A Frugal Mom

I am getting ready to host a clothing swap party. What exactly should one expect when attending a clothing swap? The main focus should be bringing home a few pieces of wearable clothes to add to your wardrobe. So, grab those good, clean, wearable clothes and get ready for some fun. It is a good idea to try to invite friends over who wear about the same size clothing, but that is not set in stone. Previous clothing swaps I have participated in had ladies picking out sizes that were meant for daughters, nieces, siblings and neighbors. It worked out perfectly.
It is a good idea to put a limit on the number invited. I am inviting 7 guests, as this number is easier to rotate through. Also, designate a number of items each person should bring when they are invited. I am going to ask each person to bring 4 items. I have a rolling clothing rack that we will use in the living room to hang everyone’s clothing as they arrive.
At the beginning of the get-together we will spend the first 30 minutes looking at the clothing and possibly trying on as well. Of course, we will be serving wine & appetizers. So, this will also take up the first 30 minutes of the party.
We will then draw numbers, and start in number order to present one piece of clothing at a time. When someone is interested in a piece of clothing they just raise their hand. If there is more than one person interested, then those interested participate in a good old round of dice rolling for the highest number. If there are no takers for any pieces of clothing those are designated to charity.
Add a twist to the swapping party and have each guest bring a household/ decor item as well. Every item has a story and that is part of the whole swapping fun.
Enjoy and party on!

You are probably aware that as a consumer you are eligible to receive your credit report from the 3 major credit reporting agencies-TransUnion, Equifax and Experian once a year.
Well, currently there was a settlement reached last week against TransUnion for breaching privacy laws in dealing with consumers credit information.
What does that mean for you and I? It means if you had a credit card, mortgage, auto loan or any other debt between the dates of January 87- May 28, 2008 you are eligible to participate in a class action lawsuit.
The benefit to those that sign up for this TransUnion settlement can vary. There are 4 options to choose from: 1. A cash payment (undetermined at this point). 2. Six months of free credit monitoring. 3. Six months of credit reporting plus a portion of a cash payment. 4. Nine months of enhanced credit reporting.
It is worth it for anyone considering ordering a copy of their credit report. Find out more about this settlement through the following website: www.listclassaction.com. Be sure to register before the September 24, 2008 deadline.

My husband and I enjoy traveling to Las Vegas at least once a year. Through an excellent website called FatWallet, I began hearing more and more about the $20 trick.

Here is the basic idea of it— when you are checking into a hotel (Las Vegas hotels mainly), you chat it up with the hotel clerk and very discreetly ask if there are any free upgrades available. While you are doing this, you are sliding a $20 bill across the counter. Now, this is the hotel clerks tip either way, whether you have success or not. There have been times, reported on the website that you are out $20 and receive no upgrade. That is where the gambler in you takes over. What is most interesting is you can also read about the hotels that have the highest success at giving out upgrades with this technique.
So, on our last Las Vegas get-away I had to give it a try. We stayed at Planet Hollywood, and as I approached the front desk I was a bit nervous about the whole ordeal. But, being the Frugal Mom that I am, I needed to give it a try. I gathered up my nerve and asked as politely as possible as I slid the $20 bill toward the clerk. I really was not hoping for much, and thought any upgrade really would be fantastic.
As we left check-in, hubby and I were really unsure as to what to expect.
When we walked all the way down the hotel - to end of the floor, I started to feel very hopeful.
Upon opening our door, I stood with my jaw to the floor. We had been upgraded to a suite. Not only was it a suite, but it was the largest, most scenic, corner room we have ever stayed in. We sure did feel like high-rollers that weekend.
Does the $20 trick work each time? Probably not.
It varies by; the person who checks you in, the particular hotel, and how busy it is when you arrive. I now am going to at least ask and spend the $20 to see what I can upgrade to next time.

In a recent edition of The Los Angeles Times, there was an advertisement that read, “Everybody’s got an opinion. Get paid for yours.”
If you are interested in giving your opinion on a story or an ad you can earn points. The points are earned toward an Amazon.com gift card and the values are $10, $20 or $30. It looks very interesting, and I decided to give it a go. I will keep you posted on the outcome and whether this is profitable. After reading the information, I did not notice that you had to be a Los Angeles resident– and in fact, seemed to be oriented toward media review. For all you bloggers out there, you may want to check this out.
You can get more information and sign up at latimes.com/2cents

I own a iPhone, and have for about 7 months. It really happened by accident though. We had initially bought the phone on the spur of the moment when my husband came across it at work for sale. Knowing they were selling for $500, retail, we saw this fantastic price and snapped it up.
In the end, I was the designated new iPhone user in our home. I’m really not good with change and was quite happy with my Razr at this point. But, after giving the iPhone a whirl for a few weeks, I found myself completely addicted to it.
The touch screen is a bit intimidating at first but after a while becomes quite habit. I even found myself starting to touch screens on other phones, since I became so used to operating mine this way. The calendar, the alarm and even the way the voice messages are stored are all excellent features.
The only negative feature I have come across is that sometimes when I use my chin to rest my phone I will disconnect my calls. Overall, this phone has been my favorite cell phone to date.
This may be a very unique splurge for this Frugal Mom, but hey I got an excellent deal at $145, so how could I pass it up!

Part 3 Saving money with coupons

Here we go — our final steps in creating a new habit toward our money saving quest. This step, step 4 is all about organization. We have those inserts pulled out of our Sunday paper already, and now we are scanning them to locate items that we normally purchase or perhaps, an item we are interested in trying. These are the coupons we are going to clip and set aside.
When we are finished cutting, it is time to grab a few envelopes (blank, white will do) and write the store name on the front for the grocery/ drug stores you usually visit. For me, I started with 3. I had an envelope for CVS, Vons, & Ralphs.

