Our goal: Organized Frugality...and How We Are Making It Happen
Organizing your life, your home, and your finances often seems like an impossible dream. It is not. It simply takes commitment, some planning and a solid routine, like any other habit. Getting your day organized saves time and increases productivity. Running an organized and frugal home also helps save time and money, and it reduces stress. Having a place for everything means one can find needed items quickly, and only keeping things that are useful or very special is a great way to reduce clutter. Having finances in order frees you to concentrate on things that matter most, without having to lose sleep over debt or expenses.
Because needs of individuals and families are unique, there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to organizing. Strategies that work well for some may not be useful or workable for others. I have found, however, that having a well-organized home makes house cleaning a lot less of a struggle. Indeed, cleaning an organized home is enjoyable and it takes much less time. Organizing and frugality is not a destination as much as it is an ongoing journey and process. It is never too late to learn and use strategies for becoming organized and living frugally.
Everyone has the same 24 hours to use each day. Subtracting eight hours for sleep leaves 16 hours in which to get all the things that need to be done accomplished. Ever wonder how some people manage to do so much more with their time and still have energy left? Becoming organized and developing a routine to maintain organization can go a long way toward making excellent use of that time and leave you with extra energy and money. What a bargain! It is never too late to get started learning and using techniques to become more organized and frugal.
I admit to being a former packrat, as were (and are) some of my family. I believe part of the reason I kept so much was because I was afraid I might need it "someday," and was not sure how I could replace it if I got rid of it. I am no longer prone to hold on to things that do not serve a specific purpose. My husband and I are learning a new path to organized frugality. Organization and frugality work in tandem with each other. I once thought our becoming organized and frugal was not possible. I have learned from experience that it is not only possible to have an organized and frugal lifestyle, it is intrinsically rewarding on a number of levels. It can be a challenge. It can also be fun.
This is the story of how the dream has become a day to day reality, and how we've had fun in the process.
A Word About This Lens:
This is a huge (and growing) lens. I created it because I wanted a place to keep and share the many excellent tips and resources I have found having to do with frugality, personal finance and organization. These are topics I am keenly interested in, and they have led to a lifestyle change in our home over the past year and a half. This lens will be overwhelming if it is approached all at once. A better strategy may be to use it in sections, and check back frequently to see what has changed or what new content there is. I will be changing the overall look of the lens with css as I learn more about how css works with Squidoo.
Grateful acknowledgement is made to the bloggers, authors and others whose work and resources I have shared here.
Some of the modules in this lens will become separate lenses. I invite comments (please be polite) and ratings. Questions are welcome, with the understanding I am not a professional in any of the areas covered in the lens
Note: I am not a financial adviser, nor am I a professional organizer. I am simply passing on information and resources I have found helpful from the internet and from my own experience. Consider your own needs and capabilities when taking any course of action. Please use common sense, discretion and consideration when putting these tips into action; what works well for me may not work for you, and I am not responsible for any damage, loss or poor outcome. For specific questions or concerns, please consult the appropriate and trusted professionals.
Grateful acknowledgement is made to the bloggers, authors and others whose work and resources I have shared here.
Some of the modules in this lens will become separate lenses. I invite comments (please be polite) and ratings. Questions are welcome, with the understanding I am not a professional in any of the areas covered in the lens
Note: I am not a financial adviser, nor am I a professional organizer. I am simply passing on information and resources I have found helpful from the internet and from my own experience. Consider your own needs and capabilities when taking any course of action. Please use common sense, discretion and consideration when putting these tips into action; what works well for me may not work for you, and I am not responsible for any damage, loss or poor outcome. For specific questions or concerns, please consult the appropriate and trusted professionals.
SOS Index
Jump to Topics of Interest
- A Word About This Lens:
- Once upon a time, almost two years ago...
- Simple Steps to Organized Frugality
- Organizing: A First Step
- More Info: The Household Notebook
- Reading about Frugality and Personal Finance
- The Complete Tightwad Gazette
- 10,001 Ways To Live Large On a Small Budget
- Recession $urvival Guide: Low-Cost and No-Cost Strategies to Spend Less, Save More!
- Frugal Furniture and Other Necessities Not Always Included
- Frugal Furniture and Other Necessities Resources
- Getting Organized: A Room By Room Plan
- A Turntable Banishes Clutter in the Kitchen
- The Art of Bread Baking: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day
- Make Your Bath an Oasis of Clutter-Free Serenity
- Lynnae's Frugal Homemade Tub Cleaner
- The Linen Closet Tamed
- The Laundry Room
- Fabulous Fabric Softener (and Fabric Softener Sheets)
- How to Fold a Contour (Fitted) Sheet
- Make Your Own Laundry Detergent
- A Tisket, A Tasket
- Resources for Getting Organized
- The Home Office
- Control The Paper Flood
- Organized Documents
- Document Retention: More Information
- Organizing My Computer (1)
- How My Computer Keeps Me Organized (2)
- Getting Things Done: Freeware, Software, and Links
- Delicious Organizing
- The Freedom Fund: How to Save Money When There Doesn't Seem to Be Any...
- Taming Utility Costs
- Bill Paying Can Be Less Painful
- Budgeting Help
- Money Mistakes to Avoid
- From Scratch: Make Your Own
- Make Your Own: Resources
- Save Money With These Resources
- About Printable Coupons
- Coupon Sites and Resources
- Shop Online and Save Money
- Save Money With Classified Ads
- Saving Money on Travel
- The Power of The Snowflake
- Dave Ramsey
- Snowflaking And Similar Debt Reduction Strategies
- Matt Bell's Money Strategies for Tough Times
- Delicious Personal Finance
- Repurposing...With a Purpose
- Do-It-Yourself Help
- Delicious Frugality
- Find (and Share) More Quick Tips
- It's YOUR Turn!
- Love This Lens? Let Others Know.
- About Angelsong
- A Day In My Life
Once upon a time, almost two years ago...
in a new subdivision in a small town...
My husband and I were (and remain) very blessed. We bought a new home, and had the experience of watching it go up from bare ground, on a week by week basis. We also got a chance some people do not get: We started with a completely new space, and were keenly interested in making our home comfortable and well put together in terms of our possessions. We also needed, of course, to make mortgage payments and plan for household maintenance/repairs and other expenses, and that meant our finances would also need to be organized. Because we blessed our home and dedicated it to God, we felt it only proper to learn to become better stewards to take care of our home and meet our responsibilities in a way that would be pleasing to Him.Buying a home is very exciting and in some ways intimidating. When you own a home, you become responsible for paying the mortgage, maintenance and repairs and a lot more. Keeping things organized and saving money wherever possible helps tremendously. We had been living in an apartment for seven years when we bought the house, and making a successful transition from renting to home ownership was hugely important to us. We actually began organizing before we moved out of the apartment, in an effort to move as little unnecessary "stuff" as possible. That meant getting rid of the items we no longer needed or used. For me, it was dishes (several boxes went to my daughter) and books (sold to a local half price book dealer) and other things that were donated to charity or discarded.
We began our journey toward organized frugality with small steps, practiced consistently (the way any habit, good or bad, is developed), and recognize and repeat methods that work for us; we support each other's efforts (essential when one of us is flagging); we seek assistance (in the real world from sources such as books and friends/neighbors and in cyberspace) when necessary; we find new and sometimes unexpected uses for things we already own; and we are learning to do more ourselves, instead of always needing to pay professionals. These are the key steps we have found to help us be frugally organized.
Simple Steps to Organized Frugality
Make a plan. (A simple one is fine)
Start small. You can't make an omelette until you crack an egg.
Organizing does not happen overnight, it happens over time.
Be consistent; build success on success.
Everything counts.
Get help: enlist family (and friends!) and use the internet
Do It yourself: Yes, it can be done
Snowflakes! (a way to reduce debt)
Save Money.
Re-purpose, on purpose.
Organizing: A First Step
Our Household Notebook(s)
How many times have you made a resolution to become more organized at home or at work, and then failed to keep the resolution because you just had no idea how to begin? You are not alone; I have been there myself. As much as you (and I!) might wish for a fairy godmother who could wave a magic wand to put everything in your life in order and keep it there, it is not going to happen that way. So . . .what to do? Give up before you begin? No. Sometimes, you just have to remember:"The longest journey begins with a single step."
-- Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching
Then, realize that you can begin the journey to a more organized home and a less stressed lifestyle by starting, literally, where you are standing. Take three minutes to clear off the top of that table that has become a catch-all for bills and papers. Go through all the magazines you've been meaning to read "someday" and recycle, toss or donate 90% of them. Spend five minutes sewing that loose or missing button back on your favorite shirt. From such small beginning steps, you can build success on success, the clutter will begin to diminish, and you will find yourself feeling more peaceful inside. Getting organized means you take the time to develop some new habits, and you keep them going for at least a week. . . then two. . . and before you know it, a month will have passed and your new habits will be a part of your normal routine. So it was with me, when I first decided to become more organized. I did not have a professional housekeeper or my own personal organizing guru, but I did have a strong desire to cut loose of the clutter that was weighing me down, physically and emotionally. I began reading as much as I could about frugality, organization and personal finance via resources freely available on the internet.
One of the first concrete steps I took in organizing our home was a small one that was easy to complete, and that was key. I discovered the home organizer notebook, and was immediately intrigued. It had never dawned on me that having all kinds of forms, manuals and other information helpful in running a home in one central (and portable!) location was possible, but I immediately saw a huge value in such a system. So my first task in getting organized was to create a household notebook. I gathered a few supplies I already had at hand (a binder, plastic sheet protectors, a pencil pouch, pens and printable forms from the internet), and set to work. I gathered all of our appliance manuals and instructions/use and care booklets (does anyone know where those manuals are? I do, thanks to our manuals notebook, newly created using a separate binder because we have so many manuals and care instructions.)
In the household notebook, I included pages for menu planning, shopping lists, to-do lists, and more. See the link below for details on how to put the basic binder together. The beauty of it is, your household notebook is uniquely yours, set up to meet the needs of your family and keep your home running smoothly. I began to realize how much freedom there is in being organized, even with this simple step. I had something real, something tangible to show for my work, and I realized: I CAN do this. And so can you. I was pleased with my success, and I began searching the internet for resources on organizing and frugality. Some of these resources are included in this lens.
More Info: The Household Notebook
Use this link to get a simple and easy how-to on creating and using your household notebook.
- Make A Household Notebook: Ideas & Printables : TipNut.com
- Create a Household Notebook to help run your home
- Organized Home: Household Notebook
- Information and printables for your household notebook
Reading about Frugality and Personal Finance
The internet is a gold mine
- There are excellent resources on frugality, organizing and personal finances on the internet. I found that often, frugality, organization and personal finance topics mesh.
Several needs and goals emerged as we have begun learning about frugality, personal finances and organization:
We wanted to know how we could begin a frugal lifestyle...and how we could sustain it over the long haul. Lynnae McCoy has more than a few excellent suggestions, as do other bloggers such as Jenn Fowler and Trent Hamm, among others. Amy Dacyczn also has a highly recommended book with tons of frugal tips. - We needed to know how to get our finances on solid footing, and keep them there. We also needed to start a Freedom fund (aka an emergency or contingency fund) when there seemed to be no way we could save any money. We were wrong in thinking we could not save money, by the way.
