Mommies Frugal Finds

I started this silly little thing called a blog when my first son was born, as a hobby. My son is now five and I have since decided to take it from "this silly little blog" to " my business". When I started hardly anyone knew what the heck a blog was, now everyone and their grandma has a blog. So here's what I learned along the way. I think this info would of use to a blogger starting just out, or someone considering starting one. #1 It's not all rainbows and sunshine....it takes so much work and dedication. Full time bloggers work all day everyday. More than forty hours a week. I personally work til 2am sometimes. I do my best work late at night when my kids are in bed. #2 You have to have a good support system and an understanding family. Because it takes so much time you need to manage you time well. You will also need childcare sometimes so you can work interrupted, something I needed to learn a long time ago, after posting some pretty crazy p...

As you probably know by now I have been following Dave Ramsey. Now I'm not taking his financial peace class but I am atudying his advice and watching his youtube videos. There was one video in particular that caught my eye. He was basically saying in order to get ahead financially you can not think like everyone else. You have to be ok with being different and doing things differently. You have to look at money, debt and really life in general from a different perspective. I'm going to call it " think like your grandma". Let's think about this for a minute, in our grandparents generation they had no credit cards, they used what they had and they did not shop fir recreation. They bought what they needed and most importantly, they were content, they lived and they lived within their means. I think if we took a step back and re- adapted our life styles to these simple concepts we could really get a lot further. Say goodbye to the Jonses too. If the people in your lif...

20 things you should be buying at The Dollar Tree saving you up to $500 or more a year 1)Hair accessories, clips, barettes, ties, brushes combs 2)Shampoo conditioner and styling products 3)Socks 4)Baby wipes, baby shampoo, baby bottles, lotions, etc. 5)If u have animals pet products, leaches, collars, dog food, biscuits, bones, toys, sweaters 6)Cleaning sprays, wipes, bleach, air fresheners 7)Tupperware 8)Paper plates and paper products 9) stationary, office supplies 10) cards, gift wrap, 11) snacks drinks 12) beauty products like lotions, sunscreen, baby oil, makeup 13) vitamins 14) medicine cabinet over counter meds and bandaids, etc 15) books 16) ziplocks and garbage bags 17) phone accessories, like iphone cases, chargers 18) home decor frames, vases, flowers 19) toys, perfect for party favors, or stocking stuffers 20) frozen foods and pantry items. Some things I frequently buy in this dept...... Pasta Sauces Seasonings Frozen fruit Frozen pancakes and waffles F...

As I was lying in bed I couldn't help but think about what success is, what it means to me and how we as as Americans define success. I couldn't help but think about a conversation I had a couple weeks prior with an old friend. The way she defined success didnt sit well with me. She defined success as having a mortgage she can't afford, a new car every year with a payment that she couldn't afford ( really if you are financing a car you really can't afford it let's be honest), and a recent refi to make her new house better ( move over Joneses). And heres the biggie. She slaves away at a job she hates five days a week... This is success??? Living for the weekend? Buying a beautiful house that you never use and having a family you never see. Is this really what auccess is to most of us? To me it's not. If you are happy, healthy and you have your bills paid and food on the table you are more successful than a lot of others I would say. I think we really have los...

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Looking for ways to make extra money? Here are some ways that I make money at home, with no out of pocket cost, and you can too. Sell stuff. We all have stuff we don't need or want right? Why not sell it? One persons junk is a another persons treasure. There are several ways you can do this.... Ebay  (fees are a little high but still worth it) I've been using ebay for years. I once paid for our family vacation with just my ebay money) The key to ebay is take gretat pics, write an attention grabbing description and be a fast shipper. One thing I like about ebay is you have instant access to the cash when you make a sell through paypal Etsy... Do you have a knack for handi crafts? Do you sew, knit or paint? Why not sell your items on etsy? This is the ebay of handmade items. You can always find unique items in here and this is a very popular site. Craigslist....I use this website all the time. Love it. You can buy or sell with no fees attached. Always check the free se...

Ok, lets talk budgets. Yeah, there are more exciting things to talk about but let's get this out of the way to make way for some more exciting topics. As a newly single parent I am faced with a whole new set of financial challenges. Before the divorce my husband and I weren't rich my any means. We were the typical american family.  Well, maybe not totally typical. I stayed at home and earned money at home (this was our extra money) while he worked a  full time sales job to pay the bills. We did ok (more on this later on ways to make money at home), but we never felt comfortable. Let's just say there were no Hawaiian vacations...maybe one to Louisville Kentucky, lol,  but we really were just staying afloat. Now as a single parent, there are even more challenges financially so I had to give my finances a kick in the pants, and myself. Lol Here's what I had to do to cut my budget in half..... Determine what is your main expense? For most of us it's housing. This i...

Don't forget about your furry friends this summer. In my area the heat is relentless. Our temp in july has reached 118 degrees a time or two. Hopefully if you live in an area that's this hot you have your pets inside. Here are some ways to help your pets stay comfortable in the midst of the scorching summer heat. Take big ziplock plastic bowls and fill them with water, freeze and you now have ice blocks to put in your pets water dish. If your pets are outside make sure their water is in the shade and they also have shade. If you have pets like rabbits they are extra sensitive to high temps. To keep them cool take a  towel and drape it over their cage. Run the hose over it several times a day to keep them cool. I had rabbits growing up and we did this in the summer to keep them cool. You can also put ice blocks (see above) on top of the towel on their cage to keep them cool. Always make sure they have access to water, food pellets and they love to crunch on veges like, lettuce...

