Free Amazon MP3 Downloads are available for select Christmas songs! This is a great (frugal) way to increase your iTunes library. Even if you don’t have an iPod or a MP3 player you can play these songs on your computer.

Almost every store has a card, mailing list, or other form of customer rewards program. For many years I passed on all of them. I didn’t want another card in my wallet, or their emails cluttering up my inbox. Over time, and because of the influence of a few bloggers I decided to start using reward programs to add to our savings.

Here are a few tips to successfully navigate rewards programs:

1. Realize that by giving your name/ address/ phone number to these companies they are tracking your spending habits. If this bothers you don’t sign up.
2. Create a separate email account for all your rewards programs. This way you don’t lose your grandmother’s email in a sea of money saving offers.
3. Before taking surveys decide how much your time is worth. If you take a ten minute survey and receive a $0.50 item it is probably not worth your time. A five minute survey for a $10 product is usually a good deal.
4. Immediately cut coupons from flyers you receive in the mail and add them to your coupon organizer. Throw the rest of the flyer in the recycle bin so you won’t be tempted to spend money on something you don’t need.
5. Keep all your rewards cards in one spot. Make sure you take the cards with you when you shop.
6. Check to make sure you are getting the coupons sent to you. Coscto, JoAnns, and Kroger are just a few of the stores that mail coupons to people who sign up. If you take the time to sign up make sure you are getting your stuff!
7. Look for offers that allow you to combine discounts. Combining your coupons with items that are cheaper when using the card is a good way to get things for free or close to free.
8. Sign up for the restaurant rewards programs. Even if you rarely eat out, when you do a coupon is an added bonus.
9. Sign up for hotel and airline reward programs. Once again, even if you rarely fly or stay in a hotel, your situation may change and this could be a big savings for you. My husband stays exclusively at Choice Hotels when he travels for work. We haven’t paid for a hotel room for our family in a few years because of the points he has earned traveling on his work account.
10. Work the deals, but don’t go over budget. You are not saving money by charging sale items on your credit card. Buy what you can afford.

What is your best advice for using reward programs? Do you have a favorite program?

This post is linked to Frugal Friday.

Don’t think second-hand shopping is for you? Think again. Jen is hosting another Frugal Fashionista carnival, and bloggers from around the country are linking up with their frugal and fabulous second-hand finds.

Looking around my home, I see very few things that were purchased brand new, and I am fine with that. I love the thrill of the “hunt” when looking for treasures. For years, it was our Saturday routine to get up early, load the kids in the car with the portable tv/ vcr (remember those?) and garage sale all morning. It was fun and we found many good deals.

Now that we have several more children (and gas prices soared last summer) we found it easier to hit the thrift stores every month than garage sale every Saturday in a 15 passenger van.

For my little children, I rarely buy anything new. The second-hand clothing is nice, like new, and costs next to nothing. I look for high quality clothing that can be passed from child to child. I find myself smiling when I pull out clothes for Cora that my 5 year old and 3 year old wore and remember I paid under a dollar for the outfit!

I also shop at the thrift store for my husband and myself, but since I am never in pictures, I don’t have many good ones of my second hand wardrobe.

I do however take tons of pictures of my children, so here are a few of our second-hand finds… and a few bonus pictures thrown in too.

I found this Winnie the Pooh sweatshirt for $3 at the thrift store right before we went to Disney last year. Souvenir sweatshirt at thrift store prices.

Can you see the boy in this photo? I didn’t think so, Genius is wearing his fleece camo, a must have for every 9 year old boy this fall. The best part, the jacket cost under $3 at the thrift store. Jackets, snow pants, boots, and other winter gear are plentiful at thrift stores and for significantly less than you pay at the mall.

Aren’t these jeans cute? I was excited to pick these up for $1.90 two weeks ago. Sweet Pea loves the fun details on the bottom.

My thirteen year old son might not like to be pictured on the blog, but he loves to find fun T’s at the thrift store. This shirt was a dollar and the jeans were two dollars. The jeans look brand new!

Cora needed some warm jammies for our cooler than normal fall this year. I found these purple footies for a dollar!

