This post was sponsored, and paid for, by SunTrust. All opinions are my own. Money can be a tough subject for some people. A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck. Others have disasters or unfortunate events befall them (family death, divorce, natural disaster, etc.), some go through a time of incurring additional expenses (marriage,…
thrifty
10 Ways to Save Big on Halloween Costumes
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love dressing my kids up and attending parties, carving pumpkins, and eating caramel apples. Although many costumes can be expensive, here are 10 ways to save big on Halloween costumes. 1- Borrow costumes from a friend. Ask friends if they have any old costumes that they’d be willing to…
How to Upgrade Your Dishwasher to Stainless Steel for Around $100.00
I was upgrading my friend’s home and he loved the dishwasher he currently had—the only problem was it was out of date/black. All of his other appliances were stainless steel. We searched around and the equivalent dishwasher in stainless steel would have cost him over $450.00. I decided to see if we could change the…
7 Extremely Effective Ways to Save Money Booking a Disney Cruise
Today, I welcome my friend and Disney Travel Expert Danielle who shares 7 extremely effective ways to save money booking a Disney Cruise below. The phrases “Disney Cruise” and “saving money” don’t typically go together! As a seasoned Disney cruiser (I’ve done 7) and as a busy, active travel agent I have…
15 Ways to Save Hundreds and Get Free Food At Kroger
This post is sponsored by U.S. BANK and Kroger. I love to shop at Smith’s Food and Drug Store aka Kroger. There are many reasons why I love to grocery shop at Smith’s, but the main one is that the savings opportunities are awesome! There are so many ways to save and many opportunities to…
14 Easy Ways to Save Big on Prescriptions
Most American families have at least one prescription. In fact, studies show that Americans spend over $400 Billion on prescriptions a year. That breaks down to $1,300 a person! That number is mind boggling to me. Luckily, my family is blessed with great health so we don’t have to fill prescriptions regularly. However, at times I do…
Free Activities for Kids in Utah in the Winter
I feel like there are endless things to do with my children in the summer. We mainly hang out in the backyard, at parks, in the mountains, at free splash pads, at the lake, etc. This winter, with two under 4, I’ve been trying to keep them busy, entertained, their wiggles out, etc., all without…
21 Delicious and Quick Canned Chicken Recipes
I was organizing my canned food the other day and found that I have A LOT of canned chicken. I realized that I need to make more meals with it—especially since it is a convenient and inexpensive way to add protein to a meal. I get a lot of my canned chicken at grocery stores but it’s also…
11 Ways to Save and Make Money When Shopping Online
Shopping online is extremely convenient and usually not only saves me time, it also saves me money. Here are 11 things that I usually always do to save and make money when shopping online… 1- Use a cash back rebate website. A new one that I’ve been really impressed with is called Splender. Splender allows you to…
Garage Sale Haul 3
My daughter just hit a growth spurt and grew out of her 18 month clothes. I was looking online for garage sales that were selling girl clothes and came across this one. When I arrived, I found that they were selling high-quality girl clothes for .25-.50 cents each!!! This is one of the BEST deals…
Garage Sale Haul 2
One Saturday morning, I was scanning the local classifieds for promising garage sales to attend. I use strategy when searching out yard sales. I found two amazing ones in the same neighborhood. I was super excited to find all the stuff listed below and ultimately saved over $1,375.00! (Note: I will mention a lot of brand and…
15 Inexpensive Yet Quality Home Decor Projects…Part 2
Decorating doesn’t have to be super expensive. Using principals of thrift, creativity, and do-it-yourself resourcefulness, you can have quality AND affordable home decor! Below you will find 15 inexpensive home decor projects I really like… Popsicle Stick Hexagon Shelf – Add some mid-century charm to your gallery wall with this DIY wall art idea. All you need…
Garage Sale Haul 1
Early one Saturday morning I was searching on the local garage sale classifieds for good sales. I saw an ad from a lady who was selling, “a lot of designer clothes, bags, home decor, and more.” She mentioned she was a shopaholic and getting rid of clothes (many were still new with tags) at ‘garage sale’…
How to Save Thousands on a Bathroom Remodel
Most DIY bathroom renovations cost upwards of $10,000.00—especially when they include new plumbing and installing a shower, tub, vanity, toilet, and flooring. Here’s how I did mine for under 9% of that figure. The guest bathroom needed an entire ‘gut remodel.’ There was no tub, shower or plumbing for it. And no flooring. Everything was outdated and old. This is the…
How to Have the Honeymoon of Your DREAMS on a REALITY Budget
Today I’ve asked travel agent Danielle to write a guest post. She booked my family’s cruise to Alaska and was just awesome at everything she did. She is very communicative and helpful. She changed multiple reservations (there were 28+ of us going) with a smile. She knows her stuff. I’ve asked her to share ideas…
How to Save Thousands on Baby and Kid Books
I’ve always had a desire to read a lot to my children. I want them to develop a love of books, learning, and literacy. So reading aloud to them often is a personal goal of mine. We usually read for about 30 minutes after breakfast. Sometimes it is in the afternoon; and on occasion we miss a…
How to Save Money Renovating a Bathroom
According to houzz.com the average bathroom remodel can range from $3,000 to over $100,000! The average inexpensive DIY bathroom remodel is about $5,000. Here’s how we did ours for 10% of that. When we moved into our home, there was ugly vinyl flooring, an old toilet and countertop, and the vanity was broken. We wanted…
The Back To Basics Living Bundle—Save over $520!
