Wednesday 9 May 2012

The Gift Closet... How To Stay Sane

     Gift giving is a big thing in our families.  It’s something that we love to do, and put a lot of time and effort into.  But when you have large families like us, and when you have to consider birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, wedding and baby showers as well as Christmas (or other holidays), it can make your head spin!  So how can we ensure that everyone gets a thoughtful, beautiful gift for each pertinent occasion without breaking the bank or looking like a scrooge?  It’s actually a lot easier than you think!

     The first step is to make a list of each and every person that you need to purchase gifts for for the entire year, and write down each gift giving occasion that is pertinent to them beside their name, along with dates of the events.  This makes it easy to keep track of who you need to buy for, and when you need to have the gift by.  Next, put the list in an easy to find place.  A notebook, your purse, on your computer, etc.  This way, you can write down the gift you purchased for the person beside their name when you bought it – no confusion or double buying.  I post mine in the inside of my Gift Closet.



     The Gift Closet may be one of your biggest money savers, period.  It can be a closet, a shelf in a closet, the space under your bed, wherever.  It just needs to be a space that is completely dedicated to putting gifts that have been purchased.  This is where you will store all the gifts you buy – no more hunting, or running out last minute to buy a second gift because you can’t find the first!  Another way I utilize my gift closet is that I put potential gifts in there.  When I am out and about and I see a great deal on something I know someone will love, or that I think would go great in a gift basket, etc.  and it is a great price, I will buy it and put it in my gift closet.  I have gotten many amazing gifts for people this way ($30.00 wooden recipe boxes for $5.00, $25.00 reading slippers for $3.00, $18.50 porcelain vases for $2.75, $34.50 recipe binders for $1.75 – just to name a few).  Then I shop the gift closet before an event, because I very well may already have something in there! 

   As you can see, I’ve gotten some incredible deals on beautiful, and expensive, gifts and have gotten them for pennies on the dollar in some cases.  And the people who received them absolutely loved them!  It doesn’t matter how much you spend, but the thought that goes into it.  It always helps when it’s worth much more than you paid for it! Haha..

     Using this method keeps holidays and events stress free.  You always have the perfect present, you don’t have to break the bank by running out and buying a last minute gift, and you always know what you need to buy and for when.  I cannot believe the amount of time I tortured myself by using any other method than this.  Give it a try – I promise you will never turn back!

 Until next time,

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Saving Money with Consignment Shops


     As a busy mom of 2 young children, I am constantly looking for the best deals on anything and everything for my little ones. When my oldest was born, we were grateful to have received so many gifts and clothes because we never had to buy her clothing until she reached 2 years old.  After that, however, I realized that if I didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg on clothing, which she would either grow out of or destroy, I had to look in places other than the cute little baby boutiques and larger stores that I was used to. 




      After my daughter turned 2, I began sorting through her clothes on a somewhat regular basis and weeding out items to donate, to take to a consignment shop (where you can receive cash or credit towards items at the shop), and to simply throw away. My favorite place to find children’s clothing and items is Once Upon A Child. I have taken so many gently used items there and in return I have gotten equally as cute and great quality items for less than I would have paid elsewhere. Once Upon A Child is now becoming a little more selective when buying clothes, however.  For example, ones that come in sets have to have all items included, no stains, tears or loose seams, and are almost always brands that we already know and love but don’t want to pay full price for.  Below is a list of selling tips from Once Upon A Child:

§  Be sure your apparel items are freshly laundered and in good condition – no stains, fading, or excessive wear.
§  Equipment and toys must meet current safety standards. Not sure if your items qualify? Bring it in and we’ll check it out!
§  Toys, equipment and furniture must include all parts, be clean and in good working condition.
§  In order for us to offer the latest and greatest in styles at value prices, clothing and accessories must be purchased within the last five years.
§  It is most efficient for us to review items folded neatly in a box, bin or tote. Please, no hangers or garbage bags.

     It makes me happy knowing I can buy great products and still contribute to our local retailers. Even before your baby is born, check out these stores for essential items you will need for your first few weeks and months.  Once you’re into more of a routine and feel like venturing out of the house, I highly suggest going through your children’s clothing every month and sorting out ones that don’t fit and can be brought to a consignment shop - not only do they carry children’s clothing, but larger items, such as cribs, and strollers as well – to help keep the clutter out of the house, and save some money in the process.  Keep in mind that stores like these take not only clothing, but toys, furniture, footwear, etc.  Take a look and let us know what you find!  And if you know of any other great consignment shops, let us know!

Until next time,

AD



How Meal Planning Can Save You Some Serious Dough

       We’ve all been there – just getting home from work, tired and cranky, and the family asks “What’s for dinner?”.   The last think we want to do is figure out what to make, make it, and clean up – so we order a pizza.  Not only is this not healthy for us, but it isn’t very good for our pocket book, either.  The solution is easy – weekly meal planning. 



