Pinching Penny's

Aside from doing a lot of our home projects ourselves, which saves us $$, I also try and do some things to help our budget. Having only one income has it's challenges. The largest things I notice are Baby necessities and groceries taking most from the budget.
Here are some things that I do to try to give us some extra cushion for our budget...
1. Buy used clothing. I shop at Goodwill/Thrift Stores at least twice a month. I buy clothes for Josie, Andrew &I , and pick up household things if I find them.
2. Errands. I try and pick a day when I do all my appointments or errands in the same day. Sure it makes for a long day, but I find that I am so much more productive during the week when I have all those little things out of the way. It also saves on Gas by cutting down my trips out.
3. EBay/Etsy. I have a buying/selling account for both of these sites. The used clothing that doesn't fit Josie anymore goes into my EBay tote. Once it's full I list it on EBay. This allows me to have a constant PayPal balance that can be set aside for things I may need. I buy a lot of Josie's immediate needs off Ebay from my PayPal balance--including formula! Etsy is an awesome site, as well. I can use my PayPal balance on there to buy gifts for friends/relatives without having to take it out of our checking. At one time I had my Sissy Boo Baby items on Etsy, but just didnt have the time to maintain it. Hoping I can get some things listed again in the new year! Once the PayPal balance is out, I sell more items to fill it back up.
4. Cooking Homemade Meals. Homemade to me doesn't necessarily need to mean from scratch. Sure, I cut corners and buy a frozen pizza when its on sale for us to throw in the oven on an evening that we are crunched for time. I just mean we limit out dining-out. This is a huge savings. I find it fun to challenge myself to make a meal for under a certain $ amount per serving. It's crazy to compare!
5. DIY. This can be applied to any of the above categories. I have tried to become a lot better about doing this. Here are some of my recent examples:
---I had been eyeballing an expensive Boutique outfit for Josie to wear for Thanksgiving, but could never bring myself to spend the money on something that she will wear ONCE! I decided I could make something just as cute with a little extra time and effort. I bought a hat NEW off Ebay for couple bucks, bought a pair of gently used Green corduroy pants on Ebay, and used one of Josie's white LS tops to embroider a turkey on. The outfit I was looking at was over $30. I made/put together Josie's for less than $5.
---I had full intentions to use a 3D wallpaper that I had but never used at the other house to do my back splash in the kitchen here. However, in my thought process, I decided not to do my dream backsplash when I don't know that I will be able to enjoy it forever...(we are renting this house). So, instead of putting time and extra $ into the back splash I opted to do a textured spray paint. I bought 2 cans of the Hammered Copper Spray paint, taped off the back splash, and love the way it turned out!
---My final example I will show you one of my favorite ways to save $ in the kitchen. We eat garlic bread like its going out of style. It's really not too pricey at the store, but when you add it up in your monthly budget, its eating a good chunk of it. I make our own garlic bread and freeze it. I buy the french loaves when they go on sale...Walmart usually has them for $1 per loaf. I bought two. You will need butter, garlic salt or powder, oregano/basil or italian seasonings, shredded and Parmesan cheeses (not powdered). You will also need quart freezer bags and aluminum foil cut into strips/squares. These ingredients are always on hand at our house, so it makes this really easy. Here is a photo tutorial of how-to:

All ingredients.

For the butter mixture, 1-1/2 stick butter (2 if you are using shredded cheese)
at room temperature--do not microwave to soften! Garlic salt, Italian seasonings to taste
I usually do about 1/2 tbsp each. Mash with spoon or rubber spatula.

Add in Parmesan cheese and shredded cheese if making cheesy garlic bread.
Mash into butter mixture. Set aside.

Cut each loaf along "slits"

Shown Here.

Cut each "slit" piece into 2 or 3 pieces. You will want each slice to be about 3/4"-1" thick.

Spread butter/cheese mixture onto each piece with BACK of SPOON.
You can use whatever you like, but I find this is the easiest way and doesn't rip
the bread.

Place a piece of foil between two buttered pieces (butter facing eachother)

In one quart freezer bag, I can usually get 4 large pieces per bag.

Seal up bag, getting out as much air as possible.

Complete process for all pieces.

Freeze and enjoy the delicious $avings!

 TOTAL for this tutorial I was able to make 32 pieces of Garlic bread for  the $2 invested into the bread and pennies of things I had on hand in the house. You can re-use your freezer bags, too. Just stack the empty ones back in the freezer until you have enough to do another batch!