Mother’s Day is right around the corner! You forgot didn’t you? Well have no fear! In today’s post I’ll share some money saving ideas for inexpensive Mother’s Day gifts so you don’t show up empty-handed.

1. Flowers. What mom wouldn’t love a beautiful bouquet of flowers? You don’t have to spend a fortune either. You can order flowers online and have them shipped right to your mom’s front door for as little as $30 to $50.

2.  A Family Portrait. Get the whole family together and have a professional portrait taken.  It won’t cost much if you split the cost.  Another option is to gather a bunch of old pictures and make them into a personalized photo album.

3.  Home Movies on DVD.  If your mom has old home movies laying around on VHS or 8mm tape you can have them transferred to dvd so she can enjoy watching old memories whenever she wants.

4.  Have her grandchildren make her something. It could be as simple as a card made with construction paper, crayons, glitter, and glue.   Or it could be a do it yourself project like the ones offered at Home Depot.  I take my kids to Home Depot on the first Saturday of each month for the Kids Workshop.  This month they made little planters with pretty flowers for their mom.

5.  Burn a CD of her favorite tunes.  You can download free legal MP3 songs and then burn them onto a CD so your mom can listen to them at home or on the road.

6.  Make her dinner at home.   How many thousands of meals did your mom cook for you while you were growing up?  Well guess what…now it’s your turn!   Grab a cookbook and some groceries and prepare a homemade meal for your mom.  She deserves it!

Do you have any more suggestions for inexpensive Mother’s Day gifts?

The temperatures are starting to rise, flowers are blooming and the grass is green.  You or your neighbors may even begin outdoor barbecuing.  Summer is right around the corner.  Many people take their vacations in the summer, but what happens if you won’t be one of them this year?  Maybe you can’t afford a vacation or you are saving for another goal.  Whatever the reason, you can still have fun, right in your own neighborhood with a staycation.

Staycations don’t have to be boring.  Simply look at a staycation as a way to explore your own city—you become a tourist in your own hometown.  Consider some of these staycation activities:

-Set up camp in your own backyard.  There is no need to drive to a campsite and pay to camp.  Instead, set up your tent in your own backyard.  Let the kids pitch in and have a campfire where you can cook a meal and roast marshmallows and make s’mores.  Then, spend the night in the tent (and the house is nearby if the little ones get scared.)

-Explore tourist destinations you have not visited.  Your hometown may have many tourist destinations, but chances are you haven’t visited them.  You may even drive by them every day, but you have not stopped because you are so busy living your own life.  Look at your town through the eyes of a tourist.  What destinations are the must-visit spots for tourists?  Visit those places.

-Take the kids somewhere they have wanted to go.  Maybe your kids have been begging you to take them to the water park, but you could never get time off from work.  During a staycation, take them to the places they have wanted to go.  You’ll enjoy spending time with the kids, and they will enjoy getting to go some place they have always wanted to visit.

-Try a new restaurant.  If you were a visitor coming to your city, what restaurant would be on your must-go to list?  Splurge a bit on your staycation and go with your spouse and hire a babysitter for the kids or take the kids if it is a family-friendly restaurant.  Since you are having a staycation rather than travelling, you can afford to spend a little bit of money for a fun night out.

-Indulge in foods you wouldn’t normally eat.  Hot dogs may not be on the menu regularly in your everyday life, but for your staycation, consider giving the kids foods they enjoy but don’t normally eat such as hot dogs or ice cream or whatever treat they don’t regularly eat.

If you are planning your own staycation, make sure to treat it like a real vacation.  Take time off from work (and that means not doing any work at home either—this is not the time for home improvement projects), make your arrangements in advance, booking restaurant or other reservations you must make ahead of time, and include the kids in the planning.  While having a staycation may not be as exciting as visiting a new locale, it can still be a lot of fun, and, more importantly, it will give you the time to both relax and spend time together as a family.

