Thrifty Gift Ideas and Web Links

Happy Holidays!

There’s still time to check out craft and idea books from the library to make your own gifts to give this holiday season.  Soup and quick bread mixes (put all the dry ingredients in a bag and attach the recipe, if you have  a few more bucks, put the mix in a basket and add a few tools that may be needed to make the soup or bread, i.e., wooden spoon, measuring cup, etc.  These are inexpensive and personalized.  It lets you be creative and show you put some thought into the gifts.

Since it is the spending season, I thought you may wish to have links to sights that are frugal minded.

Stop Buying Crap:

www.stopbuyingcrap.com

Five Cent Nickel:

www.fivecentnickel.com

Mighty Bargain Hunter:

www.mightybargainhunter.com

Coupon Album:

www.couponalbum.com

Coupon Cabin:

www.couponcabin.com

Coupon Code:

www.couponcode.com

Deal Catcher:

www.dealcatcher.com

Hope you find some bargains, savings and interesting reads!

Until next time…

Marie

© Marie Boyum, December 10, 2009

A Thrifty Christmas

It’s tree decorating time!  Here are some great ways to make your tree homey while saving money.

• Hang old cookie cutters on the tree using bright cloth ribbon.

• Cut shapes, using cookie cutters as a stencil, out of washed Styrofoam veggie and meat trays (the ones that come free under your food from the grocery store). Decorate with glue and glitter, sequins, ribbon, whatever you think will make it special.  This is a great project to do with children!

• Buy an inexpensive bag of batting or cotton stuffing  from the craft store (many times Goodwill or Salvation Army stores have these as people who no long sew do not know what to do with it) and stretch it out to lay on the branches as snow cover.  A little goes a long way!

• Don’t have  tree skirt?  Use an old sheet.  You can even use puffy paint to draw pictures on it if  you have talent in that area.

• Using the netted bags that oranges come in, cut  the bag in the corner making a small pouch.  Place cinnamon sticks and whole cloves in the pouch and tie with colored yarn or a bright cloth ribbon; hang from the tree and enjoy the scent!

Using these ideas not only saves money, but also allows for creativity and a recycling of things you may have thrown away!  Have a wonderful holiday season and may you enjoy the simple things life has to offer!

Marie

© Marie Boyum, December 2, 2009

New site to save money

Here are two sites I found that may save you money.  The first lists manufacturer’s rebates.  The second is for coupons- gotta love those!

You never know where and how you can save money!  You may wish to bookmark these pages and check then before and after  you make  purchases.

Hope it helps; I will keep hunting for more money saving tips and websites to pass along!

http://www.rebateplace.com/

Use this tiny URL or try coupons.com

http://tiny.cc/H7bN6

Marie

Thrifty Household Tip #10

Here are some quick and useful tips to help in the kitchen:

To clean stuck-on foods from your countertop, use a pancake turner that is made from a non-scratch material.  When I bake, especially pies and breads that have to be rolled out or kneaded with flour on a flat surface, this helps enormously in cleaning.

Don’t have a rubber scraper handy to clean out that bowl while baking?  Cut a plastic lid from a margarine dish into a triangle (make it as large as you can, using most of the lid but eliminating the seal edge.)  The wide end can be cupped in your hand and the tip can get into tight spaces such as rims and edges. Use the wide end to scrap larger areas.

A clean kitchen is a happy kitchen!  Bon Appetite!

© Marie Boyum, October 9, 2009

Creative Getaways

When was the last time you felt you had the funds to get away?  Many people are taking very short, close to home trips or none at all.  With just a bit of creativity you can save money and “get away” without going far or even leaving home.

It may go without saying that if you are traveling, pack your own food to save money.  Not just the snacks for the car, but sandwiches and muffins for lunch and breakfast.  You don’t need to grab the “travel” sizes or the individually wrapped muffins you pay a fortune for, wrap them up at home and dig out that old Thermos.  Don’t have one?  I have seen so many at rummage sales and Goodwill stores for a little bit of nothing, anyone should be able to find one.

When was the last time you camped in your living room?  Have kids?  Mine used to love taking the cushions off the couch and creating a fort.  Lay out blankets on the floor and have a picnic.  That idea is not just for kids as it can be very romantic with two adults.  Turn off or down the lights, cover up the TV with a blanket and bring flashlights, sleeping bags or extra blankets and grab a great book on stargazing from the library.

Don’t put away the swimsuits yet, have a in-house beach party!  No, you may not want to cart in sand, but you could put some in a large tub (if you want to play as an adult or you have well-disciplined children;) it’s very therapeutic to draw and play in the sand.

There’s no need to get down as the weather gets cold, or the finances look a bit shy.  ”Get away” in your own house (use a room you hardly ever go in for a change) and see how creative you can be.  Have fun!

These are just a few ideas to get you started, I’m sure you can think of more, and when you do, write me and let me know how great it was and just think of all the money you’ll save!

© Marie Boyum, October 1, 2009

Thrifty Household Tip #9

Although I realize not everyone thinks like me (and I’m sure in many ways that is a good thing!); I have to say I tend to negate ideas I feel everyone may already be doing.  It has, although, come to my attention that it is a good idea to state basic thrifty ideas as a reminder, as well as, a helpful tip for those that may not always think as thrifty as I.

So, here is Thrifty Household Tip # 9 :

After using all the margarine or butter, cottage cheese, yogurt and any other foods that come in plastic tubs with lids, wash and save for leftover storage.  You can freeze cookies, soups (just leave enough air space for expansion to avoid overflow) and whatever else fits in each container and can be frozen.  They work great for storage in the refrigerator; just remember to label with masking tape and a marker so you know what is in the container, as well as the date when it was put in the refrigerator.

