Money Saving Mom

Guest Post: Using Skype to Save the Family Money

Guest Post by Karen at Saving The Family Money

In December of 2007, our cell phone company let us down and we decided to cancel them. Long story short, they changed my phone number without permission, and it was a customer service nightmare trying to get it resolved.

After long discussions with my husband and a lot of research, we decided to give Skype a try. I first heard about Skype on the Clark Howard show. I had always heard him talk so highly about it, that I thought it was worth a try. My husband is tech-savvy, so he was excited about testing the technology and seeing if it would work for us. I’m happy to say it is still our main line after 16 months.

The Technology--Skype is free software you can download onto your computer that allows you to talk over the Internet to anyone else with Skype--anywhere in the world. I wish we would have had Skype when my sister and her husband lived in Japan. It would have been nice to video chat for free anytime. Now we use the video chat with the grandparents and it’s fabulous. They enjoy seeing the kids more frequently and the kids think it's fun to see them on the computer!

The Money--The exciting part for me is we are only paying about $6 a month for our home phone service (no taxes)! Imagine the savings if you did this for your family. Although my sister is now in the same city, she signed up with Skype and is also using it as her main line.

Skype has changed their pricing format a couple of times over the last two years. They've changed their subscription names for the bundles, so when you research it online, it can be confusing. Despite the changes, it has remained a cheap deal. There are three main levels of pricing:

1. You can do Skype-to-Skype for free. (Includes video chat, IMs and file transfer capability, but only to other Skype members)
2. You can upgrade for $3/month and get what I'd call "Skype-to-Phone," to be able to call normal (non-Skype) land-line phones and mobile phones. Voice mail also comes with this package.
3. Lastly, you can pay for an actual number, so folks can call you. (This is where Skype becomes a land-line phone replacement.)

It's nice because you can take those baby steps to test the service before you commit. Even after you commit, you can choose short monthly service plans.

The Ease and Convenience--My husband got hooked quickly because of the conveniences Skype offered. He loved how it worked on both PCs and Macs. I appreciated all the options Skype had; it's been a pretty seamless change and we use it 100% of the time now.

Over time, we've used a USB Handset, USB Headset,and even bought a Skype phone that works like a cordless. Yes, that's right, you can buy an actual phone so you are not bound to the computer to use the service. It can be worked into your home and used like a "normal" phone. I've even taken my laptop on location, where Internet is available, and by simply plugging in my headset, I've been able to receive and make calls.

Please note: Skype cannot be used for emergency calling. My husband has a work-issued cell phone so in case of an emergency, we would use that.

Karen has had so much fun saving her family money that she is blogging about it at Saving The Family Money, in hopes that it will benefit other families.

Is it Possible to Lose Weight on a Budget?

photo by Anushruti RK

Jessica, from Losing Weight on a Budget, recently wrote me about how she is losing weight on a budget:

After giving birth to my first child I started eating healthy and lost over 50 pounds. That being said I also lost a lot of money doing it. The cost can really get out of control if you let it. By the time you buy all of the special frozen meals and prepackaged snacks your wallet will definitely feel a lot lighter.

After I gave birth to my second child, I wanted to lose weight again but I put it off for several months because my family is on a strict budget and I really thought that I couldn’t afford to eat healthfully again. This made me very depressed and I continued to gain weight.

Finally, at the end of last year I decided that enough was enough. I felt really tired all of the time from not eating right or exercising and I knew that I needed to do something about it. So this is where my journey began. On January 1, 2009, I began my journey of losing weight on a budget.

I plan my menu every week and stick to it, I clip coupons, I do without some of the convenience foods that I used to enjoy, and I definitely go out to eat less. I even started a blog here to keep myself accountable and to share my ideas with anyone interested in losing weight on a budget.

I have also tried a many new recipes which are healthful and low in cost. Right now I am on a bean kick. I have found several great bean recipes that cost very little but are low in fat and very high in fiber. I am loving the fact that I can feed my family a hearty filling meal for just a few dollars.

I have lost 17 pounds in my first 10 weeks and I have no plans of stopping until I meet my goal. I love the fact that not only am I losing weight but I am becoming healthy and so is the rest of my family. It is such a great feeling to be able to teach my children about eating healthfully and budgeting money all at the same time.

Jessica's story was quite inspirational to me--especially since I'm currently working on losing the rest of my pregnancy weight (14 pounds to go!). You'll not want to miss her post here on ten ways to save money while losing weight.

What tips or tricks do you have for losing weight on a budget? I'd love to hear! I blogged here last year about some of the things which have helped me lose my pregnancy weight without spending a lot of money and Tammy also has some great ideas here.

100 Different Ways to Save $100 This Year - Part 6

If you missed the first parts of this series, you can read them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5. Here's the sixth installment in this series of ideas of ways to save $100 or more this year:

23) Recover your furniture instead of replacing it. When my husband and I were first married, we spent a total of $100 to furnish our apartment. We accepted hand-me-downs for almost everything and then purchased a used matching sofa and chair we found in the newspaper.

Four years later, when we had made it through law school a had a little more wiggle room in our budget, we decided it was about time we replace our living room set. We had scrimped together a few hundred dollars and naively figured we could likely find something for this amount. However, we quickly found that a few hundred dollars doesn't go very far when it comes to furniture.

We scoured garage sales, second-hand stores, surplus stores, and Craigslist, all to no avail. Either the furniture was very used, hideously ugly, or just plain too expensive.

Finally, a friend suggested we consider buying slipcovers instead of replacing our furniture. We'd never considered that, but after a little digging, we discovered you can buy brand-new slip covers off of eBay for about half of what they'd run retail. And the price of these slipcovers paled in comparison to buying new furniture!

So, after buying two slipcovers and making some matching throw pillows, we re-did the entire look of our living room for less than $150!

(If you were more handy with a sewing machine than me, you could likely make slipcovers or just up and recover your entire sofa for even less than we paid.)

24) Constantly challenge yourself to improve. My husband and I are fairly competitive people so we've found we can really use this to our advantage when it comes to saving and giving. We set goals every month for how much we hope to save and give and how we hope to accomplish it and then we have a running competition to see if we can actually pull it off.

Some months, we'll commit to not going out to eat, or reducing our energy usage, or driving less, or spending less on groceries, or not spending any money on anything but basic necessities. Each month, it's a little different so that it keeps life interesting and we never grow bored of the challenge. In addition, we always set our goals a little higher than what we think we can pull off, just to challenge ourselves to think outside the box and be more self-disciplined.

Making it like a game to see how well we can live while still reaching our financial goals makes it fun and exciting. Who says that living on a budget and living beneath your means needs to be a miserable experience?!

The biggest benefit of challenging ourselves in this way is that it really does seem to allow us to save and give more. We don't always quite make our monthly goals, but I am positive we go a lot farther than we would if we didn't set any goals and didn't come up with creative challenges each month to help us try and meet them.

25) Drink water. Okay, so this might not be your favorite way to save $100 this year, but if you want to spend less and save more, curbing the caffeine addiction is something to seriously consider.

Water is the beverage of choice in our home. We enjoy coffee and even soft drinks on occasion, but these are reserved as a treat, not an everyday occurrence. And we've saved a lot of money over the years because of this.

I know you often hear about how you can save money by "cutting the Starbucks habit" and I'm sure it has almost begun to seem cliche at this point, but have you ever really done the math? If you regularly get drinks from the soda machine at work or stop in often at the drive-thru at a local coffee shop, have you ever taken the time to add up how much these little expenditures are really costing you? If you spend $3 five times per week on lattes, that's over $750 each year! Or even if you only spend $1 five days a week on a drink, that still is over $250 a year.

