Plan, Prepare, and Save

It's November and according to the retail industry it means the Christmas/Holiday Season. They are betting on you spending a boat load of cash this year on gifts for friends and family. So...unless you plan on cutting out presents all together...you'll need a way to save on what you plan to buy.

Here is the strategy I've been using for a couple years and it has saved lots of money for my family.

Plan
Have a plan - obviously. Create a list of all the people you hope to buy a gift for this year. Now eliminate all the people you can. Do you really need to give a present to the neighbor down the street that you haven't spoken to since summer? How about the all your co-workers? Stick to people who are truly important to you and your family.

Once you have your list go through and assign a dollar amount to each person. Set a budget and stick to it. For example: your niece Olivia $20. You can also allocate a dollar amount to each family instead of each person individually. I assign a certain amount for each mother/father/brother/sister, and another amount for each niece/nephew. The main point is to set a budget and stick to it or stay under that amount.

Now some of you may only purchase for the kids and not buy presents for the adults. You may also draw names so everyone gets a present - sort of like a Secret Santa game.

Prepare
Now that you have your list of people to buy for and how much you can spend you can brainstorm gift ideas. Consider what the person wants and what they actually need. Your child's teacher really doesn't want or need another mug or candle. Just ask them - I'm sure they have at least 5 from last year that still haven't been used. Think about hobbies, extracurricular activities, family life, etc.


Save
Now once you've come up with at least 2 ideas per person start your search. Look through sales ads and online for deals on the gifts you want to buy. We are trying to stretch your dollars as far as they will go.

If you plan on buying online wait for a great deal like those from Black Friday to Cyber Monday. Also consider using ebates.com to earn money on your purchases. I personally love using Swagbucks.com all year - trading my points in for Amazon.com gift certificates which I use for presents. Use the program that works for you, but find a way to earn from your purchases.

Basically make your list of gifts to buy, set a budget, brainstorm gift ideas, and shop the deals. Planning and preparing are the key - know who you need to buy for and what to buy then stick to a budget.

Alternative Halloween Treat Ideas

While I'm a huge fan of chocolate, however I know there are some of you who prefer not to give out candy for Halloween. Whether you don't want to promote junk food, you are sensitive to food allergies, or just can't afford to buy bags and bags of it.

I've come up with a couple treats you can hand out that aren't going to give the kids (or parents) a sugar rush.

Here are some alternatives to commonly handed out candies.

* Temporary tattoos
* Stickers or sticker sheets
* Glow sticks, bracelets or necklaces
* Spider Rings or bats, skulls, etc
* Pencils - Halloween themed or another theme
* Erasers - again Halloween themed or just fun designs
* Plastic teeth - vampire teeth usually
* Self-inking mini stampers
* Bouncy balls
* Packs of mini crayons, markers or color pencils
* Slime or goop
* Mini containers of bubbles - check wedding section of craft stores
* Small craft projects

Also consider giving out the following. The kids still get a treat and sometimes it's healthier.

* McDonald's coupons - 12 coupons including 4 ice cream cones, 4 apple slices, 4 milk/juice for $1
* Wendy's Jr Frosty coupons - get 10 coupons for $1

One place to check for inexpensive items like this is Oriental Trading Company. They have tons of cute stuff. Check them out.

*By the way this isn't an affiliate link and I make no money from promoting them.

How I Scored a New iPhone

Okay so it's not the latest one - it's an iPhone 4. Not the new iPhone 5 that just came out.

I'm not the type to rush right out or wait in line to get the latest and greatest technological breakthrough. I usually wait a while and see if the hype is true or if it's just a passing fad.

I've actually had a Blackberry Curve for well over 2 years now and it was barely working thanks to some unfortunate drops. Oops! Let's just say it would text but you couldn't really use it as a phone anymore.

