How to Save on Kids Clothes

Walk through any mall and window shop at the trendy kids clothing stores, and you will see and adorable array of pint sized fashions that no doubt would look adorable on your little one. But when you actually walk into those stores, and look at the price tags, and you will see that most of them are ridiculously priced. But your kid can still wear the cutest styles, without breaking the bank. This is how I manage to have a cute, nice-quality, with out spending retail.

1. Hand-me-downs - Take any free hand-me-downs from family, friends, neighbors, etc. I always graciously accept anything free I can get. If someone offers you a bag of cloths, don't pick through it and see what you want, take the whole bag, and go through it at home. (Don't seem picky, or they might not offer to you again.) Keep anything you will use now, or in the future. Then donate anything you know you will not use to someone you know that can, or a charity, shelter or crisis nursery.

2. Have a set price you are willing to pay per item - have an idea of how much you want to spend on certain items, so you know when to buy and don't over spend. For example, for my little boys, I try to spend no more then $10 on a pair of new jeans, or $5 on used jeans.

3. Fund new clothes with old clothes - When my kids grow out of clothes, I try and sell them on eBay, or in a garage sale. Then I put all funds earned from selling the old clothes toward buying new clothes. One year, we put the $300 we earned in our garage sale toward new school clothes for Melody, new coats and shoes for the boys, and new running shoes for Adam.

3. Shop second-hand (eBay, thrift stores, garage sales) - Find a few good second hand stores (Goodwill, Savers, etc). Try to find ones that have a good selection and have extra discount days or special sales. Try and shop often, and on the discount days to maximize your savings. Take a day on the weekend and hunt down some good garage sales. A lot of churches or organizations have yearly sales for fund raise, these can be great places to find multiple families selling items. As you are looking, keep in mind your set price you set on each item. If I find a cute shirt, but its more then my limit, it goes back on the rack. This keeps me from over spending, and helps me avoid buyers remorse.

4. Know when to shop - When buying new, watch for sales at your favorite stores. Sign up to get emails from them, or follow them on Facebook or Twitter to get information on special sales, coupons and discount codes. Shop around the sales. I (almost) never shop at mall stores or department stores unless I have a coupon. Many stores like Kohl's, JCPenney's, Old Navy, Children's Place, Gymboree, etc, frequently have sales and coupons that you can combine for big savings. I wait for these times to shop. (Also use your coupons or extra discount to take advantage of end of the season clearance sales and stock up on items for next year.) Again, while shopping, keep your set price for each item, so you don't overspend.

5. Don't buy all school clothes before school starts - Most of the time, kids don't need a full fall/winter wardrobe before school starts. We usually buy a couple pair of jeans, new shoes, and a couple new tops to wear the first couple days of school. Then we shop throughout the fall for the rest. Stores usually start marking down their fall merchandise in September or October, so if you wait, you can save. October is know as the best month to buy jeans, as many stores are clearing out old styles to make way for new ones before the holidays. But......

6. DO take advantage of Back-to-School sale - While you don't want to buy it all before school starts, there a lot of sales around Labor Day weekend (right before school starts in most areas) that you can take advantage of to save money. You can especially find really good deals on shoes at this time. This year, for Melody we got her 2 pair of shoes, the store was running a buy one get one half off sale, plus I had a coupon for 20% off, PLUS I had a $10 member reward credit. I was able to save nearly $50 with that sale.

6. Shop ahead - Try to shop 1-2 seasons ahead. Toward the end of winter I take an inventory of the clothes I have for everyone for the upcoming spring and summer. (And I do the same in the summer for fall and winter clothing.). I go through hand-me-downs from older kids, and have them try on anything from last year that might fit. Then I make a list of what each child is going to need. This way, while I am shopping, I know what to look for and what we need. This also prevents me from buying what we don't need.

7. Only buy what you need - There are a lot of cute clothes out there now for kids. But, at least for my kids, what they need most are comfortable, everyday, play clothes. So we tend to have a simple, minimalist (but still cute!) wardrobe. For the little boys this means mostly cotton pants/shorts, t-shirts, sweatshirts, a couple pair of jeans, etc. Melody has a little more, since she is in Middle School, and now has an opinion about what she is wearing. Each kid has 1-2 dressy outfits, since we don't use them very often. Also try to stick to pieces that match each other. I used to buy up clearance and thrift store finds I thought were really cute, but would end up just sitting in the closet all season because I didn't have anything to pair them with. So what I thought was a good deal, ended up being a waste of money because it didn't get worn.

