget the store bought gift and give your spouse something special from you. You know your spouse and you know what he/she likes (or at least you should!). If your husband is always begging you to go to the car show with him, then tell him you’re taking him to the car show. If you husband’s love language is touch, then give him a 30 minute massage. If your husband’s love language is words of affirmation, then make individual hearts for him with special sayings on them or things you appreciate about him and place them in random places throughout the house, or you could tape them to the door for a heart collage.

9) If you want to buy something for your special someone, begin shopping ahead of time and looking for something that doesn’t cost a lot. If your honey likes cars, then maybe you could buy a magazine subscription. If your significant other likes coffee or chocolates, then you could make them a basket of homemade treats with a few favorite store bought items. Get creative and stay within your budget.

10) Let the kids be thrifty too. My kids love to make things. Get the kids involved by letting them make their own valentines this year. Family Fun has some really cute Valentine card ideas. Of course, you can search the web for printable Valentines too.

11) I know I said 10 ways. Consider this a bonus. Try not to send flowers this year. The mark up at Valentine’s Day is insane. If you do want to give flowers, consider buying them from your local grocery store or supermarket. They actually have some nice fresh flowers and arrangements for a fraction of the cost.

Also consider checking out 50 Thrifty Links for Valentine’s Day.

What ways can you save this Valentine’s Day?

images used with permission of SkipToMyLou

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Thrifty Gift Giving

Karen Weideman — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:50:12 +0000

The following is a guest post.

So you’ve found a great deal on the perfect gift, but now what? Cards cost a fortune, considering they’re just sheets of cardstock, and normal gift-wrap isn’t so environmentally friendly. Well, here are a variety of ideas, from basic to more involved, to get you started.

Cards and Gift Tags:
The easiest, least expensive thing to do is to buy a gift card pack. I use this for thank you cards and quick notes. Target and other stores often sell big packs of colorful note cards with matching envelopes. I got a set of 200 for $10, with coordinating envelopes. I’ve gotten just plain bright colors, or sets that have embellishments on the edges (scallops, rounded corners, etc).

Another easy method is to print your own. Microsoft Office templates can be customized to fit your situation, and you can buy large sets of good-quality cardstock or photo paper.

A set of pinking shears and old greeting cards make great gift tags. Cut out part of the card, and write the name on the back, then attach it to the gift. My husband and I use this for all of our Christmas gifts.

Festive bookmarks can be used in lieu of cards or as a gift tag, as can reprints of photographs, which can be personalized and printed off very inexpensively.

Wrap:
When you get gift bags, save them! I have a clear tote full of bags. Every time we get invited to a special occasion, I pull out an appropriate bag. We used our wedding gift bags first, and now we’re using ones from our baby shower. Every Christmas we seem to pick up a couple, too, so they just keep going around.

Obviously, grocery bags and comics can be used, but you can use this idea with a little more creativity. Let your kids decorate some butcher-block paper with stickers, crayons, markers, or paint, and use that to wrap gifts.

You can also use gifts to wrap gifts. A handy idea for weddings or showers is to wrap kitchen items in flour-sack towels. Baby presents can be wrapped in burp cloths, cloth diapers, towels, or washcloths and tied with a bow. Christmas presents can be wrapped in a scarf.

In my family, we have a few seamstresses. My mom’s family now cycles around a couple dozen handmade gift bags out of festive cloth. They took some time and effort at the outset, but now wrapping gifts doesn’t cost anyone a penny!

Another option is to make the recipient search for the gift. The gift doesn’t even need to be wrapped in this case, since the search for the gift is fun by itself!

********************

Thanks to Bekah for today’s Frugal Friday post. Bekah can be found at Motherhood Moment where she writes about freebies, coupons, money savers, time savers, environmental tips, and more.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

10 Ways to Save Money at the Fair

Karen Weideman — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:10:16 +0000

The air is getting crisp and things just seem a little more pleasant. Well, in my opinion anyway. You know what this means. The county and state fairs are coming!!!!