If giving up your daily latte is unthinkable, perhaps you could consider learning to make it at home? You'll save a tremendous amount of by doing so and you might find you can make it even better than the local coffee shop. But I still recommend water--it's a lot fewer calories than most caffeinated beverages and it's really good for you, too!

To be continued...

photo by Refracted Moments

Adding Flavor While Saving Money: How To Store and Preserve Fresh Herbs (Guest Post)

Guest Post by Megan from SaverQueen.com

Not too long ago, an article was written in a national newspaper documenting the trend towards so-called "cheap" convenience foods. I sighed, disappointed that shoppers naturally assume single-serving, prepackaged foods like macaroni and cheese are cheaper than homemade alternatives. 

Convenience foods can, in fact, be most costly, and they are almost always less healthful than their homemade counterparts. But perhaps what bothered most about this trend is that shoppers are "buying-in" to the belief that being frugal means sacrificing taste and quality. 

Eating well on a frugal budget is entirely possible. A lean grocery budget does not require reliance on freeze-dried, tasteless food. In fact, home cooking can bring a whole new world of flavors.

There are many ways to add flavor to your food without a lot of cost, but one of my favorite techniques is to use fresh herbs. Not only do fresh herbs add flavor, they bring out the natural flavors in other foods too. And they have many health benefits, as well. 

After attempting to learn how to grow herbs using window-boxes or terrariums, I have concluded, it just doesn’t work for me. Failing this, I now bite the bullet and pay full price at the grocery store. However, the key to making the herbs affordable, I have learned, is to make the most of your purchase by properly prepping, storing, and preserving your herbs. Here is how to do it:

1) Wash your herbs immediately after purchasing and dry in a salad spinner. If you purchase herbs that are still attached at the roots, snip the roots off and clean them as well. Then store the roots in a sandwich bag or plastic container in the freezer--they can be added to vegetable or chicken stock, yielding a lovely flavor.

2) Take the rest of the washed and dried herbs and spread them out over a few sheets of paper towel. Roll the paper towel up with the herbs inside and place in a grocery bag and keep inside your crisper. The herbs should last for several weeks like this.

3) When your herbs are nearing the end of their freshness, freeze or dry them. Many herbs can be frozen by placing the leaves in an ice cube tray and filling it with water. When you are ready to use them, simply defrost an ice cube and you have "fresh" herbs to use! To dry herbs, you can hang them in bunches. And don't throw away the stems--you can use parsley or cilantro stems when making chutneys or sauces in the food processor.

With rising food costs, it is not necessary to sacrifice taste or quality. Simply make the most of what you have. Rather than sacrifice the delightful flavor and health benefits of fresh herbs, I recommend making your investment count by using every part of the herb and reducing waste wherever possible. The result will be a tastier mealtime and a budget boost.

Megan (aka "Saver Queen") loves the fulfilling, frugal life. She’s shares her best recipes, tips to save at the grocery store, and other money saving secrets at her blog, SaverQueen.com.

Guest Post: Making Your Own Homemade Cleaners

photo by Brittney Bush

Guest Post by Heidi from Frugal Girls

One way I've found to save our family a lot of money is to make our own cleaners. It took me awhile before I was willing to try this, but after I did a quick analysis of how much money I could save, I knew it was time to start making up some frugal cleaning solutions of my own! 

These solutions literally cost approximately $0.40 to make, as opposed to the $3 or $4 price tag you’ll often see on cleaners at the store. Here are two of my favorite tried and true “recipes” for homemade cleaning solutions:

Homemade 409
2 Tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon Borax
1/8 cup Dawn dish soap
1 cup hot water

Pour vinegar, borax, and hot water into spray bottle. Then continue filling spray bottle with cool water.
Add dish soap last. There is no need to shake. 

Homemade Laundry Stain Remover
1/3 cup Dawn dish soap
1/3 cup ammonia
3 Tablespoon baking soda
1 cup water

Mix all ingredients together and store in an empty spray bottle. I was skeptical of this one at first, but since I have two boys who are dirt and grass-stain magnets I gave it a try and I've found that it has never let me down!

If you haven’t tried making your own cleaning solutions, I’d highly encourage you to try! You just need a few simple ingredients and you’re on your way to some effective and thrifty solutions. It’s easy to do, and you might be amazed at how much money you’ll save!

Frugal Girls is a positive and fun site dedicated to helping you save money and stretch your dollars by finding the best bargains, hottest coupons, thrifty meals, and outrageous deals!

Reader Tip: Make restaurant foods at home--for much less!

Pictured: Lynn's Panera-Style Broccoli Cheese Soup and No-Knead Bread

Lynn from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures wrote me with this great tip recently:

I am always amazed at the amount of money people spend eating out and how often they eat out. And I have to wonder if they have any idea how much they are really spending on all that restaurant food? If they would add up what they spend on lunches out, drive-thru dinners, and gourmet coffees, they would likely be surprised.

Eating at home is so much less expensive than eating out. You can make at least twice the food, usually more than that, for the same price. Many times when I have eaten out, I look at the food and think "what a waste of money this was!" I could have made a whole pan of lasagna and a loaf of bread for the same cost as my meal. If I eat out at a deli or sandwich place, I end up thinking how many sandwiches I could have made for the cost of the one that I just ate.

My family can easily spend $20 ordering pizza, but how many pizzas can I make at home for $20?  Quite a few. Maybe I think this way because I love to cook. I love to create meals and try new recipes and I like the challenge of trying to recreate a restaurant meal or dish. Yes, cooking at home takes time, but there are many meals that you can make in 30 minutes or less.

One of my favorite places to eat at is Panera Bread. I love their soups and loaves of crusty artisan style bread. But I don’t love spending $5 or more a person to eat there. So, I make several versions of their soups at home. I have a broccoli cheese and also a potato soup that taste pretty close to Panera’s versions. In fact, I think I like my versions better!

I have also learned some of the tricks to making artisan-style bread at home. Martha Stewart’s website has a great recipe for no knead bread. I also love the book “Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day”. I still have a lot to learn about bread making, but I can now make a pretty good loaf of bread, and it does not cost me $3-$5 a loaf like it would at a bakery or restaurant.

You can also find many "copy-cat" restaurant recipes online. I recently searched for how Jamba Juice made their smoothies, and I was amazed at how many recipes I found. I have tried the strawberry version and also the orange version. You can also find recipes for Olive Garden’s salad dressing, Red Lobsters cheese biscuits, IHOP pancakes, and more. One of the best sites for finding "copy-cat" recipes is Recipezar.

With a little time in the kitchen, you can whip up some of your favorite restaurant meals at home--and save yourself a lot of money in the process!

Have you made any restaurant meals or recipes at home before? If so, I'd love to hear about it!

Baking Day Wrap-Up

Finally, everything off the Baking Day list is done! And I have decided our After-the-Baby Freezer Stash is officially complete since our basement freezer is stuffed with the makings of 25 meals plus rolls, muffins, and banana bread! (You can see the full list of everything we made complete with recipe links here.)

