A Cute Site

Okay, I'll admit it comes to being a little biased when it comes to Who's Got the Button. I'm the creater and part owner of it! :)
My friend and I are selling our crafty creations at http://whosgotthebutton.shopping.officelive.com so head on over and check it out. It might be just your thing!

Restaurant at Home

One of the biggest ways to save money on your grocery/food budget is to eat out less. If you eat out a lot, try going for half as much the first month and keep cutting back until you're eating out less than 5-6 times a month. Here's an example of how it can really cut into your budget. On my husband's day off, we all headed off to get some shopping done at Wal-Mart and to run a few errands (I have to admit, living in a town without a Wal-Mart has done wonders for my budget!) Since we were in the big city over lunch time and had to spend some time waiting for some service to be done, we spent some quality time at the McDonald's playplace. We were going for cheap so the boys shared a happy meal (6 pc. chicken nuggets!), we all shared some large fries (and got a Boardwalk piece, halfway to a million dollars, woo-hoo!), I had a double cheeseburger, and my husband had two double cheeses and a hot 'n' spicy. Most of our meal came from the dollar menu and we still racked up a $10 dollar bill, (when I paid I was thinking we could have headed over the Pizza Hut and got a large pizza for the same price--alas, no playplace). You're thinking, that's not that bad considering we were feeding 4 people, even if two of them are sorta smallish. You're right. Because we only do stuff like that 2-3 times a month, we're doing okay; but when you're eating out like that 2-3 times a week, that adds up to $120 a month. YIKES!
So this is my suggestion, make restaurant meals at home. For example, buy pre-made hamburgers. You can get about 20 for around $6 at Wal-Mart, and a package of shoe string french fries (usually very cheap!) Add some cheese and you're favorite toppings and you have the exact same meal you had at McDonalds. There are even sites like Top Secret Chef which specialize in copying restaurant foods. He can teach you how to clone a Big Mac right down to the secret sauce, and even make you're own Oreo Cookies! This site has a ton of clone recipes, some free some not, and you can even check him out on YouTube. By eating out right in your home, you will definitely save!

Mini-Washcloths

So when my youngest was born, I was reading up on keeping his teeth and gums healthy and it talked about washing them off with a washcloth before they go to bed each night. I do have a nice healthy stack of washcloths at my house, but that was just an addition to the loads and loads of laundry that I already do, so I didn't like that idea much, plus you don't need a whole washcloth for one little mouth!
Instead I hopped on over to the local dollar store and bought a bunch of washcloths and cut them into fourths. Using my mom's serger I sewed around the edges to keep them from fraying (you can use a really tight zig-zag stitch on a regular machine, or even just a straight stitch around the edge).
But now I don't just use them for smart dental hygiene! These little babies have a million uses and even though I only bought two or three packs of ten I seem to have an endless supply, so they last right up until I'm doing my regular load of dishtowels. I use them to wipe up small messes, instead of grabbing a paper towel, which saves me money and saves some trees as well. I have a dishwasher, so they work great to wash up a couple of non-stick pans.
To be truthful, it was probably the best idea I've ever had. :)

Check out this Site!

If you don't have a Wal-mart near you, this site is your new best friend.
Alice.com
I've just been surfer there for the heck of it and the prices are defintely comparable to our big-box store friends. Decent shipping prices mean you save on gas.
Example: 100oz. Tide is 13.82 plus a $1 off coupon!
Check it out. Sign up and see if it's right for you!

Reward Dollars

I'm always looking for a way to get my son to help me around the house. I got this great idea from FamilyFun. I had to adapt it for my son's age, but it's been working great. First, you need to find some fake dollars or certificates. I just picked up some play cash from my local dollar store. You can also surf the web to find things to print, like Daddy Dollars (which is what the FamilyFun people used--just a dollar with Dad's picture in the middle instead of George Washington). Our system is very unsophisticated. Every time my son does a job I ask him to do he gets a dollar (or two if it's hard). Every time he wants to watch a movie, watch cartoons, play the computer, play video games, etc. he has to give me a dollar back. This way you're encouraging help (without yelling!) and also managing their time with electronics. I love it!
*If you want to read the article from FamilyFun, it was called "Daddy Dollars"

Subscribe to a Magazine!

Any one will do!
Actually, do some research out there and find a good magazine fit for you and your family. Magazines that focus on kids and kids stuff are the best. I get a ton of ideas from my favorite "Family Fun." This magazine is STUFFED full of fun, easy crafts and 90% of the time I have the stuff I need already in my house. I LOVE it. One tip: Family Fun is really geared towards school aged kids, witch some toddler activities. Still, I have been able to adapt a lot of the projects for my young-un's. If you're looking more for recipes and more articles (especially for tween+ kids) try FamilyCircle. I LOVE the recipes in this one, and it's got a lot of articles with great tips for all aspects of your family life, including your marriage!
Here's what I love to do with my magazines once I've read through them: I have a couple file folders marked for Tips, Recipes, and Crafts & Activities. Then I skim through the magazines and rip out the pages I'll use again and file them away. Then I let my four year old have his way with it. We find letters, pictures, etc and glue them to papers. Then, I recycle what's left!
One tip: Don't pay full price. Check out sites like mypoints.com where you can get discounts and incentives for certain magazines. That way, you get points for buying it and you save as well.

BidCactus

I’ve found an awesome way for all of us to save. It’s a site called www.bidcactus.com. Cool things like gift certificates, electronics and lots of other stuff sell for $3 and $4! No joke!
Here’s how it works: you buy bids from the site. The lowest package is for 25 bids at $18.75. Then you go to the site and bid. I’ve been watching it and things like Walmart and Visa gift certificates for $50 and $100 dollars sell for right around $3. So even if you use all your bids getting a $50 gift certificate and you pay $4, that still only equals $22.75. You just got $27.25 for FREE!
Bidcactus (www.bidcactus.com) even has an information center that gives tips on how to bid, how Bidcactus works, and why they’re able to sell these high priced items for so cheap. I would recommend signing up, and then spending a few hours just watching the site to see how it works. (Like when you’re folding laundry or something else). I even researched other sites for you and even at ebay the discounts don’t even come close. Let’s try it!