     Every Thursday when the flyers come in, I write down what is on sale.  Then I look in my pantry, fridge and freezer and make up a meal plan using items that I have or that are on sale.  You can find great cookbooks for free at the library, and the internet is an invaluable resource when it comes to cooking (and just about everything else).  I write down a weeks worth of breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks and I shop for that list.  Not only does this save time because I don’t have to make countless trips to the grocery store, it saves me money as well, because I am utilizing what I have and taking advantage of sale prices.  It also makes it easier when you come home on one of those hectic days to know what you are going to have, and many times you can prepare some of it the night before.  I always ask my family for input on what they might like, and it turns into a fun family activity.  Just don’t forget to take left overs into consideration when meal planning – they make great lunches, or can be turned into a totally different meal! 

     The thing I love most about meal planning is that you never have to sacrifice taste, quality or the things your family loves.  You just plan them around the sales!  It’s a great way to save some money and cut back without feeling deprived.  I do this on a weekly basis now, and my husband and I look forward to sitting down and planning the coming weeks meals and then going shopping.  And we find that there is so much less stress when we don’t have to sit down and figure out what we are going to make. 

     There  are different ways of doing this each week – you can do it yourself , like us, or subscribe to websites or use books that assign weekly meal plans for you.  And excellent, and the most common, approach to this was found in the book Be Centsable by Chrissy Pate and Kristin McKee, and follows:

 You Will Need:
Three Ring Binder, or Large Recipe Box
Tab Dividers for option selected above
Highlight, Pen or Marker
Copies of your family favorite recipes

 What To Do:

1.       Gather your family’s favorite recipes.  Write them on index cards, photocopy the originals, or print them off from the computer.

2.       Look through each recipe in detail and mark the items that could be included in your stock pile.

3.       Label the dividers by main ingredient (eg. Chicken, pork, vegetable, beef, etc.)

4.       Organize the recipes in the same manner and place them in binder or recipe box.

5.       An optional but very helpful step: including a ranking of the expense of the meal at the top right corner of the recipe page or card and sort within each category by these numbers. (1 = least expensive, $0 to $5 meal: tacos, chili, etc., 2 = more expensive, $6 to $10 meal: homemade pizza, grilled pork loin, 3 = most expensive, $11+: lasagna, shrimp fettuccini, etc.)


     While all this may sound tedious, it actually helps!  And preparing a book or recipe box full of your favorite recipes, you ensure that your family will always be happy!  Just don’t forget to throw in some new and exciting recipes you get from friends, find in a magazine or from a new cookbook to spice things up a bit!



     Try this out and let us know how it works for you!



Until next time!

Monday 7 May 2012

Store Loyalty Cards... A Few of the Biggies

     There are so many store loyalty cards these days that it’s hard to keep track of them all!  Here we dug up the information on a few of the local biggies.  They all have great things to offer, but sometimes you need to be careful about which ones you pick (when it comes to the ones you need to pay for).  As for the free ones, why not sign up?  You aren’t losing anything, and may even be surprised about what you can earn!



Sephora Beauty Insider Card

The Beauty Insider card from Sephora is a free membership that you can sign up for either in store or online.  For every dollar that you spend, you earn 1 point.  You can then redeem your points for deluxe samples.  Single samples usually run about 100 points, but for 500 points you can usually get a ‘set’ of something – be it an eye shadow palette, OPI nail polish trio, etc.  The samples are always changing, so you can save your points and redeem them whenever you wish.  If you love makeup and spend any amount of money on it, this card is worth getting as you can save up points over the long haul.



HMV PureHMV Card

For $3.00 you can get the PureHMV card at any HMV location or online.  You earn 100 points for every dollar that you spend, and can redeem the points in the “HMV Arena” on their website.  You can redeem your points for posters, products, signed items, and many other things, with the average redemption level around 75,000 to 125,000 points.  While you can redeem for some cool things, the redemption levels are a little high, but it’s a good card if you purchase a lot of music.


La Senza Prestige VIP Club Card

The La Senza Prestige card has a $10.00 annual fee, and you can sign up for it in store or online.  With this card you get a coupon booklet upon singing up (it even includes a coupon for a free pair of underwear during your birthday month), 10% everything in store for the year, exclusive email offers and sneak peeks at upcoming sales and events.  This card is definitely worth it for the price, and can pay for itself with the purchase of a few bras or some pajamas.


Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Optimum Card

The Shoppers Optimum card is a free card that you can sign up for in store or online.  You earn points for everything that you spend, and then redeem the points for money off of your purchases.  The best way to use this card is to only shop on 10x, 25x or 50x the point days, or for products that you earn bonus points on.  The current redemption levels are 8,000 points for $10.00, 22,000 for $30.00, 38,000 for $60.00, 50,000 for $85.00 and 95,000 for $170.00.  This card is worth it, but only buy on sale days or when products that you need are on sale – it can be an expensive place to purchase all of your essentials.



Hallmark Rewards Card

The Hallmark Rewards card is a free card that you can sign up for in store or online.  Upon signing up, you get a $5.00 off of a $25.00 purchase coupon.  With the card you can purchase 5 Hallmark cards for $15.00 (up to $6.00 each) anytime, receive exclusive offers and promotions via email, enjoy members only prices on select merchandise during certain times and receive invitations to members only sales and events.  This card is definitely worth it – so go sign up today!


