Annual Memberships and Passes Can Save BIG!

I just got my family a membership to the Denver Zoo and to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
We have had one to the zoo before, but I do not renew it every year.

If you enjoy going someplace you have probably already figured out that an annual pass can save you a ton of money. If not, now is the time to look into it!

Things to consider:

*What types of activities does your family enjoy doing over and over again?

*How often are you really going to be able to go?

*What other benefits does the membership get you?

*Is it partially tax deductible?

Here in Colorado there are so many things to do and see it can be hard to narrow it down. You can get memberships for everything from the community center to the Art Museum.

I think it is always wise to only get a couple memberships a year that you will actually use. I also like to rotate-don't get the same memberships year after year unless it is something your family is passionate about.

Sometimes I actually have to do math to figure out if a membership or annual pass will save us money.
For example, we are going to take a trip to Mesa Verde this summer. We are planning to stop at several other National Parks and Monuments during the trip. I have been to the NPS website and looked up the entrance fee for each place we want to stop. I also decided we might do another camping trip at Rocky Mountain National Forest which is also part of the NPS. Even with all those stops it looks like the Annual Pass will NOT save us money.

Another example is the Denver Art Museum. They will be hosting the King Tut exhibit this summer and fall and I really would love to take the family to see it. However, we can go to the museum itself for free the first Saturday of each month (we went once last year). The exhibit would be discounted with a membership, but not enough to make it worth it. It is cheaper for us to just pay to see the exhibit.

For the Denver Zoo, it was a no brainer. It costs so much to take the family to the zoo that it will pay for itself in 2 trips. Plus, members get discounts and free tickets for friends. Our Family Plus membership will also allow me to bring a friend each time I go! This will come in handy in the summer when DH is working. One of my good friends has a membership, too, so we can go together. Oh, they had also mailed me a "special deal" so I only paid $99.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is one I have not done before. We have taken the kids only a couple times, but it is so cool! A membership will get us a discount on IMAX and planetarium tickets as well as other perks. We've never taken the kids to IMAX because of the cost, but we will now! The Family membership I got will come with 3 adult entrance tickets I can use to bring friends. This membership will pay for itself after two trips and one IMAX movie.

One of the best parts about having a membership or annual pass is that you aren't pressured to stay all day to get your money's worth. You can drop in whenever you like for an hour or two or even just to see certain things and then go home. You also are notified of upcoming special events and member only activities.

Here is a great website for things to do in Colorado! Have fun!!!

Are You Camping This Summer?

I'm very excited to have written a guest blog article for Amanda over at The Screaming Penny! It is about saving money camping. Camping is about the cheapest family vaction around. I have been planning our summer trip to Mesa Verde and pulled together some generic tips to help all you thrifty campers out there!

Check it out over at The Screaming Penny!

March Finance Talk

February went really well! It feels so good to make our money work for us. We stayed on budget and had some leftover from a few categories. The leftover was rolled over to March.

Our snowball goal for February was $1379. We were planning on putting it all to debt, but we have changed our financial plans. I will explain in a moment.
We were able to have $1694.36 towards snowballing. We also had a couple hundred in our Health Savings Account (HSA) that we used and had a dental bill come up that we needed to pay.

February
*Dental Bill: $197.80 PAID OFF
*Hospital Bill: $819 PAID OFF
*Emergency Savings: $1000
TOTAL: $2016.80

We have decided to save up the snowball instead of using it towards debt. This is so that DH can switch jobs in the near future. We would like for him to get his LPN licence back and get a job nursing. Working at the factory is great for now, but will not work out long-term for our family. Plus, we are worried about the stability.
After DH gets a new job nursing we will put everything in the baby Emergency Fund towards debt (above $1000).

March goals:
Snowball: $2200 ---towards savings

We are very happy that we were able to sign up for health insurance benefits through DH's new job at the factory. We will be saving about $200 per month on premiums PLUS we now have dental insurance. We have a few people with bad teeth, so this will end up being a good savings, too.

The bad thing that we have learned about the factory job is that if they are running ahead of schedule DH will only work 4 days a week. This has happened a couple times and another time he only worked half a shift. So, we may not be bringing in the income we anticipated.

How does your March look?

