Tag: saving money

August 15, 2023

4 of the Best Places to Search for School Supplies

When it comes to August, school starting is on the forefront of everyone’s mind. And ours is no different. Since the COVID pandemic hit, some things have changed regarding the beginning of the school year. But hunting for school supplies isn’t one of them. So, here are 4 of the best places to search for school supplies and not break the bank.

#1 Dollar Tree

Dollar Tree is is one of my favorite places to search for school supplies first. While everything used to be only $1, they have changed their business model recently. Now things are more along the lines of $1.25 each. Still nothing to sneeze at, but that also means some products aren’t built for long-term use. The things we’ve found to fit into that category typically include: crayons, markers, glue and tape.

Ultimately, this is a pretty good place to try first. Some of my favorite purchases from Dollar Tree include:

Calculators
Composition notebooks
Erasers
Glue sticks
Hand sanitizer
Lined paper
Plastic folders
Post-it notes
Scientific calculators
Scissors
Sanitizing wipes
Spiral notebooks
Tape
Tissues
Whiteboard erasers

#2 Drug stores

Some of the drugstores, such as CVS and Walgreens, tend to have fairly competitive sales during the back-to-school season. In order to get the really good deals, you should use your store loyalty card or app though. Typically, this will either give you extra discounts or a coupon off a future purchase.

Some of the best items I have found to get at the drugstores are:

Backpacks
Glue sticks
Highlighters
Lunchboxes
Notebooks
Pencils
Pens
Water bottles

#3 five below

Five Below is another fantastic place to check out. They are similar to Dollar Tree in that everything used to be $5 or below. But, in the past couple of years they have changed their business model. Now it is more along the lines of $10 and below. Their back to school supplies aren’t usually as vast a selection as Dollar Tree, but sometimes they are higher quality products.

One good example of this is that they carry Crayola brand crayons, instead of the off brand ones. And usually these will end up being on sale for $1 during back to school season.

Some of the best deals I’ve found here are to date are:

Backpacks
Crayons
Glue sticks
Headphones/earbuds
Lunchboxes
Markers

#4 online

Lastly, for an increasingly larger percentage of us who don’t like to run around from store to store, online shopping is the way to go. Some of the aforementioned stores will even have similar deals online and ship your purchases directly to your house! While they can sometimes add a shipping cost to do so, most of the time it’s waived. So, it might actually end up saving you more money in the long run due to less wear and tear and gas for your car. Bonus!

Some of the best places to get cheap school supplies online are:

Amazon: Pretty much any and all school supplies can be found here
Hollar.com: Character backpacks and lunchboxes, and a $1 section with a lot of school supplies
Freecycle: This site is a place for people giving away things instead of selling them, so nothing is a guarantee here
Facebook Marketplace: Similar to Freecycle, plus there are some special groups just for parents. This site can be to purchase or give things away, so a great place to check if you’re really trying to stick to a budget.
Oriental Trading Company: Not just for party supplies, they also have school supplies in bulk. Plus there is usually an Ebates rebate that you can use with this site. Extra bonus!
Discount School Supply: Pretty much everything you can think of, plus they have free 3-day shipping

These are great sites to keep in mind year-round because you never know what you are going to find. One of the best ways I’ve found to cut costs is by keeping my back-to-school supply stocked throughout the year.

School supplies summary

Overall, there are a ton of places you might be able to find great deals on school supplies. But some of my favorite go-to options just happen to be: Dollar Tree, Drug Stores and Five Below. And when I’ve exhausted those, I go straight to the online platforms to see what hidden gems I might be able to find for my kids. The options these days are fairly endless, so now’s the time to begin the search for your kids school supplies.

Where are some of the best places you’ve found great deals on back to school supplies for your kids?

July 14, 2023

The 2 Best Ways to Get Great Deals on Food

Since food costs only seem to be getting higher and higher each year, reining that in a bit can really affect our budget. Even if we are able to save just a little bit of money each week, it can really add up over time. But, we don’t want to skimp on the quality of food we choose either. Forgive us, we’re picky! That being said, we’ve figured out a couple of really good tricks to help out. Here are the 2 best ways to get great deals on our food, in our opinion.

#1. GROCERY STORE Deals on Food

The first place I always look for good deals on food is the grocery store. Unless, it happens to be a Saturday and I can hit up our local farmer’s market. The smaller one near us has farmers that are close by and all of them use organic practices. Plus, we can get a heck of a lot of produce from them for much less than the grocery store. But, since we aren’t able to make it each week, the grocery stores are our second choice.

While they are more expensive than our local farmers, we have been pretty lucky to find some good, organic produce at most of them. Most grocery stores have weekly deals on different products, some of which are usually produce. Not everything these stores sell will be healthy food though. So just remember to keep an eye out for local organic produce whenever possible. By keeping your diet full of healthy foods, it can only benefit both in quality of life and your wallet (hopefully).

Look for grocery stores that specialize in more local products and/or products from other countries. A lot of other countries can have better quality standards with their food than we do (sadly!). Due to this, it would benefit you to look for those items. Also, these items tend to cost less than some of the products grown here.

Some of the best grocery store options we’ve found the best deals at include:

Aldi
H Mart – Asian
Lidl
Patel Brothers – Indian
Trader Joe’s
Weaver Street Market – a local coop that we are members of
Wegmans

If you have access to any of these, they are who I would suggest starting with. However, don’t forget to look for your smaller, independent grocery stores that specialize in specific cuisine. I’m able to get a lot of local organic produce from our smaller coop at Weaver Street, and they give us a discount on produce specifically each week. When I’m looking for rice, I prefer the Asian or Indian markets because they have a much wider variety. And I can get huge bags for a fraction of what I would pay in a regular grocery store. Sometimes getting specific things at specialty stores are well worth the extra trip. This is especially true when I can buy things in larger quantities that will last longer to offset the extra drive.

