If you have children, you know that quality childcare can be expensive.  The more children you have, the higher that cost becomes.  I’ve tried to list a few ideas for free and cheap childcare below, but encourage you to comment with your ideas as well.

– Trade with a friend (Playgroup): Trading childcare is a great way to get FREE childcare.  It is best to set up a schedule to ensure that you are both getting equal time.  For instance: you have the kids on Monday from 9-1 and your friend has the kids on Wednesday from 9-1.  It will give each of you a break without breaking the bank.

– Family Member: If you live near family, consider asking grandparents, aunts or cousins to help with the kids.  Just remember not to take advantage.  Even grandma needs a break.  Don’t foget you could pay family members to watch your child and the rates will usually be much less.

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This is a post that was supposed to have gone up a month ago, but I must have scheduled it wrong.  I thought adding it as part of Thrifty Thursday would be good to show how through couponing we can give back to those in need.  Coupon users are have the unique ability to give more for less! 

Looking for more information on donating?  Read this post

I teamed up with Amee from Madame Deals & several other bloggers to show how $5 can truly make a difference.  We have shown a range of items that can benefit those less fortunate.

What did we do with just $5 each from Pampers?

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Planting and maintaining a garden is not only frugal;  it can be a fun and educational adventure for children.  Who knows, they may actually eat more veggies!

1.  Let kids pick out plants or seeds:  Give your child a say in the vegetables you plant.   Take them to the garden center and talk about the different veggies that would grow well in your area.

2.  Get dirty:  Allow kids to help plant the garden.  Kids love to play in the dirt, so direct their love off all things messy into a productive activity.  Kids can dig holes, drop in seeds or plants, cover with dirt and water the planted area.

3.  Maintain the garden:  Keep your child interested and involved in the growing process throughout the year.  You can enlist kids to help water and weed the garden.  Adults can supervise to make sure that plants are getting enough (and not too much) water.  Just remember not to force the issue.  Kids won’t want to tend the garden daily.

4.  Little pickers:  Allow children to pick the veggies when ripe.  You could even designate a special basket just for their bounty.

5.  Get cooking:  Involve children in meal preparation using their freshly picked vegetables.  Young children can wash vegetables and place pre-cut veggies in the salad bowl or meal pan.  If you’re marinating vegetables (say for the grill) allow children to place the veggies in the pan and add the marinade.  You can also discuss with children new ways to prepare meals using the vegetables they helped grow.

Children enjoy being “big helpers.”  Tap into that desire and save yourself a little bit of work in the process.   Parents can also use home garden’s as an opportunity to discuss topics such as how things grown, the benefits of growing your own food, and  the importance of eating your vegetables.  It will also allow for more individual time with your child making the garden extra special.

Do your children like to help in the garden?

I have received an influx of comments and emails about illegal and inconsiderate coupon use.  I thought it was appropriate to share some of the scenarios that I have been made aware of. 

We have seen stores changing and tightening down on coupons policies over the past couple of months.  Rite Aid is the most recent store to change their policy, now placing a limit of 4 like coupons if sufficient stock is available to satisfy other customers. 

We all need to work together to promote couponing in a good light, regardless of what you see on TV.  We all have the same goal; to save money.  We can either work together or watch our saving disappear.

If you’re new to the site, please take a moment to read my past articles on Ethical Couponing and Courteous Couponing.

1.  Clearing shelves:  Please be respectful to other shoppers and don’t clear the shelves.  Most stores also have policies that limit the number of “like” coupons.  You must adhere to these policies.  

During  Harris Teeter triples a lady was throwing all the bottles of Tabasco into her cart. She informed the shopper that only 3 coupons could be used and the shopper seemed unaware that there was a limit.

2.  Clearing shelves and disrespectful behavior:  Again, please don’t take all 20 items from the shelf and be respectful to other shoppers.

The first I noticed of the change was when the Jell-O Delights were on sale a FF a while back and would be free with the double coupon. As I was looking in the case to choose a flavor I thought my kids would enjoy trying, a woman came up, excused herself and took all that were left (about 12). Of course, I knew only 2 of her Qs would double, but was too dumbfounded to speak and before I had the chance, she had dashed on to the next item on her list. This also happened just this past Sunday with the Lunchables at Wags.

3.  Stealing Coupon Inserts: Please be mindful that other’s may want a Sunday paper (not just for coupons).  Also, it is not okay to remove the coupon inserts and leave the newspaper.  I have personally experienced this at Walgreens.