Lastly, we are back to reviewing those store ads. Here we are checking to see if any items on sale match the coupons that were just clipped. If so, those coupons get stored in the corresponding envelope. In the beginning, I literally would base which store I would shop at depending on how full one of my grocery store envelopes was. But, depending on how close your stores are to you, can be more of a determining factor now with the high price of gas.
In the end, the success for the beginner couponer is to try to ensure those little envelopes are stored nicely in your purse (or maybe even in your car). After a while, you will find it will become quite difficult to do any shopping at all unless you have your trusty envelopes with you.

Our family has been involved in taste tests, focus groups, mock juries, and panel research studies for the last 4 years. Even my daughters 10 & 15 enjoy making a bit of extra money this way. In my local area I have registered with 3 research companies and get called at least 2 times a year from each of them. Lately, my best resource for these little money-makers is Craigslist. I look under my city - and search through the ETC & Part-Time JOBS category.

Last week was a profitable week in our home. My husband had a follow-up call on a panel study he did about 4 months ago. It required a conference call that lasted 15 minutes. He just received his check in the mail today— $50. In my case, I participated in a focus group on shopping (right up my alley), and I was compensated $200. The entire study took about 3 hours. I am hoping to see my check this week. Normally, they just hand you the cash in an envelope, but this particular study required the mailing of our payment. This is a company I am familiar with and have done 2 previous studies with them.
I have to say my favorite type of panel is a mock jury. I have done 3 of these, and they usually pay anywhere between 75- $150, in my experience. These usually last a full day and seem to go by rather quick.
So, if you are interested in bringing home a bit of extra cash why not look to your local Craigslist or Google focus groups and see what you find.

Moving right along that money saving path, we are going to cover steps 2 & 3 in saving money & utilizing coupons. Since we have began reviewing ads, our next step is to start recognizing sale prices. We are out to determine the difference between what the store is trying to offer as a “sale” and what price is actually a great deal. Okay, this may take a bit longer than a few weeks, but when you begin reviewing prices on a regular basis you do find yourself more price savvy. This step is to become familiar with pricing and start making grocery ad review a new habit.

Step 3- Now, we will get our feet wet into some coupon territory. This step is about pulling out those Sunday coupons from your newspaper. Whether you receive a Sunday subscription or need to run out and purchase one, the price you pay for this edition is well worth it. Your Sunday paper may have more than one coupon insert- in my paper I usually can count on getting 3, but it can vary. I normally have the Valassis/ RedPlum, Smart Source, and P&G Brandsaver inserts. Keep in mind there can be coupons located in the newpaper itself. Of course, I make it a habit to scour through the whole paper for coupons. Just a few weeks ago there was a juice drink ad with a coupon printed on the local section of my newspaper that really was very hard to find. You may not be at that stage yet in your coupon quest but as you become more accustomed to locating coupons you might want to keep your eyes peeled.

Last segment in our quest to save money is step 4 & 5. In these last steps we will cover organizing our coupons and being prepared when we hit the grocery store. Bottom line- we are going to save some money and create some new habits.

Yesterday, was a perfect start to a beautiful Saturday morning for this Frugal Mom. I woke up, grabbed a cup of coffee and headed out the door @ 9am. I must add our house was quiet and empty– both children were at sleep-overs and my hubby was at work. I headed out to the local Salvation Army for a bit of leisurely shopping. Not really feeling too excited about shopping for clothes, I immediately head to the purse section. After scanning those items and not finding anything that catches my fancy I head over to the shoes.

Well, of course I have been looking for a new pair of boots for a few weeks now since my last pair had finally met their demise. So, what do I see, but a lovely pair of tall, brown leather boots. Yup! Fitting me just perfect, I head over to the clothing section to see what else I can stumble upon.

Not even scouring the racks for 5 minutes, I notice a light pink pair of slacks calling out to me. Bee-line to the slacks and hmmm…. what do you know… they are Victoria Secret brand and look brand new. Well, with the price tag showing $19.99 I thought to myself these are just not going to fit into my budget for today. Looking to my left, I see the exact pants in brown, same size, same new condition. These brown Victoria Secret slacks had a $7.99 price tag on them. So, of course I grabbed them, ran to the dressing room to give these beauties a try. Success! They fit nicely. As I am checking out at the register I then ask the cashier about the difference in the two slacks and their pricing. She tells me, “Go ahead and grab the other pair I will sell those to you for $7.99 too”.

Alrighty then, back to the rack I skip, happily (Ok, so maybe clothes are easy for you to find, but me- not so much) and grab the other pair and bring them to the register.

Here is the best part of this whole shopping experience. It was 50% off clothing & shoes day. Not sure how I missed that large sign, but it was a wonderful surprise when my total was $11.30 at the register. I walked away with a brown pair of boots and 2 pairs of pants.

Oh, what a lovely day!

There are plenty of websites that are dedicated to coupon usage and how to save money at grocery stores. But what about the average person who feels that they just dont have time for coupon clipping? Well, my advice to the coupon newbie would be to start slow in your money saving tactics. I can show you how to work your way up to the couponing process in 5 easy steps.
First, it begins with being aware of store circulars. These usually are mailed out once a week. Depending on your location the day of week may vary. Also, check out your local Sunday newspaper. These will feature several local grocery store ads. In addition, my local Sunday paper will have a large ad in the first section of my paper. I usually will take a peek at this ad as it may vary from the circular, and may have some hidden deals or even coupons. You will get a hang of gauging price differences from week to week by just doing this step alone. Keep tuned in— we will discuss step #2 & 3 to work toward your couponing goal. Happy Shopping!