- We wanted to reduce and control clutter so that cleaning is less of a chore and more of a treat. Yes, a treat. Because having a place for each of our valued possessions and being able to find things without turning the house upside down is a huge help, and it makes keeping things in order so much easier.
- Reading about frugality and personal finance topics was a fine start. We have put a good amount of the information to use in our day to day lives, which is even better. I will share some of my favorite tips and resources with you, so that you can share the wealth (pun intended) by paying it forward when the opportunity to do so arises.
The Complete Tightwad Gazette
Amy Dacyczyn started it all
The Complete Tightwad Gazette
Amazon Price: $15.61 (as of 12/22/2009)
List Price: $22.95
Used Price: $8.89
A must-have reference and resource for any who want to live a frugal lifestyle
Release Date: 12/15/1998
Usually ships in 24 hours
10,001 Ways To Live Large On a Small Budget
10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget
Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 12/22/2009)
This is an excellent addition to any library, and it is a great resource to supplement The Tightwad Gazette. There are never too many ways to save money.
Recession $urvival Guide: Low-Cost and No-Cost Strategies to Spend Less, Save More!
Recession $urvival Guide: Low-Cost and No-Cost Strategies to Spend Less, Save More!
Amazon Price: $12.95 (as of 12/22/2009)
List Price: $12.95
Tips for surviving and thriving in the recession.
Release Date: 12/31/1969
Usually ships in 24 hours
Blogs and Media: Frugality, Organizing, Personal Finance
these and others got me going . . . and keep me going
My "keepers" list of organizing, frugality and personal finance blogs and sites. If you have one (or more) to add, leave a comment...
- Being Frugal
- Being Frugal is a blog about debt repayment and frugal living. I'm blogging about how I'm paying off my student loans and credit cards, and what I'm doing to save money. (note from AngelSong: Lynnae is very inspirational, and admits when she messes up, which is also helpful, because I can learn from her mistakes.)
- The Simple Dollar
- A personal finance blog focusing on ordinary people dealing with unprecedented levels of debt. The Simple Dollar is a blog for those of us who need both cents and sense: people fighting debt and bad spending habits while building a financially secure future and still affording a latte or two. Our busy lives are crazy enough without having to compare five hundred mutual funds - we just want simple ways to manage our finances and save a little money. -- Trent Hamm
- Gather Little by Little - Personal Finance with a Christian Perspective
- Christian finance topics including budgeting, christian debt reduction, saving, frugality, thrift, debt, investing for christians and more
- Frugal Upstate
- simple ways to save money doing simple things you've never even considered. One hint: it's not all about clipping coupons and buying on sale!
- personal finance tips fivecentnickel.com
- Personal finance tips, tricks, news, and commentary. Get the full value of your money
- I've Paid For This Twice Already...
- Tips and ideas for debt reduction, frugal living, living within your means (even if those means are small) and dealing with setbacks on the road to being debt free. The definitive source for what snowflaking is, what it means, how to generate snowflakes, and how to use this to reduce your debt.
- Home Ec 101
- It's not like High School Home Ec. It's better.
- Frugal Hacks
- Lots of frugal tips and resources
- Squawkfox
- Squawkfox Where frugal living is sexy, delicious, and fun.
- Get Rich Slowly
- Personal finance that makes cents.
- A Money Blog: Personal Finance and Business in Silicon Valley
- A Money Blog: Personal Finance and Business in Silicon Valley
- I'm An Organizing Junkie
- Enjoying life one pile of clutter at a time
- Frugal living and Debt Payoff - Mike's Conversion Story
- Lots of ideas, recipes, and more on frugality
- The "Cent"sible Sawyer
- Making "cents" of a crazy world
- Eleven Moms
- The Elevenmoms is a vibrant savvy intelligent group of moms who blog extensively on the art of saving money and living better. This is a group of women who have dedicated themselves and their blogs to providing an unending resource full of ideas and suggestions on saving money.
- Frugal Coast2Coast
- Lynnae and Jenn: Frugality Coast to Coast
- Living On A Dime - Free Recipes, Money Saving Tips, Debt Free Living
- Families can be frugal
- Everyone can learn to be organized | Unclutterer
- Everyone begins life as a messy, disorganized, lump of a baby. No one is born in a starched shirt and polished shoes with a day planner in one hand and a vacuum cleaner in the other.
- Top 10 Reasons Living With Debt — BITES! | My Super-Charged Life
- Tips, Motivation, and Resources for Living Life to the Fullest!
- Wise Bread | Personal Finance and Frugal Living Forums
- Welcome to Wise Bread
Personal finance and frugal living forums - Blissfully Domestic
- Your Life. Your Bliss. An online digest of frugality and organizing tips and much more.
- Online Organizing
- Get Organized! Find the best organizing products, free tips on taming your clutter, an online newsletter, links to organizing websites-- and even get a referral to a Professional Organizer near you. OnlineOrganizing.com -- A world of organizing solutions!
- Mrs. Micah: Finance for a Freelance Life
- How to create and use a budget, how to get out of debt, how to create a credit history, how to earn money on the side, how to record freelance income,
- No Credit Needed Debt Reduction Rocks - We Are Living Debt Free!
- Living Debt Free; no credit needed...
- Frugal Living For The Not-So-Frugal | I've Paid For This Twice Already...
- I've had a lot of questions lately pop into my inbox from new readers that found this site searching for frugality topics out of necessity, ...
- 4 Hats and Frugal
- A Wife, Mother, student and member of the military blogs about frugal living
Frugal Furniture and Other Necessities Not Always Included
I used to wish that I could buy a house, unlock the front door, and walk in with nothing more than a toothbrush and my clothing, and find everything necessary for the house already inside. Furniture, linens, dishes, light bulbs, tools, everything. That does not even happen in the movies! So, we found that we needed to make some purchases when we bought this house.Understanding that furniture has become extremely expensive is not rocket science. We enjoy nice things, including furniture, but we do not have an unlimited supply of money to purchase it, and we are not averse to getting extra use from previously owned furnishings.
In addition to utility deposits and other predictable costs, home ownership is not without some unexpected expenses. We moved from a 900-plus square foot apartment to a 1300 square foot house. When we lived in the apartment, we had nearly too much furniture....but we did not have enough furniture for the new space. Since new furniture is not frugal for us, we headed to Craigslist. We found:
A brand new, queen size mattress and box springs for our bedroom (badly needed because our old one was so worn it was causing severe back pain for both of us)
A rocking chair (mandatory for rocking grandchildren)
A hand made oak coffee table with ceramic tile top and
My office desk and my husband's office chair
We did purchase some new items:
A four drawer cherrywood filing cabinet for the office; our old one was metal, and one of its drawers was broken. It had seen much better days, and was no longer safe to use
.
four bookcases (even though we sold or donated many of our books, we have enough to warrant these). I have one in the kitchen for storing cookbooks, two in the office, one in the living room and one in the master bedroom. The office bookcase stores work and computer related books, board games and a small number of books on my waiting-to-be-read list.)
A pantry cabinet for the kitchen (we had a pantry in the apartment, and after seven years, we were accustomed to having one, and the house does not have one built in (yet).
Shower curtain rods (the very first purchase we made)
magnetic curtain rods for the front door and the patio doors and standard curtain rods for the office and bedrooms (we added curtains, even though we have mini blinds, because we wanted options for privacy.)
water hoses/sprinklers and a shovel (needed for lawn care and tree-planting, which was not our responsibility until we bought the house)
over a period of a few weeks, for much less than the same furniture would cost new.
We were given two entertainment centers by my dad and a neighbor. Both are in our living room. One of the entertainment centers holds our television, movies and a few books (and is an "up" for our cats; the other (which only needed a good cleaning that took about twenty minutes) displays our family photos and special keepsakes. I still plan to purchase a bakers rack for the kitchen, and will use Craigslist again for that.
We needed curtains for all of the windows (which are also expensive in specialty or department stores), so we purchased some attractive fabric shower curtains. They work beautifully, and are easy to clean. We use shower curtain rings to hang them from the curtain rods. Our living room windows are covered by the palm trees curtain shown in the picture for this module, with matching palm tree hooks to attach them to the curtain rod.
All of our major appliances were included in the cost of the house; we did need to purchase a water treatment system and whole house air filter for health related issues my husband and I have, and while the system is expensive, it is also frugal, because if it were not present, one or the other or both of us would be ill, possibly a lot more often.
Frugal Furniture and Other Necessities Resources
- Office Depot
- Office Supplies: Office Products and Office Furniture
- Walmart.com: Save money. Live better.
- Shop Walmart Online for Low Prices on Top Brands in Computers, TVs, Toys, GPS, Video Games, DVDs, Music, Apparel, Housewares, iPod, Photo, Grocery, Baby Gear, Pharmacy & More. Free Shipping with Site to Store.
- Habitat ReStores -- Habitat for Humanity Int'l 1
- Find builing supplies, fixtures, and more. New, used, gently used
- Home Depot
- do it yourself and save home and garden center
- Old House Parts Company: Architectural Salvage, Antique Windows and Doors and Hardware for Interior and Exterior Home Improvement.
- Architectural Salvage and Architectural Antiques, restoration hardware and salvage for home improvement and interior design from The Old House Parts Company. Our focus is on 18th, 19th and early 20th century architectural salvage, antique doors and windows and other construction materials.
- Frugal Lawn Care Tips | Frugal Dad
- Tips for frugal living and saving money
- Find Product Reviews and Ratings from Consumer Reports
- Product reviews and Ratings on cars, appliances, electronics and more from Consumer Reports.
Getting Organized: A Room By Room Plan
It is easy to become overwhelmed when one thinks about how to get organized. To simplify the process, we broke it down room by room, and concentrate on one major area of the room at a time. The next sections of this lens detail the process we followed, room by room in our home.
One important note: Before you go out and buy any organizing materials, containers or systems, take careful stock of what you already have on hand that could be re-purposed, the space you have to work with, and your own personal style. This will minimize the chance of buying things that will not work for you and that you may not use.
One important note: Before you go out and buy any organizing materials, containers or systems, take careful stock of what you already have on hand that could be re-purposed, the space you have to work with, and your own personal style. This will minimize the chance of buying things that will not work for you and that you may not use.
The Frugal and Organized Kitchen
The kitchen is the heart of the home for most families. Here are some tips and tricks for keeping the kitchen in order and saving money in the process.
- One of the first things I decided to do when we were unpacking the kitchen was to banish the kitchen junk drawer. It is an unsightly mess that I did not want to perpetuate in our new home (although I had to convince my husband, who said every house he's ever lived in up to now has had one).
I started with the drawer empty, then decided exactly what I would put in it. I chose to keep my coupon organizer, scissors, a pen and paper for grocery lists, plus a few small plastic containers in the drawer. Everything else (tools, screws, light bulbs, batteries and various unidentified objects) found other homes. I asked my husband to please put his tools in the garage, and his small gadgets into a basket on the laundry room shelf. Result: I know where to look for my coupons and shopping list, and they are easy to grab when I head to the store. - We use a double-tiered turntable (lazy susan) in our pantry and two more in one of our cabinets to hold spices, herbs, and small containers that would otherwise get shoved to the back out of reach. Now spices and herbs are easy to find and use before they lose their flavors.
