thrifty thursday

Well, it's opening day at the Minnesota State Fair. We LOVE the fair in our family. But, the fair is anything but "thrifty". It costs an obscene amount of money to take a family of 8 out for a day of fair fun. Gate admission went up this year, everyone wants to eat something different (and LOTS of it!), the rides multiplied by 5 ride-loving kiddos (ok, Rebekah will gone on her share, but I'm not sure she actually qualifies as "ride-loving"). So, if you want to be truly thrifty you should probably skip the fair. But, we're going! There are a few ways to save a bit while you're there though.

It's too late for this one (sorry), but you can buy advanced fair tickets. Discounted admission tickets, ride tickets and state fair coupon books are on sale at various places for the couple weeks leading up to the fair. We always get a coupon book ($4 if you pre-buy . . . and worth every penny! Even if you pay the $5 full price it's well worth it, so get one the minute you step inside the gate) and save on a few of our favorites and usually risk trying a few new coupon items too. Our kids all did the summer reading program at the library, and one of the prizes is a state fair admission ticket, so, thankfully, all the kids that are old enough to be charged admission have also earned their own ticket by reading over the summer! We buy our ride tickets in advance too and then limit the number of rides the kids go on. We're sneaky (although the older ones are catching on) and always say something like "Do you want it to be a 3 ride day or a 4 ride day?" Like it's up to them or something. We knew all along that it was a 4 ride day, but it makes them feel like they are in control a bit.

Plus, there's free stuff all over the fair if you know how to find it. Our favorite :: in the southwest corner of the food building you can get a sample of fabulous ice cream -- we'll head there straight away when we arrive. Even if it is 7:30 am. That's what the fair is for, right? One year we got free bike helmets for all the kids. The line was pretty long, but, do you know how much 4 nice quality bike helmets cost? Yup, it was worth the wait. I'm not sure if they are doing that again this year (that would be nice since now we have 6 kids and a few of them have grown out of their 2008 bike helmet), I'll have to check.

So, although we do a pretty good job of getting some decent fair deals, the fair really isn't a thrifty place. So, just throw it out the window, for the most part, for a day (or two or three, depending on how hard-core you are about the fair) and enjoy your time at "The Great Minnesota Get-Together". You'll be glad you did! And, in case you wonder, we'll be there next Wednesday, the 31st. Maybe we'll see you there.

Check out this site for helpful thrifty fair tips.

thrifty thursday

Double coupon day::

Double coupon day is our favorite. Did you know that on Wednesdays and Saturdays Rainbow storess will double up to 5 coupons that are up to $1 in value per order? They will. And I guess if you wanted to be tricky about it, you could check out multiple times. But we don't really have the time or patience for that. Yesterday, we got a box of cereal (Jacob's new favorite!) for less than a dollar because we had a $1 off coupon which doubled to $2 off. It's a pretty fabulous deal . . . if there are Rainbow grocery stores where you live anyway. If you had to drive to my neighborhood to double your coupons and you live -- let's just say, in Idaho (hi Robin!), chances are good you wouldn't end up actually saving any money (although there would be other advantages to the trip, right?)

thrifty thursday :: school supplies

Well, school supplies can be a killer . . . especially when multiplied by 4! But if you do it correctly, you can save quite a bit. Stores have amazingly cheap deals on a few items each week (for example, this week I got folders for a penny a piece -- limit 10, you know). If you look through the ads and make your lists according to the get-you-in-the-door, crazy-cheap deals, you can tackle your entire supply list for much less than you think.

On Tuesday night Rebekah and I headed out to get this weeks bargains. We went to 4 stores (Walgreens, Staples, Office Max and Target), were gone for a couple hours and saved probably $70 on school supplies and only spent about $60 -- not including Jacob's fancy schmancy calculater that was on sale for $90 (down from $130, plus I got 10% for using my Target card, plus my bonus 5% off, so I paid about $87 with tax). Plus, I submitted my online rebate with Staples and will be getting $13 dollars back just about the time that field trip money starts coming due!

Even if we don't need certain items, I'll buy them if they are the ultra-good-deal-of-the-week and then donate them to our churches school supply drive for urban schools in our area. For example, I don't need very many pencil top erasers this year, but at 10 cents a package, I bought the limit. A 2-pack of Sharpies for a quarter? Yes, please. I'll take my limit of those as well.

We still have a few things on our list that we haven't gotten, but there are a few weeks of ads left and if those items haven't been on sale by then, I guess I'll just play full price for the last couple items and still have saved a bundle!