Clearance Sale at BabiesR'Us

I went to BRU to use a $5 ecard I got from them from Facebook the other day. They have some good sales going on right now.

There are a lot of clothes on clearance with an additional 30% off the clearance tag. There were outfits marked at $9 that were really cute. They would be $6.30 final price!!!

All the Gerber cloth diapers are B1G1 50% off. The packages run about $14.99 each, number in package vary. But this would be a very cheap way to get started cloth diapering. Or, you can buy some to donate to humanitarian efforts, which is what I did.

2-12 pack Gerber flat fold diapers $14.99 + $7.49
1 pair cute socks sz 36-48 months $0.70
TOTAL OOP after $5 off: $20.04

The Mini Social-$10 FREE

Someone just pointed out this fun website with items for mom, baby and child. It's called The Mini Social.
Adorable tights in just about every color you can imagine! A selection of Melissa & Doug toys and beautiful jewelry. They've got some cute stuff!

Right now you can get $10 off your first order when you use the coupon code NEWYEAR10.

Hurry on over and see what you can find! There are many items for $10 and under. Plus, they have a referral program where you can get $10 in store credit when your friends place their first order. So join today!

Random Thrifty Thoughts & Cheap Family Night

Tonight my family went out together to hang out. We had $11.75 left on a gift card that had started to lose money that we needed to spend.

So we went to Whole Foods to spend it because that is where we determined we could get the biggest bang for our buck.

We got:

*3 Free kid club HUGE bakery cookies
*some bulk cinnamon sticks 1oz $0.40
*new lid/cap for my SIGG bottle $2.49--got charges $3.99!!!
*Annies Bunnie Cereal ($1 coupon) $2
*Organic Ice Cream 1.5 qt $5.99

Okay, so I'm kinda ticked that our night would have been FREE if they hadn't overcharged me. I was too busy playing with my kids to notice.

Anyway, while I was there I looked at the Vanilla Beans to see if they sold them in bulk. HAHAHA! No.
Whole Foods brand sells ONE bean in a GLASS JAR the size of a regular spice jar. It cost $4.xx!!! Or Frontier sells 2 beans in a tube for $11.99!!!

No thank you!

When I got home I looked at Amazon thinking about my Swagbucks. I have been able to "purchase" some Amazon Gift Cards with my Swagbucks.

The best deal on vanilla beans is 1/4 Frontier "certified organic" for $35 (no free shipping) or 1/2 pound of premium for $24.99 (no free s/h).

Then, I went to eBay since that was the last place I bought them. GREAT DEALS!!! I can get 1/2 lb of extract grade beans for about $15 shipped. I will be purchasing these to make my vanilla extract for Christmas gifts this year. I need to buy soon so the extract can do its thing all year.

See how much money can be saved by research?!? It amazes me! Plus, this means I can save my Amazon GC's for a better deal in the future.

Thank you for reading my random thrifty thoughts. I'd love to hear yours!

The Thrifty Chicks! Cool Blog!

I've discovered a thrifty blog that is simply divine! You must check it out!

The Thrifty Chicks

This inspiring blog is written by Shopping Golightly who lives here in the Denver area. She writes about all things thrift shop. I have read most of the posts on her blog and they really will motivate you to go check out what is in your local thrift shop.

After reading just a few of her posts I felt inclined to rededicate myself to buying second hand. I would love to see how little I can purchase first-hand this year. My family is already used to second hand, so it shouldn't be too much of a stretch.

If you're looking for ways to maximize your dollars or help the environment you've got to click on over!

Some Books are Expensive!

I'm putting together my list of books I'd like to read this year. Well, I found a list of books written by Albert Einstein.

COOL!

I totally didn't know he wrote some actual books that weren't all scientifical.

I thought the titles sounded good-yes, I judge books by their names!

Why War? was the first one I looked for on Amazon. HAHAHA! Here it is in collectible form for a mere $950! Don't you wish you had a copy?

Of course, there is a newer English version on half.com that retails for $11.99. BUT, they don't have any copies available.

I might need to check the library...

Hot Tip! Washing Hair with Baking Soda and Vinegar

I've been using this awesome combination off and on for awhile now. I just restarted a few weeks ago and will not be returning to commercial shampoos. They were ruining my hair!

