I’m starting a “Top Ten Tuesday” on my blog. It may not be every Tuesday- but we’ll see Right now as I’m typing the snow is falling down by the loads on Canton, Ohio. We got our snow late this year, in my opinion, and its been really cold. So I want to include in my Top 10 some ways we save while keeping warm. So here we go…

1. We use space heaters during the day and house (gas) heat at bedtime. We almost had a fire back when we used the space heaters at night. No more of that. It has helped cut down on our gas useage.

2. We use the “budget” program through our natural gas provider. We’ve been up and down on prices (went back up because of the near-fire that scared me from using the space heaters). We had our monthly bill down to about $55 a month, cue in “near-fire”, we shot back up to about $145 a month in gas useage. Now we use space heaters during the day and set the house for about 69/70 at night. Working on getting that budget amount down again.

3. Insulate the house better if you can. We have magnetic storm windows over some of our windows but even they have some spots cold air is getting through. I used masking tape to cover those areas I wanted. Its working.

4. Plastic window kits that shrink wrap the inside of your windows. These are not hard to do. We use these on the bedroom windows. I found kits at Walmart one year marked down to about 50cents give or take. Wonderful deal! I stocked up. Watch for these great deals tucked away out of plain site during the off-seasons.

5. Draft blockers for the doors. My sister made me this really long, narrow pillow type protector we use on one door. My mother-in-law gave us another kind with foam pieces covered in material that slides under the bottom of the door and moves with the door. Its great! Not sure where she found it. I’d check Marc’s though, she shops there.

6. Every year I look for the best deal I can get from the gas suppliers. This year I got us locked into a 6 month contract for about $7.67 mcf (I think)…AND I got a $25 Visa gift card as a bonus!

7. We don’t have much of these but heavy drapes can help block a draft.

8. Make sure your chimney flue is shut when you’re not using it.

9. Dress in layers, wear thick comfy socks, or use slippers.

10.  If you have trouble paying your heat bill contact your gas/electric provider for more information about other programs to help.

What other ways can you suggest to help save money while staying warm?

Leave a comment and share.

I like to share with you all when I get a good deal like this. Part of the staying at home (for the kids) and working at  home life for us means I have to cut costs where possible. This week at Giant Eagle I got all you see in the picture for $22.97 PLUS a $4.00 off coupons “on your next visit”. I could have bought all of this for $18.97 had I been better prepared with that $4 coupon.  See the two Wilton Baking Pans (cake & cookie)…those were FREE ( $11.00 in savings there alone).

GE was having a sale where if you bought 4 select items you’d get a pan for free. I had coupons so for example…the Betty Crocker frosting was on sale $1.50…I had a .50cent coupon that doubled to $1.00…I paid .50cents for each frosting. Cookie mixes were on sale for $2.00…I had coupons for .40 cents  off that doubled to .80 cents… each mix was $1.20. Those were the items I bought that got me the two free pans.

The other great deals were Smuckers grape jelly/jam on sale for about $1.67 each…I had coupons $1.00 off of 2 which left them $1.16 each. These are huge jars! See a recipe below we use grape jelly in. The Nut Clusters were on sale for $2.50 each and I had $1.00 off each bag.  Pillsbury biscuits were on sale $1.00 each, I used a .40 cents off 4 coupons (didn’t double) and I think a .30 cent coupon that doubled to .60 cents off. This was the deal that got me the $4.00 coupon printed out for my next shopping trip.  Somehow I also got a print out for 15 Bonus Box Tops for my son’s school ($1.50 value)- wasn’t expecting that one. Oh yeah…and the Nestles Butterscotch morsels were on sale for $2.00, I used a  .50 cent coupon that doubled to $1.00 off on that.

Yesterday I mixed up a batch of the Betty Crocker Walnut Chocolate Chip cookie mix and my boys loved them. They each gobbled up like 3 in a row and might have gone on for more had I not put a stop to it!

Okay for that recipe. A friend of my husband’s actually introduced us to the recipe and I don’t think it came with measurements ( and if you know me, I don’t record measurements to a “t”).  So again, make to taste.This would be great for entertaining during the holidays or big games.

Sweet’n Sour Sausage

1# or more of your favorite smoked sausage or kielbasa (already cooked)…like Hillshire.

Grape Jelly.

Chili Sauce (like Heinz or generic brands)

Cut up the sausage, add the chili sauce and jelly and simmer in a crock pot or over the stove. You already bought the meat precooked  so its a matter of heating thoroughly and waiting on taste.

Finding the deals.

You might be thinking to yourself that you just don’t have time to cut coupons and match the deals. Well, I don’t do all of that myself. I do hang on to the coupons  and cut them when I’m ready. I have an organizer/binder and a couple plastic bins with drawers I use to keep them in but when it comes to the matching and knowing where the deals are I really depend on other people for that info…crazy coupon ladies if you know what I mean

For finding the best deals I subscribe to these website newsletter updates…

CouponAllies.com (Specifically deals with NE Ohio)

Freebies4Mom.com

TheFrugalGirls.com

FrugalFreebiesandDeals.com

It pays to save!