Spring is nearly here, which means that soon we will be discarding heavy jackets and coats in favor of short sleeve t-shirts and shorts.   If your New Year’s Resolutions have fallen flat, you still have time to drop some weight and get in shape before the summer season.  However, doing so doesn’t have to cost a bundle.  There are plenty of ways to save money when trying to lose weight.

What Weight Loss Plan to Choose

Generally, you will spend the most money if you choose a weight loss plan that requires you to buy their food.  You will have to pay for all of their prepackaged food plus enrollment and/or meeting fees.  Instead, choose a weight loss plan that teaches you how to eat right using food that you choose and prepare.

Also, depending on your personality, you may want to consider an online weight loss plan.  For instance, Weight Watchers offers members the option of coming to a meeting weekly or of following the plan online.  However, the online plan is nearly 50% cheaper than the meeting option.  If you don’t need the supportive environment of a weekly meeting, you could save quite a bit of money following the plan on your own at home.

What Food to Buy

Despite what marketing executives would like us to believe, you don’t have to buy any expensive food or special weight loss foods.  In fact, the foods that are best for your body are often some of the cheapest.  Buying basic produce such as carrots, celery, apples, pears, and bananas, you could pay less than $2 per pound, especially if you buy them in bulk.  In addition, healthy carbs such as oatmeal and barley are also low cost.

How to Save on Exercise

A key component of any weight loss plan is to also include exercise.   However, you don’t have to join a gym and pay a monthly fee.  There are several low cost fitness options:

-Follow an exercise DVD.  You can buy these at a steep discount on a site such as eBay.

-Play outside with the kids.  On nice spring days, take your kids out for a walk.  Challenge them to a race or play a game of tag.  You’ll feel like a kid again, and you will also be burning calories.  If it is a rainy day and you are stuck inside, put on some music and dance around with your kids.  They will appreciate your silliness, and the whole family will get some much needed exercise.

-Buy a piece of exercise equipment you love.  If you like walking on a treadmill or using an elliptical, for instance, ask around to see if anyone you know is looking to get rid of one.  Chances are you could get it at an excellent price this way.  Another alternative is to check Craigslist.  Don’t be afraid to haggle with sellers.

Losing weight will improve your health and make you feel better about yourself, especially in the summer months when there is not a sweater or jacket to hide behind.  Losing weight doesn’t have to be expensive.  Stick to low cost options, and you can drop the pounds without hurting your wallet.

Mike recently announced that his house is on the market.  No doubt preparing to put your house on the market is a difficult endeavor.  You have to spend a great deal of time decluttering and making cosmetic changes to your home.  This includes removing your personal items so the buyers can imagine themselves in your house.  Rather than putting these items in temporary storage, take advantage of the need to declutter your house to earn extra money and save on moving costs.

1. Have a garage sale.  If you have enough time before you put your house on the market (ideally at least a few months), take the time to gather your excess belongings and have a garage sale.  Generally, a garage sale is great for adult clothing, basic kids’ clothing, toys, and household goods.  Your kids may not want to part with some of the toys they have outgrown.  You could slyly pack up the outgrown toys while your kids are sleeping, or you could enlist their help.  Perhaps offer them a percentage of the sale of their toys as money to keep.  When rewarded with monetary gain, most kids can more easily let go of possessions they no longer use.
2. Sell more expensive items on Craigslist.  Do you have a piece of exercise equipment you will no longer need?  A no longer used toy box or child’s play table?  These larger items often garner more money on Craigslist rather than at a garage sale.  The trick is to price the items competitively so that people will want to buy the item, but also high enough so you still have room to negotiate because Craigslist buyers love to negotiate.
3. Sell finer goods on eBay.  I bought a necklace in Ireland for a friend, but shortly after I returned our friendship ended.  Rather than give her the necklace, I sold it on eBay for $50, which was more than I paid for it.  If you have finer items like jewelry or a collection of some item, you will do better selling on eBay. Kids’ designer clothing in good condition, including brands such as Gymboree and Gap, also do well on eBay.
4. Sell any furniture you may want to upgrade or do not need.  By selling furniture, you reduce the number of items you must move, which will reduce your moving expenses.  Depending on how far you are moving and how much you can cull the items you must move, you could save yourself several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars on moving costs.  Once settled in your new home, you could always use Craigslist yourself to buy new furniture for your home.

