Cut It OUT!

I have really been thinking about all the things the media and everyone says we NEED......  Are they needs?  Here is a list of things you might think you need...... think twice!

Do I NEED to have satellite tv or tv at all?    (save $500-$1000/year)
Do I NEED to have Internet access on my cell phone?     (save $300-$500/year)
Do I NEED a cell phone?        (save $400-$1200/year)
Do we (a household) NEED 2 cell phones?      (save another $400-$1200/year)
Do I NEED in style clothes and shoes every season?      (save $400-$1000/year)
Do I NEED the newest gadget?       (?)
Do I NEED the Internet?          (save $400-$600/year)
Do I NEED 2 vehicles?  (save $1000-$5000/year depending on car payments, gas use, and maintenance)
Do I NEED gifts at every occasion like anniversary/birthday/holidays   (save $200-$800/year)
Do I NEED to eat out for lunch during the week?  (save $1000-$4000/year (no joke, do the math!!))

These are just a few things we all think we need, including myself at one time, but we really don't.  There is a potential savings of $4600-$19000 a YEAR if you cut out all these WANTS!!!  Not needs!  I am not saying cut all these things out but there is always room to cut.

TV (like satellite and cable) can be cut out completely and resort to watching movies.  The local library has lots of movies that can be rented out.  You could also allot an amount each month to renting movies.  There are always sites online though that could provide you with movies and tv shows.  A few of these sites are:

• www.tvduck.com
• www.sidereel.com
• www.free-tv-video-online.me
• tv.blinkx.com
• www.surfthechannel.com
•  And there is also netflix which isn't free but at a low rate of $8 a month you can watch TV shows and movies on demand!

Cell Phones:  think back 7-10 years ago we didn't carry cell phones around, and if we did we hardly used them.  There is no need for internet or long distance on our cell phones (when used for normal day stuff, not including business and such).  Those alone can account for $35-$50 a month on your cell phone bill.  If you want to cut back and you have these on your cell, this would really show over a months time.  You can call and take these off of your cell phone plan at any time and shouldn't be charged.  As well, if you have 2 cell phones at home, do you need them????  Another question to ask is, do I have a home phone as well?  Am I using my home phone or am I mostly using my cell phone?  If you are mostly using your cell phone, look into getting rid of your home phone and getting some day time minutes.  This could save you some money, but really study out your numbers before going ahead and doing this.

BUNDLE!!!!!  Thank you so much to one of my readers, you reminded me of a very good idea to saying money with cable, telephone, and internet..... bundling.  If you bundle these three or two you can get a great deal.  With our internet and tv bundled we save over $15 a month.  And, like Angie said, it's as easy as calling and asking to lower your monthly payments.  Ask where you can save money, most providers will have answers to that question because they want to keep you.

Clothing:  This can be super pricey but if done properly, could be a great bargin too.  I am not that fashionable..... sad to say but I do enjoy shopping.   Try and shop at the end of each season when those items for that season are marked down.  You can find things at 50-75% off!  Think, do I really need another red shirt, or another pair of faded jeans?  Some things that could really save you money is go through your closets often and really get to know what you own for clothing, get rid of things you no longer buy, and always look for deals.  Another smart thought is to find a stylist and have them figure out what colors look best on you.  That way you aren't buying clothing that will end up hardly being used anyways.  When it comes to kids clothes, especially younger children, go to a thrift store to pick up everyday outfits.  They are cheap and you won't feel bad when chocolate or a large hole is made in those jeans which potentially could have cost you $15-30.

Vehicles:  For some families, the use of 2 vehicles is a must, but for others, if you find your car is in the garage 80% of the time, you may want to think of selling it.  Especially if there are monthly payments being made on it.

