5 Tips for Last-Minute Back to School Shopping
If you haven’t started school yet, it’s just around the corner. You may have already purchased some of your supplies and clothing, but you can still grab the rest right now. There are some awesome deals going on now that we should all take advantage of. Check these 5 last minute back to school shopping tips!
- By now your school supply list should be available. Grab that list and get shopping. By using a list you won’t buy impulsively on items you don’t need or use.
- For clothes shopping, be sure to check the main site for stores you will be shopping. Most stores right now have some sort of coupon code or discount you can grab with your shopping. For example, Kohl’s has the $10 off $50 purchase and 20% off. Use those discounts for heavy savings.
- Stock up on items you use a lot around the house that you might not necessarily use for school, but are on sale. Some examples are Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, and all of the craft items like pens, pencils, colored pencils, markers and scissors. I love grabbing a few of these for stockings. I know, crazy, but they are super cheap!
- Check out Amazon for clothing and supplies. If you have a list, do a quick comparison with Amazon. I’ve been finding some awesome deals on Amazon and they can ship right to your door.
- Did you know there is a Back to School category in Freebies2deals? There is! Check it out here and see all of the deals that have been posted. Chances are, you missed a few. This is the super easy way to see what is available that might just get your shopping done!
Healthy After School Snack Ideas That Are Easy!
If you’re like me, you’ve been busy getting everyone ready for back to school. Grabbing their supplies, getting hair cuts done, planning their lunches and lots of shopping. So for me after school snacks got put on the back burner but I was quickly reminded about how hungry they are when they get home and realized we needed to come up with some after school snack ideas. There’s lots of quick grab ideas that you can buy, but these are some “healthier” options you can put in front of them.
- Apples and Peanut Butter (we’ve even put rice crispy’s on top)
- Homemade Muffins
- Yogurt
- Rice Cake with Peanut Butter (try adding Bananas too)
- Energy Balls
- Meat & Cheese Roll Ups
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Trail Mix
- Banana Bits (slice your banana and place either peanut butter, jelly or even chocolate between two pieces)
- Fruit Shake
- Homemade Granola Bars
- Cottage Cheese with Peaches (or any other fruit)
- Yogurt Parfait
- Nuts (mine love pistachios)
- Popcorn
Hopefully this list will help your sanity once the kids get home from school. You can even write this list down, put it on the fridge and have it there for the kids to look at and choose what they want to eat.
**For even more ideas, checkout our list from last year!
Additional Savings Tips for Beginners
Okay, your guys,I’m gonna get real with you. We have blown our budget this summer. We have spent more money than we wanted to so if you are seeing a theme here, there’s a reason. I’m all about saving money right now!!
I talked a little bit about savings tips for beginners the other day and I’m going to expand on that here for you and me as well.
Additional Savings Tips for Beginners
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- Start now. Don’t wait. You probably think that you don’t have the ability to save and you probably don’t have enough money to save, but you know what? You can! Even if it’s $5, make a point to put that $5 in a savings account or even in piggy bank that you can’t get to. Just do it. This is for a couple of reasons. One…so that you have that $5 and two its great to know that you can do it!! Being a good saver is a mindset and the knowledge that you CAN do it will take you far.
- Work more. Yep. As much as you might not want to do it, you need to work more. The more money you have, the more you can save. The more money you have, the more you can use to pay off bills that are holding you back. The more money you have, the less you stress about not being able to pay bills at all. Seriously, even for a short time period, work harder and more, and you won’t have to work longer.
- Sock away any extra money. If you get any extra money (bonuses, yard sale earnings, birthday gifts, etc), put it toward your savings or, alternatively, put it toward bills. This way you aren’t tempted to use it.
- Meal plan. Groceries are a huge expense, especially for families and this is one of the best places you can make a difference in your budget. If you are serious about saving money, you need to put some focus into meal planning in order to save money on groceries at home.
Have you started yet? What are your current savings goals?
More Savings Tips for Beginners
Okay, y’all. I have been talking to you about tips for getting your kids saving, but what about you. Do you need a little help learning how to get your saving game going? If you are whispering yes, please don’t. There is absolutely no shame in this! Regardless of where you are in your savings goals, you are WANTING to change it up and that is awesome!
So, where to begin? Well, my friends! I can help, I have put together a little of tips for beginners that just may help.