8. Remember, you do get what you pay for - Sometimes with clothing, quality does reflect in the price. You can outfit you little one in entirely Garanimals wardrobe from Walmart, and it will be inexpensive, but don't expect it to last. This is especially important to remember, if you are shopping for an older child or plan on having more kids that you are going to want to hand these clothes down to. If you opt for some of the higher quality (and a little higher priced) clothing, chances are those pieces will be in better shape when the older one out grows them, then some of the cheaper stuff. This can actually end of saving you money in the end, because you will have fewer items to replace when the next kid is wearing these hand-me-downs. And by getting these items at a good price, you aren't really spending that much more.

Homemade Applesauce

After picking over 300 free apples, I started researching how to make and can applesauce. I found a few different methods, and recipes, and just kind of winged it and made a batch. And it was pretty good! My goal was to use no extra sugar or anything, so it would be as natural as possible. I tried it out on my taste testers (aka my kiddos), and they gobbled it right up. So I think this method works pretty well.

Homemade Applesauce

(makes 4 quarts)

What you will need:
About 12 pounds of apples (about 36 medium sized apples)
5 cups water
1/4 lemon juice

1. Fill a large pot with the water and lemon juice.
2. Peel, core, and slice your apples. Add them to the pot of water as you slice them. Stir occasionally to coat with the lemon juice.
3. When all the apples are chopped, place pot on the stove, bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until apples are tender.
*While your apples are simmering, is a good time to get you jars sterilized and ready
4. When apples are tender, spoon apples and some of the water into a blender. Puree apples to the consistency you want for your applesauce (my kids like it really smooth, so I puree it thoroughly).
5. Ladle the applesauce into hot, sterilized jars, leaving about 1/2" head space. Process the jars for 25 minutes. Let cool on the counter for 24 hours.

You can also freeze the applesauce, if you prefer.

Resources used:
heavenlyhomemakers.com
freshpreserving.com
pickyourown.org

Apples, Apples and More Apples!!

Yay for apple season!

There were a lot of things I wanted to try making with apples this year, so I was ecstatic when my father-in-law stopped by one Sunday morning and said his neighbor had 2 trees full of apples I could come pick for free! So I spent the afternoon picking tons of apples and researching recipes.

I started with 1 batch of each recipe I wanted to try. So I made up 6 quarts applesauce, 3 quarts of apple pie filling and 3 pints of apple butter, which barely made a dent in my apple supply! So then came more applesauce, more pie filling, and a different apple butter recipe to try. With plenty of apples still left, I had my mom dig up some of my grandmas old recipes, and I made 2 batches of apple crisp for the freezer. At this point I was running out of ideas, time and good apples, so I just made more applesauce (I had found a lot of recipes that use applesauce in them, so I figured I would be able to use it up) and chopped and froze some apples to make more apple crisp with.

After I used up all the apples I had picked, I found a recipe for apple chips that sounded yummy. Since apples are so cheap this time of year, I had a bunch in the fridge, so I baked some up. They were pretty good too! The boys ate them up like crazy! They are weirdly addicting, so they didn't last too long around here.

Final count: 16 quarts of applesauce, 2 quarts of cinnamon applesauce, 6 quarts of apple pie filling, 5 pints of apple butter, 2 apple crisps, 12 cups of chopped apples, and a couple cups of apple chips. Needless to say, I won't have to buy applesauce for a LONG time, and we will have lots of yummy apple treats to eat this winter!

I did the math, and I used over 270 apples!!! And they were all free!

Homemade Floor Cleaner

Having little kids who spend most of their day playing on the floor, means I am cleaning it a lot. I was using a Swiffer Wet Jet, because it was so convenient to just grab it, spray, wipe and be done. But the price of the cleaning solution and pads was getting a little outrageous. Plus I was wanting to make the switch to some less-chemically cleaners. And for the kids I wanted it to be a clean place for them to play, but not full residue of who-knows-what from the cleaner.