#2. DEALs on food WEBSITES

Aside from the grocery stores, I like to peruse websites that offer deals on food. Some of these websites will offer deals on grocery stores and restaurants, and some are just one or the other. Either way, they are a good place to take a look in case they have something that may work for you to help reduce your overall food costs.

Out of all the coupon websites we’ve run across, the following are our favorite options for deals on food:

Groupon – as one of the largest deal websites in the world, there’s always a ton of choices to choose from. Not only can you search online, but you can also get a deal while you are physically at the restaurant. All you have to do is then show the code to your server when it is time to pay and it discounts your meal. Pretty awesome!
Living Social – this one is a direct rival site to Groupon. While they don’t typically have as many deals as Groupon does, they always have a lot. And, as a bonus, they are usually the competitors to the Groupon listings. So we like to check both just to see who is offering the better deal in similar genres.
LocalFlavor.com – this site operates the same way as Groupon and Living Social, but it is more for local restaurants as opposed to chains. Plus, you get 25% off your first purchase when you sign up for their daily email with deals. This one we like a lot since we prefer to eat locally whenever possible. And deals at these types of restaurants are definitely much harder to come by.
Restaurant.com – this site has deals that never expire, which is one of my favorite things. You can go on there and search by genre or specific restaurant to see what they have. A lot of the deals are similar to paying $10 for $25 worth of food. This is the type of savings can really add up and help our bottom line!

Deals on food summary

Overall, there are a lot of great places that you can find good deals on food. If you have access to a smaller, local farmers market, that’s always the best place to start. After that, the grocery stores is where it’s at. These will definitely cost you less than eating at a restaurant, but typically more than a local farmers market. After these two, looking for deals on food websites is the place to hit for restaurants. Ultimately, following these tips can help stretch your food money even further.

What are some of the best ways you’ve found to get the best deals on food?

December 15, 2022

Why the End of the Year is a Fantastic Time to Save on a New Appliance

With the end of the year nearly upon us, it’s time to start taking advantage of some year end sales. Which means it may be a great time to save on a new appliance or two. If you really need them, of course. Since appliances can be pretty pricey, no matter when you buy them, it’s nice to be able to keep some money in your pocket. There are a few different things to think about prior to running out and taking advantage of a end of the year appliance sale though. So, before you pull the trigger, there are a few things to think about first.

appliance Longevity

Since everything is made cheaper and cheaper with the passing of time, that equates to a shorter overall lifespan and higher costs of our appliances. Which is ridiculous, if you ask me. But all of these companies would be out of business if they made appliances to last as long as they used to. And due to this mentality, it means we end up shelling out a lot more money than we used to for home appliances.

In fact, the average life expectancy of most major household appliances are as follows:

Dishwasher: 9 years
Dryer: 13 years
Electric Range: 13 – 15 years
Freezer: 10 – 20 years
Garbage Disposal: 12 years (On a side note, I disagree with this one since our brand new garbage disposal died after 3 years, which was 2 years after the warranty expired. When I called the company to discuss this issue, they told me they only guarantee them for 1 year now because of reduced life expectancy.)
Gas Range: 15 – 17 years
Microwave: 9 years
Refrigerator: 9 – 13 years
Washing Machine: 5 – 15 years

Obviously, this range is pretty wide and will vary. But, this is a good jumping off point for planning accordingly.

new appliance PLANning

When it comes to a plan, the best way to begin is by taking an appliance inventory. I like spreadsheets for everything, so this is a good time to play with Excel. Create a spreadsheet with the following appliance information:

Appliance purchase date
Make and Model of current appliance
Make and Model of the potential replacement
How many years of life each appliance has left based on average life expectancy
Multiply how many years of life left by 3.22%, which is the current average rate of inflation
The total amount that appliance would potentially cost you
Divide the cost by how many years each appliance has left of life expectancy
Divide by 12 to get the monthly figure you need to add into your monthly budget

Just by taking this one step in planning, you could potentially save yourself hundreds of dollars in the long run. But you can also help remove a lot of undue pressure by making sure you have enough saved for replacement appliances.

YEAR END new appliance sales

Once the life expectancy of each appliance has been narrowed down, then you know which ones you should start keeping an eye out for first. If any of the appliances on your list are getting towards the end of their life expectancy, now is a great time to start looking for end of the year sales.

Traditionally, most appliance manufacturers roll out new product lines in September or early October. By the time the end of the year comes around stores are practically handing out freebies. The end of the year brings some major last minute sales quotas that need to be met. But, most dealers also don’t want to keep old merchandise in stock because they need to make room for the new lines. Which means that if you’re willing to purchase a last year model, you will have amazing negotiating power at this time of year.

Another option if you miss the eoy boat

If you aren’t quite ready to pull the trigger yet, don’t worry. You may still get lucky in January. Since January is one of the slowest purchasing months of the year, dealers need us even more to reach quota. So, if they couldn’t get you in December, they may just be willing to throw everything they have at you now to get you to purchase a new appliance (or 5).

Keep in mind that while you may not get the exact appliance you had been budgeting for, what you can get will probably be comparable. By willing to take the so called leftovers, you could be making out like an appliance bandit. And saving yourself a lot of your previously budgeted money for something else instead.

End of the Year New APPLIANCE summary

Whether we like it or not, we are all going to have to replace appliances at some point. It’s just the nature of the beast in our current world. But it doesn’t mean that it has to cause additional stress on our wallet or our psyche when it happens.

So, take an appliance inventory and create an estimated life expectancy. By creating an appliance replacement plan ahead of time, it’s almost an impossibility to not save money when we have to purchase a new appliance. Overall, now is one of the best times of the year to get a phenomenal deal on a new appliance. As long as you are ready for one and have the money budgeted, of course.

Have you found any great end of the year new appliance deals? If so, where and on which appliances?