Holiday Gifts:  Do you really need them??  It is nice to get flowers/chocolates on Valentines day but when that credit card statement of $80 is noted a month later for that small bouquet of roses and some chocolates that have now been long gone, it hits ya hard.  Decide at the beginning of the year that these times are really going to be budgeted.  In our family, instead of buying each other something for an anniversary or a holiday, we go out for a sit down dinner, and not to up scale.  As an example we budget $50.  This saves us between $50-$100 a holiday (before we would allot about $50-$75 a person/holiday).  Even Christmas is included.  Instead of going to dinner we would decide on one thing each we wanted that Christmas with an acceptable budget and that would be it.  Making a plan and communicating really makes this process easy!!

Lunches:  Probably one of the easiest things to do to eat up your money, literally!!  Eating out is ridiculous and the amount can really creep up on you.  If you are spending about $8 a meal (fast food) and ate out 4 times a week that would add up to $100 a month/$1200 a year.   I know I could do a lot with that $1200.  How to tackle..... make a lunch!  Here are some ideas:

• take left overs.  Make more at dinner then you usually do so you have left overs to take to work.
• make a lunch.  Buy sandwich meat and make a sandwich.  If you don't like sandwiches, find something else you enjoy.  And include snacks you enjoy.  Anything you buy grocery shopping to put in your lunch will be cheaper then eating out every day.  Don't go crazy on this idea but also treat yourself.  

Make that STRETCH!!

So first off I want to apologize for not writing for a week.  It's been a busy week!!!  Anywho, it won't happen again!

So this post I want to talk about different ways on making your food stretch......

• Buy homo milk and add water...... crazy I know, but it works!  Homo milk can be up to $1 more for a 4L jug but if you add water to thin it out, you could get up to 2L more out of your milk.  Especially if you are already buying 1% for your family.  To make sure this will work for your family, buy a 2L homo and add water, tasting as you go, making sure you don't go to watery.  If this will work for your family, DO IT!!  

• Hamburger meat...... I know if we wanted to we would fly through this stuff, and though it may not be extremely expensive, if you have a larger family, it can get pricey if you are making tacos, sheaperds pie, burgers, and spaghetti all in one month.  So this is what you do.... add in some good old beans!  Put half the amount of hamburger in and the other half beans.... kidney beans, blacks beans, white beans, "pork and beans", you name it.  And it even gets cheaper if you buy beans bulk and soak yourself.  We use beans in everything, excluding burgers though I am sure they would work there to.  And beans are so good for you, high in fibre and protein.  

• Be sparing on the cheese..... cheese can be very expensive and pricey, we all know this, so don't use as much.  A little cheese can go a long way.  It's not good for you health wise to be eating a lot of cheese anyways.  Be sparing.  Buy cheese in bulk when its on sale or for us Canadians, if you are going to the states, pick some up down there, it can be way cheaper!!  To add the cheese flavor without using the brick of cheese all the time, try going to the bulk food store and picking up some powdered cheese.  It is cheaper and you don't need much to add a cheesy flavor.  

• Juice..... water it down!  There are many advantages to watering your juice down other then the money side.  It's healthier too, even with all natural fruit juices.  Fruits in general hold a lot of sugar, and even if it's the good kind, it's still sugar.  When making canned juices add in an extra can of water.  Make juice a luxury item and only supply it to your family at breakfast or dinner, not during the day.  This will make it last much longer and decrease the amount of sugar your family is consuming.  This can also decrease the dentist bill!!

• Juice boxes....... get rid of them!!  If you do give your children juice to take to school, save yourself some money and go invest in a litterless juice box (ranging from $2-$5) as seen below.  Fill with juice or water.  If you do fill with juice, water it down to make your juice last.

Find Your Deal!

There are so many ways to find EVERY item at discount discount prices!!!!!!!!!  Some are used, some are new.  You find them HERE:

• kijiji.ca
• freecycle.org
• usedcalgary.com (pretty much you can do "used" and then the city you live in and there is a website for it.
• buysell.com
• classifieds.ca
• classifiedextra.ca
• cdncc.com
• craigslist.ca

Now you may think, why waste my time on these sites..... why, to save money!!!!!  There are so many great things and the saying "one mans junk is another mans treasure" couldn't ring more true.  I've used these sites many times.  Mostly kijiji, and I have gotten amazing results.