It will be so nice to not have to worry about cooking or baking or shopping for at least a month or so after the baby is born. I'm definitely hoping this will not only save us time and money, but will make the transition from two little ones to three little ones go more smoothly. Now if only I could find a way to do a month's worth of laundry ahead of time, we'd be all set! :)

Here were the results of the baking we did yesterday and this morning:



3 dozen Banana Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 1/2 dozen Whole Wheat French Bread Rolls
3 dinner's worth of Calzone dough
1 dozen Super Power Muffins
3 bags cooked and chopped chicken
2 loaves Banana Bread

Did you have a chance to do any baking this week? If so, post about it on your blog and leave your link below to your direct blog post. I'd love it especially if you could share pictures and recipes so I can get more ideas for my next Baking Day projects! And I'm guessing many others would be inspired as well.

Baking Day - Part 1

(My cheerful little 4-year-old who will be helping me in the kitchen today!)

I found this recipe yesterday and it inspired me to have another Baking Day. Our freezer is fairly well-stocked, but since I'm not exactly sure when this baby will be coming, I figured it wouldn't hurt to bake up a few more things to add to our After-The-Baby Freezer Stash or maybe to eat before the baby comes. :)

Considering I'm almost 38 weeks pregnant, I'm not planning a long list of baking projects to tackle as I never know when my energy might run out. However, I'm thinking I can manage the following short list today. Or at least try to accomplish it--we'll see how far I get!

To bake today:

Whole-Wheat French Bread Rolls
Super Power Muffins
Banana Pumpkin Muffins
Banana Bread x 2

If I get really ambitious, I might also cook up, chop, and freeze some chicken breasts, too.

Want to join me in the kitchen today? I'll post pictures of our progress throughout the day and will host a Mr. Linky at the conclusion so you can share anything you've baked today, too!

If you're planning to join us, I'd love to hear what's on your list to bake today.

100 Different Ways to Save $100 This Year - Part 5

If you missed the first parts of this series, you can read them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. Here's the fifth installment in this series of ideas of ways to save $100 or more this year:

20) Brown Bag It. If you're willing to put in a little time to plan ahead so you have the necessary food on hand and then to take a few minutes every evening or morning to put together a sack lunch, the return on this small investment of time can be quite remarkable.

In fact, I figured out that most of the lunches I've packed for my husband cost anywhere between $0.75 to $1.50 each (remember, that's mostly because I shop the sales, use coupons, and stock up on items when they are at their lowest prices!). A lunch at a fast food restaurant is likely going to cost at least $4-$5 at a minimum.

Based upon these calculations, it is very safe to say that packing a lunch has saved us at least $3 per day. Over the course of the year, that's $750 saved! And that's a very low figure. If someone is eating out at nicer restaurants most days and spending $7-$12 per lunch, the savings are significantly higher!

In addition to the savings, there's also the added benefit of homemade lunches also often being much more healthful for you as well--especially when compared with fast food meals.

21) Utilize PaperBackSwap. My husband and I are both avid readers and books are something we could spend a fortune on--if we had that kind of money to spend! In order to stick within our meager budget when Jesse was in law school, we put ourselves on a self-imposed book-buying moratorium. Our rule was that any book we read had to be checked out from the library, borrowed from a friend, or given to us as a gift.

Then, I discovered PaperBackSwap. For the cost of shipping out a book via Media Mail (usually somewhere around $2-$3 maximum), you can choose from a constantly-changing selection of hundreds of thousands of books.

Not only do I love the concept of passing along books you no longer need or use to someone who will appreciate them, I love the fact that you can acquire books you really would like to own so inexpensively through PaperBackSwap! 

I'm especially appreciative of PaperBackSwap now that we've moved to a town where the libraries aren't much to speak of (at least not compared to our beloved neighborhood library in Kansas City where we could put hundreds of books on hold at a time without ever paying a dime!). Instead of mourning the loss of a wonderful library system at our disposal, we're building our own home library now, courtesy of PaperBackSwap!

(By the way, PaperBackSwap also created a site in the last few years for swapping DVDs: Swap-a-DVD.)

22) Exercise at home. I'm a big proponent of staying fit and healthy but I don't think it needs to cost you an arm and a leg to do so. The gym memberships and fancy workout clothes are great, but they are not necessary to stay in shape. If you have a little personal self-discipline and some accountability, you can be very successful at a fitness program right in your own home.

My husband bought an elliptical for me off of Craigslist two years ago for $100. It was in like-new condition when he purchased it and I have spent hours on it and its still going strong. A similar product purchased brand-new would be around $300-$400. So not only did we save $200 to $300 at the outset by buying it barely-used, but it was a one-time investment which I can use again and again and again. It doesn't require a monthly fee to use, I can work out at any time of the day or night, I don't have to drive to another location to use it, and I don't have to worry about childcare.

I also have found SparkPeople.com--a free nutrition and fitness tracker--to be enormously helpful to me in maintaining a healthy weight and staying physically fit. This was especially helpful to me in getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight after my second baby was born and I'm anxious to begin another weight-loss regimen as soon as Baby #3 makes his or her arrival.

If you are interested in other ideas for frugal weight loss and fitness, I've written more of my thoughts and what has worked well for me here.

photo by Refracted Moments

Planning a Wedding on a Budget

photo by Forbes Creative

I will be getting married in the spring of next year, and, needless to say, I am very overwhelmed by the exorbitant amount of money that can be shelled out for a wedding. We have a very limited budget, and I am adamant about not going into debt to have my "dream wedding."

While most people tell us that we'll never be able to afford a wedding with so little money, I am determined to do so. I was hoping that you would be able to provide some tips on planning a wedding with a limited budget and ways one can be frugal without the end result looking cheap. -Angel

First off, congratulations on your upcoming wedding! Wedding planning and preparation for life as a wife is such an exciting time. Also, I'm very impressed with your desire to stay within budget and not go into debt for your wedding. Starting off a marriage with wedding debt is just plain unwise in my estimation.

I'm no wedding expert, but I have helped plan a few weddings on a budget--one of which was my own. From those experiences, I'll share with you a few thoughts. Take them or leave them as they are useful to you in your situation:

1) Plan ahead and start looking for deals now. We had 5 1/2 months to plan our wedding and this afforded us the necessary time to get everything we bought on sale--mostly at 50% or more off the retail price.

By planning ahead and figuring out what we needed and how much of it we needed, we were able to capitalize on the deals and sales over the months leading up to our wedding. Instead of buying everything all at once, we patiently waited until the item went on sale (which most items do over the course of a four-month period) and then we bought it at a discount.

I bought the majority of the items we needed at Hobby Lobby during their regular 50% off sales. Every week, I'd check the ad online and then check it against my list of items I needed to buy. Hobby Lobby also often offers 40% off coupons which you can print out online and use on any item which is full-price. These came in handy for those items which didn't routinely go on sale.

We bought all of the tulle for decorating and fabric for sewing the bridesmaid's dresses when it was on sale at 50% off or using the 40% off coupons we got in our fabric store fliers. We were able to get dozens of yards of tulle and all the fabric and notions very inexpensively this way.

2) Shop around for the best price. Whether it's cake decorators, florists, or photographers, don't settle on the first one you contact. Get at least three different price quotes before making your final pick. The prices can often vary quite a bit and many of them will work with your budget if you ask them to.

I found that it was best to tell them your budget upfront. For instance, "I only have $150 to spend on personal flowers, what can you do for that?" It often surprised me what they could pull off while working with my budget!

However, do not just make your decision based on price alone. Make sure the person or company you are hiring is not only qualified for the job but that they will get it done well. Sometimes it's worth it to pay a little more for something in order to guarantee the end result is what you want.