I’m continually amazed that one child can blow holes in the knees of his jeans and rip new shoes in a matter of weeks. Yes, he is my firstborn so I am still not “over this”.  I noticed this change in him around the beginning of 2009…he was 4 going on 5 years of age.  This fall I ordered a new pair of nice looking dressy/casual boot-like shoes  from The Children’s Place for school. Do you know that child would have ripped them within a few weeks time?  Glad I got a good deal on them!

So, about a couple weeks ago I ordered two more pairs of new shoes for him from The Children’s Place. I think it will be harder to tear these up.  And…I got a really good deal on them too! I’m not sweating the tore up shoes – I’m a frugal buyer. Yes I got new shoes, online, from The Children’s Place both times. But I bought all these shoes on sale and had an exra % off due to coupon codes AND bought them through my Cashbaq or Ebates accounts where I earn money back from my purchases. See how you can earn a $5 bonus just for signing up! Its free anyways, why not?!

These websites are free to register, free to use. You just sign in to your account, pick your store (ex: The Children’s Place) and then purchase.  Its another smart way to shop for the things you need.

And don’t forget to look for coupon codes before you purchase.  Check www.RetailMeNot.com for available codes. I’m on the mailing list for The Children’s Place so I got a coupon code in the mail for an extra 20% off my purchase – which was already items on sale. And shipping at The Children’s Place is only $5. My 20% off brought me an extra $6 or more off my bill and the shoes were already marked down to begin with.

You can keep up with whats going on via email or RSS and be my friend on Twitter and Facebook!

Best,

Are you frugal or do you treat frugality like its a dirty word? There’s no shame in being frugal…being frugal is being smart!

I probably just started getting excited about coupons in the last year or so and  really “rebating” about 2-3 years ago I guess.  You really can save a lot of money using coupons and rebates by playing smart…match the coupons with the sales. Look for stores that double or triple coupons. I’m not aware of any stores in my area that triple but we do have Giant Eagle and they double up to  .99 coupons (one .99 coupon =  $1.98 off). GE (Giant Eagle) will even double some of those “Do Not Double” coupons. I rely on Coupon Allies to do the match ups for me. They even correspond with companies to get the facts on whats allowed.

Recently one of my friends at Coupon Allies told me SC Johnson had a rebate offer for buying 3 selected products and you get $5 back AND, you could do this in 3 separate transactions per household.  The rebate period began during one of our Kmarts double coupon weeks and I was already prepared with several  coupons for Ziplock bags. The Ziplock bags were 2 for $4…after coupons I was getting them for $1 a box. I did this in 3 different transactions so I could send in my 3 separate SC Johnson rebate offers. I spent about $12 (before sales tax)  after coupons on 12 boxes of a variety of Ziplock bags and SC Johnson will be sending me $15 back. Thats shopping smart! But I  wouldn’t have known if it weren’t for my friends at Coupon Allies.

Sometimes I buy extra Sunday papers on Mondays (buy at GE and get money off your gas) when they are on sale for .75 or I get them for free. How? Well, I walked into a store one day and asked if they sold Sunday papers on Monday and I was told no they don’t, but I could have some for free.  I have learned to hang on to my coupons whether or not its something I usually buy. I don’t often buy bags of candy but I had a couple $1.00 off coupons for Hershey’s Kisses. During our last Kmart double coupon sale I found Hershey’s Kisses on sale 2/$5. I paid .50 a bag! My boys and I have enjoyed helping ourselves to the candy bowl lately!

Another great deal I have to share. Someone tipped me off that AirWick’s Freshmatic Ultra Imotion air freshner kits were on sale at some Walmarts. Normally these kits are around $11. They were on sale for $6.00 locally. I pulled out 8 / $6 off coupons  I had held onto from Sunday papers and got 8 free (before sales tax) kits! I’m using one in the basement where the cat’s litter box resides.  I have it set to spray every 36 minutes. What a difference down there!

Some items are not “necessities” but luxuries.  Like the AirWick deal.  I’ve also bought lots of Glade products for almost free. Not because I need so many but so I can share with others…family, use as gifts, or put in missionary care boxes. Find yourself a reputable coupon/rebate/sales matching online site to help keep you in the “know” about where and when to take advantage of these deals.  I recommend Refunds Cents and Coupon Allies. Find their links under “I recommend…” in my sidebar to the right.

The Frugal Girls.com  had a post on taking a refill sized bottle of hand soap and using it in your Bath & Body Works foaming hand pumps.  Being frugal as I am I have not gotten into buying those hand pumps but I think I may buy a couple this year (now may be a great time to get a deal on them). When we use up the soap that comes in them I will use The Frugal Girls tips for refilling them with my store brand hand soap. The fact that these pumps “foam” is what saves you even more money!

