By Melissa at http://www.stockpilingmoms.com/
July 27th, 2010
I wanted to share with you my technique for organizing my clipped coupons. I clip them while sitting at the sofa watching TIVO or a movie with the hubby after my son is in bed on Sunday night and then I lay them out on my island on Monday morning and sort them. I normally have 2-6 inserts so I have found this system works for me. After I sort them I file them into my binder by section. This method takes much less time as far as sorting goes and keeps my binder organized and ready for shopping trips. If you keep up on filing your coupons weekly you will not become overwhelmed and will always be able to get in on all the great deals!
A great tip for saving time in the clipping process is to order
clipped coupons instead of clipping them yourself. I supplement with ordering clipped coupons especially on items that I want to stockpile! Please know that we promote a select group of coupon clippers that we personally order from and trust.
How do you organize your coupons?
By Christina at http://www.northerncheapskate.com/
July 21st, 2010
I’m not a person who does well with temperature extremes. I get so cold in the winter and in the summer I’m prone to heat sickness. Staying cool in the summer heat is a major priority to me.
Here’s how to keep your cool this summer without breaking the bank:
Be strategic with your landscaping. Plant deciduous trees that provide shade in the summer and when they lose their leaves in the fall, help let the sun shine in during the winter months.
Use fans to circulate the air through your house. A cross-breeze is ideal. Put some ice water in front of the fan to blow cooler air around.
Don’t heat up your kitchen. Use your slow cooker, eat cool meals like salads or sandwiches, or use your grill. If you absolutely must do baking, be sure to use your oven late at night or early in the morning.
Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water. Put cool washcloths on your pulse points (back of the neck, wrists, back of the knees and ankles.
Take advantage of the cooler evenings. Open all the windows and use fans to circulate the air. When you get up in the morning, close up the windows, close the shades and curtains and keep the house shut up tight. If you open the windows and shades during the height of the afternoon, you’ll heat up your house pretty fast.
Go swimming, hang out in a kiddie pool, or dash through the sprinkler. If playing in the water isn’t your style, you could wash your car or water your plants and just accidently get wet.
Head indoors. Go to your local library or shopping mall and take advantage of their air conditioning. Just remind yourself not to spend anything or the free A/C could get pricey!
Use a programmable thermostat. Use a programmable thermostat with your air conditioning to only cool the house when you’re home. And remember, if you’re wearing a sweater in July in your house, you could turn up the thermostat and save a few bucks there.
Check with your local utility company for other money-saving options. My utility company offers a program that allows them to cycle my air conditioning unit off and on during periods of peak energy use. The house stays cool and I spend a fraction of what I would pay at regular rates.
How do beat the summer heat?
By Melissa at http://www.stockpilingmoms.com/
July 16th, 2010
For today’s Frugal Friday I wanted to give you some tips for packing the perfect and frugal picnic. Right now we are taking lots of picnics and not only is it fun but it is an economical way to enjoy lunch while we are on the go. Here are a few tips that will help you too.
1. Be sure to pack plenty of beverages. When are you out for a day in the summer heat is especially important to stay hydrated. I do not suggest freezing plastic bottles if you plan to drink them because of the breakdown of the plastic in the water. Instead I freeze juice boxes/pouches and let them do double-duty as ice packs and a drink. I also freeze 2 bottles of water and we use that to wash our hands or cool off during out time out on the go (however we do not drink that water).
2. Pack plenty of snacks. When we are on the go or planning a picnic I pack lots of individual snacks. I pack fruit snacks and place them directly in the cooler by the frozen beverages. My son love to eat them when they are cold and if you don’t they melt quickly from the heat. I also like to freeze grapes and then they remain cold for snack time. I avoid chocolate snacks and opt for nuts or trail mix, bananas and crackers. I also find that if I freeze cheese cubes they do better than just from the refrigerator. If I want to pack a dessert I find brownies do pack well.
3. Packing a protein. When it comes to packing a protein I suggest the standard PB&J. It is best to be safe when it comes to refrigeration and with PB&J you don’t have to worry! I also will often freeze our sandwiches if I know we are going to have Deli Meat or a lunchable. If you do this your food will stay cool and by the time you are ready to eat it has softened up. I don’t find that it gets soggy either 
.
4. Pack your accessories. Don’t forget to bring along cups, plates, plastic wear, napkins, hand sanitizers, baby wipes, paper towels, bug repellent, sunscreen and of course a big blanket to picnic on!
By Alea at http://www.premeditatedleftovers.com/
July 13th, 2010
This morning when I woke up, I found that my husband had made all of the preparations for a family hike. We spent the late morning/early afternoon enjoying a pleasant hike around the Mount Rose Meadows. My kids were exhausted when we came home, so the teens and I watched the last episode of Eureka Season 3.5 (from Netflix). After dinner my oldest son suggested we play Quelf (the unpredictable game that gives random a new name) as a family. It was a relaxing, fun day, which also happened to be frugal.
My kids taking a break on our hike this afternoon.
The following is an excerpt of a previously published post:
Contrary to popular belief, most children would rather have time playing with their parents rather than the latest electronic gadget. It’s fun, it’s easy, and it doesn’t have to cost a thing. Below are a few ways that our family enjoys frugal fun.