A few things I have boughten on kijiji:

• Angel Care Baby Monitor System, $149 in store, $65 on Kijiji!  Was only used for 2 months by previous owner.
• Bumbo and Tray, total $60 brand new, $40 on Kijiji!  Was never used by previous owner.
• 55 Clothe Diapers, all top brand names, over $500 brand new ($10 each), bought for $150 on Kijiji.

Hope some of you can find some great deals too!!!!!

$3 a Loaf?????

How many of us spend $2-$5 on ONE loaf of bread????  I remember when bread was $.75 a loaf..... geez, now for some good whole grain bread it could be as high as $4.79.  Well, save yourself some "dough"... lol and make your own bread.

It sounds hard, I know, but it can be done, and it can be done in more then one way.

1. Invest in a bread machine.  If you watch the fliers, you can sometimes find one for a wicked price.  My parents just got a double loaf bread maker back in January for $80, on sale 60% off.  The deals are out there and they are so quick and easy.  Fill with ingredients, push a button, and let it do it's thing.  Even if you bought one for $250, if you used it for all your bread buying needs including pizza dough, buns, cinnamon buns, and bread sticks, you would pay it off in 9 months easy (depending on your family size and how much bread you consume).   
2. Make your own by hand, yes by hand.  I'm not the best bread maker, I prefer making buns, easier to get away with issues like to moist!  But making your own bread isn't as bad as I thought, mind you I do have a kitchen aid mixer but if I didn't it still isn't bad, just some time and love.  I also like to buy from the dollar store those tin foil bread pans.  They work great and are easy to clean.  I just can't seem to keep my bread from sticking to my bread pans so I opted for the tin foil pans and no more sticking!

• If you have no clue at all how to make your own bread, check out YouTube.com.  Just write, "how to make bread", and there are tons of tutorials of people showing you how to make bread, step by step.  And making bread can be a great way to rotate your wheat in your food storage.  
• Remember, you may throw out your first batch of homemade bread, that's okay.  Practice makes perfect and it takes time.  Once you get a hang of making your own bread then you can start adding in things like honey and oats. 

To Come.....

I have decided to broaden my blog a bit more and include organizing tips for your home and your life as well as ways to stay sane as a mom and a wife.  I hope you all will enjoy.  Tips to come very shortly!!!

Saving With Baby

There are SOOO many things we as moms can do to cut down the cost that comes along with having a new baby enter our family.  Here are some ideas that we used in our family that really cut down the costs and I hope they help you to.

Clothe Diapers:  I know I know, ewww, BUT they aren't even that bad.  I found over 55 of them on Kijiji for only $150.  Clothe diapers these days do up with Velcro and have inserts.  There is also liners you can put in that hold all the solid stuff and you just throw it in the garbage.  People say you have way more laundry to do..... not here.  This is what I would recommend...

• use throw away diapers for the first month.
• start your cloth diapers the second month with liners.  Use my cleaning technique and wash in cold water with regular loads of laundry.  At night, have your baby wear throw away diapers.  Also have throw away diapers on hand for trips and outings.
• clothe diapers cleaning technique:  buy the "sunlight" bar.  You can find these at walmart and superstore with the laundry detergent and they look like this.... this pack contains 2 bars and costs $2.

•  after your baby has done a poop and you have changed them, take the dirty diaper to the tub and turn shower head to full stream hard spray.  Clean off chunks.  Take out insert and take both to sink.  Grab your sunlight bar and rub into all stained areas on both the insert and diaper.  Then place in washer.  You can leave diaper in the washer for days until your ready to do a load of laundry..... no bleach needed.  And here is proof:

 before

 after

And this diaper was in my washer for at least 2 days, waiting for the washer to fill up.  No bleach used, nothing but the sunlight bar!! 

Make Your Own Wipes: What I did was buy a bunch of baby wash clothes.  Before I laid my little one down to change his bum, I would grab a baby wash cloth and wet it.  I found them to be nicer on the skin and worked great.  I would just throw the cloth in the washer when I was done.