- I keep baking items together in one area for quick access, and I use a small plastic basket to keep our few paper napkins and paper plates out of the way; they are not an eyesore, and the basket is easy to take outside on the patio or to the dining table as needed.
- Rubber coated wire racks for dishes can help maximize storage space in your cabinets. They can also help prevent breakage, since dishes are not stacked haphazardly.
- To protect our kitchen sinks, we use rubber mats in each of them. This not only reduces stains on the porcelain, it also helps reduce breakage by providing a cushioned surface for glassware and dishes. We have a small dish rack in one of the sinks for drying hand-washed items. This saves counter space and eliminates the need for a drainboard.
- We did a complete inventory of all of the foodstuffs in the pantry, cabinets, refrigerator and freezers in a written list...and I was astonished to find we had six or eight unopened bags of dry beans! Having the inventory keeps us from buying extras we do not need.
Date the list, and post it inside your pantry or cabinet door for easy reference; you can mark items off as they are used so that it is easy to tell when to buy more. - We put the microwave on a microwave stand a former neighbor from the apartments gave us when she moved. The stand had originally been in the home office in our apartment and again in the new house, but putting it back in the kitchen not only freed a lot of counter space, it added more storage.
- Save money by making your own cleaners. Recipes can be found online for different cleaning needs, and making your own means you control the ingredients. I have an excellent recipe for an effective and environmentally friendly cleaner for the kitchen, bathroom, and throughout the home. Check it out in the From Scratch: Make Your Own section of this Lens.
- Growing your own herbs and tomatoes in pots or containers is easy, and the home grown variety tastes better and costs less than the purchased ones.
- When there are leftovers, I put them into a container and keep it in the freezer. In a month or so, I've collected enough to make a good soup with them. Use the heels from a loaf of bread to make breadcrumbs. Do not throw any food away that can be used later
- Save time by creating a weekly menu plan. Use the plan to create a grocery list, and never shop for groceries without a list or when you are hungry. For times when schedules are packed tightly, cooking enough meals for a week (or more) can save time and reduce the temptation and expense of eating out.
- I found an excellent use for a gallon sized plastic container that ice cream came in. I use it to store my home-made 7 bean soup mix. You can also use these to store rice, flour, corn meal, or other dry staples, and if need be, they can go right back into the freezer to ensure that no bugs get into the flour or corn meal.. Label with a marker. They are more compact than the covered bowl I was using at first.
- When I am cooking or baking, I like to work at the dining room table (in a corner of our kitchen). It is easier for me to reach things and the lighting is better. Our table has a glass top, and I recently discovered that when I am making doughs, they can be kneaded on a floured, non-stick cookie sheet, and there is little mess to clean up on the table. The doughs can also be rolled out on the cookie sheet and reshaped as the recipe directs. It is very easy to clean the cookie sheet afterward.
- A rubber-coated wire dish rack like the ones in our kitchen cabinets also adds storage space in the pantry. It helps organize canned foods and doubles storage space by taking advantage of vertical space on the shelf
- Cleaning tip: Sprinkle table salt on dishes after eating eggs. They will be easier to clean. See the link below for how to clean up raw egg also using table salt.
- Keep flour and corn meal in the freezer in a tightly sealed container to keep weevils out.
- Next time you scorch food in a pot, do not throw the pot out. Scrape out as much of the burned on food as you can, then put a small amount of hot water and a drop of dishwashing liquid in the pot. Add one or two fabric softener sheets to the pot and let it soak overnight. The next day, all of the black scorched area will wipe clean.
A Turntable Banishes Clutter in the Kitchen
Make it easier to store and find things in your cabinets and pantry with turntables.
Copco 2555-9424 2-Tier 12-Inch Non-Skid Cabinet Turntable
Amazon Price: $12.99 (as of 12/22/2009)
List Price: $14.99
Usually ships in 24 hours
Lipper International Bamboo 2-Tier 10-Inch Turntable
Amazon Price: $23.17 (as of 12/22/2009)
List Price: $24.99
Usually ships in 24 hours
Kitchen Resources
- StillTasty: Your Ultimate Shelf Life Guide - Save Money, Eat Better, Help The Environment
- StillTasty.com has comprehensive information about how long you can keep thousands of foods and beverages.
- Foodista.com - The Cooking Encyclopedia Everyone Can Edit
- Foodista.com, the cooking encyclopedia
everyone can edit. - Hillbilly Housewife
- Cooking. From Scratch
- Once A Month Cooking with Real Food for Real People
- *What is OAMC or Once A Month
Cooking? It is a method of producing several entrees or meals in a one
or two day-long cooking session. .Meals and entrees are prepared for the next 30
days, then frozen. - Lifehacker - Groceries That Are Actually Cheaper to Make at Home - Saving Money
- It is easy to find recipes for homemade yogurt, granola, and other common groceries, but far harder to know, cent for cent, if making them really saves money. One Slate writer did the math for us.
- Lifehacker - Keep Your Grocery Bill Low by Avoiding These Marketing Tricks - Saving Money
- Selling eggs and milk isn't the most profitable venture in the world, so supermarkets employ crafty tactics to ensure you buy pricier goods to pad their bottom lines. Avoid overpaying with these simple tips.
- Half Price, Full Pantry
- Home canning produces high quality best value food
by Guest Blogger: Tracy FalbeIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!{What follows is another fabulous post from guest blogger Tracy Falbe concerning home canning and food preservation. I’ve - Lifehacker - Use Your Freezer Efficiently to Save Money (and Food) - Saving Money
- You may own a freezer, but do you really use it? If your freezer is just a temporary bin for food that's getting trashed, Mark Bittman wants to help you with a money-saving, food-preserving audit.
- Grocery Coupons, Coupons, Free Samples, Online Coupons, Restaurant Coupons
- Coupons, Grocery coupons, restaurant coupons, FREE coupon deals lists in 50 states for Target, Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, 36 grocery stores, free samples, online coupons
- The Well-Organized Kitchen
- Whether you're a daily cook or an occasional one, maximize time with the right setup.
- Grocery Coupons, Coupons, Free Samples, Online Coupons, Restaurant Coupons
- Coupons, Grocery coupons, restaurant coupons, FREE coupon deals lists in 50 states for Target, Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, 36 grocery stores, free samples, online coupons
- Thoughts on Tightwad Gazette's Flexible Casserole Recipe
- easy to make variety of casseroles
- Prevent Freezer Burn
- Stop having to throwing away food because of freezer burn
- Tips for Freezing and Thawing Foods - FamilyEducation.com
- Find out how to safely freeze, thaw, and reheat foods.
- How to Clean up a Broken Egg | eHow.com
- How to Clean up a Broken Egg. Whether you're dyeing eggs for Easter or cracking them for a cake, it's not uncommon to occasionally have an egg slip from your grasp. The sticky slimy mess can be difficult to wipe up and is...
- Lifehacker - Make Your Refrigerator Far More Efficient - Saving Money
- You've probably heard that keeping your refrigerator and freezer fully stocked is a simple way to keep them running efficiently. But what if you happen to lack for food, or want to optimize even further?
- 11 Cost-Cutting Grocery & Cooking Tips
- save money and time with groceries and cooking tips
- $5 Dinners
- Eating healthy does not have to break the bank
- Get the most from your Teflon cookware
- how to make your Teflon cookware last longer
- Six Frugal and Fast Summer Meals
- Healthy, fast and inexpensive meals for summer
- Ask Real Simple: What's the Best Way to Store Herbs?
- How to get the most from herbs
- Where to Find Pick-Your-Own Fruit and Vegetable Farms / Orchards for Local, Fresh Fruit, Vegetables and Pumpkins, Along With Canning, Freezing & Preserving Instructions!
- This easy-to-use web site lists all of the pick-your-own fruit and vegetable farms the U.S., Canada, Britain and other countries Find a farm or orchard near you to pick apples, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, figs, peaches and tomatoes at better quality and lower prices than a store or farm
The Art of Bread Baking: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
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Make Your Bath an Oasis of Clutter-Free Serenity
One of my all-time pet peeves is a messy bathroom. I keep things in order in several ways:We purchased one new, over the toilet shelving unit for one of our bathrooms, and found another similar one at a garage sale. The shelves in the master bath hold towels, exta bath tissue, first aid supplies, medications (on the highest shelf out of reach of children), and other items that should be readily avaliable. The guest bath shelves hold similar items, plus a wicker basket for toiletries for guests' use.
As noted elsewhere in this lens, I use small utility baskets on either side of the bathroom vanity for keeping my husband's and my toiletries from cluttering the counter top.
Bath towels are stored rolled instead of folded (See more in the section on the linen closet; our linen closet is inside the master bathroom.)
Shampoos and soaps for the shower are stored in two shower caddies (one hangs from the shower head at a higher level for my husband, and one is lower so that I can easily reach it).
Lynnae's Frugal Homemade Tub Cleaner
Lynnae of being frugal dot net shares her homemade tub cleaner. This helped me develop the cleaner recipe I use all the time.
The Linen Closet Tamed
-- I roll bath towel, hand towels and washcloths instead of storing them folded; this is a space saver.-- We struggled with sheets for a long time, because they always seemed to become a tangled mess in the linen closet, and they were always falling on the floor when the door was opened. Finally, I decided to search the internet for some help, and I found some videos on how to fold a contour (fitted) sheet. By studying the videos (one of which is included below, I learned how to fold a fitted (contour) sheet so that it is as flat and neat as when it was in its packaging (see the video below). I store the contour sheet, the folded flat sheet and one pillow case from each set of linens in the second pillow case for that set, and fold the end of the second pillow case over to close it. This makes a compact bundle that is easy to store on the shelf of the linen closet, or even in the closet of the guest room. No more fumbling with messy, unsightly sheets, and they don't fall on the floor. If your family and guests do not have problems with allergies, place a fabric softener sheet inside the pillow case with the sheets, for extra freshness; this help combat musty odors if the sheets are not frequently rotated. We have found that two sets of sheets per bed works well for us.
We have enough extra space in the linen closet using these tips that we can store extra toiletries when we stock up as they go on sale. Comforters and blankets now fit on the top shelf, out of the way until they are needed.
The Laundry Room
If you use a dryer, be wary of fabric softener sheets. They have a waxy coating that can clog the lint filter even when it appears to be clean. Once a month, take the filter out and hold it under running water. If the water pools in the filter without draining through it, take a soft brush and mild soap and gently clean the filter until water runs through it freely. A clogged filter can damage the dryer's heating element and cause it to burn out, leading to repair bills or the need to replace the dryer. I prefer to use fabric softener sheets in other ways; I do not put them in the dryer.Save wear and tear on your clothing, save energy and save money by hanging laundry to dry whenever possible. Use a clothesline outdoors, or use drying racks indoors or outdoors.
When you dry laundry in a dryer, add one or more clean, dry bath towels to each load to cut drying time by up to half. Add more towels for heavy items like jeans.
Do not overload the washer or dryer. Your clothing will not get as clean, and it wears the washer and dryer out faster. Wash full loads, and adjust the water level to the load size.
Make your own laundry detergent and fabric softener sheets (if you use the sheets). Instructions can be found in the next sections of this lens.
