Simple Sanity Savers

Believe it or not, summer vacation just started for students attending Chicago public schools.  Last fall’s highly publicized teacher strike, which affected nearly 400,000 students, forced kids to stay in school through the end of June. But, now they are free and can join the rest of their compadres in making the most of summer… or what’s left of it. If you are looking for ways to keep your kids busy during their break from school consider the following simple and affordable projects: FLOWER POWER Rather than letting fresh flowers go to waste after they’ve sat pretty in a summer … Continue reading

Save Me Sink Fund

If it wasn’t for our sink fund, we would be in a lot of trouble this week. In fact, even with the sink fund, things are looking a little shaky. This week alone, we lost our water to our house faced with a major repair costing a few thousand dollars to a truck we just bought, after already sinking $500 into this same truck.  Sigh. It has not been a good few days financially. We’ve only owned the truck for about four weeks, did all of our homework, bought it from a relative, and did everything we could have to … Continue reading

Save Those Pennies! They Add Up

About a year and a half ago, my husband and I decided that we wanted to eliminate the car payment, and so we employed all sorts of methods of scrimping and saving to do this, including reducing our grocery bill, eating out less frequently, and finding fun and free things to do. One big step that got us closer to our goal of paying off the car loan was turning in all of our change. We had a few baby wipe tubs full of change, which we took, as a family, to the bank. We loaded the change into the … Continue reading

Save on Spa Fun

Mother’s Day is right around the corner; time to start shopping. The day set aside to honor the most priceless person in the world can put a major dent in your wallet, especially if you plan to shower mom with expensive presents.   However, if you are working on a tight budget, there are still plenty of wonderful ways you can show your mom how much she means to you. Rather than send mom to a pricey spa, treat her to a relaxing morning at a home version.  The following affordable ideas will allow you to pamper mom without putting your … Continue reading

Save on St. Patrick’s Day Travel

The luck of the Irish is on the side of frugal travelers this month. Several hotels are offering money-saving deals on St. Patrick’s Day themed packages.  Meanwhile, some cities are featuring holiday fun for the entire family for free, including: California:  Go green in sunny San Diego this year.  On Saturday, March 16th the city will be hosting an Irish bash like no other beginning with a massive St. Patrick’s Day parade.  It features more than 120 marching bands, towering floats, dancers, bagpipe contingents, singers, drill teams, clowns and a variety of other entries.  The parade kicks off at 10:30 … Continue reading

5 Things to Make From Scratch to Save Money

Homemade is usually best, especially when it comes to saving money. Here are five things you can make from scratch to save money. They include homemade cleaners, food prepared from scratch, baby items and more. Pizza Pizza dough is quick and easy when you make it in a bread machine. Even with loads of toppings, two large (restaurant large, not supermarket large) thin-crust pizzas will cost you around $4. For a little more money, you can buy prepared dough, but of course making your pizza completely from scratch means a lower cost as well as a lack of preservatives and … Continue reading

New Year’s Eve Money Savers

Welcoming 2013 is cause for celebration.  However, if you plan to party with a house full of parents and children, a New Year’s Eve shindig has the potential to put huge dent in your wallet. Fortunately, there are ways you can preserve your family’s budget, so that you don’t start 2013 in a financial pit: Fancy Cup Tags:  Fancy doesn’t have to mean expensive.  One way to reduce the amount of money you spend on cups for a New Year’s party is to attach a pretty tag to each one.  Doing so will identify the cup’s owner and eliminate the … Continue reading

SoCal Super Savers

All eyes are on the East Coast right now as Hurricane Sandy threatens to leave millions soaked and in the dark. Meanwhile, on the other side of the nation, California residents are gearing up to enjoy holiday-themed festivities in much better weather. Tourism officials in San Diego County are going all out to tout their upcoming holiday events taking place in the warm and sunny region. If you are looking to escape Old Man Winter, but don’t have a ton of money to spend on your seasonal adventures, consider the following family-friendly holiday events that are fun, fabulous, and FREE: … Continue reading

Save Your Couch Today!

Don’t throw away your couch, but give it new life with the following tips. You’ll save some money and transform that lived in look to fresh and new. Removing Pet Hair Lint roller just don’t work on pet hair. I’ve found that a weekly vacuum using a hose works really well. The key is to attacking the pet hair often so it doesn’t have time to embed itself into your fabric. For a large amount or set in pet hair, put on a clean pair of rubber gloves, and run your hands over the fabric. The pet hair will begin … Continue reading

How to Save Money on Hot Dogs

Hot dogs can be a good addition to your family meals, when you purchase ones that are good quality yet economical at the same time. We’ve tried a lot of hot dogs in our day, from store brand to fancy “gourmet” hot dogs, beef dogs, chicken dogs, turkey dogs, pork dogs or a combination at all different price points. From this research, we’ve come to a couple of conclusions. Oscar Meyer All-Beef Hot Dogs work best for our family. They are only a few cents more than the store brand hot dogs, but they taste much better. You also tend … Continue reading