The "F" Word (Relax.. Read On!)

Frugal. Cheapskate. Tightwad.

Frugal living is not just for the poor, or for the cheap. It's for the smart! Vacation time is just around the corner, so I think we should talk about ways to have a frugal vacation while still making it an actual vacay for you!

Food.

It's expensive enough when you're at the grocery store, but when you're out of town it's even worse. And who wants to eat food out of the cooler for days straight? Can you say soggy cheese? To save money on food, go to the restaurants for lunch but not for dinner. Or better yet, have an early dinner! Most places serve lunch until at least 3 or 4. So if you arrive at 3:50, you still get the lunch price but after you eat your rolls or salad, you're eating at 4:30 (which is closer to dinner time) and still paying only lunch price. Score.

Stay at a hotel that serves breakfast for free. I think that's a given, but just in case you didn't think of it, that is one of the best ways to save money. Nowadays, it doesn't cost any extra to stay at a hotel that serves breakfast versus one that doesn't. Fill up on breakfast, grab a few bagels or yogurts for a snack for later (if you're having a late breakfast and early dinner, you can snack for lunch), and you're all set.

At buffets, kids usually eat free. If you have 3 children with you, and 2 adults, you're paying $10 each for the adults and the kids are free. If you really need to save money, skip the soda and get water (free). That means you paid $20 for 5 people to eat. Cheaper than the $1 menu at McDonald's, and so much better! You can also go at 3:00 (similar to above) and get the lunch price, but take your time so it is actually a lunch/dinner combo!

Share a plate. This can be romantic as well as frugal. :) If you end up at a restaurant that forbids splitting plates, one of you can order a soup (cheap!) or salad and share that as well.

Avoid.

You want to avoid souvenir shops all together if you are on a budget. Over-priced junk. Ick.

Don't rent a car if you're staying in a city. You can walk or catch a bus for a couple of bucks. Or better yet, see if they have a train to take you places. Fun and inexpensive. :)

Credit cards - I know this sounds crazy, but leave them at home! Bring one just in case of an emergency but do not use it just for the heck of it. When I'm on vacation, I carry a little bit of cash and leave the debit card at the hotel (hidden, of course). I don't want to spend more than I planned on spending, and I can't if I don't have the means to do so.

Avoid going over budget. Set a daily meal and entertainment spending limit and stick with it.

Airfare.

Obviously if you have more than one person going on vacation, driving may be cheaper, but if you must fly, plan ahead to get the best air fare deals. Now you could wait til the last minute and get great deals, maybe... but that's a maybe. So I wouldn't recommend it.

If you visit matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch you will be directed to the same database that travel agents use, but for free. You cannot purchase tickets on this website but you can compare prices so you know what the best price will be.

Taking the late flight is usually best, and if you can fly over night and during the week, that's even better. Air fare prices change up to three times a day, so when you are looking for prices, like I said, plan ahead. Then you can compare prices for a few days and grab them when they're low.

AirFareWatchDog.com is a website that will email you sales and alerts for any airport or trip. Farecast.live.com and farecompare.com search records of fares to give price trends for your trip.

Being flexible will also save you a lot of money. Keep this in mind when planning time off work!

Other ways to save.

Pack light. If you choose a few outfits that you can mix and match, you are going to be packing less clothes for each family member (easily saving yourself at least one piece of luggage and an extra charge at the airport).

Take photos of your travel documents and send them to yourself via email. If you lose anything, you will have these available at the touch of a button. This could also save you a lot of time and money.

If you are on a romantic getaway and still trying to pinch pennies, grab a matinee and then hit up Happy Hour. See what time the local pubs or restaurants have Happy Hour. Then watch the movie (matinee prices are always cheaper), and stroll over to Happy Hour afterwards. Think dinner & a movie, but reversed.

What are some ways you save money while vacationing?

Or how are you saving money to go on a vacation?

Week 3: Couponing

Since this is week 3, I thought maybe you guys were ready for a huge couponing resource list. These websites will all help you save money, but if you think you are going to get overwhelmed just do a few at a time. :)

Would you like to know more about DOUBLE coupons? Click here to see which stores (by state) double.

There are no inserts in our Sunday paper this week. :( So, click HERE to be entered to win over $200 in coupons. Giveaway ends soon!

{RIGHT CLICK ON EACH LINK. HIT "OPEN IN NEW TAB". I did not format these to open in new tabs. If you don't do this, you surely will get lost in blogland.}

Saving to a Better Life

The Coupon High
Money Saving Mom
A Few Short Cuts
Target Savers

Frugal Follies
Single Mom Saving Money
Bluegrass Savers

Deal Seeking Mom
Embracing Beauty
Coupon Frugality
Blessings n Couponing
Clip It To The Bank
Super Saver Sisters
Vanessa's Values
Red Plum
Pirates of the Supermarket
Coupon Network

The Frugal Find

The Savvy Student Shopper

Sunday Coupon Preview
Obsessive Coupon Disorder

Suzy Coupons

Mommy Savers

Coupons and Freebies Mom
A Little Simplicity
Couponing To Be Debt Free
Loving the Little Things
The Thrifty Momma Says

The Mama Report
Thrift Me
Frugality is Free
The Deal Scoop

Save The Coupons
Thrifty and Thriving
Love to Save

Hip 2 Save

And don't forget to check out Couponing Week 1 and 2 for other great resources.