June 15, 2022

5 Ways to Save Money on Gas

While it’s been a great relief to finally be on the tail end of the COVID pandemic, the cost of everything seems to have increased exponentially. And the price of gas at the pump is no exception. How much gas has jumped here is astronomical and fairly ridiculous. But, where we live, you simply have to have a car to get around because our public transportation is spotty, at best. Due to that, I’ve found some of the best ways to save money on gas to stretch my dollar further.

#1. TIME OF DAY

The most important tip, in my opinion, is to be very aware of when during the day you fill-up.

Filling up when it’s cooler outside ultimately costs you less money overall. This is due to the fact that there is less evaporation of gasoline fumes while fueling, so less loss. Therefore, shoot to fuel up in the morning or later at night, whenever possible.

Also, filling up early morning (and I mean EARLY) or late evening can sometimes net you lower fuel prices. Gas station prices can fluctuate during the day when refueling trucks show up. So if you go during off-hours, and when it’s cooler, you are more likely to get lower gas prices per gallon and retain more of the fuel you’re paying for.

As another caveat, do your best not to get gas from a gas station if a refueling truck is there. When the refueling trucks pump new gasoline into the tanks they disturb the sediment at the bottom of the tank. This is “gunk” that you don’t want in your tank because it reduces your gas mileage.

#2. LOCATION

Just like everything else in life, not all things are created equally. And gas stations are no exception to this rule. Gas prices can vary widely depending on which part of town you’re in at the time. For example, gas on the south and southeast parts of town are much much cheaper than the north side of town where I live. Sometimes they can fluctuate up to a $1.00 a gallon in difference. Which is absolutely crazy!

Therefore, get to know your home base better. Learn where better gas prices usually are. Once you do that, it makes it easier to save on gas if you hit those stations regularly. However, it may include some planning on your part, depending upon where you live.

#3. ROUTE planning

With regards to planning routes, this can be another important part of the puzzle. Planning where you need to go for the day, and maximizing your time and gas money is important.

Map out the routes in your head, or on your map app on your phone, and figure out the best time of day and route to get it all done at once. This way you won’t have to waste time, gas, and wear and tear on your vehicle going back and forth between home and these different places.

By planning your route out to spend the least amount of time, and miles, on the road, the further your gas will go and the less money you’ll ultimately be spending.

#4. APPS

Another great way to save on gas is with apps. There are two that I have been using for a while now. One much longer than the other, but both have helped me out a ton.

GET UPSIDE

The Get Upside app is one of my favorite gas apps. This app is expanding to offer more deals than just gas, which is awesome. However, how they operate is by giving rebates on gas, groceries, and restaurants.

As soon as you pull up the app, it pulls up a map of where you are and all of the participating stores on the map in relation to you. These are stores that they have an agreement with. Basically, it’s marketing for the stores to get you to shop with them versus their competitors. When you filter out all of the other stores and just look for gas stations, the prices you see will be the price of gas at each station after the rebate, not before. So this is a good thing to keep in mind.

All of the money saved goes into your Get Upside account until you cash it out. You can cash out at any time, but I usually wait until I have at least $20 in rewards. The way you can get the money out is either by PayPal or by choosing one of their many digital gift card options. I typically choose Amazon so that I can just use it for any of our many Amazon purchases.

GAS BUDDY

This is my second favorite gas app, which I’ve been using this one for years now. Since I found Get Upside, I haven’t been using it as often, I must confess. But, it still helps me out when I’m out of my home area a lot, so I keep it in my back pocket.

Gas Buddy is a free app, that works by tracking location and shows the best gas prices in the vicinity. You can search by city, zip code or by hitting the “Find Gas Near Me” button in the middle of the home page. This pulls up a map of where you are and shows you all of the gas stations nearby, with their prices listed.

You can also report gas prices when you are at a gas station. This is to confirm that the prices they are showing are correct. When you do this, you will get “points” that you can use to enter their daily drawing for a $100 gas gift card. While I haven’t won one of the gift cards yet, it doesn’t hurt to keep trying!

#5. REWARDS CARDS

Most of the gas companies also have rewards cards with perks for using them. I currently have a BP Rewards card and an Exxon/Mobile Rewards card.

The easiest ways to get these is by grabbing one of the applications at a station when you are there or by downloading their app. These are not credit cards, but are solely rewards cards. Depending upon the card, and how often you have used it, the rewards can vary. I have been able to get anywhere from $.02 to $.13 off of each gallon of gas, per purchase. And these can be partnered with either of the aforementioned gas apps to help you save even more money. Which is an awesome bonus!

Save money on gas summary

Overall, even though gas is crazy expensive right now, there are ways to save money and stretch your dollar. By being cognizant of the time of day you refuel, location, route planning, using apps, and partnering with rewards cards you can really help maximize your gas mileage and reduce costs. And by doing so, enjoy your summer travel just a little bit more.

What are some of the best ways you’ve found to save money on gas this year?

February 15, 2022

Is a Gym Membership Really Worth It?

At the beginning of every new year, gym memberships soar. And while they have typically dropped off significantly by now, there are still plenty of gym goers all year long. As someone who has been a member of a few different gyms in my lifetime, I’m no stranger to the circuit. But, in all reality, is a gym membership really worth it for most of us?

Why?

First and foremost, you should be asking yourself why you want to join a gym. What do you think you will get out of it? Both in the short term and long term. Is this something you can realistically stick with as a routine, or do you have a history of new things fizzling out? And what is your main goal of joining a gym? Is it to lose weight, tone up, get rid of baby weight, look good for summer or a wedding? The list can be endless. But, no matter what your why is, you should first tease that out before making any commitment.

