Homemade Christmas

Dh and I both have large families.  And these families have blended beautifully.  Into one really huge family lol.  Seriously, dh and my brother have been best friends since childhood, and dh’s siblings and my siblings all went to school together.  Let’s just say we are all close.  ;)  For example, this past Thanksgiving the whole tribe gathered at my parents’ home…this would be 2 out of 4 of my brothers with spouses and children (and their children) 2 of dh’s 5 siblings with spouses and children, and dh’s parents.  This repeats itself on Christmas Eve, except dh’s family hosts it and ALL the siblings show up with families in tow.

With this many people to buy presents for we would all be in the poor house lol.  So we draw names for the children and play dirty Santa for the adults.  Still, with 6 people in my immediate family we are buying 12 gifts (plus 4 more for our parents…they are their own entity.)  Yikes. 

Here are some of the homemade items I put together for some of the names we drew.  My niece and two sil will get baskets of goodies.

One sil has a dog she loves.  In her basket is a paw print canister filled with the ingredients for homemade dog biscuits, a bone shaped cookie cutter, a mug with homemade Russian Tea Mix and a bookmark.

My first attempt at making bookmarks.  It was fun!

Another sil, her basket has the mug and tea, a bookmark, some cute and comfy socks and a bottle of bubble bath called Twilight Woods (we both love the Twilight book series.)

My niece gets the socks, a book, bookmark, tea and mug.

One of the finished baskets.  These were fun to put together and I hope they will like them.  I can’t say these gifts saved me much money (although I got the mug, basket and wrapping from the dollar store and used coupons for the socks and bubble bath from Body Works) but they are much better imo than a gift basket off the shelves of a store.  Let’s just hope the recipients think so as well.  ;)  I’ll be making homemade stepping stones this weekend with the kiddos, more on that in a few days!

Publix Deals

I recently found this meme about sharing the deals we find at Publix and thought I would join in.  My oldest works at Publix (our store just opened here less than a year ago) but we don’t honestly shop there much…they are so expensive!  However, I have found that when they have a deal it’s a good one, and I really like their meat dept. so I do stop in there before my bi-weekly Wal-Mart trip and pick up any specials and my meat for the weeks.  Works for me!

Here’s what I scored on my last trip, March 4th.

Quilted Northern 12rl doubles on sale  6.49  I had $1 coupon
Cascade Action Packs             on sale  3.99  I had $1 coupon
Kelloggs Frosted Flakes bogo              4.51  I had $1 coupon
Cheerios bogo                                   4.39  I had .50 coupon
Nature Valley Granola bars    on sale    2.00  I had .60 coupon
Kraft mac&cheese bogo                      1.33
strawberries                     on sale        1.67
ground beef                     on sale        6.85

So I got a 12pk of tp, some dishwasher cleaning tabs, 4 boxes of cereal, 2 boxes of granola bars, 2 boxes of mac&cheese, two packs of strawberries and 4 pounds of ground beef for for $30.  Not too shabby.  My coupons totaled $4.70 and my savings were $22.87.  Just keeping my son in business lol.  These deals are still going on so check them out, and to see more Publix Super Savers head to Sarah’s at Fiddledeedee.

Tightwad Tuesdays

I posted before about saving $27 using coupons for my big grocery shopping trip (2 weeks of meals and sundry items.) I thought this time I'd share a bit about my "system" and how I "do" coupons.

I actually don't do anything extraordinary with regards to coupons. I won't follow any "system" or method of money-savings that require large amounts of time or effort on my part. If it is easy and part of my plans anyway, I'm there lol. That's why I have yet to jump on the CVS or Wal-Greens "bandwagons" so to speak. I don't have the time or energy to spend going to two or three different stores and going through two or more transactions to get a bunch of shampoo and toothpaste for free. I pay 99 cents for it at Wal-Mart and I'm done. I'm not knocking those who do do this...I admire their efforts to save money and their shopping savvy.