I don’t know about you, but when I hear the words county fair I think of nauseating rides, weird smelling food, and money. Of course, the reason I think of money is because you can really spend a lot of money at the fair.

Here are some ways to help you keep from spending so much money at the fair:

1. Set a budget and stick to it. There’s nothing wrong with having fun, but there needs to be a limit. Whether it be $20 or $75, you need to have a set amount that you won’t go over. You don’t want to get wrapped up into spending more than you planned on some food that’s going to make you feel queasy anyway.

2. Check to see if the fair has a free day or a time that’s free to get in. When we lived in Virginia, the entry to the fair was free. It was great because I only wanted to walk around anyway. Some fairs offer free admission before a certain time. It’s worth looking into, especially if you have a large family or are on a tight budget.

3. Eat a meal before you go. Then you’ll only need to buy that funnel cake you’ve been craving.

4. Check to see if you can purchase advance tickets at a local grocery store, bank, or at the fair’s website. Sometimes you can save several dollars per ticket.

5. Maximize the cost of your admission by staying the entire day. Get there early and leave late.

6. Take a backpack with you. We always carry a thermos of water with us or some bottled water. It’s ok to buy some treats at the fair, but if you’ll be there for long, you’ll need to keep hydrated. Drinks at the fair can cost a lot of money.

7. Research different transportation options. Some fairgrounds charge $10 or more for parking. See if they offer a free lot to park in. You’ll probably have to walk a little farther though.

8. While at the fair, scope out different food booths and then decide where you want to eat. Otherwise, you might be disappointed with the choice you’ve made and you’ll find yourself buying from another booth. This has happened to me before.

9. Preplan your day. Look at the schedule of events for that day. Choose the activities you want to see and plan your route. Better yet, check out the events for the week and choose the best day. Get the most bang for your buck. You can probably find the activities listed on the fair’s website.

10. Look for freebies. Most fairs have an exhibit hall where vendors can promote their products and many times you can find lots of freebies.

I know there are more ways to save money at the fair. What ways can you recommend?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

20 Ways to Save on Coffee

Karen Weideman — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:01:22 +0000

I confess. Within the past few years, I have become a coffee snob. Honestly, it wasn’t intentional. I promise. I wish that my palette craved regular coffee because it’s a lot cheaper. Unfortunately, that is not the case so I have learned to be frugal and save some money along the way.

1) Brew your own coffee. Uh huh. Cut out the expensive $5 trips to Starbucks.

2) Look online for recipes. You may think that you can’t make coffee like the pros, but you can. It’s really not that hard. You just need the right ingredients. Thrifty Mommy has some coffee recipes from Dunkin’ Donuts.

3) Splurge on the more expensive syrups. If you buy the cheap, nasty tasting syrups, then you’re not going to be motivated to make your own. Some coffee shops sell the same syrups that they use.

4) Use coupons to purchase coffee beans and grounds. Some coffee manufacturer’s put coupons in the Sunday paper. Otherwise, check online at their website and sign up for their promotions and newsletters. When all else fails, call the company and ask for the coupons.

5) Look at the warehouse clubs for discounted rates on beans.

6) Check local papers, freecycle, and the internet for equipment. Coffee equipment can be very expensive. Check around and compare prices, equipment quality, look for sales, etc. I am thankful that we found a display model espresso machine for $20! It brews coffee and espresso and has a frother.

7) Store coffee properly. Only buy what you can use within a short amount of time. Some people say to only buy what you can use in a week. I can keep mine for several more weeks just by storing it in an airtight container. You might even consider vacuum sealing the beans.

8) Buy beans instead of grounds. Grounds lose their flavor quicker than beans. This year I purchased a coffee grinder and started buying beans. The flavor is so much better.

9) Keep your coffee pot clean. A dirty pot might alter the taste of your coffee a bit. And since we’re being honest here, I just have to say that I have a hard time drinking coffee from a public coffee pot. I’m referring to the ones at the mechanic shop or in the lounge at school. It just has a weird smell to it. Ick!