Chapters Plum Rewards Loyalty Card

The Plum Rewards card is a free loyalty card that you can sign up for in store or online.  You earn 100 points for every dollar you spend, and get coupons via email for bonus points, etc.  There are also promotions in store where you can ear bonus plum points for certain books and products.  You can also save up to 5% on your online purchases at Chapters.ca, enjoy free in store wifi, be notified of upcoming sales and events before the public, and even have book and product recommendations emailed to you based on the items that you buy.  The card nor the points ever expire so long as you use the card once a year.  This is definitely a card to sign up for, as the perks definitely outweigh the hassle of carrying around yet another store card.



Suzy Shier Prestige Card

This card can be signed up for in store or online for a cost of $25.00.  With this card you get 10% off of every purchase all year long, a coupon book worth $25.00 for the store, exclusive shopping party invitations, 50% off on your birthday, free shipping coupon and advanced notice of upcoming events and promotions.
 

Guess Guess List Rewards Card

The Guess List rewards card is free to sign up for, which you can do either in store or online.  You earn 1 point for every dollar you spend, and when you reach 200 points you get $10.00 off of your purchase.  With this card you also get double points on your birthday, enjoy exclusive events and offers, and even look at your purchase history online.  When shopping here, it is not hard to reach the 200 point level quite quickly, so it may be worth it for you even if you shop here only occasionally.


Body Shop Love Your Body Loyalty Card

The Love Your Body card can be obtained in store or online, and has an annual fee of $10.00.  With this card, you receive 10% off everything in store and online, a coupon for $10.00 off your purchase on your birthday, $25.00 off your purchase and free renewal when you’ve earned 8 points, exclusive email offers and promotions and sneak previews of new products.  You earn one point for every qualifying purchase over $25.00, and two points for every qualifying purchase over $50.00.  We love this store and their products, so this card is worth it for us.  The card pays itself off after you have purchased $100.00 worth of product.



American Eagle/Aerie AERewards

The AERewards card can be used at American Eagle Outfitters, Aerie and Aerie Kids, and is completely free.  You can sign up for this card in store or online, and with it you receive 1 point for every dollar spent (points are totaled up every 3 months).  When you reach 100 points you get 15% off of your purchase, 20% off with 200 points, 30% off with 350 points and 40% off with 500 points.  You also get 15% off for the month of your birthday.  Further, when you use this card at Aerie, when you purchase 5 bras you get the 6 one free. 



We hope this helped! If you know of any other great store cards email us at ashleysguide@gmail.com and we can feature them in another post!



Until next time,


Delicious Cupcake Recipe… Just Because!

     Hey everyone, just thought I would share my favorite cupcake recipe with you today – they are quick and easy, and do not take milk or eggs, so they save some money, too!  They are moist and delicious, so don’t let the fact that they are vegan scare you off before you give them a try!




Basic White Cupcake Recipe


This recipe comes from the cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. 

Ingredients: 

1 cup milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
11/4 cup flour
2 tbsp. cornstarch
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup veg. oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Whisk the milk and vinegar in a large bowl and set aside a few minutes to get good and curdled.
3. In another bowl, sift flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
3. Add the sugar, oil and vanilla to the milk mixture and stir to combine.
4. In 3 batches, add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix thoroughly.
5. Fill cupcake liner two thirds of the way full. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until golden brown and done. Let cool completely before frosting.

 For the icing, beat together ½ c. of vegetable shortening, ½ c. margarine.  Slowly add in 3 ½ c. icing sugar.  When that is combined, add ¼ c. soy milk (or regular milk) and 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract.  Beat for 7 minutes until light and fluffy, and use to ice cupcakes!
 

There is nothing that shows more love, brings more happiness, or tastes more delicious than a homemade (from scratch) cupcake.  Surprise your loved ones with one of these today!

Enjoy!

Welcome to Our Blog!

     Welcome to our blog!  We are looking forward to learning from you and sharing with you everything we know about saving money, couponing and living big on a small budget!  We have been friends for many years now, and are both trying to save money and cut back so that we can reach various goals that we have.
     Ashley 1 got married last May, and is saving with her husband for their first home.  She loves to entertain friends, and gift giving is something she cannot give up.  Through utilizing coupons and reading magazines and books on personal finance, she has learned easy and pain free ways to cut back on everything from cell phone bills, to groceries to craft supplies.  She is also an avid DIY-er, and loves to bake and cook from scratch. 
     Ashley 2 also recently got married.  After paying cash for a beautiful wedding (on a budget!), she and her husband moved into their first home along with their two beautiful children.  Ashley 2 has the added challenge of taking care of kids and running a household on a tight budget. 
     Through our weekly shopping trips, we have learned a lot about saving money and taking care of our families on next to nothing.  We give beautiful gifts, entertain friends and family and look stylish all while keeping money in our pockets and saving for what matters.  We have both made many money mistakes, and continue to do so, but we strive to do the best we can and learn as much as we can.  Thank you for stopping by our blog, and we hope you join our journey in Living Big on a Small Budget!

Bye for now!