I'm a Knitter!

After deciding I wanted to learn to knit I "borrowed" (she'll never see them again) some knitting needles from my Mom and set off to find a good tutorial. I figured why spend money on a how to knitting book when I have the internet at my fingertips?

I really only needed to learn the knit and purl stitches for the dish cloths I want to make so it didn't take me very long to get the hang of it. I found a great tutorial on the Better Homes and Gardens page called Knitting 101: Knit and Purl stitches. It not only has easy to understand text but great pictures as well.

This creation was suppose to be a scarf for Matt since he now has to walk to the bus stop in the cold, but I found a quicker crotchet solution. Even though I have abandoned this knitted scarf I can't wait to get my first dish cloth finished. I've been collecting patterns for a few weeks now, but need to finish a few other projects before I get started.

Our 2009 Budget

As I mentioned in a post earlier we’ve made some budget changes to reflect Matt’s new job. While I’m considering the 2009 budget finalized it may need to be changed in the future as these numbers are my best guess at what our expenses will be. I’ve increased our car insurance fund in preparation of purchasing a new vehicle sometime next year and having to pay larger insurance premiums. We have also increased our student loan payment because we’ll have to begin paying on Matt’s loans come November, I’m not sure how much our payment will increase when this happens but I want to have a nice buffer available when it does. We’ll also start saving to purchase a new vehicle (something we were going to do anyway) in the case we do buy another or replace our current one. Lastly the current budget does not use all of our available funds as we are waiting to see how much we’ll have to pay out of pocket for health insurance, once we establish this amount I can make any necessary changes.

Now on to the numbers.


Tithe/Donation: 10% of net income
~ Because I am paid hourly this number will fluctuate

Essential House Funds: $1075
~ Basic necessary expenses including mortgage, heat, water, trash pick up, student loans

Non Essential House Funds: $515
~ Unnecessary expenses that we choose to continue including cell phones, cable, gas, gifts, personal spending money

Groceries: $150

Total Expenses: $1740 + 10%


The rest of our income will go into different savings categories
As mentioned I am paid on an hourly basis and my hours do vary per week; because of this I decided to list the savings amounts as percents rather than dollars

New Car Fund: 55% (until $4000 goal met)
We would like to save about $4000 for a new vehicle and will allocate $1000 from our tax return to help in this effort

Emergency Fund: 35% (until $5000 goal met)
We are planning to set aside about $5000 for an emergency fund in 2009. We will allocate about $2000 from my bonuses in the spring to help

Retirement “Dream” Fund: 10%
Once the new car and emergency funds are fully financed we will begin putting 100% of our extra income into this fund. This should allow us to put about $7000 away in 2009 leaving us with a $5500 deficit for our yearly goal (which just means I get to think of new ways to save and make money).


So there it is our first 2009 budget. I’m sure it will be adjusted at least three to five times throughout the year, but that’s the good thing about budgets they can be changed.

Sweeps for the week 12/29

Here are some of the sweeps for the week. Most of them can be entered daily so make sure to keep checking back for the chance to win more great prices.

Instant Wins
~ Chrysler Drive to go Green Play once a day until 12/31. You do not need a code
~ Coinstar Is Free Play once a day until 12/31
~ Steam Fresh Meals for Two until 12/31 and you can get $1 off coupon
~Kotex Instant Win Until 12/31
~ Gain – Share the Love Play until 1/3
~ Cesar Canine Cuisine Play until 1/06
~ Tinker Bell Sweepstakes once per day until 1/31
~ Blue Man Group – Universal Orlando Resort Until 1/31
~ Blue Man Group Instant Win Once per day until 1/31
~ Pink Panther 2 Instant Win Play once a day until 2/10.
~ Better Homes and Gardens Once a day until 02/15. (thanks to MoonGoddess)
~ Where’s Mr. Jelly Belly Until 7/15
Crayola Art Gear Sweepstakes Until 7/31/09 Use Code: COLOR

Just Plain Sweeps
~ Circuit City - Ongoing
~ Woman’s Day Magazine. - Many Ongoing
~ Home Magazine - Many Ongoing
~Enter the Redbook get everything you want Until 1/15. More here

Free Dog Food at Menards

Last week while shopping at Menards I saw they had the 3.5 lb Iams Healthy Naturals Dog food on clearance for $2.97. This means you can use the $3 off coupon from a recent insert to grab some free dog food.