Since I kept it so long my provider said I qualified for an upgrade and one of my choices was this iPhone 4. Did I mention there it was fre*e? Well the phone was free - there was a $30 activation fee, but still not bad. I also had to extend my contract for 2 more years.  This wasn't an issue for me because I actually liked their service and was going to keep them anyways. (No dropped calls, great reception, etc.)

So how will this help you - you ask? Check with your cell service provider and see if you qualify for an upgrade. If you company does offer upgrades hold off getting that new phone until you qualify to save some moola and get a new phone.

Amazing Christmas Budget Helper

Christmas is only 13 weeks away. Oh my gosh, that can't be right! Can it?

If your family is like most of the county (USA) including mine you're probably living on a tight budget. We actually save up for all Christmas purchases.

However, saving can be really hard for some families. Luckily there is an easy answer. Consider using Kmart's Layaway Program.  I've done this for years and it saves me so much time and hassles.  No fighting the crowds, no trying to save up large amounts of money, and best of all I get all the things my family wants.

It's simple. You shop around the store getting everything on your list than head over to the Layaway Dept. They ring everything up and you pay $15 or 10% whichever is greater as a down payment. Then you make smaller payments every 2 weeks. 8 or 12 weeks later, you pick up your stuff, wrap and your done.

I like the fact that I don't have to hide the present for long because they are still at the store. Save and sound on hold for me. It works great when you have limited storage space or kids who like to snoop.

 I also love the fact that you can make payments online or at any Kmart cash register throughout the store.

Okay now here's the really cool part. They are holding a giveaway. There is 1 winner every week at EVERY store. That person will get the balance of their layaway paid in full. Which means possibly a free Christmas for you or me. Really cool!

Get all the details here.

* I am not affiliated with Kmart and am not compensated in any way if you choose to shop there.

Target Deals - Back to School Shopping

I ventured out to my local Target Store on Friday and found a great deal on my favorite pens.

 They were on sale for $.60 a pack. That right there was awesome! Two packs of pens for $1.20, but I had a coupon for $1 off 2/Bic products.  That brings to total for 2 packs of pens down to $0.20  Yeah  :-) Here's the proof:

 
In addition to my great find on pens. I bought my kiddies lunch boxes. I bought 2 really cute boxes - one was a frog and one a ladybug.  Here's the frog isn't it cute?!!

Well inside the boxes were a postcard saying with the purchase of the lunchbox I received a 6 month membership to Parents Magazine plus coupons. Then, if you don't want the membership you can fill out the postcard, send a copy of your receipt and get a refund for $4.97. Limit 1 per household.

Yeah, buy the lunchbox for $9 on sale and get $4.97 back.

Find more great deals at Target by clicking below :-)

Target's Printable Coupons

Thrifty Thursday - It's All In Who You Know

It really does matter who you know. My hubby and I know a lot of people and we try to help out as many people as we can. We always try to find out what our friends and family want and need. Then we keep an ear open for someone giving away or selling what they are looking for.

Well, two months ago, a good friend of my hubby knew someone who was selling his boat. The gentleman was trying to downsize because him and his wife were getting up their in age. This boat had been sitting in his yard for a couple years unused and uncared for. The engine was started each year, but other than that it was untouched.

My hubby is a boat lover and started saving up for it. He worked overtime and took on extra teaching opportunities to earn enough money to pay cash for it. It took a couple months, but he diligently kept savings to reach his goal.

Well, last weekend he brought the boat home. Boy was it dirty. Apparently one of the side windows was left cracked open and let moisture get inside. All the fabric inside will need to be replace because of mildew. Yuck. However, after it's cleaned, he will be able to take his friends and family out fishing. His dream.

Is there something you've always wanted or something you need? Is there something you're trying to sell or giveaway? Mention it briefly to those you know. You never know who may be able to help.

