6 Tips for Saving on Back to School
That’s right my friends, back to school is quickly approaching and I mean quickly. For some of us, our kids head back to school in August, others it’s early September, either way it’s happening soon!
Back to school has always been a little daunting for me, but especially now since I have a high schooler and a middle schooler. This stuff gets expensive! Thankfully, I am frugal shopper and I have learned the ways to save money on these necessary expenses. If you too want to save money on back to school, check out these 6 tips for saving on back to school.
- Clean out your closets. I know, i know, you have enough to do, but seriously, clean out your kids’ closets and you may just find that they need less stuff than you thought. Additionally, you may find stuff in great condition that you can sell to offset the costs associated with BTS shopping.
- Thrift shop. I’m a lucky mama, because my high school age daughter loves thrift shopping. I take her to higher end thrift shops such as Plato’s Closet for her jeans and tops and we even head to Goodwill sometimes to check out their half-price tag deals.
- Shop Clearance. Clearance and sales racks are your friend! I love hitting these racks and then combining them with coupons when I can. My favorite are the JCP $10 off $25 coupons that come around often.
- Only buy the minimums. I like to hit the clearance racks and buy just a couple of outfits since the first part of the school year is always nice weather anyway. Then once the weather starts to cool down, I will do a little more shopping. They don’t need an entire year’s worth of clothing all at once.
- Shop all summer long. I know we are halfway through the summer right now, but it’s not too early or late to get started now. Buy a little bit at a time and it is far less painful on your budget.
- Use coupons. Use coupons online and in store to grab the best deals. Once it comes time for back to school I like to shop at Staples weekly and grab their rock bottom deals and nothing else. This week for example, composition notebooks are just $0.50, down from $3.29. Next week it’ll be a different rock bottom deal. Many stores do this too, so be sure and check them all out.
6 Tips for Saving Money on Your Pets
Pets are expensive. I know this because I have 2 big dogs and we used to pay what seemed like endless amounts of money for their care each and every month. I really began to appreciate my pets more when they started to be less expensive and the focus could shift to fun instead of cost. I know what you are thinking, “pets are family.” Yes, that’s true for us to, but I don’t spend endless amounts of money on my human family and the same should be true for the 4 legged kind.
If you are ready to start saving, here are 6 tips for saving money on your pets that you can implement ASAP.
- Schedule Annual Appointments. Take your pet in to the vet each and every year to have a physical/wellness visit. This won’t prevent pets from getting sick of course, but it could prevent an issue from becoming a bigger and more expensive situation.
- Include them in your budget. You already budget everything else, you need to include the pets in that as well.
- Do your own grooming. No need to pay someone else to take care of your pet’s fur and nails and bathing. You can get the tools you need and do it at home.
- Use coupons. Pet food companies offer coupons just like grocery companies do. Make sure to do a search before you head out shopping for food.
- Skip the accessories. Pets don’t need sweaters or blinged out collars or expensive purses to be carried in. Pets are born with fur people, they don’t need the hottest fashion to be happy. They just need love.
- Take care of them. This is the best thing that you can do to keep your pet healthy. Simply love them and take care of them. Neglected pets get sick and injured often. If you aren’t going to love your pet, don’t have them.
What are your favorite tips for saving money on your pets?
5 Fun Beach Activities for Kids
It’s summer time and the beach is a popular destination. Our kids absolutely LOVE the beach. They love the sand and surfing and swimming. There are so many fun things that you can do with all ages. Here are just a few that you can enjoy that should keep them busy.
- Spell Words with Sticks in the Sand. This is one of my kids favorite things to do in the sand. Collect shells and make words with sea shells too. You could even make it into fun games too. Like play hang man. If kids are too little to spell have them make a pretend race track and then have the kids follow the lines in the sand. They can then play tag following the lines in the sand.
- Beach Frisbee Golf. Set up make-shift targets along the beach. You can use your towels, chairs, trees, or rocks as targets. Then divide into teams and start playing. You can make the targets harder if you have older kids or easier if your kids are young.
- Water Cup Relay. All you need are four cups for this game. Just fill one cup up with water and have the kids divide into two teams. Then each team grabs the filled cup and races down to the empty cup and dumps it in. Grab more water from the ocean and keep going until all of the kids have gone. Which cup is filled the most? Or you can time them too.
- Sand Castles. This is a classic activity at the beach. You can make it even more exciting if you bring some accessories like flags, or collect rocks and shells. Use them for bridges, motes or doors. Let their creativity run wild.
