Free Books

Many local libraries free book program. Many offer prizes from free books to pizzas! See which program your local library is offering.

Barnes and Noble  free book program.

Half Price Books “Feed Your Brain” summer reading program.

Free Entertainment

Bowling Free for Kids: http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/

Regal Cinemas Free Summer Movies program http://www.regmovies.com/summermovieexpress/

Cinemark $1 movies: http://www.cinemark.com/summer-movie-clubhouse

June 9 is Get Outdoors Day and National Pakrs see the link for other free days during the year as well. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm

Free Classes:

Many stores offer free classes for Kids including the Apple Store (use store locator and select “workshops”), Lowes, Home Depot, Bass Pro Shops, REI, and Cabella’s.

Free Camp:

Vacation Bible School is offered by many churches, and you don’t typically have to be a member. Each is typically one week long. You can enroll your kids in several VBS programs during separate weeks. (Note, check to see which program the church is using—there’s typically 4-6 programs cycling each year, your kids won’t have a good time if they’ve landed in the same themed program three times over the same summer).

Don’t forget your local community center. Check out your city, or community’s website for a list of free and low-cost summer programs—often they will index local merchants, non-profits and schools’ summer programs.

Arts and Culture:

Target sponsors and arts and culture program. Check here to see if there are events coming up in your area.

Library: Our local library allows us to reserve and check out FREE day passes to local museums and galleries.

Did you know we’ve been working to build a community of Pennywi$e People over on Facebook? Check us out and share your frugal tips!

I wanted to share a recent discovery. For 2012 we’re trying to “green” our household cleaners, and one of my biggest concerns was eliminating liquid soaps. They’re expensive, and overused. I also don’t like regular soaps, as they can hang on to germs between uses, especially that bathroom counter-top bar that gets frequent use. It gets soggy and unappealing, gets stuck in rings, and begins slipping around.

You may remember those old “soap shavings” dispensers, which dispense a powdered detergent for hand-washing. Fairly sanitary and tidy, but I’m not interested in using detergents on skin.

My solution is shavings of castile soap, a vegetable-based, all natural soap.

While watching television a few nights ago, I took a potato peeler to a bar of soap (like any other crazy frugalista does on a Monday night), and made these beautiful soap curls! One bar of soap will fill this jar about six times. To wash hands or face, simply pick up a single curl, and scrub up! No sticky sloppy bar, no transfer of “used soap” germs, and not an egregious use of time. (A fine task for television watching).

Also, the soap curls smell delightful! With all the surface areas of the soap curls, it smells fantastic.

You can also buy gift cards for Big Fish. My oldest daughter has received these for birthdays a few times, and really loves them.

I didn’t have a photo that I was ready send off from my family, but husband’s sister got married recently, and I thought a canvas transfer of one of their wedding photos would be a fun gift.

I uploaded the photo, selected the size, wrap, shape and coloring of the, and it was all done within a few minutes. If your photo isn’t perfect, the company will change the coloring for you, or add effects like sepia or even touch up problems (additional fees apply).

Within a few minutes of submitting my order, I got an email from the company, informing me that the photo I submitted was low-resolution, and to confirm if I wanted to substitute another photograph or proceed anyway. This was all handled personally by an employee–not a random database-generated message into the ether.  I submitted a higher-resoution photograph and got confirmation just a few minutes later that it would work perfectly, which is great because I’m no photo pro.

The final print arrived a week later, and is really, really stunning. I can’t wait to give it to my sister-in-law and my new brother-in-law.

Frugal, really?

Yes, these are pretty expensive, but not outrageous (at least in my opinion) for what they are worth. The canvas will be treasured by its owners. Also, there’s a 50% off coupon right now on Facebook if you like their page “Easy Canvas Prints.”

But would I order again?

Absolutely! We’ve got to get some new family photos done soon. After those are done, I think we will have them turned into a canvas for our house, and maybe even as a gift for my parents and my husband’s parents.

For a glimpse of the canvas that is on its way to the happy couple, see below.

*Disclosure: I was given a canvas in exchange for review and blog advertising, though this opinion is entirely my own and is not under the direction of the company in any way.

