Kelly's Thrifty Tips

Good afternoon!

Yesterday I was looking at the Prescott school calendar and realized with a fright that my son is starting school on August 10th. Yes, I knew it was coming, but I really hadn't wrapped my head around how soon it was coming. After getting over the shock of another HUGE shopping season, I figured that this was a good time to start focusing on saving money on all things back to school.

1 - Take stock in what you have on hand.

This works for school supplies as well as school clothes, and it does require some cooperation on the part of your children. Take a day and go through all your children's clothes. This is all very simple, but really it is something that a lot of people do not do. Check everything. Have the kids try on all of their clothes. See what fits and what does not. Seriously, have them try the clothes on. One year I didn't do that with a couple pairs of jeans, and I found out that one fit fine, but it didn't have a zipper thingamajigger (the pulley thing). I thought a sweatshirt was fine and found out that a seam split. Which reminds me...repair what you can if you can.

When you go through the clothes hand down what you don't need either by donating them to a worthy cause like Salvation Army, Good Will, and any number of other thrift stores who use those proceeds to help others. One of the ones we frequently donate to is Stepping Stones. You might also see if your church or a friend's church has a clothing exchange. Talk with other parents in your neighborhood. These can be a huge way to save money on clothing.

2 - Write what you have and what you need. With this information you can arm yourself with a budget. Be realistic with your children and this list. If you have a certain amount of money in the budget stick to it, but again make a good inventory of what you have and what you need. That way there are no surprises. You can even write down the items and projected costs. For example: T-Shirts - $20 each, Jeans - $25. If you don't know what the costs are, start looking around now so you can best estimate your needs, your children's sizes and your financial limits.

Do the same thing with school supplies. See what you have, and write down what you need. Is your child's back pack still in great condition (I am happy to say that my son's is for a change), do you have paper, pencils (this is one thing we run out of), pens, pencil cases, folders and rulers. Look around and see what you have. That way when you have your school's list, you can mark what you have and save that money.

3 - Now that you know your needs. Do not leave the house without your lists. You never know when you may spot a bargain on one of the items on your list. Don't just limit your shopping to department stores. Thrift stores can be a great place to cash in on some huge bargains. Don't forget yard sales too. Look online as well. A lot of people find great clothing items on eBay, freecycle, and don't forget my newest fave the ReUseIt Network. And of course you don't want to forget looking at your favorite stores online. I have seen remarkable clearance deals online for some of my son's favorite brands. One of the benefits to that is you can often find additional discount codes online as well that will bring your purchase down even further with percentages off or free shipping.

4 - Don't buy everything (clothing wise at least) at once. You may be able to get away with a temporary puff up to your child's wardrobe and save cash on the big sales that follow after school has started. Also your child may head off to school and totally see some new look that they want and you can get it for less because of your patience! Wouldn't that be nice? One of my favorites is RetailMeNot.com. They have printable coupons and coupon codes for use online. Check with your store locally before printing coupons. Some take them and some do not.

5 - Use cash instead of credit. You will spend less when you have a set amount in your wallet rather than using credit. Start putting money aside now if you haven't all ready. What I try to do is save what I can on groceries by living off our pantry during those times where I have to spend money on back to school. Here is a little tool I found that I think you will like, it is The Back-to-School Budget Calculator. I didn't mention it this morning, but I am going to next week. It is a gem! It is from the Practical Money Skills website. There are a lot of great calculators and if you head over, be sure to check out their section on allowances! Here is the link: Allowances

Wow...that site really made my day! I hope you take some time to check it out too.

Okay...that is the deal for now on back-to-school preparation. Now onto a few additional links.

I spoke about the yummy Fiber One sample. Not only do you get a sample of their tasty bars, but you also will get $5.00 in coupons! Here is that link: Fiber One Get in on this fast. It may not last for long.

Also, don't forget that McDonalds is having Free Mocha Mondays where you can get a hot or iced mocha for free from 7 am to 7 pm. This is at participating McDonalds only so be sure to ask about it. More details: McDonalds This giveaway runs until August 3! Oh I do love a mocha.

You also may have heard Dave and I talking about our free candy bars from M&M Mars. Well here is the deal. Every Friday through September you have the opportunity to win a coupon for a free candy bar. This is totally true. You can get one a week up to a total of four! Here is your linkage: M&M Mars

Last linkage: Now that we are really going to be hunting out some Back-to-School bargains, we need to know where they are. Here is a great site with links for all kinds of sales in YOUR area! It is Shoplocal.com! I found it last night, and I am so thrilled with it. Check it out here: Shop Local Mine automatically goes to Phoenix, but you can click change location to see others city sales.

Well that about covers it for today. Have a wonderful week! See you next Thursday!!!!!

Kelly's Thrifty Tips - Catch Up

Get it? Catsup...catch up! Sorry for the silly pic, but I simply had to. :)

So let's get started!

Two weeks ago in addition to some great sales at Albertson's I talked about a few pretty cool websites and a little bit about recycling and reusing.

