From the category archives:

Frugal Friday

Easter – Make Your Own Chocolate Cross

March 11, 2010

I’m going to take a short break from the Centsable Savings Plan for a couple of weeks to focus on Easter…but it will be back soon.

Each Easter, I want to keep the focus on Christ rather than all the “extras” of Easter. Yet, I do want it to be fun for my boys, too.

So, we put together a fun little Easter basket with a little bit of candy, a book, maybe a small item if I can get a good deal….and a homemade chocolate cross (and you can tell that my then 2 year old enjoyed his cross immensely!).

Although some stores do carry chocolate Easter crosses (I think I saw them at Meijer one year), I decided to make my own so that I wouldn’t have to hunt high and low to find one. I spent a couple of dollars on the cross mold the first year, and then I purchase the chocolate candy melts each year.

It is SO easy to make the chocolate cross. You basically just melt the chocolate and pour it into the mold. And you can just use your microwave to melt the chocolate if you don’t have a double boiler. Check out my homemade chocolates tutorial for more details.

I found my chocolate cross mold Easter Make Your Own Chocolate Cross on Ebay (this is the one I have, but there are lots of different ones to choose from), and you can pick up chocolate melts at JoAnns or Michaels using the 40% off coupons that they always have in the Sunday paper.

I know that Easter is still about a month away, but I wanted to give you time to order your molds without the stress of hoping they came in time for Easter.

What do you do for Easter? Do you give your kids chocolate Easter bunnies or something else? How do you reinforce the message of Christ in your home? For more frugal ideas, please visit Life As Mom.

{ 3 comments }

How to Create a Price Book

March 4, 2010

in Beginners, Centsable Savings Plan, Frugal Friday, Save Money on Groceries

Thank you to Lauren from Mama’s Laundry Talk for this great guest post on how she created her price book!

After my first child was born in 2005, I decided I needed to be more frugal with our money. We were spending a shameful amount of money each month on groceries. So I was determined to find a better, wiser way to spend our money.

Enter the Price Book.

I was first introduced to the concept of the Price Book from a frugal website I stumbled upon. And I was immediately intrigued! What a fabulous idea – to know the rock-bottom prices of items we typically buy. And then buy our groceries when the prices were lowest. Genius.

After scouring the internet and reading every post I could find on it, I formulated this method that has worked really well for me. Here is the process I used to create my price book.

From Wal-Mart I purchased an 8.5×5.5” 3-ring binder and 2 packs of dividers.

Next, I created tabs for my major categories. While the categories will vary for each family, I’ll list mine to get you started:

Baby Items, Baking, Beverages, Bread & Cereal, Canned Goods, Condiments, Cleaning, Dairy, Fruits & Veggies (fresh), Meat, Paper Goods, Toiletries, Household Misc.

After each shopping trip, I use my receipt to enter my data onto my form. I have one sheet that corresponds for each type of item: Diapers, Canned Tomatoes, Milk, Yogurt, etc. Here’s an example:

PriceBookTable How to Create a Price Book So in my Price Book, ‘Diapers’ goes behind the ‘Baby Items’ tab. All of the Items are listed in alphabetical order behind the tabs so I can quickly flip through to the page I need. It takes me about 5-8 minutes to enter a receipt of a typical weekly shopping trip.

On the form, I have my own abbreviations for ‘Store.’ Wags=Walgreens, Kr=Kroger, WM=Walmart.

Under the ‘Size/Price’ column, I write the quantity or size of the item and what the listed price is. So in my above example, the pack contained 35 diapers and the listed price was $9.99. If I was entering cheese, the Size/Price could be 8oz./$1.50. If the item were toilet paper, I would list it as 6 Mega Rolls/$5.99.

The ‘Unit Price’ is the price divided by the size. In my diaper example, the cost of each diaper comes to $0.29.

Under the ‘Sale’ column, I note if the published price was a sale price or the normal non-sale price.

Tips:

It is better to over-categorize than under-categorize. It is easier to find the right page to enter data if your book is more detailed.
Print out more forms than you think you’ll need. The longer you utilize your price book, the more items you’ll want to record. I keep a stack of blank forms in the back of my book for this reason.
I use the front pocket on the inside cover of my binder to store my receipts until I can get them recorded.
I record my items in pencil. It just seems neater and I’d much rather erase than scratch something out on my beautiful new form!