So I invested in a Libman Freedom Mop (which is like a Swiffer WetJet, but you fill it with your own cleaning solution, and reuse the washable cleaning pad) and searched for a homemade cleaner to fill it with.

This is the one I like best:

Homemade Floor Cleaner
(adapted from TipNut.com)

1 Gallon of Water
1 Cup of White Vinegar
1/2 Cup of Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp of Dish Soap

Just mix the ingredients together.

I fill my Libman mop, and then put the rest in a gallon jug. I also have some in a spray bottle for quick cleanups and cleaning our hard wood stairs.

This cleaner works great!! I use it on all of the hard floors in our house (linoleum, vinyl, laminate wood, and painted hard wood - the previous owners painted the hard wood floors on the entire second floor of our house - *insert eye roll here*)

I feel a lot better about using this cleaner in the kitchen and around the kids. Plus it WAY cheaper (one batch of this clean costs me about 25 cents to make!) I did have to invest in the Libman mop (which is about the same price as the Swiffer was - but I had a mail-in rebate), but there are no more refills to buy!!!

Cost comparison:
1 Liter Swiffer WetJet Refill.............around $5.00
1 Liter of Homemade Cleaner:.................$0.07!!!
SAVINGS: about $4.93!!
(plus no more pads to buy, which are $11.47 for 24, or nearly 50 cents a piece!)

Note:
If you search online, you can find tutorials of how to refill a Swiffer cleaning solution container. That would save you from buying the solution, but I chose not to deal with all of that. Plus there still would be the pads to buy, and batteries, since it is battery operated - the Libman mop is not.

Another Note:
Vinegar is considered an antimicrobial, and a good for cleaning, but is not a "disinfectant" or "sanitizer".

Homemade Pizza

Last fall, Adam and I decided to try to lose weight together. We knew we would have to make a lot of changes to our diet and be more active. I plan on posting more about my weight loss journey later, but it was mostly about counting calories and making healthier choices.

One of our favorite dinners, like a lot of families I'm sure, is pizza. We loved getting Pizza Hut on Sunday for the football game, or having some frozen pizzas for a quick and easy dinner during the week. There we times I ate an entire frozen pizza by myself - which is nearly 1,500 calories! Yikes!!!

So, with my new eating philosophy, I thought I would try to make our own. I like to take one step at a time when, so I started out using pre-made pizza crusts. I added some Italian seasoned tomato sauce, cheese and toppings. (To keep it low calorie we usually stick with veggies and either turkey pepperoni or turkey sausage. Sometimes if we have leftover chicken, I will use that, which is super yummy!) Everyone loved it! It tasted really good, plus it was a lot better in the calorie department, which made me feel a lot less guilty about eating it.

Then I decided to take it a step further (again, taking one step at a time), and make my own pizza dough. So, I consulted my favorite websites, and found what sounded like a yummy, healthy, and easy dough recipe. So we tried it, and everyone agreed that it was WAY better then the pre-made crusts we were eating! Plus it was way easier to make then I thought it would be. And again, I felt much better eating this and feeding it to my family.

With the recipe I use, I get 2 good sized pizzas (enough to feed our family of 5 or 6, plus a couple slices left over). When I make it, I usually make 2-3 batches (1 at a time) and I freeze the extra batches. Then the day we need them, I just throw one in the fridge that morning and it's thaw by dinner. I have also used this recipe to make calzones, one of Adam's favorites, yum!

Homemade Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough
(adapted from MoneySavingMom.com)

1 Tbsp - Active Dry Yeast
1 Cup - Warm Water (105 -115 degrees)
1 tsp - Sugar
1 tsp - Salt
2 Tbsp - Olive Oil
1 Cup - Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 Cup - All Purpose Flour

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the rest of the ingredients in and mix (I use my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer).

Dump dough onto a floured surface, and knead for about 5 minutes into a smooth dough. (I leave it in my Kitchen Aid, switch to the dough hook and let it go on medium speed for about 5 minutes. Then dump on to a floured surface and knead a couple times. This is a huge time saver! I just let the machine do all the work while I get the rest of the ingredients for the pizza.)

