tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71688576477835112472024-02-07T19:46:25.580-07:00A Year of Financial Sanity365 days of money saving ideas, tips, tricks and activities. JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.comBlogger234125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-51719661379162076392015-05-13T20:57:00.000-06:002015-05-13T20:57:36.279-06:00233. Make Your Own Gift WrapThere are a couple of ways to make your own gift wrap. First, you could use newsprint; although this can make a mess when handling, it can look fantastic. Another way is to use colored paper and to decorate it. You could also use colored plastic wrap and some ribbon to tie it off. There is, also, the option of using paper bags, decorated. Or reusing gift bags that you are given.<br />
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Happy gifting!<br />
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Until next time.JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-59943254394434124142015-04-19T11:27:00.003-06:002015-04-19T11:27:58.604-06:00232. Homemade Toilet Bowl Cleaner<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, times, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6;">
Natural/Homemade Cleaners are the best way to save money and keep chemicals out of your home. Vinegar is one of the best natural cleaners around and I usually use it with baking soda for general cleaning; however this is a little more heavy duty to clean the toilet.</div>
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1/2 cup borax</div>
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1 cup white vinegar, distilled</div>
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add 10-20 drops of essential oil if you want a nice smell to go along with your clean bowl!</div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.6;">Combine the borax and vinegar, with the essential oil and allow to sit in the toilet bowl for at least an hour. After the hour, use a toilet brush to scrub the toilet bowl clean.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.6;">**For tougher stains, create a paste and apply directly onto the stains.</span></div>
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Happy cleaning!</div>
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Until next time!</div>
JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-34150347563192520522015-04-09T19:51:00.004-06:002015-04-09T19:51:30.556-06:00231. Turn off Power StripsThere is one way to reduce your energy consumption. It takes a little bit of planning, but if you can work it out. Set up your power strips so that things which can be actually turned off when not in use are plugged into a power strip with a power switch. Then, make sure that you turn off your power strips after every use.<br />
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Those power vampires can be huge users. Those items, like TVs, which are drawing waiting energy, add up pretty quickly.<br />
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Happy reducing!<br />
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Until later.JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-5903832733213690792015-04-06T20:38:00.002-06:002015-04-09T19:46:09.643-06:00230. Make Your Own Dish Washing DetergentMaking your own dish washing detergent is actually very simple. We had almost given up on being able to use our dish washer. We tried to use our regular detergent products, with terrible results. I began searching out a variety of home-made cleaning product ideas. I tried a couple of them, with mixed results. Here is what I found to work extremely well, especially with our "VERY" hard well-water:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWYDpy6Hw3vB9wEODwHSQL8EMzNzz5LZuP3nF2kbjh22di4_IUWjb4i1BTtRhBr7p6FsM2WnDDUuFfF3sjsJjXuxNh_8SRykaDdaxzrJ5zvKVnIMzsB_2NKyKKnkFzPWfPAK91cIWZMYKJ/s1600/IMG353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWYDpy6Hw3vB9wEODwHSQL8EMzNzz5LZuP3nF2kbjh22di4_IUWjb4i1BTtRhBr7p6FsM2WnDDUuFfF3sjsJjXuxNh_8SRykaDdaxzrJ5zvKVnIMzsB_2NKyKKnkFzPWfPAK91cIWZMYKJ/s1600/IMG353.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><br />
1 cup of <a href="http://www.20muleteamlaundry.com/" target="_blank">Borax</a><br />
1 cup of <a href="http://www.armandhammer.com/fabric-care/laundry-boosters/Products/arm-and-hammer-super-washing-soda-detergent-booster.aspx" target="_blank">Washing Soda</a><br />
1 cup of "<a href="http://lemishine.com/system/" target="_blank">Lemi Shine</a>" detergent booster<br />
1/2 cup of Kosher Coarse Salt<br />
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Mix all ingredients together, I store mine in a glass jar.<br />
- NOTE: you have to be careful and allow the "Lemi Shine" to dry out a little before you close it up, or you will end up with a detergent 'brick'.<br />
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Use 1 Tablespoon per load<br />
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Add 1 cup of vinegar to a bowl in the top rack (to act as a rinse agent)<br />
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This ends up costing less than a nickle per load - much less than any other detergent I have found.<br />
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This recipe has made our dishwasher usable again!<br />
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All of our dishes are now very clean, and they do not have the hard water residue we had previously run into.<br />
<br />JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-4319920021827871272015-04-06T20:24:00.001-06:002015-04-06T20:24:11.131-06:00It has definitely been a while!After a year and a half a lot has happened. First, we purchased a Geodesic Dome home in the county, that needs some love. Second, one kid is now in college. Third, I have gone back to work.<br />
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All of these things lead to way less time to blog and way more money being spent. We are in a place now where we need to spend less and find more time to get creative. After much consideration, I decided to readdress my money saving venture.<br />
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There are a number of these ideas that are still working for us and that we still do all of the time. Some we have let slide and we have found some new ones. I will try to share these new ideas one at a time until I reach 365! They may not be every day, but I will continue to include new ideas to put some money back into your pocket!<br />