For supplies you need to buy, think outside the box. Don't overlook dollar stores, overstock stores (such as BigLots), or online websites. I found that a number of things were less expensive if I ordered them online--even when paying shipping and handling--than I could find in any of our local stores. 

photo by sifu renka

3) Put your money where it matters to you. Just because someone else thinks it's important you have a stunning dress or an elaborate cake, doesn't mean you need to. Focus on what is most important to you and invest the most time and money there.

Since I'm a minimalist by nature, many of the traditional wedding things didn't matter to me. And Jesse's the same way. We didn't particularly care whether we had hundreds of incredible wedding photos, we just wanted to have a few pictures of us and our families on our wedding day. So, with this in mind, we chose one of the least-expensive photography services we found whose personalities and photography work we liked.

On the other hand, having fresh and beautifully-arranged personal flowers, were more important to me, and so we spent a bit more there (even though it was still quite inexpensive by most people's standards!).

3) Keep it simple. As I alluded to above, I like to keep things simple. I like things to be efficient and streamlined and organized. And our wedding was no different. We cut costs in a lot of ways because of this. Just a few areas:

::I wore my mom's wedding dress. No it wasn't any incredible dress and yes, it was dated, but it fit and it was special for me to be able to wear. Best of all, we saved a chunk of money and headache by me doing so.

::We didn't have a flower girl or ring-bearer. I know some people think these are absolute essentials, but since I didn't have any little nieces and nephews to fill the part, we decided to just skip this altogether.

::Instead of a fancy multiple-tiered cake, we opted for sheet cakes and a simple little two-tiered cake for the center of the table. Sheet cakes are much less expensive and since the cakes are going to be consumed anyway, I figured people wouldn't care whether they came from a fancy multi-tiered cake or a simple sheet cake. Honestly, I don't think anyone even noticed!

::We only had a cake reception. I know in some parts of the country, only having a cake reception is like a travesty, but in the Midwest it's quite common and much more frugal than serving a big dinner to all your guests.

::We kept our wedding party small. Simple is good, remember? We were actually going to just have one attendant each, but we changed our minds halfway through in order to include our younger sisters as bridesmaids. As a result, we had three attendants each.

::My sister made the three bridesmaid's dresses. By doing this, we were able to get all three dresses for less than $100 total--which is often the cost of just one bridesmaid dress.

4) Borrow things from others. My philosophy: if you're only going to use it for one day, why go out and buy it if you know someone else you can borrow it from?

We borrowed a number of things for our wedding--many of which were actually offered to us and we gladly accepted. Some friends of ours had recently married off two of their daughters, and had had very large weddings for both. They asked if we wanted to borrow any of the leftover decorations and tulle they had from those weddings and that's where the majority of our decorating supplies for the reception hall and the sanctuary came from. It saved us another big chunk of money and no one could tell they were "recycled."

5) Utilize friends and family. If you know someone who is great at decorating cakes, arranging flowers, or photography, don't hesitate to ask them if they might be willing to help out with your wedding. Likely you could work out a great deal this way and save a bundle of money in the process.

Just be sure ahead of time that whoever you ask really and truly is experienced in the area and not just someone who hasn't much of a clue but generously offered anyway. You don't want to create a huge headache if the supposedly "wonderful cake decorator" who is also your aunt ends up ruining half of the cakes while attempting to decorating them the morning of the wedding.

Those are just a few of my thoughts on the subject of planning a wedding on a budget. I'd love to hear from the rest of you who have experience in this area. Any words of wisdom or practical ideas for Angel or others who are in the midst of wedding planning right now?

Guest Post: How I Dress My Children for Free

photo by loop oh

Guest Post by Melissa from Lake Michigan Treasures

When my son was little, I went to garage sales to buy all of his clothes. I did find some adorable clothes, but I also found many that were out of style, stained, and missing buttons. As he got older, it became harder to find clothes that looked good, and I wanted some good outfits for church, pictures, and other special events.

I began selling on eBay when he was about a year old in an attempt to make enough money so I could stay home with him. About 6 months later, I discovered Gymboree and found I loved their clothes!

However, I did not love their prices. Yet, when I went to the back of the store, I found some clothing that was discounted as much as 80%. Pants that would normally cost $28.00 were marked down to $6.99.  As I frequented Gymboree more, I learned ways to save even more which I wanted to share with you all:

::Buy only clearance items and always use coupons. (Many magazines such as Plum and Parenting Magazine offer 20% off coupons. I subscribe to the Gymbohaven Newsletter to learn what magazines are currently offering coupons.)

::Buy during Gymbucks earning time, but only buy items that are on clearance. If you purchase $50 worth of clothing during Gymbucks earning, they will give you a voucher for $25 off your $50 order during Gymbucks redemption. If you purchase $100, you will receive a voucher for $50 off your next $100 order. 

Gymboree offers Gymbucks about six times a year. Typically Gymbucks earning periods run about 6 weeks long and redemption periods run about 10-14 days. During the Gymbucks earning period, it is not unusual for Gymboree to have sales where they drop the price of shirts to $3.99, pants to $6.99, dresses to $6.99 to $9.99, and shoes to $4.99. If it is at the end of a season, I always buy my son clothes for next year in a size up from what he is currently wearing.

::Use eBay to make money back on your kids used Gymboree clothes. Even though it is possible to dress my kids (now I have a newborn daughter to dress in their adorable clothes too), for a fraction of the cost of retail at Gymboree, it is still not that frugal until eBay is added in.

For the last few years, once my child has outgrown his Gymboree clothes, I sell them on eBay, usually for the same price I bought them for or sometimes more than I paid! For instance, when my son was two, I fell in love with a pair of black corduroy overalls with a train on the front. I bought those and a matching turtleneck and socks (both with the train image on them) and spent approximately $22 on this outfit, and he wore it for his pictures, for Christmas, and to church.

After he had outgrown it, I sold it on eBay for $24.95! Basically, he wore this adorable outfit for an entire Winter and then I got all of my money back. I dressed him for free!

A few tips for selling your children's clothing on eBay:

::When buying at Gymboree, make sure to avoid plain items. For example, I bought my son a blue striped tee shirt and khaki shorts. Even though it is cute, because it is plain, I am having a hard time selling it on eBay.

::If possible, try to buy a set of clothing. Each line of clothing that Gymboree makes has a specific theme. The overall outfit I mentioned earlier was part of a line called “All Aboard.” Because I bought all the pieces with the train on them, they were more valuable for resale on eBay.

If you can find them, try to buy the matching socks or hair accessories (or for a baby, the bib), but don’t pay more than the discounted price for them because it is not worth it to pay full price for these items. I would rather go without the accessory than to pay full or nearly full price for them.

::Be aware that eBay shoppers follow the same seasons as retail stores. So, for instance, in February and March, when it is still cold, shoppers on eBay are snatching up Spring and Summer clothes.

If you try to sell your used Summer items in May or June when kids will actually use them, you won’t make much money because most parents already have their kids’ Summer wardrobe. By July and August, they are moving on to buying Fall and Winter clothes.

::If you have several kids, consider opening an eBay store. Part of my success comes from the fact that I have an eBay store and can just leave my son’s clothes in my store until they sell at the price I want. However, if you do open a store, there is a $15.95 a month fee, so I would only recommend this for some one who has three or more children with clothing to sell.

::If you do not want to open a store, sell your clothing at auction. Some people believe that if you start your auction at $0.99, you will get more bidders and will sell your items at a higher price. I usually do not find this to be true.