Moving can be an expensive endeavor.  Use the time before you move to simplify and minimize.  Not only will you likely sell your house more easily when it is clutter free, you will also save substantially on moving costs.  In addition, you can easily make a few hundred dollars or more from the items you sell when decluttering.  Overall, decluttering and selling your items can help lower the cost of your move.

If you do most of your shopping at a local grocery store, you know that the high prices can really add up. Although there are some items you will have to pay full price for, there are many ways to save on others.

Extreme Couponing
You have seen the television shows and specials. You have read about these people online and in your local newspaper. More so today than ever before, people are using coupons to save money on everything from groceries to household goods and many products in between.

You can find coupons in the newspaper and online. The more time you spend searching the better chance there is of finding deals that can save you money. You don’t have to go over the top (like some people) but a coupon here and there can save you a lot of money.

Don’t Shop When You Are Hungry
The biggest mistake you can make is shopping for food when you are starving. If you make this mistake, everything you see on the shelves is going to look good to you. In turn, your cart will begin to fill up with items that you don’t necessarily want or need. Do yourself a favor and shop for groceries on a full stomach.

Make a List and Stick to it
Are you the type of person who shows up at the grocery store with no idea of what you really need? This is a colossal error. Instead, you should make a shopping list and stick to it no matter what you see. When you have a list, you know what you need to buy – this will also give you a decent idea of how much you should end up spending, allowing you to plan in advance.

Buy Store Brands, Not Name Brands
Some consumers make the mistake of thinking that all store brand items taste bad. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Before you buy a brand name, compare the ingredients to a generic brand. You may be surprised to find that both products are nearly identical.

Take Advantage of Sales
Every grocery store runs sales and specials on a regular basis. If you know that a big sale is going on, head to the store to take full advantage. In many cases, these sales can help you save more money than you ever imagined. Although there may be a limit on how much you can buy,  if something catches your eye make sure you stock up – especially if the item can be saved for later use (such as canned goods).

These are five of the best ways to save on groceries at a local store. Can you think of any other tips that can help you get the food you need while leaving money in your pocket?

Even if you only implement one of these tips, you are going to find yourself saving a lot of money.

Five Ways to Save at your Local Grocery Store is a guest post by Chris at Car Insurance Comparison.

Run an Energy Audit on Your Home and You’ll Be Shocked at How Much Power You’re Wasting

I don’t want to alarm you, but right now as you read this…there are vampires in your home.

No, I don’t mean 400-year old Transylvanian men with a cape fetish.  The vampires I am talking about are much more discreet. You may be sitting right next to one as it sucks power from your home and money from your pocket.

The vampires I’m referring to are the everyday appliances, gadgets, and electronic equipment right in your own home that quietly suck energy even when they’re turned off. This phantom energy loss is a result of the standby modes common in modern equipment. Even when turned off, these devices are ready to respond to commands from a remote control. This state of readiness requires power.

Designing devices that are ready to operate or receive signals at all times is convenient, but it’s certainly not energy or cost efficient. Phantom energy loss can add hundreds of dollars per year to the average electric bill, not to mention the added strain it causes on the Earth’s energy reserves. Limiting phantom energy loss will not only help you save money, it will help sustain the environment too.

Which devices use the most phantom energy?

Basically any device that has a standby mode, a remote control, or a display. Chief culprits include computers, cable boxes, cell phone chargers, and any appliance that has a built in clock. Yes, you’re paying for the phantom energy used to power that clock in your microwave or coffee pot.

So what can you do to stop it?

Figure out which devices are causing the most phantom energy loss and unplug them when they’re not in use. To save yourself some hassle, plug all of your home entertainment and computer components into a power strip. Just don’t forget to flip the switch off when it’s not in use.