But hurry the store I was in only had two left. Right now it seems to only be dog food as I checked the small Cat Healthy naturals and they were still around $8.

Our good News

So the good news post is only a day late, I've been wrapped up in Christmas parties and a huge yarn sale at JoAnns. I'm trying to get all my materials from re-purposed items but I can't pass up $6 yarn on sale for $1.50 . If fact I'm thinking I'll go back tomorrow, just to make sure I didn't miss any thing, plus I really should pick up some more masculine colors in case Matt needs something made in the future. I can rationalize anything, it's from years of credit card shopping except this time I'm paying cash.

So on to the good news

Starting January 12th Matt will start a new job.

Like any new opportunity there are some pros and cons. Obviously the pros out weight the cons since he's accepted the position but it does mean some major changes in our home. This new position comes with a nice pay increase and health benefits, major pros.

The one con we will be experencing is the loss of a vehicle. Currently Matt uses a company car and company gas 100% of the time. We actually only own one vehicle. We could go out and purchase a new (to us) vehicle and take on a car payment, but we really don't want to owe anyone else money again. So that means for the time being we'll be a one car family, it will be an interesting experience. I work the night shift two nights a week so I won't be able to pick Matt up from work which means he'll have to take the bus. (Sadly I don't have a bus route available or else we'd be a full time bus family) In the future we'll probably buy another car but for the next little bit we're going to give it a shot and see what happens.

With all these financial changes I reworked the 2009 budget and will be posting it soon. I also have a listing of our 2009 financial and personal goals, but I put it down so I wouldn't lose it and have apparently lost it. Isn't that how it always goes?

Blog Vacation

Like many bloggers around the net I'm taking the next two days off.

But I promise to return with some great news on Friday.



Until then have a great Holiday!

Quick, Easy and Cheap Christmas Gift

Not finished with all your Christmas shopping yet? You're running out of time, but I have a quick, easy and cheap solution.
Remember the records bowls I made a few months ago?

I decided to use a few and give them away as Christmas gifts, but I didn't want the bowls to be empty so I loaded them up with chocolate chip cookies of course.


These will be going to the family members we didn't do designated gifts with this year.

The record bowls cost about $.80 and it takes about 5 minutes to make them (including oven prep time). The cookies are your standard Chocolate chip where cost and prep time vary. These cost about $10 for quite a few dozen and we made them all in about an hour. I wrapped the cookies in red saran wrap ($2) to protect them from the bowl and tied it off with some green ribbon.

Total cost per bowl comes out to less than $2 and we finished then within a few hours.

They make a great unique Christmas gift that will have everyone talking and you can have them ready in no time at all.

Unique, frugal and good for the earth gift wrap options

There are a ton of ways to save on gift wrap this year not only for your wallet but also for our planet. Rather than going out and spending a ton on metallic paper that won't biodegrade consider some of these options.

Below are two gifts I wrapped in brown craft paper found at Wal-Mart for $1.88 you could also turn a brown paper bag inside out and use that for a free solution. I decorated them by using the persons name cut from different types of papers. The first is from another Sunday comic page and the second from some left over wrapping paper. (you know the part on the sides you always have to cut off but never have a gift small enough to use it on). The bow is also made from the same left over wrapping paper. The stencils I used were a little too big for the gifts, I'll have to purchase a smaller set for next year. Even with all of that, I"m still really happy with the way they turned out. For different lettering looks you could also use a newspaper page full of text, a large picture from a newspaper or magazine, the inside of security envelopes, or even some pretty scrap booking paper or stationary.

