Just a few more little money-saving tidbits to share this week--

1. If you are out of "D" batteries, do not want to buy any, but need one .....try this trick: Put a "C" battery in the space, then add 3 to 5 quarters to mimic a "D" battery!


2. Help prevent costly drain clogs before they happen: Use cold water to rinse grease down the sink. Hot water only “melts” the grease until it reaches distant areas of your plumbing, where it solidifies, builds up, and eventually causes clogs. Cold water, however, solidifies the grease early on so it floats down the pipes harmlessly. (source: www.rd.com/Family- Handyman)

3. Impulse purchases get the best of you at the market or home improvent stores? According to Consumer Reports, if you use the self-checkout, impulse buys will drop by 17 to 32 percent.

As a mom, I find myself the person in charge of {trying} to save money. It is up to me to find ways to budget and scrimp wherever I can - without anyone else in the family noticing to much, of course!

So I started thinking of the 10 top things I really like to and need to save money on. The things that I find too expensive in general, yet have to buy anyway on a semi-regular basis. It was tougher than I thought to come up with this list, after all I want to save money on everything, but after much thought (and a few extra frown lines) I have complied my list of the top 10 things I like to save money on, or wish I could save money on:

1. Shoes for the kids. I find shoes to be an expensive purchase that I have to make too many times each year. Kids outgrow them ridiculously fast. And no matter how much I may spend on a pair of shoes, hoping that quality will match the pricier price tags, they never last long with my boys. So I put shoes down on my list. I would love to find some that are reasonably priced and stand up to the wear and tear of little boys.

2. Food. Of course food must be on my list. It is always a top priority to try and feed the family healthy meals while still managing to pay bills at the end of the month!

3. Jeans. Girl's Jeans. Teenage Girl's Jeans to be exact. My daughter and her need for new jeans is a never-ending thing. If you see me with a nervous twitch one day, you can safely assume my daughter has once again pleaded her case with me for new jeans. And once again, I am faced with the precarious choice of either taking her to the mall to buy the new jeans at a financial blow to our budget, or choosing to risk having my daughter "simply die." {Did I do this to my parents? I think not, but regardless, I survived in either case.)

4. Classes. Ballet classes, Cheer classes and of course, the requisite Gymnastics classes. Did I mention Karate classes.  Oh, and swim classes. I would love dearly to enroll all my children in each and every class they get the urge to take, I would enjoy watching them learn something new and exciting every other day. But seriously, the fees these classes charge are high. Higher than high even.  And with each new class comes new outfits and equipment. The expense spent on kid's sports, classes and activities is astounding.

5. Make-Up. Now who wouldn't love to save some money on stuff that makes us beautiful and younger-looking??

6. Starbucks. I love the feeling of dropping the kids off at school and driving my quiet car thru Starbucks to buy a morning coffee drink. Sadly, that just does not quite fit into our budget most days. But as a mom who has the car all to herself after a furiously hectic morning of yelling, shoe searching, crumpled homework papers and spilled oatmeal, I would love dearly to have Starbucks reward me with a lower priced Nonfat Mocha Latte.

7. School Supplies. After spending way more than should be necessary on back to school supplies for my kids last week, I really would like to save more money when it comes to back to school. Plus I know that these costs will be repeated frequently through the school year.

8. Veggies and Fruits. Yes, I put these on my list. I love when I can save money on these particular foods because they can be so expensive. When you go to the grocery store with a budgeted list in hand, some of the prices for fresh fruit and veggies can cause one to rethink their dinner menus, kwim? So I am particularly excited to save money when I can on some of these foods. (I am easy to please. Too easy I think sometimes.)

9. Toys. I am the kind of mom who actually doesn't get bothered by toys scattered around the house. I kind of like it actually just because I know one day I will miss my 'kid and toy filled house.' {Sniff.} And so it goes I am also the kind who likes to buy toys for the kids when I can. But I need to save money, so toys must be on sale for me to buy (unless it is a special occasion or a very special toy.)

10. Socks.  I think I buy socks more than anything else. Between the boys, the dogs and the hubby alone, socks are at a high risk of disappearing in our house. Not that they are the most expensive things I buy quite regularly, but hey, if I can buy a few large packages of them on sale, it can make my week! Alone it is not such a drain, but times those packages by 3 or 4 a couple of times a month.... the money spent can ding the old budget a bit!

So that is my list of ten things this mom likes and wants to save money on. There are many more, but these are probably my top ten for right now.

As a mom (or a dad,) what things do you want to save money on the most?

If you are one of the lucky people getting a tax refund this year, congratulations! When that check comes in the mail, think carefully before spending it.

If you are not sure what to do with that refund, why not start an emergency savings fund with the money? Or add to one you have already started.

An emergency fund may not seem like a fun way to spend your heard earned refund, but it should be a top priority for everyone. Skip the splurging today, and save for tomorrow's unexpected (and often unwelcome) surprises.

And don't forget..Starbucks is giving away free coffee all day April 15th. Just bring in your own mug, and they'll fill it for you with fresh hot coffee!

Here is a quick tip for saving money everyday that I found on Self.com:

Set up a 'daily allowance" for each day of the month, so to speak, for you and your spouse by subtracting your living expenses--mortgage, car, utilities, groceries, insurance, personal savings (or the amount of money you want to hide away at the end of each day) etc.--from your income, and dividing the remainder by 30. Now that amount is the amount you and your spouse can spend each day on whatever.

Now comes the saving money trick: Say you have allotted $20 discretionary spending each day. Try and only spend $15 on "whatever," and save that extra $5.00. At the end of the month, add up the amount saved from your "whatever" money, in this example $150, and transfer that amount into an emergency fund!

If you are anything like me then you are never quite prepared for the Christmas season. I tend to push off getting ready for the holidays and shopping because there is always another bill that needs to get paid. I figure I have time (ah!) and can worry about the shopping later, like November/December.

But this year I have a plan. Now the plan itself is not so hard. The hard part is sticking to it. But I am trying very hard because I know I will be so happy come December that I did this plan.

All it takes to have an extra $560 for Christmas shopping this year, is putting $5.00 away every day. Now I know some days even having a spare $5.00 at the end of a day can be a challenge. But gather up all the loose change you can find, and add a dollar or two, and you may just have the $5.00!

$5.00/day @7days a week is $35.00 a week. $35/week will add p to $140/month. If you do this plan for the next 4 months (Aug., Sep., Oct., Nov.,) you will have $560 by December. Wouldn't that help with Christmas expenses?

Now, to help you get started on saving $5.00 a day, visit a site called Niner Niner. This is a blogging network that is so easy to make some money with you can easily make $5.00/day without much effort. Use this money as your Christmas savings plan, or better yet, add it to your $5.00 that you save each day at home somewhere, and you will be socking away $10/day in your Christmas savings plan!

Sign up at Niner Niner ( easy to do) and pick a blog and do a post. You will see the money deposited into your account right away. You will be paid by Paypal the first week of each month. You can see how much you will get paid for a post right by each blog. The price per post ranges from .25 to $1.00 usually.

Have fun and be ready for Christmas this year!