Use products like baking soda and/or borax to reduce the need for chlorine bleach. One cup of white vinegar added to the rinse cycle softens laundry, and you won't smell like a salad. I put one cup of white vinegar into a Downy® ball and add it to the wash cycle so that I don't have to race to catch the rinse cycle.
Fabulous Fabric Softener (and Fabric Softener Sheets)
- I'll Never Buy Commercial Fabric Softener Again!
- I'll Never Buy Commercial Fabric Softener Again! . I save an old fabric softener or detergent bottled (rinsed well). Using a funnel I carefully pour the following into the bottle:
- 25 Alternative Uses for Fabric-Softener Dryer Sheets %uFFFD Curbly | DIY Design Community %uFFFD Keywords: Laundry, alternative_uses, recycle, cleaning
- Fabric Softener sheets have better uses than in your dryer
- Ask the Ladies -- The Magic of Fabric Softener Sheets
- Pest Control and more!! who knew?
How to Fold a Contour (Fitted) Sheet
(Without Losing Your Mind)
Ever wish you could get your sheets folded the way they were when you opened the packaging? You can. Here's how
How to Fold A Fitted Sheet
Most of us have, at one time or another, given up frustrated after the terrible ordeal of trying to fold a fitted sheet! Jill Cooper from http://www.livingonadime.com shows you a step by step method to make this process easier in How to Fold A Fitted Sheet.
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Make Your Own Laundry Detergent
Trent from The Simple Dollar demonstrates how to make laundry detergent
How to make your own homemade laundry detergent
Laundry detergent can be a big money leak. Here's how to cut your laundry detergent costs by 85%, saving you $8 for just 10 minutes' work making your own detergent! Visit http://www.thesimpledollar.com/ for more tips on saving money and personal finance!
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A Tisket, A Tasket
There's nothing like a Basket!
I have a number of small plastic utility baskets that help me cut clutter and keep like items together. The baskets are light-weight, sturdy and easily portable. I have already described the use of baskets in the bathrooms and one way to use them in the kitchen. Here are a few more uses for them:A basket under the kitchen sink holds rubber gloves, scrubbie pads, dishwasher detergent and hand dishwashing liquid and similar items. This is easy to move out of small hands' reach when our grandchildren visit.
A basket in the cabinet under the bathroom sink or in the linen closet holds extra toiletries bought on sale
Baskets in the laundry room (one on the shelf to hold my husband's small items as noted earlier, and one on top of the dryer to hold detergent and laundry essentials keeps everything neat and within reach.
I keep a basket of kitchen items infrequently needed on top of the freezer and out of the way but still accessible.
Resources for Getting Organized
- Get Organized Now! - 10,000+ Tips and Ideas
- A million+ visitors per year; 60000+ forum posts, organizing Blog, checklists, clinics, free newsletter and thousands of tips.
- Remember The Milk: Online to do list and task management
- Online reminders, to-do list
- Free Personal Finance Software, Online Money Management, Budget Planner and Financial Planning | Mint.com
- Free Personal Finance Software, Online Money Management, Budget Planner and Financial Planning - Mint.com - Free personal finance software to assist you to manage your money, financial planning, and budget planning tools. Achieve your financial goals with Mint.
- The Rainy Day Box for Children
- Keep the kids busy when they can't go outside
- LifeOrganizers.com How to organize your home and office, organizing tips, articles on organizing
- LifeOrganizers.com is a rich resource of office and home organizing articles, tips, and fresh, easy ideas on how to get rid of clutter from every part of your life, from the garage to your filing cabinet to your spiritual matters.
- Getting Rid Of Your Stuff Even Though You Already Spent The Money. | My Two Dollars
- Conquer guilt to help rid yourself of clutter
- Printable Household Calendars - CalendarsQuick.com
- Create printable household calendars and planner pages for
download as Adobe PDF documents in weekly, biweekly, and monthly formats. - 30 Boxes | Online Calendar
- 30 Boxes is almost certainly the easiest way to share your calendar and your web stuff online. Organize your life, share all or parts of it with friends.
Post it to your blog. Track your friends online including their Flickr, Webshots, Vox, Facebook, MySpace, blogs, and more! It's quite simply the w - Google Calendar
- Welcome to Google Calendar Organize your schedule and share events with friends Wouldn't it be great to be able to keep track of all the events in your life, coordinate schedules with friends and family, and find new things to do -- all with one online calendar? We thought so, too.
- ForceDo - Online TODO list for productive people :)
- ForceDo is an easy free online ToDo Task List for everyone. Get things Done using the preassure of running countdown. Use the Timing Controls to meassure your tasks! Get things done!
- 12 Techniques to Stop Yourself Slacking Off
- People to reconnect with, games to play, discussions to join. How do you keep yourself focused and get the job done?
- Chore Buster - Automatically organize your chores for free
- Organise your household or flat's chores; easily create a fair schedule to share the workload
- Seven Steps to reduce Junk Mail and Unwanted Calls
- reduce junk mail and unwanted phone calls
- Start Decluttering Your Home
- Every step builds success on success
- Home Decorating ideas and inspiration from iVillage Home
- Find home decorating ideas, inspiration, and helpful articles for your home at iVillage.com.
- How to Clean Stuff
- How to Clean Anything and Everything!
- PocketMod: The Free Recyclable Personal Organizer
- What is a PocketMod?
The PocketMod is a new way to keep yourself organized. Lets face it, PDAs are too expensive and cumbersome, and organizers are bulky and hard to carry around. Nothing beats a folded up piece of paper. That is until
now. With the PocketMod, you can carry around the day - Organize a Working Party
- Big jobs are easier and faster with help
- 12 Secrets of the Closet Pros
- Expert tips and strategies for conquering chaos and creating closets that work.
- The Household Inventory: Why and How
- Prepare for disaster with a home inventory
- Keep on Task and Organize Ideas With Online Checklists
- Online checklists are handy tools
- Don't Lose Track of Important Things
- Don't let things get lost or forgotten
- NSGCD Clutter Hoarding Scale
- a pdf for assessing hoarding behavior as it impacts safety
- Organized Home | Clean house, cut clutter, get organized at home!
- Clean house, cut clutter and get organized at home! Learn menu planning, freezer cooking, and how to declutter. Includes checklists, tips and free printable planner pages.
- Get moving: A checklist for an organized move | Unclutterer
- Moving can be stressful, but it's nothing to fear. These tips will help to make your transition less stressful and an enjoyable new adventure for your family.
- 6 Must-Have Organizing Tools | Clutter Busters | Clutter
- LifeOrganizers.com is a rich resource of office and home organizing articles, tips, and fresh, easy ideas on how to get rid of clutter from every part of your life, from the garage to your filing cabinet to your spiritual matters.
The Home Office
How I became more productive, painlessly
We have a home office. It contains our desktop computers, a multi-function printer and other computer hardware, two desks (one of which is a folding table that my husband prefers), a filing cabinet and two bookcases. My desktop's CPU rests beside my desk on a re-purposed bathtub seat, to keep it off the carpet. My desk (not the one pictured in this section, but similar) has two wide drawers in front, small drawers in the hutch behind my monitor, and a shelf on top of the hutch. It has cubbies; I use one cubby to hold our current bills, and the others hold frequently needed office supplies. The household is run mainly from my desk. My husband stores his reference books under his desk, and we share the space with few problems. Keeping the office clutter free makes it possible for me to work without undue distractions. I close the door if I need quiet time to work, and when I need down time.The room is well lighted via a window to my right, and I have a desk lamp with a bright CFL bulb; we purchased a ceiling fan with a light kit for extra ventilation. I can put my hands on anything I need to do my paid job or to run the household in seconds.
Control The Paper Flood
Newspapers. Bills. Letters. Papers from school, junk mail. The amount of paper coming into the average home can pose a daunting challenge to organization.We have taken steps to control the amount of paper we have to deal with:
-- We drastically reduced our junk mail by signing up with an online service similar to the DoNotCall service.
-- bills are paid online or with bill pay by our bank (more on this elsewhere in this lens)
-- we also found and purchased a paper filing system to tame our filing cabinet once and for all.
Paper is dealt with immediately; it is not allowed to build up. It takes less than ten minutes per day to do the filing. When we set up the filing system, we took everything out of the file cabinet, labeled our file folders, sorted and purged, and there was a nearly audible click in my mind when I realized all of our tax documents and other important documents were all neatly filed and accessible in under a minute.
We organized the filing cabinet in a manner that makes it even easier to use. Important legal documets are in the top drawer, which locks. Active files and receipts are in the second drawer, at eye level. Personal documents are in the third drawer, and my work-related materials are in the bottom drawer.
We have a collection of frequently used business cards that is kept in a small box on my desk, and we alphabetized them so that finding the ones we need is a snap.
Organized Documents
- My Oh-So-Organized Filing System
- Organize your office, your time, your projects and productivity, your files, your desk, your computer, your mail, email and much more!. (Highly recommended by Angelsong. This system has served us well for more than a year, and still works beautifully. Worth every cent of its purchase price.)
- Financial Documents: What to Keep, and How Long to Keep them
- If you live in a disaster zone, tidy up and create a well-working filing system for all of your crucial financial and personal records.
- Retention of Financial Documents: Suze Orman
- More on how long to keep which financial documents
- How to Organize Your Financial Records
- a guide to getting financial statements in order
Document Retention: More Information
Maria Gracia provides guidelines for how long to keep certain documents.Keep these documents permanently in a fire-proof safe or in a safe deposit box:
A will, birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, prenuptial agreements, alimony and child-custody agreements, divorce decrees, adoption papers, military records, citizenship papers, passports, health care power of attorney, copies of your IRA or 401K accounts along with copies of the form that names your plan beneficiaries, current insurance policies, employment contracts, deeds, property titles, mortgages, and stock and bond certificates.
Keep these documents for at least seven years:
Income tax returns (state and federal) with all supporting documentation. Supporting documentation is all that you use to figure your taxes. Also keep wage/salary records and annual payroll check stubs, canceled checks or bank statements, savings account records, monthly statements including information from banks, brokers, retirement plans, auto titles, guarantees and warranties along with dates and costs of improvements to your home.
Keep these for up to three years:
Papers that confirm buying or selling of stocks and bonds, pay stubs, credit card statements if they list tax deductible expenses or charitable gifts, utility and phone bills, ATM receipts/deposit slips, and medical bills.
Income tax returns (state and federal) with all supporting documentation. Supporting documentation is all that you use to figure your taxes. Also keep wage/salary records and annual payroll check stubs, canceled checks or bank statements, savings account records, monthly statements including information from banks, brokers, retirement plans, auto titles, guarantees and warranties along with dates and costs of improvements to your home.
From my own experience, utility bills and statements can be kept for up to a year, then shredded. The bills help with budgeting, since I can see what the totals are over time and plan accordingly. A notebook can be used to record the payee, amount of the bill, date due and date paid, if the bills themselves are not retained. The same information could be documented in a spreadsheet or document file on the computer.
Organizing My Computer (1)
This module and the next highlight the computer's usefulness related to organizing in various ways.
I keep my pictures in a pictures folder; music in a music folder, and various documents such as letters and projects I am working on in subfolders under my user account in my Documents and Settings folder. I also store files I have downloaded in a downloads folder. I used to have multiple subfolders for dowloaded files, but it became very cumbersome to find the desired folder, especially when I was in a hurry and multitasking, so I use just a single downloads folder...and I am far more picky about the files I save in the first place, to save space on my hard drive.
