Provident Living

ThreeJars.com is offering a FREE lifetime membership for your kids when you sign up by March 31, 2012.

ThreeJars makes money management fun and easy for 5 to 13 year old kids and parents. Kids learn to manage “money”through saving, spending, and charitable giving jars – with guidance from Mom and Dad.

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Before I share my review of The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, I am going to share with you how I came across Crystal’s website, Money Saving Mom.

It was about 4 years ago when I was reading a friends blog, she shared a link on her blog for a photographer that she used.  I am a fan of great photos, so I started reading her blog for awhile, when one day she mentioned that she was a secret stockpiler.  I was so excited, to find somebody else that shopped like me!!  I have always shopped by combining sale prices and coupons, but I didn’t know of many other people that shopped like me.  I was thrilled to find somebody else that shared my love for a great deal at the grocery store.  In her blog post, she mentioned a blog that she read to find out about all the good deals at the grocery store, which just happened to be Money Saving Mom.  Now, I was even happier, I found 2 people that liked to shop like me and one blogged about it on a daily basis – LOVE!!

So, I started reading Money Saving Mom on a regular basis.  I was so impressed with Crystal’s discipline regarding money.  I had been reading her blog for several months before I clicked on her “about me” tab.  I was amazed to find out that all the money and shopping advice was coming from a young women in her 20′s!!  I was taken aback, Crystal seemed so wise I figured she had to be older (at least older than me!!).  Don’t let her age fool you, she definately has a great handle on how to spend, save money and live frugally.

Here are my thoughts are her soon to be released book The Money Saving Mom’s Budget:

The book starts out by outlining 7 Rules for Financial Success:

1. Set Big Goals (Break them down into bite-sized pieces)
2. Streamline your life and cute the clutter
3. Set up a realistic, workable budget
4. Take the cash-only challenge
5. Use coupons
6. Never pay retail
7. Choose contentment

As a person that has been frugal most of her life (my parents taught me well), I wasn’t sure there was going to be anything new or earth shattering that I would learn from this book.   However, I found lots of great insights in this book.   I found some new ways I could lower my expenses so I could have even more money each month.   I really enjoyed the chapter about controlling clutter, and I am motivated to get areas of our house in order.   I am sure getting organized will save me my sanity and money!   I think the most important think I took away from the book is to never underestimate the power of setting goals.   It is setting goals that will help you achieve your financial (and other) goals.

My husband and I have some big financial goals this year, and I plan to use several of Crystal’s suggestions in the book to help us implement and achieve our goals.   With the start of the new year, everybody is looking to make changes.   If you need to make changes in your life that revolve around your finances, I would recommend this book to help you get your financial life in order.

Not only is Crystal a frugal minded person, she is also very generous, all the proceeds from her book are going to Compassionate International.  So, head on over and pre-order your copy of The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, it will be released on January 10th 2012.

I received an advanced copy of this book to facilitate my review, no compensation has been given. The thoughts I share, are my own.

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It’s fun to show examples of how I was able to get $130 worth of food for only $13, but this isn’t really a typical shopping trip for me. Do you want to see what one of my typical shopping trips looks like?

Once you have been couponing for awhile you will have a nice stockpile of items, so you will find you need to run to the store less and less. You will have to head to the store for necessities that you can’t always stock up on (milk, eggs and fruit come to mind). When I make these “necessity” trips I try my best to add in some really great “deal” shopping with them, so it reduces the amount of times I need to head to the store during the week.

Here is my most recent trip to Fred Meyer, and it is a good example of what a typical shopping trip would look like for me. This trip includes the following:

Things we are out of: I had to make this trip specifically because we were out of eggs, milk and some fruit and veggies.

Special Deals: I knew I wanted to pick up the Jamba Juice Smoothies for $ .67 and the FREE Corazonas Oatmeal Squares so I added them to my list.

When there are great store deals that pop up, I don’t usually make a special trip for them. I will add them to a store shopping list and a specific store envelope along with the coupons. When I head to a specific store, I will take the envelope along with me, and I will already know what special deals I need to pick up while I am there.