One of the best surprises is when my mom, mother-in-law or sister hit the year round yard sales in Florida. They always find the best deals.

Would you believe this adorable dress cost less than a dollar?

This white knit dress was under a dollar too!

Children’s Place fleece hoodie- $2, Ralph Lauren Pants – $1. Smile- priceless.

Do your kids like to play dress up? Mine do! Fill their dress up bin with inexpensive costumes from the thrift store.

Our last trip yielded this princess dress for $2 and a batman costume for $1.

If you are crafty, thrift stores are an endless source of ideas and supplies.

The girl on the left in this picture purchased her dress at a local thrift store. Turned it inside out, then added straps, and tulle on the bottom. Perfect for her church banquet!

Have you ever seen a fabric you liked at the thrift store, but the actual item didn’t fit?

I loved the reds, turquoise, and yellows in this fabric, but the size 14 skirt was way too big. Solution, I turned it into a purse!

This men’s hawaiian shirt was nice for $1….

But even nicer as a dress for my daughter.

Second-hand style is definitely a Finer Thing. How about you? Are you a second-hand shopper?

For more frugal tips and ideas visit Frugal Friday.

Times are tough for the majority of families today. People are embracing frugality in many different ways. One area that has always seemed harder to save money is the gift giving department. I like to give gifts, and I like to give gifts that people will enjoy.

In my own family I have shopped at thrift stores and yard sales for Christmas and birthday gifts. My brother-in-law loves used T-shirts as long as the neck isn’t stretched out. I start looking a few months before his birthday to try and find interesting T’s he will appreciate.

For other family members I stick to buying gifts new. Fortunately, this year I have accumulated a lot of Swagbucks, but in the past I have tried to come up with creative and frugal gifts people will enjoy. Occasionally I will find something new at a yard sale to give as a gift. But, most of the time I purchase items at a retail store.

Personally, I don’t mind receiving second hand gifts. If it is something I want or need and it is in good condition, I don’t care where it is from. I am actually glad people are not paying full price for a gift! One year dh asked for several books for Christmas. He specifically asked that they be purchased used! Since we buy most of our books used anyway, it made sense for others to do the same.

I wonder how many people feel the same way? Do you give second-hand gifts? Would you be offended if someone gave you a used gift? Just think how much money we could all save (not to mention all the packaging) if we embraced second-hand gift giving.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

Learning how to cook has saved me the most money in the grocery store. When I was first married I was lacking in the kitchen skills department. I relied heavily on convenience food and prepackaged items in order to feed my little family.

Over time I learned that if I made things from scratch I would not only be eating healthier, I would save a lot of money. While grocery shopping yesterday I couldn’t help but notice the enormous amount of prepackaged convenience food that lined the shelves. There are times when convenience is better than fast food, but it comes with a hefty price tag. By making your own bread, sauces, buying dried beans, cooking breakfast from scratch, and putting together homemade meals you can really save money.

While on vacation I purchased a Bertolli bagged pasta meal. I believe it was $5.99 and it served 2. The dish consisted of pasta, spinach, chicken and sauce. I make a very similar meal for my family of 8 and the ingredients cost under $5 for 8 servings.

If you aren’t queen of the kitchen, where do you begin? Start simple. Don’t decide to make everything from scratch on day one. Two of my few of my favorite food blogs are 5 Dollar Dinners and Cooking During Stolen Moments. Aside from being run from my friends Erin and Kate, both sites share simple, inexpensive recipes that are easy on the pocketbook.

If you search this site you will also find tutorials for beans, bread, bagels, and many more easy from scratch recipes.

For those who are beginning to cook, I suggesting setting a goal of one or two from scratch meals a week. Try to make something that your family likes and is familiar with to guarantee success. Perhaps you could serve spaghetti and make your sauce and garlic bread from scratch. Or make a taco dinner with homemade seasoning mix, tortillas, and refried beans.

Many from scratch food items can be prepared in advanced and frozen for a quick meal at a later date, so even on the busy nights you can serve healthy home cooked meals for less.

This post is linking to Frugal Friday.