Another great way to save is to re-use. Make sure the end of the year that your kids bring home their salvageable stuff from the previous year. Little pencil sharpeners, rulers, pencil boxes and scissors can all be re-used. Plus, I re-sharpen colored pencils and call it good. Who needs them to be new when you only use about 10% of the pencil in a whole year anyway? Not us, that's for sure! Notebooks with only about 12 pages written in? Just rip out those 12 pages and the notebooks as good as new. I've never yet had a kid that used every single page in their notebook. Have you?

It takes a little time and research and you have to travel to more than one place, but fortunately we've got all the powerhouse places within a mile or two, so it's no big deal for us. Well worth the effort, I'd say! Happy shopping!

Oh, and if you have to send the kids to school with SHARPENED pencils, I highly recommend Ticonderoga pencils. They really are the best and sharpen up better than anything I've tried. And when you have multiple kids that each need to bring 48 sharpened pencils, you'll thank me. I promise! They are more expensive, it's true, but I think it's money well spent (and I'm a pretty frugal girl.)

thrifty thursday

I know I've mentioned this one before, but I've been doing it so often lately that I thought someone might have missed it and could benefit from this little tip. It's been SUPER hot and humid here lately, so we've been running the dehumidifier in our basement and nearly everytime I go downstairs it needs to be emptied. We also have quite a few people here who make dirty laundry, so I do lots of that as well. What do the two have in common, you may ask? Well, just empty the water from your dehumidifier right into your washing machine and you can save a bit on your water bill by doing something you would be doing anyway. If the thought of that grosses you out or the inside of your dehumidifier water collection jug-thing is nasty, you could also use the water to water some house plants or outdoor flowers or something. Anything to not just waste all the perfectly good water you just got out of the overly-heavy air we've had lately.

Ok, now go do some laundry or water the plants, 'cause I'm pretty sure your dehumidifier could use emptying!

thrifty thursday

When you've got a crew as big as ours, stuff is expensive! Groceries, school supplies, shoes for growing feet, pediatrician bills . . . we don't seem to catch much of a break. But, on some things you get much more bang for your buck if you're a big crew. Yesterday I took the kids {well, 5 of them anyway} to the Children's Museum. Memberships to places are real bargains when you've got a crew the size of ours. "Unlimited admission for 1 year for 2 adults and all children under 18 living in the household" :: fabulous! It costs $8.95 to get in to the children's museum {Sara is still free for another couple months}. So, yesterday alone it would have been nearly $45 for me to pay for us to be there {me + 4 paying kids}. A membership for the year is $89. Plus, you get one day of free parking with your membership. {parking is $4 for 3 hours}. If the entire family were there the membership would just about pay for itself in 1 visit. As it were it will take 2 visits to break even. I promise you it will have been a wonderful deal for us! All the kids love it there, from the littlest all the way up to the biggest who still think it's a pretty fun place, plus they love seeing how excited the littles are over it.

At any given time we probably have a membership at a few places. Right now, we have memberships to the Children's Museum and also to the Minnesota Historical Society. Over the years we've also had memberships at the Minnesota Zoo, annual passes to the Eagle's Nest {a great indoor play structure -- like a McDonald's playland on steroids} and at this point, we wouldn't know what to do without our Y membership!

Even if your family isn't as big as ours, memberships can be a pretty good deal. Plus, they support the wonderful things to do in our city. A great idea is to get one membership a year and rotate where you have your membership to each year. Also, our Historical Society membership was an even better deal because I got it from one of those online coupon sites {Groupon or Crowd Cut or something} and got 2 years for the price of 1, and that particular membership gets you in to so many different sites it's already like 10 memberships in 1. Wonderful! Plus, most memberships have reciprocal benefits to other places if you are traveling. So, if you're heading away from home, don't forget to check where else your memberships are good for and you might have ready-made {and free or discounted} fun plans for part of your vacation time. We've used our reciprocal benefits a few different times when we've been out of town.

So, if you're ever up for a trip to the Children's Museum, or the History Center, or you want to take a little trip up to the Kelly Farm or you're downtown Minneapolis and want to check out the Mill City Museum . . . just give a call and we'll probably join you.

thrifty thursday

"How does she?", a blog I read, just had a fabulous post of Summer Savings Tips. It was wonderful! So, instead of reinventing the wheel, I thought I'd just share it with you. {but, you know me, to #1 I'd have to add that you should also dry those clothes washed in cold water on a clothesline}. So there you have it, happy saving!

thrifty thursday

Coffee with a girlfriend . . . WAY cheaper than therapy! {If you want to be even "thriftier" than that, skip the coffee and just chat. It's just about as good}

thrifty thursday

Never order pop when you eat out. They charge you a fortune and water is better for you anyway! {If you really "need" the pop, get it at the gas station on the way home . . . 44 oz. for 59 cents. Can't beat that.}

thrifty thursday

Ok, this week's Thrifty Thursday is going to be about one of my favorite new discoveries that I happened up this spring. I read this idea somewhere online (sorry, I can't remember where) and thought to myself "Why on earth didn't I think of this a decade ago?" But alas, better late than never. So, let me introduce you to "Late Night Date Swap"::

Do you know how expensive babysitters are these days? It's incredible! And if you have 6 kids it's all the more expensive. This is why we only have a paid babysitter a few times a year, otherwise we rely on family and just generally don't go out on "dates" all that often. Until a couple months ago, that is.

