Saving Money Sunday

The Art of Saving Money. Some say, it would be a science, but I say saving money is an art, because it's a beautiful thing that you can see. =) So even though I'm not very artistically savvy, I am practicing and getting better at it. Since I'm a stay at home momma (part-time self employed photographer), saving my family money is a big deal. Plus, it makes my hubby a lot less grumpy. More smiles. That's a plus. Sometimes, I'll pitch him an idea that he absolutely thinks is ridiculous for me to try, a waste of time, blah blah blah, harrumph. After I tell him how much money it will save us, and show him how easy it was for me to do it, he smiles. That's all I need. =) It let's me know I'm doing good. So, to help others who need some extra change in their pocket going jing-a-ling-a-ling, here's ten things I'm doing to help save my family money today...
1) Cloth diapers
     -bumGenius 4.0 pocket diapers, to be exact. I love these. They keep her butt dry and she hardly EVER gets rash or irritation which saves us from buying lots of expensive diaper ointments and creams. Every bumgenius pocket diaper comes with a large insert to stuff in the diaper shell to soak up the potty and a small newborn/doubler insert for extra protection.
2) Cloth wipes
     -Well, I honestly never use the doublers, so I decided to use them as her wipes! She has terribly sensitive skin so I just spritz some water on her and the wipe and clean up her bum between every diaper change. Then, I just throw the wipes in her diaper pail for laundry time! I also made a dozen of my own out of two layers of flannel. I use the flannel wipes for her wet diapers and the doublers for her dirty diapers as I've found the flannel ones don't 'grab' onto the poo quite as well.
3) Cloth nursing pads
     -Leaking boobs. Sigh. I decided to make my own nursing pads with the same concept as the diapers Moriyah uses. They work amazing.
4) Breastfeeding
      -enough said =)
5) Handkerchiefs
     -We've all gotten colds this past week, which means lots of boogies and snot. Ew. We ran out of our last kleenex in the house the day before we came down with the snot-monster. No joke. So, I went through my headband baggie and found some! And you know what? No owies or crusty rawness under our noses! (fist pump!)
6) Terry cloth kitchen towels
     -No more paper towels. Sad, but true. I used to go through a roll in a day, or worse, a whole tub of clorox wipes when I was on a cleaning binge. But no more. Now, I'm currently in the process of making my own cleaning solution.
7) Homemade dishwasher detergent
     -I found it on this link ==>
http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/search/label/Homemade%20soap
    I found that it works fantastic! Instead of using 'LemiShine' like she asked for, I used white vinegar as a separate rinsing agent. FANTASTIC! It works just as good as the most expensive dish detergent I've ever bought.
8) Homemade mouthwash, shampoo, body scrub, hand sanitizer, etc. etc.
     -I found it on this link ===>
http://www.diynatural.com/category/beauty/
      I love this site. LOVE! Simple. Easy.
9) Plastic over the windows!
     -I used the 3M packs. Comes with a 'shrinkwrap' type plastic, 2 sided tape and alcohol wipes. Quite honestly, you could probably just do this yourself for much less, but I bought them over a year ago at a garage sale, so I figured I might as well use 'em. This WORKS! I can actually see the plastic moving when it's windy and the windows are completely shut and locked! That's ice cold air that won't be entering my home and making my heater run constantly. WOO!
10) Coupons
     -I'm no extreme coupon-er, but I enjoy saving money. I need to get the Sunday paper, but I don't have it yet, so I've been looking online for some awesome-possum sites where you can print coupons at home and use in the stores! Here's some...

     Walmart coupons - as much as I hate shopping there, they have amazing prices...so yeah
http://coupons.walmart.com/couponweb/Offers.aspx?pid=15429&zid=uw54&nid=10&bid=alk1006081021365e1ece78516 
     Shop at Home.com
http://www.shopathome.com/discounts_and_coupons/default-brand.aspx?refer=76025&src=SEPDSE&vendor=google&Distribution=Search&keyword=shop%20at%20home&MatchType=Exact&AdId=8234615721&placement=&gclid=CLW9567-tKwCFY3KKgodyH2rIQ
     Basically, all you need to do is go to google and type in 'coupons'.

Well, there ya have it! Just ten things I'm doing to save us money! I hope I've been able to inspire you as much as I've been inspired. It's really amazing how many chemicals are in so many things. It's also sadly amazing how much landfill waste could be prevented. Awareness is key.

Newbie

Well, SWEET! Since I don't have a personal fb account anymore, I was inspired by my cousin (among other things) to start a bloggity blog. Mostly for family so they can check out updates with the kiddos. Ryker, 3.5 years and Moriyah, 6 months. These kids are crazy to the bone. I think they get that from their dad...mostly. =) Anywhoo, here it is and since I'm a newly-hatched blogger, bear with me.

Thing(s) we did today that made me smile/crack up:

-we bundled up in our new, family-matching, 'Fudd' hats and winter coats and went for a little stroll to the park closest to us (thank goodness because by the time we got home, I couldn't make the hot chocolate any hotter without burning myself. Yum) So, we got to the park and Ryker immediately went into Ninja-mode, flailing his arms and legs all while grunting and growling, with a "hiii-yah!" slipping out every once in awhile. Ninjas, superheroes and pirates are his favie lately.Very entertaining.

-I drove to the closest gas station...having a new craving, brought home and ate a package of Hostess snowballs...mmmm...they were so delicious, I was inspired to find a recipe online to mimic the face-stuffing deliciousness. I found this ==>
http://www.budget101.com/mixes-myo-copycat-etc/76026-hostess-snowballs.html
                I will be trying this soon....oh, so very soon. In my opinion, not soon enough.








-Moriyah has started pulling herself to standing and if there's any kind of music coming from a toy she likes, she'll go crawl on top of it and stick her butt up as high in the air as she can and shake it. SHAKE. IT. Hilarious.

I apologize for the poor-quality phone pics...but it helps you get a better visual as you smile. =)