Mama Money Bags

Tomorrow, Friday June 1, is National Donut Day. I don't really know why donuts need a day of their very own, but guess what it means? Freebies! To quote Homer Simpson, my husband's favorite cartoon character, "Woohoo!" In my neck of the woods, that means freebies from a variety of places. First, I'm headed to Edible Arrangements for a free edible donut--which isn't really a donut at all, but they must have wanted in on the game. It's a slice of an apple dipped in chocolate. A store opened up right around the corner from my home, so it will be my first visit there! Next up is Duck Donuts for a free plain (boring) donut--I think they'll sprinkle cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar on it if you ask. (Still boring.) But you can't complain when filling your Mama Money Bags! If I'm not sick of donuts at that point, I may treat myself to a coffee and get yet another donut for free at Dunkin Donuts . I'm expecting Wawa to also offer some sp...

Rainy weekend. I spent a good chunk of it counting box tops. You know, those tiny little rectangles that come on products you buy--cereal, soup, baggies, even mac and cheese. They look like unless junk. But you know what? Those tiny rectangles added up to nearly $800 for my youngest daughter's school this year. Here's an example. Things I collected on my weekly walk around the neighborhood. I admit it: Mondays are my favorite days of the week for collecting these goodies. Looks like a bunch of garbage, right? Right there, my friends, is the equivalent of 65 cents! Yes, I know we're not talking about earth-shattering amounts of money, but when it comes to free money you find, maybe, just maybe, 65 cents really isn't too bad. Week after week, it really adds up. Plus, I contribute my own box tops, and my daughter's class is suddenly giving $65, even though we're the only ones who bothered collecting them. To quote a recent episode of my favorite sit...

One of the easiest ways to put more into your Mama Money Bags is to cut back up front. Less is more, after all. Here in my part of Pennsylvania, PECO supplies our electricity and gas for heat. They send these handy dandy charts every month to show you how you compare to your neighbors. Here's my most recent one, which says we are more energy efficient than our efficient neighbors. The thing is: our mid-century almost 3,000 sf house isn't efficient at all. I just do little things every day to save electricity. Exhibit A: my clothing rack. We have an electric dryer, but I usually hang and entire load to dry on this Ikea folding metal rack all year long. It's at least 10 years old, and yes, I do about a load of laundry every day, which isn't too surprising with a family of five. Other ways to save on energy: --Leave the overhead lights off. When I work (often from home typing on a laptop) I just use one small lamp with an LED light bulb. --Adjust your therm...

I went shopping the other day by myself. My favorite kind of shopping--when I head to the stores with multiple freebies and coupons. See all that stuff? Two Victoria's Secret undies ($10.50 each) and $5 facial mask, $2.99 card from Hallmark, $5.50 lotion $12.50 shower gel from Bath and Body Works. About $42 worth of items for--wanna take a guess? $1.06! How? You know when those cashiers ask you for your phone number or email at checkout? Well, you should be giving it to them! Then, months later after you haven't been a very good customer (because you are a Cheap Mom and didn't have any coupons) they send you really really good deals to get you to come back into the store. Gap just sent me $20 for FREE this way! I bought my youngest daughter two shirts, a pair of leggings, and a dress for less than $5. Anyway, for this latest shopping trip: --Victoria's Secret sent me a coupon for two free undies with any purchase, so I bought the facial mask (on sale fo...

Mama Money Bags is now live! Starting tomorrow, it will be on sale for just .99 cents--two days only--before going back up in price to $3.49. If you like  Mama Money Bags , please leave a review and follow my blog, Facebook page, or Twitter. I'm also dabbling in LinkedIn, Pinterest, and GoodReads. It's a whole new world of social media out there! To celebrate the new e-book, Marla Being Born  will also available for FREE on Sunday and Monday. Download it and enjoy! Entertainment without spending a cent--that's a great way to start filling your Mama Money Bags.

