Identify 10 new ways for me to save money.

I had gotten several quotes on landscaping my yard. After several months of hand-wringing, I have decided to make a go of this on my own. I have spent some money on books and attended some classes on landscape design. I also bought a few hundred $ worth of plants and am still working on getting them all in the ground.

When it is all done, I don’t want to have to have a service maintaining the yard either. I want to control what/how much chemicals are used on my yard. I am also finding it a bit relaxing.

It will not likely win any landscaping design competitions but I am liking the process.

Well, I have been saving all year and have a small budget for spending on Christmas gifts. I have been watching my coupons like a hawk. I got my nephew a book for 60% off and his Star Wars DVD set for $5!

I have also been building my niece’s gift. I didn’t get it finished while on vacation this week but I did make nice progress. It took me a whole day to turn the spindles for this cradle but I felt that a baby cradle needed to have curves and be somewhat ornate. This is from Woodcraft magazine. I used oak instead of maple (oak is what I had on hand).

I still need to make the legs/pendulum support and then stain/seal. When it is done, it will swing. The pattern was for the American doll 15” “bitty baby” but my niece collects the 18” version so I had to modify the length a bit.

Take all the cards that I get given each year and cut them up to make new cards for people for birthdays and Xmas and easter etc.

In fact I am going to find some of last years xmas cards and start doing it now.

I’m just saying – there are no hand-me-downs, and you have to have some items in duplicate.

If you must have twins, look on craigslist for gently used baby stuff. Most baby equipment gets grown out of, not used up. Mr. Terrierhead and I have found some lovely chairs for the boys on craigslist. The chairs are in perfect condition but were less than half the price of new.

Resist the urge to dress your twins in identical clothing. Yes, it’s cute beyond words, but do you really need to buy doubles of their clothes?

Or, you could break those rules and help support a nice cause (HG awareness)

Making your own baby food is surprisingly easy and saves a ton of cash, especially if you already own a food processor. Those tiny jars of store food add up quick, and the homemade stuff tastes a lot better. Check out this link for helpful hints and recipes.

has led me to ride my motorcycle to work more often. At today’s prices, I save almost $3.50 each day I ride my bike. (and having my motorcycle at work means that I can not be the driver when we all head out for lunch.)

Keep those tires inflated. I increased my milage @ 10% simply by keeping the tires properly inflated – and increased the life of the tires at the same time.

My husband from inviting his freeloading friends around for BBQs.

1.When we refinance our mortgage get a mortgagae offset account
2.Put extra away into a trust fund for the kids instead of having that slush fund to spend from

so far

I buy what I can in bulk and on sale. I’d like to try using coupons. Also we need to stop eating out. Even take out. This trashes our budget every month. Preplanned meals helped a lot too. Must get back to this.

to prevent myself from spending the money that I shouldn’t be. This tames and controls the inner-spender within me by allowing me to spend just a little bit as $10 on myself, thus drawing my clutching fingers from the pile of money lying in my checking that is needed for other things.

With this little bit of money, I am very careful with it because once it is gone, I have to wait until next payday allowance to be able to spend again.

It really helps me curb my spending.

I just take baby oil and use a bit of essential oils and spray on my body for a desired scent.

I also pick up some sample perfumes vials from the cosmetic counters and spritz them on top of some baby oil laid down upon my skin to make the scent last longer.

This way I can still smell nice and I don’t have to go out and spend money to buy a bottle of perfume.