Last week I had high hopes of grilling pizza. I was spurred on by comments from Nancy, Kirstin, and Netherfieldmom, who gave me some great advice and if you ever want to make pizza on the grill contact them, they have been successful.

I am not sure if it was the whole wheat crust, the temperature of the grill, or my capabilities as a grill chef, (I am no Bobby Flay), but the first pizza looked like this…

Yum!

I turned the heat down and the other two pizza’s turned out much better.

Even though the other pizzas turned out, I am not sure I want to grill pizza in the summer time. My friend Nancy pointed out that it is cheaper to grill your pizza in the summer because you don’t use your oven and heat up the house. But I did not like standing over a hot grill while trying to top my pizzas. Are you supposed to take the pizzas off the grill to top them? I was so hot when I finished making the pizzas I didn’t feel like eating them. It seems easier to me to just roll the dough, top, and bake, more expensive, but easier.

Maybe I will try this experiment in October with much better results!

A few weeks back I wrote a post about the cost of convenience. I have been thinking about the idea for a while and realized that there are many different ways to look at convenience.

As I type this I am in the car headed for the HEAV convention. (Don’t worry I’m not driving). We are staying at a hotel attached to the convention center. The hotel is more expensive than the other hotels in the area, but I am paying for convenience. I won’t have to walk 8 to 10 blocks with all my homeschool items back and forth from the hotel to the convention center. I will also be able to go back to my room during the convention to get food, which brings me to my next point.

Anyone who has ever eaten at a convention center knows the food leaves something to be desired. It is usually overpriced, unhealthy, and tasteless. During my last trip to the store I purchased some convenience foods; chips, crackers, nutrition bars, and some fruit. These are items I do not normally purchase (not including the fruit), but they are great items to take on a trip. Because I purchased these items we will be able to eat breakfast and lunch in our room (which we did). The cost of these convenience items was under $20. There is no way we could have purchased 3 lunches and 2 breakfasts x 2 for that price. In addition, we ate much healthier, fruit and muffins for breakfast, and nutrition bars for lunch, than we would have if we bought food at the convention hall.
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I wrote this post exactly two weeks ago. I never published it because we came home and started moving almost immediately. I wish I would have because I might have followed my own advice. The week of the move, I had all sorts of meals planned, meals that never were made because we were too busy moving. Had I purchased lunchables, frozen pizzas, and other convenience items we would have saved a bunch of money. Instead we ate take our or fast food almost every day of the week because I didn’t have time to cook my planned meals.

I am a firm believer in making food from scratch and feeding your family healthy home cooked meals, but sometimes you will have to choose between frozen pizza and Burger King. Frozen pizza is cheaper, and it might be better for you.

Sometimes you can save money paying for convenience.

For more Frugal Friday visit Crystal’s blog.

Last week’s menu was a total bust. I think I only made two of the five meals I planned. I just didn’t have time to cook anything during the move. If I had been smart I would have purchased some prepackaged meals from the store, but I didn’t, so we ended up eating fast food many nights of the week. This week I will not be so ambitious. Although we are out of the other house, we have a lot of work to do on the new house. Meals will be simple, and involve minimal prep time.

Breakfasts—Waffles, pancakes, cereal, French toast

Lunch—Sandwiches, muffins, smoothies, cut up fruit and veggies

Dinner

Monday-Left Overs

Tuesday- Frozen Lasagna, this was a huge hit last week, so I will buy it again. It is easy and much cheaper than going out to dinner.

Wednesday- Breakfast for dinner, waffles, eggs, and fruit.

Thursday-Pasta, either spaghetti or alfredo, I can’t decide.

Friday- Pizza, hopefully homemade, but I am not making any promises!

Hopefully by next week I will be settled in the house and able to get back to our healthier eating. I was able to purchase grain in bulk at the homeschool convention so I hope to start baking bread again soon.

Don’t forget to stop by Laura’s job for more Menu Planning Monday.

