Frugality Tip: Stop Spending Money on Unnecessaries

Say “no” to every telemarketer who calls, even if they talk about childhood cancer. I like to turn it into sport, like when they call about me paying for life insurance or funeral costs for firefighters and cops. I feel a little bad, but I have to ask, "Um, my husband pays for OUR life insurance, so why aren't THEY paying for their OWN life insurance?" or "How come my tax dollars aren't going to the vets instead of you calling ME personally and asking me for money, 1/2 of which is going into the pocket of your CEO?" The telemarketer gets all flustered and doesn't know what to say, and that's the end of that.

Buy ONE box of Girl Scout cookies every year, not 10.

Spend less at Christmas (we don’t go crazy AT ALL, but I noticed last year the kids were tired of opening presents after about the 4th of 9 … so this year how about 5 gifts per kid and head to Craigslist!)

Spend less on gifts for the endless birthday parties we attend (working on an article on this; remind me to link to it once it’s out)

Check Dave Ramsey’s site and contact an insurance Endorsed Local Provider to see if we can get a better rate on our car and home insurance. Cancel full coverage on our trashed-out minivan, which will save about $30 per month.

If I can’t afford a $5 coffee, then I can’t get it until the next writing check or payday, no matter how badly I may want or need it. I’ll just make coffee at home or else buy a $1 iced tea at McDonald’s or take a B12 with a bunch of water.

Share your ideas with me!

25 Ways to Make Some Extra Money

f you can’t cut your expenses, here are some ways to make extra money as a stay-at-home mom who doesn’t want to put her kids in daycare (I’ve starred the ones I’ve personally done) ... oh, and don't forget your husband can also do some of this stuff if he's only working part-time or something like that:

*Mystery shopping

*Market research

*Babysitting at home

*Babysitting at churches
 Babysitting at health clubs (free membership included usually!)

*Freelance writing (magazines, but also sales letters and marketing manuals, as well as ebooks (GetPublishedParentingMags.com)

*Blogging

*Magazine delivery to businesses

Newspaper delivery

Mowing lawns (good exercise, Mama!)

Dog walking or sitting

House sitting

Anything you were good at in your previous work life that you can turn into money at home (legal advice, PR services, proofreading, doing taxes … sky’s the limit!)

*Sell some crap (books at Half Price Books, garage sale, Craigslist, consignment shops)

I wrote an article once called Moms Making Money and researched some obscure ways to make money at home, which include*:

Audio-to-Text Transcriber (www.TigerFish.com; www.ProductionTranscripts.com)

Direct Seller (www.TiensNA.com for health and wellness products; www.TheTravelingVineyard.com for fine wine)

E-Juror (www.eJury.com; www.TrialPractice.com)

Online User Guide (www.about.com; www.chacha.com; www.JustAnswer.com)

Online Tutor (www.tutor.com)

Professional Blogger (www.BlogHer.com; http://www.blogsvertise.com/)

Sales Call Verifier (http://www.voicelog.com/)

Telemarketer (www.Intrep.com; www.Telereach.com; http://www.west.com/)

Virtual Assistant (www.TeamDoubleClick.com; http://www.virtualassistantjobs.com/)

Virtual Customer Service Agent (www.AlpineAccess.com; http://www.workingsol.com/)

Virtual Publicist (www.OrcaCommunications.com; http://www.wasabipublicity.com/)

*Tory Johnson’s Work-from-Home Tips www.abcnews.go.com/gma/takecontrolofyourlife/story?id=2621388&page=1 (except for Professional Blogger sites)

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Frugality Tip: Save on Baby Gear

Lookie! It's a playpen!

When I was pregnant with my first child 10 years ago, we went all out on baby gear. Thankfully, most of it was gifted to us, and much of it has lasted through 5 kids, but there are some things we really could have saved a lot of money on:

1. High chair. Instead of having my dad get us a new $100 high chair, we could have hunted garage sales, thrift stores and craigslist.com and saved up to 75%. Then Dad could have spent the money he saved on a huge chocolate stash for his favorite (only) daughter.
2. Stationary walker. Ditto from above, except insert "my mom".
3. Stroller. Ditto from above, except insert "me" spending $110 on a double stroller. Should've saved the leftover money for nursing bras because those dang things are exPENsive!
4. Car seat. Our first kid's carseat came FREE from the hospital because by law they can't send a baby home NOT in a carseat. I found that out and didn't take one with me, so we got one for free. It was cheesy with no handle and pleather, but it got us around for a while til someone gave us a used one. Yes, I am aware that you aren't supposed to use used carseats, but some truly broke people have no choice but to trust that a seat hasn't been in an accident (and even if it has, they have to take their chances that THEY won't get in an accident, and so on).
5. Cloth diapers. Sounds gross, but you can buy them used and just bleach the heck outta them.
6. Clothing. Garage sales and kid consignment shops save you a ton of cash on baby clothes. Also, taking any handouts from people who have older children is a huge budget saver!
7. A changing table. I've never owned one of these. I prefer to change diapers on the floor or on a bed, where I am FACING my baby and am not at a weird angle to him/her while trying to keep him/her from falling off a high surface!

I'm sure I'll come up with 50 more things I could've bought used. In the meantime, give me YOUR ideas!