- Beach Soccer. All you need is a ball and make two goals. Get energy out by playing a game of soccer. This is super fun and when you are tired just jump in the water.
***If you want to find some affordable water toys like buckets, shovels and squirt guns, goggles or snorkel equipment, check out your local dollar store. They usually have a TON of water toys.
Netflix Hacks Maybe You Didn’t Know About!
It’s summer time and for us that means we’re spending a lot more time inside because of the heat. Although we have our limits on how much we watch, it’s always nice to sit down after a long day and find a good show to watch together after the kids have gone down for bed. But did you know there’s a few hidden secrets when it comes to Netflix? Checkout some of them right now!
- Download Movies & TV Shows to watch offline – we did this on a few flights we took earlier this year. It saved us on our longer flights and we were able to relax and enjoy what we were watching.
- Don’t watch your shows during prime time – meaning if you’re watching Netflix on the “off hours” you’ll have better quality shows.
- Find even more to watch – did you know Netflix has secret codes for subgenres? You can get the whole list of all subgenres over here. Now you’ll be able to checkout and narrow down what you’re in the mood for a lot faster.
- Share your Netflix account – it’s a super nice way to lower your bill if you’re splitting it with family or friends. But maybe you don’t want to share anymore…simple go to your settings under your account you can find “sign out all devices”. Than switch your password and they won’t be able to access it anymore.
- Restrict what your kids watch by setting the Parental Controls on in their profile under the settings.
- Set a Pin – this is important as we’ve learned real fast with our Amazon stick and noticed some extra charges on our account. But this way the kids can’t get in and change the parental controls if that’s an issue in your house.
- Get the scoop on when your favorites are going to be gone or new ones are coming – you can get the list of what to expect from Whats on Netflix. You’ll get dates and titles of everything coming and going.
- Rate your shows to give you the best suggestions of what to watch next – this can save you hours of searching through Netflix. Simply rate the shows you’ve watched and it will give Netflix a better idea of what you like.
What’s your favorite shows you’re watching right now on Netflix? Do you take advantage of any of these tips for Netflix or did you learn something new?
Reasons You Should Never Buy a New Car
Is your car on its last legs? Are you thinking about looking for a different car for your family? I know that all of those exciting new car ads are tempting and I know that you work hard and you deserve to be in a fancy new car, however, slow down and take a breath and think about this for a minute. Do you really need a new car? Do you really want to spend the money that it is going to cost for a new car? Can your current vehicle be fixed? If not, why aren’t you looking at the used car market?
Here’s the thing, I’m not against car loans. I’m a big fan of budgeting and scrimping and saving, but I also think that a person deserves the peace of mind to drive a car that they don’t have to worry about. I think this is especially true if you drive children around with you. I don’t, however, think that buying a brand new car is the answer. Here are 4 reasons you should never buy a new car:
- The Cost is Higher. This is an obvious one, but new cars cost more than used cars. Definitely keep this in mind when car shopping. Look at my recent experience, for example, I bought a 2016 Toyota Camry last year (2017) and a friend bought the same model car the year before (2016). That friend paid $14,000 MORE than I did for the car. Yes, I will be glad to wait to buy if it means I save 5 figures.
- Depreciation. Brand new cars depreciate quickly, which means it won’t be long and you will be upside down on your loan and that is not a place that anyone wants to be.
- You’ll pay more interest. Okay, this is another obvious one, but since you are financing more money, that means you will be paying more in interest. More money? Who wants to do that?!
- Higher insurance rates. New cars cost more to insure, which is yet another cost. These new car fees really add up, don’t they?
The list really does go on and on and there are quite a few reasons why you shouldn’t buy a new car. Can you think of any reasons you should?
5 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Every Big Purchase
Are you trying to change your financial outlook? Are you looking to make a difference in your family’s financial health? It’s a big deal though, making changes like this. We work and work all year long and sometimes it seems like we have not much time left over at the end of the work week with very little money at the end of it. So how can we reverse it? How can we switch up our financial life so we are always chasing the almighty dollar? Well the simple answer is that we change our habits. We need to make different choices in order to make a true difference. One of the ways in which we need to change is by changing how we make purchases.
Are you considering making a big purchase in the near future? This is something that definitely needs to be considered before you do it and here are 5 questions you should ask yourself before every big purchase:
- Is this a want or a need? This is not to say that you shouldn’t spend money on wants, but if your budget is low, you need to reconsider how much you are spending and why you are spending.
- Can you afford two of them? This may seem silly since you only want one of them, but the truth is, if you absolutely can’t afford two of them, than 1 is more than likely going to tax your budget.