I tried to buy a newspaper at Walmart and a few 7-11s because my newspaper was swiped from my driveway. They were either bought up or had the coupon inserts missing. I was cutting through some aisles at Walmart and low and behold there was a stack of newspapers sitting in a laundry basket with all the coupons taken out. Someone had taken a stack from the front of the store and went and hid in the store and removed them.

A mail carrier was charged with Felony Grand Larceny for stealing 7,000 coupons from his mail route and selling them on eBay!  Yes, stealing coupons is a crime.

4.  Using coupons for products other than allowed by manufacture: I read a post on We Use Coupons (can’t find it now) regarding Harris Teeter Triples. 

As the article author was shopping, she noticed all the Eggo Waffles were cleared from the shelf.  Well, the Eggo coupon available was for the Fiber Plus variety only.  The Fiber Plus variety was not included in the sale, and the shelves were full.  Shoppers were using the Eggo’s Fiber Plus coupon to purchase Regular Eggo’s.   The coupon was clear as to the product limitation.  Shoppers must remember to read the coupon and adhere to manufacture guidelines.

These are just 4 examples to remind everyone of some of the issues we are facing.  Let’s work together, so stores continue to be coupon friendly.  We will all benefit.

Opinions are welcome, but please use your “big girl words”

This post is linked to My Coupon Teacher

The following is a guest post from This Mama Loves Her Bargains.  I used homemade glass cleaner and all purpose cleaner when I was pregnant, but it has since fallen by the wayside.  I love how frugal and easy making your own cleaning products can be!  I do use Brett’s recipe below for cleaning my coffeemaker and my wood floors.  Hmm, I guess I haven’t gotten out of the habit entirely 🙂

Do you make your own cleaning products?

I discovered a few years ago that I can clean my house – almost top to bottom – with 2 very simple and very inexpensive ingredients. They are not hard to find and you can buy them in large or small quantities. They are also non toxic and child and pet safe so there’s no need to worry about ventilating for fumes, or rinsing once you are done cleaning.

The two ingredients that you want to get to know the benefits of? Baking soda & vinegar.

There are other things you can add in, like essential oils, to enhance the cleaning or disinfecting power, or make the cleaners smell good, but you don’t really need them. When I mention vinegar in recipes below, I am referring to distilled white vinegar (think of what you dye Easter eggs with!)

What can baking soda do? This is almost more a question of what can’t baking soda do! Sign up for Arm & Hammer coupons to make your cleaning supplies even more affordable!! I buy 2 large bags of it 1-2 times per year at BJ’s using a coupon and literally pay just a few dollars to clean almost my entire house. I think a 5 lb bag was $5.99 last time we bought this, less the coupon !!
What does vinegar do? It kills mold, bacteria and germs, because of its acidic properties. Its safe for kids and pets! (Get money saving coupons for Heinz vinegar on their site!) Buying vinegar in gallon sized containers (or larger from a warehouse club for about $6) is only a few dollars and will make most of your cleaning recipes dozens of times over!

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The following is a guest post courtesy of Melissa!

Beyond the Coupons

I like to save money. I do. I’ll occasionally rifle through my local Valpak for coupons and shop for the best deals at the grocery store. But I’m admittedly lazy when it comes to couponing.

I do not have the dedication—or the attention span—that it takes to save substantial amounts of money through coupons alone. At the end of each month I’ll bemoan my checking account balance to anyone who’ll listen, but do I change my habits? Noooo! I eat out with my friends, I shop for shoes, I go to concerts. What can I say? I like to indulge. And since indulgence plus a low-paying job does not a decent checking account balance make, I knew I had to make some modifications somewhere. Here are three:

DIY – As a single woman, I’ve had to learn how to do many things myself. As a not-rich single woman, I’ve had to learn how to do many things myself that many others would pay to do. In the past, I fell into that “many others” category. Not so anymore! I recently switched from renting an apartment to renting a house (I know, I know; I shouldn’t be renting, but that’s a post for another time), which means I have a lot more upkeep expenses than I used to. At first, I opted to pay for things like plumbing and basic car maintenance. Then, once I realized I couldn’t do that and maintain the lifestyle to which I’d grown accustomed, I opted to let things fall into disrepair. That didn’t last long. After I realized that neither Option #1 nor Option #2 were viable solutions, I took the advice of my mother and learned how to do many things myself. I decided that getting my hands dirty was worth it if it meant I could afford the manicure afterward. I like to learn new things, so once I got started, I quickly became fascinated with how many things around the house that had once baffled me actually had rather simple solutions. I also learned that it wasn’t just repairs that I could do myself, but also improvements. Gradually, my house and car are a.) working again and b.) actually improving. Of course, I didn’t do it alone. I frequently referenced the DIY channel’s website and other fix-it blogs. I’m also a fan of blogs like Made, All Things Thrifty, and Thrifty Décor Chick that have great tips for decorating and revamping your home.

