Archive for money-saving hacks
Ten Frugal Practices I Wish We’d Done from the Beginning
This list is off the top of my head. If you ask me again tomorrow, it will probably look slightly different, and the week after that I might remember something else I think is even more important. There is probably something more important that we do that I learned at my mother’s knee so I [...]
Frugal Eats On Road Trips
I tried to count the number of road trips our family has taken, but I really just can’t. I have no idea. And when I talk about road trips, I am talking about trips we have taken of several days duration, sometimes weeks, and, a couple of times, road trips that lasted over a month. [...]
Reader hacks
Angela shares ideas on Road Tripping With Children without breaking the bank. A bunch of blogging mommas have worked together to set up Shopping Lists that have all the sale items and coupons at most groceries, including regional chains. Check out the 4 Moms 35 Kids series, where 4 moms with large families share tricks of [...]
Reader hack: uses for leftover giftwrap
From Ben: Perhaps you have found storing wrapping paper for a year awkward or have just a little that you are trying to use up. I’ve repurposed wrapping numerous ways. Here are a few of my favorite wrapping paper hacks: Tablecloth: Depending upon the design, you’ve got yourself an easy clean up cover for your [...]
Reader hack: fluorescent bulbs
Kimberly at Frugal Playground says: Do your fluorescent bulbs actually last like they claim? Ours haven’t. We’ve used fluorescent bulbs since we’ve been married (6 years in January!) and in two different residences. We started writing the date with a sharpie on each bulb and saving the receipts with packaging. The box claimed they’d last [...]
Frugal and Creative Christmas (or other) Gifts
For children- the best way to reduce your children’s expectations and cases of the ‘gimmes’ is to turn off the television, or at least the commercials, and take them to the library or the park instead of the mall or toy shop. If they don’t know what’s out there, they can’t yirn for it (yes, [...]
Reader hacks
Noah reminds us that that everyone, by law, is entitled to get a free copy of their credit report. This page on his site has some helpful links for doing just that. For all the talk about being responsible with credit, a copy of your own report is invaluable in understanding it. Little House offers [...]
Reader Hacks
Linda says, This is the perfect time to head out and pick pine cones and get a jump start on holiday craft projects. I spent the weekend visiting my parents and their neighbor has a big beautiful tree, she allowed us to go in her backyard and pick pine cones. I washed them up today [...]
Reader hacks for 9/29
New hacks from readers like you: Andrea shares the strangest little hack she ever came up: So, it was 95 degrees this week and the sun was beating down on my skylight (I know, I should have done something before this). Desperate times being what they are, I grabbed an accordion style baby gate, figured [...]
Reader Hacks
It’s been a long time since I shared readers’ hacks, but I’m resolving to do better. Maybe somebody has a hack to prevent procrastination? At any rate, here’s a sampling from the inbox: Noah said, Mortgages are probably one of the most overlooked areas to save. I know this because, for better or worse, I [...]
Various and Sundry
Wonderfully frugal way to get clean, soft, lovely skin- I LOVE this method. Green cleaning ideas- these are the things we use to clean at our house- and by green, I also mean the green that’s in your wallet. One tip I don’t think is on there- to clean sinks I use a bit of [...]
Is renting a vehicle for a vacation worth the expense? The math screams yes!
frugal living by Ray @ EasyLivingSherpa Planning on taking a road trip this summer? Doing a little mathematics coupled with some easily obtainable statistics,(Google anyone?) can save you and your family a lot of money in travel expenses. Let’s break down the average cost for a 2400 mile trip. First, maintenance costs over the length [...]
Buttons, Buttons, Who Has the Buttons
Button solutions: Whenever we get rid of any clothing that is too far gone to be given away and still have me feel good about giving it away, we snip the buttons off and save them for use elsewhere. A good button box can also be used to help give small children practice in matching [...]
Bread Crumbs
A friend wrote to ask if she could make bread crumbs even though she didn’t have a food processor. Yes!! I put dry bread in the blender. I have also put very dry bread (dried out in the oven if I need to) in a plastic bag and rolled it into crumbs with a rolling [...]
Reader Hacks for 5/21
A hot tip from Maria: Sam’s Club is offering a 1 day membership with no upcharge. Many of the wholesale clubs offer 1 day passes, but they always add a surcharge/upcharge to your total purchase price. The idea is to get you to the register and find out that the surcharge (a percentage of your [...]