Instead, if you want to make sure you recoup the majority of your purchase price, I would recommend starting with a price of at least 50% of what you paid. So, if you bought a dress for $9.99, I would start the auction for at least $4.99 and offer a "Buy It Now" option of say, $12.99 (assuming the dress is in very good condition). 

If you want to be even safer, eBay allows you to put an item up for auction with only a "Buy It Now" option. You could put that same dress up for auction with only a "Buy It Now" price of $12.99, so you know for sure, if it sells, you will get your money back. Or, you could auction it with a "Buy It Now" price of $12.99 and also allow "Best Offers". (Allowing "Best Offers" means that potential buyers can e-mail you with the price they are willing to pay, and you can accept or reject their offer.)

::Make sure your auction description is precise. I bought a four-piece set of Janie and Jack clothing (the upscale sister store of Gymboree owned by Gymboree) for my son off of eBay two years ago for approximately $18.00. I got it this inexpensive because there was a small hole in the knee of the pants.

I stitched up the hole, and my son wore this outfit for two Winters. I just sold it a few weeks ago for $12.99 even though I honestly stated in my auction that it had the mended hole in the knee and two small stains on the shirt (compliments of my son). Because I gave an honest description of the item, the buyer left me positive feedback and was pleased with the transaction and so was I. My son wore an outfit for two years and it only depreciated $5, despite the addition of stains.

Gymboree is not your only source for buying Gymboree clothing. I have had good success buying gently used Gymboree clothes from second hand childrens' clothing stores and then selling them on eBay after my son outgrows them. 

If you remember the buying cycle, eBay can also be a good place to pick up used Gymboree clothes, as well. I have purchased several of my son’s Summer outfits in May or June for a very reasonable price because the seller didn’t sell within the correct eBay selling season and there are just not that many buyers for Summer items sold in June.

I hope that these tips and ideas have encouraged you that it is possible to dress your child in Gymboree clothing without breaking the bank. And if you do it right, you can dress your child for free!

Melissa has owned and operated an eBay store, Lake Michigan Treasures, for the last four years. She lives with her husband and two children in the Midwest and is constantly trying to find ways to save money without skimping on quality.

Photos from Gymboree.com unless otherwise stated.

Eating From The Pantry Challenge: Day 3

It's been 13 days since I've been to the grocery store and today is Day 3 of our official Eating From The Pantry Challenge.

We used up the last of the flour and milk (which was expiring today) in the pancakes this morning. So now it's time to really get creative!

Here's what we ate today:

Brunch (We were out late last night at a birthday party so we got around late this morning and had brunch instead of breakfast and lunch!): Whole-wheat pancakes, grapefruit, chocolate milk

By the way, here's my favorite recipe for pancakes:

Whole-Wheat Pancakes
3 cups whole-wheat flour (or a combination of whole-wheat/white)
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 beaten eggs
3 cups milk (you can use buttermilk or sour milk)
6 Tablespoons oil

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl. Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Stir together just until moistened. Add additional milk to thin batter if necessary.

Cook on a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet. Makes approximately 20 standard sized pancakes.

We were in a baking mood this afternoon so we got creative and found a few recipes to make which didn't include flour and milk. We made these no bake cookies (using powdered milk) and these peanut butter cookies. These bars also looked really good, but I ran out of time and energy before I had a chance to make them.

Snack: apple slices, cookies

Dinner: Veggie and rice soup (I remade the leftover stir fry from last night into soup adding in some broth and seasonings and extra veggies.), biscuits (made with Bisquick and powdered milk since we're out of flour and milk)

If you're eating from your pantry this week, I'd love to hear what was on your menu today!

100 Different Ways to Save $100 This Year - Part 4

Here are just a few more ways we've saved at least $100 per year:

17) Switch to cloth diapers. When my husband was in law school and we had our first child, I was wondering how on earth we were going to afford to pay for diapers. This was a year or so before I discovered CVS and I was still learning how to stockpile and we had a very meager budget to work with (think $17-$30 to spend on groceries and household items each week). 

God has always been faithful to provide for us, though, and one of those ways He provided was through some friends giving us a whole stash of Fuzzi Bunz cloth diapers shortly after our daughter was born. Once I'd used up the disposable diapers we'd received as gifts, I switched over to cloth diapers exclusively.

Since we didn't pay for the diapers, we mostly definitely saved much more than $100 for the two years our daughter was in diapers. However, from the calculations I've done, if we had invested in them ourselves, I'm still quite sure we would have saved at least $100 per year--even if I were buying diapers on sale with a coupon. And if you use the cloth diapers for more than one child, the savings really can multiply.

If you are interested in reading more on cloth diapering, go here and here.

18) Buy contacts online. If you're like me and you much prefer to wear contacts as opposed to glasses, you can save a bundle of money by ordering your contacts online instead of buying them from your eye doctor. In fact, by using the tips I've learned below, you'll likely save somewhere between 20-60% off what you would usually pay at your eye doctor.

Almost every brand of contact is available online. I've purchased contacts through VisionDirect.com as well as 1800Contacts.com. Their prices are pretty comparable, but each site seems to have a little bit of variation in what they carry and the specials they offer.

When checking out prices online, be sure to consult RetailMeNot.com or another such online coupon code site to determine what specials and coupon offers are available for that particular online store. You can usually save at least an additional 10-15% off by using an online coupon code when you checkout.

In addition to finding the site which has the lowest price when using an online coupon code, also make sure and purchase your contacts through your eBates link so you'll get a little cash back for your purchase.

Note: In order to order contacts online, all you will need is an up-to-date prescription. The online site will not process your order if they can't verify with your eye doctor that your prescription is valid.

19) Skip grocery shopping every 5-6 weeks and challenge yourself to use what you have on hand and put the extra money into savings. This is something we routinely do, as many of you probably have picked up on from following along with my Super Savings Saturday posts or my Eating From the Pantry Challenge this week.

If you are regularly stocking up on items you'll use over the next few weeks or months when they are at their lowest price, it should be relatively easy to take a week off from grocery shopping once a month or once every other month. In fact, you may find it's almost a necessity to do so in order to wisely use what you have on hand!

And just think, if you regularly spend $50 on groceries per week, taking a week off from shopping once every other month will save you $300 per year!

If you missed the first parts of this series, you can read them here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

photo by Refracted Moments

Eating From The Pantry Challenge: Day 2

It's day 12 of not stepping foot in a grocery store and it's day 2 of our Eating From The Pantry Challenge.

Here's what we ate today:

Breakfast: Baked Oatmeal with frozen strawberries and milk (Recipe is here--this is so easy to throw together the night before and stick in the refrigerator to bake in the morning for a delicious hot and fresh breakfast!)

Lunch: Scrambled eggs and hashbrowns with cheese, whole-wheat toast with butter, apple slices

Snack: Quaker Rice Snacks

Dinner: Stir Fry over brown rice (concocted with some fresh veggies I needed to use up)

If you're eating from your pantry this week, I'd love to hear what was on your menu today!

Guest Post: How to Save Money When Eating Out

photo by josef stuefer

Guest Post by Jennifer from Joy Ever After

One of our favorite things to do as a family is eat out. No cooking and no dishes--what recreation! However, there is a problem when there is also no money. We have learned some tips and tricks on spending less when we go to a restaurant.

::Know the specials. Many restaurants offer specials on certain days. For example, a barbecue restaurant in our area is giving $4 off a combo meal on Mondays through April. A few other restaurants have "Kids Eat Free" nights. Sometimes all it takes to save a significant amount is to read the white board as you enter the restaurant. Beware though, because sometimes those are just "features" from their regular menu at the regular price.

