*The Thrifty Home

191st Penny Pinching Party

2013-06-18T23:26:00.001-06:00

190th Penny Pinching Party

2013-06-12T08:00:00.000-06:00

Here is my super thrifty project for the week:

How to Create a Balance Bike

This project cost $0!

Turn an Old Bike into a Balance Bike

2013-06-11T21:30:00.003-06:00

Last year I turned my daughter's old bike into a boy approved bike for my son.

Transforming a Girl Bike into a Boy Bike

It has been an entire year and my son has ridden this bike only once. He hates bikes and refuses to learn how to ride even with training wheels. This year I learned about balance bikes and decided to try once again with this bike. My husband ripped off the training wheels, pedals, and chain, so now my son has a balance bike. A balance bike is great for teaching kids how to balance on a bike without complicating the experience with peddling. The bike has to be small enough for the child's feet to touch the ground and they simply walk with the bike and learn balance. I watched a couple of YouTube videos and was convinced that this would help my son.

My Secret to Getting Great Deals

2013-06-09T11:51:00.000-06:00

I never pay full price for anything because there is always a sale or discount code. The trick is finding the coupons and codes when you want them.

I hate wasting time searching for a code or coupon on the internet, so I have an email devoted to all of my favorite stores. Whenever I am at a store and they ask if I want to sign up for special sales and discounts, I give them my email devoted to sales and deals. I sign up online at all of the places my family likes to shop and visit. Everyday I get about 100 emails from these places, but I don't read them all and they don't clog up my regular email address. When I want to go out shopping or to do something fun with my family, I search my email and almost always find a discount for where I want to go. I also take an extra minute to sign up for birthday specials at my favorite stores and restaurants. You can search for coupons online, but some of the best ones are e-mail only.

Here are just a few of the discounts I get in my email:
Cinemark
Redbox
ToysRUs
Shopko
Kmart
ThinkGeek
Banana Republic
Gap
Old Navy
SwagBucks
Lowes
Disney Store
JCPenney
Carrabbas
Gymboree
Aeropostale
1SaleADay
Woot
Down East
Crazy 8
Tanga
Living Social
Groupon
The Children's Place
Vistaprint Coupon Codes
and tons more....

I have done so many things with my family that we never would have done because of special promotions and deals I have gotten in my email. When I go Back to School shopping for my kids I check my email for specials and promotions and save tons of money.

Thanks to Vistaprint for sponsoring this post. They always have crazy good coupons and promotions going on and are good to get email from. They even do T-shirts, which is going to come in really handy for doing my son's Drum-line shirts this Summer.

189th Penny Pinching Party

2013-06-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

188th Penny Pinching Party

2013-05-29T08:00:00.000-06:00

After seeing these allover Pinterest, I decided to try making them for my son's class. They were super easy and a big hit. They were also a lot less messy than the traditional cupcake birthday treat.

Juice Robot Treats

2013-05-28T12:22:00.001-06:00

I made these for my son's Un-Birthday in his Kindergarten class last week and they were a big hit (he has a Summer birthday).

I used juice boxes for the body, nerds for the head, laffy taffy for the arms, and four starburst for the feet. I put the first 2 starburst forward slightly and the other 2 in the back for support. I used a hot glue gun for the googly eyes and to attach the candy to the juice box.

Mississippi Gulf Coast Family Vacation

2013-05-28T00:00:00.000-06:00

Thank you to Mississippi Gulf Coast for sponsoring this post.

School is out and the long lazy days of Summer are here. If your kids are anything like mine, they are already asking about a family vacation. I have a bucket list of vacations I would like to take my kids on before they leave home and the Mississippi Gulf Coast is on that list. Most of the vacations on my bucket list involve a beach since I don't get out of Utah very often. We had an especially cold and dreary winter this year, so Summer has been highly anticipated.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast can be an affordable family vacation with many family vacation deals to be found. Vacation packages are a great way to save money and take a lot of the stress out of planing. You can get a romance or casino package if you are going without kids or there is also golf, fishing, shopping, and water adventure.

I like to have everything planned out before I go on vacation so I don't waste any time. I already have an idea of some of the things I would like to do with my family while there.
•Show my kids fireflies. I'm not sure if there are many fireflies left after mosquito spraying, but I would be determined and find some to show my kids who have never seen these amazing insects.
•Hang out at the beach and build sandcastles, find seashells, read a book, and bask in the sun.
•Take the ferry to Ship Island and see Fort Massachusetts. I love historic buildings and places and this would be a great opportunity to teach my kids some history.
•Visit Old Town Bay Saint Louis and see the historic sites and buildings. I love just strolling through old towns and exploring the sites.
•Take the Pearl River Eco Tour. This tour gets amazing reviews online and people talk about seeing alligators, snakes, and other swamp creatures. My boys would love this!
•Hang out at the beach some more.

