frugal – Page 6 – Luv Saving Money

Fill Your Make Up Bag Without Emptying Your Wallet

Are you make up obsessed like me? Or maybe you just want to get some new lipstick and mascara. Make up can be expensive if you don’t know where to look. Here’s some ideas to help you save money while filling your make up bag.

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Drugstore Make Up Brands

When looking for drugstore make up brands don’t pay full price. Rite Aid, for example, often does buy one get one half off and buy one get one free deals. They also periodically do big discounts on Wet n’ Wild products. Add in coupons and your Wellness+ Plus Plenti Card and you can score make up dirt cheap. When coupons are available, you can get Wet n’ Wild very cheap.

Giant Eagle double coupons. When you see the 50 cents off Wet n’ Wild coupons in the paper clip them! It’s worth $1 off at Giant Eagle. You can get lipsticks, eye liners, lip liners, and single shadows for free with coupon and advantage card!

High-End Cosmetics

If you must have the higher end make up but, you simply will not pay for it there are ways around that too. Glambot , for example, allows you to buy never used or partially used make up. Your teen can even sell make up to earn money for more make up. You’ll find brands on Glambot like: MAC, Bobbi Brown, Too Faced, and more. It’s worth it to sign up for their emails. They often have sales and coupon codes. Plus a $5 coupon here.

Urban Decay is a popular brand. They offer more discounts than people realize. Sign up for their emails to know about free shipping days, special deals, Family & Friends sales, etc. Check out the sale section for deep discounts on make up. Also sign up for the Urban Decay Beauty Junkies program. It’s free. You get free shipping on all orders and earn rewards that they call “UD kick backs”. The more points you accumulate the more deals you get.

Daily Deal Sites

Daily Deal sites like Hautelook and Zulily often have name brand and high-end make up featured on the site. Brands like Becca, Estee Lauder, NYX, and more. If you’re new to these sites they often offer a credit to your account that could be used towards your purchase as well. Check the beauty tab on each daily deal site.

Beauty Subscription boxes

Another option to consider is beauty subscription boxes. There are a number of them out there depending on your budget. Ipsy is one that is only $10/mo. You get a mix of full size and deluxe size samples each month along with a make up bag. Birchbox is another that is $10/mo however, they rarely have full size products. There are more expensive options like, Wantables, which will put you back $36 per month but, offers all full size premium samples. Walmart and Target also offer their own beauty boxes but they sell out quickly. They do not strictly contain make up. They will also include things like deodorant, shampoo, and other toiletries.

Beauty Store and Counters

Sephora and Ulta are big names in beauty stores. Ulta often offers coupons via email and printable on the website. Sephora has their own beauty rewards program as well. Brands like Clinique, Lancome, and Estee Lauder, to name a few, periodically have bonus buys to get more bang for your buck. They’ll offer free products, deluxe samples, etc when spending a specific dollar amount or buying particular products.

5 Things To Do With Broken Crayons

There’s nothing like a fresh box of crayons. But what happens when the kids bring broken crayon stubs home or you accumulate a box of crayon bits that no one wants to use? You could throw them away but, why not reuse them? Here are 5 things to do with broken crayons.

Make Chunky Crayons

There’s several ways to do this. Probably the easiest way is to take a muffin tin, peel any remaining paper off the crayons, break the crayons into small pieces, and place them in the muffin tins. The smaller the pieces the quicker they’ll melt. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for about 15 minutes. May need to put in longer if you have bigger pieces. Once melted, allow to cool slightly then place pan in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes. Chunky crayons pop right out.

Some other options: use candy molds, soap molds, or other molds that are heat-resistant.

Melted crayon art

Peel any remaining paper off crayons. Put them in a sealable sandwich bag. I let my kids smack them on the table with wooden spoons to make the crayons into tiny crumbs (pieces need to be very small to melt correctly). Pour onto a paper plate. Place paper plate on baking sheet and put in the oven at 200 degrees for about 10 min. Give the kids a Q-tip and let them make designs with the melted crayons on the paper plate.

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Melted Crayon Dot Art

Use supervision with this craft. Use 3 oz cups and put a different color in each cup. Place 3 oz cups on a baking sheet and melt the broken crayons for 10 minutes at 200 degrees. Use a Q-tip as a paint brush. Use a different Q-tip for each color. Dip Q-tip into melted crayon and make dots on paper to create a design. If the the melted crayons starts to harden, simply reheat.

Crayon Candles

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You’ll need an empty votive jar, a votive wick, about 5 – 3 oz bathroom cups, and broken crayons with paper removed. Place votive wick in jar. Fill each 3 oz cup with a different color of broken crayon IE: one filled with orange broken crayons, one filled with yellow broken crayons, etc. Place one 3 oz cup on a baking sheet and melt in the oven at 200 degrees for about 10 minutes. The smaller the pieces the faster they will melt. Once melted, pour that color into the votive jar containing the wick. Allow to dry Repeat with each color. If you don’t have empty votive jars you can use other heat-resistant glass jars such as mason jars, baby food jars, etc.