::Look for coupons. Several restaurants offer Buy One, Get One Free coupons in the newspaper. If yours doesn't, it might be worth it to buy an Entertainment Book for your area or an area you are vacationing in. These have many restaurants from fine dining to fast food with Buy One, Get One offers or 50% off.

::Share meals. I have grown tired of ordering two kids' meals only to have them both picked at and basically wasted. Sure, I can finish the food, but is that really saving the money?

Unless a meal is very small or the kids are unusually hungry, I split one between them. This can also work for my husband and me if a meal is large. Some restaurants offer smaller portion meals as well. One family I know buys a large meal at Cracker Barrel, orders one extra side and splits it between their four children. This is much cheaper per person than four individual kids' meals or even splitting two kids' meals.

::Skip drinks, dessert, and appetizers. This is a tough one if you are "celebrating", but ordering water and saying "No, thank you" when asked if you want an appetizer or dessert can knock $4-10 (or more) off your bill.

::Go out only for an appetizer or dessert. The exception to the previous rule is if that is all you are ordering. Of course it's much cheaper to buy coffee and a piece of pie than a full dinner or to replace the dinner with an appetizer portion. The latter option is healthier, too, providing you stay away from the deep-fried onion rings!

::Save "fancy" restaurants for special occasions. We budget a maximum of $35 for our family of 5 when we go out to eat. This includes the tip and everything.

Obviously, this cuts out some restaurants. Our rule of thumb is to avoid restaurants that serve alcoholic beverages. Even if you don't drink, you are paying in some way for their liquor license since the whole menu is generally higher.

::Join all the birthday clubs. For my latest birthday, I got free ice cream, free coffee, and two free entree coupons at two different restaurants. I didn't even have time to take advantage of all of them. Signing up for these "birthday clubs" is easy online or inquire about them at your favorite restaurant. (Go here for a list of freebies you can score on your birthday.)

::Go to buffets. These are great when your children are small because all you have to do is buy two adult meals and everyone gets as much as they want to eat.

::Combine savings tips. Here's a scenario we've done before: Saturday is kid's night at Denny's. We got the Buy One, Get One Free coupon in the paper. We ordered full kids' meals for the kids, two entrees for us and drinks (if we were really on a tight budget, we could have skipped the drinks). By getting the kids' meals free on top of using a Buy One, Get One Free coupon for the adult meals, we ended up paying less than half of what our bill would have been.

Important note: remember to always tip on the full amount you would have paid before the specials and coupons, though. Your server does not do less work when you use savings strategies.

::Do it less. This is perhaps the toughest and most helpful tip of all. If you are accustomed to going out three times a week, cut it down to once. If you usually go out once a week, go every other week, and so on. You'll find when you do go out, you'll enjoy it a lot more.

Jennifer Self has been married to her best friend, Jeff, for almost ten years and is mommy to three little blessings, Jessica (6), Jeffery (3) and Jerrod (6 mos.). She blogs to encourage Christian women in their roles as wives and mothers at www.joyeverafter.blogspot.com.

From Money Saving Mom: How do you save money when eating out? I'd love to hear your tricks and tips!

Eating From The Pantry Challenge: Day 1

Day 1 of our Eating From The Pantry Challenge is almost over with. So far, it's been 11 days since I've been to the grocery store. Think I can make it for another 4 days? We'll see.

Here's what we ate today:

Breakfast: Grape Nuts and milk, apple slices

Lunch: Leftovers, whole wheat bagels with peanut butter and jelly, carrot sticks

Snack: Warm Delights Minis with Breyer's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream (Yum! We got some samples of these in the mail awhile back and we needed a pick-me-up this afternoon so I pulled these out to make and eat during our afternoon read-aloud time. Needless to say, the girls were more than thrilled!)

Just-made pizza ready to stick in the oven!

Dinner: Homemade Veggie and Cheese Pizza, cucumber slices

And we'll likely have an after-dinner snack of popcorn.

If you're eating from your pantry this week, I'd love to hear what you served today!

100 Different Ways to Save $100 This Year - Part 3

I'm so enjoying writing this series on ways we've saved over the past six years of our marriage--and especially during those early law school days. It's been good to review various ideas which have worked well for us and I'm hopeful you're being inspired at the same time. If you've missed the previous two installments of this series, you can read them here and here.

13) Switch to Basic H for household cleaning. Those who have known me for some time have already heard me sign the praises of Basic H. It's an all-purpose, all-natural, non-toxic cleaner which you can use in place of pretty much every other cleaner in your home.

I like it not only because it is all-natural and doesn't contain the harmful chemicals most cleaners do, but it's also incredibly frugal. One 16-oz. bottle of concentrate costs around $12 and makes 48 gallons of cleaner--enough to last us for at least 3-4 years. That's quite a deal!

Caveat: I don't sell this product, nor do I make a penny off promoting it. I just personally really like it and highly recommend it. If you are interested in reading more about it or purchasing it, go here.

14) Utilize Craigslist. Over the years, we've saved hundreds of dollars by purchasing big tickets items off of Craigslist for pennies on the dollar. Among other things, we've purchased exercise equipment, a living room set, and our kitchen table through Craigslist.

As always, if you don't need the items in the first place and can't afford them, don't even begin looking at Craigslist. But if you're in the market for something and have the cash set aside for it, definitely check out Craigslist. If you're patient, you'll likely be able to score quite a bargain!

If you're new to Craigslist, Carrie has a great post here with tips for buying on Craigslist.

15) Use Skype for long-distance phone calls. If you have a headset and a high speed internet connection, you can use Skype and drastically reduce your long-distance phone bills.

You can make Skype-to-Skype phone calls completely free of charge to anywhere in the world. If you want to call from your computer to a landline, you can use the pay-as-you-go plan and it's only about $0.02/minute for phone calls to 35 different countries. Or, you can sign up for an unlimited monthly plan for $2.95-$9.95 per month.

When my husband was in law school, my sister and her husband were living in Taiwan, so Skype was wonderful! Not only could my sister and I talk anytime--so long as we were both on the computer--but it was free of charge!

Skype does have its drawbacks: sometimes the reception isn't that great or there's a delay, but for free, who can complain?

16) Barter! One of my favorite ways to save money and help others out in the process is to use the old-fashioned bartering system. From hair cuts to babysitting to car maintenance, we've bartered just about everything under the sun over the years.

Bartering works especially well when you're friends with other frugal folks who would rather swap time or expertise instead of spending money. Not only is it a great way to save money, it also fosters camaraderie and community among friends.

So think about what areas you are gifted in and what areas some of your friends might be gifted in and then see if they'd be up for swapping services or other things.

To be continued...

photo by Refracted Moments

Having a Baby Without Breaking the Bank: Baby Doesn't Need a Room of Her Own (Guest Post)

Guest Post by Carrie Kirby from Shoplifting With Permission

Open any pregnancy magazine, and you'll see that parents-to-be are expected to devote considerable time and money to furnishing and decorating a nursery for the new baby. Upscale publications even depict parents agonizing over how to apply their sophisticated decorating sensibilities to a baby's environment by finding curtains, crib bumpers, and wall appliques that aren't too cutesie.

I have been spared such dilemmas, because I never put together a nursery for either of my girls--nor am I planning one for the baby we're expecting this summer. What I have realized over the course of raising two babies is that the last thing an infant needs is a room of her own. Since moving to a bigger home is one of the most expensive changes families make when they have kids, it's worthwhile to consider whether a move can be postponed or avoided.