Save $10 on 2 cases of 32oz Similac Advance, Sensitive, or Soy Ready to Feed Formula 

20% OFF Huggies Newborn Diapers (Limited time, no code)

Save $3 when you purchase any 3 Gerber Graduates.

Save $3 on 8 oz Ready to Feed Formula Cases.

$2 Off on ONE Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive, Swaddlers, Cruisers, Limited Edition Prints .

$1.00 on ONE Box Pampers Diapers or Pants.

Buy a B-Agile Stroller and B-Safe Infant Car Seat Receive a FREE Extra Base

$10 off 1st order of $49 or more + $5 off every case of diapers (exp. 9/30)

Babies R Us

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Coupon codes to try stacking:

Diapers.com 

DIAPERS20PCT (20% off diapers)

FIVEAFF ($5 off case of diapers)

BFOG811 (Save on Bum Genius)

Babies R Us. 

Check Retailmenot.com for a printable coupon for $2 off Huggies Wipes

ClothDiaperOutlet.com

Use code “SAVE5″ for 5% off, and orders over $50 ship free in the USA

One of our readers (Thanks Judy) recently introduced me to “Boondocking.”

Boondocking is camping rough. Really rough. It’s also free. Boondocking refers to camping for free, weather it is at a Casino’s RV site or a wilderness area in a public park.

I’ve found several websites that index and rate “boondocking” sites:

• Freecampsites.net
• Boondocking.org
• Freecampgrounds.com (specifically tailored to RV camping)

True, some “perks” of maintained campgrounds aren’t always available — flush toilets and latrines, electricity hookups, noisy campsite neighbors.

There are a number of easy workarounds for the lack of plumbing (I’l let you Google “boondocking tips” for that info though).

Aside from roughing it, how else can you save money on your family camping trips?

1. Get your gear used. Tons of people take up camping every year, but tons of people give it up too. Freecycle lists, CraigsList and the classified ads are great ways to get the big stuff like camp stoves and tents. Smaller items like silverware, cooking pans and knives are easily (and cheaply) found at yard sales and thrift stores.  Housewares are easiest to find in July right after “wedding season” and hardest to find in August and September when everyone is hunting up that stuff for dormitories. Conversely, if you’re not opposed to dumpster diving, check out your local college campus dorm dumpster areas as soon as the school year ends for a serious stash of housewears being ditched by departing grads.

2. Save on space and ice by preparing and freezing meals ahead.  We make rice pudding, and freeze it in gallon sized ziploc bags.  It stays frozen a long time, and makes great breakfasts over the campfire. Besides, it doesn’t leave puddles in the bottom of the cooler.

3. Try solar lights. You can find solar garden lights just about anywhere now, and they are great for marking out obstacles on the campsite, or having in the tent for little ones who are afraid of the dark.

Image Credit: foto76 Freedigitalphotos.net

4. Day camp.  This never occurred to me until I saw a family doing this at a local lakefront park. They pitched a tent on the lawn, pulled out their cooler and sent the kids to play.  Mom and dad held down “home base” at the tent and kept an eye on the kids. Little ones returned to the tent for naps or to change from swimsuits to playground clothes. It didn’t cost the family anything except the cooler full of water bottles and peanut butter sandwiches and the kids got to play all day. (Oh, and did I mention, mom didn’t have to check the shower for spiders, wash dishes in the dark, hassle with the propane stove, or worry about bears). When the sun went down or the kids got tired of playing, the family just folded up their tent and lawn chairs, and went home.

5. Camp off-season.  My husband hates spiders, and as a result, will only camp in the winter. Like serious, dead-of-winter, snow-on-the-ground craziness. But let me tell you this, it’s cheap!

6. Camp during the week. If you’ve got the vacation time, a Monday-Thursday camping trip can sometimes cost 1/2 the weekend rates.

7. Share! Every summer we try to attend a four-day camping trip with some friends. Between us, we have five “parental teams” and around twenty children, or about eight tents and an RV.  We rent three adjoining campsites and let the kids run loose between the three. That keeps our site rental fees very low, as we just split it based on the number of people in our group and the number of days we stay. We also share a couple of cook-stoves, and one fire pit, reducing our firewood expense greatly by sharing. (You can cook 35 marshmallows over one fire just as well as you can cook 4).