5. Crayola Crayon Maker

Ok so this one is not homemade but Crayola actually make something called the “Crayola Melt and Mold Factory” . They even have kits to make crayons shaped like crayon jewelry and other options. Though you would have to buy it, it could come in handy for the future to reuse old broken crayons to make new crayons in actual crayon shapes.

Helpful Hints:

There are several ways to get the crayons into small enough pieces to melt fast. You can use a cheese grater or mandolin slicer (adults only), Or put the crayons in a sealable bag and let the kids smack them with spoons until the crayons are pulverized.

Tight Purse Strings: 4 Thriftiest Cities in America

Are you looking to move to a city that is known for being thrifty? Don’t worry; you’re in good company. A surprising number of the best places to live in the U.S. are considered thrifty. Whether it’s because of the number of consignment shops in the communities, or how frugal the residents tend to be, make sure you check out the top thrifty cities in the country.

San Jose, California

One of the most credit-conscious and frugal cities in the country is San Jose, California. Residents there have had a difficult time in the last few years. At the height of the recession, the city had an unemployment rate of over 12.5 percent. In recent years, this has dropped, and it is currently 4.3 percent. However, the residents here have stayed on top of their debt. Even when things were the worst across the country and in San Jose itself, those who live here only had about an 11.5 percent debt-to-income ratio when considering only credit cards. This is significantly lower than the rest of the country, which averages 22.6 percent.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

In the Midwest, you find much lower cost of living than on either coast. The average cost of living in Minneapolis is about 21.64 percent lower than somewhere like New York City. Of course, cost of living doesn’t necessarily make a city more frugal. However, in Minneapolis, residents are also conscious of what they spend and how they spend it. There are websites dedicated to frugal things to do when you’re in the city, including a number of great outdoor activities. Those who live in Minneapolis are also well-known for being coupon crazy when it comes to shopping.

San Francisco, California

It’s kind of surprising that several cities in California have made the list of the most frugal cities in the country. Most people think of high cost and expense when they think of San Francisco. However, because of the high cost of living, residents of San Francisco have had to learn to live frugally. You’ll find a huge number of consignment shops and thrift stores. On top of that, Coupon.com has named San Francisco America’s Most Frugal City for 2015. This is due to the $56.3 million saved in coupons yearly in the city. Even though the San Francisco has one of the highest household income rates in America, it’s also one of the best places to go to save a little.

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago has a huge number of resale shops for the frugally minded. In fact, it has over 150 consignment stores within the city borders. And if you go to some of the suburbs, such as Barrington, you’ll find the highest number of resale stores per capita in the country. If you’re looking for somewhere to get a great deal, Chicago and the surrounding area will give you a great option.

Living frugally is important to being able to save money. When you’re looking for a new location with frugality in mind, check out any of the cities listed to save a few bucks.

Where Can I Get Coupons For That?

As a frugal lifestyle blogger and a mom of 4 I don’t like to pay full price for anything . Not only is it better for my budget but I feel a sense of accomplishment when I get my family things they need and not have to pay what’s on the price tag . I love me some coupons. One thing my friends and coworkers have asked me more than a few times is “Where do you get coupons for that?” So here’s some places to look to find coupons for the things you want and need.

1. Newspaper – ok this might be the obvious one but did you know that different areas might have different coupons? For example: When I buy my coupon papers I buy a Johnstown paper and a Pittsburgh paper. Often they have different coupons OR when it comes to Procter & Gamble inserts and things like that I get several then.

2. Coupon websites – sites like coupons.com, savingsstar.com, and more offer coupons you can either print or load to a grocery store card. Sites like coupons.com will usually allow you to print each coupon twice so if you see a 2 for deal or just really like a product, go ahead and print 2.

3. Load to card – Those rewards cards you have for Rite Aid, Giant Eagle, etc. If you go to the website you can register your reward card and load coupons right to your card. Then when you buy that product the coupon gets taken off automatically. No worries about forgetting your coupon. My only issues is, sometimes I forget what coupons I have on there and when they expires. So it’s a good idea to print a list and keep it in your car or purse. Cross it off when the coupon expires or you’ve used it. It’s easy. Often they have a load to card option on the site once you’re logged in. Just tick off the coupons you want and they’re on your card. Here’s what Rite Aid’s load2card option looks like. You can find the load2card option for Riteaid under the “Deals” category and select the load2card option or under the wellness+ option:

4. Company websites – sometimes the coupons aren’t in the paper or on a printable site. BUT occasionally the company websites has coupons. I’ll give you a for instance. Giant Eagle recently had International Delight coffee creamer on sale 2 for $4. I love my coffee creamer but wanted to see if I could get an even better deal. I couldn’t find a coupon anywhere else so I went to the company website. I registered on InternationalDelight.com and there it was a printable coupon for $1 off 1 International Delight Coffee Creamer. I was able to print it twice and got my creamers for $1 a piece! Also it helps to sign up for your favorite brand’s emails newsletters.