We have friends who live a half a dozen houses down the block from us. They have 3 kids very similar in ages to our kiddos number 3, 4 and 5. Here is where the magic comes in for us :: it doesn't matter if one family has more kids than the other! Whoo hoo. I always disliked date swapping for this very reason. It always seemed so unfair. Who really wants to trade babysitting with the 6-kid family? Not to many people, I don't think! So with the late night version of date swap it doesn't matter because the kids are asleep (or at least in their rooms) the entire time. It works best if you do it with someone close to you geographically who can get to your house in a minute or two -- because the timing can sometimes be a little iffy -- but if that won't work for you, you could still pull it off.

So, this is how it goes :: if it's our date night we put all our kids to bed (or put them in their rooms and threaten them within an inch of their life to not come out under any circumstances short of near death!) and then call up our friends down the block and tell them we're ready to go. Two minutes later our babysitter shows up ready to go to "work". We go out and have a good time while our friend reads a book, takes a nap on our (very comfy! -- so she says) couch, watches TV or anything else that she wants to do. See, it's a win-win because you (as the babysitter) have lost the ability to "get stuff done" after putting your kids to bed. You can't do your laundry. You can't clean your bathroom. You can't pay the bills. You really have an excuse to take it easy and take the night off. So the couple on the date is having a great night and the parent who is "babysitting" won't complain much either. The only "loser" in late night date swap is the spouse stuck at home who does still have the ability to clean or pay bills or whatever (although that's not much different than it would be if it was a non-date swap night, right?)

So there you have it. Late night date swap. Find a family and start your own. It really is wonderful! The only catch is that we are not at all used to going out late at night. The post-9 o'clock scene is a totally different one than we are used to :: we have to find new (open late) places to eat and new places to explore, but it's been well worth it! Now that summer is here we can take a late night stroll around the late or something too.

thrifty thursday :: summer entertainment

Need some good, cheap ways to entertain your kids over the summer? Well then I've got a post for you. Here are a few ideas of fun things you can do with the kids that won't break the bank.

• $1 movies for kids at Carmike Theaters or Regal Cinemas on select mornings each week
• kids bowl free {but you do have to pay for the shoe rental} at bowling alleys in many states over the summer
  
• Go to storytime at your local library {they often have book clubs for older kids too -- our library does}
• Target supported free days at many museums all over the country {in our area you can go free to the Children's Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Minnesota Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Walker Art Center on a specific day each month.}
• Don't forget about the reciprocal benefit that comes with many memberships {zoos, museums, historical societies} check any memberships that you might have a see if you can get in free at any other places.
• Many local parks {which are free} have splash pads and wading pools where you can beat the summer heat.
• Have a friend who belongs to the Y {or other fitness center}? Most places offer guest passes, see if you can tag along on a trip to the outdoor pool.
  

Have a fun {inexpensive} summer with your family!

thrifty thursday

Did you {local people, anyway} know that SA takes any gas coupons? Yup, they do. Plus, on Tuesday they'll double them. I had a {pretty rare} 12 cents off per gallon coupon and used it on Tuesday for a savings of $4.80 {they limit you to 20 gallons, although that doesn't fill up my monster gas tank!}. I'm pretty sure I can think of quite a few other things I'd rather do with close to $5 than put it in my gas tank . . . unless you're speaking figuratively, that is!

thrifty thursday

Get a clothesline!

Or string some rope between two trees. You save energy, you save money, your clothes smell fabulous and it's a pretty decent arm workout!

thrifty thursday

First of all, if you aren't a female, you might want to step away from the blog and come back tomorrow . . . trust me.