With our first baby, we lived in a one-bedroom condo and didn't have a separate room to decorate. At the time, this situation pained me, because I felt like I was sitting out of an all-important nesting activity. I did try my best to decorate and furnish the end of our bedroom that would be the baby's, and this compromise ended up fulfilling both the baby's needs and my need to play out the full expecting mother experience.

I worried, during my pregnancy, that we were terrible parents for not moving to a bigger place--something that would have been impossible for us at the time. I didn't realize that for most families, that lovingly decorated new nursery is superfluous in the early months because babies typically spend their nights in the parent's room. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that newborns sleep in the same room as their parents.

We put the changing table up against one bedroom wall, hung a baby organizer and some baskets on the wall for holding burp clothes and little hats, and put a Pack 'N Play next to the bed as a bassinet. The crib we placed in a spare corner of the living room, so I could keep an eye and an ear on my newborn during her naps.

The only time we ever needed the baby monitor we'd received at the shower was when I went to the basement to throw in a load of laundry. When the baby was older, we put away the Pack 'N Play, got rid of most of our bedroom furniture besides the bed, and managed to squeeze the crib into our room.

When does a baby need a separate room to sleep in? Technically, never, if you think about the fact that in the course of human history, the idea of private bedrooms for each person is a relatively recent innovation. Even today, it's not universal--plenty of cultures worldwide still consider it normal and desirable for the whole family to share a room, or even a bed. But practically speaking, where to keep the children is a decision that should be based on each family's needs and resources.

We began to feel the need to get the baby out of our room when I wanted to stop getting up to nurse her at night. This happened between the ages of 12 and 18 months. If I had it to do over again, I probably would have moved the baby's crib back to the living room at that point. Instead, we kept the baby in our room and when the she cried--when my attempts to soothe her without nursing failed--we'd try to sleep through her yells. One of us would usually end up on the couch, where there was not enough room for two. It was not a fun time.

This does not mean, however, that you need to move to a home with a separate bedroom for the baby by the time you want to night wean or when she hits a certain age. For most babies, the period when there is a lot of crying at night is short (although it feels like eternity at the time). Some families are even successful getting their babies to sleep through the night without any crying. 

 

You can probably find a temporary solution that allows other family members to get their rest if the baby's being noisy. When our second baby was a few months old, we moved to a three-bedroom house. Our plan was for her to transition from our room to sharing the second bedroom with her sister, then 3 years old. The third bedroom we reserved as a guest room/den.

Naturally, the second baby went through a time when she was waking her sister with nighttime crying. We experimented with various set-ups, moving the Pack 'N Play to the guest room and the living room at different times. Eventually, we moved her back into the kids' room and her sister learned to sleep right through the crying. And, then, thankfully, the crying mostly stopped.

Probably the most important issue when living in a small home with a new baby is not the baby itself, but all the equipment that often comes with a baby. If you share a small space with a baby, it's essential to keep equipment and toys to a minimum to stay sane!

Here are some other creative ideas for housing the baby in a small home:

1) The baby doesn't have to be changed in the same place she sleeps. In fact, the bathroom is the best place for a changing surface if there is room. If space is really tight, skip the changing table and simply keep a basket of supplies and a changing pad wherever's handy.

2) One family I know put the baby's crib on the landing between the bedrooms. Just make sure that the crib can't roll down the stairs!

3) To make room for a crib in a kid's room, consider bed sharing or bunk beds for older siblings.

4) Check out this breakfast-nook-turned-nursery created by Maggie Mason, who blogs at MightyGirl.net. Their budget was $1,400, most of which went toward having doors custom-made for the formerly open nook.

5) At the website, Apartmenttherapy.com, readers recently weighed in on how long a family of three could live in a 400-square-foot apartment. Read the thoughts and ideas shared here.

6) There's a helpful tutorial on EHow on turning a walk-in closet into a nursery here.

Freelance writer Carrie Kirby blogs about frugal living at Shoplifting With Permission and about parenting at My Funny, Funny Family.

photo by Erik van der Neut

100 Different Ways to Save $100 This Year - Part 2

As we talked about in Part 1 of this series, not all of these different ideas of ways to save $100 per year will work for everyone in every situation. I just share these as things which have worked for our family and allowed us to live through some very lean years without going into debt.

My hope in sharing these is not to make you feel you must also follow in our footsteps or adopt all of these practices, but I hope to inspire you to consider ways you might also cut expenses in order to stretch your hard-earned dollars further so you can pay off debt, live within your means, save money, and most importantly, give to others.

For us, that is our ultimate reason for saving money--so we can have more to share with others. We see money as something God has entrusted to us and we want to be wise stewards of what He has given us so we can not only take care of the needs of our own family, but so we can also effectively help and reach out to those in need.

And it's been so exciting for us to see our hard work and frugality pay off in the last few years as we've not only been able to have more wiggle room in our budget and the ability to save more for our future, but we're also able to share much more with others. Truly, "it is more blessed to give than to receive."

If you've been feeling like there's no way you are able to give and bless others in need in your current financial situation, perhaps some of these 100 Different Ways to Save $100 This Year will inspire you to creatively cut your living expenses so you can share with others as well!

With that said, here are some more things we did during our law school years which saved us at least $100 or more per year:

11) Cut out cell phones or ditch your land lines. For many people, a cell phone is considered a "necessity". I was there, too. I'd had a cell phone ever since I was 15 and had become accustomed to the convenience and sort of security it was. But when my husband and I sat down and mapped out our budget before we got married, I realized that cutting out my cell phone plan would save us a nice chunk of change each month.

And so we dropped it and I survived just fine. In fact, even in an unfamiliar town with unreliable vehicles for those first few years of our marriage, I never found myself stranded on the side of the road. Believe it or not, I only remember one time I ended up having to use a pay phone!

Now, for your situation, having a cell phone might truly be a necessity due to your job or other circumstances, however, I'd encourage you to consider how much of a necessity it is and whether you might be able to live without it or at least go with a pay-per-use plan instead of a monthly contract.

If you can't ditch the cell phone, consider ditching the land line, if you haven't already. Either way, it's almost assuredly gong to save you at least $100 per year.

12) Only have one vehicle. Once again, like cell phones, two (or more) vehicles is very much considered a "necessity" these days. However, I think it's all about perspective: if down-sizing to one vehicle meant you were able to save more money, stay out of debt, live on one income, etc. would you be willing to do it?

Early on in our marriage, our second vehicle died permanently and we couldn't afford to replace it, so we just made do with one vehicle for the next three years.

Honestly, we didn't really miss having two vehicles. I learned to love staying home and making my home a haven for my family. I learned to be creative and make the most of what we did have. Since we didn't have transportation during the day while Jesse was at work, I often hosted play dates or get-togethers at our house or we'd take long walks around our neighborhood, to the park, or to the library.

By only having one vehicle, we saved quite a bit of money--not only on gas, upkeep of a vehicle, and insurance costs, but we also saved money because we did a lot less running around. And, let me tell you, staying home most of the time is one very easy way to spend less money!

Have you ditched your cell phone(s) or landlines or cut back to only having one vehicle? If so, I'd love to hear about your experiences in this regard and how it has worked for your family.

photo by Refracted Moments

Guest Post: The Best Places to Save Your Money

Guest post by J.D. Roth from Get Rich Slowly

Five years ago, I had over $35,000 in consumer debt. I was living paycheck-to-paycheck even though I had a decent salary. Since then, I've managed to turn things around, and am now debt-free except for my mortgage. I've even begun to save some money!