Raincheck items: My trips often include an item that I have a raincheck for. Rainchecks are a great way to ensure you will get to pick up the sale item at a later date if the store is out of stock when you check the first time. I was happy to find the Wisk back in stock at Fred Meyer, so I was able to pick it up for $ .99 each with my Raincheck and coupons.

Just Because items: The Santa Cruz Mango Lemonade was purchased because my family loves it and my daughter noticed that it was on sale 4/$5. My kids are normal kids, and they often ask for things at the store. More times than not, they hear “No, we can’t get that right now, it’s not on sale” or “We can get that cheaper at a different store”. Occasionally it’s nice to buy something “just because”. It’s even nicer when the “just because” items are on sale.   The Mango Lemonade was a “just because” item.

More Expensive Items: It seems weird that somebody that claims to be frugal would pay more for items they can get cheaper somewhere else, doesn’t it? I bought these nectarines at Fred Meyer, which were $1.99 a lb. even though I knew that nectarines were on sale for $1 lb at QFC this week. In the interest of saving time, I chose to purchase the nectarines at Fred Meyer even though they were more expensive than they would have been at QFC.  Remember, time IS money!

Seasonal Items: Right now the seasonal items on my list are school supplies.  I keep my kids school supply list in my purse and when I see a great deal on an item on the list I buy it.  I don’t go to the store and buy all the supplies at one time, I just buy a few here and there when I see  on sale.

Another example of a seasonal item would be sunblock, it’s not something that we need year round, I only need it certain times of the year, and it is not something I generally stock up on. In fact, here in Washington we have barely needed it this summer! I do buy some extra school supplies for later though when they are on a great sale.

I paid $24.95 for this Fred Meyer trip, which really isn’t anything to write home about. It is however, a sensible way for me to save my family some money! Not all of your shopping trips have to be AMAZING! I am pretty sure that most of us couponers have more of these typical shopping trips than we do the amazing ones.

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One of the biggest ways I save money is by buying items ahead of time while they are on sale, usually for 75% off or more.  I do it with groceries, clothing, toys and gifts.  Since, the Target Toy Clearance will be starting soon, it makes for a great opportunity to start a gift closet.   I am sharing some of the benefits I have found by shopping ahead of time for toys and gifts.

Saves Money

One of the biggest reasons to shop ahead of time, is that it can save you money.  I have 4 boys, and ALL of them have been HUGE Lego fans.  If I went out and paid full price (or even a sale price) for a Lego set I would be spending a ton of money on Lego’s.  I have been able to find Lego sets for 75% off, so I am able to spend LESS money on their birthday and Christmas gifts.

An important point to make here, is that just because you bought something on sale, it doesn’t mean you have to buy more. Some people have the mindset that they “have” to spend a certain amount of money on a gift.  If you buy more, you aren’t really saving any money, you are just getting more.  Kids don’t really need more!  I prefer to give them a nice quality gift and stick with that. We actually only give our children one gift for Christmas. Yes, you read that right, just ONE GIFT from Mom and Dad!  They also get a gift delivered from Santa, and a gift from each of their siblings too, so they end up with more than one gift on Christmas morning.

By purchasing items ahead of time, it saves me money that I can use on other important things, like family vacations, groceries, charitable donations, and even super fun stuff like braces for my children.

Saves Time

If you do clearance shopping every time you head to the store, you are bound to find some great deals sooner or later.   When you have a stockpile of gifts at home, you won’t have to run to the store every time your child get’s invited to a birthday party.   It’s quicker and easier to run out to the garage to grab an item than it is to run to the store searching for a gift.

This also is a huge time saver at Christmas time!  With the majority of my Christmas shopping done I can spend more quality time with my family enjoying the things that Christmas is really all about.  I don’t have to spend the majority of the Christmas season running around trying to find the perfect gift.

Allows for Generosity

I have fond memories of going to the mall with my Mom at Christmas time and choosing a name off  ”The Giving Tree”.  Both my sister and I would get to choose the item for the children that we selected.   We did this every year!  I still remember the item I bought when I finally purchased my first Giving Tree item with my very own money – it was a Cabbage Patch doll!