Online Shopping – As previously mentioned, shopping is a hobby of mine. I like to browse through the stores at the mall, fingering the fabrics and trying on the shoes. I’m hypnotized by all the bright colors and neatly folded stacks. Unfortunately, neatly folded stacks frequently connote full-priced items. Sale items are often relinquished to racks and—shudder—bins. Did I mention my lack of dedication and attention span? Thank goodness for the Internet because it allows me to combine my two non-loves: paying retail price and sorting through sale bins. On the Internet all of the discounted items are just as neat and eye-catching as the full-priced items. Plus, lots of stores’ websites have things that they don’t carry anywhere else. And I’m not using the gas I normally would to get to the mall. I’m saving money AND the environment!

Groupon (As if they need more advertising) – The thing that I love about Groupon (and LivingSocial, and YipIt) is that it offers deals on the services that I would normally pay for anyway. Remember the goals of all of this money-saving in the first place? The manicures and dinners and so on? Well, not only am I now saving money for these things, I’m saving money on them, too! All of the deal-of-the-day sites are great, but I tend to like YipIt the best because it gathers deals from several other sites and it tailors them best to what I enjoy doing.

Some or all of these things may seem obvious to the savvier saver, but they are fairly recent revelations to me. I’ve even started using my previous money-saving tricks differently. Before I’d always just halfheartedly try to save money when I could. As in, save money on one purchase so I could spend it on another. Now I use money-saving tools to actually SAVE MONEY. As in saving money. As in checking account balance going up. I wonder if this means I should open a—gasp!—savings account?

Melissa is a single gal just trying to make it in this crazy world!  She enjoys cooking, traveling and spending time with her rather large family.

Mary left an excellent question on the Facebook page.  I am not experienced with saving on gourmet foods, but I will give this my best shot.  Please leave a comment with your ideas!

I never see coupons for things like gourmet cheese, cream and spices. I prefer to make my own salad dressings, sauces and gravies and would love to know how to save money on those. One of my favorite things is gouda mac and cheese, and gouda is expensive even on sale. Any suggestions?

Every once in a while I see coupons for gourmet cheese in the inserts.  There were International Delight creamer coupons in the 04/10 SS insert (not sure if you could use those).  There was also a McCormick coupon in the 04/10 RP insert.   

1.  Check the company website and sign up for email lists.  It is common for companies to provide coupons on their website or to include offers in monthly newsletters.

2.  Request coupons from the manufacture:  Most manufacturers are more than willing to provide you with coupons on your favorite products if you ask.  Send an email and tell them how much you love their product. Ask if they could mail you coupons,  so you could purchase their product more often. 

3.  Amazon is a great place to find just about everything you’re looking for.  I know they have a gourmet food section that may or may not include the gourmet products your looking for.  Watch for free shipping options and the “subscribe and save” option to save more.  Don’t forget about using your swagbucks to purchase Amazon gift cards!

4.  Use Catalina’s to purchase your “extras”.  If you can save on products your family will use by purchasing items that will issue a Catalina, designate those CATS to gourmet purchases.

5.  Use extra grocery money for gourmet purchases.  When you are under budget for the month, use your savings to purchase the items that are not necessarily part of your normal spending.  I love Trader Joe’s, but I can easily go over my budget if I shop too often.  Sometimes I save my leftover grocery money and use that for TJ shopping.

6.  Make a price book of your favorite products.  Take time to visit your local stores and write down the brand and price of the gourmet foods you need.  Make sure to include a store brand if applicable.  You may find one store is regularly priced less than another.  Plus you can see if an item is on a good sale.

7.  Look for markdowns each time you shop.  Take a walk past the gourmet cheese case every time you shop.  Look for reduction stickers on the products you need.  Stores reduce products as they get close to their expiration dates.

8.  Talk with the store manager.   Get friendly with your local store manager.  Find out when your store typically marks down the products you need.  Chat him/her up about how you can take the products off their hands before they go bad.  It’s better for the store for you to buy the product then for them to toss it.

*Also, use the Coupon Database to see if anyone else has a found a coupon for a product you are looking for.   You may be surprised as to the coupons that are posted there.

What are your ideas for saving on Gourmet Items?

This post is linked to My Coupon Teacher & Life as Mom