Thrifty Thursday - This Week's Find

Thanks to the one of my favorite magazines "All You" I got a coupon for a free Rimmel London product valued $5 or less for fre*e from Wal-Mart. I could choose from eye shadow, lip stick, mascara or one other product (I forgot what). I chose the eye shadow only because I was about to run out of my current one. I love the All You magazine because it always has lots of useful coupons throughout each month's copy. This coupon was included in April's copy I believe. Don't quote me on that.

By the way, I was not paid to publish this post. I just wanted to share my cool coupon deal and my fave magazine.

Feel free to share your thrifty finds. I'd love to celebrate your success with you.

Thrifty Thursday - Frugal Easter Basket Ideas

If you look forward to giving Easter baskets to your children each year but don't enjoy the high price of expensive pre-made baskets, here are some simple ideas for saving money on this fun holiday tradition. Like anything else you buy, it helps to set a spending limit - maybe $5 per Easter basket. Then have fun being creative and trying to keep within your basket budget.
Our family usually reserves Easter baskets and Easter Egg Hunts for the Saturday just before Easter - saving Sunday for church and family celebrations.

I try to shop for Easter basket fillers in advance (I use the same principle for Christmas stocking stuffers, too). You can keep a basket in the corner of a closet for storing these types of items found throughout the year. Keep an eye out for small games and toys in clearance bins at the grocery store, at dollar stores, and during any stops to thrift stores or yard sales.

In the days immediately following Halloween, bags of candy often go on sale for half price (or less), so I'll sometimes purchase several bags of family favorites and stick them in the freezer. Frozen candy will keep quite nicely until Easter.

Small, fun items that you'll probably need to purchase for your children during the course of the year can be saved to include in their Easter baskets: crayons, felt pens, glue stick, glitter glue, novelty toothbrushes, fun-flavored toothpastes, hair ribbons, barrettes, a new hair brush, bubble bath in fun containers.

Ideas for the Basket Itself:

* Wicker baskets can be reused year after year (a nice tradition in itself). These can be used other times during the year for decoration or for storing small items. You can also reuse the decorative grass from year to year.

* Paper bags decorated with bunnies, eggs, flowers, etc.

* Easter bonnets. If you're going to be purchasing an Easter bonnet for your daughter, turn it upside down and fill with goodies.

* Inexpensive colorful plastic sand pails. Include a shovel and sand mold.

* Plastic mesh storage containers. Reuse to store toys, games, socks, childhood treasures, etc. Lunch box.

* New novelty pillowcase.

* Flower pot (fill w/packet of seeds, soil, drainage rocks, gardening gloves, instructions for growing their own Spring flowers).

* For older kids/teens, try a make-up container (including sample sizes of soap, perfume, lip gloss, nail polish, etc.), a fishing tackle box (include a few lures), a personal popcorn bowl (containing a bag of gourmet popcorn), or a new purse.

* For teenagers or grown children, try a grocery bag filled with their favorite foods.


Filling ideas:

* Plastic eggs can be reused every year. Fill with jelly beans or small plastic toys of interest to the child. Bags full of fake bugs, dinosaurs, etc., can often be found at dollar stores for under a $1 per bag.

* Homemade candy and treats.

* Homemade frosted Easter-shaped cookies individually wrapped. You can also make cookie lollipops by adding a lollipop or ice cream stick before baking.

* Crispy Rice Treats or Popcorn Balls colored with pastel food coloring and shaped like eggs.

* Sidewalk Chalk Eggs: Mix 1 cup plaster, 1/2 cup water and several drops food coloring. Pour mixture into empty egg carton sections. When dry, peel away the carton and hot glue two sections together at the center to form a complete egg.

* Toys from fast food children's meals can be found in "like new" condition at thrift stores and yard sales for $0.25 or less.

* Rubber stamps and stamp pads.

* Homemade play dough.

* Crayons.

* Small bag of potato chips.

* Bubbles.

* A jump rope.

* Jacks.

* A frisbee.

* Chopsticks.

* Fancy shoelaces.

* Stickers.

* Books.

* Stationary, note cards, envelopes, stamps.