- Can you pay for it with cash? There are very few things that you should ever purchase on credit. If you are looking to buy something that you can’t afford to pay cash for, you probably shouldn’t buy it.
- Can you buy it used? There is a great market out there for used items. Can your purchase be made used? You can likely save a large amount of money if you are able to buy it second-hand.
- Is it worth the amount of work you need to do for it? Let’s say that you make $20 per hour and you are looking at spending $100 on something. Is this item genuinely worth spending 5 hours at work for? This is one of my favorite questions. It has kept me from quite a few frivolous purchases.
5 Ways You Can Teach Your Children to be Savers
Do you want your children to grow up successful and financially secure? I’m sure you said yes to that. I’m sure you don’t want to see your children living paycheck-to-paycheck anymore than you want yourself to do that. So how can you teach your kids lessons now to help them become more financially secure as adults?
Well there are countless tools and tricks out there but not all of them need to be difficult, expensive, or hard to understand. Here are five ways you can teach your children to be savers:
- Lead by example. The absolute best thing that you can do to help teach your children to save is by setting an example for your kids. Make sure they grow up seeing how important saving is to you and they are more likely to follow suit.
- Have them save part of their money. Do they have money from allowances, gifts or somewhere else? Make sure you have them put aside a percentage of their money earmarked for savings. It’ll It’ll get them in the habit of making sure to always do it.
- Get them a piggy bank. Get a piggy bank for your kids and set a goal together for them to fill it to the top. I don’t know if you remember your first piggy bank or not, but feeling the bank get heavier and heavier is a great motivator.
- Make them wait on big purchases. If your child has money in their hands and they are chomping at the bit to buy a big expensive item, make them wait. Making them wait it out and determine how much they really want or need that item is a great way to curb impulse purchases.
- Start an interest-bearing savings account. Once they have their piggy bank filled up, take it to the bank and start an interest-bearing savings account for them. It’s exciting to earn money without doing anything so allow them to keep track of their bank balance for motivation.
5 Things You Should Do Now to Save This Winter
Have you started your winter prep yet? I know, I know, it’s still the beginning of July, but that doesn’t mean it is too early to get a good start on saving your family money for when the cold weather comes.
Here are 5 things you should do now to save this winter:
- Get your car serviced. Now is a great time to take your car in and have it serviced and get it all prepped to go for wintertime and more. Check your batteries, do a tune up and make sure your tires are at a safe level to get you through the next couple of seasons. This is also a great time to look for deals on winter tires and tire chains.
- Buy your winter clothes. If you are lucky, you may still find some winter or warmer spring-type clothes on clearance since it is summer and back to school shopping time. The best time to find deals on clothes is off-season, so you may be surprised by what you can find.
- Winterize your windows. By winterize your windows I mean to put up the seal strips and calking. I don’t necessarily think you should start adding that plastic yet, but the seal strips are great because they also prevent hot air from getting in during the summer.
- Have an energy audit done. Call your local electric company and have an energy audit done of your home. This way you will know exactly what changes you need to make before winter arrives and, if there are any changes that require a decent amount of money, now at least you have more time to save up for it.
Have your furnace serviced. Heating and air conditioning companies are often really busy as soon as the weather freezes, jump ahead of the game and call them up right now to have your furnace serviced so yours is more likely to last through the winter.
10 Tips When Visiting Zion National Park
Looking for a fun place to visit with the family? Zion National Park in Utah is a must visit. It has great hiking trails and incredible views. There are great trails for all ages and abilities. Here are 10 tips that you’ll want to know before you go.
- Plan out your trip. Check out this the National Park page and look at the maps. You can see what you want to do before you go.
- Carpool. There is very limited parking in the park. You will be riding a shuttle so you’ll want to find a spot near your shuttle stops. Carpooling will also help with fees into the park. You can get a whole van/car in for less than per person if you have a big group.
- Bring Water & Wear Comfortable Shoes & Clothing. This is pretty standard but you don’t want to forget some good shoes. If you are visiting during hot months, be sure to bring the sunscreen and plenty of water.
- Places to Stay. There are so many fun places to stay near Zions. One great option is the Zion’s Ponderosa Ranch. There are guided tours and so many fun things to do there. If you want to stay in Zions, check out this site and find camping or the lodge.
- One stop you need to visit is the Lodge. It has a big green grassy area where you can eat your lunch and relax. You can also buy food there and eat in their restaurant. There is a cute store for souvenirs. It’s one of the stops off of the shuttle. So just listen to the driver and you’ll find it.