Savings Tips for Beginners
- Start Small. It doesn’t matter how much you start saving, the point is that you are starting. Start with 5% of your paycheck, or 10% if you can dedicate that much to your savings goals. The sooner you start, the sooner you will start getting more and more excited to grow that number.
- Wants vs. Needs. I cannot stress this enough. YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WANTS AND NEEDS. As an adult, you need to realize that you simply cannot get everything that you want, but you need to save for the stuff that you need.
- Learn how to set a budget. Do you know how to set a budget? If you said no, then it is time to learn. We have posts right here and this website, or you can do a google search on setting up a budget to learn. I promise it will help you.
- Cut out unnecessary expenses. Cut the cord, make coffee at home, no more eating out..you’ve heard all of these tips. The reason that you hear them all the time! It’s because they work! That is right! These are all unnecessary expenses that your wallet will thank you for once you cut them out. So, are you ready?
So what do you think? Can you start with these tips?
More Savings Tips for Kids
Did you read up on my savings tips for kids the other day? Did you get any good tips out of that? I have three kids and I want to be sure that I help them as much as I can in order to help them live their most successful financial lives as adults. How about you?
More Savings Tips for Kids
- Have a place for them to save. Whether you start a bank account for them, or get them a fun piggy bank, the key is to provide a place for them to save their money where it will be less tempting for them to get to. A secure piggy bank can be fun because they can physically watch (or feel the weight) grow!
- Don’t take them shopping all the time. My daughter has been working (babysitting, dog-sitting, etc) often this summer and every time she makes money she asks to go shopping and I always have to tell her no. It’s not that I don’t want her to be able to reward herself for her hard work, but I want to allow her some time with the money so that she has a more difficult time spending it.
- Give them an allowance. If you have young children, they don’t have the ability to earn money on their own and the fact is, they are not going to learn how to manage money until they have money of their very own.
- Let them sit in on budget sessions and bill paying time. Budgets shouldn’t be hushed hushed. You should let your kids know that you are following a budget, so that they know that it is the best way to succeed with their own finances when they are adults. If you blindly spend money without following a budget, there is no way you aren’t going to have money troubles. Include them in this fact and start it when they are young.
Please share your best tips for teaching your kids
How to Save the Most Money on Broadway Tickets in New York City
Heading to New York City? Then I’m sure you have a Broadway play on your list of things to do. However, they are pricey! We just returned from New York and found the BEST ways to save on Broadway tickets. Hopefully this will help you save some money as well as enjoy a fantastic show.
- TKTS Booths. You’ll want to first download their App. This will tell you which shows are available on which days. Once you know which shows you want, then head to their booths. There are 3 locations and most open at 10am- but check their site before you go. The benefits of buying from TKTS are the discounted tickets- most 50% off and the low fees which are generally around $6 per ticket, which is a lot lower than you would pay for online fees. I paid $25 per ticket just in fees online.
- Rush Tickets/ Same Day Tickets. To get day-of tickets, then head to the actual theater where your show is located. Check the time their ticket booth opens and be there a bit before to get in line. Generally you can get same day/rush tickets for $50 and under. Some popular shows like The Lion King don’t necessarily do “rush tickets”, but they do have $99 ticket deals for random 1 person seats or front row tickets. That’s a great way to get discount tickets as well. Again, the fees to get tickets in person are super low.
- Lottery tickets. You can sign up for the lottery for the show you want to see. Each show has a different way they run their lottery. So be sure to read their guidelines. The benefit of the lottery is super low tickets. Again, they may be in areas that are partial viewing or harder to see areas, but if you can get them for $10, then that’s totally worth the price.
- Standing Room. If you don’t mind standing during the performance, then be sure to check at the theater if there is standing room tickets available. This usually is available if a show is sold out and they have room for standing.
**When buying a ticket, be sure you buy from reputable sites and locations. There are a lot of fraudulent tickets floating around and they will not be accepted for your show. I like to stick with the Broadway.com, TKTS Booths, and the actual theater where the show is being performed.
Grab and Go Lunch Ideas For School
For most of us school will be starting soon if it hasn’t already! That means we’re getting all our i’s dotted and t’s crossed to make the process go smoothly. For us that means getting our school lunches ready and ideas listed. This year I have two that will be at school for lunch so we’re going to try something a little different. I’ll have the school lunch menu printed and we’ll circle the lunches they want to eat there. This way we know which days we need to make lunch before they head out the door.