Some people like to scan important paper documents into their computers, but I do not see a real need for this because our paper files are well organized already, and easy to access.
I use a program launcher multiple times per day to access my files and applications. I do not like having lots of icons on my desktop; it distracts me and makes it difficult to enjoy my wallpapers. I routinely delete shortcuts for installed software, because the launcher I use makes it so easy to open the files I need.
When I am going to be working on specific tasks, I create a folder to hold all the graphics, notes, documents, etc., needed for the task on my desktop. I can then tell, at a glance, what it is that I need. When the task is complete, I right click the folder and move it off my desktop. This makes it easy to see which task I am working on if I come back to the computer after an interruption.
Before I purchase computer software, I always search for open source software or freeware. There is an abundance of excellent quality freeware and open source software available for almost any task. Do use caution when visiting websites to download, to ensure that the site is safe. I generally use the software creator's website or Sourceforge for downloading.
I do make sure to backup important files, and I run my anti-virus/anti-malware and firewall software routinely.
I keep my pictures in a pictures folder; music in a music folder, and various documents such as letters and projects I am working on in subfolders under my user account in my Documents and Settings folder. I also store files I have downloaded in a downloads folder. I used to have multiple subfolders for dowloaded files, but it became very cumbersome to find the desired folder, especially when I was in a hurry and multitasking, so I use just a single downloads folder...and I am far more picky about the files I save in the first place, to save space on my hard drive.
Some people like to scan important paper documents into their computers, but I do not see a real need for this because our paper files are well organized already, and easy to access.
I use a program launcher multiple times per day to access my files and applications. I do not like having lots of icons on my desktop; it distracts me and makes it difficult to enjoy my wallpapers. I routinely delete shortcuts for installed software, because the launcher I use makes it so easy to open the files I need.
When I am going to be working on specific tasks, I create a folder to hold all the graphics, notes, documents, etc., needed for the task on my desktop. I can then tell, at a glance, what it is that I need. When the task is complete, I right click the folder and move it off my desktop. This makes it easy to see which task I am working on if I come back to the computer after an interruption.
Before I purchase computer software, I always search for open source software or freeware. There is an abundance of excellent quality freeware and open source software available for almost any task. Do use caution when visiting websites to download, to ensure that the site is safe. I generally use the software creator's website or Sourceforge for downloading.
I do make sure to backup important files, and I run my anti-virus/anti-malware and firewall software routinely.
How My Computer Keeps Me Organized (2)
- I use a desktop calendar to list appointments for my family. Then I add this same information to a dry-erase calendar posted near the front door where it can be quickly reviewed for the day. Google Calendar online also helps keep my family on track.
- I use a To Do list application to plan projects and tasks and save time. This also helps me focus on an activity until it is completed. It is possible to keep a To Do list online or offline, as needs dictate.
- I use Mozilla Firefox browser (add-ons make it easy to customize, and I can use different profiles for different activities) and Thunderbird e mail client (it has add ons for a calendar and a to do list that are useful). I maintain a database of contacts/addresses on my computer.
- I use KeePass to manage my passwords.
- I do my banking (including savings and checking) and pay bills online. No more last minute trips to the post office or hunting for stamps and envelopes . . . and no more lost, late or missed payments.
- I track our budget and expenses
- shop online (a good way to save gasoline, time and money)
- I keep favorite recipes in a folder on my hard drive for quick reference. There are many good recipe sites online, and when I find ones I like, I save them. They can be printed or e mailed as needed.
- I enjoy downloading good quality open source software and freeware. I keep an alphabetized list of freeware and open source software titles with download links in a folder on my hard drive. This satisfies my desire to "collect" them without necessarily having to download them. When I need a software package, I check this list first, and I often find what I need without spending money for commercial software.
- I use a freeware or open source sticky notes application for jotting down ideas, phone numbers, any information I need to document quickly. It's better than having paper stickies all over my desk and monitor.
Getting Things Done: Freeware, Software, and Links
- Rainlendar
- Desktop Calendar available in a free (lite) version or a Pro (paid) version.
- Quicknote
- Homepage of JC&MB Quicknote the useful desktop notepad.
- How To Get Do List Lite | Dextronet reviews and free downloads
- Free to-do list with reminder and todo tree
- Checkbook Ease Freeware Details | CHECKBOOK EASE Freeware Checkbook/Budget, one beautiful window with 20... | Finance & Accounting
- Checkbook Ease Freeware is a free checking account and household budget program. All functions are performed from a single beautiful window which includes 20, user selected, color backgrounds with...
- Personal Budget Software - Free Home Budgeting Program for the Family
- Personal home budget software built with Four Simple Rules to help you quickly gain control of your money, get out of debt, and reach your financial goals.
- Know Your Suff Home Inventory
- Keeping records of all of your possessions is important in case of disaster.
- Printable Master Grocery List
- Printable Master Grocery List, free to download and print
- Menu Planning
- Menu planning is a quick and easy thing to do, once you know how. Planning meals takes a whole lot of stress away from a busy mom with hungry tummies too feed! .
- Most Popular Mozilla Thunderbird Tips, Tricks and Tutorials - About Email
- Thunderbird flies! The free email program from the makers of Mozilla Firefox shines with easy to use yet powerful features — and you can make it fly faster and fly farther. Find out which tips and techniques have helped others get the most out of their Thunderbird and profit from them, too
- Cool Websites, Software and Internet Tips
- Cool Websites, Software, Mobile tools and Tips
- Cc:Betty
- Group email tool
- Do It Myself Blog - Glenda Watson Hyatt Accessibility 100
- Glenda Watson Hyatt shares her experiences living with cerebral palsy to motivate and inspire others to think about how they perceive their own situation.
- Microsoft Templates
- helpful templates to download
- DocStoc
- A variety of documents and templates
- Business Forms has an inventory of over 400 FREE Excel and Word busiess forms and business templates
- Business Forms has an inventory of over 400 FREE Excel and Word busiess forms and business templates, evaluation forms, tracking templages, management forms, hr templates, legal forms, business setup templates, and more forms & templates.
- Peepel - home - Online Office
- Free Online Office Suite with spreadsheet and word processor files in multiple windows in one browser window.
- ThinkFree Online
- "The Web is your office." Premium (paid) version also available
- Welcome to Google Docs
- write, save, share documents online with Google Docs
- gazhoo.com - buy and sell documents, images, templates
- Gazhoo is a marketplace for user generated contents. Upload and sell or download and buy documents, images, and templates. Free documents also available.
- Email Hosting, CRM, Project Management, Office Suite, Document Management and more
- Zoho offers a suite of online web applications geared towards increasing your productivity and offering easy collaboration. Zoho's online office tools include a word processor, spreadsheet application, presentation tool, hosted wiki, notebook, CRM etc
- Seven Hidden Lessons from Getting Things Done
- subtle content from one of the original GTD authors
- Amazon's 25 Software Best-Sellers and Their Free Equivalents
- Free alternatives to commercial software
- free software for business
- save money on online and offline software for business needs
- 15 Simple Computer Security Tips
- As people try to get more things done using computers, the demand for better security has never been greater.
- Web-accessible project management tools | Unclutterer
- Here are four web-based project management tools to help keep your next project organized.
- Convert Word To PDF Free - Just Do NOT Use Word! How to make a pdf | PotPieGirl.com
- Easy way - and FREE way - to make a PDF eBook or report from a document. Simple step-by-step directions....with pictures too!
- Evernote Is Decluttering My Life. | Simple. Organized. Life.
- Evernote lets you capture information using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time.
- Remember Everything. | Evernote Corporation
- Find it when you want. Evernote on Web Browser. On the web ... Evernote on Mobile Phones. On your phone ... A Quick Introduction to Evernote ...
- Downloads | Evernote Corporation
- Drag or add the "Clip to Evernote" button below into your browser's link bar. Designed for: IE, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and others. ...
- What is Evernote? | Evernote Corporation
- Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information ...
- Evernote for iPhone | Evernote Corporation
- Evernote for iPhone (and iPod Touch) lets you capture any moment or idea as it happens, wherever you may find yourself. And, thanks to Evernote's amazing ...
- copy and paste special characters
- use this site to copy and paste special characters into html and documents. No more searching for the special characters you need.
- How to Get Rid of Things
- How to get rid of things: pests, health problems, stains, debt, smells, odors, people, computer problems and anything else you can think to get rid of. It's a people's guide to better living.
Delicious Organizing
- TidySongs.com Tidy Up Your Music!
- Free Online Idea Management and Collaboration Service | Wridea.com
- The Container Store - The Original Storage and Organization Store
- Zen Apps: Desktop Tools to Organize Your Brain :: Articles :: The 99 Percent
- Declutter and Purge Your Kitchen to the Necessities, the Checklist - Cleaning - Lifehacker
The Freedom Fund: How to Save Money When There Doesn't Seem to Be Any...
Yes, Virginia, it is entirely possible to save money even when there doesn't seem to be any to save. I used to think it was impossible to save money; I am pleased to say I was wrong. I had to change the way I think and feel about money in order to find ways to save it. Many of the frugality and personal finance bloggers I learn from say everyone needs an emergency fund with several months worth of living expenses tucked away in case of job loss, ill health or other major crisis. I prefer to think of our emergency fund as a Freedom Fund, because having the money saved is in fact freeing. About six months ago, I took the plunge and opened an online savings account. I could well have gone to our brick and mortar bank to establish the account, but I did not want the money to be too easily accessible. So, I opted for the online bank, and set up our account with a small deposit, and after two tiny test deposits were completed successfully, we began tucking away a few dollars each month from our income. Sometimes, the amounts we save are larger than other times, but just like paying a little extra periodically on our mortgage, everything counts.We saved the money by literally "paying ourselves first" each month after our tithe, before we paid any of the bills or our other expenses. Any time we get a windfall, a good portion of it is added to the Freedom Fund as well. Saving soon became a habit, just as our spending was once a habit. We discovered we did not miss the money and we are not deprived of any necessities because of the money saved. I asked for and received a single ATM card for the account, and I keep the card in a safe place. (My husband has somewhat of a harder time than I do with impulse spending, so I keep the card.) This money will not be spent on frivolities; rather, it is for use if our water heater decides to burst or the roof leaks or something else major occurs.
Taming Utility Costs
No one likes paying high energy bills. Here are some ideas for reducing them
We live in the Southwest, in the Sun Belt. So high utility bills, especially in summer, are a reality. When we lived in the apartment, our bills were high enough to be uncomfortable at times. When we moved into the house in the late fall of 2007, we tried at first to keep the heat as high as we had been accustomed to. The predictable result: Utility bills that were higher still. We began to explore ways to save energy and cut utility costs.We had extra insulation installed in the attic over the office. Now I can type, even in the coldest weather, without my hands freezing. We also had the garage insulated.
We purchased a ceiling fan/light kit for the office, and switched to CFL bulbs.
We dress for the weather, even indoors. I invested in two Snuggie™ (s), and wear socks and slippers inside when it's cold out. I found the Snuggies at a local merchant, so I did not have to pay for shipping. Having two gives me one to wash and one to use, or one for my husband to use.