{**Featured today: The Spaceyard. Please check them out on Facebook. If you'd like to be featured, email me (randomosityblog AT gmail DOT com)!**}

Frugal Friday: COUPONING Week 2

Price matching!! Yay! This is my favorite way to save money, because I don't always buy the things that coupons are available for. If you have a super Wal-Mart near you, they price match (brand for brand) so head over there after reading this post, and let me know how much you saved! If you don't have a Wal-Mart, call your local stores to see which ones (if any) offer price matching.

Keep in mind that most stores allow you to use a manufacturer's coupon as well as a store coupon on a single item. If you combine that great deal with price matching, you're going to save a ton! Be patient. Hear me out. :)

Let's start with simple price matching. Wal-Mart sells pineapples for $3.50 (prices change a LOT, but let's go with it). Aldi has them on sale for $.99 this week. You save $2.51!

Now, price matching with a coupon. Not sure how much cereal is at Wal-Mart this week but it's usually over $3 a box. Schnucks has Kellogg's on sale for $1.77, and I got a coupon out of the newspaper for $1.50 off 3 boxes.

Here are a few other examples:

Now you really want to save some cash? Let's do a price match, manufacturer's coupon, and a store coupon!

If you have a store that doubles coupons, don't forget to try them out as well - even if they don't offer price matching. Some stores will only double up to a certain amount, or only on certain days, so be sure to check their policies before going.

Like I said last week, I'm not an extreme couponer. I have no plan, desire, or need to be one. I buy only what we need. However, I have just started planning our menus around sales and coupons, which saves even more money. We slashed our grocery bill from $150 down to $125 when I first started using coupons. Since I started using my binder and price matching, I've slashed our bill from $125 to $80. This isn't $500 worth of groceries for $25 like on TLC, but it's what works for us. :)

The best deals I've found are with coupons on shampoo, deodorant, razors, toothpaste, makeup, hair care products, and frozen/canned/boxed foods.

The best deals I've found with price matching are with produce, meat, and drinks/snacks.

Keep in mind that they only match the same price on the SAME BRAND. And don't forget to bring your ads with you (I circle all of the products I'm price matching) to the check-out or they won't do you any good. :)

If you have any questions please let me know. Sometimes I get to typing and it doesn't make as much sense as it did in my head! So if you are confused at all, just ask. If you don't have a store that price matches, don't get discouraged. Check out last week's post for great coupon sites. You can save LOTS by printing coupons. I only use the Sunday paper and have cut my grocery bill quite a bit. I know you can do the same!

See Week 3!

Frugal Friday: COUPONING Week 1 *LONG*

UPDATE: See Week 2 and 3!!

This might only be a 2 week series, because I'm not sure how much I can teach you about couponing. I am not one of those extreme couponers, or one of those "crazy coupon ladies", but I do like to save money. Today I'm going to show you how I keep my coupons organized.

I am the type that always says "I'm not going to clip coupons to save 25 cents on a name brand when I can get the generic for less". This is so true. Do not waste your time clipping coupons if you are going to the store only to realize the generic is cheaper. I'm not a brand snob, I'll buy the generic of just about anything. However, when you see an ad for toothpaste for $1 and you have a $1 off coupon, you just got toothpaste for free. This is what makes couponing worth while.

Now I'm not going to tell you to buy 87 Sunday papers and stock up on that many boxes of toothpaste. I live in an 800 square foot apartment. We have room for one toothpaste at a time. Again, I'm not an extreme couponer. I only buy things we need. I do not buy things because they are cheap or because they will be free after a rebate. That's just not me.

Anyway... to get started, you need a coupon binder. You could use one of those accordion coupon holders, but they just aren't the same. If you don't want to carry a huge binder to the store with you, try to find a mini. Heck, use a travel photo album. I don't care - just get those suckers organized!

Today we are just going to focus on how to make your coupon binder. One step at a time, right? :) It seems like common sense but sometimes it's just easier if someone breaks it down for you. So here we go!

You will need:

*A Sunday paper (or another newspaper/magazine with coupons in it)

*scissors (unless you want to tear them all..err..not recommended)

*3 ring binder

*baseball card sleeves (I got a pack of 35 at Wal-Mart for $4.88)

*A Marker

*A few pieces of white/scrap cardstock

First, you want to sit down with your newspaper(s). Take out all of the sale ads from the grocery stores, and set them aside (we will talk about this part next week). Then, grab all of the coupons and get to clipping. This should only take about 10 minutes, assuming you don't have any kids interruptions. Now you should have a nice pile of coupons.