]]> http://thehappyhousewife.com/menu-plan-week-of-june-16th/feed/ 6 http://thehappyhousewife.com/the-cost-of-convenience/ http://thehappyhousewife.com/the-cost-of-convenience/#comments Tue, 20 May 2008 10:04:07 +0000 TheHappyHousewife http://thehappyhousewife.com/?p=682 The other night we celebrated my son’s eighth birthday. I had planned on making pizzas but on that day I decided it would just be easier to purchase some from Sams. I was surprised to learn that pizzas from Sams cost $9 a piece. They are big pizzas, but that is a lot of money, [...]]]>

The other night we celebrated my son’s eighth birthday. I had planned on making pizzas but on that day I decided it would just be easier to purchase some from Sams. I was surprised to learn that pizzas from Sams cost $9 a piece. They are big pizzas, but that is a lot of money, especially if you are buying several pizzas. We called around to see if we could find a better deal, but Sams was the cheapest. 

I ended up spending $45 plus tax on pizza that night. If I would have gone with my original plan, of making the pizzas from scratch, I would have spent under $10 on the same amount of pizza. Convenience cost me $35. 

I think there are many areas on our lives that we trade cost for convenience. Many times we pick up food to go, buy prepackaged prepared foods, pay someone to fix something we might be able to do ourselves. 

Many years ago I purchased bedroom furniture at a yard sale. I paid $100 for 2 dressers and a night stand. They needed some refinishing so my dad and I stripped, sanded and stained the furniture. These pieces have served us well for the past 14 years. Would it have been easier to go to a furniture store and buy a bedroom set, of course, but it also would have cost me 10 times more than what I paid for the furniture sandpaper and stain. 

We live in a culture that is consumed with instant gratification. We want things now, delivered and set up in less than 24 hours. We view ourselves as above putting in a little hard work, time or effort into things in our lives. We are busy with work, school, church, extra curricular actitivities. Many of these things are good, but at what cost? 

If you are doing well financially then this post may not be for you. But if you are struggling, what things in your life can you eliminate in order that you might have more time to invest in your home? One of the easiest ways to save money is to start working at home. I don’t mean working from home, but working at home. Schedule time in your week to menu plan, clip coupons, and bake foods from scratch. Take one Saturday a month and shop yard sales for clothes, toys and gifts. Look around your house for items you can repurpose instead of buying new items. 

One night of pizza will not financially ruin our family, but a habit like this could begin to chip away at the financial gains we have made over the past year. 

Our culture is embracing busyness in order to sell convenience. Stop and consider the cost. You might end up saving more than money. 

For more frugal tips stop by Frugal Friday.

 

Credit Cards ~ They Don’t Work for Us

I have hesitated writing this post for many months because I know that people have strong opinions on the subject of using credit cards. I believe that most of us would agree that having a credit card and carrying a high balance that you are unable to pay off is a bad thing. Some people believe that credit cards are okay, as long as you pay them in full every month. Some people, like Dave Ramsey, think they are bad, very bad.

I have to agree with Dave on this one. For several years we had a credit card that we used for all our purchases, and paid the balance in full each month. We thought we were really outsmarting the credit card company because we were earning cash back each year and paying no interest or annual fees. What we didn’t realize was that using that little piece of plastic was allowing us to overspend in almost every category in our budget. We were not in credit card debt, but we didn’t have much in our savings account either.

Last year we stopped using our credit card. At first I was apprehensive because the year before we had earned $400 cash back from using our card. I felt like we were giving up free money. We decide to pay for all our purchases with cash. It only took one trip to the grocery store for me to realize the power of paying with the green stuff. I was almost in a panic walking down those aisles, knowing I only had a certain amount of cash in my wallet. I stuck to my list and didn’t even look at things I did not have written down. When I was using my credit card I wasn’t as concerned with the total amount. Certain months, when our bill was a little high we would tell ourselves that we needed to spend a little less next month, and we did, but we never got ahead.

Studies show that over 70% of people do not pay their credit card balance in full every month. Studies also show that people spend 12 to 18% more when paying with a credit card.

So, what were the results of my ditching the credit card? I didn’t earn $400 cash back this January. I did however pay off $11,000 in student loans last year and we increased our savings account balance by over 500% .

Credit Cards- they don’t work for us!

You can find more Works for me Wednesday here.