Mommies Frugal Finds

For those of your who have never blogged, or bloggers that have been blogging for years. This is a must read if you are either curious about how bloggers generate income or if you would like to get started blogging but you have no idea where to start. Like the author, Ruth Soukup, I started blogging around the same time. While I have learned a lot through trial and error. I don't have anywhere near the expertise this author does. The author has a website called Living Well Spending Less which I have been following for years. I stubbled upon her youtube videos on couponing (she started as a coupon blogger just like I did). Maybe I should have started a youtube channel back then? Oh well, you live and learn. As I was on Pintrest (which I swear is my fav website ever) I stumbled upon her income reports one day and was instantly sold on this book, I went to Amazon and purchased it immediately. (She makes around $10,000 a month, actually a lot of bloggers do). Likes and dislikes ab...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....everywhere, literally everywhere you go. Is it just me or does it come earlier and earlier every year? It seems like Halloween isn't even over and you start seeing Christmas decor. So this year instead of turning my head and thinking omg, I am so not ready. I decided to embrace the thought of decorating early. (See pic, this is my house, not bad for $60 spent at the Dollar Tree right?) Yes, our tree is already up!!!! since November 8th! I did this for several reasons. First of all last year was really hard emotionally and financially. I just left my husband after being Married 16 years. Just getting thru everyday was more of a priority. I put everything off but in the end with a little help I was able to have a great Christmas for my boys. Secondly, I feel like I'm just In a better position this year emotionally as well as financially. More reasons I wanted to get it out of the way because I am going back to school and ...

Halloween is Saturday!!!!! Are you ready? If you need a last minute DIY halloween costume on the cheap, here are some videos with lots of inspiration. Look through your closet and see what you already have that you can work with. Grab a black tee cut open the neckline more to make it off shoulder, grab some tight black pants, black heels and you csn be Sandy from Grease. Grab a red shirt red leggings and red heels and you can be a devil. To make the ears get a regular headband cut two peieces of cardboard in the horn shape. Now cut four peices of red fabric in the same shape by tracing around the carboard cut outs. Now glue the fabric over the cardboard peices front and back. Let dry. Now cut two scrap peices of red fabric sbout 3in x 2in fold over ear hiding seams. Now fold both and sew with a seam allowance to slip headband through both horns. About 1 in seam for a regular headband. You could also be a zombie. Just dress in all white use dirt or ash to dirty things up. Look up zombie...

Recently while reading another blog I had somewhat of an awaking...it talked about enjoying the now and not always trying to base your happiness in terms of the future. I will be happy when I find my dream house, dream guy, finish my degree or land that dream job! I have to admit that I have been guilty of this. I think I kind of lived with this mindset, constantly focusing on future goals and thinking that happiness will be found within these goals. Going through divorce, nearly losing my son when he got really sick, moving, changing career paths, my other son being diagnosed with Autism and going back to school have all been eventa in my life that have occured in the past year. I realized that life is short and not everyday is a guarantee so I have made a the choice to live in the now and be happy and content today, not tomorrow because we have no idea what that day will bring, but just appreciate the moment. I feel like I have gone through hell and back so just having some calmness,...

I'm only writing this because I feel that it could help another person who is in the situation I once was. Sometimes it takes hearing others stories in order to realize what you are going through is domestic violence. Im here to tell you, there is hope and there is a way out. I know there are so many women going through this exact same situation. You want to leave but you feel trapped, you have kids, you have no resources and the abuser controls everything. Im going to tell you the signs of that you or someone you love is going through domestic violence and how to plan a way out if you are. I know someone who is going through ths righht now so it really encouraged me to help with awareness. The saddest and sickest thing about domestic violence is the manipulation. The abuser not only manipulates the person hes abusing but,they also manipulate everyone else in their lives as part of the game. You may find that your closet friends and family have turned there backs on you. Thi...

Love going out to eat? What are your favs? Totally in love with Red Lobsters cheesy biscuits? or what about Outbacks clam chowder? Why not copy kat it? Have your favorites for a fraction of the cost of eating out. I usually spend around $50 for my family to eat out at a restaurant not including tip. What id you could make it yourself ans spend half that? Would you eat out less? Food... Ok let's be real here... Convienience food adds up quickly. I have really tried to cut back on these costs dramatically. I also am not going to lie, have a hard time taking my little guys tp a sit down restaurant when we do its usually pizza or buffet. Usually other places are reserved for date nights. Parents... Never ever underestimate date night. Try to take one once a month. It seriously may save your marriage. Anyway, back to the program. So I found this website Copykat.com that cracks the code on all your favs. There's a ton of youtube videos on this subject too worth checking out....

Did you know that stores have tricks to get you to buy certain items? Or more than you need or want? It's true stores have their sneaky ways of digging into your wallet deeper. Here are some secrets, knowing these will save you up to 50% on your grocery bill. #1 Never buy from the end-cap. This is reserved for promo items. These are usually items the store just got so they aren't really in any hurry to liquidate these items. They put these front and center to catch your eye and get you to buy. #2 Never shop at eye level. All of the items the store wants you to buy are see to see and therfore, easy to grab. For the best deals you want to look on the bottom shelves. For example, at walmart pasta at eye level is around $1.50-2 a box, look at the bottom of the shelf and it's .87 same for bread. You could end up apending $4-5 a loaf unless you look again at the bottom of the shelf and bread is only .88 and it's not bad. It actually tastes pretty good. The quality is very g...

As a nation we are so consumed by 'stuff' we work for it, plan for it, save for it and shop for it. We buy, consume and store. Isn't it kind of ironic how you now see a mini storage on every block it seems these days. This is simply because...We have too much damn stuff!!! The reason why I'm writing this and I'm writing it in kind of an abrasive way is because I came to the realization the other day that (this is pretty embarrassing to admit)....I was married to stuff! So let me clarify what I mean by this. I was married for 16 years (in this relationship since I was a senior in high school). I was in a miserable marriage I really didn't want to be in but I realized the reason why I didn't leave a long time ago was simply I was afraid to lose all my stuff. I loved collecting and have grown fond of things like antiques and odd furniture. I love clothes and had a nice collection of vintage clothing, shoes and collectibles. Well, I did finally end up lea...

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...