I wanted to do the same thing with my children that my Mom did with me and my sister.   Money was a lot tighter during our first years of marriage, but I still thought it was important to teach our children to be generous.  So, I did same thing that my Mom did with The Giving Tree, only I did it in reverse.  I would purchase items at 75% off and save them in a bin at home.  When Christmas would come around, me and the kids would see what toys we had and then go find a name on the tree that would be a great match for the gifts we had at home.

At the end of the year, I also like to go through the gift closet and anything that I don’t already have plans for can be donated to Toys for Toys or given to a family in need.   Shopping this way has allowed our family to be more generous than we would be able to if we just bought the gifts when they were needed.

Helps Others

My family knows that if they ever need a gift for a birthday, they can come to me.  My sister has 3 kids, both her and her husband have their own businesses, so there is not a lot of time left in her schedule for gift shopping.   She can call me up and let me know what type of party she is going to, and I can usually help her with a gift that I have bought previously.   Plus, it is usually 75% of the cost she would have paid at the store!  If you have the time, money and space to create a gift closet, let it work for others too!  Everyone loves to save a little time and money.

Tips for buying ahead:

• NEVER go in to debt to purchase gifts ahead of time (or anytime)!   You aren’t saving money if you are incurring interest charges.
• Make sure the item is worth the money. Just because an item is 75% off, it doesn’t automatically make it a great deal. I always check reviews on Amazon, if something I bought didn’t get great reviews, I return it.
• Stay away from “themed” merchandise that may only be around for a year or less. I am not talking about classic items, like Star Wars, or Sesame Street.  When you have a gift closet, things may stay there awhile before you have the chance to give them to someone. Find items that will be popular gifts at any time.
• Buy the classics like Lego’s, Playmobil, or other brands you personally love.
• Make sure you have the room to store the gifts. I now have a closet in my garage, but I have previously kept the gifts in a Rubbermaid storage tote.
• Make a list of what you have.  It’s so easy to forget that you already bought a gift for your someone, and you end up buying another.
• Set a price point for yourself.  For instance if I am buying ahead, I always aim for items that are 75% off.  I will go 50% off for certain Lego’s, but I never pay more than that.  I always know that if I miss out on one thing, another great deal will always come around.

Let’s hear your thoughts on buying ahead of time and having a gift closet.   I’d love to hear if you do the same thing, where you store your items, or let us about your favorite find.

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One of the questions I get asked a lot is how to save money on paper products, like paper towels and toilet paper. If you really want to save big money on paper towels, I suggest you stop buying them!  (I however, do not suggest you stop buying toilet paper).    I consider paper towels to be a waste of money, I don’t really think of them as a necessity.

Think about the things you use paper towels for, I am guessing you use them to wipe up spills and clean your windows. You probably already have things in your home that will do these jobs.

Old Towels: I keep around some old kitchen towels for wiping up messes. I have also cut up an old bath towel into several smaller rags.

Washing Windows: The thing that works best for washing windows and glass furniture is newspapers. Trust me on this one! Since most of us are couponers, we probably have lots of newspapers laying around anyway. When you use newspapers to clean, your windows will be streak-free and you won’t find any of the lint that paper towels leave behind.

Napkins: Do you like to use paper towels in place of napkins? I recommend going with cloth napkins. Not only will you be saving money, but you will be saving our natural resources too. You can possibly save even more money by making your own cloth napkins with the instruction found over at Skip to My Lou.

Let’s hear your thoughts.  Do you think you could survive without paper towels?  We haven’t purchased paper towels in over 10 years and we don’t miss them one bit.

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Today is my daughters birthday, she woke up to her usual birthday note and flowers, which reminded me of this post I shared a year ago. I thought it would be nice to share again today. Plus, check out the bottom of the post for a fun update!

