My Summer of Saving

    Today I chose to face a huge test in my summer of savings challenge....I decided to take the grand girls shopping for their mom's birthday gift.  Her birthday is today and we are celebrating on Saturday.  The girls had come up with a couple of great gift ideas.     First I made sure that we had a snack before we went so we wouldn't be tempted in that area.  We went to Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond in order to get all three items we wanted.  Target was tough especially in the adorable girls clothing sections. I mustered all the will power I had and I said "no, its not in our plan today". But then they asked if they could have books. I said, "yes"!!! Books are always a good idea!!  I wanted to shout to all the other shoppers, I have grand kids that want books!!! A shout out to Bed, Bath and Beyond for their "BIG CHAIR" photo op!  That was fun! In conclusion it is possible to shop with grandkids if you ...

      I am working hard at being mindful with spending.  I am planning ahead.  Today I learned a good lesson.  I planned out having "porch time" with the visiting grand girls complete with hot chocolate and coffee for grandma.  I even layed out the kerig pods we needed the night before.  When grand daughter #1 got up and wanted her hot chocolate we popped the pod in the machine and we got a message I have never gotten before.  It said I have to perform needle maintenance.  I can barely make coffee in the morning and now you want me to perform maintenance!  I made a half hearted look for the manual and couldn't immediately lay my hands on it.  So, it was off to Starbucks for two hot chocolates and a coffee!  I got to take a cute 7year old with me dressed in a unicorn costume, what a treat!      I want to be the type of person who knows when to let go of the saving scrooge persona and just live life!  ...

       I have two "guest bloggers" helping me today.  We are discussing how to have a week with your grand daughters and continue my summer of saving!        Cate (age 7) suggested that we make a craft using the things that are in my craft area in the basement.  Instead of coming up with a craft and going to buy all he supplies, we will first look at the supplies and then come up with the craft.        Charlotte (age 9) suggested that we go to my classroom so they can play school.  There is nothing like playing school AT a school!  Charlotte likes to write and teach on the white board.  Cate likes all the computers and pretending there are students at each of the computers.        We also hope to take an outing to Lou's Pet Shop.  We are so lucky to have this business in our neighborhood.  Check out Lou's Pet Shop on Facebook.  They put a camera on their huge old ...

     Can we talk about Gift Cards a minute?  Maybe I am the only one who has a pile of unused or partially used gift cards.  Did you know that 1/3 of all gift cards go unused?  Did you know that 1/2 of people using a gift card will spend at least 20% over the amount of the card.      In my summer of saving this seems like an area of free stuff!  So what is the problem?  Why do I have all these cards in a rubber band in my desk drawer?  First of all, how much is on the card?  I don't want to go into Bed, Bath and Beyond and find out I have $.97.      There are websites that will tell you the balance on the major retailers gift cards.  I went to getmybalance.com  and found out the balances of most of the cards I have.  Anything under or close to $1.00 balance I threw away, why carry all those cards around?  The other cards I wrote directly on the card itself the available balance...

    I read an interesting article this morning about ways people think they are saving money but in the long run they are not.  Like buying something on sale that you would not have bought otherwise.    In this my "summer of saving" it is tempting to look too deep, to micro-manage my spending.  This is going to require a balance which will be tricky.  On the one hand I want to be mindful of all my spending, but on the other I do not want to waste valuable time over saving a few pennies.    My guy said to me last night, "you are not going to become of one of those crazy coupon ladies are you?"      I do NOT want to turn into one of those crazy coupon ladies.  I do NOT want to make it my full time job to find ways to save money.  I do want a summer of looking at my spending however.  I want to apply what I learn to my year ahead!      I gotta run.  I am going to Jo-Ann Fabric to get suppli...

     This one is for you Aunt Beatrice!   I vowed to look at every area of my spending in my summer of saving adventure even COFFEE!  So here is how it usually goes.  I have a Kerig coffee maker that uses those k-cups.  I purchased the Kerig because my family gets up at different times and likes different strength of coffee.  I like a dark roast and the kids are a more mild roast.  We had a one cup drip coffee maker but being that we are all lazy and tired in the morning we found the whole measuring coffee and filling with water for each cup to be a pain. The Kerig seems to be the answer.       *If I am having trouble with morning motivation or if there is a parking spot open I will stop at Starbucks for a medium coffee to go on my way to school.  I notice that as the school year goes on the frequency of these stops goes up.  The price is $2.10 for a medium coffee.      I shop for k-cups at the groce...

     My first summer of saving adventure started with hair.  I needed a hair cut...badly!  I have developed a relationship with a very nice hair salon in my neighborhood.  Since I decided that this is the summer of looking at ALL of my spending and being more mindful of how I spend, I had to look at the area of "hair".      My salon charges 40+ dollars for a haircut, which comes with shampoo, styling, coffee and interesting conversation.  Fantastic Sam's in my area charges $14.95 for a haircut.  I decided to give it a try.  I walked into Fantastic Sam's (no appt. needed),  I used Fantastic Sam's website to see when their least busiest time is.  I waited maybe 5 minutes.   I got a lovely young female stylist who has been cutting hair for 9 years.  I brought a picture of the style I wanted.  She took her time, was meticulous and I got a great haircut.  I have to say the cut was equal if not even a l...