Gym membership Actual costs

A lot of gyms will get you in the door with extremely low advertised monthly rates. I’ve seen some as low as $5 per month, which is crazy! But, I’ve also learned that those rates don’t last for life, but a generally just temporary to get you in the door. Once they have you signed up and inside their domain, then it’s time to start throwing add-on’s at you.

A lot of these include fees for things such as:

Towels
Lockers
Sauna
Pool
Steam room
Personal training sessions
Dietary plan
Spin classes
Zumba/Dance classes
Private classes with smaller numbers

These additional costs can really add up over time. And even if they don’t, the average cost of a bare bones gym membership runs approximately $60 annually (depending upon where you live, of course). This equates to approximately $720 per year, which can easily be a week long vacation for us. And if this is something that I’m not sure I’m going to fully commit to, or have the time to do, then I certainly don’t want to throw a week long vacation away.

other options

It’s also entirely possible that your budget doesn’t have the extra wiggle room for this kind of extra fee. I know that mine didn’t for a large part of my adult life. So, instead of joining a gym, you could consider some other really great options that don’t cost anything (or very minimal) to participate in. Some of my favorite alternative options to a gym include:

Hiking (one of my long time favorite go-to’s)
Biking
Speed walking
Yoga
Trampoline (Yes, we have a big one for the kids but I’ve also used it for workouts)
Workout at home with free weights, jump ropes and a heavy bag

One of my regular workout options at home is to walk around the pool in the backyard with some free weights. I do different arm exercises while I weave around the many dogs that are with us for boarding or doggy daycare. The dogs love it too!

group environment

While I am typically very good at doing things all by myself, a lot of people need a bigger support system. This type of network can help to create positive change. This is where a gym membership can really shine if you fall into this camp.

People who work out at the same gym have a tendency to create gym relationships that assist with their individual goals. When we feel the societal pressure to be accountable to others, we have a higher rate of success, because we don’t want to fail those in our accountability groups.

In fact, just having somebody to be accountable to, increases our level of success by 65%, according to a study ran by the American Society of Training and Development. That’s huge! And if this is what you need to help you create the change you want, then figure out a way to make it work.

Gym Membership summary

Overall, whether a gym membership is worth it all depends on you. The biggest questions to ask yourself before signing on the dotted line are:

Do you have a strong why for wanting to join a gym?
Is this a long-term or short term why?
How much is it going to cost you monthly to join a gym?
Will your budget allow for this increased cost?
Are there FREE alternatives you could use instead?
Do you need a group or network in order to achieve success?

Once you have the answers to all of these questions, then the decision should be pretty clear.

For somebody with my crazy lifestyle and lack of any regular time, it is simply not worth it. I would be one of the 67% of the gym membership population who is paying for something that I’m not using. And since I don’t like setting my money on fire, I opt to use the free options available to me instead.

Have you joined a gym and found the costs to be exponentially worth it for you? If so, why?

December 15, 2021

4 Ways to Push Your Frugal Christmas Budget

It comes the same time every year, and I can’t believe it’s almost here again. Time flies when you’re having fun, or just trying to make it through a worldwide pandemic. Even with all of that going on, we still try to stick to a frugal Christmas budget every year. And that seems to be getting more and more difficult with supply chain issues. However, over the years I’ve figured out a few tips and tricks that have really helped us keep things frugal. And we all still have a really good holiday season with each other. Which is really what matters the most anyway.

FRUGAL CHRISTMAS PLANNING

I don’t know about you, but our kids want something new ALL the time! And they have a really difficult time with delayed gratification, like most children do. But, this means we have no shortage of ideas when it comes to Christmas gifts for our kids at least.

At this time of the year though, there isn’t much time left to get moving. Proper planning throughout the year has really gotten me out of some gift giving jams in the past.

The first tip is to take a picture of each kid with items they say they really want throughout the year. I try to get a price tag in the picture with the kid and the item so that I have a frame of reference throughout the year, whenever possible. And this gives me a jumping off point so that I know when I might be getting a good deal.

The second tip is to have the kids send an email with links to all of the items they are interested in, with sizes and colors. This way I have the links in my inbox and can purchase them when the time comes, or if they end up on sale.

I have a few extensions on my computer that help me save even more money by either telling me where a better deal can be found, automatically applying coupons, or giving me a rebate. My current favorite go-to money saving apps are:

Honey – which alerts me when any of the items on my saved list drops in price and automatically applies coupons
Rakuten – gives me a percentage of my purchase price back in rebates and automatically applies coupons
Acorns – puts a percentage of my purchase price into my investment account

SELL STUFF

One of my favorite ways to push our frugal Christmas budget is to sell old and/or broken things that we no longer want or need. Since we have 5 kids, they have a tendency to outgrow their things fairly regularly.

There are a few different ways I do this. Typically, I try to sell their things through Facebook Marketplace groups first. Sometimes this works out well, but it does require quite a bit of work since a lot of people just don’t seem to communicate well these days. When it’s this close to Christmas, it can sometimes be much easier to get people to respond though, since everyone is on a tight deadline. So, if you have some things you’re considering getting rid of, I would highly suggest trying now. You will probably be able to get more money for the items also. Bonus!

The other way I try to get the most money for our kids old things is by using the Amazon Trade-In site. They typically only take things of the electronic variety, but we don’t have any shortage of that around here. I don’t usually get a ton of money from this form of selling, but the money goes directly into my Amazon account so that I can use it to pay for this year’s Christmas presents. And every little bit counts towards keeping our frugal Christmas budget.

Christmas NAME DRAW

this is a trick I’ve been using for years. It took a little while for our whole family to get on board. But once our family grew to a certain size, gift giving for everyone just became daunting and expensive. Once that happened, the whole family jumped on board with the idea of drawing names instead of buying for everyone.

Even if you aren’t together right now, there are plenty of random name pickers you can use to draw names. Once you have drawn names, then your family will need to set a budget for each gift. In our family, we set the budget at $25 for kids and $20 for adults.