Of course if you have a lot of stamps laying around you could also choose to stamp your craft paper for a holiday look. It's really hard to tell in the attached picture (sorry) but I stamped this gift with red presents and green trees. I also added a little glitter to the gifts to make them stand out. I'm hoping it doesn't all rub off before we get to our Christmas party. My husband so loves when I bring out the glitter so I'm sure this is his favorite method. I only spilled a little this time, I swear.

For another option I completely wrapped one of Matt's gifts in a page from the Sunday comics. The bow was created using my normal method found in previous posts and the tag is just a piece folded over with his name. It's a simple and quick method but I think it's really unique. I wish I would have wrapped more of our gifts this way.

In total I've spent less than $2 in gift wrap this holiday season which was on the craft paper. Since I have so much left over I'll also be using it to wrap birthday gifts in 2009. I can just use birthday stamps or pick seasonal paper for the stencil cut outs. Maybe I'll even keep the paper plain and use pretty ribbon.

Have you used any interesting or frugal gift wrap this year?

FREE items from Menards

I just purchased all of these items from Menards for $1.99

I had to pick up a last minute Christmas gift for Matt and figured if I was already buying the additional $10 non rebated items I should pick up a few FREE after rebate items as well. I mean I was already at the store, you shouldn't waste a trip.

Here's the break down

1 Utility Boot tray (not pictured) $2.00
~ $2 Mail in Rebate
Final Price: FREE
(limit one)

5 Sticker Books (@ .75) $3.75
~ $3.75 Mail in Rebate
Final Price: FREE
(limit ten)

2 Power Grips (@1.50) $3
~ 3 Mail in Rebate
Final Price: FREE
(limit two)

1 Gas Treatment $1.50
~ $1.50 Mail in Rebate
Final Price: Free
(limit one)

1 Crank LED Flashlight $5
~ $5 Mail in Rebate
Final Price: FREE
(limit one)

10 small/mini gift bags (@ .75) $7.50
~$7.50 Mail in Rebate
Final Price: FREE
(limit ten)

2 Lindor Truffles (@2.50) $5
~ $3 Mail in Rebate
~ $1 off 2 coupon (found by bags)
Final Price: $1 ($.50 each)
(limit two)

1- 19 Piece Combo Drill set @3.99
~ $3 Mail in Rebate
Final Price: $.99
(limit one each - with five different options)

Most of these deals end either 12/24 or 12/31 so hurry and get shopping.

Not your average gift basket

I was all about the unique gift options for the holidays this year. One of the gifts we'll be giving away this week has a movie theme. Well movie and dinner theme rather.

I purchased four of these popcorn tubs for $1 each at Target. They are tied together with some thick white ribbon (left over from our wedding) and I used a little left over tissue paper to top it off. In each of the four tubs is a gift pertaining to the movie/dinner theme. There is an Applebees gift card, two movie tickets, and a few coupons for popcorn/pop.


Below is a close up of the envelope I stuck the gift card in. I just did a simple envelope fold from Mirkwood designs . I used a Mrs. Dash ad from an old magazine since it featured a picture of food.


I think it came together really well and hopefully will give the recipient a big smile. I love that this gift basket becomes a gift the whole family can use throughout the year when watching movies at home.

Cheap & Recycled Gift Wrap

Another great gift wrap option. If you're running out of time before the holidays this is a great solution to create your own gift wrap from things found around your home.


As you can see in the picture above I've taken a page from a catalog and some paper from our shredder.


When put all together it makes a great mini gift bag all from recycled materials and with no cost.

You can find the great gift bag tutorial from Junk Mail Gems (I love her site) . I kept my bag simple but you can also add handles made from ribbon or yarn.

And don't forget to finish the gift off with some free gift tags.

Embroidered Gift Tags
Tags from scraps

I also had Leah from Suddenly Frugal tweet me another great idea for making gift tags. She takes last years Christmas cards and cuts out the image with pinking shears making a unique tag for each gift.

