Lately I've been really into finding ways to cut costs, save money, and make extra money (for obvious reasons - Ben's new job only pays half of what the old one did, and money is tight). At first it felt like a chore. But now, its actually becoming fun, and I think I've come up with some creative ideas. Below I've posted some of the things I've come up with, and I'd love for all my readers to post their creative money saving/making ideas.
1) I have supplemental insurance, that I never use. I spent an hour yesterday pulling out all my old insurance information from last year and filing claims. I think I should get about $500 back. Yipee! I can pay for Christmas.
2) Like all the Gecko commercials say, I called around for insurance quotes. I settled with another, lesser known company, but it is going to save me $480 a year.
3) I called the mortgage company and set up a 2 week billing cycle. They claim it will save close to $15,000 over the life of the loan.
4) I found out that if I pay my daycare early, I save $20 per child per month. I'm also going to see if I can work there on Fridays for a reduced daycare cost.
5) I stayed up till 11pm last night listing baby stuff for sale on ebay.
6) I've been trying to do medical research studies, but I keep getting denied. The latest one paid $250 for only 2 medical visits - and I got a free flu shot with it. But I didn't qualify. Maybe one day they will want me.
7) I've been printing out coupons from on-line retailers. With lots of searching, I've found some good ones.
8) I've been doing on-line surveys. The site I've gone though gives you points for taking surveys - and I can save up points for cash. Right now I'm up to about $50. I also have been going on another website that pays me to click on their offers. It takes awhile, but I have enough right now for a $50 gift certificate.
9) Of course I have always been beyond frugal. I wash my hair with $.99 shampoo, buy generic products, only buy what we need, etc. We're definitely not the most stylish family on the block.
Anyway - I'd love other ideas. So please, if you read my blog and you're doing something to make/save money please let me know. I need all the $$$ I can get right now!
Today if Friday - my day off of work (woo hoo). It is also the day that I clean (or attempt to clean) my entire house. Although we are gone a lot during the week, the house can still get pretty dirty, as one can imagine, with 2 small kids and one large husband who don't always do their part. Naturally, I've had to devise some ways to maximize my cleaning with the least amount of time. So, here are a couple of things I have found that save me time and get things cleaned faster. If anyone has any other tricks or products they'd like to share, I would love to hear about them!
This is the Scrubbing Bubbles shower cleaner. It hangs in the shower. After a person is finished with their shower, they push the blue button, and cleaner gets sprayed all over the walls and floor. I don't think it would work well for the shower/tub combinations, but for the shower its great. I'll admit I was a bit skeptical when my mother-in-law gave me this for my birthday last year. But it does work really well! I haven't had to scrub my shower since. I do still give it a quick wipe-down when I clean my shower. But no more scrubbing. My only complaint is that the refills only last about 2 weeks.
This is the Swiffer floor duster, and I love it. The duster isn't the best for tile, but on the wood floor that covers at least 1/2 my house, it works great! The cloth is disposable, so when it gets dirty it just goes straight to the trash. Oh - and my kids love to use it
A great companion to the floor duster is the Swiffer Wet Jet Mop. It has a handy button on the handle, when pushed, sprays the cleaner out. You mop it up with disposable pad - so no yucky water to deal wtih. I don't use this for the "deep cleaning" my floors get about once a month. But it works wonders for the in between cleans - or when my kids spill something sticky all over the floor. And my kids can use it too - there's nothing better than having your 3 year old attempt to clean the floor. The cleaner and batteries last for a long time too. I hightly recommend this product!