You can organize as you are cutting, by putting them into piles. I only shop at one store, so I usually have mine organized by aisles. However, for this tutorial, I made labels by category: dairy, frozen, produce, boxed, canned, snacks, beverages, breads, cleaning supplies, paper goods, misc food, and non-food. Just take the sleeves out and put the coupons on top for now.

Then you need to put the coupons in the sleeves.... obviously... :)

Little dividers were like $5 at Wal-Mart, so I just made my own. Take a piece of card stock and write the different categories down. Use tape to secure to the coupon sleeves.

You can label these by aisle, by section, etc and you can place them in the order you will pass them in the store or you can place them in alphabetical order.

I make my menu for the week (breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks), make my grocery list, and then take the coupons out that I'm going to use during my trip and I put them in an empty sleeve at the beginning of my binder. Most couponers will suggest planning your menus around store ads and coupons, but I am just not that talented yet. :)

Remember how I told you to set aside the store sale ads? We will talk about those next Friday! :)

Here are a few ton of coupon sites that were recommended by friends. I haven't had a chance to start printing coupons out yet, or visiting these sites, but I know they can help you save a LOT of money... so if you have time, visit a few of them. :) Add your own in the comments.

Penny Pinchin' Mom Frugal Fun & Fortune

Smart Source Money Saving Mom

Hip 2 Save Passion For Saving

Coupon Mom The Krazy Coupon Lady

A Full Cup Refund Cents

Pinching Your Pennies Coupons.com

Deal Seeking Mom Clippin' With Carie

Pocket Your Dollars Free Snatcher

Totally Target Couponing 101

Hot Coupon World Maven of Savin'

My Litter Bargains to Bounty

Don't get overwhelmed. This is a really simple process, and believe it or not it can actually be relaxing! Take a few minutes, grab your drink of choice, and clip some coupons. The entire process (menu planning, coupon clipping, etc) won't take more than an hour each week. If you have any questions or need help with getting started, please let me know! I will try to help in any way I can. Next week I will be doing a giveaway and it has to do with COUPONING so be sure to check out my post on Friday. :) Thanks for stopping by -- leave your blog link in the comments and I will try to visit!

UPDATE: Check out Week 2 and 3!!

Frugal Friday: Make Your Own HE SAFE Detergent

I think Fridays are my new favorite days (I realize this is posted late Thursday night -- I have a very impatient, pregnant friend that wanted me to share this like yesterday).

I love sharing ways to make and save money! I recently discovered how to make my own HE SAFE laundry detergent (courtesy of the Duggars). I know I'm a bit behind some of the super-frugal moms out there, but I never realized how much of an expense laundry detergent was until I kept having to buy it over and over again! I am not the one who does laundry, so it just never occurred to me. There are lots of recipes you can find, but I will share the one I am using. :)

I have NO clue how I forgot to take a picture of the ingredients. :( So I stole a picture from google.

You'll need:

4 cups hot tap water

1/2 cup Borax

1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

1 Fels-Naptha Bar

OPTIONAL: Essential oils

Grate the Fels-Naptha Bar (we found ours at Dierberg's, but most grocery stores or whole food stores should carry it).

Mix with 4 cups hot tap water and stir over medium heat until all soap is melted.

Seriously, stir until all of the soap is melted. Don't get impatient and skip this part. :)

Fill a 5 gallon bucket HALF full with hot tap water (straight from the tub is fine, no need to heat on the stove). I do not have a picture of this step, sorry!

Pour the heated soap mixture into the 5 gallon bucket. Add the washing soda and borax. Stir. Let cool and add essential oils. I added about 30 drops. Fill the bucket the rest of the way with water, stir, cover and let set for 24 hours.

Stir the mixture well upon uncovering. This is what it looks like after 24 hours of setting. It's kind of like a goop-gel-water consistency.

Pour detergent into old containers or a milk jug. Fill HALF WAY with laundry detergent, and the other half with water. You will need to shake this detergent every time before use, as it will gel up and separate. Front loaders use 1/4c top loaders use 1/2c. Also, if you are using this detergent for sensitive skin or babies, you can skip the borax. If you have tough stains, you can add baking soda. There are plenty of recipes here that you can check out. :)

The run down on the cost:

Bucket: $3 (You may have one of these on hand)

Fels-Naptha: $2.50

Borax: $3.49

Super Washing Soda: $2.99

Essential Oils: On hand

Total for 10 gallons of laundry soap: Less than $5.

The amount of borax and washing soda I have on hand will make gallons and gallons and gallons of laundry detergent. If you have your own recipes or frugal tips, please share them. :) I am thinking about doing a frugal linky if you'd be interested let me know.

**Also, a cup of vinegar in your rinse cycle can replace the need for dryer sheets.**

DIY Ribbon Organizer for $4!!!

Okay so I have decided to turn my Nellie Bug's blog into a DIY blog. I think it will get more traffic that way and will also get me together with more boutiques and crafters. Not sure I'll have time for this blog much. I just got ALMOST caught up on orders this week and now I have 16 more - plus word of 2 more coming in tonight. Getting a bit overwhelmed!

Check out the DIY ribbon organizer tutorial and let me know what you think!