More FREE photos

Right now you can get 50 prints and a 4X6 Flip book from Snapfish if you open up a new account. Check out Freebies4Mom for more information

You can also get a free 5X7 AND 8X10 from CVS, Coupon Cravings has the scoop.

I'm never going to have to pay for photos ever again, it's great.

Sweeps for Week 12/22

Here are some of the sweeps for the week. Most of them can be entered daily so make sure to keep checking back for the chance to win more great prices.

Instant Wins
~ Chiquita Instant Win Play until 12/26 (Free code: 4322-2342-1342-4323)
~ Chrysler Drive to go Green Play once a day until 12/31. You do not need a code
~ Coinstar Is Free Play once a day until 12/31
~ Steam Fresh Meals for Two until 12/31 and you can get $1 off coupon
~Kotex Instant Win Until 12/31
~ Gain – Share the Love Play until 1/3
~ Cesar Canine Cuisine Play until 1/06
~ Tinker Bell Sweepstakes once per day until 1/31
~ Blue Man Group – Universal Orlando Resort Until 1/31
~ Blue Man Group Instant Win Once per day until 1/31
~ Pink Panther 2 Instant Win Play once a day until 2/10.
~ Better Homes and Gardens Once a day until 02/15. (thanks to MoonGoddess)
~ Where’s Mr. Jelly Belly Until 7/15
Crayola Art Gear Sweepstakes Until 7/31/09 Use Code: COLOR

Just Plain Sweeps
~ Circuit City - Ongoing
~ Woman’s Day Magazine. - Many Ongoing
~ Home Magazine - Many Ongoing
~Enter the Redbook get everything you want Until 1/15. More here

New Sweeps

I've done a bad job of keeping my instant win games up to date lately, but have no fear tomorrows post will have quite a few new ones.

Until then here are a few to keep you occupied.


Crayola Art Gear Sweepstakes
Play once a day until 7/31/09
Use Code: COLOR

::Prizes Include::
Grand Prize: Selected Crayola products, a Crayola digital camera, and a digital photo frame. (sweepstakes prize)
20 First Prizes: Crayola Prize Package featuring exciting new Crayola products.
200 Second Prizes: A pip-squeaks Telescoping Marker Tower

Limit one instant win prize per person

________________________________________________________

Pink Panther 2 Instant Win Play once a day until 2/10.

::Prizes Include::
65 Pink Panther Bracelet Prizes
50 Fleurop Rose Bouquet and Candy prizes
50 Sony Style Gift Cards
50 Sweet 'N Low Barrel Bag Prize

________________________________________________________

~ Cesar Canine Cuisine
Play until 1/06

1 Grand Prize: Trip for 2 to New York, NY
350 First Prizes: A punchibag, Inc. Swarovski Crystal dog leash
400 Second Prizes: One of the following; $25 PetSmart Card, $25 Canine Styles Card,
$25 Trixi+Peanut Pet Emporium Card.
75 Third Prizes: One of the following; 1 year subscription to Animal Fair Magazine, or
The bark Magazine, or Modern Dog Magazine
5000 Fourth Prizes: Coupon Redeemable for one Free Cesar canine Cuisine

Limit: one prize per person per day and one Game First, Second, Third and Fourth Prize per person.

CVS 12/21

Once again we got to CVS too late and they were out of pretty much everything I wanted.

I was able to roll over a few ecbs, but not as many as I would have liked.



Halls Naturals $2.59
~ $.50 Halls Coupon
Crest Pro Health $2.99
~ $1 Crest Coupon
Sally Hansen Nail Polish $5.99
Zipp Fizz $5.99
3 CVS Reusable bags (for filler) $2.97

Used a $4/$20 CVS Coupon

Total after coupons: $15.03
Ecbs used: $9.99
CVS Gift Card: $5.04

ECBs received: $ 16.57

Not an amazing day but I did manage a profit.