I use baking soda
to "wash" my hair and apple cider vinegar
to "condition" it!

For those who are wrinkling their noses right now, I tell you it works! My hair is soft and shiny and managable. Are you curious?

First, take some regular old baking soda. You can get adventurous and add essential oil to it if you like. I just use it plain. I keep it in a plastic container in my shower.

Then, get your apple cider vinegar. I put it (diluted) into an old Dawn squirt bottle. One of the little cute ones that I got cheap on sale with a coupon. LOL
I've heard of different dilution ratios, so you might want to see what your hair and scalp like best. I dilute to about 1 part ACV to 3-4 parts water. I keep this in the shower, too.

Having these made and ready ahead of time makes it more likely that you will use it.

Now, when you take a shower, get your hair wet like usual. Then pour some baking soda into your hand and make a wet paste. Scrub and massage it into your scalp. You do not need to do anything to the rest of your hair-just the head and root section.
Some people use a diluted baking soda solution and pour it on their heads. So, you can try that method and see which you like best.

Rinse with water.

Take your squirt bottle and squirt the top of your head. I start at the crown and then use shower water to rinse it down the length of my hair. Avoid getting it in your eyes because it is NOT tear free! This step is necessary to restore the pH balance of your hair and scalp, so don't skip it.

Your hair should be left feeling very clean and soft.

Now, I have never had any problems or "adjustment period" when using this method. However, many women do go through an awkward phase when their hair is kinda detoxing the gunk and the oils are getting used to the new way. Be prepared to wear a hat or ponytail for a little while.
Once your hair has adjusted you will not need to wash every day or even every other day! That is the magic! Your hair will be able to go days between treatments.

I washed my hair with baking soda and ACV on Friday, kept my hair out of the shower on Saturday, washed my hair with WATER only on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday I washed with baking soda and ACV again.

To wash with water I just massage my scalp during my shower with my hair fully wet. My hair looked great on Sunday and Monday. My daughter even told me I had soft hair Sunday night when I kissed her goodnight. :)

If you want to keep your hair looking great for pennies give it a try!

Fixing a Split Toilet Seat with Duct Tape

Well, our toilet seat split many months ago and we never got around to replacing it. Then, some little children (who shall remain nameless) would rip the vinyl every time they used the bathroom. Needless to say it was not very comfortable to sit on. LOL

So, what is a frugal mama to do?

Get out the Duct Tape(UNV20048G), of course!

Now my toilet looks oh so lovely, but at least nobody's bottom will be at peril whilst using the comode. I only wish I had fancy colored Duct Tape on hand! I could have created a designer bathroom.

Looking for more Frugal Friday inspiration? Head over to Biblical Womanhood.

Cardboard Play Kitchen

Eric made this adorable cardboard kitchen for Kelsey's 4th birthday! He used instructions I bought on here on Etsy.

I regret that we didn't make it three ply like the instructions called for. Other than that-it is cute, functional and cost less than $10 ($8 was the instructions).
I don't think we had to purchase anything from the store! I had all the stuff sitting around the house.

For more wonderful Frugal Friday inspiration head to Biblical Womanhood.

Weekly Grocery Trip-King Soopers $52

I had a goal of spending about $50 at the grocery store this week. I redid my list a couple times until I figured I was about right.
We didn't shop last week because I spent $85 right before Thanksgiving-going over November budget by almost $100. So, I am tricky and counted the $85 towards December. LOL

Anyway, we did great! We ended up at $52.08 after tax! We saved over 60%. Woohoo!

No picture, but here is what we got.

3 boxes ice cream treats
2 Lipsticks (for my stocking)
2 bags mini marshmellows
1 bag lettuce
2 Tyson entrees
4 boxes Townhouse crackers
1 bag tortillas
3 boxes Kleenex
1 bag dried cherries
2 lbs organic gala apples
1 bag russet potatoes
2 boxes Candy Canes
2 toothbrushes
1 loaf organic bread
3 dozen organic eggs (CLEARANCE $1.50 each!!!)
3 jugs vegetable oil

Sewing Cloth Diapers

I am not a very experienced sewer and I am able to sew really cute, functional diapers. I don't even own a sewing machine! I go use my moms. If I can do this, so can you.

