Posted on 06/24/2005 6:35:23 AM PDT by Gabz
My hubby is the big one for money saving tips.
He goes to www.slickdeals.net. It will have computer supplies, coupons (even for ice cream), etc. He pulls it up every day, and checks for deals.
He gets lots of deals for electronics. He got me a laptop computer for $500 (which is a good deal). He found DVD players for $35. We bought some for our family as presents. He can also build computers, so he looks for deals for computer memory and motherboards. He built our kids computer for about $100 and that was mainly the cost for a good monitor.
LOL!!!!!!!!!
Those are actually the only kind of local news I can get - one is a leftwing Gannett rag and the other is an independent - interestingly enough it's the independant that is free and not left wing - the other I have to pay for - but you are right about the coupons for local places and not just restaurants.
We got a free iPod. However, my husband works for the company that makes the touch pad, and they gave out iPods to their employees last year.
Oh, yes...I love a nice bath for relaxing. But I meant for every day, esp. with lots of people in the house. But a nice bubble bath, with some nice scented water, mmmmmm, just puts me in a relaxed mood. So, I guess it saves on prescriptions for stress relievers, LOL.
Another thing. Get a free, cash-back credit card and put everything on it. As long as you are diligent to pay before the due date you actually get paid to shop.
My berry plants aren't doing anything but taking up space :(
I planted a small gqrden under the kitchen window in addition to the huge one out back........I've got all my herbs in it and lettuce and radishes - tomatoes and peppers haven't come on yet, nor have the cucumbers - but once they do I won't have to make the trek out back every day for sald.
We have a movie theater that shows movies that are a little outdated. It is usually $3.50 a ticket, except on Tuesdays. On Tuesdays, it's $1.50.
Then if you go to their website, they have a coupon for a free large drink with a large popcorn. Then if you get the large popcorn, you get a free refill.
I take in 2 cups for my kids and I, and I pour in the soda and popcorn into those cups. Everyone has plenty of popcorn and soda.
I can take my kids to the movies for about $10. They love it, and so do I.
Lucky you!!!!!!!!!!!
we don't have those kind of seafood festivals around here. Here they are all you can eat days and the tickets are sold out months in advance.
My mom is the flea market/garage sale queen.
She has a little antigue shop, and so she is always going to the flea markets and garage sales to look for things for her shop. However, she'll pick up things for my kids while she is shopping.
I live in California, and she is in Texas. I think if I lived closer she would have furnished my house cheaply. She got a $1000 chandelier for $100. She's remarkable.
I don't blame you for being furious - we've had that happen to us a few times as well.
We used to do what we called the buddies and beer (fill in the project) everyone pitched in to help and who ever was having the project done, whether it was moving or painting or whatever provided the beer and the food afterwards - it was a no fail proposition. There were of course some folks in the group that never needed any projects done, but were always willing to pitch in and then there were others that were pretty on the needy side when it came to needed things done - but since they were providing the food and beer, no one cared :)
LOL!!!!!!!! we haven't only concentrated on food - we've been talking about home improvement projects as well :)
We like the barter system. We have friends who are electricians - in exchange for wiring our barn we are going to put gutters on their house and hubby has already networked and configured their computers for them.
Use your library!! I love checking out their cookbooks and craft books for the kids. Keeps them busy in the summer! They also have wonderful programs all year long (even for homeschoolers!) that we take advantage of. Great for really hot or rainy days. Have the older kids practive their typing skills by copying a favorite recipe or two and keep in a binder.
I'd love to know where you get those kind of prices!!!! Our gas grill has a burner on it - I stew my tomatoes outdoors and make my sauce there as well.
Besides HOW WOULD A FREEPER EVER FIND TIME TO CAN OR CLIP COUPONS WHEN WE ARE FREEPING ALL THE TIME. :-)
ROFLMBO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You've got a good point!
I love to talk about frugal strategies! When my husband and I first switched to one income (1994) we had one child, a second on the way, and finances were SO tight. I made my own bagels, yogurt, syrup...cooked everything from scratch. Didn't use many processed foods, didn't eat out.
I had all the Tightwad Gazette books and knew them just about by heart. When baby #2 came along we did cloth diapers. Took handouts of clothing, furniture...a lot of furniture.
As time went on and our family grew, money saving strategies have changed. We do more Sam's and Aldi's shopping and less bagel-making.....I have done some Once a Month cooking and would like to do more. I make big batches of meatballs for the freezer.
I would love to garden but the soil here is SO BAD. We live on a rocky hill and I've tried for three years to grow a few basic vegetables with very little success. I will probably try a hoop house or something next year, and just haul in the dirt from somewhere else. LOL.
I did learn how to can last year, so I know how to do it once I get a cheap supply of veggies.
We also utilize chest freezers and buy pork and beef from a local farmer (whole or half hog, side of beef) at good prices.
I go to bulkfoods.com from time to time.
We don't do fancy birthday parties for every birthday. Just immediate family, cake (usually homemade) and ice cream and presents.....we have several sets of relatives who throw a blowout party, every kid, every year. They think we are bad/mean/stingy. They are all having financial and marital stresses....hmmmm.
I don't mean to sound smarter or better than anyone else. It's just that sometimes you have to step off the merry-go-round of spending that our society seems to push us into, and just say no. :)
I keep thinking of more things!
Prepay your mortgage!!! Even a few extra bucks each month will save you thousands.
Talk your extended family into drawing names for birthdays and Christmas. If the items a bride has chosen are out of your price range, feel free to give a gift certificate to the store from which she made her choices. By the way, my favorite bridal shower gift is a set of tools. Coupons for services also make good presents (babysitting for the new parents, x number of home cooked meals, etc.)
" sorry to say this - but I laughed pretty hard as well :)
While talking with a high school class mate about our 25th reunion shortly after we moved here she just kept on and on about how she couldn't possibly picture me living in the country, let alone on a "farm".......I couldn't get it through her head that I have been living in the "country" for more than 20 years. I grew up in NYC and she, like many of our classmates had never left the city --amazing.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's working a deal!
I can't help you with money saving tips on the electronics you are looking for - that's my husband's venue because I rarely if ever shop online and when I do I'm only buying plant seeds :)
ROFL!!!!!!!! I totally understand. But it's Friday which is hubby's Saturday so he took care of the rugrat's lunch :) But as soon as he finishes his he is going to want to hit the road - Friday afternoon is our time - but school is out so it includes the yung'un. But it is still his time out of doing chores, etc.......I'm trying to get to as many posts as I can before he starts pacing the floor :)
Last year, my husband was getting laid off, so we had to cut back.
We had a great birthday party for my twin girls. We did invite lots of kids (20), but it was still cheap. The girls also wanted different themes, Harry Potter and Princess. So I decorated the living room as Princess, and the family room as Harry Potter. The dining room was half and half. The kids could either decorate crowns or wizard hats. I made cupcakes half as princess and half as Harry Potter.
We played pass the present where kids unwrapped a present when the music stops at them. It's wrapped about 10-20 times, and then it finally has a gift inside for everyone. We played bingo, and then we had a pinata.
For goody bags, I went to the dollar store. I think I spent about $50, maybe $75 at most. I could have even done it cheaper with generic plates and decorations from the dollar store.
My girls still think that was one of their best birthday parties.
That's for sure...this past fall/winter we had record rains in the desert and there were two things I could NOT find locally:
* Rain gutters - not even at Home Depot
* Umbrella (admittedly only looked at Wally World because my old one was still rather serviceable...they don't carry 'em in this area)
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