Money Saving Monday

I have a new series I'm going to start doing on Mondays once or twice a month - 

Money Saving Monday!

I am excited to share some creative ways to save money with you.  

I'm no budgeting pro.  I'm just a mom who loves a great deal.  I love saving money in as many areas as I can to free up money in our budget for fun things.  It won't be glamorous or be filled with perfectly styled pictures, but my hope is that my tips will be helpful for you and save you money.

 

1. Mix and Match Diapers

Hear me out.  I LOVE Pampers Swaddler diapers.  They're the nicest, best, most absorbent diapers I've found.  The downside is that they are pretty pricey.  Even in bulk, they're about $0.46 a diaper for the bigger sizes.  The tiny baby Pampers are about a quarter a diaper.

Aldi diapers work pretty well for us for daytime and are only $0.18 a diaper!!  They run a little smaller than Pampers so keep that in mind.

I mix and match diapers to work for us.  I use Aldi diapers on Leo when we are home during the day.  They work great.  I switch to Pampers Swaddlers when we are going out and about for the day and always for overnight.  They're the best for longer wearing and zero leaks.

This diaper arrangement gives me the best of both worlds - great diapers, no leaks and I'm not spending nearly as much money every week on diapers.

2. Do not waste food

This one sounds simple enough, right?  But I'm serious - keep close tabs on all the produce that you buy, all the meat and all the pantry items.  Use up all those last little bits of things before they expire.  I started doing this a couple of years ago and it's amazing all the ways that those last little bits of food come in handy.  I save any leftover produce from dinner - fresh corn on the cob, diced tomatoes, a little taco meat, etc.  All the veggies go into a freezer bag and I use them for soups.  All the main dish leftovers get eaten for an easy lunch for me.  If my bananas turn brown, I slice them and freeze them for smoothies.

3. Shop Hobby Lobby's 90% off aisle as often as you can.

My store had two giant aisles of 90% off Spring/Summer items this past week.  It was packed full of great things.  I got some wall decor and several gifts for family and friends for about $.40 an item.  Items in this aisle GO QUICK.  If you see something you love, grab it right then.  Be sure to check all ceramic items for chips or cracks and stock up on anything you love for yourself or that you love for a gift.  I found these pretty animal prints.  They'll go perfectly in Leo's nursery.  They're large - maybe 10x10inch and in great condition.  They were just $1.59 each!

4. Leftover Makeovers

This is an extension of #1.  Save all those little bits of food and challenge yourself to reuse them in a new way.  We had leftover tator tots one night.  I saved them and made a breakfast scramble for lunch one day.  It was delicious!  Cook the eggs, once they're almost fully cooked add in the tots to the skillet, let that all heat up and then add in any meat and top with cheese.  So good!

I had a little bit of Taco Tuesday leftovers - a little meat, sauteed peppers and pico.  I saved it all had made a yummy taco bowl lunch the next day.

Have you seen this Premium Carved meat in stores?  It's around $5 and there have been extra coupons through Ibotta lately.  It's so good in lunches and added to dishes.

Leftover tator tots made a yummy breakfast bowl for lunch!

 

5. DIY

What things do you pay for that you could learn to do at home?

For me, it's haircuts.  I bought a nice electric razor probably 5 years ago and watched some youtube tutorials on cutting boys/mens hair.  I cut all of their hair every 3 weeks or so.  It's so fast to do it at home.  You never have to stress about making appointments or waiting at the hair salon.  Just do it when it works for you.  You'll save tons of $$.  I trim Olive's hair as needed and then Kevin trims mine in between salon visits when I just want the ends trimmed.

Home maintenance is another area we've been working on DIYing.  Recently our garage door came off the track a bit and wouldn't close.  Kevin did some googling, messed around with it and figured out how to fix it.  That saved us an after hours call to a garage door repair and was a pretty simple fix.  Any time you can ask a friend, relative or youtube for help is a win :)

 

6. Money Saving Apps

I LOVE using money saving apps.  Fetch, Ibotta and Rakuten are my favorites.  I've saved so much money and earned free gift cards with my points.  They're so easy to use - you can sync them with your accounts, snap a quick picture or log onto a website.

I've got referral codes for each one if you want to give them a try.  We both earn bonus points if you sign up for an account AND start using it.

Fetch Rewards: 

You get points for any receipts you scan and bonus points on certain grocery items.  I've earned $95 in gift cards with Fetch.

My Fetch Rewards Referral Code: C8K71

 

Ibotta Rewards:

This money saving app is one you look over before you shop.  You select your store, activate any deals on items you want to buy and then shop.  If you do grocery pick up, you just sync your account and it'll automatically scan in the receipt when it shows up in your email.  It's super easy and super rewarding.

I've earned $384.01 with this app!  It's AMAZING!

My Ibotta Referral Code: dtvtng

We will both earn $10 if you download the app and then submit your first receipt.

Rakuten:

This site was formerly known as Ebates.  It's a website you go to and look for deals advertised.  If I'm going to place an Old Navy order, order contacts at 1800Contacts or Target, I start at Rakuten and see what kind of deals they're offering.  I click on them and then check out.  I earn a % back from each shopping trip that has a current deals.  It's so easy and it's fun to see the money add up.

We've earned $278.73 with this site.

My Rakuten Referral Link: https://www.rakuten.com/r/KAJEWH?eeid=28187

I'd LOVE for you to use my referral codes if you want to give these money saving apps a try!  Message me or comment if you have any questions.

 

Happy Saving!  I hope one of these tips will save you money!