10) Buy a reusable coffee filter. Coffee filters don’t cost much money, but if you brew coffee every day, then it won’t take long for the reusable filter to pay for itself. I purchased one a few months ago for about $5. Besides, it helps to keep paper from being thrown away.

11) Don’t give up easily. Sometimes it takes several times to get a drink just right. It may take some time, but the savings are worth the effort.

And for those of you that just need to have a special coffee fix . . .

12) Ask for samples. A few weeks ago, I was in Starbucks week with Kelly and the manager offered us some samples of coffee. I had no idea that coffee shops offered samples. I’m so glad I got a sample though because I learned the coffee of the day was yucky!

13) Talk to the workers. Say, “What was that you just put in there?” Sometimes you’d be surprised at the info they’ll give you. If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, then pay close attention when they’re making your coffee. You should be able to pick up a few tips during each visit.

14) Look for promotional days. The coffee place I visit has offers each day of the week. One day they offer $1 off espressos, another day $1 smoothies. Treat yourself on the day that they have the special on the item that you want.

15) Get a frequent visitor card. Some places have a special punch card. Some may say buy 8 and get 1 free. Check to see.

16) Weigh your options. If you have to buy the frequent purchase card, then make sure the money saved outweighs the price of the card.

17) Set a coffee budget. Some of you may be very good at cutting back on all your expenses and coffee is your splurge item. That’s ok, but you need to have a budget. Whether it’s $5 a month or $20 a month, you need to have a budget and stick to it. Otherwise, you might just find your car magically veering into the coffee shop parking lot.

18) Cut back on your portions. Yes you want the vente size, but the smaller size will give you the kick you need. Plus, it’s less calories.

19) Try something different. I heard someone say that they started saving themselves $1 per cup by ordering 2-3 shots of espresso rather than an ice latte. She just adds the free milk that they offer at the counter. You could also try ordering a less expensive drink every now and then. You might just discover something that you like better than your usual.

20) Tell friends, family members, and co-workers about your love of coffee. When Christmas rolls around, you might just start getting coffee baskets or gift cards. And by all means, if they ask what to get you then tell them!

Do you have some money saving tips to add to this list?

image: morguefile

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Top 30 Yard Sale Tips

Karen Weideman — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:50:45 +0000

As I shared earlier this week, we made $2953 at our yard sale last weekend. Prior to that, the most we had ever made was $580. I can’t guarantee that you’ll do as well as we have, but here are some tips to help you get started.

1) Go through closets, dressers, toys, cupboards, cabinets, bookcases, etc before the yard sale. Take out items that you no longer want and add them to your yard sale pile. It’s good to do this at least once a year. You may want to wait until spring when you’re doing your spring cleaning.

2) Find a decluttering buddy. I don’t know about you, but it is easier for me to get rid of things when I have some moral support. It helps to have someone that can honestly say, “That doesn’t look good on you. That’s out of style. You haven’t used that in years.” Sometimes a little nudge is all we need. Unfortunately, I don’t have a decluttering buddy.

3) Price as you go. As you find things in your home that you want to add to your yard sale, go ahead and take the few seconds to put a price on it. This will save a lot of time and aggravation on yard sale day.

3) Spread the word. I’m having a moving sale soon and I’ve already begun telling friends, people from church, and others about the sale. I have people saying, “email me and let me know when it will be”.

4) If possible, post signs. We like to use the fluorescent poster board and thick black permanent markers for our signs. We have found that we do better with signs than with advertising. People stop by and say that they saw our signs.

5) Put your signs up the day before the sale so that people see them on their way home from work. Then they’ll think, “I’m going there tomorrow.” Otherwise, they might not be out and about the day of the sale.

6) Let friends and neighbors be a part. You can advertise the yard sale as a multi-family yard sale. This will let customers know that there will be more things and a bigger selection to choose from. Participants can also share in the advertising expenses.