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Thank you for continuing on this journey with me!<br />
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Until the next post!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-51355057247047132452013-08-17T11:23:00.002-06:002013-08-17T11:23:35.067-06:00229. Keep Your Owner's ManualsThere are a lot of items that come with Owner's Manuals. Keep these manuals. You may be surprised by how much information is included in them. We have had items that we thought were broken, only to review the owner's manual and discover that there is a simple fix to the problem. These can be valuable for you as long as you own the item and they can increase the resale value of items you no longer need. Sometimes a simple and inexpensive fix can restore something that you thought would have to be replaced, saving you the price of replacement.<br />
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Happy Saving!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-86103150018076682832013-08-15T18:12:00.000-06:002013-08-15T18:12:25.128-06:00228. Think Before you PrintI know that I am a culprit of printing unnecessarily, and I can verify that it definitely wastes money. The cost of the ink and the cost of the paper can add up quickly. If you are thinking of printing, make sure that you really need to print. You can also print on the back of paper that you have used previously. Think before you print!<br />
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Happy Not Printing!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-6148830074370303562013-08-15T05:51:00.003-06:002013-08-15T05:51:37.135-06:00227. School SuppliesI have discovered that school supplies can cost a pretty penny, so we began to find opportunities for savings with them. I started to clean up, repair, and save items that are in pretty good condition from previous years, then I save them in my school supply box. Then, when school begins we search through this box first. Once we have gotten anything usable out of there, we figure out if there is anything else needed. Then, we make a run to the store. There are some things that I know are used a lot that I may purchase multiples of when they are on sale.<br />
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Happy Reusing!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-53155804435488122522013-08-15T05:47:00.001-06:002013-08-15T05:47:47.252-06:00226. Homemade Birthday CakesOne of the pricier items for a birthday party is the commercially purchased birthday cake. If you are having a children's party, you can most definitely make your own cake, or cup cakes. There are a number of decorating options, if that is what you want. We have done everything from themed cakes to child decorated cup cakes. If you want to save some cash, opt for making your own.<br />
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Happy Partying!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-88587016789961585872013-08-15T05:44:00.002-06:002013-08-15T05:44:49.206-06:00225. Don't get Subscriptions that You Don't ReadI don't know about you, but I certainly don't have time to read a newspaper every day. I do have time occasionally and on those days, I will pick up a paper from the store. The same holds true with magazines. There are some that I like to read and will pick up when I have the time to read them. At one time, I had a subscription to the newspaper every day, I ended up with a stack of papers that I had never read, so I switched to a once a week subscription and that worked pretty well. We do have a couple of magazine subscriptions and those magazines are read and re-read, so they are worth the cost; however, the two that we had that never got read - got cancelled. Think seriously about whether or not you are reading those printed items that are delivered directly to you.<br />
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Happy Reading!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-53854090818331193562013-08-11T20:14:00.002-06:002015-04-21T17:58:30.153-06:00224. Re-use Utensils Pack Your LunchSave yourself some money and save the environment by re-using your utensils. We even re-use the plastic ones, they wash up just fine and if it accidentally gets thrown away, it doesn't cost a lot to replace. If you purchase some utensils from a second hand store, you can use those as your lunch utensils!<br />
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Happy Packing!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-14810925495318999952013-08-10T21:36:00.000-06:002013-08-10T21:36:21.028-06:00223. Buying InsuranceYou should only buy insurance for specific items that you cannot afford to replace. You should not buy insurance for an item that can easily be replaced. When you pay for insurance on an item monthly, it may not seem as though you are paying a lot; however, that amount adds up quickly. Make sure that you are not paying more to insure the item than the item is worth.<br />
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Happy Saving!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-74125478537599884852013-08-09T21:05:00.001-06:002013-08-09T21:05:37.679-06:00222. Avoid "Gotcha" FeesMake sure that you pay attention to the small print in any "deal" that you sign up for. There have been many times when some small undisclosed fee is automatically added to a bill. By watching the billing and paying attention to all of the fees charged, I have gotten these removed or corrected. This ends up saving me a little bit a number of times. A lot of these fees are automatically assessed and most people don't even notice them, so they just pay and the company makes money. If you watch your bills and make sure that you are not paying for any of these crazy fees, you can save yourself some cash.<br />
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Happy Avoiding!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-74611415223555889382013-08-08T17:55:00.000-06:002013-08-08T17:55:14.727-06:00221. Do Not Get into the Payday Advance CycleOne way to truly save money is to never get a payday advance. The interest rate alone could put you in the poor house. Do what you can to avoid these types of loans under all circumstances; once you get into this cycle, it is very difficult to get yourself out.<br />
