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Living on One Income
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Simple Money Saving Tips
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"I'm disgusted by how much money we spend at the grocery store. Lately, we have been spending $100 - $125 (this does NOT include formula and diapers) a week. And I have no idea what we are getting for our money.
Teresa
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This week, special guest author Jacci Howard Bear, the Guide to Desktop Publishing at About.com, shares some more of her wonderful tips for saving money. Don't miss her home-decorating hints; she is much braver than I am! Jacci is a work-at-home mother of four: Garret, age 10,
Lyla, age 6, and Sarah and Dani who will be 5 in October.
Save Money on Kids
The easiest way to save money on kids is not to have any. But, hey,
where's the fun in that? My children are age 10 and younger so I don't
have any tips for teenagers -- yet! But here's some ways to save money
with the young ones -- at least until they meet the neighbor kids and
learn that dirty little phrase -- brand names.
- Brand Names & TV
Other issues aside, one way to diminish the need for brand names is to
eliminate exposure to TV advertising. Of course, once children reach
school age, peer pressure becomes an issue. But until that time, limited
television can help parents save money on toys and clothing.
Young children don't need a brand name to enjoy a toy. And if they
haven't been inundated with the need for the official Power Rangers
figures or whatever the latest rage is, then they'll be quite happy with
the generic toys you can pick up for a fraction of the cost. My youngest
children love PBS shows (no commercials!) and Barney. They have a "real"
Barney toy as well as some "Purple Dino" toys (a sort of Barney
look-alike). To them, they're all Barney toys.
- Paper
My kids love to draw. I could go through reams and reams of paper in a
week. Fortunately children aren't particular about what they draw on.
(Not good news for the living room walls, but that's another subject.)
Rather than going out and buying art paper, pads of drawing paper, etc.
-- recycle twice!
My home office generates a lot of scrap paper -- drafts of current
projects, junk mail, and more. Before sending it all to the recycling
bin for the city to pick up, I send it to the kids for them to draw on,
fold, and cut up.
Some of their artwork may be worthy of a place in the family art
gallery, but much of it is just scribbles and playing. Some sheets of
paper may get only two or three marks before moving on to fresh paper.
That's okay, it was on its way out the door anyway. Even without a home
office, junk mail and newspaper inserts can still provide plenty of art
supplies for your little ones.
Decorating with Kids?
My current approach to decorating isn't for the faint of heart. PROBLEM:
Kids drawing on living room walls. Hard to remove. Looks icky. I'm too
busy to keep repainting. SOLUTION: Family mural.
I rounded up all four kids and we commenced to re-decorating the living
room walls. Four cans of paint (regular wall painting paint in some soft country colors), sponge brushes, and some imagination was all it took.
The first wall looks fairly wild. And I refuse to think about what it
will take to cover up all those layers (at some point we'll have to move
to larger quarters). The second wall is still under production.
The children had tons of fun and are quite proud of their work. Instead
of washing dirty hand prints off the wall they are now permanently on
display in blue, pink, beige, and green.
All in all, it is an interesting look. We only painted halfway up the
walls. The top half is covered in children's artwork brought home from
school. Some parents may prefer to delegate their children's artwork to
the refrigerator or their own rooms. Well I've got it right up front for
all the world to see (or all the world that travels through my living
room -- which is mostly family and other children who probably all think
I'm just a little crazy).
A more recent art project may be more up your alley (or down your hall)
if you don't want to subject your walls to the kid art attack. Decorate
indoors or out with plain clay flower pots (I bought 10 chipped and
slightly cracked ones in a variety of sizes for pennies apiece!). Let
the kids go wild with the pots and the paint and you've got inexpensive
original works of art that also double as flower pots or containers for
all kinds of goodies. Fill 'em with colored rocks, small toys, bright
pairs of socks, plastic fruit, loose change (plug the hole in the
bottom), etc.
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