Keep cool strategies:
Drink LOTS of water. Keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator, or add ice to your glass. Cold water is absorbed better than water from the tap, and it tastes better, in my opinion.
If you must cook indoors in summer, try not to use the oven, and do as much of the cooking as possible in the early part of the day before it gets too hot, or after sunset.
Dress lightly, in light-color, loose fitting clothing, preferably cotton. Also, eat lightly.
Run the dishwasher without the heated dry cycle, in the early morning or late at night. Or wash dishes by hand. If you hand wash dishes, do not let the water run to rinse them.
We use oscillating fans in the office and in our bedroom, instead of the AC.
Use curtains plus window blinds.
I once lived in a house without central air conditioning, and one sticky night, I actually dampened the sheets on my bed (it had a plastic covered mattress). The sheets were just damp enough to cool, not soaked with water. It worked.
We cook on the weekend for the entire week, then use the crockpot, electric skillet, and/or microwave for reheating meals.
We use a drying rack to dry towels and some of our other clothing, reducing the need for the dryer. We put dry towels in the dryer with each load, to cut drying time in half.
We use natural lighting as much as possible. We close blinds and curtains in the heat of the day and at night.
We bought a programmable thermostat.
We cook once a week during the summer for an entire week at a time. Reheating takes much less time and energy than cooking every day. It also helps because I get home from work late, and it's easy and much cheaper to reheat an entire meal in the microwave than it is to eat out.
To keep heating costs down in winter, reverse the blades on your ceiling fans (there is a switch on most models to change the rotation of the blades to counter-clockwise for winter and clockwise for summer) and run them on low speed. Setting the blades to counter clockwise helps push warm air down to the middle of the room. When the blades are set counter clockwise, you should be able to feel air circulating if you stand near the wall.
I put a container outside when it rains, and use the captured rain water to water houseplants, and I capture water from the shower while it is heating to use for cooking or for watering the grass. When you do water the lawn, do so in the early morning hours. Watering during the heat of the day increases evaporation. Watering at night may cause your lawn to die because it does not have time to dry before dark.
Plant trees to shade your home, especially on the west side.
Bill Paying Can Be Less Painful
Our active bills are kept at hand in a cubby of my desk, as are pens, envelopes and stamps. We have paid bills via snail-mail, by phone, in person, and via various websites.These methods can be slow, and some of them have extra costs associated with them, such as "convenience" fees.
We recently discovered that our bank offers Bill Pay, at no extra charge for our account type, so that is what we use currently. Paying bills used to take a couple of hours; now it takes about 10 minutes. (Check with your bank to see if Bill Pay is offered, and if it costs extra to use it.)
There are at least three other advantages to using Bill Pay via our bank. They guarantee all transactions will be completed in a timely manner if we have set them up correctly, so if a payment is mailed via Bill Pay and it arrives late through no fault of ours, the bank pays late fees. I can see, at a single glance what our bills are and when they were last paid and when they will be paid currently. I can also see the account balance at every step, and there is capability to track expenses over the course of time. An extra bonus is that Bill Pay is extremely easy to set up. I simply add our payees manually including the company or individual's name address, phone and our account numbers (it is a secure website) or use the bank's list of payees, enter the amount we want to pay, and select a date to make the payment, and it is done. The bank has a spending report that I can use as part of planning our budget.
Budgeting Help
Making a budget is a good way to start getting finances in order
- j_budget_2009
- J Money's Budget/Financial Snapshot
- J Money's Budget Template Download
- a downloadable template for making a budget
- Should You Try The 'Bucket Budget'? - The Wallet - WSJ
- As people try to cut back on spending ?bucket budgeting? -- a simplified style of budgeting where money is divided between several ?buckets,? each designated for a different group of expenses -- is catching on.
- Neptune Century Studios
- NCS Budget Software
- Bargain Babe » Why traditional budgeting is WRONG
- The problem with traditional budgeting and a better approach
Money Counsel
Need Help? Find It Here
- Crown Financial Ministries
- Equipping people worldwide to learn, apply, and teach God's financial principles so they may know Christ more intimately, be free to serve Him, and help fund the Great Commission.
- Debt-Proof Living Home
- formerly Cheapskate Monthly. Author, consumer financial expert and personal finance coach Mary Hunt will give you the money management you need to get out of debt and live your life for half the price.
- Squawkfox 41 Bloggers Share Their Best Money Advice
- money advice from personal finance bloggers
- Avoid Charity Fraud
- Giving to Charity? Avoid Getting Burned
- Credit Cards - Free Credit Reports - Online Loans - Credit.com
- Credit.com offers a variety of credit related products and services including credit cards, free credit reports and credit scores, personal loans, car loans, home loan and mortgage refinancing, debt consolidation help, credit card offers and more.
- How to Review Your Equifax Credit Report
- It's very important that you regularly review your credit history to catch errors and inaccuracies early. Errors can take months to remedy and it's not something you want to wor...
- How To Get A Free FICO Credit Score
- Your FICO credit score is increasingly becoming one of the most important numbers in your life. I've written about what's in your FICO credit score as well as how to get FICO credit score...
- Get Your Credit Reports
- Get your credit reports regularly to help avoid fraud and improve your finances
- National Foundation for Credit Counseling
- NFCC.org is a service provided by the Members of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), most of them known as Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS).
Learn how NFCC through its Member agencies has been offering low-cost assistance to people trying to cope with difficult credit-related issues - 5 Secrets To Sustaining Good Financial Habits | Frugal Dad
- Tips for frugal living and saving money: Build and sustain good financial habits
- ClarkHoward.com Home: Save More, Spend Less and Avoid Rip-Offs on clarkhoward.com
- Clark Howard is a consumer advocate with a nationally syndicated talk show designed to help you spend less, save more and avoid getting ripped off.
- Don't lose important information if the worst happens
- How to protect against loss of valuable information in a disaster
- Using a checklist to help with personal finances
- another good reason to use a list
- Seven Tips to Help With Household Budgeting | The Organized Business Budget | Finances
- Budget help for the home
- When You and Your Financial Partner Aren't On The Same Page | I've Paid For This Twice Already...
- What to do when you and your partner are in conflict over money
- » How to Pay Off Your Mortgage Early
- Should you payoff your mortgage early? I asked that question a couple of weeks ago, and the majority of respondents said
- -> Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps By The Numbers: Getting Started | Bible Money Matters
- I've been writing about personal finance for just over a year now. During that time I've written a lot of about Dave Ramsey and his class Financial Peace
- Tracking Your Spending For A Month | My Two Dollars
- Due to some pressing issues here on the homefront, I will be running a few guest posts this week. This is a post from Peter who writes for Bible Money ...
- Clark Howard: Debt-settlement firms -- help or hindrance? - CNN.com
- Have you seen those ads being run by the debt-settlement outfits on bad late-night TV? Their promise is always the same -- to reduce your credit card debt to just pennies on the dollar without making you file for bankruptcy!
- National Foundation for Credit Counseling
- NFCC.org is a service provided by the Members of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), most of them known as Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS).
Learn how NFCC through its Member agencies has been offering low-cost assistance to people trying to cope with difficult credit-rela - Budgets are Sexy
- A twenty something blogger just trying to make personal finance interesting, baby! It's all about managing that money & enjoying the hell out of it.
- On One Page: Everything You Ever Really Need to Know About Personal Finance
- a wonderful summary in a handy one page format, downloadable and free.
- 31 Days to Fix Your Finances
- How to get your finances on track in 31 days. Downloadable for a very small fee.
- Emergency Funds For Different Kinds Of Emergencies | Frugal Dad
- Emergencies come in all shapes and sizes. Have funds to handle them.
- From Homeless to Homeowner - How I Did it.
- Are you doing your kids a favor by shielding them financial difficulties and struggles? I think not and here's why....
- Unknown
- Money Saving Articles to Stretch Your Budget, Living Better for Less, Simple Living, Frugal Living
- Unknown
- Consumers can find information to help them make sound financial decisions at every stage of their lives, from childhood to retirement.
- » Mobile Banking Safety & Security Tips
- Banking by phone? Be safe and secure while on the go
- An Aged-Based Plan For Teaching Kids About Money | Frugal Dad
- teach children about money with an age-based plan
- Consumer Protection News from the OCC
- Consumer news from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency CC to promote awareness and help consumers to be better informed. Protect your home from foreclosure and foreclosure fraud.
- 7 steps to security after a job loss
- Take steps to ensure your financial survival during the tumultuous period following a job loss.
Money Mistakes to Avoid
- Top Five Money Mistakes We Make With Utilities
- Coping with utility costs on a budget
- Top Five Money Mistakes We Make Buying Groceries
- Buying food on a budget and getting the most value for the money
- Top Five Money Mistakes We Make With Everyday Goods and Services
- Goods and Services should not break the bank
- 8 Money Mistakes Even Smart People Make | The Wisdom Journal
- Even the smartest people you know make mistakes, especially money mistakes. Here are 8 common ones you can avoid.
From Scratch: Make Your Own
The Make Your Own sections of this lens will become a new lens. Stay tuned.A bright light went off in my head the first time I read about making my own laundry detergent. Huh? You mean that is possible? Indeed it is. Then I began to wonder about making more things myself, instead of buying them. As I began researching, I understood how much we actually pay for convenience. My grandparents did not have money to purchase a lot of things, so they made their own. This, to me, is imminently sensible, (usually) not too difficult, and is fulfilling.
I believe strongly in the value of doing things myself, and enjoy working from scratch on
cleaners and laundry detergent/fabric softening, baking mixes and recipes and even some home improvement projects.
With just a few ingredients, I make my own household cleaner, and it works as well as or better than those commercially available, without harmful chemicals. I found a similar recipe at beingfrugal.net (Thanks, Lynnae!) and tweaked it a bit to make it more versatile for my needs.
The recipe for the cleaner I use is simple:
1/4 cup borax
1/4 cup baking soda
1 cup white vinegar
Dawn dishwashing liquid
hot water
Dissolve the borax and baking soda in hot water, add up to three tablespoons of Dawn
and carefully add the vinegar, working over the sink (the mixture will foam/bubble because of the reaction between the baking soda and white vinegar.) Using a funnel, pour the mixture into a one-quart spray bottle and fill the bottle to the fill mark with water.
The mixture will clean many of the surfaces in the home, and does not scratch surfaces. It will take burned on gunk off the stove top, and is good to use on sinks and toilets as well as in the bathtub. Omit the vinegar, and it can be used on ceramic tiles.
Borax will help whiten laundry and remove stains; add 1/2 to 1 cup to the beginning of the wash cycle.
I also will be making my own laundry soap and dishwasher detergent. There are recipes for these readily available online, and ingredients can also be purchased online, if they are hard to find locally.
I make my own non stick cooking spray. Put olive oil into a spray bottle, and add 1 teaspoon of water. No need to spend money on aerosol cooking sprays.
I've gotten into the routine of doing internet searches for "make your own..." before I go out and buy many of the products I used to buy without thinking. Not only does this save money, it is often better for the environment than using the chemical cleaners on the market.
CAUTION: If you decide to try making your own cleaners using chlorine as an ingredient (this is unnecessary and is not recommended), it is imperative to remember NEVER to mix chlorine bleach with ammonia or other acid. The result will be a deadly gas. Use chlorine bleach only with water or laundry detergent.
