A Momma and the Boys Living on a Budget: August 2006

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Wedding Wednesday Throwing a frugal bridal shower

Since I will be the matron of honor at my sister's wedding, I will be in charge of throwing a bridal shower.

Most of the showers are here are held in resturants and usually there is a brunch sort of set-up. Or a buffet. I have been checking the prices and boy it is expensive when you add up all the cost. I am pretty sure we will be going down that road so I will need to save some extra money for it.

If I was going to throw it my way...

1. Rent a VFW type of hall
2. Find a small caterer or make several lasgnana style stuff casseroles.
3. Make my own favors (which we will probably do)
4. Shop around for frugal decorations

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

How much money do you keep in your checking account?

I usually keep between $100-$200 in my checking account everything else goes either towards bills or right into savings.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Frugal Meal Planning

Here is what we are eating this week! The steak is marked down meat and so is the chicken this week. The chicken was in the gourmet section where it has been rubbed with garlic and chicken marked down to $1.25 for two large chicken breast!

Sun Steak, veggies, potatoes

Mon Tuna Tomato Skillet

Tues Layered beef in crockpot (actually ground turkey)

Wed Grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies

Thurs Leftover layered beef in crock pot

Fri Clean out the fridge night

Sat Pizza

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Summer reflections and back to school thoughts

My little friends (ie my 3 boys) are going back to school this upcoming week. Am I am happy, sad and did it affect my business? Wahm Bloggers wanted to know.

We got out the middle of June for summer vacation. We did camp, summer school, lots and lots of swimming in our pool. We had some weekends at my parent's lake house and days at the ocean with some friends. We had lots of ice cream cones, popsicles, hot dog and hamburgers and of course lots of memories.

We didn't have as much reading, writing and arithmetic as the teachers would have liked but we looked at plenty of rocks, figured out how to get Spongebob a golden spatula, how to jump really high, got the training wheels off our bike. Little lessons.

New sneakers, new underwear, new socks and a few new outfits are what we have gotten for my little friends this past week to make them ready for school. Will I miss them, big time! Are they ready to go back to school and stop being the 3 Jedi knights for 10 hours day protecting the world from the bad guys.

September has always seemed the beginning of the year more so than any Jan 1st. It is a time for renewal, new goals, new things, a new start.

I haven't written as much I would have liked this summer or do my goal of getting two new websites up and running but I did create some good times and memories for my three kings.

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Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Wedding Wednesday Saving money on your dress

My engaged sister has booked the hall and has gotten a dress. She actually found a great dress for ...... drum roll $200. Of course she is absolutely tiny but it was really a fluke that she found the dress in a bridal shop one day after work.

You can find a wedding dress on a budget if you become a savy shopper.

Check out www.ebay.com for wedding dress deals.

Filene's Basement in Boston has an semi-annual dress sale. I bought my dress there but I didn't have to go through the craziness of the day since I was actually an employee there at the time. (If you want to see some catfights that the day and the place to go) The year I worked there a few ladies got arrested. Bring your all of bridesmaid to help you shop!

More ways to save money on bridal gowns

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Decluttering Challenge!!

The Happy Slob's Guide to Housecleaning: Another Great Decluttering Challenge Begins - Are YOU Ready?

When Christina pm'd me about this challenge. I hemmed and hawwed about it. I was in a decluttering mode a few months back but I need to get back in the swing of things again and of course I am a happy slob. :)

Today's Decluttering Challenge Du Jour...
Is quite simple really:

Choose the Decluttering ZONE YOU will be working on
Set out bags or boxes for the following categories: KEEP, GIVE AWAY, RECYCLE, TRASH IT
Set the timer for 15 minutes and begin working. (If you have more time to spend, definitely set that timer for longer!)
Stay focused - keep on the task at hand. :) Make every minute of your decluttering count. In the end, you'll see great results if you do.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Thrifty Tips Thursday

Welcome to this week's Thrifty Tips Thursday!! If you would like to submit a frugal, money saving or thrifty tips, check out the main page for submission instructions.

