Frugal thank-you notes

Planning is in full swing for two baby showers for me, and I'm pretty excited. One thing that I've been looking for is cute thank-you notes for the showers and for various people who have already been giving us things for the little one. However, I'm finding that most of the baby-specific thank you notes are expensive! Since we're all about living frugally here, I've been trying to find a way to give cute, unique thank-you notes without breaking the bank.

After playing on Pinterest, I came up with the above for some of them. I limited myself to what supplies I had and a package of safety pins from the Dollar Tree, and I made about 20 of these darling thank-you notes. The "diapers" work as envelopes...and, while they aren't practical for any thank-you notes I have to mail, they'll be great for those I can hand deliver.

To make them, I used the idea behind this template. I actually sketched it because I don't have a printer, so it took some trial and error to find the size I want. Then, I went through all of my scrapbook paper and chose a variety of girly patterned papers and matching cardstock. I would trace the diaper pattern on the patterned paper and cut out a coordinating square from the cardstock. I stamped "thank you" on the top and used a punch to make it more feminine, and then I put the "diaper" around the note. I used scrapbook tape to secure the sides and then used the safety pin to actually close it. The card slips in and out of the "envelope" just fine.

Homemade laundry detergent

The idea of homemade laundry detergent has intrigued me for quite some time, but I never really had the time to try it. However, after being placed on maternity leave at 23 weeks (23 weeks. Really. Who gets put on maternity leave at 23 weeks? I'm going CRAZY!!), I've had ample time to tackle ALL of my projects.

 So, last week, I went through and researched until I found a detergent recipe that had good reviews and was what I wanted (dry powder). I bought the ingredients and mixed it all up, and...within a few minutes...voila! I had about a year's worth of laundry soap for us, all for about $13 or so. I tried it this week on my sheets and towels, and I really liked it. It washed just as well as my regular detergent, and I love how clean and fresh smelling it was.

I bought a couple of containers at the Dollar Tree to hold my detergent (though they weren't quite big enough and I had to improvise) and stuck a measuring spoon in the containers. Easy peasy! With an upcoming baby arrival and life on one income for awhile, I'm pretty pleased on saving in another area as well. :)

The lunch solution

We live about 15 minutes out of town.

Since J and I both work IN town, this has made our lunch breaks, if we have them, a little on the interesting side. There's not enough time to run home on a regular lunch hour--we'd basically get there, sit down for a few minutes, and turn back around. Eating out every day is also not an option on our budget. So, for the most part, it's been about packing lunches.

Last year, we were lucky because my job had a refrigerator and a microwave. Lunches were easy to deal with. This year, I have those options at my job as well, but I can also just head home after work since I'm off by 2.

But J has had a much harder struggle. Not only does he often work 12 hour shifts, but he works in a mall kiosk...with no break room, no refrigerator, and no microwave.

For the past few months, we've experimented. He has an insulated lunch box, so I would make him sandwiches the night before and stick them in his lunchbox in the refrigerator overnight. That way, when he took it in the morning, they would stay relatively cool until lunch. But sandwiches get old every day, especially for two meals a day. I tried to budget it in for him to buy lunch at least twice a week, but, with our goals, it just wasn't something either of us was thrilled with.

Then, last week, I discovered the Lunch Crockpot. It had great reviews, so J went and bought one. It is PERFECT. You can use it to warm things up or cook them...just like a regular crock-pot. J has been using it to cook canned soup, but, as soon as I'm out of the hospital (again), I will start cooking up soups and various crockpot things for him to take during the day. He is so happy to be free from sandwiches, and our budget is happier, too. :) Plus, I love making Crockpot stuff--soups and such are just great.

Yay!

Frugal maternity clothes

When I first found out I was pregnant, our budget for maternity clothes was non-existent. I wasn't too fazed, though. When my nurse practitioner told me I should only gain 15-25 lbs...and those lbs at the end of the pregnancy...I perked up even more. Yes, I thought. I can do this. I will be one of those people who doesn't even show until six months.

That actually seemed pretty feasible those first few weeks when I consisted on jello and chicken soup. However, once the miracle of Zofran entered my life...and the miracle-in-a-different-way of steroids entered...things changed drastically. Have you ever taken steroids? How about a heavy dose for nine weeks?

Yeah. I was starving. All of the time. And my face blew up. And my clothes started getting tight.

Then, I developed hypertension.

And started swelling.

Currently, my legs and feet look like I'm 36+ weeks pregnant. (Note: I'm 22 weeks.)

Anyway. I'm just about at the point where I'm in full maternity clothes. A lot of them still look silly, but my regular clothes look funky, too.