Linkage:

I have been a member of Freecycle.org for a long time, and it is a great site. If you have not joined yet, check it out. Basically it is another way to keep things out of the landfill and bless others with things that you no longer need. All the explanations are straight on the site. The groups are often organized by city or county so you can join more than just one. I joined freecycle.org back when I lived in Rhode Island. When I was ready to move to California but still had items to get rid of, I posted them on Freecycle.org and people came and took those things away. It was AWESOME. Here's your link: Freecycle

There is another great web group that is also doing the freecycle thing. It is called ReuseIt Network and they are on a smaller scale but picking up steam. Check it out at Reuse It Network There are plenty of Arizona areas that are all ready involved. A blogger I talked with said that he really loves it because it is smaller and more personal. Here are the Arizona networks:
Ahwatukee - Ahwatukee ReUseIt
Apache Junction - Apache Junction ReUseIt
Glendale - Glendale ReUseIt
Maricopa - Maricopa ReUseIt
Mesa - Mesa ReUseIt
North Phoenix - North Phoenix ReUseIt
Prescott- Prescott ReUseIt
Scottsdale - Scottsdale ReUseIt
Sierra Vista - Sierra Vista ReUseIt
Sun City West - Sun City West ReUseIt
Tucson - Tucson ReUseIt

Be sure to check it out.

I also found a really cool site the other day that focuses on inexpensive kids meals. I LOVE these guys! This is so easy to operate. Just put in your zip code and check out the great deals for your area. If you are planning on visiting somewhere new in the summer, why not check them out for inexpensive or free dinining for your children while you are out on vacation? All the details are on each link. So go check out Kids Meal Deals! Link: Kids Meal Deals

Now on to reusing items in your home. I have been looking for all kinds of ways to reusing and repurposing things I have on hand. Here are some I have already used and some I have discovered:

Tissue boxes can be reused to hold your plastic grocery store bags. I have recently discovered that this is a great way to carry some bags in your car for quick trash removal! Use the smaller square boxes and fill them up. They take up very little space, but you will always have a mini garbage bag on hand.

Coffee filters - Now this is something that I learned from a friend of mine. Her mom would wash and dry out her coffee filters. It was really annoying to my friend, but it is something I have never forgotten. They really can be reuses a number of times, so why not do it?

Baggies - Wash and rinse out your baggies and reuse them. Again for some this may be taking frugality too far, but it really doesn't bother me. I reuse my veggie zip freezer baggies because they are EXPENSIVE! If the baggy has held meat, I toss it though. You can wash them by hand and just let them dry. I have read that if you save them in the freezer it will prevent mildew. Honestly, I have never reused that many at one time for it to be a necessity, but I thought I would share that freezer tip anyway.

Wax paper - I don't know many people who use wax paper to wrap their sandwiches any more but if you do...clean it off, let it dry and reuse it. I have also learned that if you are a wax paper sandwich wrapping kind of person, you can also use the bag that holds your cereal to wrap your sandwiches.

Cereal boxes - Speaking of cereal boxes, did you know you can repurpose those too by making magazine holders. I started doing this with my son's magazines, and it really works well. Magazine boxes are crazy expensive considering what you get, and really why not take the time to make your own? You can always cover the box with wrapping paper or wall paper to make it look less odd. :)

Tennis ball - I love this! Split open a tennis ball and hide your valuables inside.

Egg cartons - You can use the cardboard egg cartons as seed starter trays and when you are finished with them you can also add them to compost.

Old clothes - Okay...if you are crafty this is an awesome thing to do. Save the old clothes to make pillows, quilts, and even new clothes. I am hoping to learn to sew well enough to do that one day. So far I have only made a pillow (well...in 6th grade). I also reuse holey socks as cleaning cloths.

Pantyhose - I do not know a lot of people who wear these any more, but if you do there are a number of things you can do.

1 - When the legs are runny use the tops for light tummy control. Trust me...people do this. It was a huge trend back when I was in college.
2 - If you have pretty lacy hose you can use them to make hair ties. I have also seen them used as fingerless gloves in costumes.
3 - I have found more but they are kind of icky to me...feel free to look around online for more pantyhose tips. :)

Plastic grocery bags - Check with your local Meals on Wheels and Salvation Army. They may be able to use your old grocery bags to deliver food to shut ins.

Old candles - Melt them down and make new ones. We often melted down old candles into a Pringles jar and made new ones from them that worked great!

Broken crayons - Melt them in molds and make new crayons. We did this quite often when we were kids and had way too many broken and tired looking crayons.

Old sweaters - Can you knit? If you can, why not reknit those sweaters into something new? I have aspirations to knit and plan to put this into practise!

Old CDs - If you have some junky old CDs around, why not reuse them as coasters or make a cool looking sun catcher? I have even seen some cute crafts where people have made fish and solar cookers out of CDs!

Newspaper - I hear this is true. I have tried it and so far it doesn't work well for me, but use newspaper to clean your windows and supposedly they will sparkle! Mine...not so much. BUT you can also use those newspapers to do paper machet crafts or if you have purchased a book at a used book sale or garage sale and it is a bit musty, put it in a bag with a bunch of scrunched up newspaper to get rid of the smell. Just keep changing the paper until it gets rid of that stink!

Dryer sheets - You can use your old dryer sheets to dust off your computer or tv screens. They are also really good for cleaning your shower doors.

Well...I hope you found something new if not odd here. Thanks for your patience! Have a great day!!!!