The next most important step is to get each family to send an email with links of what each person would like. I usually ask for 3 or 4 items for each person, that way I have a choice. And it’s more of a surprise when they open our presents also, which we like. While it sounds like this might be more work, we have found that it actually makes holiday gift giving much less stressful. And it also helps us stick well within our holiday budget too.

Homemade GIFTS

As a person who used to own a gluten free bakery and has a Chef for a spouse, we spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Most people we run across just can’t get enough of our food, so it stands to reason that we might as well put it to work for us this time of year.

I’ve been making my toffee for longer than I can remember now and it’s one of the fan favorites at the holidays. So, I decided to start handing some of it out as Christmas presents, and it goes over like gangbusters.

Not only is it delicious and really easy to make this, but it only costs about $1.43 per person. I can go to the Dollar Tree and buy a 10 pack of fancy candy bags with the twist ties for $1.00, which only increases the cost by $.10 per gift.

However, even if baking isn’t really your thing, there’s probably something else you’re great at that people absolutely love. So just think outside the box and get creative with some homemade Christmas gifts this year. For me, I appreciate these kinds of gifts more than the store bought kind.

Frugal CHRISTMAS BUDGET

When it comes to sticking to a frugal Christmas budget, it can be done. It may be a bit trickier so close to Christmas, but I know you can do it. Just get creative, sell some old things, make some things, draw some names and/or find some great deals. And above all, spend time with your loved ones.

Which frugal Christmas budget tips have you tried that have worked for you?

November 15, 2021

How Much a Baby Costs in the First Year

Deciding to have a child is a really big, life altering decision. And it’s one that will definitely impact your finances. Not necessarily in a positive way either. Of course, becoming a parent is awesome. But, if at all possible, it’s best to go into parenthood with your eyes wide open about the financial ramifications. Especially because the most recent statistical reports show that raising a child costs between $12,000 – $14,000 annually here in the United States. In this respect, budgeting ahead of time is a great way to embark upon parenthood. Especially if you have an idea as to how much a baby costs in just the first year alone.

In the first year, you are more likely to incur a larger percentage of these costs due to a few fairly common factors.

CHILD BIRTH COSTS

The most expensive part of having a baby is the actual giving birth process. In fact, he majority of the costs come from this category alone. And how much you end up spending can vary widely, depending upon:

Vaginal or C-section
Insured or not, and insurance coverage
The state you live in

If you have a vaginal birth, the range can be between $4,900 – $10,700, if you have insurance. But if you don’t have insurance, then the costs can range between $9,015 – $19,800.

If you have a C-section and have insurance, the costs can range from $7,500 – $15,000. But if you don’t have insurance, then you’ll be looking at a much higher range between $12,600 – $28,500.

I had vaginal births and used midwives for my children, so my costs were actually below the lowest number above. While some things, such as using a midwife or more natural childbirth methods can be within your control, every experience will be different. So, if you want to reduce costs in this category, think about alternative methods to the more traditional hospital, drugs and surgery, whenever possible.

FOOD COSTS

Before children came, our food costs were a bit higher than average anyway. This is due to the fact that I have Celiac, am vegetarian and eat an organic diet. But, once children came around, the costs definitely increased. Luckily, as the children got older, we learned how to save a bundle on groceries but not skimp on quality.

Even though we eventually figured this out, having a new baby in the house can increase the food budget also. This is something that a lot of people don’t even think about, but there are a few reasons why this is.

This is due to a few things:

Breastfeeding requires a higher maternal caloric intake
Formula costs can be astronomical if you can’t breastfeed
Solid baby food can be pretty pricey, even if you make it yourself

For most women who are breastfeeding, the increased caloric intake hovers around an extra 500 calories per day. These extra calories just to account for the body processes needed to produce the milk, which translates to an extra 20% more. Which means that you’ll need to budget an extra 20% into your grocery budget for the extra food needed.

If you can’t or don’t want to breastfeed, then you’ll be looking at formula feeding. The costs for this option will certainly be higher than breastfeeding. In fact the average costs to formula feed are between $1,138 – $1,188 per year.

Once your baby is old enough for solid food to be introduced, you’ll be looking at even more costs. The baby will still be on either breastmilk or formula at this time, so these costs will be in addition to the already aforementioned. Typically, baby food runs close to $1 per jar. And depending upon the age of the baby, they can eat anywhere from 2 – 5 jars a day.

This can translate to an extra $60 – $150 per month for solid baby food on top of the breastfeeding or formula costs. If you want to save a little bit of money in this category, breastfeed whenever possible and make your own baby food at home. Both can be much more time consuming, but can save you a bit of money in the long run for first year baby costs.

insurance BABY COSTS

One the baby is born, you’ll need to add them to your insurance plan. Just this action alone will cause your insurance premiums to increase. But just how much they will increase will depend upon your individual health insurance policy.

Due to each policy being unique, just how much your premium will increase can swing widely. But, the average rate increase per month typically runs between $250 – $400. Which means you can potentially be looking at spending an average of $3,000 – $4,800 more per year!

Please note that this increased cost still doesn’t account for the possible higher deductible you may have due to the increased family size.

CHILD CARE COSTS

Besides the birth of the baby, child care costs usually come in second with regard to overall increased costs. This is especially true if this is your first child. These costs alone are enough to make people start sweating because of the astronomical costs associated.

According to a recent report compiling data regarding child care expenses, the average a married couple spends on child care is 10% of their income. This number drastically increases if you happen to be a single parent to 36% of your income. What this typically means is that the average family is spending between $10,000 – $20,000 per year just for child care alone.

As someone who was a single parent, I can tell you that I certainly couldn’t afford to do this, which is why I only worked part time when I could find free help with my friends and family for my kids.