There are tons of great patterns out there on the Internet. Some are free, others are for purchase.
Being my frugal self, I use the free patterns!

The first diapers I made were from Rita's Rump Pocket pattern. I love this pattern because it is for a one size diaper. A one size diaper should fit most babies from 8lbs to potty learning. I was also easily able to make this into a regular fitted rather than a pocket style fitted.

How much did each diaper cost me? About $1.50!

I used old cut-up chinese prefolds for the internal soaker (4 layers). I had old flannel sheets to use for the body of the diapers. I did buy cute flannel fabric at Jo-Ann's for the outside of the diapers (about $2 a yard). I bought Lastin at Kayla's Cloth Kits. I used thread my mom had on hand.

The hardest part for me was the Lastin in the leg openings. I did find a great tutorial online, but can't find it again. There are several out there so just check around.

The best part of making your own diapers is that you are in control over how thick or thin they are! You can adapt them to your child for the perfect fit and absorbancy.

I Love Making Jelly!!!

If you have never made jam or jelly you really need to try it. It is so fun and satisfying. I'm going to admit right up front that my favorite part is listening to the jar seal (ping).
We have made tons of jam and jelly this year! We have been blessed with a great deal on pectin-I ended up getting it free after coupon at King Soopers! Plus free grapes and peaches from friends.

We've made grape jelly, strawberry jam, peach jam, vanilla pear jelly and a couple batches of jelly from organic juice I bought. I have dozens of jars in my food stockpile! I even made homemade jellied cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving this year. It was great! I made a couple batches and so I have 3 jars of it left. We have a favorite recipe that uses cranberry sauce so it will get used up pretty quickly.

I'm especially happy because the pectin we got was low/no sugar. I used about 1 cup of sugar where traditional recipes call for 4 cups!!! My family cannot tell any difference. It is sweet and delicious. I will never go back to full sugar. The cranberry sauce didn't even need pectin!

How did I get the pectin for free??? It is Ball brand. They put coupons inside the box. I bought 2 boxes on clearance at King Soopers for $0.90 each. They had $0.50 coupons that double at my store. So we just went back several times until we got about 20 free boxes! Even regular price I only pay about $0.79 after the double coupon.

Christmas Spending

Well, we are having a low budget Christmas this year. I have spent $46 CASH so far on the 3 kids. I plan to spend about $20 more on a main gift for Jordan. Then I am done.
Usually we spend around $300 on everything. So I am "saving" over $200 this year. That is good since I don't have $200! LOL
We will be making handmade treats and trinkets for teachers and friends and parents.

The hardest part for me was missing Black Friday. Man, there were some great deals at Walmart. Pajamas for $4, jeans for $8! But, I know I would have spent over $200 on all the "great deals." So I am proud of myself. Discipline is HARD!

It actually is kinda nice to focus on the true meaning of the season-Our Savior.

Target Kelloggs Deal

Okay, I can't believe I actually did this deal. Poptarts are EVIL! But I got paid to take them home, so I did. It will make me feel better to say that I am sending Poptarts to school and Krispie treats to Scouts for Jordan's birthday on Tuesday. :)

Target had a deal on some Kellogg's items this week. Buy 4/$9 get a $5 Target GC for free! There were a bunch of Kellogg's coupons to match with the deal, plus the $10 mail in rebate.

Here is what we got:

10 boxes 12 count Poptarts
2 boxes 8 count Rice Krispie Treats
3 All Small & Mighty trial size
2 ice cube trays

Coupons:
10 $0.50/1 Poptarts Target coupons
$1/2 Poptarts MFC
$1/2 Rice Krispie Treats MFC
3 $1/1 All Small & Mighty MFC

TOTAL: $24.06
We got back three $5 GC's and I will get back a $10 rebate
I could have done better if they had the new Milkshake Poptarts-would have saved $2 more.

Sunflower Market-My new favorite store!

My friends and I have a new favorite store. It is Sunflower Market! It is a new natural grocery store. They have now opened 16 stores and if you're lucky you'll get one soon.