I’d love to share my form with you! My husband tweaked it to make it even more user-friendly. So you are welcome to download the price book form to help you get started in making your own!

Simply print on an 8.5×11 sheet of paper. Cut on the dotted line and 3-hole punch…and you’re ready to get started!

Lauren Hill is the mama behind Mama’s Laundry Talk. She loves all things laundry, including keeping track of laundry detergent prices! Lauren is proud to be a wife, mama to 3 fantastic little people and a Child of God.

{ 7 comments }

Save Money on Groceries WITHOUT Using Coupons

February 25, 2010

in Beginners, Centsable Savings Plan, Frugal Friday, Save Money on Groceries

CentsableSavingsPlan Save Money on Groceries WITHOUT Using Coupons Last week I shared how you can save on your groceries by matching store sales with coupons. However, there still great ways to save even if you don’t use coupons. Here are a few tips:

Purchase items on Sale – check store flyers for weekly sale items and plan dinners for the week based on those sale items. If you have time, shop the sales at a couple of grocery stores.

Make a List – keep a store list available so that you can add items as you notice that you are running low on them. If you give yourself enough time, you can pick up that item on a week when it’s on sale. Also, add needed groceries for the entire week so they you only have to make one trip each week. Making multiple trips can add up or you may make a convenience purchase will will likely cost more.

Only Purchase Items on Your Shopping List – make sure you bring your list with you to the store and ONLY purchase those items. Impulse buys are sure to blow your budget.

Don’t Go Grocery Shopping When Hungry – if you are hungry, you are much more likely to make impulse purchases

Compare Prices across Brands – Many times store brand items cost less than name brand items. Do you think you’re going to taste the difference between tomatoes that are not a main ingredient of a recipe?

Compare Unit Prices - Often you can choose several sizes of the same item. Many grocery stores break down the unit prices (if not, use a calculator). See which size has the lowest cost per unit and purchase that size. Of course, if you only need a tsp. and you don’t see another use for the item, it doesn’t make sense to purchase a pound when the rest of it will go to waste.

Check the Shelves Above and Below Eye Level – Often stores place the most expensive food at eye level so make sure you look everywhere on the shelf for the best deal

Don’t Waste Food – You can get a great deal on an item, but if you end up throwing it away because it went bad, you still wasted money.

What about you? How do you save money when you don’t feel like using coupons? For more frugal ideas, please visit Life As Mom.

{ 3 comments }

Save Money on Groceries – Match Store Sales with Coupons

February 18, 2010

in Beginners, Centsable Savings Plan, Frugal Friday, Save Money on Groceries

CentsableSavingsPlan Save Money on Groceries Match Store Sales with Coupons So, you’ve created your budget. If you’re like many people, your expenses may be higher or very close to your income leaving no breathing room for savings.

The goal is to reduce your spending on the “variable” categories such as groceries, household goods, utilities, etc. Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to share some tips on reducing spending on groceries/household goods:

Match Store Sales with Coupons

Perhaps you’ve tried using coupons in the past, but quit because you ended up spending more with the coupon than without it on a store-brand item. Or you felt like since you had a coupon you needed to use it. So, you ended up spending more money than before you used coupons, since you purchased more items that you didn’t really need (just because you had a coupon for it).

The key to saving money with coupons is to match the store sales with your coupons. You want to hold your coupon until the store has reduced the price and then save even more money off that price with your coupon. Sometimes you’ll use your coupon the week it comes in the paper, and sometimes you’ll hold it for months before you use it since store sales are cyclical.

How to Match Sales with Coupons?

You’re in luck…there are many bloggers that work hard to provide sale and coupon matchups each week. Each week, I list the CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, and highlights of Meijer and Kroger sales with the coupon matchups listed for you (both printable coupons and newspaper insert coupons). Plus, you can visit the Frugal Map to find bloggers from your area.
Use a service like The Grocery Game (there’s a fee, but you can get a FREE 4 week trial) or Coupon Mom to match the sales and coupons for you.

