Thrifty Project: Lace Earrings

These lace earrings are so cute! I love that every pair is unique and they are so lightweight that you can wear them all day long.

You will need

• Lace (just a few inches!)
• Fabric stiffener
• Earring findings
• Thread

1. Cut out 2 pieces of your desired pattern from lace.

2. Coat the lace with fabric stiffener and let dry. Then coat the other side and let dry.

3. Attach your earring hardware with thread. You can use a jump ring, but since the lace is so thin it can slip off of the jump ring. I'm using nylon earring findings from AAA Jewelry since my ears are extremely sensitive to all metals, making finding earrings that I can wear very difficult!

Try variations using fabric dye or adding beads. Have fun!

All Walmarts are Not Created Equal

I went to return a couple things at Walmart and a customer service representative informed us that Walmart's prices are not the same from store to store! Apparently, Walmarts change their prices based on their locale. In other words, Walmarts in lower income areas have cheaper prices than Walmarts in higher income areas. If you have a choice between two, choose the one in the lower income area!

Shopping Savings

I swung by Publix tonight to pick up a few things we needed. I saved over 50% so I'm happy!

• 5 pkgs cheese ($2 ea)
• 10 boxes cereal ($1.25-$1.50 ea, plus $5 off fruit in peelie coupons)
• 4 pizzas ($2.25 ea)
• yogurt (free after coupon)
• soymilk (free after coupon)
• bananas (free after coupon from cereal)
• grapefruit (free after coupon from cereal)
• 4 jars spaghetti sauce ($1.40)
• gallon milk (reg. price)
• strawberries ($1.75 after coupon from cereal)

Total spent: $48.89
Total saved: $58.78

Trifty Project: Diaper Prefolds and Doublers

Prefolds
Diaper prefolds are great. Some people use them for burp cloths, but I need a few more around the house as diaper soakers. If you have spare, absorbent fabric around the house, this is a great project. However, prefolds only cost about $1 each, so don't spend too much money on this project or it would be cheaper to buy! I happened to have a few extra hand-me-down receiving blankets that we don't need and since they are made out of flannel, they are great for this project.

1. Gather some absorbent fabric (microfleece, flannel, a thin terry, or cotton - think old t-shirt!) and fold it in half. Cut it to 15"x17" with the height dimension (15") on the fold. (You may need to adjust your height dimension to fit your size diapers. Just measure from the front to the back of the diaper and subtract 2 inches so it doesn't hang out. This can be your height dimension.)

2. Measure and mark 4" from the cut edge of the fabric along the opposite side of the fold. Sew along that line. You now have a tube of fabric with an extra 4" flap.

3. Turn the tube of fabric inside out and lay it flat with the sewn seam 4 1/2 inches from the right hand edge. Lay the 4 inch flap to the left so that the entire flap is now flat in the center of the prefold.

4. Stitch down the left side of the center, double thickness section.

5. Zig-zag stitch or serge the top and bottom edges of the prefold to prevent fraying.

Doubler

If you have extra fabric like I did, you can make a doubler! Use these in addition to prefolds when cloth diapering overnight.

1. Cut 4 pieces of fabric the same height as your prefold and 4 inches wide. 

2. Stack the pieces on top of each other evenly and zig-zag stitch or serge around the edges.

Eating Out for Less

Tonight I had the priviledge to have dinner with an old friend. We had a good time catching up over a good meal at Olive Garden. Eating out tends to rack up the dollars, but here are a few ways to save money on your restaurant meals.

• Look for Coupons: There are frequently coupons for restaurants in local newspapers, including in the coupon circulars. You can also check the restaurant website or coupon books such as the Entertainment or Attractions books. (Personally, I find better values in the Attractions book in my area, available at Grille33 @ the Channel in downtown Greenville.)
• Buy Gift Certificates:
• Restaurant.com is a great website for finding discounts on restaurants, but don't settle for their listed price! Always do a search on a coupon code site such as Retail Me Not because Restaurants.com runs so many sales. You can frequently get 70% to even 90% off!
• You can also purchase gift cards at a discount from either Walgreens or CVS from a gift card kiosk if you have a store discount coupon such as a Register Reward (Walgreens) or an Extra Care Buck (CVS). Gift Card Granny also lists restaurant gift certificates available for purchase at a discount.
• Skip the Tip: If you are going to a restaurant where you would need to leave a tip, consider using their to-go or dive-through option instead of sitting down and you can avoid having to leave a tip. Plus, you can take your dinner to a quiet location, like a park, or even eat in the comfort of home.
• Time it Out: Many restaurants follow a sales schedule offering discounts on certain days of the week (such as "Kids Eat Free on Sundays" or "Monday Dinner Special") or at certain times of the day. Coordinating your restaurant meals with their best specials is a great option. Even eating dinner a little earlier may allow you to order off of the lunch menu, which is usually priced a few dollars less.
• Order Less:
• Beverages - Drink water instead of soda, or soda instead of an alcoholic beverage. Doing this will save at least a dollar or two, not to mention the amount of calories you are saving, by not consuming soda and alcohol.
• Appetizers - Skip 'em! The size of entrees in restaurants these days are usually well over the recommended portion size, so you don't usually need the extra food. Many restaurants also give free rolls or bread while you wait for your entree, so you will be able to wait for your meal without starving.
• Entrees - Share! Once again, entrees are usually well over the recommended portion size, so divy up your food before you chow down. Look at combo meals, too, such as a surf and turf or soup and sandwich pair. A slightly higher price for what is still considered one entree may still offset the cost of ordering two separate entrees. Soups are also usually a very budget-friendly entree. They are usually one of the cheapest meal options.
• Dessert - Skip it, or at least share. If you can't manage to skip dessert completely, think about having a dessert ready for you at home, like a freshly baked batch of brownies with a side of ice cream and hot fudge. If you coupon, that is much cheaper that one restaurant brownie and can be just as good!
• Box It Up: Box up whatever leftovers you have and eat them for another meal. This will help your money go even farther!
• Knock It Off: You can actually make some of your favorite restaurant recipes at home! Just do a quick internet search for the restaurant and dish you want to make, and you can find knock-off recipes to try at home. The best thing about this is that you know exactly what is going into your food.