They have unbeatable prices on produce. And it is GOOD produce. Just watch that you use it within the week because it is ripe! We have been loading up on grapes, peaches, cherries, pears, green beans, cucumbers, squash and bananas just to name a few.

They have a great bulk department. The regular prices are not as low as Whole Foods, but the sales make up for it. This week dry apple slices are on sale for $1.99 lb!!! They also had granola for $1.99 lb that my friends were going "gaga" over.

The first week they were open they had organic applesauce for $1.50 each. Big jars. I went nuts and bought, like, 30 jars. LOL I have been making fruit leather with it. There were about 5 different flavors, too!

I had recently started making my own organic refried beans from scratch, but I couldn't turn down the cans of organic refried beans for $0.79 a can. I stocked up and need to stop now...they are still on sale.

Oh, and they have great sales and regular prices on meat, too! I got salmon for $3.97 lb. And natural boneless, skinless chicken breast for $1.69 lb. Organic whole chickens are regular priced at $1.99 lb (same as Costco).

I was able to buy Monterey Jack and Meunster cheese from the deli for $2.99 lb. They had Brie for $3.99 lb and my friend was happy about that. I don't eat fancy cheese, so it wasn't as exiting for me. LOL

The best part about shopping at Sunflower Market is that if you go on Wednesday you get to shop TWO sale flyers! The sales overlap! It is a zoo on Wednesday, but totally worth it for the savings.

Back to School Deals

We went to Office Depot and Office Max today for the penny deals. I spent around $11 for all this. I would have gotten 3 Office Depot glue bottles but they were out (a penny each).
Backpack
Accordion File
5 Crayola colored pencils
5 composition notebooks
3 blunt scissors
3 rulers
3 boxes of crayons
3 mini Sharpie highliters

Kelsey was wearing the backpack when we checked out and I didn't realize it until we were out the door! So we had to go back in and pay for the backpack. Luckily I noticed before we even got to the car. I would have been mortified if we'd made it home with a "hot" backpack.

Target Clearance is Rockin' this Week!

I had to go to Target today to get some stuff for the kids. I ended up spending a long time looking through all their clearance items! I had to control myself or I would have spent a lot more. I actually kinda freaked when my total was so high, but a lot of this we needed or I am saving for next summer.

I spent under $100 for all this!

Boys Hanes socks (10 pk)
Girls Hanes socks (6 pk)
Boys dress socks (2 pk)
Baby socks (10 pk)-clearance $3
toddler socks (2 pk)-clearance $1.74
Princess Underwear (7 pk)
4 pair shorts for Kelsey (3 are long and modest!!!)-clearance 50-75% off
2 pair sleeping shorts for Jordan-clearance $1.98 each
Boys White t-shirt-clearance $1.48
6 pk Elmers Glue-Sale $1
5 pk of spiral notebooks-Sale $0.50
Black backpack-$19.99
Crayola foam sidewalk chalk refill-clearance $4.18
Transformer toy-clearance $1.74 (stocking stuffer)
Wooden Macaroni & Cheese Playset-clearance $6.94 (Christmas gift)
Boys Elastic waistband cargo type pants-clearance $4.48 (they are huge so I might return)

I am seriously tempted to go to a different Target and see if they have a better selection. I got size large for Jordan which is just waaay too big. I'd love to exchange for mediums. There are tons of toys on clearance, too. Like I said, restraint was used.

Frugal Friday: e-coupons are rocking my world

I have just recently been introduced into the wonderful world of e-coupons. These things rock!!!
I used my very first ones, with great success, on Tuesday night. Saved myself an additional $4. The coupons are loaded on to your King Soopers Soopercard (or Kroger store). When your card is scanned at checkout the coupons will be automatically applied. HINT: Look for them just under the item you bought, not at the bottom with the rest of the coupons.

The best part about e-coupons is that you can use them in conjunction with paper coupons!!! Talk about maximizing savings. I see a lot more free stuff in my future.

Here are the sites I have signed up with:

Shortcuts
P&G eSaver
Unilever Making Life Better

With such a variety of coupons you are bound to find things you can use. I have noticed that so far there are very few food coupons. I hope the food coupons are forthcoming since I don't need all the Health & Beauty products!

For more wonderful Frugal Friday inspiration head to Biblical Womanhood.