5. Write the company – When all else fails, you can sometimes have luck with emailing or writing the company . I had a thing for those Annie Chun’s soup bowls for a while. They were a bit expensive. I emailed the company to let them now how much I liked their soups and praised them for their eco-friendly packaging. They wrote back, thanked me and offered to send me coupons. I of course accepted and they sent me a small stack of coupons for their soups.

6. Coupon kiosks – My local BILO store actually had a coupon kiosk where you could print BILO store coupons you might need for your shopping visit. You need to print only the ones you needed because they normally expired within a day or two but it was nice to grab an extra coupon or two when shopping.

7. Check your receipts and register printouts – Plenty of stores will have coupons either right on your receipt or as a separate print out. Giant Eagle does a separate print out, Rite Aid will print them right on the receipt, Dollar General has them right on the receipt ($5 off $25 purchase sometimes), etc. Check your receipts!

8. Right on the package – Occasionally you will buy a product that has a coupon taped right to the package or sometimes a tag around the neck of a bottle like a cleaning product or soda, for instance. Sometimes it will even say something like “save $2 now save $2 later” etc. These you can use. Do NOT cut coupons off of packages.

9. Sales papers – sometimes your sales papers will have a store coupon in them. Rite Aid usually has one or two each sales week. CVS will do this too.

10. Sampling kiosks – Walmart does this often. They have someone at a sampling kiosk and you can try a little taste of whatever they’re trying to sell that day. Often there will be a small pile of coupons meant for you to take one or two to buy the product. I tried a sample of a Kellogg’s cereal the one time. The lady had a huge stack of coupons. I took one (never be greedy) and she said “honey you can take more than one” so I took two. She said “Take more than that, I have plenty” so I did. lol

11. In the package – diapers will do this often . Pampers, Luvs, Huggies will kindly put a coupon inside the package. You’ll sometimes find them inside the back panel of cereal boxes or frozen foods.

12. Magazines – Magazines like all you, Parenting, Taste of Home and more will have coupons in them sometimes as small booklets or right in the ad for the product.

I wrote a guest post on how to save money on vehicle maintenance too. As soon as it’s like I’ll post the link here.

Saving For Christmas 2015 Should Start Now

Maybe you’ve just put your Christmas decorations away or maybe you still have them up. (I do, I’m avoiding it) But to create a financially stress free Christmas you need to start saving now. Start saving now to avoid using credit cards, start saving now to avoid overdrafting your account trying to squeeze gifts in, save now so you’re not so stressed later.

You might have seen the weekly Christmas savings plan that’s floating around on the internet:

Here’s my issue with this challenge. Actually I have several issues. IF you are actually on a budget or living paycheck to paycheck, in theory, this sounds like a great idea. So you start saving $1 in saving the first week, $2 in savings the next week…hey this is easy right? Ok well then you get to about week 30 and you’re putting $30 a week away. If you get paid biweekly, that’s $60 per pay, $120 per month! If you’re living paycheck to paycheck or already putting money in savings for a safety net (as you should) then this is unrealistic. Then you come down to week…i don’t know 46, 47 where you’ve probably started shopping for Christmas with black friday and cyber monday. Who can put $50 a week away when you’re already buying Christmas gifts? I mean if you can, good for you, but you probably have a little more free flow with your money than others.

So I’ll tell you what I do. As a mom of 4 living the frugal lifestyle. As soon as I finish my Christmas shopping whether it be Black Friday or Christmas Eve, I start putting money back into my holiday club to start replenishing for next year. I get paid biweekly so I put anywhere from $5-$20 per paycheck away, EVERY paycheck. Whatever I can afford to take out of that paycheck and still pay bills and have some fun and incidentals money. If you get paid weekly try putting $5-$10 a week away. If you get paid monthly try putting $20-$30 away per pay. Then, Any other non-paycheck money that comes through such as tax returns, winning money on a scratch off, put a percentage of that away too.

If you put $20 a month away until November That’s $220

IF you put $30 a month away until November that’s $330

If you put $40 a month away until November that’s $440

Then if you put other money away for example you get your tax return and you put $100 of it away you can add $100 to your total. Say you won $60 at a football game for their 50/50 you can put $20 of that away. If you get a holiday bonus you could put 20% of that away, etc. You can see where you can build on your savings. Depending how much you spend on Christmas the monthly amount might be enough for you.

Everyone’s financial situation is different, put what you can away. You can actually use this idea for your safety net savings as well.