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7 Secrets for Saving Big on Your Baby

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

If you’re like most new parents, your first two emotions after a positive pregnancy test are excitement and paralyzing fear. You’re having a baby . . . but you have no idea what you’re doing! You’ve got just nine months to figure out not only how to keep your kid alive but also what gear you need to make that happen.

Before you find yourself in a frenzy buying everything at Babies“R”Us, check out these 7 tips for saving big bucks on your baby. [Read more…]

The 5 Things You Need to Do While Saving for a House

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Saving for a house is both exhilarating and terrifying. Your home’s down payment will probably be the biggest check you ever write. How on earth do you save that kind of cash – month after month, year after year?

These five actions are essential to getting you the keys to your new place. [Read more…]

Your Money in the Trash: How to Stop Wasting Food (Part 2)

This post is part 2 in the series Your Money in the Trash: How to Stop Wasting Food.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

In Part 1 of this series, we looked at how you can stop food waste — and money waste — by making a meal plan, being realistic about what you eat, and making your food visible.

I even recommended some food storage containers that not only allow you to see your food as it happily awaits your return to the fridge but also double as dishes for reheating. Speaking of which . . . [Read more…]

Your Money in the Trash: How to Stop Wasting Food (Part 1)

This post is part 1 in the series Your Money in the Trash: How to Stop Wasting Food.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

Is it refrigerator clean-out day at your house? You know that day . . . you dig through the recesses of your fridge, pull out forgotten-food-turned-moldy-science-experiment, and toss your unrecognizably icky food into the trash.

Most of us don’t like to handle stinky, bacteria-infested mystery foods . . . but we also hate to throw away money! That food in the dumpster was something you bought and possibly even something you spent time preparing.

Waste no more! It’s time to get serious about keeping your food — and your money — from winding up in the dump. Here’s how: [Read more…]

Make It From Scratch: Address Labels

Photo courtesy of Amazon

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

How much money are you spending on return address labels?

Do you spend cash again and again to order customized labels online or from a mailer? Do you use free address labels sent to you by your alma mater or charities — even though you hate the design and your name is misspelled? Do you you spend hours hand-printing your return address on Christmas cards in lieu of spending for labels?

There’s a better way.

You can print your own address labels right at home.

For about 1¢ per label, you can create a peel-and-stick label with any font, color scheme, and image of your choosing. It’s cheap. It’s easy . . . and it’s fun! [Read more…]

Easy Ways to Save Thousands on Your Wedding

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

Buy anything that’s labeled “wedding” and you’ll get the marital markup.

Weddings are not cheap. Some people save for years. Some hit up well-to-do relatives. Others solicit donations or even go into debt to pay for the nuptials of their dreams.

Before you elope in frustration though, consider these areas where you can save thousands of dollars on the final bill. [Read more…]

Stop Buying These Money-Wasters: 7 Fast and Fool-Proof Foods You Can Make at Home

The supermarket is ripping you off.

In less time than it takes you to drive to the store, pick up some staple food item, and return home, you could have done all of the prep work to make it yourself – and for a lot less. Some of these items (like croutons, baby food, and yogurt) may seem mysterious and difficult to create at home, but they are fast and near-foolproof to create in your own kitchen.

As a bonus, yours will probably be tastier than what you could pick up at the store . . . and you will save a ton of money without spending a ton of time.

Here are seven foods that you can make super-fast and easily at home on the cheap.

Read the rest of my recently published blog post on Money Pantry!

Save Time and Money with a Supermarket Pick-Up Service

Having someone else do your grocery shopping? It sounds like a major luxury . . . right?

Instead of spending time alone or with small children in the supermarket, a friendly person takes care of your whole order and even packs it neatly into your car when you arrive to pick it up.

Even if the idea is appealing, you may be reluctant to try out a service that sounds pricey. However, our family actually saves time and money by occasionally using our supermarket’s pick-up service.

Read the rest of my recently-published blog post on Money Saving Mom, one of the largest personal finance blogs and one I’ve been reading for years!

Make It From Scratch: Greeting Cards (For Non-Crafty People)

Photo courtesy of Nova Development

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

My artistic skill development stopped somewhere around age five. In kindergarten, I made perfectly-acceptable, childlike drawings, but my 7-year-old niece’s artwork far outpaces anything I’ve created since. Handmade greeting cards can be beautiful and cost-effective, but what if you’re a non-crafty person like me? You can still make high-quality, printed and personalized greeting cards . . . using your computer.

Here’s how the costs work out for me:

Store price: $0.99 for a cheap card up to $4.99 for a standard card
Price of computer-made: $0.55 for a personalized card
Savings: 44% – 89%

[Read more…]

Want to Save Money on Your Kid’s College Tuition? Don’t Pay It

“Have you started saving for college?” a co-worker whispered apprehensively when I announced my first pregnancy at the office. The question wasn’t unreasonable — even though my kid will be in the graduating class of 2037 . . .

Do you wonder how you’ll ever foot the bill? Try this concept on for size:

Don’t pay for college.

Grab your smelling salts. You can absolutely do it.

My parents were educated beyond college and wholeheartedly believe in the importance of higher education. Still, while they offered to pay for room and board for their five kids, they gave us the responsibility of handling the rest of the bill.

At the end of the day, we all managed to enter excellent college and graduate programs, land great jobs and do it all with little or no debt.

Here’s how you can help your kids do the same . . .

Read the rest of my recently-published blog post on The Penny Hoarder, the world’s largest personal finance blog with more than 8 million readers!