Make Your Own: Resources
Almost anything you can buy can be made at home. Sometimes, homemade is just better.
- Frugal Upstate: Frugal Laundry / Clothing Care
- Jenn's frugal take on Laundry, Detergent, and Clothing Care
- Make Your Own Breakfast Burritos
- Delicious, frugal, and in your freezer
- Soaps Gone Buy - Where Soaps of yesterday are found Today!
- Specializing in hard to find products such as Fels Naptha, Washing Soda, Boraxo, 20 Mule Team Borax, Kirk's Castile and a variety of lye soaps.
- Make It From Scratch
- "Where creativity and frugality intersect"
Save Money With These Resources
- The Dollar Stretcher
- Money Saving Articles to Stretch Your Budget, Living Better for Less, Simple Living, Frugal Living.
- 10 Great Money Saving Add-ons for Firefox | Firefox Facts
- We can't count on Uncle Sam to get us out of our economic woes, so who can we trust? I say trust Firefox.
- Standby Power
- Home > Search Standby Power A surprisingly large number of electrical products, TVs to microwave ovens to air conditioners; cannot be switched off completely without being unplugged.
- Charting Financial Progess
- Keeping track helps you stay on track
- Make a Deal Finding Page
- Don't spend money when you don't have to
- The Ultimate Collection Of Money Saving Tips: 122 Ways To Trim Your Budget | Frugal Dad
- Tips for frugal living and saving money
- EERE: Energy Savers Home Page
- Save Energy, Save Money
- 106 money saving tips
- Zen Habits
106 Money-Saving Tips for a Frugal Lifestyle
I've been writing a weekly money-saving tips column on The Bargainist, and I thought I'd share them with you. If you're a frugal type, like I am, you'll probably enjoy these tips - 10 Great Money Saving Add-ons for Firefox | Firefox Facts
- We can't count on Uncle Sam to get us out of our economic woes, so who can we trust? I say trust Firefox. It has never asked for a penny
- Enemy of Debt
- "I just wanted to thank you for sharing your zero-based budget. My husband and I are using it and it makes a huge difference during our 'budget committee meetings.'"
- Adopt These Four Mindsets To Break Free From Debt | I've Paid For This Twice Already...
- Part of how I got to the point where I've really internalized the idea that debt does not have to be a part of our lives
- Work Out Effective and Smart Couponing Strategy | Frugal Dad
- Frugal Dad on Couponing
- Live Well Every Day: Save More Money
- Want to find out how to put more money in your pocket Jane will talk to Denise and Alyssa of the Elevenmoms Walmarts money saving community. Find out tips on how to save more money today May 18 2009
- How to Develop the Habit of Spending Less Than You Make
- Learn to spend less than you earn
- Money Saving Tips–75 Painless Ways to Save Money
- Money saving tips that don't force you to live like a pauper.
- Squawkfox %uFFFD 50 Ways to Save $1,000 a Year
- 50 Ways to Save $1,000 a Year
- 17 Sneaky Savings Strategies | The Wisdom Journal
- Do you set your clock ahead to fool yourself into being on time? Use that same idea to fool yourself into saving money for a rainy day. Here's 17 ways to do it!
- Medtipster
- Save money on prescriptions and more
- 14 Great Places to trade stuff online (Bartering)
- Don't Buy it....barter for it
- Save Money on the Water Bill | beingfrugal.net
- Conserving water will save you money. Here are a few easy things you can do. Check the comments for more tips.
- Grocery: Quantity Surcharges
- The largest size is not always the best buy
- 35 Outrageous Fees and How to Avoid Them
- watch out for these fees
- How to Create and Use a Price Book
- Track prices and sales, and save
- Clothing Warehouse
- Save on clothing
- Money Saving Mom
- Helping You Be a Better Home Economist
- 55 Best Ways To Save Money: Frugal Ideas From Our Readers
- We offer you the best ways to save money and favorite frugal ideas from our readers. Stretch your budget further with our large list of money saving tips!
- Living and Saving in the Moment
- Be aware of how and why you are making buying decisions.
- Plan for Next Week's Meals and Save Money
- planning ahead can help you save on food
- Have a (Frugal) Block Party
- Meet and mingle with your neighbors without breaking the budget
- Save Time, Effort and Money With Monthy Home and Auto-Maintenance Checklists
- monthly checklists for home and auto to save time, effort and money
- Utility firms help some pay bill (Page 1 of 2)
- Some needy customers stay cool in summer with financial assistance from Sun Belt utility firms.
- Water Usage
- Water Usage, Cheap and easy ways to save on your water bill.
- Unknown
- Grocery Bill, You can cut your grocery bill even when prices are going up! Here's how.
- Cut your energy bill in half. | My Two Dollars
- OK, so this might not be possible for everyone, especially those with large families. But for the past 3 months, our electric bill has not been over $25 a month ...
About Printable Coupons
Many people obtain coupons from the Sunday newspaper. As newspapers are changing, however (some have already ceased publication), more coupons are online for printing at home. Some stores say they do not accept home-printed coupons, so it is a good idea to check with the corporate office of your favorite stores to see what their policies are. When I contacted one store to ask if printable coupons were accepted, I was told they were not. However, I sent an e mail to the corporate office of the same store (a national chain) and they responded with guidelines under which printable coupons would be accepted. I printed the e mail, and put it in my purse and showed it to the manager of the store when I went shopping. I've had no problem using printable coupons in that store since then. Coupon Sites and Resources
This is a collection of sites for printable coupons for groceries and merchandise
- Grocery Coupons & Deal Forums - A Full Cup - Coupons
- Coupons Coupon Database
Add a Coupon
Target Coupon Generator
Coupon Insert Schedule
Amazon Price Drop
Printable Coupons - Coupons.com
- printable grocery coupons
- SmartSource
- grocery coupons from SmartSource
- Coupon Dad | Coupon Dad has printable coupons, food coupons and freebies
- Coupon Dad has coupons, food coupons, health and beauty coupons and freebies!
- Grocery Coupons, Coupons, Free Samples, Online Coupons, Restaurant Coupons
- Coupons, Grocery coupons, restaurant coupons, FREE coupon deals lists in 50 states for Target, Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, 36 grocery stores, free samples, online coupons
- ValPak
- Valpak.com - Print coupons & save at your favorite restaurant, local grocery store, pizza place, auto mechanic & more!
- Printable Grocery Coupons, free online coupons | PPGazette
- Print grocery coupons for free at PPGazette.com, save at your local store. Your one-stop site for coupons from Valpak, SmartSource, and Coupons.com.
- Organic Food Coupons | Printable Grocery Coupons
- Printable ECoupons: Instant Savings E-Coupons,Organic Food Coupons, Grocery Savings on health, natural, organic food and products. It's easy to start saving money now on your favorite healthy, organic, and natural food and products with our instant saving Ecoupons
- Coupons, Deals, Tips, Savings & Contests - RedPlum: Home
- Coupons, contests, discounts, and deals. Find tips and articles on grocery, dining, style, family, kids, pets, travel, electronics and entertainment
- RetailMeNot
- online coupons for clothing, consumer electronics, books and much more
- Coupons, Grocery Coupons - The Grocery Game :: Home
- Coupons and grocery coupons by The Grocery Game. Top 5 reasons for why YOU should use coupons. Free trial; paid membership
- Mr. Cheap Stuff
- Mr. Cheap Stuff
Coupons, Freebies & Tips Actually Worth Your Precious Time Updated Saturday, June 06th, 2009
Home
Discount Coupons By Store
About RSS Discount Coupons By Store Cheap Deals Free Stuff Feature Article #1 How To Create A Budget The Painless Way - Mom Saves - Mom's Build-It-Yourself Coupon Organizer
- Make a coupon binder to keep coupons organized
Shop Online and Save Money
Online shopping is convenient, safe and frugal. Many brick-and-mortar merchants have websites. Find your favorites by searching the internet.
- Cheap Stingy Bargains
- Hot Dell Coupons and HP Deals updated hourly. Cheapstingybargains.com offers the latest Deals, Coupons, Freebies and more !
- Free Shipping Coupons for Victorias Secret, Macys Free Shipping Code, Lands End and Kohls Free Shipping Coupon Codes, Bloomingdales, J Crew and Target Free Shipping Coupons
- Find free shipping coupons to over 1500 stores including Victoria's Secret, Target, Kohls Sears and more. Get the best free shipping codes at FreeShipping.org.
- DealCatcher: Free Online Coupons Dell, Amazon, Best Buy, Overstock
- Online coupons, codes, and free coupons for Dell, Amazon, Old Navy, Target, Best
Buy, Overstock, Sears and many other online stores. - Online Coupons | Cash Back - FatWallet.com
- The latest and greatest online coupons at hundreds of stores. Earn cash back while you shop!
- Coupons Dot Com
- Printable Coupons
- Overstock Dot Com
- Overstocked merchandise; good bargains
- Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more
- Online shopping from the earth's biggest selection of books, magazines, music, DVDs, videos, electronics, computers, software, apparel & accessories, shoes, jewelry, tools & hardware, housewares, furniture, sporting goods, beauty & personal care, broadband & dsl, gourmet food & j
- Top 20 Sites for Comparison Shopping
- It pays to compare prices and product features when shopping online
- Lifehacker - Top 10 Amazon Power Shopper Tools - Amazon
- You already love the one-stop convenience of shopping online at Amazon.com, but chances are you're not getting everything you can out of this feature-packed shopping engine. Did you know Amazon can email you suggestions from Mom's wish list two weeks before her birthday?
- ZingSale - Save Money Shopping! Sales, Deals, Discounts & Bargains
- ZingSale is free service that helps you save money on all of the stuff you want to buy! Just tell us what you want and we'll let you know when it goes on sale.
- zlert - Amazon Alerts
- Shop smart, shop while you sleep. Let your personal shopping assistant, Zlert, do all the work. You tell Zlert what to look out for - price drops, new music, reminders etc. and it alerts you when a match is found.
Save Money With Classified Ads
classified ads are not confined to print media
- craigslist classifieds: jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, events, forums
- craigslist provides local classifieds and forums for jobs, housing, for sale, personals, services, local community, and events
- Oodle Classifieds - Search Classifieds and Post Free Classifieds
- Post free ads and search millions of free classifieds ads for used cars,jobs, apartments, real estate, pets, tickets and more.
- The Freecycle Network
- Freecycle. Sharing resource for saving money
- Free Classifieds | OLX
- OLX is the next generation of free online classifieds. OLX provides a simple solution to the complications involved in selling, buying, trading, discussing, organizing, and meeting people near you.
- Yakaz - One search, all classifieds
- II►Yakaz is the search engine for all local classified ads on the web. Cars, motorbikes, housing, ... : quickly find all classifieds that match your search on the web.
- Kijiji USA Free Classifieds - Post & Search Free Classified Ads
- Free Local Kijiji Classifieds. Search and post classified ads in For Sale, Pets, Jobs, Apartments, Housing, and other categories.
Saving Money on Travel
Here are some resources to check for good travel deals
- Reviews of vacations, hotels, resorts, vacation and travel packages - TripAdvisor
- TripAdvisor - Unbiased hotel reviews, photos and travel advice for hotels and vacations - Compare prices with just one click.