CLOTHING & Necessities COSTS

For those of you who haven’t spend much time around babies, they tend to require a lot of clothes. They are growing like crazy in the first year of life, plus they have a ton of accidents regularly. This means a lot more wardrobe changes than you may have ever considered could even be possible.

Depending upon the season when your baby is born and where you live, the average cost for baby clothes runs around $60 per month. However, this number doesn’t include other things you need for them such as:

Hairbrush
Haircuts
Blankets
Bedding
OTC medicine
Shampoo
Soap
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Washcloths

Adding these things into your monthly budget can add an average of an extra $40. This means you may be looking at around $100 per month, or $1200 annually, for clothing and necessities.

Diapers

Don’t forget the diapers, because those can be pretty darn expensive also. I used cloth diapers for my kids, along with the wet washing method. So all I needed were the cloth diapers, a 5 gallon bucket and Borax. Since babies grow so much the first year of life, I needed 2 different sized adjustable diapers. The diapers ended up costing close to $500, which may sound like a lot, but it’s nothing when you compare it to how much disposable diapers cost. The current average cost of disposable diapers runs an average of $846 per year. This doesn’t include the wipes either, of course.

Overall baby costs

Ultimately, the bottom line regarding how much a baby costs in the first year can vary a lot. This depends upon a lot of different variables, such as:

Child birth = $4,900 – $28,500
Food = $1,320 – $2,988
Insurance = $3,000 – $4,800
Child care = $10,000 – $20,000
Clothing & Necessities = $1,200
Diapers = $500 – $846

That is a grand total (on average) of $20,920 – $58,334!

While this may seem like a huge chunk of money, budgeting ahead of time can help reduce the financial stress. And so can finding some good, frugal ways to reduce the overall costs on your end. By getting creative, you get to enjoy your baby and less financial stress.

How much did you find your baby costs to add up to in the first year alone?

May 14, 2021

4 Ways to Frugally Travel With Your Pet

Since most of us have not gotten our travel fix in the past year or so, it’s about time to hit the road again. And we aren’t any different in that we can’t wait to explore the world again. But, now that we have our own pet, we had to look into ways to reduce the costs. Therefore, here are the 4 best ways we’ve found to frugally travel with your pet.

1. DRIVING

One of our favorite options, and usually the cheapest when traveling, is driving. Of course, isn’t always an option, depending upon where you live and where you’re going. But, if it’s a viable option, it can save you a ton of money. Plus, you get the experience of seeing things on the road that you would otherwise miss.

We’ve really enjoyed our summer road trips because we run across so many things we didn’t even know existed. And if you are traveling with a pet, like we are, this can make the whole trip easier. It gives us a chance to travel as a whole family, but doesn’t add too much more cost to our travel budget. And since we’ll probably need to stop more often for potty breaks, we’ll have more of a chance to stretch our legs and check out our surroundings.

2. TRUSTED HOUSESITTERS

As soon as I found out about Trusted Housesitters, I fell in love with the idea. Trusted Housesitters pairs people needing a pet sitter while they’re away with others who want to watch their pets, and their homes, in exchange for free lodging. Since we are huge fans of both pets and free lodging, it’s hard to go wrong here.

Not all Trusted Housesitters options will allow you to bring your own pet with you. So, you’ll need to narrow down your options within the platform to only allow those that do.

If you know the dates you want to travel, then you can search anywhere around the world for options. But, if you’re choosing to save as much as possible when you travel with your pet, you should probably only consider options that are within driving distance. Pairing the two options together can really help you save a ton of money. This is because the driving and the lodging won’t cost you anything extra at all to bring your pet with you. Huge bonus!

3. AIRBNB

Airbnb is another great option when you want to frugally travel with your pet. While it will cost money, unlike Trusted Housesitters, the fee to bring your pet can be nominal. And, since Airbnb is offered in nearly every country, the possibilities of where you can travel are fairly limitless.

With Airbnb, the host will note if pets are allowed and which type. You can even filter your possible options by going to the Airbnb Pet-Friendly link directly.

If you aren’t sure where you want to go yet, all you have to do is enter the following information to pull up a ton of choices:

Check-in date
Check-out date
How many adults
How many children
How many pets

Once again, though, if you want to save the most money, it’s wiser to choose options that are within driving distance. Flying with a pet can get pretty pricey, depending upon the airline and the size of your pet.

4. pet friendly NO COST HOTELS

Most hotels charge an additional pet fee to have your pet stay with you. Mostly, this is because of the extra cost of cleaning up after your pet when you leave. And if your pet destroys anything in the room (due to scratching or chewing) the fees can really add up. Hotels aren’t generally big fans of this, so their added pet fees reflect their attitude towards pet destruction.

Luckily, a few hotels have become a lot more pet friendly because they want to attract a different audience. Therefore, these 4 hotels may be the best bet for you to frugally travel with your pet at no extra cost.

ALOFT HOTELS

Aloft hotels will let any pet under 40 pounds stay for free. Plus, they also offer complimentary bowls, blankets and toys upon request. Pretty awesome, right?

KIMPTON HOTELS

The Kimpton hotel chain don’t have pet fees for just your cats and dogs, but other pets as well. This hotel chain usually offer beds, bowls, blankets and treats. But some of them are even fancier and offer more pet amenities, including pet massages! Plus, each hotel has a Director of Pet Relations and a Pet Concierge that can help pet owners find anything they might need to make their stay even better. This is really cool!

MOTEL 6

If you’re looking at more of a motel option, then you may want to check out Motel 6. will let up to two service dogs or well behave pets stay for free. They will even let your children stay for free too, as long as they are well behaved!

RED ROOF INN

Red Roof Inn is another lower cost option, like Motel 6. They will let up to one pet per guest room stay for free. The weight limit can vary between property types though. So, it can be either up to 40 pounds or up to 80 pounds, based on whether it’s a Red Collection property or any of the other Red Roof Inn property types.