What to expect the next couple of weeks? I’ll give tips on creating a price book, stockpiling, coupon organization, and menu planning.

For more frugal ideas, please visit Life as Mom.

{ 1 comment }

Frugal Valentine’s Ideas

February 4, 2010

in Frugal Friday, Valentine's Day

Although I try to show my love to my family all year round, it’s still fun to celebrate Valentine’s Day…and it doesn’t have to cost a lot. Here are a few ideas I found for a frugal celebration:

Make homemade chocolates – never done it before?…I created a tutorial on how to make homemade chocolates (and filling) complete with pictures. Plus, if you get the kids involved it can be a fun craft time.

Create an easy Valentine Coupon book using this digital freebie

Make your own Valentine’s card (or try to find a card freebie) – My favorite part of the cards that I receive from my husband are the heartfelt notes that he writes. So, you could just make your own card with a message inside. Plus, you can involve your kids in making cards for each other.

Mix-n-Match Valentine’s Cards – do you have lots of different leftover Valentine’s cards from previous years? Assuming they are still cards your child still likes (like not Thomas for a 10 year old ), use up the various cards for their classmates. Do their friends care (or even know) if they all get the same cards. I also will purchase cards for the next year in the after-Valentine’s sale.

Create a Valentine’s Theme Day – create dinner with all red foods (like spaghetti, etc) or cut up sandwiches in the shape of a heart.

What do you do for Valentine’s Day? Do you have any inexpensive ideas or traditions? For more frugal ideas, please visit Life as Mom.

{ 2 comments }

Haiti Relief = Tax Deduction for 2009 Taxes

January 28, 2010

in Charitable Giving, Frugal Friday, Taxes

iStock 000011815842XSmall Haiti Relief = Tax Deduction for 2009 Taxes Normally, a charitable contribution must be made during the tax year (1/1 – 12/31) in order to claim it on your taxes. However, on January 22, President Obama signed HR 4462 into law.

Basically, taxpayers can choose to deduct any charitable contributions made to help the earthquake victims in Haiti on their 2009 tax return rather than waiting until their 2010 return (thus getting the tax benefit of their contribution sooner).

Qualifications for 2009 Return Deduction:

Contributions must be made between January 11, 2010 and March 1, 2010.
Cash contributions only (other contributions can still be claimed on the 2010 return).
Only contributions for the relief of victims in areas affected by the earthquake in Haiti on 1/12/10.
The contribution must meet all other requirements for deducting cash contributions.

Records Required for the IRS:

For those that made a $10 contribution via text message, a telephone bill showing the name of the donee organization, the date of the contribution, and the amount of the contribution is sufficient
Contributions less than $250: You need a bank record such as canceled check, bank statement or credit card statement, a receipt from the organization, or a payroll deduction record
Contributions greater than $250: You need written acknowledgement from the charitable organization or payroll deduction record

I know that most of us don’t make charitable contributions solely for the tax write off, but do you plan on deducting them in 2009 or would you rather wait until 2010? For more frugal ideas, please visit Life as Mom.

Of course, please consult your personal tax adviser to determine when it would be most beneficial for you to take the deduction.

{ 1 comment }

Budget 101: 6 Steps to Create a Budget

January 21, 2010

in Beginners, Budget, Centsable Savings Plan, Frugal Friday

CentsableSavingsPlan Budget 101: 6 Steps to Create a Budget So, you’ve kept track of all your expenses and income for the last month…now you’re ready to create your budget.

Create Budget Categories – divide each expense into a category such as rent/mortgage, groceries, household goods/toiletries, gas, etc. Split them up however it works for you. Some people combine groceries and household goods into one category, since they don’t want to have to split receipts from a store like Walmart.

Don’t Forget about Fun – you don’t want to have fun at the expense of your savings, but if your income allows for it, you also want to factor in some fun money for entertainment or spending money for you and your spouse. A budget can still be fun .

Account for Every Dollar – every dollar should have a job. That doesn’t mean that you need to SPEND every dollar, but you need to allocate any extra money to saving for the emergency fund, retirement, college, etc rather than letting it sit in your account. It will probably get spent if it’s not allocated.