Make Your Own Baby Food:  It's easy and cheap.  Find your food processor and dust it off.  If you don't have any kind of food processor or blender, then purchase a hand blender from Walmart from $20.  They come with a large cup and look like this.....

 

• Check out this link HERE for recipes and tips on how to make your own baby food.   Comparing on average $.80 a jar of baby food to $30 for 2 months of baby food, making your own is definitely the way to go.  I just took an afternoon to cut, boil, and puree everything down.  
• To store your homemade baby food is easy.  Go to the dollar store and buy a bunch of ice cube trays if you don't already own some.  I bought 8.  Once you are done pureeing, fill up your ice cube trays with the puree.  Place in freezer for 24 hours or until frozen.  Pop out the cubes and place into large zip lock bags, labeling what each bag is.  When it's supper time, just go to the freezer and take out 3-4 squares, mixing up the tastes, and defrost.  You can defrost using the microwave or the healthiest way is to take out the cubes you are going to use the following day so they can unthaw in the fridge till needed.
• When it comes to baby cereal, you can make that too!  With your food processor or coffee grinder ($8 at Walmart for the cheapest) grind up rice/ oats/ or granola to the finest powder (chunkier as your baby gets older).  Cook about 3 days worth at a time and keep in the fridge.  Also keep what you have ground in the fridge for longer lasting.  I use instant oats so you don't need to cook really.  I just added water and microwaved on high for 1 minute.  Cooking does keep more nutrients in though!
• And you don't always need to feed your baby your homemade baby food from the freezer.  Say one night you had spaghetti.  Take enough spaghetti, puree with your hand held blender, and serve!  
• Baby snacks can really hit the pocket book.  Instead of the puffs you find from Gerber, buy a large bag of puff wheat for $2.50 from your grocery store.  Instead of mum mums, find rice cakes and break into pieces.  Or buy the no name mum mums from Superstore for almost $1.50 cheaper.  Or you can make your own baby snacks HERE.

Baby Clothes: Unless you plan on having a lot of children, buy your babies clothing second hand.  They grow out of their baby clothes so quick, its not worth spending the money.  Go to local second hand stores or garage sales.  Even check on Kijiji and Craigs list, people are always giving away their used baby clothes.  Make sure you wash at home before using, and I would add in a little bleach just to make sure, but once washed, good as new.  The baby won't know the difference!

Baby Shoes:  Until your child starts walking on their own, shoes are not a NEED.  Baby shoes can be super expensive and completely non functional.  Think about making your own baby shoes.  Click HERE for a list of different sites to learn to make baby shoes.  Their little feet grow so quick between newborn and the first year, save your money and stay away from the shoes!

Large Baby Items: Zellers in Canada is great for them and about every 6 months they have cribs and change tables for 50% off!!  Your stuff doesn't always have to be new, there are some great used items out there to.  It may take a little longer to find, but in most cases we have 9 months to get a crib!  Check out kijiji or free cycle.  You may find a treasure!  I got an angel care system (baby monitor) regular $149, for only $65 on kijiji.  It had only been used once!!! 

Food Calendar

So the BEST way to save on groceries and have a more balanced life is to create a food calendar.  It's as easy as going to google images search and searching out each month's calendar and printing it off.  Or you can make your own calendar.  I went to Costco and bought mine.  It's a family calendar with stickers and such and only costs $9.  It even comes with magnets and sticks to your fridge.  It makes dinner prep so easy.  I take a look on the calendar in the morning, pull out the frozen meat or whatnot and I know whats going on.  And if you couple that with your grocery shopping, you will have all the items that you need.  Here is an example......

If you fill out your calendar and only buy what you need, you will save over 25% each grocery bill.  Don't believe me??  Think about how much food you throw out every month........ that all adds up.
This also allows you to plan more nutricious meals for your family and have more of a schedule.  I love it and I hope this can help out some other moms too!!

GROCERY SAVING TIPS!

Here are a bunch of Grocery Saving Tips.  Click HERE to read them.  This site also provides a coupon section, I do find that they just send you to the places that I have already laid out in the Coupon tab.  Check out the tips for sure though!