Since becoming a mom 6 years ago, I have increasingly become more frugal. Having 4 mouths to feed and bodies to dress on one income has necessitated it! I am a bargain hunter by nature, anyway. In fact, my husband laughs at me because I book-it right to the clearance racks when I enter a store. I never pay full price for anything if I don't have to! And I love to shop, not to spend lots of money and accumulate "things", but to see what things that we need that I can get for the least amount of money. It's a challenge for me, and I love saving my family $. But, sometimes I have found I've just been too busy and worn out to really focus on being frugal....like the years of 2006 and 2007 in particular when we added our twins and then our youngest son to our family. :-) And now with 4 very active little boys and homeschooling, I have to make a concerted effort to be frugal.
When I was growing up, I always thought that "frugal" was a bad term, like being cheap, but now I'm proud of that label! And I think I come by it rightly. As I look back, my mom has always been very frugal. She was a good example of how to take care of your family, put their needs ahead of your own, and do without all the fine things so that you had the means to do more for your family and to do for others. She has always been a good steward of what she has....in fact, she keeps birthday money in her wallet for a year, just waiting for something really worthy to spend it on. And I have even known her to spend it on her children before. (I'll admit I'm unlike her in that way. Birthday money burns a hole in my wallet!) Growing up in the home of a pastor, we didn't have as much as others many times. I always had less toys than my friends, and I never went to Disney World. But my needs were always met, even if it meant that Mom handmade my clothes (and even my "Cabbage Patch" doll). Thanks, Mom! If you also had a Mom who showed you the value of frugality, be thankful!
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To help keep me on that track to being a really frugal mom, and to share ideas that might help you as well, I'm going to make Fridays on my blog, Frugal Friday, and share my frugal tip, bargain excitement, and even frugal failure of the week.
Today was a good day of bargains!
I found winter boots for my twin boys for next winter at JCPenney. They were originally $50 each. I got them today for $2.97 each. The total I paid was $6.12! Unheard of, huh? And the boys were thrilled because they had Spiderman on them. (They've never watched Spiderman, but instinctively know he is someone they love because he's a super hero!) I personally could do without shoes with characters on them, but at that price, I won't complain. They will keep my precious boys' feet warm and dry next winter when they play out in the snow. And they'll be happy. That is all that matters, after all.
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I got a Leap Frog Tag Jr. at Target for a great deal. They are $34.96. Target had them for $29.96 with their in store coupon. I had a manufacturers coupon I found on the web for $5 off, which brought the total down to $24.96. And I had received a Target sale magazine in the mail yesterday with a coupon to receive a $5 gift card with purchase. So, I redeemed the coupon, and put the gift card in my budgeted "Gifts" envelope. (We're using the envelope system now, and I am loving it!) So, the net price of the Tag Jr. was $19.96 plus tax. (a $15 savings). I'm putting it away for my little guy's birthday this summer.
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Yesterday, I ordered printing of 225 of my digital photos...for FREE! All I payed was shipping! How do I get them free? I sign up with online printing companies. I use whichever one is offering a deal at the time to order my prints. One company was giving me 100 free prints, I submitted a photo to a contest and got 25 more free. Than I signed up with a new site, got 50 free prints for signing up, and 50 more free for a current promotion. Awesome deal!
Most of them offer free prints when you start an account. Then occasionally they will have deals for free prints, free shipping, and also discounted photo gifts and books. I wait until I get an email with an offer before ordering more prints. This has saved me a boat load of money, because I love taking photos of my boys, and it can get pretty expensive printing them all. If you're not already taking advantage of these great sites, check them out! I'm sure there are more sites out there as well. These are the ones I am currently using. And they are simple to use.
shutterfly.com
seehere.com
snapfish.com
kodakgallery.com
I was actually able to order all of our photo Christmas cards from seehere.com this past season. I got 50 cards FREE, only paid $3.19 for shipping!
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And my last frugal deal...
Ben built a swingset and slide for the twins for their birthday last summer (saving us a whole lot of money, as well as family members chipping in for the supplies). At the time, Owen was still in the baby/toddler swing. He has since outgrown his desire to use it. By the time we put the swings away for the winter, he was refusing to get in it. He insists on using the big boy swings like his brothers. He has become so independent lately. So, we gave the swing away and planned to buy another "big boy" swing to put in it's place, come Spring. Ben got the swings back out the other evening, and put the slide back on (Yes, we are banking on Spring arriving on time!). So while I was out running errands and bargain shopping, I stopped at Lowes to get another swing. To my disappointment, they no longer carry them. My only option was a different colored swing (which is ok), but at a price of $35. Ouch! So, what's my frugal deal?
Tonight, Amazon.com found me a matching swing to our swings for $15.99 at a 3rd party seller. Adding shipping of $5.63 and tax of $1.52, the total came to $23.14. That was a savings of $14.27 off of what it would have cost for the non-matching swing with tax. And it didn't take much research...a few clicks of the mouse.
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What's your favorite frugal tip? Do tell! (comment to this post).....I am always looking for more ways to be cheap, umm, I mean, frugal!
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