My Frugal Journey. This is actually a friend of mine. A local girl who started blogging about how she saves money.  Everybody’s journey is a little different. Its not all about using coupons and buying things on sale. Visit My Frugal Journey for another view on how one family lives frugally!

For more frugal ideas check out these e-books by Living on a Dime.

Well, we were able to fit in one short, fast mini-vacation this summer just before school starts. Our oldest will be in kindergarten this year   So we went to the Columbus area (Ohio) which isn’t all that far from where we are in Canton.  We were fortunate to be able to stay overnight with family down there and visit with them in between the plans we had for our own family. And I will add, it was much more enjoyable staying with them, I think, than staying in a nice hotel room. Our boys had their cousins to play with (and of course all their toys too), we had other adults to converse with and a free room! Can’t beat that, right?! And it was my neices’ birthday open house party too. Happy Birthday, Maia!

So we visited the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium…and it was a hot day! But we had a good time, not to mention the timing was great! I saw online that it was Teddy Bear Safari day and if the boys brought their bears they’d get free admission. That saved us $14.00 total! Whoo-hoo! We likey-that.  Note to self: Always, always! check the website for special deals before leaving the house.

I had thought to get a family zoo membership somewhere so we could go to different zoos more frequently for free or discounted but… a FaceBook friend told me about a place that we could have gotten BOTH zoo and science museum memberships together for  less than we would have paid to get them separately.  If you are looking for the best deal in memberships you can check to see if this is for you or not at Boonshoft. I’m not sure what the rate is and since I’m not buying one right now, I don’t care too much. But you might!

We had already purchased the museum family membership from the McKinley Museum (about $49) and that gets us into many museums around the US and some in other countries (not that we will be going there) for free or perhaps discounted.  And that got us into Cosi for free this past weekend as well. These memberships more than pay for themselves if you like to visit them often.

We had been to this zoo before but we had never been to Cosi. That is another fun place to go. Very hands on, see Jack holding up the moon There were gadgets and fun things, a big “little” kids section complete with water play, an Egyptian room, complete with (real) mummy,and a (fake) camel. You could ride a unicycle across a high-wire, yes, visitors could do this. And so much more. We didn’t even see it all.

I also got to go shopping at Krogers and Trader Joe’s! Am I sad or what? I found this actually made the trip an extra joy for ME! Just call me “pathetic”.  It was a whirlwind short mini-vacation, but it was fun. We got to do some new things and see some family.

And so I leave you with a picture of me and my oldest sitting at Donato’s restaurant…after a hot sweaty day at the zoo.

(My post re-do).I decided about a week ago to start using charts to help my boys with learning good habits, responsibility and good behavior. My boys are 5 and 3 years old. I did find some “free” printable charts online I’d like to share with you.
I will add that this system has really had a positive effect on my 5 year old…the 3 year old, well, he likes to copy his brother so its okay with him- except he thinks coloring in the blocks is too much work! I also have stickers, etc.. if they want instead of coloring.

I assigned each boy a folder (the 10cent kind with pockets and prongs inside that you’d find on sale in the back to school season). Inside they have three main charts.

First, I use this basic block style chart I found here at Simplemom.net to fill in basic daily chores like brushing teeth, picking up toys, helping mom and dad, staying in bed at night…etc..

Second, I use this cute character chart with two separate sections I found at another site found here to list current/future issues the kids’ need to work on…I picked out Arthur and Bob the Builder. Here I list issues that may get moved to the daily chart eventually.

Third, I use this cute chart that focuses on ONE single objective. Each day (doesn’t have to be consecutive) each boy does well enough (doesn’t have to be perfect) on THAT one goal he gets to fill in one spot which leads closer to an earned prize! I picked out the frog chart for my 3 year old and the bike path for my oldest.

I do find that I need to remind my boys about the chart and help them learn these goals. I noticed yesterday I didn’t tell them to brush their teeth in the morning and they didn’t seem to remember. Sometimes when I tell them to pick up their toys or clean up their mess they think its too big of a job for themselves to do alone. I can see they need my example, working alongside them. Keep that in mind too.

And something else I realized…I need this chart-exercise for them as well because it keeps me accountable for teaching them things they need to learn at home.  My job is to prepare them to be able to live without “mom and dad” someday.  It all starts with the simple things like…brushing their own teeth and learning how to treat each other right.

**If you find these charts don’t work for you feel free to search for more “free printable chore charts”.  But, before you do…I recommend signing up for FREE with Swagbucks…do your search through their engine so you can start racking up Swagbuck points withwhich you will redeem for gift cards or maybe money! Its a great way to pay nothing out of pocket while you get to start earning freely…cover birthdays or Christmas this way!