Year to date savings: $580.20

More frugal gift tags

Looking to make more personalized gift tags?

Check out this crafter on Flickr, they have some great Embroidered Gift Tags that you can whip up in no time.

The template is available at sublime stitching.

And don't forget about making your own tags from left over scrap book paper.

Friday Find - Grace Violet

In need of a few last minute gifts? Grace Violet has an amazing post about easy teacher gifts. I think these gifts would be great for quite a few people, not just teachers.

I don't have a picture but trust me visit her site you're in for a treat. Kristin found black and white note cards in several prints, and mixed them up so that each recipient would receive a variety. The look is amazing, but she went above and beyond by creating her own flower pins and even provides a Tutorial to make your own

Best of all you can find note cards for $1 at Michael's and the pins are made from fabric scraps. You can't get more cost effective than that.

Frugal Gift Tags

Aren't these gift tags cute?

Guess how much they cost me? That's right... nothing.

These tags are made from extra scrapbook paper and a few die cuts. If you aren't a big scrapbooker and don't have a way to make die cuts on your own you can purchase packages of them fairly cheap at any craft store. I love the one on the bottom right with the lights and ribbon.

More Free Bath and Body Works Products

If you hurry right now you can get a free travel size Bath and Body Works product, up to $3.50 in value with any purchase. Print the coupon HERE and use it until December 18th. (Tip from Coupon cravings)

You can also print a coupon HERE for any item, Free up to $13 with any $10 purchase until December 24th. (Deal from Money Saving Mom)


I so wish I was able to get to a mall and pick some of these items up, but it's out of my way, and I'd be so tempted to spend money on something we don't need. I'll just have to enjoy what everyone else gets, like the $.40 nail file and lambie My Precious Pennies picked up earlier.

Cheap Christmas Cards

Remember the 30 Christmas cards that were available for $.48?
I shared them during my rather boring update.


They turned out a little different than I expected, more of a photo rather than a folded card, but 30 cards for less than a $1 is a great deal. And of course the best part is the picture, B.P. with Santa (last year).

I'm a little behind schedule this year but am happy to report all our cards are signed, addressed, and ready to be mailed tomorrow.

Were you able to take advantage of this deal? I'd love to see the results.

$2,500 Scholarship

Have you read about the $2,500 scholarship being offered by Ramit for a socially innovative project at I will teach you to be rich?
You can read the scholarship details here , also make sure and read the full post because he has some great insight about following your dreams now rather than tomorrow. I sometimes feel like I'm one of those people who is always waiting for tomorrow to do what I really want.

This is a great chance for someone to reach out and help others.

Upcycling Success – Reused Yarn

Remember my last Goodwill sweater fiasco?

This one turned out much better wouldn’t you say?


I was able to salvage a ton of yard from just one size large sweater; actually it was more of a cardigan which means I also ended up with some ugly buttons (not pictured). I forgot to take a before picture, but I purchased the cardigan at Goodwill on a sale day for $1.75 much cheaper than buying even clearance yard at any craft store. Plus I was able to reuse toilet paper rolls to wrap the yarn around, it was a twofer.

I’m so excited to get projects started and use up this yarn. Just think of all the things I can make...
Cute little Bluebirds
A traveling Bag
Sweater Ornaments
An adorable blue Elephant

Maybe I’ll even learn to knit and whip up some of these adorable snowflake dish cloths unless someone can find patterns to crotchet. I’ve had no luck.

Sweeps for the Week 12/15

Here are some of the sweeps for the week. Most of them can be entered daily so make sure to keep checking back for the chance to win more great prices.