7) Put a price on everything. Some people will walk away rather than asking the prices for things. Even if the item is 25 cents, you need a price on it. All those 25 cent items add up.

8) To save time, buy the premade price stickers. You can purchase these in the office supply departments at most stores. Recently, I even saw these in Dollar Tree.

9) If you’re selling an expensive item, take the time to print a copy of what the item cost new. I’m doing this with toys that were expensive. This helps the person to see that they are getting a good deal.

10) Advertise your yard sale, garage sale, or moving sale on Craigslist. It’s free!!!! Specify what you will be selling. I sold $120 to someone on Craigslist before the sale just by listing a moving sale ad.

11) Get up early the day of the sale. If your sale starts at 7 am, you may consider getting up at 5 am. This will allow you time to get everything organized and set out before customers begin to arrive. Some early morning commuters may even see you outside and stop on their way to work.

12) Specify if you don’t want “early birds”. Some people are pretty serious about shopping yard sales. They’ll come out as early as you’ll let them.

13) Look through purses, wallets, pant pockets, coat pockets, etc to make sure there is no money or credit cards. Someone once told me they paid $1 for a purse that had $10 inside.

14) Put attractive items in clear view. A lot of people are looking for furniture, so it would be wise to put the furniture where drivers can see it from the road.

15) Don’t pick a holiday weekend to have your sale. I remember we did this one time and we made less than $100. It was such a waste of our time.

16) Don’t have continual yard sales. You’ve seen people before who seem to be always having a yard sale. It gets old and then people don’t drop by their sale anymore. Plus, it’s tacky and your neighbors will be really annoyed.

17) Have change. It’s hard to determine how much change you’ll need and what kind of bills to get. It seems as though first thing in the morning you’ll have customer after customer with $20 bills. It’s really frustrating.

18) Guard your money. Unfortunately, sometimes theives show up at yard sales. Usually every hour or so, I take my wad of cash out of my pocket or fanny pack (lol) and put it inside my house.

19) Have bags available for your customer’s purchases. I can’t stand plastic bags and I don’t understand it, but some people do like anything they purchase to be put into a bag. It’s a courtesy.

20) Be friendly. Greet each person or group that comes to your sell.

21) Group like items together. All of the Christmas items should be together in one area, the kitchen stuff in another area, baby clothes in another, and so on.

22) Sell miscellaneous items together. If you’re like us, you have a bunch of half empty spray cans sitting in your garage. We wondered who would buy them, but then we decided to put them all into a box and sell them all together in a lot. This helps to sell those odd items.

23) Get some baggies and rubber bands. The baggies and rubber bands will help to secure like items together or keep you from losing the pieces. Come sell day, it will be hard to make sure your customers get all the parts that go with their items.

24) Have an extra person around to help out. For me, this would be my husband. This insures that you’ll get potty breaks and be able to eat. It also helps so that you can talk to customers while someone else collects money or answers questions.

25) Check with your local government or homeowner’s association to see if there are any restrictions. Some areas require you to have a yard sale permit. Yep, just another way to make money.

26) When the yard sale is over, clean up your area and take down your signs. Don’t you just hate seeing signs that are several weeks old or searching for a yard sale that was probably last week?

27) Advertise. This could be in your local paper or in a free online ad. Regardless of where you decide, you’ll need help letting the public know of the sale.

28) Check your yard and make sure it’s safe. Wrap up garden hoses, fill any holes, and tape down extension cords or cables. You don’t want you visitors tripping and getting hurt.

29) Have a strategy in place for what you’ll do with the leftover items. Will you put them back in your house for another yard sale later in the summer? Will you give them to charity? Have a plan in place.

30) Get someone to watch the kids. I can’t tell you the number of yard sales I’ve been to where the person’s children were out in the yard digging through their old stuff and getting upset that mom was getting rid of it. If you can’t get a sitter, then you need to have some discussions with your children before the day. Perhaps they could even help decide what they would like to sell.