Think back to when you were young, do you remember any of your birthday presents? Chances are you may remember one or two, but if you think about those gifts, they are probably memorable because of the emotion attached to them.  The only one that sticks out in my mind is a Snoopy radio I received from my parents.  I loved that thing!  It had terrible reception and a tiny speaker, but I loved it because I loved Snoopy, and my parents knew that I loved Snoopy.  The radio was probably a cheap radio, but if I had received a sophisticated high-end radio with ten times the features and superior quality, I doubt it would have meant as much, or even have been remembered.

When I think about my birthdays as a child, the things I remember the most, are not the gifts that were given to me, but the things my parents did for me.  My strongest memories are attached to experiences that evoked the strongest emotions.  Things that made me feel loved, things that often didn’t require any money at all, are the things that have been warmly preserved in the cherished corners of my mind…and heart.

One of my fondest birthday memories is from my dad.  He created a “Today is Christine’s Birthday” sign, and he would put it out in our front yard on every single one of my birthdays. Every birthday, I would get my photo taken by my sign.  It made me feel special.

As I grew older, and became a teenager, I became a little less enthusiastic about the ritual, but even those years created important memories that I look back on with sincere fondness.  I remember one year being embarrassed of the “Today is Christine’s Birthday” sign that my dad would put in our yard.  Flexing my “independent teenager” muscle, I decided I would hide the sign before my 16^th birthday so it couldn’t be displayed in the yard to announce to the whole neighborhood that it was my birthday.  I can still recall how my dad looked as he searched everywhere for that sign.

As it turns out, I didn’t hide it well enough, because he eventually found it.  I pleaded with him, “Please Dad! Don’t put it out in the front yard”.  In what I momentarily thought was a very tender gesture, my dad agreed that he wouldn’t put the birthday sign in the yard… instead he marched up and down the street holding the sign and shouting “Today is Christine’s Birthday”!

As mortified as I was as a teenager, I am so glad my Dad took the time to make that sign and share with everyone that it was his daughter’s birthday.  As I reflect on those birthdays today, I recognize, even more than I did back then, how much my dad loved me and how much he wanted to show the world that he was proud to have me as his daughter.

In addition to the annual “Birthday Sign” from my dad, I hold very dear birthday memories from my mom as well.  Every year on my birthday, I would always wake up to a bud vase set next to my bed.  My mom would cut some simple flowers from our garden and position them carefully alongside a written note that read “Happy Birthday Chris”. This was such a simple gesture, but it happened every birthday.  I can still remember the soft scent of the flowers that were left each year letting me know that I was loved.

Every year, for my daughter’s birthday, I  follow the wise example of my parents and focus more on some simple experiences, like those that created such a warm tapestry of childhood memories for me.  I want to help create anchoring experiences born from simple, sincere, acts of love that will hopefully evoke emotional recollections of years gone by.  This year, my daughter woke up to this:

I am not advocating that all gifts must be banished for birthdays, or that every present must be handmade or grown in a garden.  But in today’s world where there are so many materialistic messages that persuade us to focus on “stuff”, to spend money to get the shiniest toy or the most expensive trendy trinket, it is important to stop and ask ourselves if we are giving the most important gifts; the gift of love, the gift of time, the gift of a home that is a refuge from the pressures of the world. These are the true treasures of life, treasures that will forge memories for the future, allowing us to remember the simpler days of our youth.

I think when my daughter is older she probably won’t remember the things she got on her birthday.  Instead I hope she will remember the flowers she woke up to and the way it made her feel, a reminder that she was loved.  Perhaps on a distant day, when life get’s somewhat stormy, these memories will provide a saving souvenir that in life, sometimes we need to do more than just “stop and smell the flowers”, sometimes we need to “wake and smell the flowers”.

Written by me, and then re-written by my husband, so it sounds good!  Thanks Steve!

UPDATE: I received a gift from my Dad last Christmas, he was so excited for me to open it. Look what was inside:

He gave me the exact same Snoopy radio I adored as a child. How sweet is that? He had to do a lot of searching, but he finally found one. It makes me smile every time I see it.   Yep, my Dad is a pretty wonderful guy!

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