Pinterest

Have you ever heard of Pinterest? Well you should! Get yourself an invite, and get ready to be amazed. There are so many ideas out there with how too's and cheap to free solutions! I've seen recipes for laundry detergent and weed killer, DIY home projects from supplies you get at the dollar store, kid activities to keep them busy for hours...the list goes on. Follow my board: here and  you can find all of the things I've enjoyed. Then you can start pinning onto your own. It's a great (freeeeeee) site to get creative and start dreaming. One of my top things to check out right now is the gardening pins to get ideas for our new garden next year!

Recipe sites

Need a new idea for dinner? Can't find that one recipe in all of your cookbooks? Check any of these websites and blogs for some fresh recipes and all different styles. These are just a few that are out there that I've used. Have fun!

• Hillbillyhousewife.com
• AllRecipes.com
• Lorraine's Family Recipes
• Cook Like your Grandma
• Fashionably Foodie
• Recipe Zaar
• Food Fit.com
  

Money saving sites

These sites either have great ideas on saving money, or they are great money saving sites!

• Gasbuddy.com and gaspricewatch.com
• Bookingbuddy.com and other travel sites
• Goodhousekeepingrewards.com
• Goodhousekeeping.com
• How-to-go-Green websites: Treehugger.com; Worldwatch.org; Thegreenguide.com
• Stop junk mail delivery (free and safe site): 41pounds.org

Recycling

Recycling does not just mean separating your things and putting them into bins. This is a good thing. But in this case when I am talking about recycling, it's about your clothes! If you haven't discovered Plato's Closet you must find the nearest one. There are also places to recycle your baby clothes that your baby doesn't fit anymore. Websites like Gently-Used or local places you might not have known about.

Need something?

Do you need something, but don't want to pay the full retail price on a brand new one? Do you need to sell something?

Utilize the internet if you've got it. If not, go to the library and use it there! There are several websites that have "garagesales" or sites that you can sell of buy on. Here is a list of just a some that come to my mind:

• Craigslist
• Ebay
• Your local news website
• Local classifieds...like this one
• Your church's bulliten
  

Food Storage Resource

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we are asked to keep a food storage that will last varying amounts of time. There are several pre-made 72 hour kits, canned items, and bulk packages ready for storage. These can all be useful. But there are other ways of spending money, like making the packages themselves. As a resource, the LDS cannery is open to members.

Excel

Now, I don't want to promote any Microsoft programs (heck, I'm Mac), but this program is very beneficial to budgeting. We use it for our personal budget and our debt-eliminator calendar. If you are a visual person, you can make your budget appealing to the eye like I do. But that's not why Excel is so awesome...at all. You can program Excel to automatically update numbers when you change or add a purchase. It's a great way to organize, update, and realize your spending habits.

As a reminder, refer to the First Rule... You do not have to pay for a book on how to learn Excell. You can ask people who know, or go to the library and check it out!

Coupons

You could spend several hours learning how to effectively use coupons. From where to look for them, when to use them, and how to use them to their fullest. Here are some basic tips on making coupons work for you.

1. Coupons can be found just about anywhere. They're advertised online, on TV, local papers, and so on. You just have to keep your eyes (& ears) open to them!

2. Coupons can trick you. Be sure to take a mental note as to when they expire. However, depending on the venue you're using them- many business will still accept expired coupons.

3. You do not have to use a coupon as soon as you get it. The trick is to wait until the product you want is on sale, then use the coupon. For example, an original priced item at $4.99 goes on sale for $3.50 and you have a coupon for $1.50 off of the item's sale price. You've bought a product for half it's original price!

4. Pay attention to small print. Make sure you get the exact product they are advertising. You'll be disappointed at the check out when the semi-sweet chocolate chips were not the item on sale, and it was the bittersweet.

The Library

Libraries are awesome! There are so many tools that you can use in the library, and they want you to come and use them. Here is a list of things that your local library most definitely has that you can check out, for FREE! And there are plenty of other things that your library may have that I have not listed.

1. Books, of course. (children, teen, adult, political, tax help books, you name it!)
2. CD's (music, books, self-helps...etc)
3. DVD's (that's right, newer ones too)
4. Need a computer? They have them there too! (not to check out)
5. Paid resources (like ancestory.com, auto repair reference center etc)
6. Newspapers, Magazines
7. You can even use the library online.