Instant Wins
~ Fancast Instant Win Once per day until 12/19
~ Chiquita Instant Win Play until 12/26 (Free code: 4322-2342-1342-4323)
~ Chrysler Drive to go Green
Play once a day until 12/31. You do not need a code
~ Tinker Bell Sweepstakes once per day until 1/31
~ Blue Man Group Instant Win Once per day until 1/31

Just Plain Sweeps
~ Circuit City - Ongoing
~ Woman’s Day Magazine. - Many Ongoing
~ Home Magazine - Many Ongoing
~Enter the Redbook get everything you want Until 1/15. More here



Saturday, I received the $50 Wal-Mart gift Card I won from The "cent"sible Sawyer. I can't wait to use it. If only I could decide on what... decisions decisions.

What have you won from an instant win or blog sweeps lately?

Pictures with Santa

Right now PetSmart is offering digital photos with your pet and Santa. They come in an adorable snowflake frames and cost $9.95 with $5 going towards animal adoption.

We've taken B.P. to see Santa every year and he loves it as much as we do. Ok so maybe he loves that everyone showers him with attention and treats. And of course he knows he can't leave PetSmart without a holiday snack.

Next weekend is your last chance to have a photo with Santa so use this link to find a location and time near you.

Steve & Barry's Shopping Trip

As you may have heard Steve and Barry's is going out of business.

Matt and I love this store, we have three in the immediate area and their prices are great for school merchandise. In fact Steve and Barry's probably made up 80% of my wardrobe during college. Where else can you get a shirt for $5 and pants for $8? Because of the recent bad news the stores are marked down anywhere from 40 to 70 percent.

We were able to pick up all the items pictures above for $113.38.

For Matt we purchased
5 pairs of khaki pants
2 pair of jeans
2 shirts
1 dress shirt

I walked away with
3 pairs of dress pants
2 dress shirts
2 plain shirts
1 sweater vest thing

I also bought 4 bibs and a onsie for future craft use.
That's a ton of clothes for $113. I plan to stop by at least one more time once things are marked down again to stock up on some other things.

I also asked and they will be selling their hangers and other fixtures before the stores completely close down. I'm thinking of picking up some of their wooden hangers especially if they go for a decent price and maybe one of their hanging racks to use next to our washer.

Cheap Disney Movies

Get some cheap Disney movies for Christmas this year. Right now there is a coupon for $3 off ANY Disney movie or Blu-Ray DVD on Slick Deals. You can print the coupon up to ten times!

Right now Target has the first Narnia and the Classic Holiday Stories for $10. Two movies for $14, a great gift for someone special or your own collection.

Free Books!

Look what I got in the mail today… for FREE!

Over the last week I’ve sent off nine books for others to read through the paperbackswap.com website. Now we have a ton of credits to use in order to get more books, and I can always use new books.

If you read a lot and haven’t signed up for paperbackswap yet you should. You can find out more about the program by visiting their website, basically it is an online community where you can swap books with other members for little out of pocket.

It’s free to join paperbackswap.com. Once you’re a member you can then list any book you’d be willing to send to another member. If someone requests a book from your collection you receive a credit after mailing it to them. Then you get to use that credit to request your own book, as I did with Friday Night Knitting Club.

The only cost is any postage you incur in mailing out a book. So technically my Friday Night Knitting Club wasn’t 100% free since I had to send a book to someone else, but on average it only cost about $2.40 to mail a normal sized paper back. (Hard covers can cost slightly more to mail)

Last week I saw the Friday Night Knitting Club at Target for about $11 and on Amazon.com it’s currently selling for about $2 plus $3 shipping. So even after paying the shipping cost for my old book I still saved $2.60 on even the lowest purchasing option. That’s a 52% savings. Cheaper than any book store.

Don’t believe me on just how easy it is? Sign up today at paperbackswap.com. and list your first ten books in order to earn TWO credits without having to mail anything.

Cheap Batteries

I was able to pick up some free batteries at Target earlier this week by using a great coupon from Rayovac.


The coupon has since been changed to include only four packs in the AA or AAA sizes, but you can still get some cheap batteries. At Wal-mart they have quite a few different sizes in the Rayovac alkaline. I picked up 6 C batteries for $4.50 which is half the cost of any other brand.
Visit this site to print your own coupon for $1 off Rayovac. There is no print limit but remember, there is no reason to abuse coupons.