Mama Money Bags is just about ready; just putting the finishing touches on it! My sister Korren ( www.korrendesign.com ) designed the cover and I absolutely love it! So what goes into writing an e-book? Honestly, patience, stubbornness, and time. Now that I'm here, sitting with my second finished e-book, I keep wondering why I never tried to publish on my own before. I've come up with a few answers. First , and probably the biggest reason, is because this is the first time in 13 years that all of my kids are in school full-day; it's also the first time I am a part-time employee (70%) instead of a full-time one without kids around all day. I do miss them, but summer is coming soon. Second , my coworker (also an author of e-books) said to not start another project before you finish the first one. That single piece of advice helped me so much! I am always starting and stopping some project or another. Even though I have the beginning of my next book laid out in my hea...

My kids' school district was on lock down this morning because someone robbed a local gun shop. Sadly, news like this doesn't surprise me much anymore. We live in a scary world, and not all of the money saving ideas in the world can change it. Love can though. Sometimes. And, of course, events like this always bring up a memory from when I was a little girl. We were home one sunny morning. Gunshots. My dad and brother rushing outside to help our shot and bleeding neighbor, cops swarming around our house, telling me to stand in between the windows against the wall, wrapping me in a blanket. Somehow I got to school that day, and it was on lock down, too. Sometimes it feels like a dream or a nightmare since I was only seven or eight at the time, but then I go looking for the news story and am reminded about it all over again. Shooting in Somers, NY 1983 My parents still live in the same house; their neighbor is still one of the men listed in the article. And time has marched...

Happy Mother's Day! Since Mama Money Bags is mostly meant for women who are looking for ways to save in this crazy economy, I just wanted to say enjoy your special day. Enjoy the little crafts your kids make you and their snuggles. That's what it's all about. Whether you're already a Cheap Mom like me or just starting out on a frugal lifestyle, know that you are strong and can make the changes needed to better your financial situation. As for me, like always, I picked out my own gifts. Hey, it's who I am and I own it proudly. I'm getting a Flynn Rider key chain, Disney pajamas from the outlet, and Austenland on DVD. My husband actually did the buying, but I was very detailed about what I wanted and even gave him some coupons to use. Most of all, though, I'm looking forward to my kids' gifts. My youngest daughter said I can't look in her backpack until Sunday and my son is busy at work on a new comic called Cheap Mom and the Saver (apparentl...

One way I fill my Mama Money Bags--especially after an unplanned purchase--is to "find" or "make up" extra money. It's not money I work for usually; it's unexpected finds that help out my weekly budget. After the sample sale, in which I bought the Barefoot Dreams robe I talked about on my last post and am currently wearing, I set out to make back the $33 I spent on 6 items--but wasn't necessarily planning on spending. It's been 3 days and I've already made it back, plus more. - $12 comes from Kidzeyes, a survey site my older two kids have participated in for about 5 years (see picture below). - $3 comes from a free Hallmark card that they're giving away every Friday through July. I needed to buy a card for my nephew's graduation; this free one is great. - $20+ comes from Coke rewards--22 cap codes got me coupons for a free large soda, large popcorn, and black ticket to AMC. - $10 comes from a CVS survey they sent me after I had to ...

#lovemyqvcjob Okay, pretty sure that by hashtagging that, I'm good to go. As a QVC employee--I write product descriptions for them--a benefit is being able to go to the weekly sample sale. Now, for a Cheap Mom like me, the sample sale is like a Holy Grail of sales, up there with Black Friday. So many deals! Today's find was better than most though. A Barefoot Dreams robe for $6--a savings of almost 96% (although I'm lacking the matching socks). It was love at first sight--me and the robe. It's soft and supple and perhaps one of the most exquisite things I own. That said, the steeply discounted price makes you start thinking about prices and items differently. What's really worth $150? What's really worth $6? Why do things cost what they do--yes, I know all about supply and demand, but should we actually pay it? And, most importantly, what's going into your Mama Money Bags? That said, it's certainly nice to treat yourself to a bit of luxury now and ...