Do you have any tips to add to this list?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Finding Cheap Baby Clothes

Karen Weideman — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:22:29 +0000

The following is a guest post.

I have four children and I’ll be honest not all were 100% planned (not timing anyways) and each comes complete with their own funny story. I found out that I was pregnant with my third child, a little girl, only after I had just got rid of all the baby items and clothes. This was done by one week and of course it was to someone that was moving. I knew I’d never see those clothes again and now I was once again looking at starting over on preparing for baby. But I learned a lot.

Here are a few tips for you for finding cheap baby clothes:

1) Ask your neighbors and friends. If any of them have recently given birth, ask them if they have anything they could pass down to you. Chances are they’ll say yes because they don’t want to have to trash them or find someone to take them later.

2) Hit up garage sales. Believe it or not you’ll find all those name brand outfits you want that have only been used maybe once for less than a buck. Imagine how many you’ll be able to find for the cost of just one of those outfits.

3) Shop at thrift stores. Many people tend to stay away from them but these are gold mines just waiting to get discovered. You may even find a few things for your home or yourself.

4) Put an ad in the paper that you are looking for clothes, or join a freecycle group. There’s always someone looking to help you out. You just have to give them the means to do it.

5) Shop at department stores BUT during offseason times. If you know your baby is going to be born in summer you can buy tons of winter things now, just buy bigger. I normally count the months and go by it. Or go to the bargain and clearance racks to see what’s there. You’ll be amazed at what’s marked down.

Hope these 5 tips helped you. I know it’s helped me from time to time.

Eliza is a wife and stay-at-home mother to four children that range from 11 years to 1. When she isn’t busy playing video games with them or changing diapers, she enjoys blogging and reading books. For a more personal view of her life, you can find her blogging about motherhood at Babylune or The Life of a Home Mom.

Thanks for being a guest blogger, Eliza!!!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Save Time and Money With Digital Scrapbooking

Karen Weideman — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:38:19 +0000

Hi. My name is Jenn, and I’m a scrapaholic. Yes, I have a room full of funky scissors, expensive paper, ribbons, leetle flowers and WAAAAY too many stickers. And I NEVER use them. But I scrap every day! Yes, I’ve gone digital.

I imagine over the years I’ve spend hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on all that stuff gathering dust in my craft room – but I avoided using it because it was too much work to get it all out; I didn’t want to just have to clean it all up again in order to eat dinner, the kids would get into it and make ‘art’ with $1 sheets of paper… too many excuses. I was working at a scrapbook store, when I realized I hadn’t done any personal scrapping for TWO YEARS!!

Then I went digital! I have always used Photoshop as a retoucher, and had moved into laying out my kids’ school yearbooks – when I had that D’OH! moment… laying out a yearbook is… yes… SCRAPBOOKING!! I started looking around online, and realized lots of other people had already figured out how to scrap digitally, and were doing a WAY better job than I was!

I started learning and scrapping, and was able to tell my story again! (CLICK HERE to see a slideshow of some of my favorites.)

Digiscrapping fits into my new thrifty lifestyle because:

Once I purchase a page kit (papers and elements), I can use it over and over!
I can make my own backgrounds (papers) and titles and elements – it’s fun!
I can stop and start whenever I want – no cleanup! Just hit ‘Save’!
I can wait for sales or free coupons to print things (just got a free 20 page book from Shutterfly!)
I don’t HAVE to print – lately I’ve been making slide shows from my layouts and sending them to the grandparents on DVD. Easy for them to view – everyone can see at once, no crowding around the book!
I actually DO it now!

You can’t put a price on preserving your memories.

One day I was telling my son that we were going to host a couple of high school kids from a choir that was visiting our church. I asked him if he remembered when we did that the year before.

“No, I don’t remember.”

“Sure you do, remember they slept in your room and you bunked with your sister?”

“Nope.”