I hate fruit flies! I had some from bananas that were getting too ripe! Eek...
Here is a homemade fruit fly trap that does work.

1-Fill the bottom of a glass or cup with some apple/grape juice (or better,
wine or beer).
2-Use a piece of paper (index card) and make a funnel with it, leaving only
a tiny hole for the flies to get in (little more than a pin head size).
3-Apply generous amounts of Scotch tape to seal any openings.

The fruit flies will be attracted and will fly in I have also substituted a cider vinegar and it has worked in the past.

If you got ants check out homemade ant killer

Pet care can be expensive but you check out some frugal pet care ideas from Frugal Families.

Erika of County Homemaking offers some ways to stop the junk draw madness! Being organized is major part of being frugal.

Dawn shares a tip from a reader on getting Cheaper Credit Check

One money dummy getting smarters says Sometimes a professional is worth it to do a task.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Wedding Wedneday Planning wedding on a budget

Imagine paying $27,000 for a one day party. Well that is what most brides and grooms are paying today for their dream wedding. I think my engaged sister is well on her to a huge bill as well.

Now there is a 4 part course in the Michgan area on how to keep your wedding within a budget!

Class #1
Keeping Your Wedding Budget Slim and Trim
Organize to Prioritize

Class #2
Transforming the Ordinary into Extraordinary
(Theme and Design I)

Class #3
Transforming the Ordinary into Extraordinary
(Theme and Design II)

Class #4
Creating and Designing Your Own Wedding Newsletter

It sounds like a unique idea and would be great it was offered somehow online to Brides all over the country.

Check it out Wedding Workshops

Monday, August 14, 2006

Freecycle poll results

Here are the results to Do you freecycle
Yes I have gotten stuff 0%
Yes I have been a giver 22%
Yes I have been a giver and a receiver 67%
No 11%

I think most frugal folks are mindful of the environment and love to get things free as well as clean out their own stuff rather than put it in the trash.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

I got a case of I want a new couch

It is Massachusett Tax Free Holiday weekend and I told dear husband that we need a new couch (and of course the matching love seat). I told him we would save a few bucks on taxes which would be a plus.

Pros
Our 12 year old ones are on their last legs.
Tax free weekend we might save some money

Cons
New furniture in our family room that we live in, wait until 3 active boys are older
Not enough money to pay cash
Would have to take advantage of one of those no interest credit card deals offered by the store.
We got couches/love seat that are older but you can still sit on them.

Bottom line
No new couches until we got the money in cash.

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Do's and Don'ts of House Flipping

I have a new addiction!! I have been addicted lately to the real estate shows such as "Flip this House, Flip that House, Sell this House, Design to Sell. ABC recently ran a short segment on house flipping.

Of course with all of these shows making it look so easy, many people want to it into it.

Do's

Know the area The best house is probably in the area where you are living.

Budget for surprises I have seen this happen on most of the "flip this house" as sometimes these inside of houses can be scary. Terminates in the basement, people still living there are recent episodes on A&E Flip this House. Both of them caused the budget to go up!

Don't

Don't over-renovate Keep it simple. Putting in too much money on a dump or a house in an "undesirable neighborhood" is like throwing money down the drain.

Don't look at it as a hobby It is a business!

My future brother in law has done some flipping but he is in the construction business.

Source www.abcnews.com

Friday, August 11, 2006

Friday Freebies!

Enjoy this past week I got shampoo, $25 Target gift card, dog treats! I love getting my mail and seeing freebies!