Roll out and press down onto a greased pizza pan (or baking sheet). Then add your toppings. (Our favorite is turkey sausage with Roma tomatoes and black olives)

Bake at 450 degrees for around 12-15 minutes until the crust is starting to brown and looks crispy.

Nutrition Comparison: (per slice)
Our Favorite Homemade Pizza (with this dough, and above mentioned toppings)
Calories: 139
Tombstone Sausage Pizza
Calories: 182
Pizza Hut Italian Sausage (with Thin Crust)
Calories: 220


Price Comparison: (price per pizza)
Our Favorite Homemade Pizza...........$2.43
Tombstone Sausage..............................$3.98
Pizza Hut Italian Sausage....................$10.65
SAVINGS: at least $1.55/pizza (ABOUT 40%)

This is probably one of the best changes I have made. Since we usually eat pizza about once a week, I'm glad to have found a healthier version that I can feel good about feeding my family.

Making Snack Time Better - Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

My kids love granola bars. They are super easy snacks to have around, and I figured they were "healthy", right? Granola = healthy, right? -so I thought. The box even said "no high-fructose corn syrup", great! Right? Well....not so much. One day I actually looked at the ingredients, and YIKES! There might be "no high-fructose corn syrup" in there, but there were about 7 other types of sugar (fructose, glucose, corn syrup, etc...) Plus multiple other chemically sounding things. Yuck! That was the last box of those things that I bought.

So I was on the hunt for a recipe that was easy, and more importantly, delicious. The first recipe I tried, was pretty good, but used 2 sticks of butter! Wow. So I kept looking. Then I found a recipe that I had to try, they claimed to be more like the Quaker Chewy Bars we used to eat. So we tried them, and they were super yummy! I made them during summer vacation, and between my kids, Adam and my nephews, the whole batch was gone within a couple days!

Now these are by no means "healthy" (the nutrition info is comparable to the Quaker Chocolate Chip Chewy Bars), but they are a better treat then some of the other things out there, and when things are made from whole ingredients, I feel better about them. (And yes, I realize these have Rice Krispies in them, and they aren't a "whole" ingredient - but oh well. I am looking for a replacement) And my kids love them, and I like making them what they love =)

(As I experiment with different sweeteners and healthy fats, I may tweak this recipe.)

No-Bake Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
(adapted from backtothecuttingboard.com)

Makes 16 bars

4 Tbsp (1/2 a stick) - Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup - Honey
3/8 cup - Packed Light Brown Sugar
2 cup - Granola (store bought or homemade - I make my own with the recipe below)
1 1/2 cups - Rice Cereal (such as Rice Krispies)
1/8 cup - Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips
(optional: add 1/8 - 1/4 cup Peanut Butter Chips to make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars)

1. Combine honey and butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in brown sugar after the butter starts to melt.
2. Bring mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
3. Add the granola and the rice cereal to the saucepan, and fold them into the sauce until evenly coated.
4. Spread the mixture into two 9x5 loaf pans that have been coated with cooking spray. (I've experimented with different pan sizes, and this works the best. It makes it easy to cut them into bars). Press firmly with a spatula to evenly fill the pan. You want to make sure it is firmly packed down so your bars don't fall apart. The bars should be pressed to about 1/2 – 3/4 inch thick. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and gently press them down.
5. Let sit until completely cooled. (I sometimes put mine in the fridge for about 20 minutes right before I cut them, so they are firm when I cut them. It helps them stay together). I pop the whole piece out of the loaf pan on to the counter or a cutting board. The cut each piece into 8 bars (so you have 16 bars total).

Price Comparison:
This recipe: $0.18/bar
Quaker Chewy Bars: $0.30/bar
SAVINGS: $0.12/bar!
(cost for this recipe is with homemade granola)

This is the granola recipe I am using currently - I am experimenting with others. But this is the best one so far.