- Ride the shuttle through the park. If you aren’t a walker or hiker, then feel free to ride the shuttle around the park. The shuttle is free and you can get on and off as much as you like. Just be warned, during busy times, it will be packed. So get on early to have a seat.
- Junior Ranger Program. If you have young kids, then let them become a junior ranger. You can get the packet from the visitors center. They even get a badge when they complete it! This will help the kids be engaged as well.
- Watch the weather. Zion’s is famous for flash flooding. Be aware of weather forecasts and sudden changes as you are there. Flash flooding is dangerous and can happen quickly.
- Places to Eat. There are lots of great places to eat in and around the park. If you are in the park then check out the Lodge which was mentioned above. If you are leaving the park check out Springdale. There are a lot of great restaurants just minutes from the park gates. Great ones like Oscar’s, Spotted Dog Cafe, Zion’s Pizza & Noodle Company and more.
- Fees. A weekly admission pass is $25 per vehicle or $12 for individuals. You can also call ahead and check out group rates. If you have a large group, that is the way to go.
Busy Summer? Here’s 10 Make Ahead Freezer Meals to Save You Time!
I sure hope you’ve all been busy enjoying your summer with your family. For use, we’ve been trying to squeeze all the fun in while the kids are out of school. And we’ve had a blast but often times we’re getting home by the time we’d normally be eating dinner. So I’ve put together a list of freezer meals we love and are trying out to help save time (and money) this summer!
- Our favorite is Six Sister’s Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas – they’re super easy to throw all together and you can eat them in a shell or with lettuce.
- Another great one is the Cilantro Lime Chicken
- From the same awesome blog is the Honey Rosemary Chicken – my kids will eat theirs over mashed potatoes and they love it.
- Soups are always great to freeze so try this Slow Cooker Beef Minestrone Soup
- A good summer one for your busy schedule is this Slow Cooker Philly Cheese Steak recipe
- Looking for a lighter/healthier option checkout this Meatball and Veggie Soup
- Here’s a very simple recipe with yummy results – Easy Pulled Pork can easily be turned into sandwiches, put over rice and more.
- A twist on taco’s is always fun and this Slow Cooker Ranch Chicken Tacos is perfect to try
- Even the basics of Lasagna Rollups are perfect to throw in the freezer for quick meals.
- One of my kids all time favorite – Chicken Pot Pie, great for throwing leftover veggies in and freezing for a whole other meal.
5 Reasons You Should Stick to Your Budget
Little boy with piggy bank on white background
I know that it can be really hard to stick to a budget sometimes. That is especially true in the heat of the summer when we are constantly seeing photos and hearing all about our friends’ trips to tropical places or theme parks or whatever. Or, when you are going home to another night of leftovers after receiving invites to go out to dinner. It gets exhausting and sometimes downright depressing.
You are sticking to a budget for a reason though!! You can do this and you are already doing great! In case you need a little motivation though, here are 5 reasons you should stick to your budget:
- To get out of debt. Are you tired of your mountains of debt weighing on your mind all the time? Budgeting helps us to take our extra money to pay down our debt and being debt free is amazing!
- To save up for a down payment. Are you hoping to own a home someday? Most home loans require at least 3%-5% down and many financial experts suggest not buying a home until you have 20% down. Budgeting your money each month is the only way to make your money work in your favor so that you can save up for such extreme things.
- To Save for Retirement. I’m sure you don’t want to work forever. Sticking to a budget helps you to do exactly just that.
- To catch up on bills. Do you always run a little behind? Are you at the point where you always pay a late fee on your bills? Sticking to a budget will help you prevent that!
- Build confidence. If you focus on budgeting your money, you will feel more confident in your financial life which will transfer over to other areas in your life as well.
You can do this! I know you are already doing great and I very excited for all of your progress.
Stay active on a Budget with these Tips
Over the last several months I have put a lot more effort into maintaining my health and fitness. It has become a very important part of my life and I absolutely love it. I also really enjoy going to the gym. It’s a fun way to spend some time to yourself while also investing in yourself. That being said, a gym membership can be quite expensive!
Not to worry though, it is still doable even if you don’t have the money, or don’t want to put the money toward a gym membership! Stay active on a budget with these tips:
- Walk. Head on out to your neighborhood sidewalks and get moving. Walking is free, my friends! And it feels great to get fresh air and get moving.
- Hike. I am willing to bet that there are more hiking trails near you than you could imagine. Hiking is a great workout for your heart, legs and more.
- YouTube. C’mon, I know you are staring at your computer screen anyway. Try doing a search for workout videos that you can do at home. Don’t worry, there are thousands of them.