TRAVEL WITH YOUR PET SUMMARY

Ultimately, there are so many awesome ways to frugally travel with your pets for low or no additional cost. Some of our favorites are:

Driving
Trusted Housesitters
Airbnb
Pet friendly no cost hotels

Overall, I always want to have the best experience with my family (pets included) for as little as I can get away with. So, combining driving with one of the other options is the best way to achieve that, in my book, at least.

What are some of the best ways you’ve found to frugally travel with your pet?

February 15, 2021

How to Save a Ton by Switching From Disposable Products

Even before everything with COVID-19 was happening, we were always looking for ways to save money around the house. Plus, we continually strive to be more “green” every year and help the environment. And what I’ve found is that there are a ton of ways to merry both saving money and going green together. The best way we have found to achieve both goals is by switching from disposable products whenever, and wherever we can.

Paper towels

When it comes to disposable products, we didn’t use a ton of them to begin with. But, I knew there will still places that we could work on. And paper towels just happened to be a big one for us. With 5 kids and boarding a ton of different dogs, there are always messes to clean up.

While it may not seem that paper towels cost a lot of money, what they do cost can actually really add up. If we go with a 10 year projection, it’s easier to see the real savings by switching from disposable products.

Our family goes through about 1 roll of paper towels per week. If we purchase a package of 8 rolls for $17, that package will last us approximately 8 weeks, or 2 months. Which means, that for a year’s supply of paper towels we will be spending about $110.50, before tax. So, over 10 years, we would spend $1105 on paper towels. That’s a heck of a lot on just this one disposable product!

However, we decided to toss out the paper towels and go with a reusable, washable version of paper towel instead. The product we chose is Lola Wowables 30 count roll for $19.99. They come in 4 different colors: yellow, teal, purple and coral. We chose teal because that color matches our kitchen best. The website offers free shipping on orders of $40 or more, so we chose to purchase 2 rolls to save us the shipping cost.

Overall Savings

Since these reusable paper towels are washable and biodegradable, they last for a really LONG time! In fact, based on the aforementioned usage, one roll should last us a total of 2 years. Which means that by buying the 2 rolls at once, we should have 4 years worth of paper towels on hand. And we paid a total of $40 plus tax for that!

So, over a 10 year period of time, we should only have to spend a total of $100 on these fabulously bright and absorbent reusable paper towels versus the $1105 we would have spent on disposable products. That’s a huge savings in just this one category alone!

water bottles

Our family strives to drink more than the recommended 64 ounces of water per day. Which means that we all end up needing water bottles because we aren’t always at home. And with a family of 7, that could really add up if we were buying bottled water all the time.

In order to just get the 64 ounces per day, each of us would have to drink 4 bottles of water per day. This is based on the standard 16.9 ounce prepackaged water bottle size you find in stores. Which means we would go through 28 bottles of water per day, on average. We can get a 24 pack of water bottles for around $3.50. But, one package wouldn’t even be enough for one day of water for us, since we have 7 people in our family.

Therefore, in order to get enough water bottles for a year, we would need to purchase 426 cases of water (24 bottles in each case). This would total up to $1491 plus tax just in water bottles for 1 year, or $14,910 over 10 years That is a TON of money!

But, by switching to reusable metal water bottles, we have saved a ridiculous amount of money just in the first year alone. We found these really awesome, larger and more versatile reusable metal water bottles instead. The Extremus Deluge SS Wide Mouth water bottle usually sells for $20.99 per bottle and comes in 6 different colors. We were actually able to get them for a discounted rate since Amazon had them on sale for $16.79 when we found them, so we have saved even more. And, they come with 2 different handles, a carabiner and a smaller lid that screws off only at the mouth hole, which we really liked.

Overall Savings

These water bottles should easily last for 10 years, barring any child accidents. So, with that in mind, we have spent a total of $146.93 plus tax for all 7 bottles. So, if they last the full 10 years, this means we will have save a total of $14,763.07. Now, that is a not only a HUGE savings, but it also has a giant impact on the environment. Reusable water bottles for the win!

switching from disposable products summary

Overall, there are a lot of ways you can choose to go about this. But, ultimately, the more open minded you can be about getting rid of disposable products, the more money you can potentially save. Our biggest savings come from the paper towels and water bottles category, personally. But that doesn’t mean you can’t save in every category. No matter what, the more disposable products you get rid of, the greener you are and the more you can save.

What are some of the disposable products you’ve tossed to ultimately save more money and go green?

January 15, 2021

How We Plan to Celebrate Super Bowl During COVID

Let’s face it, COVID has changed how all of us live our lives. And this includes how we get together and celebrate even the little things in life. Since the Super Bowl is almost upon us, this is something we have certainly been thinking about recently. We usually go to a big Super Bowl party every year with friends and family. But this year it seems that may not be the best way to celebrate and still stay safe. So, here are the ways we are contemplating celebrating Super Bowl during COVID this year.

how can we Celebrate Super Bowl During covid?

The first thing we have to decide with regard to a Super Bowl party is whether or not to have a socially distanced party or celebrate it virtually. The decision will not be the same for all of us, but ultimately you need to decide which of these options makes the most sense for you and your family.

If the socially distanced Super Bowl party makes the most sense for you, then there are some great ways you can make this work effectively and economically. These include:

Provide football themed masks available for your guests or ask that all guests wear a football themed mask upon arrival
Masks should be worn whenever guest are not eating or drinking
Space seating areas 6’ apart for different groups (so that families can still sit together but still socially distance)
Set up smaller food stations in multiple areas of the house
Have a separate beverage station that only one person will be managing to minimize contact
Have different viewing screens in different areas inside and outside, when possible

However, if having a virtual Super Bowl party feels more comfortable for you instead, then that can be fairly easily achieved also. Some good ways to pull this off are:

Pick a designated time to begin your virtual streaming call with friends and family
Set up your food and beverage table within sight of your streaming device so all your friends and family can see how cool your football themed table is
Share food and beverage recipes ahead of time
Spitball games to play during commercials and/or half time
Participants in the virtual games can put money into the pot via a money payment app to avoid contact
Create some fun contests for everyone to participate in

super bowl party must haves

Once you’ve narrowed down which kind of Super Bowl party you’re having, then it’s time to dig into the must haves for a great party. All of these party items should be multifunctional so that you can use them for other things throughout the year. This way, you can help minimize the overall cost since you will be using them for more than just one party.