* Coloring books or coloring sheets. Find some simple Easter related clip-art and print the picture out in black and white for homemade coloring sheets, or print out several and staple them together for a custom made coloring book.

* Audio tapes you've made of yourself reading their favorite books aloud. Be sure to include a signal for them to turn the page if they'll be reading along with you.

* Look for small Dover Books at your local bookstore. These books are high quality and usually under $1 each. They have paper dolls, holiday activity books, coloring books, etc.


Happy Spring!


About the Author:
Deborah Taylor-Hough (free-lance writer and mother of three) is the author of several popular books including Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month and A Simple Choice: A Practical Guide for Saving Your Time, Money and Sanity. To subscribe to her free email newsletter, Simple Times, send an email to: subscribe-simple-times@hub.thedollarstretcher.com Visit Debi online and read more articles dealing with simple living, frugality, parenting and much more: http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/

Article Source: The WAHM Shack Article Directory

Thrifty Thursday - All the Sales Ads At Your Fingertips

It's a well known fact that one way to save money is to plan out your meals ahead of time. It's not always necessary to plan out your week day by day such as: Monday - BBQ Chicken, Tuesday - Pizza, etc. Another way that I use is to simply plan 7 meals for the week and pick and choose which one to eat that day. This works great for us because I don't like being told what I need to eat each day. I like a little flexibility.

You can save even more money if you use foods that are on sale as part of your weekly menu. Look through the weekly sales ads for all your local grocery stores. If chicken is on sale - buy it and use it in a dish that week. If you have a coupon to go with the product even better.

To save you some time I've included a link that has almost all the grocery store ads listed. Just click on your local stores picture to see the current week's sales ad.

http://www.couponsherpa.com/ask-coupon-sherpa/weekly-ads-100-grocery-store-circulars/

Thrifty Thursday - Shop for Christmas All Year Round

Whenever I go into a store I try to look at their clearance section for any deals. By shopping all year round I can spend a lot less overall on Christmas and birthday presents. Plus I don't have to come up with a big chunk of money all at one time.

This week I found all these Bakugan in the clearance at my local Target store. They were making room for all the newer ones that just came out. My little man is really into these so I plan to save them for his birthday and even for Christmas. At $1.11 for the single items and about $3 for the double or special ones. That was great compared to the $4/$8 regular price.

Please feel free to share your awesome deals, thrift store finds and bargain finds.

Thrifty Thursdays - Buy Now for the Future

Well I one of my all time favorite things to do is to bargain hunt. I love find and hearing about finding great deals, so hear are some of my latest finds.

I found this really adorable dress at Macy's in their children's clearance department. While I don't normally shop here, my mother called this to my attention. As you can see on the price tag it was originally $85.00 and I got it for $9.99. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Actually it's quite beautiful. It is size 6/6X which is the size my daughter should be right around Christmas. This dress even has a couple layers of crinoline underneath.

I know it's March, but I found these Valentine's cards in my grocery store clearance rack for $.20. Yeah that's right $.20. They are pretty basic characters. I'm sure my boy will be fine with these next year - he will be in 3rd grade. My daughter I know will be fine with the Barbie because she will only be in 1st grade next year.

Please feel free to share your wonderful finds with me I love hearing about them.

Thrifty Thursday - Great Thrift Store Find

I get all excited when I get to go treasure hunting (shopping at a thrift store), so I had to share my latest finds.  I went to a local thrift store with my kids and we found this completely wonderful horse. See it's a Webkinz in like new condition, and it even has the code. Kids can use the codes included with the Webkinz to go online and play games with the digital version of the toy. Anyways, Webkinz usually go for $12 and up for full sized toys. I got it for $1.91. Awesome!

Plus I love sparkly things and this cute candle holder was only $.99. Though I'm not fond of the brass color I love the sparkly crystal candle holder part.

Please feel free to share your thrift store finds by leaving a comment.