- Shop around. There are some gyms out there that are pretty cheap (like $10-$20 per month). Maybe you can’t afford $100 per month, but $10 is doable!
- Used equipment. Let’s not beat around the bush here, plenty of people want to get in shape, but quite a few of those people don’t want to put in the effort it takes so you will find a lot of great deals on exercise equipment by checking Craigslist, FB marketplace, OfferUp, etc. I don’t recommend buying brand new, expensive equipment before you know if you are actually going to use it well, but exercise equipment doesn’t need to be brand new to work well. I use free weights that are 20+ years old and they are still wonderful!
What is your favorite way to work out on a budget?
9 Tips that Will Help You Save Money on Your Power Bill
How much was your power bill last month? I am going to go out on a limb and say it was way too much. Are you hoping to find ways that you can cut down on this outrageous expense? Not to worry, my friends! There are ways that you can save big on your power bill throughout the year!
Here are my 9 tips that will help you save money on your power bill all year long:
- Unplug. Unplug electronics and appliances that you aren’t using.
- Turn off the lights. If you aren’t in a room, turn off those lights. Yep, it’s as simple as that.
- Switch to LED. I recently spoke to a woman who lives in a 2200 square foot, 5 bedroom home. She switched to all LED light bulbs and her power bill went down more than $60 per month. I don’t know that everyone will experience this significant of a change, but it’s worth trying!
- Set your thermostat 1-2 degrees higher. It won’t make that much difference in your comfort, but could make a great difference in your bill.
- Use blackout curtains. Use blackout curtains during the summer to keep your home as cool as possible before you turn on the A/C.
- Use the clothesline. During the warm summer months, hang your clothes to dry outside inside of using the dryer.
- Dress for the weather. If it is too cold, try putting on some socks and a sweatshirt instead of instantly cranking up the heat.
- Place your freezer in the coldest place in the house. If you have a chest or standing freezer, consider placing it in the coldest place in the house. This will prevent it from working too hard to cool down.
- Be mindful of your stove use. Use the right size pots and pans when cooking and when boiling water, use an electric kettle instead of the stove.
5 Festive 4th of July Recipes You Need To Try
The 4th of July is next week. I’m super excited to get my red, white and blue on! There are so many festive foods that would make the 4th just perfect. Just look at the picture above, don’t they look amazing? Enjoy these 5 yummy recipes that your whole family will enjoy.
- Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Cake from the Recipe Girl. This looks amazing. How could you go wrong with cheesecake?
- 4th of July Strawberries by Mel & Boys Kitchen. My kids LOVE strawberries. So this would be a win-win!
- Patriotic Puppy Chow by Sweet as a Cookie. This would be perfect for fireworks at night. A cute, yummy snack that I’m sure wont last long!
- 4th of July Patriotic Popsicle’s by Yummy Healthy Easy. This would be a hit after the hot parade. I fee like the 4th of July is always a hot day, so these would be a great way to cool off.
- Brownie & Fruit Kebabs by Mels Kitchen Cafe. These have both the fruit and the chocolate in one. What’s not to love about that. These would be a super quick and easy snack and dessert.
5 Tips that Will Help You Save Money on Your Utilities
Are you spending too much on your utilities? Of course, you are. I know that I cringe when I open my mailbox because I know those bills are just gonna pile in, month after month. It is never-ending. But through the years I have found several ways to cut down on these expenses and it has really helped with our family’s budget.
Here are my 5 tips that will help you save money on your utilities:
- Unplug. Seriously, unplug stuff that you aren’t using and you will be astounded by the amount of money you save each and every month. While you are at it, turn off those lights!
- Cut the cable. Yes, cable is considered a utility, but it is not a necessity. Cut if off completely and use streaming services to save up to $100 per month. Or, at the very least, call your cable provider and ask if there are any discounts that you qualify for or what promos they are currently running. You can save quite a bit doing this.
- Smaller garbage can. What size garbage can do you use? You may be able to request a smaller can and save yourself some money. I live in a pretty rural area, but if we choose a smaller can it is a savings of close to $20 per month.
- Turn off the water. Take shorter showers, turn off the water while you brush, etc. If you tend to go over your base water bill, make sure you are doing your part to save water and money by using only what you need.
- Call your phone company. Whether you use a cell phone, home phone or both, just call your provider and again ask what savings you may qualify for. If it is your cell phone, check into whether your employer offers a discount, or if you would do fine cutting down on your data or minutes. I’m guessing you don’t use them all anyway.