And that brings me to the point of dealing with maternity clothes on a budget. If you go shopping for them, you quickly realize that most stores don't carry them. And the ones that do are pretty expensive. To me, it's just not worth it to fork over a ton of cash for clothes you will only wear for a few months. This is what I've learned so far:

--Check out your local thrift stores. In my case, this hasn't been particularly useful, as most of the clothes are gross, and the selection is slim. However, I've had friends hit pay dirt at a few, so it doesn't hurt to check them out.
--Make your regular clothes work. Those empire waist shirts? Perfect maternity shirts. I have two non-maternity shirts that will probably work up until my ninth month because they are in the flowy, high-waist style. You can also implement some of your regular clothes with layers or by wearing things unbuttoned. I also made my own Bella Band out of the stretchy top of a sundress (cost? $2), and it's stretching out my last two non-maternity jean skirts. I should get at least another month's use out of them. :)
--Think outside the box. I have been searching in vain for a decently priced maternity jean skirt. Finally, I found a pair of maternity JEANS at a Goodwill...and then I snagged another non-maternity set on sale...and asked a friend to turn them into a skirt. I paid her for her work...and still the whole skirt only cost me about $20. :) I have also had good luck shopping in the women's section and just buying larger skirts and shirts off the clearance rack. :)
--Hand-me-downs! I didn't think I would get any of these since there aren't any women my size who have been pregnant recently, but a former grad school fellow student just gave birth, and, a few weeks ago, she gave me a HUGE bag of maternity tops. Score! Many of them were hand-me-downs to her, and I'll be passing them along as well.
--Sales, sales, sales. I hit up Kohl's the other day and picked up 7 long-sleeved, plain tops for a little over $19...with a savings of $163! They are slightly out of season, but they will do great here in a couple of months. :)  

I do...on a budget?

Yes. Yes. And yes.

It is my opinion that getting into massive amounts of debt for a wedding is...ludicrous. Let's focus on the marriage instead, yes?

However, I do believe you can have a great, memorable wedding...on a budget. Now. Budgets vary. I have friends whose budgets included $1000 or more wedding dresses...and others whose entire budget didn't even reach $1000. So, I'm not going to give tips on how to throw a wedding for X amount. Everyone has a different budget and has different resources available. Our church has pretty frequent weddings, and none have had extravagant budgets. Mine was done very modestly, and I recently coordinated a wedding with an almost non-existent budget. ;) Here are some tips and tricks I've picked up:

Catering kills the budget. For our wedding, we did the food ourselves. This was challenging because a lot of places require a catered meal; however, we found a hall at a local park that didn't care. We had our reception in the afternoon to avoid serving a huge meal, and then, the day before, we headed to Sam's and stocked up on different breads, meats, cheeses, and veggies. We borrowed a zillion trays and assembled veggie, meat, and cheese trays for sandwiches while my mother-in-law whipped up chicken salad and jello salad as other options. A friend made salsa and we supplied the chips...and then we borrowed a couple of small chocolate fountains (all you need is some chocolate chips!) and set up a fondue station with marshmallows, fruit, angel food cake, and pretzels. We had a TON of food, and it was much cheaper than catering.

There are also economical full-meal options that are fairly easy for you to pull together for the reception. Some ideas from recent weddings: enchiladas, chicken w/potato salad/veggie/rolls, and lasagna (they used frozen Stouffers! It was great!). These are easy to prepare in bulk and serve and much cheaper than catering. We usually ask people in our church to step in and serve; everyone is usually game. I've done it a time or two myself. :)

Don't spend a fortune on decor. Find crafty people. Seriously. For my wedding, we hit up the after-Christmas sales and bought silver ribbon on sale, and then my MIL made all of our pew bows, table bows, and misc decor out of them.

Even if you're NOT crafty, there is hope. Pinterest? It.is.awesome. Also, there are very easy things to do that, really, are foolproof. See this?

I made it. I'm INEPT with crafts. But, for my friend's vintage wedding, even I was able to help create pinwheels and cut flags made out of scrapbook paper. The pinwheels decorated the aisle and were used as centerpieces, and the flags were draped over the entire reception. It was darling:

Splurge only on what matters. For me, it was the flowers. I.hate.fake.flowers. So. My flowers were real. But I kept them to a minimum. I ordered my bouquet, my girls' bouquets, and bouts for the bridal party from a florist, and then I ordered just plain roses, which J's aunt, who used to a florist, used to construct simple corsages and bouts for everyone else (family, ushers, cake servers, etc). Another friend splurged on a dress that was way more expensive than she intended...but she LOVED it. And she was willing to have a simpler reception to have the dress she wanted.

Keep the main thing the main thing. You're getting married. Truth is...you're the only one obsessing over all of the little details. Don't lose sight of the big picture; when the day comes, you want it to be all about you and your fiance making a lifelong commitment to each other.

Mere Frugality...and a baby? :)

Yup. That's right. Our little one is due November 20, though we suspect he/she may be coaxed into an entrance a bit earlier due to the havoc he/she is wreaking on said author's body. ;) We are absolutely over the moon, and, as you can imagine, I may be posting here and there about how to approach pregnancy/parenthood with a frugal mindset as we work through this.

Unfortunately, as far as pregnancy goes, this baby is NOT starting out with his/her mom's frugal viewpoint, as we are rather wryly referring to him/her as the million-dollar baby with its tendency to make me have to take very expensive medications and treatments just to...um..survive the pregnancy. And, as a precursor to the grand arrival, mom has to take a very big step back from the career field, as I cannot hold a steady job past my second trimester for fear of bedrest/pre-term labor. So, I will be working what I can...when I can..and probably REALLY blogging about frugality again. :)

Gifts on a budget

Summer is here...which, for us, means a flurry of weddings, graduations, bridal showers, birthday parties, and baby showers. I love being invited to these fun celebrations, and I love picking out special things for the guests of honor.