Recipe for Applesauce Granola
(adapted from fakeginger.com)

(This recipe makes about 3 cups of granola. I usually make a double batch, which makes 6 cups - enough for 3 batches of granola bars. I keep it in the freezer in a Ziplock bag, until I make the bars)

2 1/2 cups - Old Fashioned/Rolled Oats
1/4 cup - Brown Sugar
1 tsp - Cinnamon
1/2 tsp - Salt
1/2 cup - Unsweetened Applesauce
1 Tbsp - Honey
1 Tbsp - Vegetable Oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

1. In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Set Aside.
2. In a small saucepan, warm the applesauce, honey and oil over low heat.
3. Mix the applesauce mixture into the oat mixture and stir to coat. Spread the spread the mixture on to a large, rimmed baking sheet that has been coated with cooking spray.
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Stir the mixture every 10 minutes, until the granola is deep brown.
5. Cool before making into bars.

How I Use Coupons

Coupons are the easiest way to save money on groceries, household items, health and beauty items, and more. I am a little crazy about my coupons. I look forward to Sunday afternoon, when I sit down with my paper and go through all the new coupons.

How I Organize My Coupons:
(I am still working on my organizational method, but this is how I do it right now)

I have my coupons in a coupon organizer (like this one). I have them organized into broken down categories (like instead of "Household Items" - I break it down further into "Paper Goods", "Cleaning Supplies", "Laundry" etc). This makes it easier to find a coupon when I need it. The order I have the categories in my organizer, matches the path I take through the store.

Within the categories, keep the coupons in order by expiration date, with the soonest dates in the front. When I make my list, I take out any coupons that are going to expire that week before I shop again, so I can use the coupon, if I want to, before it expires. (I did just find out that Cub takes expired coupons for up to 3 months past their expiration date, so I might stop throwing them away, and save them to use there!)

I have a second, smaller coupon organizer that I keep in my bag at all times. I have a section for each store shop weekly, and put the coupons I will be using at that store that week. I also keep restaurant coupons, my Menards rebates, hair cut coupons, etc, in this binder so that they are always with me when we are out and about.

How are my tips for coupons:

1. Use coupons to save on top of sale price - I try to save my coupons, and use them when the item goes on sale to save the most money possible on that item.

2. Compare sizes to save the most money - Normally when you buy an item, the bigger the item, the better "deal" it is. Meaning you pay less per unit (ounce, pound, etc). When you use a coupon, sometimes it makes more sense to buy a smaller size. So do the math and find the best deal.

3. Use the Internet for finding coupons - sites like coupons.com, smartsource.com, red plum.com, target.com, plus many others, let you print coupons right from their site. Follow deal sites like moneysavingmom.com (my favorite site for saving money!), that posts about deals and coupons that are available. I have saved so much with deals I found out about through these sites, that I wouldn't have known about otherwise.

4. Sign up for emails from your favorite brands - They often send coupons.

5. Stack coupons - Many stores, including Target, Walgreens, and pretty much every grocery store I know about, allows you to use a manufacture coupon and a store coupon on the same item. So you can save twice on an item this way. (Wait for the item to go on sale, and then stack your coupons, to save even more! I get many items free, or nearly free, by doing this). When I come across 2 coupons I can use together, I sometimes keep these coupons together in my coupon organizer so I remember to use them together.

6. Find out if your store doubles coupons, and take advantage of this! - None of the stores I shop at do this, sadly. But if your store does, learn the policy and make it work for you.

7. Be Smart - Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the whole coupling thing, and start buying things just because you have a coupon. Ya, maybe you can get 10 boxes of something really cheap, but are you going to really eat that much before they go bad? Think about a purchase, and make sure you are going to use the item. Or there are sometimes the product is something unhealthy, or the kind of stuff I am trying to get my family away from eating. So, even though it may be really cheap or even free, I have to hold back. The point of coupons is to save money, and if something is just going to go to waste, or is something I don't want my family to eat, then it is wasting money, not saving it.

8. If you aren't going to use it, give it to someone who will - Share the savings! If your kids are out of diapers, give your diaper coupons to a friend or co-worker who can use them. Or if you don't have a pet, give pet food coupons to someone who does.

9. Give items to charity - My grocery store has coupons for free items every week. If it's not something I can use, I get it anyways and donate it. I drop it right in the food shelf donations on my way out the door. There are a lot of scenarios in which you can get items free, or nearly free. So if you can't use it, donate it to someone who can.

Have any tips for using coupons? Please comment and share!