Sweeps for the Week 12/8

Sweeps for the Week

Here are some of the sweeps for the week. Most of them can be entered daily so make sure to keep checking back for the chance to win more great prices.

Instant Wins
~ Madagascar Movie Sweeps Once per day until 12/11
~ Win a Wii a day Once per day until 12/14
~ Soft Scrub Instant Win
Play until 12/15 (use SOFTSCRUB as free code)and receive a $.50 off coupon
~ Fancast Instant Win Once per day until 12/19
~ Chiquita Instant Win Play until 12/26 (Free code: 4322-2342-1342-4323)
~ Chrysler Drive to go Green
Play once a day until 12/31. You do not need a code
~ Tinker Bell Sweepstakes once per day until 1/31
~ Blue Man Group Instant Win Once per day until 1/31

Just Plain Sweeps
~ Circuit City - Ongoing
~ Woman’s Day Magazine. - Many Ongoing
~ Home Magazine - Many Ongoing
~Enter the Redbook get everything you want Until 1/15. More here

CVS - 12/7

The CVS ad didn’t look great so I only did a quick trip. I figure we can always use cold medicine especially when it only cost $1.99 (in ecbs).


My little transaction looked like this
1 Powerade $1.59
2 Theraflu Warming Relief $5.99
(They were marked for $6.59 but they rang up correctly)
~ Used (2) $2 off any Theraflu item

Total after coupons: $9.57
Paid with ecb: $8.98
OOP: $.77
ECB’s earned: $5.59

So in total I received $14.87 in merchandise for $.77 of my own money.

No Christmas Budget

I haven’t been doing a monthly budget update like normal because basically we haven’t been following a budget. Well at least not in my opinion, it’s a very loose budget, we’ve been putting all our extra money into our house fund and now that it’s fully funded we’ll start a new budget in January. (details to come)

Not following a budget is a very weird feeling, one I haven’t adjusted to yet. I feel like we just have money flying out of our savings account. I hate the fact that I don’t really know where everything is or where it’s going. I do, but not as much as I used to. I can’t wait to get back to using a detailed budget again.

Last night I was having a small panic attack about the amount we’ve spent on Christmas shopping this year and decided it was time to total it all up and deal with the damage. With everything else we had going on I didn’t really set a budget, I was just hoping for the best…not a great idea.

Thankfully both my sides of the family happily agreed to a no gift Christmas. We’ll do a small gathering at my Mother’s house and dinner with my Father and younger sister to celebrate with little or no gifts. I wasn’t sure how they’d respond when I mentioned it but both seemed open to the idea and I must admit it has taken so much stress off us. Not having to worry about what will be the perfect gift and how much it will cost. It allows you to enjoy the holiday spirit a little more.

We’re still doing gifts on Matthew’s side but they are very toned down. We’ll be doing a dinner with the whole family but only exchanging gifts with immediately family after. So that leaves me with nine people to purchase gifts for, four adults and five children. As of today we have finished our shopping all for $156.96. So much less than I thought we had spent.

I still need to purchase ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies, but I don’t expect that to cost much. We’ll be giving baskets of cookies to each family during Christmas dinner, both of us will be taking some to work during Christmas week, and I plan to donate a few dozen to our church.

In all this is our most economical Christmas to date. I will definitely be suggesting another no gift Christmas next year. And best of all it looks like my new spending habits are really taking hold, even when I’m not necessarily trying. This could be a life style change after all.

Frugal Gift Wrap

Looking to save some money on gift boxes this year? You have to stop by Frugal living and see her DIY Gift boxes made from an old cereal box.

You can make them in about five minutes and the only supplies you need include a knife and some tape.

They look great, I'm hoping to whip some up this weekend and post the results as part of my cheap gift wrap tutorial.