No matter what, there are a few must haves that can really make your Super Bowl party shine. These items should include:

Larger TV or projector for viewing the game
Super Bowl themed games
One or two good grills
Diverse grilling tool set
Party food & beverages
Serving dishes

TV or Projector Options

The TV will be the most expensive thing on the list, but there are ways to make this work. If you already have a great TV that will do the job well, then adding a projector might just be a great way to go. These have become much more economical in the past few years and can be moved around to so many different places. I found a great projector that comes with a screen for under $100, which I think is awesome. This way we can move it to a completely different room, or possibly even outside to show the game on the side of the house. And, this is something we could use all year long, which helps offset the initial cost.

But, if you don’t have a great TV, now is a really good time to buy one. The end of January through Super Bowl weekend is usually when a lot of companies have the deepest discounts on TV’s. So, keep an eye out for great deals on 65″ – 75″ TV’s during this time. They will definitely cost you more money than the projector, but this is another item you can easily use all year long.

Super Bowl Themed Games

There are plenty of games to choose from when it’s party time. So, if you already have some favorites, then start with those. For us, personally, there are two games we really like to play during the Super Bowl especially.

The football squares game is a huge Super Bowl party past time for us. This game can be played during Super Bowl, but also with all other sports games throughout the year. Each player chooses squares on the board they think will be winners and if they are correct they win the pot at the end of each quarter. Each column and row have on number on them and will denote the last number in the score for each team at the end of the quarter. This game can be a lot of fun, but get super competitive, so watch out! And this is a really good game to celebrate Super Bowl during COVID since you don’t need to have physical contact with one another.

Another favorite party game we like to play is cornhole. This game can be seen at parties and bars all over the US recently, so it is much easier to find now. If you aren’t sure which team you want to root for, then you can choose a cornhole set that is just sports themed so you can play it all year long for any football games. Overall, though, this is a fun backyard game just to have on hand for every day fun, Super Bowl party or not.

Grills

Having the right grill, or grills, is an essential part of any party, Super Bowl or otherwise. We actually like to have two grills on hand to begin with. One is a larger grill for feeding our whole family or party purposes. While the second grill is a smaller tabletop grill to bring out at parties or for traveling. If you don’t plan to do a lot of grilling throughout the year, then the smaller tabletop version may just be a perfect fit for you.

Either way, you can pick up a grill for fairly cheap in most cases. And since we prefer to cook with charcoal, these grills are usually a lot cheaper than the gas versions. Of course, there are also some hybrid grill options out there now that are charcoal but have a gas igniter, which are pretty cool. No matter which version, or versions, of the grill you go with, make sure it be used throughout the year to help offset the costs of the purchase.

Grilling Tool Sets

Once the grill has been sorted out, grilling tools are the next natural step. We prefer to keep two sets of diverse grilling tool sets on hand. A big part of this isn’t necessarily for parties, but they come in handy then too. But we use one set for indoor cooking/grilling and another specifically for outdoor grilling/cooking. Either way, these sets can be pretty easy to find and very cost effective. So, if you plan to have a Super Bowl party, this is when having more than one set can really help.

Getting a smaller set for more everyday use that has 2-4 pieces is a great way to start. But, if you want to get really fancy, you can upgrade to a huge multipiece grilling set with all the bells and whistles. In most cases, you can pick a pretty decent grilling tool set up easily for under $20, and sometimes even under $10. So this is one thing that certainly won’t break the bank.

Party Food & Beverages

No Super Bowl party is complete without a great selection of food and beverages. Of course, everyone is going to have a different idea of which types of food and beverages they want to have. But, here is a list of some of our favorite options:

Chicken wings
Chips
Cocktail wieners
Dips
Football cookies
Hamburgers
Hot dogs
Meatballs
Potato skins
Sliders
Beer (bottles, cans or a keg)
Football themed mixed drinks (Tequila Touchdown)
Wine

Ultimately, it’s great to have others brings some of their favorite football party food also. Since providing all of the food for a party can really do some damage to your budget, having a pot luck can really help offset the costs.

Serving Dishes

Once you have decided what food and beverages you will be having at your party, then it’s time to figure out what you will be serving them in. Some of my favorite options are:

Football themed party set (usually has plates, napkins, silverware, cups)
Large party napkins
Paper or plastic plates (different sizes usually come in handy)
Disposable silverware
Disposable Cups (with a marker to write guests names on the cups)
Tongs (disposable plastic kind or the metal heavier kind)
Football shaped chip and dip platter
Larger round serving platter or two
Tiered serving stands
Chafers and sternos for keeping food warm
Large cooler for beers and cold food

How to Celebrate Super Bowl During COVID Summary

Overall, there are quite a few different ways we can choose to celebrate Super Bowl during COVID. And each way will be totally up to you and your individual situation. But ultimately, the Super Bowl is a great time of year where a lot of us can get together to socialize and cheer on our favorite team. Along with laugh at some of the crazy half time commercials! But, because of COVID, we have to be a lot more careful how we celebrate with each other. Whether we celebrate by social distancing or virtually, there is still a lot of the same party items and food involved. We can stay safe but still have a great time. And here’s hoping the Super Bowl next year will be back to normal!

How do you plan to celebrate Super Bowl during COVID this year?