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Happy Budgeting!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-37862169785065683872013-08-07T18:45:00.001-06:002013-08-07T18:45:55.956-06:00220. Don't Purchase the Store Protection PlanMake sure that before you purchase the store protection plan, you research thoroughly if the cost is justified. Check the price of the item and the manufacturer's protection policy before you pay the extra for a protection plan that may not actually provide you any service. I have been offered a $5 protection plan on a $15 product. That does not seem to make good financial sense.<br />
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Happy Researching!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-45296460461778309452013-08-07T05:51:00.000-06:002013-08-07T05:51:24.443-06:00219. ReuseIf you can figure out a way to reuse stuff that you already own. Sometimes if you really use your imagination, you can come up with new ways to use your old stuff so that it will work for you again. We have used a twin bed as a couch, a little plant stand as an end table, a chair as an end table, a small dinner tray as a bed side table, a small coffee table as a TV stand, an end table as a printer stand, etc. There are a multitude of methods to reuse items that you already have to fit what you need. Sometimes some paint or a piece of fabric can completely change one item into something completely new.<br />
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Happy Reusing!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-82819102265620486322013-08-07T05:47:00.000-06:002013-08-07T05:47:00.200-06:00218. Find and Use a Cheaper StylistOne of the things that ends up costing women (in particular) a fortune is getting their hair done at a salon. I have searched for a stylist that I like who happens to be affordable, and this was not easy. I still don't understand why it costs so much more to get the same haircut at different locations. The good news is that there are so many stylists and so many locations, choices are available.<br />
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Happy Styling!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-73975530313402572522013-08-07T05:44:00.000-06:002013-08-07T05:44:19.698-06:00217. Use Cloth Diapers for BabyWhen our first child was born, we never even considered cloth diapers. The disposable ones seemed to work just fine, although they cost us a fortune. When our second child was born, she would get an immediate rash from most disposable diapers, so we had to do something. We could either switch to the very expensive, natural disposable diapers, or use cloth. We opted for cloth and discovered that we were saving a small fortune in diapering.<br />
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Happy Saving!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-13859640309978500072013-08-04T20:22:00.001-06:002013-08-04T20:22:48.690-06:00216. Ask for a DiscountSometimes being up front enough to ask for a discount can save you cash. There are a number of companies that offer discounts for being a member of a variety of groups and there are some companies that do have discounts, but they are only available when you make the request.<br />
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Happy Inquiring!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-4374804036836533932013-08-03T21:53:00.001-06:002013-08-03T21:53:44.962-06:00215. Ask questionsIf you really want to save money, ask questions. By asking questions, you can become better informed and can often save yourself some money and some frustration. By making sure that you understand what you are paying for and what the value is, you can make informed decisions.<br />
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Happy Questioning!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-31755587333157935722013-08-02T21:27:00.001-06:002013-08-02T21:27:19.024-06:00214. Free Exams Through InsuranceMake sure that you take advantage of your free medical, dental, vision, etc exams through your insurance. You (or your employer) are paying for this benefit, make sure that you get the most out of it. These exams can often be an important part of staying healthy. Make sure that you are using your benefits.<br />
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Happy Checkup!<br /><br />
Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-54802929250965597142013-08-01T20:38:00.000-06:002013-08-01T20:38:03.052-06:00213. Check for reductions in monthly services Check with your monthly service providers to see if you can reduce your expenses. Sometimes, if you are thinking of cancelling a service, the provider will work with you to see if there is a way to reduce your cost. There could, also, be ways to reduce your usage so that the cost goes down. Get creative!<br />
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Happy Reducing!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-61450392435645020792013-07-31T05:55:00.000-06:002013-07-31T05:55:15.462-06:00212. Home PhoneIf you seldom use your home phone and/or you have good signal/service on your cell phone, get rid of the home phone. Really look at the usefulness of the service being provided and the cost of having it. If it does not make sense, discontinue the service.<br />
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Happy Minimizing!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-47934696595022658892013-07-30T21:47:00.000-06:002013-07-30T21:47:22.287-06:00211. Pay Off Credit CardsIf you use your credit cards to save money, you need to pay off the balance every month. This will allow you to take advantage of the free money during your billing cycle, but will not let you incur any interest.<br />
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Happy Spending!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7168857647783511247.post-33260654024340122752013-07-29T18:41:00.000-06:002013-07-29T18:41:37.764-06:00210. Keep ReceiptsMake sure that if you itemize your tax deductions, you keep your donation receipts and keep records of all charitable work. This will make claiming these deductions on your taxes much easier to do. It will save you from paying taxes on those gifts.<br />
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Happy Giving!<br />
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Until Tomorrow!JimmiLynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553351296321278640noreply@blogger.com0