Then for the days they pack their lunch, they’ll get to pick select number of items from each box. This way, it’s a quick grab and go lunch! Each bin will have a number on it to let them know how many items they need to pick. It will also let me know what items and how many I need in each bucket (depending on the number of days that week they’ll be eating home lunch). Here’s the break down we’ll be using and the ideas of what will be in each bucket.
Main Meal – 1
Sandwich (PB&J, Meat & Cheese)
Chicken Salad with Crackers
Hot Dogs
Chicken Nuggets
Homemade Lunchable (meat and cheese slices)
Meat & Cheese Wraps
Bagel with Cream Cheese
Salad
Waffles or Pancakes
Hot Pockets
Pizza Bits
Frozen Smoothie (de-thaws by lunchtime)
Fruit/Veggies – 2
Carrot Sticks
Celery
Cherry Tomatoes
Grapes
Apple Slices
Apple Sauce
Peaches
Pears
Banana
Cucumbers
Kiwi
Mandarin Oranges
Orange Slices
(there will also be little containers filled with peanut butter and ranch for dipping)
Snacks – 1
Boiled Egg
Go-Gurt/Yogurt
Cheese Stick
Granola Bar
Muffins
Fruit Snack
Pretzels
Popcorn
Rice Cake
Energy bit
Nuts
Treat – 1
Brownie
Cookies
Rice Krispie Treat
Small Piece of Candy
Drink – 1
Water
Milk/Chocolate Milk
Juice Pouch
Don’t forget, to save money, a lot of these things can be made from scratch. Bake a lot of muffins and freeze them. Divide out a pack of cookies instead of buying individual packages (or bake them yourself). Anytime you can divide out the items yourself, you’ll save money!
Savings Tips for Kids
School is starting soon and it’s time to get those kids learning! It doesn’t have to be all about school though…why not get them learning all kinds of new stuff! Take budgeting and saving for example. Would you like your kids to be in a comfortable place when it comes to money when they are grown? If you said yes, you need to put some focus on saving now before bad money habits begin. It’s okay though, these savings tips for kids are all quite easy and not at all intimidating.
Savings Tips for Kids
- Set an example! For your kids to be the most successful that they can be, they need to see you set a good example for them. The way that you go about spending your money, is just like anything else you do in life in front of your kids. If you live a healthy life, your kids will be more likely to live a healthy life. If you are kind to others, your children are more likely to be kind to others. If you spend and save your money wisely, your children are more likely to do the same with their money.
- Teach them the difference between wanting and needing. Wants vs. needs is a huge issue when it comes to making sound money decisions. Many people think that they need things that they, in fact, do not need at all. You need to help your children understand the difference between the two.
- Talk about money often. In many families, money is a hushed subject that is not spoken about. Why though? Why not talk about money openly with your children? Kids can’t go through their childhood knowing nothing about money and then be successful when they become adults. It simply does not work that way.
What are the best tips that you heard when it comes to teaching your children about money?
Easy Tips for Finding Inexpensive Stuff to Do
Are you staying busy this summer? Have you been having fun? Or, have you been staying home in order to save money? The beginning of my summer was full of fun, but we have strapped down our budget quite a bit and for the last couple of weeks, we have barely left home. I am ready to get out there again, but I need to find some stuff to do that is budget friendly as well as fun. So, here is how I am doing it.
Easy Tips for Finding Inexpensive Stuff to Do
- Go outside! Go for a hike, go to the park, hit the lake, hit the river or the beach. Whatever is near you, just go out and do it! We spend so much of our time outside anyway that the simple act of going outside is not only fun, but is also good for us! That fresh air and sunshine is so important for our health and mental well being!
- Check Groupon. Groupon is one of my favorite websites and apps. I find so much stinking stuff to do when I check out Groupon and they often have promo codes available to save even more! I have recently discovered that you can actually get super discounted concert tickets on Groupon too! YES PLEASE!!
- Check out local museums. I know I mentioned this in a post yesterday, but the fact is, museums are a great way to spend your time and not all of them are expensive! Many have free days, and many have super cheap days. Do a quick Google search to find local museums, county museums, etc and you will find that you have many museums around you that are reasonably priced to visit.