Do you get meats and cheeses from the grocer deli department?  Most times, they come in zipper bags.  Once the last slice is used instead of automatically reaching for the sandwich bags, re-use the deli bag.  Those small things may not add up to huge savings dollar wise, but you are helping save one more thing from going in the landfill and if everyone only does that once, it will add up to a huge savings for the environment.

So, before you toss, think of the cost; is there a way to use that for something else?  Not sure?  Write me and I’ll help you think of creative ways to re-use what you are going to throw away.  Together, we can save money and the environment- a true win-win situation!

© Marie Boyum, September 19,2009

Simple Outside Summer Saving Tips

I know summer is winding down, but there are still some warm days left, yard work to do and days when the kids can still play outside.  So, here are a few simple and thrifty tips to save time and reuse those things you were going to throw away or recycle.

Yogurt cups make great outside kid cups!  They have a lid to keep out the bugs, they don’t break and they can be left outside and reused in the sandbox or turned into a planter for window-box seedlings.

It’s getting to the end of the season and the ground here has been hard for lack of rain.  Using a plastic fork to aerate your garden and potted plants can give them a bit more of a chance to hang on and possibly even give you a few more flowers or veggies.  I did it with some of my herbs and veggies and noticed those plants are thriving better.

Plastic lid tops make great flying disks for your dog (just keep an eye on them, like with any other toy, that they don’t begin to chew or eat the lid).  If you were going to toss out that plastic margarine dish, coffee can or “tub-o-whatever” lid anyway, try a few throws and make your pup and the earth smile.  Yes, it ends up getting tossed in the recycle bin anyway, but you did get more use out of it and make another being happy, even if only for a few minutes and isn’t that what we should all be striving for?

Enjoy, have fun and remember, thrifty means prosperous- Webster’s dictionary says so!

© Marie Boyum, September 12, 2009

Quick Thrifty Tip for Dog Lovers

Hello!

Between needing to do the weeding, cleaning the chicken coup and  bunny hutch, walking the dogs, swatting mosquitos and all the other fun stuff that goes along with summer, I am making this a short tip.

While continuously playing ball with my dogs, I am noticing my elbow is becoming quite sore.  I know there are items on the market that allow you to “chuck” the ball further and possibly not even need to touch it.  Checking out this nifty item, I found it to cost over $7.00 and my “thrifty” blood asked, “Isn’t there something I already have that will do just as well for helping me throw the ball without throwing out my arm?”

Yes, there is, a tennis  or racquet ball racket (even a badminton racquet works, you just can’t hot it as hard).  I just toss the ball up and off the dogs run, and run and run!  Now yes, I do have to touch the ball, but I’m standing in a field getting swarmed by mosquitos so for me, it really doesn’t matter (comparatively speaking).  I do have to give one additional hint, after the ball becomes a bit “wet” (or slimed if I am really being honest here!), toss the ball to one side of your body as you hit it or you may get a bit of a shower!

Don’t have a racquet?  I have seen many at rummage sales for only a few dollars, still a savings over the “chuck” toy.  I know many of you may say for only $7 it is not worth it, but I am all about reusing what we have or what is out there to be given away or tossed out from someone else before we go and add to the consumerism of the marketplace. (Heck, ask around, someone probably has one they are not using and will give it to you just to get rid of it!)   That is why I am working on the book, Being the Thrifty Naturalist, 365 Ways to Save Money and the Environment. So, watch for more tips and hints and stay thrifty!  It benefits both you and the environment!

© Marie Boyum, July 2, 2009

Do You Reuse?

I have a challenge for you today.  How many things can you reuse that you were going to throw away?

For example, let’s say you finished your box of cereal this morning.  There are two components you may be thinking of throwing away, the liner and the box. Saving the liner to use as a freezer bag (you just ned a twist tie) and the box to stuff old socks in for dust rags are just two simple and quick thoughts on how you can reuse each item instead if throwing them away.

My parents use the boxes as garbage  liners to make the bottom of the bag more sturdy, prevent leakage and make the bottom of the bag more flat and squared off so as to sit in the can better and reduce the risk of the bag slipping down the sides as it gets filled.

The mornings paper juice carton has so many uses I am writing a book on it (as well as 365 other items from A-Z).  One thing you can use it for is a planter. It already is waxed and if you cut the top off (save it for more thought I will give a t a later date) you can plant seeds and have a great window box.  Cutting it vertically or horizontally works, whatever you have the room for.  The milk carton makes a greta pet food scoop, and the bread bag, a nice “pooper picker-upper.”

Those are just a few quick tips to save your breakfast trash from having to hit the landfill while saving you money in the process; a great way to start your day, don’t you think?

Write me and let me know how you met the challenge.

Until next time, be a “thrifty naturalist” and make your day fun and creative and the earth smile!

Marie

© Marie Boyum, June 15, 2009

Thrifty Housekeeping Tip # 8

Saving money is just a matter of being a bit more aware; it does not have to mean a huge life change.  Paper towels and paper napkins for example have risen in price dramatically in recent months.   It is one simple way to reduce your grocery bill- use rags, kitchen towels and cloth napkins.  Doesn’t have to be fancy, and the little bit of extra laundry does not add up to the cost of a roll of paper towels; you already have to do laundry anyway.

 

Buying in bulk, does it really save you money?  Buying in large quantities has its advantages and several disadvantages.  If it is a non-perishable product it can save you time and money running out to buy more but, don’t be fooled into thinking that just because it is the “economy” size it is really a savings.  Many times sales on smaller packs are cheaper than the large sizes. 

 

The downside comes when the item has a shelf life and/or it is something you can grow tired of.  That mega can of almonds sounds good when you were hungry and in the store but, four months later as they grow stale and everyone is sick of them, then what do you do?  Food for thought…