Crest Whitestrips

NESTLÉ VeryBestBaking.com cookbook

Free greeting card
HepZone: health liver capsules
Free Pepcid AC sample

Ganeden Biotech Sample
Purina Cat Chow® brand Cat Food®
Order Free Tapfree Samples
Estroven PM
free tshirt
Free Baby Wipes
Free - Bioré Sample
John Frieda sample
Free Head & Shoulders Sample
Free Ban Deodorant
FREE baby stuff - diapers, wipes, formula

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Thrifty Thursday Tips

Welcome to this week's Thrifty Tips Thursday!! If you would like to submit a frugal, money saving or thrifty tips, check out the main page for submission instructions.

Frugal for Life shares some quick household tips and hints.

1st million shares how comparsion shopping on prepaid cellular him money.

Tricia shares how working opposite shift of her husband saves them money

Frugal Duchess shares some frugal green and green school supplies.

New coupon site

I have found a good new source for coupons, coupon codes, online coupons, etc. Since Christmas is only 4 months away, watching for these deals is a good way to save some money.

They have some great Overstock Coupons for new returning customer as well as some $$ off ones. I also saw Best Buy, Office Depot, Amazon ones as well.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Do you freecycle?

I have seen lots of things up on freecycle and I know a lot of frugal folks use it to declutter as well as get stuff for free. It irks me when people just post want want want stuff. I have gotten rid of a ton of stuff that has gotten a new home plus I have received a few things as well. My current want is a bureau

Taking advantage of summer freebies!

I love the summer time.

Free movies for the kids

Free summer concerts

Free entertainment for the kids

I have been taking the kids to the park in our town and my mom's town to see the summer concerts. They have a good time dancing and I can hang with my mom.

Movies... we have seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Racing strips

Puppet Shows, Reptile shows at the library

There are lots of ways to keep the summer fun and frugal

The Disney Countdown begins!!

In case you couldn't tell we are planning on going to Disney next June. Packages came out on Sunday and I made the deal yesterday. We are staying at a value resort in a suite since you can't have more than 4 in one room.

Hotel, Park Tickets, and the Disney Dinning plan come to $3800.

I was going to wait on getting plane tickets but checked out orbitz and got a great deal $183 including taxes from Boston to Orlando. I decided to jump on it since I have seen some high prices. Airline tics including trip protection 982

So just about $5,000 so far. I have a budget of $6000 for this trip.

I had to pay for the plane tickets yesterday while I charged them. I already tooked the money out of my Disney saving to pay the charge.

I had to put a $200 deposit on the Disney package... same thing.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Saving money on printer ink

123 inkjet!
is the best place to order ink online.

They have some great deals this month if you want to buy several ink cartridges.

With orders over $55, Customers can choose 1 of the following
Gift Packages:

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- AquaZone- Desktop Garden - State of the art digital aquarium
for your PC- a $29.99 value
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- Planetarium Deluxe Educational Software- a $39.99 value
- 4x6 Matte Photo Paper - a $5.95 value
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- Office Ready Professional 3.0 - Professional looking template
collections for Microsoft Office - a $79.95 value
- 4x6 Matte Photo Paper - a $5.95 value
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- Surado Smart Home Manager – Financial planning, investment
tracking, and personal managing - a $29.99 value
- Cook'n with Betty Crocker- 1000 recipes from Betty Crocker
a $85.00 value
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- Photo Vista Panorama w Vista Organizer - Interactive 360°
virtual tours creating - a $49.95 value
- Personal Photo Calendars– Personalize top quality photo
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Back to school shopping poll results

Here are the results to How much will you spend on back to school shopping?

How much will you spend on back to school shopping?

None 30%
Under $50 0% 0
$51-100 10%
$101-$150 20%
$151-$200 20%
Over $200 20%

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Frugal dinner planning wk of Aug 6th

Hello
Here is the menu for the week. I hope to get back posting on a regular basis this week. I have been spending lots of time outside and not on the computer.

Sun Steak, baked potatos

Mon Italian chicken

Tues Chili

Wed American Chop Suey

Thurs Sandwiches

Fri leftover american chop suey

Sat Homemade pizza

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