I’m so excited about The Back To Basics Living Bundle. It is a huge collection of eBooks, eCourses, and memberships to help you live a ‘richer’ life—all for an amazingly LOW price! The books are awesome and my sister’s and my own eBook, Living a Rich Life as a Stay-at-Home Mom, (which was highly endorsed by Dr….
Top Retailers Offering Price Match Guarantees
Many major retailers offer a price match guarantee in their store’s policy. Price matching saves you money and is particularly handy when you would like to make a one-stop shop, when you have a gift card for a store that will match a competitor’s lower price, if you have a discount code or coupon that…
How to Save Money on Gift Giving
Holidays and gift giving can be very expensive but they don’t have to break the bank. Here are some of the things I do in order to save over 50% on gifts each and every year. 1- Draw names. This is the single most beneficial way of slashing a ginormous-gift-giving-bill. Just draw names in the…
How to Save Big on Online Purchases
There are at least 7 ways to save while shopping online. I recommend using many of them at the same time to really stretch your hard-earned money. Here are a few: Using online coupon codes is one way to maximize your money. Another way is to earn cash back through Ebates. Shopping sales Buy clearance…
11 Inexpensive Quality Home Decor DIY Projects
You don’t have to spend a fortune decorating your home beautifully. Below is proof of this! Check out these amazing ideas of how you can create quality home decor items inexpensively. 1. Frame Fabric– This is such a gorgeous idea. I have a bunch of frames I picked up at a yard sale. Now I…
Our Recent Target Shopping Trip
Yesterday we got to run to Target to grab a few last-minute recipe items and to check out the back-to-school clearance shelves. A trait that thrifty people have is to look for deals after large event-type sales and holidays. You can save big by buying holiday or back-to-school items after the event has past. We went…
11 Inexpensive Fall Decorations
Fall is one of my favorite seasons (I love them all actually). The crisp fresh air, the colorful leaves, and the wearing of boots all make me very happy! I also love Autumn/Fall decor and decided to round up some amazing inexpensive crafts that you can make and decorate with—if desired. Enjoy! 1. Dining Table…
11 Inexpensive Beauty Hacks I Learned in College and Have Been Using Ever Since
As a college student, I was blessed to have some pretty amazing roommates. We had so much fun together. We talked about boys, hobbies, school, experiences, and of course shared our helpful beauty tips with each other. Many of my roommates are gorgeous women who had learned a lot about looking their best. We gave…
Date Stamp Teacher Gift
This is a fun and useful gift for a teacher that can be put together in 3 minutes and costs about $7.00. I just got a Distress ink pad (here), the roller date stamp (here), and threw in a few rolls of washi tape in a cute dish I bought for .50 cents at a garage…
How to Paint, Decorate, Furnish, and Light a Dining Room for Under $200.00
I’m continuing my remodel series (finally). Sometimes as a blogger I get too caught up in new ideas and forget about the old ones I’ve started. I recently promised myself that I would continue on with my remodeling our home series… So, today’s feature is my dining room and how I was able to decorate…
11 Inexpensive DIY Projects
There are a lot of great DIY projects that are inexpensive. Below you will find eleven awesome ones. 1. Rope Wrapped Candle Holder DIY – Easy and inexpensive and very beach chic DIY. 2. DIY Paper Lanterns – No matter what color scheme or theme you’ve chosen for your special day there is nothing quite like…
Best-Rated Affordable Kid Gifts on Amazon for Under $10.00!
Sometimes I need ideas of what to buy my kids (or their friends) for Easter, Birthdays parties, Christmas, etc. I like to buy high quality items that are parent-and-kid-tested. I also want them to be affordable. I’ve spent quite a few hours searching Amazon for high quality gift items under $10.00. Most gifts are available…
9 Ways to More Easily Afford NEW Baby and Toddler Clothes
I have written about many different ways to save on used baby and toddler clothes. My detailed posts on how to snag used clothing items at thrift stores, consignment shops, garage sales, hand-me-downs, purchasing ‘clothing lots’ on your local classifieds, etc. have been well read. But what about ways to save on NEW toddler and…