Friday Find - Crafty Nest

I love this bookcase made from salvaged drawers. I will have to keep my eye out for something like this in the future, we have the perfect spot for some in our office. It's amazing the things people make stuff from.

Make sure to check out the Salvaged bookcase at Crafty Nest.

A Green Christmas

Are you planning a holiday gathering this year? If so don't finalize the details until you have read the Plan a Green Holiday Party article by Plenty Magazine. I've been receiving their magazine on a free subscription and love it. It might be the only publication I actually read cover to cover.

Eco tips in this article run the gambit from a plantable invitation, local food including drinks, party supplies and decorations.

Best of all the author gives you permission to purchase a keg for this years celebration, for those of you just looking for a reason to haul one in the basement. They are considerably more eco friendly as they don't produce waste like cans or bottles. Just make sure your guest are drinking from reusable cups.

This year I'm trying to wrap all of our gifts in some form of "better" wrapping paper. But reading this article has made me think of other places we can make a few changes. One small but needed change we'll be making this year will be serving everyone on real plates, not paper anymore. Why create all that extra waste just so you don't have to do dishes? And if your worried about little Benny dropping the good china pick up a few reusable plastic plates and use them again next year. They sell them very cheap at Wal-Mart with cute holiday designs.

Are you changing anything about your holiday celebrations this year, whether it be to save money or be more green?

A rather boring update

I have no craft this week. Although I did get out to the thrift stores yesterday and found some great items. As soon as I find my silver spray paint we'll be on a roll again. I also purchased 36 forks at Sam's club for an upcoming project. Who knew that Sam's sold bulk silverware? Odd, in my opinion.

I'm also working on a glossary of commonly used terms here at OOW since it has been requested and still working on the header.

With all of this I'm also working a ton of hours and trying to get some Christmas shopping done. I've been so busy I haven't even had time to make a list, and trust me, me without a list is not a good thing. I might whip up a few while at work tonight.

I also won a $50 Wal-mart gift card from The "cent"sible Sawyer. I'm so excited this will make my Christmas shopping a little easier this year. I also need to make a Christmas list (see I'm really behind in my listing).


Now I am off to make my 30 photo Christmas cards for 48 cents. Check out Money Savings methods to find out how you can pick up some cheap cards as well.

Sweeps for the Week 12/1

Here are some of the sweeps for the week. Most of them can be entered daily so make sure to keep checking back for the chance to win more great prices.

Instant Wins
~ Oreo Double Stuff until 12/1
~ Madagascar Movie Sweeps Once per day until 12/11
~ Win a Wii a day Once per day until 12/14
~ Soft Scrub Instant Win
Play until 12/15 (use SOFTSCRUB as free code)and receive a $.50 off coupon
~ Fancast Instant Win Once per day until 12/19
~ Chiquita Instant Win Play until 12/26 (Free code: 4322-2342-1342-4323)
~ Chrysler Drive to go Green
Play once a day until 12/31. You do not need a code
~ Tinker Bell Sweepstakes once per day until 1/31
~ Blue Man Group Instant Win Once per day until 1/31

Just Plain Sweeps
~ Circuit City - Ongoing
~ Woman’s Day Magazine. - Many Ongoing
~ Home Magazine - Many Ongoing
~Enter the Redbook get everything you want Until 1/15. More here

Semi impulse shopping

Normally the impulse buy is my downfall when it comes to shopping, but lately I've been pretty good about waiting on purchases and thinking our buying decision through.

But as many do at some point, I slipped. Yesterday we purchased a new dinning room table. I say it was a semi impulse buy because technically I've been looking for a table for over a year now, but could never find anything I liked in our price range.

That all changed when I saw this




We bought it about five minutes after seeing it. I love the table and the price tag. A cherry pub table and four stools for less than $150. I imagine one day we'll have to buy different chairs, but for now it's perfect. I've seen the same table set at Wal-Mart for over $200 so I think we got a great deal. I'm so excited because now that our debt is paid off the house is finally starting to come together (almost four years after moving in).