“Of course you do, remember we took them to Baskin-Robbins for ice cream?”

“Did you take pictures? Can I see them?”

“No honey, I don’t think we took any photos.”

“MOM, if you took PICTURES, I’d REMEMBER!!!”

Out of the mouths of babes.

So, if you’re not crafty, can’t stand the idea of little stickers and glue sticks – try digiscrapping. If you paper-scrap but can’t seem to find the time or space – digiscrap! If you’ve got a story (and we all do) – tell it!

Jennifer White is the owner of ScrappersWorkshop.com, a learning site for digiscrappers. She also designs scrapbooking supplies, catch her blog at http://www.scrapkittydesign.com/blog. If you’re new to digiscrapping, (or even if you’re not!) free samples and tutorials are available at http://www.scrapkittydesign.com/ScrapKittyDesignNewbiePage.html

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Top 10 Thrifty Date Outings

Karen Weideman — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:49:00 +0000

You don’t have to spend a lot of money on dates for them to be fun. Fortunately, there are some entertainment options that don’t have to break your budget.

1) Bowling - You don’t have to be a good bowler to go bowling. Being silly and laughing at yourself are part of the fun.

2) Parks - It’s ok to swing on the swings and slide when there’s no kids around. Plus, it’s dark and you don’t have to worry about looking foolish.

3) Natural attractions - Just a few weeks ago our family visited my parents. My husband and I always know we’ll get a date night there. We went out to eat and then we drove to the water front. We walked around the pier and then went to the park. Yes, we climbed on the jungle gym since no one could see us.

4) Ice cream – Stopping for ice cream is usually inexpensive. You can get your ice cream and go to the park to sit and talk. Or just get your ice cream and sit inside the freezing cold building and talk for a while.

5) Coffee – Provided you don’t go to “FourBucks”, it won’t cost too much. Even if you do go to expensive coffee shops, the two of you can probably spend less than $10. I just have to say . . . you can do some good people watching at coffee shops. Right Kelly?

6) Baseball – Going out for a night of baseball can be inexpensive. Some areas have local teams. You can usually get seats for less than $10.

7) Discount theater – If you’re lucky, your area has a theater for movies that have been out a little longer. Sometimes you can get tickets for $2-3. I like going to these because it’s less crowded and going to see a movie as soon as it’s released isn’t a big deal to me.

8) School musicals – You can find some pretty good talent at school musicals for little cost.

9) Free attractions – Pretty much every area has free attractions. It could be a festival in the square, free museum day, a local farm. The internet is great for finding free entertainment. Google your city and free attractions. If you still can’t find anything, then give your chamber of commerce a call.

10) Stay at home – Put the kids to bed and make the effort to have a special night together. Sit on the patio and drink coffee, have dinner on a blanket in the backyard, watch the stars, eat cake, or watch a dvd. Get creative.

I know you have some ideas for inexpensive dates. Please share them with us.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

101 Helpful Thrifty Mommy Articles

Karen Weideman — Fri, 23 May 2008 04:23:34 +0000

Happy Frugal Friday! I have hundreds of tips for you today!

Sometimes at Thrifty Mommy we give you tips on sales and other things that are only relevant to that week. But then there are times that we have lists of ways to save time and money that can be beneficial for years to come.

I decided to surf around the archives and pull together some of our helpful articles. Most of these articles are relevant to men and women, whether or not you’re married with children.

I hope you will enjoy these articles. Let us know which ones are your favorite or if there are some other Thrifty Mommy articles that should have been included.

Happy browsing!

Housekeeping

15 Summer Cooking Tips

25 Ways to Clean with Vinegar

60+ Frugal Ways to Use Baking Soda

10 Tips for Spring Cleaning Success

4 Thrifty Stain Removers

More Help with Common Stains

10 Tips for Saving Money While Doing Laundry

10 Ways to Clean with Baking Soda

Quick Cleaning Tips

10 Organizing and Decluttering Tips