There really is something for everyone at the Mississippi Gulf Coast! Happy Summer everyone!

188th Penny Pinching Party

2013-05-22T08:53:00.001-06:00

187th Penny Pinching Party

2013-05-15T00:00:00.000-06:00

I haven't been posting much new content lately because I have been a little busy with our new dog. Having a new dog takes a lot of patience and time, but is completely worth it. My teenage son is calmer and more enjoyable to be around. He used to walk in the door after school and start trouble, but now he is greeted by the dog which instantly changes his attitude. We are spending more time as a family at the park and on walks and I am exercising more. So many benefits to dog ownership!
Here is my first post about our dog:

The Best Family Dog

2013-05-14T14:37:00.003-06:00

My kids have been begging me for a dog for a very long time, so I finally caved in and started the search for the best family dog. I am a little OCD when it comes to keeping my house clean, so a non-shedding dog was a must. I also wanted a dog that would be really good with kids and easy to train. After hours, days, weeks, and even months of research, I decided that I wanted a godlendoodle or labradoodle. They are a bit more pricey than other dogs, but I figured that since we are going to have this dog be a part of our family for the next 15 years, that I could invest some money and get the breed I wanted. When it comes to buying a dog, being thrifty is not always a good thing. A good breeder will make sure to breed healthy dogs that hopefully won't cost the owner a small fortune in vet bills. I looked at the local shelter first, but did not find the right dog for our family. I know there are great dogs at shelters, but I had my heart set on a medium goldendoodle or labradoodle. After weeks of searching, I found a medium Australian Labradoodle who was perfect for our family. Labradoodles are the dogs that look like teddy bears, so it is easy to fall in love with them.

Meet Toby, our beautiful Australian Labradoodle. He is now 6 months old and we are working on obedience training. He is doing great with his training, but like all dogs, gets into trouble. I have decided to start my own dog shaming photos whenever he does something particularly stupid. It is a good thing for him that he is so cute.

186th Penny Pinching Party

2013-05-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

185th Penny Pinching Party

2013-05-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

184th Penny Pinching Party

2013-04-24T08:00:00.000-06:00

Termite Home Inspections, are they Worth it?

2013-04-18T13:59:00.003-06:00

When my parents bought their house 20+ years ago, they did not pay for a termite inspection, which turned out to be a costly mistake. After moving into their house they discovered termites in the walls and had to pay a costly fee to get rid of them. Luckily the termites have not returned, but I learned from my parents to get a termite inspection when buying my first house.  

What does a termite inspection include? 
A routine termite inspection includes a visual, non-invasive check of the structure and foundation. A good inspector will also look at the yard, garage, outdoor structures, crawl spaces, and attic. He will knock on wood posts and other wood structures to see if they sound hollow. He will look for dirt tubes, squishy areas of wallpaper, and small holes in drywall.

  One of the obvious benefits of getting an inspection when buying a new home is of course peace-of-mind, but typically most banks will not issue a home loan without the home first passing a termite inspection. If you find later that your house does have termites, it is usually covered by the company that did the inspection. Make sure to get it in writing.

  Buying a new house can be costly and very tempting to skip this inspection to save a few bucks in the process. I rarely buy extra warranties and spend money if I don’t have to, but this is one area that I believe it is worth the expense.  

If you already own your home and you suspect you might have termites, it is always better to be safe than sorry and get your home inspected. If you choose a good company, you can get rid of them and save your home further damage.

Thank you to Terminix for sponsoring this post.

183rd Penny Pinching Party

2013-04-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

182nd Penny Pinching Party

2013-04-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

181st Penny Pinching Party

2013-03-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

180th Penny Pinching Party

2013-03-20T09:39:00.001-06:00

179th Penny Pinching Party

2013-03-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

It just doesn't get any thriftier than this:

Valentine Shamrocks from Clearance Chocolates

What kind of thrifty stuff have you been doing?

Valentine Shamrocks from Clearance Chocolates

2013-03-12T22:48:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I found a bunch of small boxes of Valentine chocolates on clearance at Target. They were 70% off making them 30 cents a box! I usually give my kids a pot of chocolate gold coins on St. Patrick's Day, but these chocolates will be so much tastier and cheaper. I just cut some hearts out of green paper and stuck them on top of the boxes. I could have made something really cute out of scrapbook paper, die-cuts, cutesie stickers and stuff, but "aint nobody got time for that!" That's usually how I feel about most projects, so I usually keep things pretty simple and quick.

178th Penny Pinching Party

2013-03-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

177th Penny Pinching Party

2013-02-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Party starts every Wednesday at 8:00 am MST, and ends at 8:00 am on Thursday.

176th Penny Pinching Party

2013-02-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

175th Penny Pinching Party

2013-02-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

The Penny Pinching Party starts every Wednesday at 8:00 am and goes until Thursday 8:00 am.