Some Great Money Saving Ideas to Start Off the New Year!

Stocking Stuffer Ideas

Besides the goodies and the oranges and peanuts that Santa puts in our stockings, he seems to leave items that are useful or may come in handy. Of course there are also a few toys for the younger kiddos but if your looking for some handy or useful items here are a few ideas!


Survival Bracelets/Straps

Have you seen these? They are pretty neat and useful as well as fun to wear. My hubby learned how to make these when he went up to scout camp with our boys. Each bracelet has yards of paracord which you can unravel in just over a minute, and deploy the paracord for use in literally hundreds of ways—many of which could help save a life! They come in many different styles and colors.

Hand and feet warmers are always a great stocking stuffer, we buy these by the box full and have used them for all sorts of events. But my kids love to get them in their stockings and wear them to bed that night or save them for when they go out and play in the snow. They don't cost too much and they can last up to 10 hours.

My older 2 will be getting one of these this year. Multi-Purpose Tools are great and have so many handy things on them. Most have screwdrivers, scissors, knifes, needle nose pliers, etc.. Very hand and easy to carry. I keep one in my purse and have used it often, mine even has a flashlight. These come in many different price ranges depending on what you want.

5-in-1 Survival Whistles are wonderful and we have a rule that whistles are only to be blown outside. This year everyone is getting one of these so that they can add it to their 72 hour packs. The ones I purchased have a whistle, compass, signal mirror, water proof container and flint. Again, another inexpensive idea!

One last item is a personal mini first aid kit. Everyone will also be getting these in their stockings this year. Again, there are several types you can purchase and they come in various prices. The ones I have are similar to this picture and include 12 first aid items to clean, treat and protect wounds in a reclosable carton. Includes eight assorted Band-Aids, two antiseptic wipes and two gauze pads. Perfect to also carry in a 72 hour kit.

Hope this helps, what useful items do you have for your stockings this year?

Is A Debt Free Christmas Possible?

Are you ready for Christmas yet, are you doing it without going into debt? I am getting there and I am close to being done with my shopping and I am doing it all without any debt! Christmas this year has been my personal challenge. This year since we DO NOT use credit cards anymore, I had to figure out a way to pay for Christmas this year up front and in cash. The credit cards were sooo much easier to use, I just shopped, put my items in my cart, took them up to the checkout and whipped out my handy, dandy card, I rarely thought twice about what I just did, but I certainly did when that lovely credit card bill came the next month!

Planning Ahead
So this year I really had to plan ahead, this way took so much more work, but I know in the long run it will all be worth it! I first had to make a Christmas budget and I saved this year like crazy, now remember were still getting back on our feet and still have a lot to do at the new house, so I was not sure how I was going to save enough to pay for Christmas for my family, my hubbies family(we only buy something for his parents and we draw on the kids, we have 3 nieces this year with a $20.00 limit), my family(my parents and my brother and his family with a $15.00 limit per person, and my Aunt and Uncle). I saved, saved, saved like crazy and then in October I started going through all that junk, lovely stuff that was in my garage, some I donated, actually a lot I donated but some I knew had some value, so I turned to my local craigslist and ebay and have been selling as much as I possible can! I mean to the point my kids are getting worried about their stuff and even themselves! Seriously though, so far and this is just in one week, we have made $500.00 and I still have stuff to sell! Not to bad if you ask me.

I am very careful in doing this though and I always make sure that someone is home with me, I never let people into my house and I carry my cell phone just in case, but so far everyone I have worked with has been great and no problems.

I was also fortunate that at the end of my job in September, I won a $200.00 money card and that has been wonderful, I have only touched a few hundred dollars of the money I have been saving and like I said I am almost done.

The 3 Gifts
For our kids and to keep cost down and gifts more manageable we do what is called the 3 gifts.  The 3 gifts represent the 3 gifts given to the baby Jesus from the 3 Wise men(gold, frankincense and myrrh).  For our kids this means that they get something they want(usually the Santa gift), something they need and something we want to get them.  We also do a book(this year I made a memory book for each child), pj's and stocking items.  Santa also brings a family gift which usually has things in it for the entire family, this consist of board games, books, movie tickets and a book on CD.  Santa also fills the stockings.  We also let each child draw a siblings name to buy them a present which we pay for($10.00 limit) and give to them on Christmas Day!
I cannot tell you how much this has helped and has curtailed the amount of presents we buy and how much we spend.  You see they also get gifts from their Grandparents, Great Aunt and Uncle, Aunts and Uncles and then each other.  It ends up being quite a bit and I just finally decided they did not need so much stuff!  We help both sets of Grandparents to keep things down on that end too.

I figure I will have probably spent a total of $700.00 for 20 people and a dog and cat(have to get something for them for all they put up with).  Not to bad actually if you ask me and I wont have the buyers remorse because there will be no credit card bills coming in the mail, that is the best part!


A Few Other Suggestions
A few other things I have done to curb cost is:

• Look for sales
• Look for free shipping when buying online
• Look for online coupons
• Buy a package deal that you can split up between people(I did this with a Star Wars Figure package)
• Stay with the limits you have set and don't go over that!
• Make a list and stick to it
• Have your kids make a list to give you some ideas and alternatives
• Use coupons or price match when you can

These are just a few suggestions, how do you shop for Christmas and how do you keep your cost down?  Most of all do you use credit cards to pay for Christmas?

Greek Starvation Recipes

If you have been following what has been happening in Greece, then you know its a bad situation and that we in the United States are being told that we are embarking on the same path.

One thing I learned about not having much money is that you have to get creative with food because its one of the largest expenses usually in your budget(depending of course on the number of mouths you feed). Yes, we did go on food stamps for 6 months but during that time I wanted to make the most of what I was given and be very conservative with what I had.

The other day I heard on one of our local AM radio shows Austin Hill about a cook book that recently came out in Greece called "Starvation Recipes". Fun title I know but as I did some more research on it and read the following article at the Blaze. The recipes in this book are ones that were used during the second World War, when people in Europe were quite literally starving to death and rationing everything they had as well as becoming quite creative on food.

Times were tough for them and it really got me thinking on what if that happened here or what if I had no money again and there was no food stamps, what would I do? Now I know there are other ways to get food right now besides food stamps, there are churches, food banks, etc.. But as I read on why this women created this book and especially why its selling out in Greece, it got me thinking again on why its important to be prepared and to be frugal, maybe not as extreme as this right now, but you never know do you? Also, what if it happens one day that there are no more food stamps, no more churches or food banks giving out food, what would you do to feed your family?

I also wanted to share a site that I found that is called Cooking Economy, you should really check it out! It goes along similar lines as the cookbook but not to the extreme! I really want to try some of the recipes on there, they look pretty good and I really believe it would be a good idea to know how to make some of these meals.

That said, how is your food storage?

Do you have enough food in your pantry to last your family for a little while? I will be talking more latter about how you can easily put together a 90 days worth of meals. These have been tried out, bought and tested and it wont break the bank! Did you know that most grocery stores only have enough on their shelves and in their store rooms to last for 3 days! In an emergency or a run on the stores those shelves and the store for that matter are cleared out in a matter of hours! Bottom line is to have enough food in your home to last for a little while but will touch more on that as I said latter.

See what you think about both and leave me a message!