However, if you have a LOT of these type of things, it can be pretty stressful on the small budget. Here are some ideas on what you can do to still show your support and joy...without breaking the bank. :)

Gifts aren't always purchased.
If you can't afford a gift, think about what you can do that is a service. This is very helpful for weddings. :) Our wedding gift for our friends getting married this weekend was my husband's design of their wedding invitations. It worked for both of us! It's also pretty common here for people to help pitch in with reception/wedding shower food in lieu of a gift.

Go together
We have a couple of ladies that often join together and buy gifts together.

Think outside the box.
Do you clip coupons and watch sales? Some of my favorite shower gifts were the most practical: cleaning supplies and kitchen supplies. At a friend's recent shower, three ladies joined funds, coupons, and sales and got her a trash can loaded with cleaning supplies. It's a fantastic gift because it can be expensive to stock a new household...but it can be very economical if done right. Another cool gift I saw a year or two ago was a basket full of spices. They can be expensive, but, if you combine coupons and sales, it's a lot cheaper.

Don't waste money on wrapping.
This is a weakness of mine, but the Dollar Tree has saved me. They have cute stuff for a fraction of the price. Another thing I've been known to do is use something practical for wrapping. For an upcoming birthday present, I chose to fill a plastic sandbucket with
 little summer things and just stick a boy on the bucket. It was the same price as the bag and would bring her far more pleasure than a pretty bag. :) I also religiously reuse all gift bags.

It really is the thought that counts.
Can you make something? Do a homemade card. Create a small scrapbook with words of advice. One of my favorite wedding gifts? A $10 Starbucks card. It was a date night for us when we were broke newlyweds. What about a coupon for free babysitting? Or housesitting? Or a homecooked meal?

 

Dollar Store

This is a great link about what to buy and what not to buy at your local dollar store. I wholeheartedly agree:

http://www.learnvest.com/2011/10/dollar-store-deals-which-ones-are-worth-it/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=lvdaily&utm_campaign=article-2

Dates on a budget

Yesterday, I saw a friend’s Facebook post lamenting that she and her husband didn’t have any money to celebrate their anniversary because things were tight. I responded to her comment very enthusiastically that you don’t need much money to celebrate. I don’t think she liked my ideas or my response, but I realized that perhaps our economic situation the first few years of marriage has really helped J and I realize this. :) If we had depended on money to celebrate, we’d have had a very rough few years!

Here’s what we’ve done on a tight budget:

--Plan ahead. I plan ahead for our anniversary and Valentine’s Day as much as I can…think MONTHS. Most of the time (last year’s V-day being the exception), we’ve been able to put away enough to either go out for a nice dinner or stay in a hotel in a nearby town (not both..yet).

--Use coupons/Groupon. The two “getaways” we had last year were due to Groupon. Both nights, we spent about $50 several months in advance for us to stay at a lodge or a B&B. In this day and age, that’s pretty reasonable. We also belong to several anniversary/birthday clubs. We get a $25 g/c for our anniversary every year from a pretty nice restaurant nearby, and that’s what we used this year.

The B&B we stayed in last year courtesy of Groupon

The area around our fall getaway in October

--Use the dollar menu. Yes, we’ve had date nights at McDonald’s. (Large drinks are only $1/ea.) Or Sonic’s happy hour. We’ll run through one of those places with spare change that we’ve scrounged up and go on a drive just to get away and treat ourselves. J

--Eat cheap. You can eat at nicer restaurants by ordering water, using coupons, splitting entrees, and/or just ordering appetizers/desserts. When we were on our honeymoon, we ate at the Cheesecake Factory…and each ordered a bowl of soup and water…and split a piece of cheesecake and an order of fries. It was more than sufficient, and the price was reasonable…and the atmosphere was much nicer and the food much better than McDonald’s. J We both love eating at restaurants and enjoying the atmosphere, so we’ve learned to keep the bill low to enjoy it.

Our cheesecake on our honeymoon

--Be creative. One of my absolute favorite memories is when I came home from work last year to find Jeremy had arranged a night “out” for me…at home. I came home to find a hot bubble bath waiting for me, and he let me soak with jazz playing in the background in candlelight while he prepared dinner (which did include mac and cheese). For dessert, he had sparkling grape juice ($1/at the dollar tree) in a bucket of ice with two small wine glasses (dollar tree).

Another time, I came home and he had set our table with all fancy with some crystal we had received as a wedding gift. It was just a regular dinner, but this made it special. :) (And the tablecloth? An extra shower curtain we weren't using at the time!)

What have YOU done? :)

Hi!

Sorry...posting about frugality stopped being fun for awhile. ;)

But I'm back! And many posts are upcoming...

...including a lot on a wedding on a budget (or a wedding with no budget?)!

And, no. I'm not getting married again. Once was more than adequate, thankyouverymuch.