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HOT DiGiorno Coupon Deals! Super cheap @Target and free 2 liter Get ready for the big game! Head over to coupons.com and print the Digorno coupon. Buy two get one free. At Target they are 2/$9....so 3 a piece plus free soda. Oh, also there is a cartwheel coupon on this one too. Be sure to download this app to your phone if you are a Target shopper. Gotta love Target. My local Target was remodeled not too long ago and it really wasn't ever a place I would by food items...now with a huge grocery item selection you can really save big buy matching target coupons with manufactuers coupons on top of a sale and cart wheel app for Huge savings!

Where to find coupons Sunday newpaper (smart  source, redplum and at the end of the month procter and gamble inserts) Magazines Allyou (walmart) Cvs beauty book Good Housekeeping Family Circle Better Homes and Gardens just to name a few At the grocery store Safeway has e coupons you can load to your card or clip the ones in the weekly ad Albertsons store coupons >Winco has manufacturers coupons sometimes as doea walmart Target printable and moblie ones like cartwheel app. Kmart store coupons and they will double manufacturers ones up to a dollar Also, never throw out junkmail, look through it for coupons first. There are usually good ones for arbys, mcdonalds, hometown, burger king and sometimes I see the $10 off of $50 at foodmaxx (food4less) oh, and also if you are a costco member you will receive monthly coupons Walgreens has coupon booklets Cvs has printables from their coupon machine, you can scan up to three times for more coupons Riteaid has coupon bookl...

With two boys (three if you count my husband) and two dogs(also boys, yep I'm very out numbered) there are always messes to clean up. If you're like me you love your swiffer for quick clean ups but hate all the things you have to buy for them contantly. Here are some easy tips to help you save on these cleaning products.... Make your own reusable, washable cloths, super easy about two mins to make one. Just take a peice of fabric (you can use an old tshirt or sweatshirt, or even scarf) fold in half (this will give you 4 pieces if you use a shirt which will make two reusable cloths) trace around swiffer mop head, cut out with a one in. seam allowance. Lay two peices together and sew all four sides. Cut a hole about 4 in in middle and turn inside out. Voila...super easy swiffer cloths. Ok, so maybe you have a wet jet swiffer and you are buying the cleaning liquid like crazy (especially if you have a lil one that likes to help, or shall we say waste) then this will help you sa...

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Is one of your new years resolutions to save more?  If it is, here are some creative ways to save for a rainy day, that vacation your dreaming about, your next big purchase. $ Get a water bottle! No, not that kind. A 5 gallon water cooler bottle. If you don't have access to one you could ask someone who has a water cooler, get one at work ( ask first), or purchase one at the a store like Winco, for example. At the end of everyday dump in all of your loose change. This is like a savings account, but its a way to trick yourself into saving. When the bottle is full take it to your bank and cash out. Even if you just put all pennies in the bottle you would have upwards of $300 when the bottle is full. If you put in all your change you would have a pretty substanial amount of money to work with (2000- &3000 )...more than enough for a nice getaway, new furniture, to pay off debt or whatever you are saving for...( mine is half full as I'm writing this)

The Creek Line House: Make Your Own Reusable Swiffer Cloths! : This maybe my favorite little home-keeping pearl of wisdom ever. I love my swiffer. It's so easy to use and lightweight and it pick...

Earn $10 just for trying the Ibotta app. It pays you money for buying your favorite products. Once you try it, you’ll be hooked! http://ibotta.com/r/H75iw

Enfamil Formula, Only $1.00 after ExtraBucks at CVS!

So here is my latest haul. I am starting to get back in to couponing after taking a bit of a hiatus. The one tonight reminded me why I took a break. It was probably the most frustrating haul ever...it was the longest. I walked in when it was still light outside, let's put it that way. I must have been in the checkout for about an hour. Not sure if it was really worth saving $20 but usually it goes smoothly. For all you newbie couponers don't let this scare you. I've been doing this for 2 years now and this is the first time this has happened. The problem was that last time I used my K-mart rewards card I used too many coupons (not sure what the limit is I'll have to check on that) anyhoo, it locked my rewards card. So with this shopping trip I was not able to use my credit on my card and it was not doubling my coupons. The cashier was also new and (bless his heart) was the sweetest older gentleman ever. He keep apologizing and felt so bad. Thank god the manger was als...

This week’s FREE & Under $1 Dollar Tree Deals are ready! Airwick Products Sale $1.00 - $2 any 2 Airwick National Park Fall Collection Products Final: FREE Efferdent Sale $1.00 - $1/1 Efferdent 09/09/2012 SS Insert (exp 11/30/2012) $1/1 Efferdent Product (exp 10/10/2012) Final: FREE Aquafresh Iso-active Whitening Sale $1.00 - $1/1 Aquafresh Iso-active Whitening Final: FREE A&D Cream Sale $1.00 - $1/1 A&D Product, any Rolling Final: FREE Olay Bar Soap Sale $1.00 - $1/1 Olay Bath Bar, Body Wash, In-Shower or Hand & Body Lotion 08/26/2012 P&G Insert (exp 09/30/2012) Final: FREE Crest Sale $1.00 - $0.50/1 Crest Toothpaste or Liquid Gel, 4.0 oz 08/26/2012 P&G Insert (exp 09/30/2012) $1/1 Crest, 4.0 , liquid or gel, excludes trial/travel size, Between pg. 62 - 63 Latina, June 2012 (exp 09/30/2012) Final: $0.25 Comet Powder Sale $1.00 - $0.75/1 Comet Stainless Steel Spray Cleaner, Cream Cleanser & Polish or Powder Cleanser, pg...