Balance Your Budget – on paper this is the easy one…your expenses and income should equal each other. However, sometimes it just doesn’t work that way. Get creative and think of things that you can do to trim the variable expenses like groceries/toiletries, etc or brainstorm ways that you can make extra money.

Follow Your Budget – once you have created your budget, you need to make sure that your spending stays within the category limits. If you overspend in a category, you need to either spend less on that category the next month or spend less in another category to make up for it.

Periodically Adjust Your Budget – your needs will probably change over time, so make sure that you reevaluate your budget every once in awhile. If your child becomes potty trained, you can probably lower your household goods/toiletry budget

What about you? How do you budget? Do you have any budgeting tips you’d like to share?

More about Budgeting:

Next week, I’ll bring more about the various tools you can use to help you budget. For more frugal ideas, please visit Life as Mom.

{ 2 comments }

Budget 101: Budgeting Tips

January 14, 2010

in Beginners, Budget, Centsable Savings Plan, Frugal Friday

Thanks to Emily @ Bloom for her excellent guest post on budgeting!

Emily Williams likes her husband, her kids, and (believe it or not) her budget. She also likes to write and does quite a bit of it at her blog, BLOOM. In this season of resolution making lots of people commit to live on a budget. Today Emily’s sharing some suggestions to help you stick to that resolution.

In a recent conversation with my husband, a CPA who does financial planning for high net-worth individuals, I asked what advice he would give that, if followed, would make the biggest impact for the most people. He said simply, “live on an effective budget.” This advice comes partly from what he sees with his own clients, and partly from our own personal experience. I agree; we have always been frugal and careful with money, but in the four years that we’ve been diligently living on a budget we have made more accelerated progress toward our goals than ever before.

Here are some tips to help you be more successful and effective in your budgeting:

Remember What Budgeting Is and Is Not:
Budgeting is planning in advance what to do with your money (then tracking it) instead of wondering afterward where it all went. It’s not just expense-tracking. It is pro-active and forward-looking. It’s also not a kill-joy. People who budget have fun — they just pay for it with cash instead of going into debt for it.

Get it All In:
In order to plan ahead, you’ll need accurate numbers at the outset. Make sure you’re accounting for all your income and expenses. Your paychecks may not be your only source – do you have any supplemental income? Surplus from last month? As for your expenses, you’ll need to create a system to ensure that each expense is recorded – fix the leaks in your boat.

*A word to the wise: if you’re a budgeting novice, don’t give yourself a miscellaneous category. Break your categories down as specifically as you can in anticipation of your spending. And give every dollar a job!

Check Back Often: Especially if you’re new to budgeting, come back to your budget often (weekly) and reconcile. Get a pulse on your spending. Eventually, you’ll get to the point where you’ll just sort of develop a sixth sense for your spending and you’ll be able to reconcile less frequently (monthly) and still stay on track.

Anticipate the unexpected: It’s the unexpected expenses that side-swipe the most well-intentioned budgeters. Anticipate and accumulate for things that typically knock people off their financial feet – car repairs, health related expenses, gifts, job-loss/salary change. Build funds through gradual savings for each of these things so you’re not scrambling and reaching for your high-interest credit card when crisis hits.

Go With The Flow: If you over spend in a few categories — don’t worry about it. Make adjustments and start fresh next month. Don’t get frustrated and give up. Keep at it. You may not get it all right the first time, but there will be a trend of improvement. Discipline breeds discipline. And eventually you’ll surprise yourself with how accurate you become in your financial management.

Pay Yourself First:
Make your savings allotments before your other outflows. This is how you build those cushion funds for things like car repairs and health incidents. This may mean a few lean months in your “restaurant” category. This may not sound fun, but it brings peace of mind.

Save first. Make the rest of your budget work with what’s left. My husband often says, “I’ve never met anyone who regretted having saved so much money.”

Find a tool that works: There are many budgeting programs out there. My husband and I use YNAB and really love it. We’ve always tried to be careful with our money, but in the four years that we’ve been using YNAB, we argue A LOT less about money, we progress towards our goals, and we don’t worry about money (and that’s not because we don’t think about it).

For more frugal ideas, please visit Life as Mom.

{ 0 comments }

← Previous Entries