- Cheap Flights, Airline Tickets, Cheap Airfare & Discount Travel Deals - Kayak.com
- Find and book cheap airline tickets, hotel rooms, vacations and rental cars with Kayak.com. Search hundreds of travel sites, compare results, and buy direct.
- Orbitz Travel: Airline Tickets, Cheap Airfare, Hotels, Vacations, Car Rentals & Cruises
- Find cheap airfare with no booking fees and travel deals on hotels, vacations and car rentals at Orbitz. Get our lowest fare on airline tickets or cash back with Orbitz Price Assurance.
- Expedia Travel: Cheap Airfare, Hotels, Car Rental, Vacations & Cruises
- Purchase airline tickets, make hotel reservations, find vacation packages, car rental & cruise deals at the travel agency rated #1 in customer satisfaction
- Cheap Flights, Hotels, and Rental Cars -- Discount Airfare | Priceline.com
- Get deep discounts on flights, hotels, rental cars, vacations and cruises. Exclusive travel discounts you won't find anywhere else. Priceline.
- Travel Deals: Airfare, Vacations, Cruises, and More | Travelzoo
- Travel deals and more discount travel packages from Travelzoo.
- Hotels - Hotel reviews from people like you - Welcome to Hotels.com
- Book hotels online with Hotels.com - Browse over 85,000 hotel properties, read customer reviews and save with our loyalty program every time you stay.
- Hotwire.com: Discount airfare, hotel reservations, car rentals, vacation packages and cruises
- Hotwire offers cheap travel deals on flights, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises. Book your next travel deal at Hotwire.com.
- FlyerTalk - The world's most popular frequent flyer community
- FlyerTalk is a living, growing community where frequent travelers around the world come to exchange knowledge and experiences about everything miles and points related.
- Family Travel Checklist
The Power of The Snowflake
The simple snowflake. Tiny, fragile, nothing to get excited about. Put enough of them together, though, and there is a blizzard. When it comes to a budget, however, even a single snowflake can be a powerful beginning of financial freedom. See Paid Twice's description of how she uses snowflakes to good advantage.I have not yet fully tried the snowflake techniques, but I will definitely be doing so. Stay tuned...
Dave Ramsey
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Snowflaking And Similar Debt Reduction Strategies
- Snowflaking And Me | I've Paid For This Twice Already...
- Snowflaking is a method to increase your ability to meet your savings or debt reduction goals. It is the practice of spending more than the ...
- Getting Started on a Debt Snowball
- Learn how to better-manage or even speed up your debt-repayment with a Debt Snowball.
- Debt Reduction Help, Advice & Tips. Free Debt Management Program, Plan & Service. Debt Consolidation Tools ? DebtGoal
- DebtGoal : a free debt management tool & service. Get started in less than 5 minutes. Efficiently pay down your debt. Track statements & payments. Free tips & advice.
- Debt Tsunami: The Best Method For Paying Off Debt | Man Vs. Debt
- Welcome readers of The Simple Dollar! Don't forget to subscribe for free updates here ------> There is a roaring debate within the personal finance
Matt Bell's Money Strategies for Tough Times
Matt Bell's Money Strategies for Tough Times: Ditch the Debt, Get Past the Crisis, Find Some Breathing Space, Position Yourself for Lasting Success (Matt Bell's Money Strategies for Touch Times)
Release Date: 04/15/2009
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: $11.04 (as of 12/22/2009)
List Price: $12.99
Used Price: $3.85
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Delicious Personal Finance
Repurposing...With a Purpose
Both sets of my grandparents lived through the Great Depression of the 1930's, as did my parents. The saying in those days, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without," strikes a highly resonant chord with me, because not too many years ago as a single, unemployed mother of two, I called myself the queen of making do. Re-purposing is finding new ways to use what you already have, rather than going out to buy something new. This is a fascinating activity and I love the challenge of discovering how many different ways I can use and reuse items in our home. When I find a good way of re-purposing something like a coffee filter (we don't drink much coffee, but keep them for guests who do), I feel like I've won a small contest. This is yet another of those activities that keep me going on the road to organizing and frugality Re-use It!
Challenge yourself to see how many of the things you already own can be put to other uses, and make note of the new uses you like best.
- Take an attractive bottle with a top and fill it with water and a few drops of food coloring and cap it tightly. Set it in a sunny place. Instant color added to your room.
- Use plastic or glass containers with tight seals to store rice and dry beans in your pantry. Label with a marker.
- use index card file boxes to store small packets (seasonings, yeast) in.
- Re-use plastic spice jars: I sometimes buy large bottles of spices because we use a lot of the spices. Wash out the empty jars, and put flour into them for dusting on a counter-top (or a cookie sheet) to roll out doughs and pastries. You can also flour chicken or meat before cooking using the jar. Store cornstarch in another large spice jar for use in making gravy. A bonus: because the flour and cornstarch are in closed containers, no more spills in the cabinet or pantry.
Do-It-Yourself Help
- Easy2DIY.com: Home Improvement & Home Repair Help
- Home improvement and home repair tutorials, tips, advice, projects & products for the do-it-yourselfer. Including DIY home improvement & home repair help for building, remodeling, plumbing, electrical, painting, gardening and landscaping.
- Green Flooring Information and Eco-Friendly Floor Community by Green.FindAnyFloor.com™
- Find green flooring information on any type of eco friendly, sustainable, or recycled floor options. Green floor topics covered include bamboo, cork, recycled carpet, sustainable hardwood, and many more environmentally friendly flooring choices.
- DIYonline.com - home improvement & remodeling made easy: design, plan, purchase, build, hire a contractor and more!
- DIYonline.com lets do-it-yourselfers plan, custom-design, and purchase materials or hire a contractor to complete home improvement projects.
- Angie's List
- Contractors and Doctors Reviewed
- DIY Network : Home Improvement Projects, Craft Ideas & Gardening Tips
- DIY Network is your television source for the latest do-it-yourself projects and videos, including Home Improvement; Crafts; Gardening and Woodworking.
- ecomii - The credible, comprehensive resource for green living
- The leading green lifestyle resource, offering trustworthy and practical, how-to information for living a greener lifestyle
- Naturally Unclog A Drain With Vinegar, Baking Soda And Water. | The Good Human
- Use natural ingredients from your pantry to clear clogged drains
- The Clever Homemaker Yahoo Group
- CleverHomemaker: The Clever Homemaker tips, recipes, files for downloading, resources, questions and answers from people like you.
Delicious Frugality
Quick Tips
While I like the idea of keeping an address book, often contact information changes, and I do not care for an out of date address book, and crossing out old information to add new is not something I enjoy. So I keep my contact information in my e mail contacts list. There is room to add phone numbers and addresses easily, and the information can be quickly and neatly updated as need arises.
- Carry a small notebook and pen in your pocket or purse. Write down phone numbers, addresses, notes you need to remember. No more mess or worries about lost scraps of paper.
- Keep similar items together, and store things near where they are used. My husband had two stackable drawers full of office supplies in our bedroom. I went through both of them, and put the like items together in sections in one drawer, eliminating the need for the second one; it can be used for something else. The single drawer is in a corner of the office, where it can be accessed easily when the supplies are needed. It makes more sense to store this drawer in the office, so we do not need to walk into the bedroom to get the supplies. This works well in the kitchen also. Keep baking supplies near the baking dishes and cookie sheets.
- Make a list of any medications you are taking and their dosages. Keep a copy of the list on your computer or in your household notebook or another handy location, and update it as needed with any new medications. Carry a copy of the list in your wallet for quick reference when you visit the doctor or go to the hospital.
- If you travel: Keep a bag, packed with your toiletries and three days worth of clean clothing and an extra pair of shoes, in your closet. Carry any medications in a tote bag. Repack the bag when you return from your trip.
- When you are reading blogs, newsletters or other online sites, get into the habit of reading the comments section. Often, readers post more tips and resources similar to the ones you are reading, and the new ones can be visited and used also.
- Use travel size bottles to hold smaller amounts of body soap, shampoo, and conditioner in the shower. This eliminates the need to struggle with large bottles, especially when these items are purchased on sale or in bulk.
- Once or twice a month, drop some ice cubes and some lemon, lime or orange peels down the garbage disposal, and turn it on with cold water running, long enough to grind up the ice. This will help keep the blades of the disposal sharp and will leave a fresh citrus scent.
Find (and Share) More Quick Tips
- Money Saving Tips - TipHero
- TipHero is an encyclopedia of money saving tips submited by users like you.
- TipJar
- Share your favorite tips with others, or find new ones
- Daytipper: Welcome to Daytipper
- More tips to share
- Creative Uses for Dryer Sheets | DoItYourself.com
- Creative uses for dryer sheets.
- Preventing Impulse Buys and Combatting Clutter
- I'm guilty of buying small gadgets and/or books that I don't really need. On the surface, many of these items look like they'll save me time or money, but I either rarely use th...
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- Witch hazel uses you may not have thought of
- Vinegar Tips - 1001 Uses for white distilled vinegar.
- 1001 uses for white distilled vinegar. Useful tips for using vinegar in you kitchen, garden, laundry, and more. See how vinegar tips can help you.
- 131 Uses for Vinegar
- Vinegar! Wonderful and Frugal
- TipNut.com
- Cleaning Tips Cleaning Homemade Cleaners Kitchen Cleaning Laundry Crafts Crafty Ideas Crochet Embroidery Knitting Paper Crafts Repurposing Sewing DIY Projects Food
It's YOUR Turn!
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Share them here
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- divorcingsurvival divorcingsurvival Dec 11, 2009 @ 1:00 am
- Divorce is not favored by anyone but sometimes the situation become so out of control that there is no other option except divorce. It is very tough for both the partners to cope up with the stress and alienation that occurs with this transition.
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- TopStyleTravel TopStyleTravel Dec 8, 2009 @ 11:10 am
- Great lens with endless money saving resources. Five Stars.
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- totalhealth totalhealth Jun 16, 2009 @ 12:21 pm
- This is a great lens with lots of information and helpful tips. Good luck and thanks for sharing these helpful information.
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- ch1212 ch1212 Jun 3, 2009 @ 1:27 pm
- Excellent guide -- I really wish you would publish this! I also wish I had read this when I was compiling my own budget tips for my new book. Angel, email me if you like, and I'll share my experience with "on demand" publishing through Amazon. It's relatively simple, effective, and costs only a few dollars. - ch1212 (from Babble) aka Campbell Norwood, author of Recession $urvival Guide
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- faeriekay faeriekay Jun 3, 2009 @ 8:29 am
- I've bookmarked tons of the sites you suggested. This is awesome information. You really had my attention right away. Excellent work.
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About Angelsong
Contact: angelsong214 "at" gmail dot com
Lensmaster AngelSong has been a member since March 21 2006, has rated 13 lenses, favorited 15, and has created 3 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "Saving Our Sanity: Tips for Organizing and Frugality". See all my lenses
My Bio
I am always looking for new ways to organize my work, my home and my life, and I especially enjoy a frugal lifestyle in our new home. I have many hobbies and interests, including writing, web design, reading, cooking, and others.
I hope you will find my lenses enjoyable and helpful.
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I am always looking for new ways to organize my work, my home and my life, and I especially enjoy a frugal lifestyle in our new home. I have many hobb... (more)
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