Yes, I’m a canner. A pretty hardcore canner. In June, we make jam, in July it’s beets and pickled cucumbers and dill beans, and come August, it’s peaches, spaghetti sauce and stewed tomatoes.  Is it frugal?  Honestly, I don’t think it is.  Between the costs of the fruit to can, the jars (reusable, but still expensive) the sugar, pectin, vinegar, or other ingredients, and the processing time, I’m fairly certian that it is not less expensive than buying a similar item at the supermarket.

But there’s still a host of good reasons to home-can.

I know EXACTLY where the food came from. I buy organic when I can, when I can’t, I wash fruit very, very carefully. Organic strawberry farms are expensive and hard to find around here, but we buy our strawberries from Duris Farms in Kent and Puyallup, WA. Duris has a committment not to use any chemicals on their berry plants from the time they bloom, so we can be fairly certain our fruit will have very low pesticide levels.

We use BPA-free jars and lids.  Glass jars are naturally BPA free, but most commercially available jars have lids which contain dangerous BPA chemicals. We buy special BPA free lids from Azure Standard by mail order.

We don’t need extra preservatives or colorants.  Our oldest daughter takes ADHD medications and artificial food dyes seem to interact with her medication. We don’t have to add any artificial colorants to our home-preserved foods. Our strawberries were fully ripe, and the jelly gets a deep dark burgundy color all by itself.

This is a case of paying for peace of mind.  Yes, I’m willing to take the extra time and energy to be 100% sure of the origins of my preserved food. We spend our money in our local community, with local farmers. We avoid chemicals and we really, really love jam.

For canning newbies

For those looking for canning instructions, there are a few good places to find them. I really like the Ball Book of Canning which is available at most hardware stores. I’ve also had great luck finding my canning equipment at estate sales and Freecyle e-mail lists. My friends know that I can, so they collect canning jars and glass spaghetti jars for me throughout the year, and because the jars are re-usable over and over, it’s a worthwhile investment. You’ll only have to replace jars lost due to breakage or gifting. For beginning canners, the water-bath method requires the least extra equipment and is lowest risk food-safety-wise. You don’t necessarily need a special canner, if you have a really, really big stockpot, that will suffice. Classes are often offered by food co-ops, cooperative extensions and private companies like Seattle Can Can.

We buy almost all of the kids clothes second hand, but still, they typically grow out of their clothes before they are worn out.  We’re now seeing that our youngest is likely to have a very different body type than our oldest. So most of those boxes of tween clothes are slim and tall sizes that may not fit little sister who’s more average-sized.

I was thrilled to learn about a company called ThredUp from a friend of a friend at a Barbeque recently. As soon as her baby grows, she boxes up baby’s too-small sizes and swaps them for a larger size. It’s all done by mail and Web which makes it even better. (Thrift stores with the tykes in tow is just no fun!)

The premise behind ThredUp is this — Each box costs $15. You can buy boxes, or you can trade boxes (if your box is well-rated, your account will be credited). You search by the season you want, the size and gender. You can even trade books, toys, or mom-wear this way (for my friends on the hunt for maternity wear–this is a shoutout for you! There’s gobs of materinity clothes on ThredUP, and it’s always $15 for a full flat-rate box.

I’ll be experimenting a bit with this over the summer and will post my results.  Right now I’m not needing anything, but usually by mid-July the kids have gotten up and said “Mom, I can’t button my pants.” (Growth is a sudden experience around here).

The other thing I have done with great success is ordering “lots” from Ebay. I just search the size and gender and include the word “lot.”  I’ve ordered many, many of our youngest daughter’s clothes this way, and I’ve been very happy with the results, but I love that with ThredUp I can keep my costs lower by trading in what the kids have just grown out of.

Have you tried a formal clothes-swap like this? If so, what did you think? I’d love to get your feedback.

Jessica

My youngest in preparation for a Bollywood dance recital at the YMCA