Shop It To Me! Personal Shopper

I just found this website in Woman's Day and I signed up. Shop It To Me is a website designed to shop sales for you- in the companies you want in the sizes you need. And when you sign up, if you get 10 friends to sign up, they will give you a $10 gift card. They have services for women, men, and children- shoes, jackets, pants, shirts, etc! I will let you know how it works out and if I get any good deals!

Start Christmas Cards Early

I just ordered my Christmas cards from Shutterfly. I am a little early, but so much better than being late. I will be able to mail them right after Thanksgiving. Plus Shutterfly has free shipping (code ship25) right now which saved me $6.99 on 50 photo cards. And they have the best selection of cards for around $.55 each, with up to 9 photos (I did three photos on mine). Check it out! (No affiliate here, just great info!). I will scan the card when I receive it.

Here is one of the Christmas photos I used. You can see some more on my Mom Blog. Aren't they just so cute???

Ultimate Money Saving Tip

Joining Vicki in her Frugal Friday tips, I decided to post a tip just for preschool parents as well as my tip for anyone wanting to save money on my other blog.

For parents of young children, the smallest things can add up... clothes for the cooler weather, birthday parties, doctor's visits, etc., all add up to unexpected purchases. For a family with preschoolers, you have got to plan ahead in order to not get bogged down with these cost.

One thing is to shop ahead. At the end of the season, buy clothes in the next size up. While some children may growth spurt or not grow much, you can almost bet than most children will be one size larger by the next year (not exactly a science, especially for babies). Try to buy the things that are not as necessary to be in exact sizes- sweat shirts, coats, long sleeve shirts for winter- bathing suits, shorts, and T-shirts for summer. Try to store them where you will not forget them for the next year. At least you will be a little ahead on those new purchases.

You should also shop ahead for gifts. When I find books, toys, crafts, and other great birthday gifts on sale or clearanced, I go ahead and buy them and make a space in the closet with the items. When a party comes around, I do not have to run out and buy a gift, but I choose from those things purchased earlier at great savings. This saves the hassle of shopping the day of the party too. Try to buy gifts that are suitable for boys and girls so you can be ready for any party. This is a great idea for Christmas gifts too.

For unexpected illness (and what illness is not unexpected), cut coupons for over the counter medicines you may need in the future. When the time comes, you can buy what you need, and have a little savings. Shopping at drugstores like CVS also give you reward bucks for all purchases and prescriptions. They can be used later for purchases and also special sales they have (toilet paper is a great item to use the reward bucks, coupons, and their sale price to get a really good deal!).

Planning ahead for those events you know are going to happen is a great way to save money. Impulse shopping tends to be more expensive than shopping when you can stop and think or shop around for the best deal.

The 201st Post, A Bit Delayed: Meals Matter

I was so excited about my 200th post, and then I slacked off for a few weeks. It has been an adjustment to teaching all day, coming home and doing home stuff, and making dinner (the most dreaded of evening activities). I did find a great meal planner website that is perfect for moms of all ages and stages, Meals Matter.org. It is free and has lots of recipes to include in your weekly meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with things you can request or exclude. It was a little tricky to figure out some of the functions, but worth the time and effort. They even print a shopping list.

The only negative is that you cannot print a list of recipes, but have to print each individually. So take you time with that one!

And you know eating with your children is so important at any age. Making meals at home is not the most fun job, but worth the time when you sit down for that homemade food.

Hope you enjoy!

Plus, I am saving money by planning ahead and NOT EATING OUT!

Easy Slime Recipe!

In my effort to save money around the home, I decide to do some fun projects with my little ones. My son has asked more than once for a slime making kit at a local craft store. It was over $5! When you see the recipe, you will see how the packing, labeling, advertising, and shipping inflate the price!

I made slime many years back for my preschool class sensory table. It was easy, icky, and fun! I did a quick search and found these slime recipes. I choose to do the one with the slime recipe with borax. Borax can be found in the laundry section for around $3 a box and can be used for a gazillion different things! So for the tablespoon this recipe calls for cost maybe 5 cents???!! I had some white glue left over from a project, but I know I bought small 2 oz bottles at the dollar store (4/$1) and I used 3 (explanation later on my change in the recipe). Plus the tap water, that means this cost less than $1 to make.

Using the recipe linked above, I mixed my water and glue, but probably not thoroughly enough. When I added the borax water, it did not combine well, but I was able to pull out the slime from the watery mix. Then I just emptied another 2 oz. bottle into the water and stirred quickly. That gave me some more slime.

If you are going to color the slime, I would recommend adding it to the borax water or the water before mixing it with the glue solution. Then combine the two together.

Have fun! And save money (plus packaging, gasoline, etc!).