So what do I do? I buy one Sunday paper and clip any coupons in it for products I need (and read the paper lol.) I check the Orlando Sentinel paper online and follow their link to grocery coupons and "clip" any I need there. I go to Betty Crocker and Pillsbury websites and get any coupons I need there. And that's about it. I shop almost exclusively at Wal-Mart because it is less than a mile down the road. I used to get the Wednesday ads, go through them and price match, but it isn't worth it anymore (except when milk is on sale.) Just with these simple steps I have been able to reduce our grocery bill by 10% (that's saving $20 on a $200 trip.) I only buy what's on my list and that's it. It's hard to resist some of the deals and specials, but if I wasn't going to buy it anyway, it's not a savings.

I used to have the problem of forgetting to bring coupons, or not using them before they expired. Now I have one day a week where I set aside time to organize my coupons. It really doesn't take long at all. I go through my coupon holder, section by section, and review what I have, take out what has expired, and add any new ones. This is the only time my coupon holder comes out of my purse! I bring it with me all the time so I never forget to use a coupon.

So there you go...the lazy mom's way to save on groceries lol. And it's a good excuse to be on the computer (I know you want to play your game, honey, but Mommy is busy saving money lol.) To see more great ideas for holding on to your hard earned money, check out Tightwad Tuesdays, hosted by Mary a.k.a. Canadagirl.

Tightwad Tuesdsay

Mary a.k.a. Canadagirl hosts Tightwad Tuesday where we can share our tips for frugal living. This week I don't really have a tip per se, but I just have to brag a little about my last big shopping trip. I shop every two weeks for groceries...paper goods, toiletries, cleaning supplies and food for the 3 meals a day for two weeks. Of course I have to go back often for fresh produce and milk and bread, but the big shop at least stocks us up. This past trip I saved $27 using coupons! That is the most I have ever had in coupon savings. I know it's not much compared to those who go and buy $100 worth of groceries and spend only $5 lol, but it's a lot of savings for us.
The thing I want to stress, and I guess you could call this my tip for the week, is that I only used coupons for items I normally buy. I did not buy anything that wasn't on my list just to use a coupon or get a good deal. I am not dismissing those who scour the Walgreens and CVS ads and get lots of deals there. It's just that right now I have a strict grocery budget, and I can really only afford to get what we truly need and don't have any extra for "stocking up." So I was truly happy to get the savings I did last week. I get my coupons from inserts in the Sunday paper (only one paper) and off the internet. Simple as that. The biggest coupon I had was for the buy one get one on Dove chocolate (a necessity for mom lol.) Otherwise it was just .50 here and $1 there. Now, I may have to switch brands every now and then to use a coupon, but if it winds up costing less than my normal brand it's worth it. It takes me a good 1 1/2 hours to shop for the two weeks, making sure I compare prices and utilize my coupons, but the savings is so worth it.

Tightwad Tuesday

Mary, a.k.a. Canadagirl, hosts this meme for sharing our best money saving tips. This week I'll share about how we make the most out of the computer paper we buy and use. First, I keep a folder labeled "Scrap Paper" on my desk where I put items that didn't print correctly and other papers that could not be used as intended. My kids know to go to that folder for paper to draw on or play with. I also use those scrap papers for printing coupons off the internet. If you do this regularly, you know that a lot of times only one coupon will print per page...what a waste! Printing them out on the back of a scrap paper works just fine. I also have no problems printing on the backs of scrap papers for things like recipes or lesson plans...we really try to use every piece of computer paper "to the max." I have also begun writing down recipes and lesson plans that I find on the internet...takes a little more time and effort on my part (and I don't really like my handwriting lol), but it saves money in the long run. Visit Mary's site to join in and see more frugal tips.

Tightwad Tuesdays: Saving On Haircuts

This past weekend we saved $36 by cutting the boys' hair at home. When we go to the barber and all the boys and dh get trims it sets us back more than $50! Dh trims his hair at home more often than we do the boys, and we do occasionally trek them all up to "Miss Marie" (the barber) to get nice cuts, but we save lots of money by trimming them up at home. Dh is really getting good at it...he used to just give them all "buzz cuts" but now he can do a "spike" (the most requested lol) and a nice trim job. (Btw, my job during all this is to stand by with the vacuum. :)

Go here for some instructions on home haircuts for boys.

If you don't want to invest in the clippers and trimmers, check to see if there is a beauty school in your area. We have not only a beauty school, but the local community college also has barbers in training, and both have days where they give free haircuts. For more tips on saving money and living the frugal life, see Mary, a.k.a. Canadagirl and join in on Tightwad Tuesdays.