Time to Tighten the Finance Belt and get Frugal

As I sit here on my computer working on coupons (ie: procrastinating by reading frugal blogs) my wonderful husband is inputting all of our December Christmas damage into Quicken. Oh dear. It seems 2010 will be the year of tightening the belts - both financially and literally.

I am going to spend the next few days figuring out a game plan for each and will post them as I get something together. That way I will be held accountable. It seems I enjoyed buying the Christmas gifts so much I could not stop. Kind of like when I have a bag of chips......

So even though I am drooling over the rumors that Target has gone to 75% markdowns on Christmas and some toys, I have to admit there is nothing we need. So I will be leaving my wallet at home tomorrow when I go to work. I do not want to tempt a lunch time run!!!

Stay tuned as I will be posting my frugal diet and my normal diet plans to try and stay accountable to them!!!

A Non Frugal Shopping Experience

Here is the perfect example of a non-Frugal shopping experience and what you do not want to do!!!

We changed our New Year's plans at the last minute and decided to go to a more kid friendly party. I saw my friend leaving work and asked if we could bring anything (his wife had said no the night before). He got a smile on his face and asked if I could bring a dip I had made last year.

Opps - I did not think of that. So at 10:00 tonight I ran to the store to pick up the items I did not have (almost all of them) and $20.00 later left the store depressed and swearing never to leave my house without coupons - again.

Coupons are a big part of what I do to save money. However, I need to remember that shopping and planning ahead will also help me stay frugal!!!

Frugal Find for butterfly birthday invitations

I will admit that I only think of the 99 Cent store when I think of frugal shopping at Dollar stores. This is due to two reasons: I go almost every Sunday for extra papers for coupons and one of the cashiers (Kathy) knows my daughters by name.

However, this week I was reminded that there are great frugal finds at Dollar Tree as well. For the last 6 months my daughter has said she wants a butterfly themed party. While at Target this past weekend I priced butterfly cards (they did not have invitations) and about fell over at the $8 price for 8 cards. We are inviting 20 kids (long story).

So I did a search for Butterfly invitations and saw Dollar Tree. I figured why not. I bought three packs of butterfly invitations, 2 packages of butterfly plates, 2 butterfly table centerpieces and a purple table cloth for just over $8.00. They also have mylar balloons for $1.00!!! I am so excited (as is my daughter) about this frugal find!