- Fairs. County and state fairs don’t have to be that expensive. There are still ways to save though:
- Admission. Sure, you have to pay admission, but many places offer coupons for this admission so be sure to look around.
- Food. Pack your own food! Fair food is expensive, but you are perfectly find to take your own food inside of most fairs so be sure to bring yours with you. Or, just eat before you go then you won’t be tempted by the fair food smell.
- Rides. Most fairs have a day where they charge less for rides for kids. For example, I live in Oregon and our state fair always has a $2 day where all fair rides are just $2 each. There is also a free kids day where kids under the age of 11 get in free.
What fun, cheap activities do you still plan to fit into this summer?
Free Activities to Finish Off Your Summer Strong
How has your summer been so far? Are the kids having fun? Or, are they super bored and ready to go back to school? Regardless of what your answer to those questions are, I’m sure you want to finish off the summer strong and have a great time together! But what if you don’t have to budget to go all out? What if you need to find free and/or inexpensive ways to spend these next couple of weeks? I’ve got you covered!
FREE and/or Inexpensive Activities to Finish Off Your Summer Strong
- Go for a hike! Even if you live in a hot climate, you can wake up early with the family and hit the trail. Hiking is such a great way to exercise as a family, enjoy nature together and it rarely costs more than just a couple of dollars for parking. Just be sure to not go in the heat of the day and take lots of water!
- Play in the Water. If you have a yard at your home, why not grab a sprinkler to attach to your hose and run through it with the kids? Some of my favorite childhood summertime memories involve being barefoot in the grass and running through the sprinkler.
- Go to the park. You know, making memories with your kids really has nothing to do with spending money. Did you know that if you just take your kids to the park and play with them (no, that doesn’t mean to sit on the bench on your phone while they are playing, it means you actually need to play with them), they will remember these moments for their entire lives. This time with mom and dad is the best time of all.
- Check out local museums. Check out the local museums near you and find out when they have free and/or cheap days. Some museums are even free, you just need to look into it. I recently took my children to our local county museum. It cost $1 per person to get in and it was a couple of hours of fun learning all about our local area.
What fun, free activities do you still plan to do this summer?
Cool Off With This Super Easy Homemade Orange Julius Recipe
Summer is in full swing, and boy is is hot! One nice way to spend the hot days is to sip a nice cool, refreshing drink. This homemade Orange Julius recipe is the perfect option! What makes this recipe so great is you probably have every single ingredient already in your home. Plus, it’s a recipe so easy that even the kids can help make it.
Ingredients
1 Cup Cold Water
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
11 Ice Cubes
6 oz Orange Juice Frozen Concentrate –
(Usually half of 1 container- save the other half for next time!)
Directions
Put all the ingredients into a blender. Pulse blend until you no longer hear the sound of ice crushing. Usually just a few seconds. Be careful not to over blend.
Enjoy!
Hopefully this will be a nice, easy drink to add to your fun summer days!
Our Favorite Way To Make Calm Down Jars!
We’ve been busy enjoying our summer, but with the busy schedule sometimes emotions get out of control. For years I’ve heard of calm down jars but we finally decided to try them out for ourselves. Guys, these are so fun! Even I enjoy “playing” with them and watching the glitter float to the bottom. Here’s how we made ours.
First we got our jars. I simply used a couple old Bai bottles we had laying around. They worked perfect since they were clear and the labels come off easy. Then we gathered our supplies. You’ll need:
Corn Syrup
Hot Water
Glitter (we used a variety of sizes)
Glitter Glue (found at the dollar store)
Liquid Water Color
To get the right float time you’ll want to have 1/3 of your jar corn syrup and 2/3 water. You’ll want to mix the corn syrup, hot water, liquid watercolor (your food coloring will work just fine) and glitter together with a whisk. (If your glitter is sticking together you can use just a dash or dish soap but we didn’t need to.) Get your bottle and start to poor it in quickly as the glitter will start to settle at the bottom of your bowl. Once you have your bottle filled you’ll want to wipe the rim with a paper towel to make sure it’s dry, then glue your lid on. (I highly recommend this if you have little ones around that would like to open the bottles) We used our hot glue gun and it has worked great. Then shake away and watch the glitter float to the bottom.
More Free DIY Halloween Costume Ideas
The other day we talked about some great, DIY Free costumes. Today we are going to talk about some more! There are countless opportunities out there to keep your Halloween budget on the down low, so let’s do this, my friends! Let’s make this Halloween your best yet, by keeping it free!