I didn't get out of debt overnight, though. It took a lot of work. I clipped coupons, I bought from thrift stores, and I sold a lot of stuff at garage sales. I learned how to be frugal. But I also learned how to save my money in a bank--something I had never done before. I'm here today to encourage you to save, too, and to show you two great ways to do it.

Rewards checking
Right now, the best interest rates in the U.S. can actually be found through special rewards checking accounts at local banks and credit unions. Different banks have different names for this service. Where I live, one credit union calls it a Fusion Checking Account and offers a 4.25% APY. Another simply calls it Rewards Checking and offers 3.75% APY. Other banks around the country are currently offering up to 6.01% APY.

Obviously, these rates are fantastic. There aren't many places you can earn a guaranteed 6% return on your money. Unfortunately, there are a few catches. These rewards checking accounts usually come with some combination of the following limitations:

• You must receive your monthly statement electronically--not via snail mail.
• You must log into your account at least once per month.
• You must make a certain number (generally around 12) debit card purchases. (ATM withdrawals do not count toward this number.)
• You must make at least one electronic transaction each month. These include automatic payments to your utilities, for example, or a direct deposit.
• The rate only applies to the first $30,000 (or so) in your account. (The cap at some banks is $10,000; at others, it's $100,000.) The portion in your account above the cap only earns a tiny return.

If you use your debit card often, a rewards checking account makes a lot of sense. You can read more about these accounts at My Money Blog. Better yet, here's a huge list of rewards checking accounts by state. (Those listed with a red asterisk are available nationwide.)

Online savings
Another great option is to open a high-yield online savings account. This is the route I chose for my savings.

For me, the advantage of an online savings account is that the money is completely separate from my everyday checking. If I want to access the cash, I have to go through the process of transferring it from the online account to my local bank. This may seem like a hassle, but in this case that's good; it prevents me from spending the money recklessly. Another advantage is the ability to set up automatic monthly deposits, which helps me to save on "autopilot".

The bank I chose was ING Direct, which is very popular with the readers of my personal finance blog. Its rates are generally modest, but the customer service is excellent. Best of all, ING Direct allows me to set up multiple accounts. I have one account to save for emergencies, one to save for a new car, one to save for Christmas, and one to save for vacation--and I can track them all from the same screen.

ING Direct is not the only option, though. There are many great online banks with good interest rates, which you can research in this list of the best savings accounts. I am a huge fan of clipping coupons, shopping at thrift stores, and learning to make your own food. These things save money and offer a great deal of satisfaction. But I've also discovered that it pays to keep my savings someplace that will pay me interest.

For more information about saving and investing, visit Get Rich Slowly, where you can read about topics like how to get out of debt, how to earn extra money, and how to save at the supermarket!

Baking Day: Whole-Wheat Bread, Banana Bread, Mini Meatloaves, and Pizza Dough

Whew! I'm done and by some sheer miracle (or was it the motivation of blogging about it?!), I actually finished everything on my to-do list! I also took a quick inventory and realized that I now have 17 dinners in the freezer for after the baby is born. Yay!

 

I was really impressed with how this mini meatloaf recipe turned out. I used ground chicken instead of ground beef since I had picked some up a few weeks ago on a good mark-down sale. They turned out quite yummy and I will definitely be making this recipe again. I think it will be perfect to have in the freezer for quick dinners.

(Pizza dough--ready to stick in the freezer.)

I also made up a loaf of our favorite whole-wheat bread which I'll slice and freeze to use later, a loaf of our very favorite banana bread recipe to take to a get-together later this week, and a double-batch of pizza dough to stick in the freezer. I just divided the pizza dough into meal-size portions and froze it in individual freezer bags. When we're ready to use it, we can just pull it out in the morning and by mid-afternoon, it's thawed and ready to be rolled out into pizza crust.

(Banana bread--yummy!)

Thanks for following along today and for your encouraging comments. I don't know if I'll be up to another Baking Day before our baby arrives so I was very glad to have done this today. Having our freezer stocked with easy meals and snacks helps save me so much time and money!

Here's a picture of the the final fruits of our Baking Day today:

And now I'm off to finish cleaning up the kitchen and put my feet up for awhile!

Did you do any baking today or this week? If so, you are welcome to post about it on your blog and leave your direct link below so we can come by and check out what's cooking at your house!

Baking Day!

(The girls in their jammies helping me make green smoothies for breakfast.)

I woke up with some extra energy today and decided to declare it a Baking Day! At 33 weeks pregnant, I'm keeping it simple today. I am not completely sure how much I'll be able to do before running out of stamina but here's my proposed to-do baking list:

Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins
Cranberry Muffins
Pumpkin Waffles
Mini Meatloaves
Banana Bread
Pizza dough
Homemade bread

I could add about 10 more things to the list but I'm trying to be realistic here! I'll keep you apprised of my progress and share the recipes and pictures as we go throughout the day. We'd love to have you join us, too! I'll post a Mr. Linky up at the end of today so you can share about any baking you do as well.

Frugal Friday: Passing on the baton

My last Frugal Friday post as hostess is up! Find out who will be picking up the baton for me and be inspired and motivated with all sorts of creative money-saving ideas here.

Ask the Readers: Frugality with food allergies?

Your readers seem to be some very creative, frugal and inventive people and I am really hoping they might be able to help me. I am having trouble keeping my grocery budget under control, while also considering my three year old's food allergies and introducing a variety of meals.

I have to completely avoid eggs, peanuts and tree nuts. But what is more difficult is limiting wheat. My son can have wheat, dairy, soy, corn, peas, bananas, and watermelon in moderation and on a revolving schedule, but he's intolerant of the foods and too much puts his GI system in turmoil. 

If there are any moms out there who have figured out how to incorporate allergy-free foods into a modest grocery bill, I'd love to hear them! --Summer

Do you struggle with food allergies at your house? If so, have you found ways to keep your grocery budget under control while still following a stricter diet? I'd love to have you share any ideas or suggestions you have for Summer.

A source for inexpensive cloth diapers

Hope emailed me the following:

I wanted to send you a note telling you about Mrs. Harry Miller. I got her name from Keepers At Home Magazine. She had an ad saying the she makes "Pamper-like" cloth diapers for $30 a dozen--shipping is extra (my shipping was about $7.00).

These diapers are made from soft flannel material and you can request pink, blue, white or baby patterned material. The closures are velcro. You can order them for $3.00 less per dozen if you don't want velcro.

I was so pleased with mine. They are well made but not so thick that they have a problem drying completely. I line dry as much as I possibly can and they dry in a nice amount of time on the line. You can add a doubler and still not feel like the baby is a "snowman" shape at the bottom. They launder beautifully.

For inexpensive doublers, buy a big package of cheap bathroom washrags at Dollar General. Cut in 1/2 and serge the edges and you have instant doublers! You can also use an old diaper wipe tub and soak half a dozen of the "doublers" in some warm water and a little baby wash and baby oil.  Then use them throughout the day as wipes and just throw them in with the cloth diaper pail to launder them.

Here's Mrs. Miller's contact information:

Mrs. Harry Miller
4156 US Route 62
Millersburg, OH 44654

I have not ordered any of these personally myself, but since I know Hope, I felt comfortable passing this on to the rest of you. I'd recommend writing Mrs. Miller for more information on her diapers if you are interested.

And if any of you have ordered from her, please let us know your thoughts on these diapers.