Ok ladies, here's my {slightly more personal than usual} thrifty Thursday tip for the week :: The Diva Cup. Have you heard of Diva Cup? If not, I won't explain it when the info is on the webiste, just check it out. A Diva Cup can save you TONS of money over its lifetime! And {as a bonus} it saves on waste and the environment as well. I love mine! But here's the thing :: you either love it or you hate it, there's not really any in between. So, there you have it, the Diva Cup. Just think about it.

thrifty thursday

I'm no extreme couponer, but I do what I can! Did you know {if you're local, that is} that Rainbow has double coupon days on Wednesdays and Saturdays. They will double up to 5 coupons at values up to $1. Plus, they'll take a store coupon and a manufacturers coupon for the same item. Target doesn't have double coupon days, but they also will take 1 store coupon and 1 manufacturer coupon per item. They can really add up. The other day I needed something that was on sale at Target that week, plus I had a store and manufacturer coupon and Target ended up paying me to buy it. I don't remember the exact numbers, but the regular price was $7 or so and it was on sale {clearance, actually, if I remember right} for just under $4 and my store and manufacturer coupons added up to $5, so I got the item for free and they took just over $1 off the rest of my bill . . . don't worry, I'm sure I still spent a significant amount of money in total, but it's fun to get such great deals. I only actually buy things that I know I'll use, no matter how good the deal is, but I know people who are major couponers {and have less than 6 kids, I might add} that scour the deals and often get things for free, or very nearly free and then donate the items they won't use to a food shelf or something. Isn't that great? I'm not that hard-core, but I do often save at least $50 off my total bill {although the total bill for a family of 8 is, most likely, more than your bill}. The other day at Target, the bottom of my receipt told me that I'd save $89 something. I was super pumped. Plus most places {around here, at least} give you 5 cents off whenever you use your own bag . . . which I nearly always do! And also I have a Target card, which saves me 5% off every transaction when I use it. Cha-ching, it all adds up!

Happy shopping . . . maybe there are umbrellas on sale somewhere since it just keeps raining. I'm not really the umbrella type though. It's kinda hard to hold a baby and the hand of a toddler while holding an umbrella . . . although I wasn't the umbrella type pre-kids either, truth be told! I haven't melted yet, nor do I do anything significant to my hair that would get ruined, so I'll just take my chances in getting wet!

thrifty thursday :: entertainment

We use the library LOTS :: storytime during the week, books, movies, wii games, audio books, music. It's the best! And with the exception of the rare overdue fine, it's free! {I do realize that it isn't really free, our taxes pay for it. But we pay for it whether we use it or not, so you might as well use it, don't you think?} We don't have cable or Netflix or anything and we very rarely rent movies {redbox is a genius idea though, amen?}. We get 99% of our movies from the library. Sometimes you have to get in line, so to speak, for new or popular movies, but we don't mind the wait . . . the delayed gratification makes it all the more exciting when it finally comes in. So, visit your local library today! {or, I guess you could visit my local library. Everyone else does! It's the busiest library in the state, you know. Yup, it's true.}

thrifty thursday

It was a really crappy morning and I got nothin'.
Go clip a coupon or somethin' and we'll call it good!
Middle school open house tonight :: I can't wrap my brain around how that is possible.

thrifty thursday

So, I buy apples {we go through TONS of them!} in bags. Usually 3 pound bags. 3 pounds for $3.99, that's what I paid the other day. But, can all those bags really weigh 3 pounds. I don't know about you, but my life doesn't ever seem to come out that nicely. Well, anyone who gives it more than a moments worth of though would realize that it's not possible for all the bags to weigh exactly 3 pounds. But they all still cost $3.99. So, if you want the best deal you have to risk looking a bit silly and take a few bags {or all of them if you want} and go over to the scale and weigh them. Then, if you want the most bang for your buck apple for your dollar you buy the bag that weighs the most. Pretty simple, but over time it'll help with the food budget!

Do you have any favorite easy, thrifty tips? I'd love to hear 'em!

thrifty thursday {sometimes you gotta change it up a bit!}

Alrighty, here's my first ever thrifty Thursday. I still have more than enough to be thankful for, but Monday has kind of taken that over, so here goes::

My kids love foamy soap! Plus, it seems to work better for kids since they don't always get that soap spread around enough to do it's job. So, did you know that the magic of foamy soap isn't in the soap at all? Nope, it's all in the pumper thing. So, instead of spending all your money on new foamy soap all the time, just do it once and then when it's gone fill it about 1/5 of the way with any liquid soap and then top it off with water. Another perk is that you don't have to get mad when your kids waste it by squirting it all over the sink, because really it's mostly water and they are entertaining themselves for a bit and who doesn't love that? It also works great in the bathtub. I squirt Anna with foamy soap when she's sitting in there and she thinks it's hilarious and it gets her clean. I bought a big liquid soap refill thing {Dr. Bronners is our favorite. It comes unscented or in lots of great smells -- when our peppermint is gone I want citrus . . . . or maybe almond} and we have probably been using it for at least 3 or 4 years . . . and I have way more hands than average to get washed at my house! So, it will last you practically forever. If you want you can take the money that you save and buy me a latte, that would be really sweet of you!