Even More FREE and/or Inexpensive DIY Costumes
- Green with Envy. This is a super cheap, super easy costume idea for couples. One of you wear a green shirt and the other one, wear a white shirt with the word Envy written on it. You are now Green with Envy.
- Plant Lady. Wear green, place a small plant in a small handbag and voila! You are a plant lady. This also works well to tape some leaves or small branches onto your clothes.
- Meme. Do you have a piece of white paper lying around? Print out or write the words “but that’s none of my business” on it and either tape it to your shirt or wear it around your neck using a string. You have just become a hot meme.
- Rosie the Riveter. Last year my sister in law didn’t have a lot of money to buy her kids’ costumes, but she did have a blue shirt and a red bandana in her closet, so she was able to create an adorable Rosie the Riveter costume for her 11 year old.
- Brawny Man. Okay, this one might be the second easiest costume ever. If you have a red flannel shirt and a roll of Brawny Paper Towels to carry around, you can instantly transform into the Brawny Man.
- Mr. Clean. Well this one will only work if you are already bald, or are willing to go bald for a costume, but slap on a white tee shirt and some jeans to go with your bald head and Mr. Clean you are!
- Pink Shirt Emoji. So many easy costumes! Wear a pink shirt. Strike a pose. Done! You have now become your phone’s emojis!
Do you have any other awesome ideas for free and/or super inexpensive DIY Halloween Costume ideas?
Free DIY Halloween Costume Ideas
What are you going to be for Halloween? Have you even thought about it yet? I recently read that the average person spends just a little bit under $100 on Halloween! $100! Maybe it’s just me, but that seems crazy! I don’t have any interest in spending that much this year so I am doing some major research trying to figure out some free costumes that my family and I can don this year. Here are some of my favorites.
FREE DIY Costumes
- Facebook. That’s it. I have discovered the world’s cheapest and easiest costume! Simply put on a blue shirt and write the word book on your face and Voila! You have just become Facebook!
- Cat. Draw on some cat’s eye makeup and a couple of whiskers and you have just become a cat, my friends. It also helps to wear a black outfit to complete the look. Of course you can always buy a cute cat’s ears headband from the dollar store to add to the effect, but it is unnecessary.
- Hawaiian Tourist. You have to have a hawaiian shirt buried in your closet somewhere, am I right? Break it out and pair it with some khaki shorts and you are the quintessential Hawaiian tourist!
- 50 Shades of Grey. Head on over to your nearest store that sells paint (Home Depot, Walmart, Lowes, etc.). Grab a bunch of paint color swatches and tape them to your shirt. Go with all greys and all of the sudden you are 50 shades of grey!
You guys, there are so many cheap and free DIY costume ideas that there is literally no reason for anyone to spend a huge amount on an expensive, elaborate costume for you or anyone in your family this Halloween.
What are you going to be?
The Best Ways to Save Money on Your Power Bill
Depending on what part of the country you live in, your power bill may be better or worse during the summer months, but even if you are in the “better” phase, you are probably dreading when the temp goes down and your power bill goes back up. Does this sound about right? Well, let’s finally make a change, folks! Let’s save money on your power bill!
How, though? Well here are some tried and true tricks for saving on our power bill that you can start implementing now:
- Turn down your thermostat. Glaringly simple, but it works! Turn down your thermostat by a couple of degrees. A couple of degrees doesn’t make much difference in your home, but can make a huge difference in your bill.
- Install drapes. Drapes can do a lot in saving on your energy usage. They will help you to hold heat in instead of allowing it to escape out the windows.
- Install draft barriers on your windows. You can go to Walmart (or other big box store) and buy a window draft kit for a couple of dollars. That couple of dollars can save you hundreds over the course of a year or two. It prevents cold air from getting in and warm air from escaping out.
- Use a draft snake at the bottom of doors. Like the windows, you can lose a ton of warm air and therefore money from your exterior doors.
- Turn down your water heater. Again, just a degree or two can make a big difference in your power bill, while not really making a difference in the feeling of the water.
- Use a clothes line. If the weather is nice, consider hanging your clothes out to dry in order to run your dryer less. Your dryer is one of the biggest energy hogs in the house, so anytime you use it less, you will save money.
What do you do to save money on your energy costs?