Do you have any other restaurant saving tips? Favorite knock-off recipes? Leave it in a comment below!

Free Money in My Mailbox

This week, my free $10 Home Depot gift card arrived in the mail, as well as my first "Big Fat Check" from Ebates. The best part is that I got both from doing something I was going to do anyway: shop online! My first purchase looked like this:

 $28.14 -- 1 sweatshirt from Department of Goods, plus shipping

-$20.00 -- Free Promotional Credit from the store (more on how I got this later)

   $8.14   --Total Out Of Pocket Cost

+  $2.80 in Ebates checks

+$10.00 Home Depot gift card

Ebates is a company that gives you money back on your purchases by using their site to find places to shop. The percentage back varies by store and promotional period, but usually ranges from 2-10%. Since some stores offer special online promotions, coupons, and sometimes even free shipping (try ship to store if available), shopping online is sometimes cheaper than heading to the store! 

1. Sign up for a free Ebates account when you're ready to make an online purchase. When you sign up, you'll get the option to select what bonus gift card you receive when you make your first purchase. There is a time limit for you to make your first purchase in order for you to receive this gift card, so make sure you don't sign up at Ebates until you're ready to buy.
2. Search for the store you plan on shopping at and click on the link Ebates gives you to go to the store's website.
3. Make your purchase. You don't have to do anything else at this point!
4. In a few days, check your Ebates account for your credit. If it doesn't appear, you can always contact customer service and they will manually adjust your account.
5. Your first check will show up in the mail as well as your gift card!

Happy shopping!

Paperwork Pays

After a few months of persistance and some paperwork, I got the payoff I had been working towards. Actually, payoffs...

Real Estate Assessment
A few months ago we got an assessment notice on our house. The new "fair market value" of our house was over $20,000 more than what it was just two years ago when we bought the house. I would be thrilled if that were accurate, but I knew that in this market with houses in our neighborhood sitting with for sale signs for months on end, that was not the case. This new assessment value was too high and, since real estate taxes are based on that number, that meant our taxes would go up. It was time to fight it!

Appealing our assessment was easier than I thought. I contacted our great realtor, Britt Brandt, at Prudential. He pulled some comps (comparable home sales) for us to show a more accurate value for our home. I included with that a letter that stated why I felt the value was wrong (declining market, stagnant home sales, our purchase being just 2 years ago and the value suggested by the comps). My wonderful husband dropped it off in December and today we got the results. They dropped the value to a more accurate number. That means lower taxes! Savings acheived!

Health Insurance
My husband and I recently welcomed our baby girl into the world through an all natural birth at Labors of Love with the help of midwives Amy Bixby and Linda Weaver. It was a great experience. Unfortunately, my health insurance denied any coverage for the birth stating it didn't meet their criteria for coverage. They didn't even pay for an ultrasound. The upside is that even paying out-of-pocket the fees for a birth center or home birth can be less than a hospital birth with insurance coverage. However, my story doesn't end there.

When I got a bill for our little one's metabolic screen (given the day after birth) I realized that it could be billed to her insurance, not mine.  We had added her to my husband's policy, which backdated her coverage to her birthday. There was the vitamin K administration, too. What else? I called the birth center and their office assistant, Rhonda, was able to write a bill for the insurance company with all charges related directly to baby. It totaled over one third of what we had paid. After a few attempts at submitting the reimbursement claim, I finally sent in everything they needed. That was a month ago. We got word today that we are being reimbursed for over $1,000. Now THAT is worth the wait!