Take a walk. We have enjoyed taking family walks every where we have lived and in every kind of weather. We love watching the wildlife and the seasons change. We always take a walk in the first snow, even if that means we pull on snow pants over our pajamas and walk at midnight. And speaking of pajamas, one of our kids favorite activities when they were young was “pajama walks”. We would get them completely ready for bed and then either my dh or I would say, “who wants to go for a walk?’” and of course the kids always did. One of my favorite memories is of my two oldest holding hands while skipping and quoting Robert Louis Stevenson in their pajamas after dark. It didn’t take long before the neighborhood kids were asking if they could be included in our “pajama walks”.
Watch the stars. My kids have learned a lot about astronomy on our “pajama walks” and we have continued to build on it. We live in the country, so there is very little light noise. We have a friend who owns an incredible telescope (think has to arrive to our house in a truck bed big). We host a barbecue and he brings over his telescope for everyone to look through. I have to admit that although it is really interesting to look through the telescope, I am just as happy to sit on the patio with my family and enjoy the night sky and occasional shooting star. We also enjoy watching sunsets and playing eye spy with cloud formations.
Go bird watching. Check out a book from your library on the local birds and where they nest. We keep a list of the birds that we have seen and try to capture them on film. This is fun whether you do this in conjunction with a family hike or while walking through your neighborhood.
Bake together. Sugar cookies are one of the most affordable cookies to make as they do not contain chips or nuts. The decorations need not be expensive. I put plain white sugar in bowls and then add a couple drops of food color to make colored sugar. Then I make a bowl of butter cream frosting, divide it between small bowls and add food color to make the desired color. If a cookie needs piping. I spoon a small amount of frosting into a plastic bag and cut off a corner, twist the bag above the frosting level, and then squeeze the frosting onto the cookie. I have not found anyone who doesn’t enjoy making cookies. Even my husband sits down and decorates cookies with us. Of course, he turns the circles into the great eye of Sauron, but that is part of the fun! A more practical application is making pancakes with your kids on a Saturday morning. We make a double batch, so that we have pancakes all week long. I put metal cookie cutters directly on the griddle and then pour the batter into it. My husband freehands letters and Mickey Mouse.
Game Night. We enjoy game nights, whether we invite another family over, lots of my kid’s friends, or just hang out together. We do not play the highly strategic and competitive games as a family. We prefer games that create conversation and make us laugh. Some of our favorite games are Balderdash, Loaded Questions, Imaganiff, Whoonu, Taboo, Scattergories, Apples to Apples, Cranium, Guesstures, Catch Phrase, Boggle, and Pictionary. You don’t have to buy lots of games to have a game night . One or two favorites will do. Some libraries loan games. Another options is to ask friends to bring their favorite game when they come for a game night.
Movie Night.We enjoy watching a movie together. We are happy to watch old favorites. In fact sometimes they are more fun to watch as a family, because Tigger adds the most hilarious commentary. Netflix has an incredible selection of movies when we decide to watch a new release. I make a big bowl of air popped popcorn and serve HFCS-free soda from my stash. I have found that yellow Jollytime popcorn is much less expensive and tastes just as good as the more expensive popcorns. If you like microwave popcorn, Storybook Woods has a post on how to make your own microwave popcorn.
Visit a State or National Park. Whenever we move, we always visit all of the state, national, and historic parks within a days drive of our new house. Entrance fees are usually quite reasonable. You can also buy an annual pass that will allow you and your family unlimited access to all of the National Parks for $80.00 and people over the age of 62 can buy a life time pass for $10.00! (That is all I want for my 62nd birthday!)
Camp. Even if it is in your backyard or your living room. Camping is always fun for kids and it can be fun for the parents if you remember to keep it simple. Adults complicate things by trying to cook fancy meals in the woods and buying all of the latest gadgets, which have to be packed and unpacked, and packed, and unpacked. Then they get annoyed that they are working so hard while the kids are running off and playing. You can survive for a couple of days on oatmeal, beans, and hotdogs, as long as you consume a healthy dose of marshmallows.
Go on a picnic. Everything tastes better when served on a blanket. Again, keep it simple. If mom is stressed because of planning an elaborate event nobody is going to have fun. We pack peanut butter sandwiches, apples, some veggies, and cookies. It is the time spent together that is important, so this is not the time to try to get junior to eat all of his veggies or finish his sandwich. But if you play a good game of chase you might get junior to work up enough of an appetite that he will willingly eat what ever you have packed. We used to play dinosaurs. My husband would be a tyrannosaurus and chase the children who would pretend to be a triceratops and a struthiomimus. I would be a maiasaura (it means good mother lizard) and protect the children from the T-rex.
Play in the water. Go swimming in a lake, rock hopping in a stream, or run through the sprinklers. When my kids were younger one of their favorite activities was to run through the sprinklers with their umbrellas. Of course they wanted to sing, “I’m Singing in the Rain”. We lived in a NATO community when my kids went through this phase. I remember trying to explain to the foreign parents who were asking questions about our activity that this was not a traditional American game, that we were just weird. 
Fortunately, they still let their kids join in the fun.
Visit a museum. We have planned most of our museum visits around our children’s current interests. If you check your local museum’s web site you will probably find that they offer free entrance one day a month or a couple times a year. Angela at My Year Without Spending has links to a program which allows you to get into museums across the country for free on the first weekend of each month.
What frugal activities do you enjoy with your family? Please share your ideas or links, I’m always looking for more ideas.