To track down the vampires in your home you’ll need a power usage meter like the Kill-A-Watt EZ.   Simply connect your various elctronics and appliance to the P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor and it will tell you exactly how much electricity it is using.

You can even enter your own actual cost per KwH as taken from your utility bill and it will calculate energy usage by day, week, month, or even over the whole year.   And once you identify the vampires that are sucking up all of your energy you can unplug them when not in use.

Or if you have an older air conditioner or fridge you might me shocked to discover how much you can save by trading them in for newer models.

The Kill A Watt EZ has been on my wishlist for awhile but I haven’t had the extra cash to pick one up.  When I do buy one finally I’ll post my findings here on this blog.  I’m dying to find out how much I can save using it. 

There is an image of the 1950s housewife, complete with her red and white ruffle apron, presenting her husband a nice roast fresh from the oven after he has returned from work and had time to read the paper.

Obviously, we are now far from those days; in many families both parents work and the six o’clock hour is a busy one filled with tired, hungry kids and parents stressfully finding a way to put dinner on the table quickly.  Even if one parent stays home, life can be busy with extracurricular activities and other events.  While there are pre-made foods you can buy to feed your family, it is healthier and cheaper to make your meals from scratch.  By utilizing intentional leftovers, you can present a healthy dinner quickly, making both your budget and your family happy.

Intentionally using leftovers only requires a bit of advanced planning.  Often, you can do the prep work on the weekend, making weeknight meals even quicker

Rotisserie Chicken

Buy a rotisserie chicken on Sunday afternoon and remove all of the meat from the bone.  That night, place all of the bones and extras in a slow cooker with 10 cups of water, 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, 6 cloves of garlic, a quartered onion, and a squirt of lemon juice.  Let it cook over night and strain in the morning.  Put the broth in ice cube trays to freeze for quick, homemade chicken stock.

For one meal, simply mix some chicken with salsa, heat and serve on tacos with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes.  This meal can be on the table in less than 15 minutes, and it is cheap.

Later in the week, make a simple tortilla soup.  Saute a diced onion, diced red pepper and garlic in olive oil and then add the chicken, some of the chicken broth, frozen corn, black beans, a can of diced tomatoes and spices such as cumin, red pepper.  Simmer for 15 minutes and serve.

Pork

One morning, place a pork tenderloin in the slow cooker along with diced sweet potatoes and a diced onion.  Add a can of diced tomatoes mixed with some brown sugar.  Pour over the tenderloin.  When you come home, you have a complete meal waiting for you.  Save some of the pork for later in the week.

A few nights later, simply mix the shredded leftover pork with bbq sauce and heat on the stove.  Serve the pulled pork on buns with the side of your choice.

These examples are just a few of the infinite possibilities.  Eating healthy, homemade food doesn’t have to be time consuming or expensive.  Take a little time on the weekend to do some prep work, always plan your first meal with an idea of how you want to re-purpose your leftovers for another meal, and take advantage of your slow cooker.  You may not be cooking for hours as a 1950s housewife might have, but you will still be able to feed your family nutritious meals in about as much time as it takes to go through the drive thru.

Summer is almost over but we’re about to embark on a last minute trip to the New Jersey shore town of Wildwood Crest.  Fortunately, it looks like the hotel where we’ll be staying made it through Hurricane Irene in one piece!

Family vacations can get expensive very quickly so I figured I’d share a few tips for getting the most bang for your buck.

Eat in.  From past experience, I know that most of the restaurants in the area are pretty expensive.  So we are staying in a room with a stove and oven so we can eat in at least a few nights.  It’s easy enough to whip up some pasta and sauce and enjoy a cheap meal before heading to the boardwalk for games and rides.  Plus, the hotel has a big grill near the pool so we can fire up some burgers and dogs one night too!

 Go easy on the rides.  My kids loooove going on rides, but if you’re not careful you can spend your whole vacation budget on the Himalaya and the Tilt-A-Whirl.  And in Wildwood, you have to fork over tickets for each individual ride (unlike Hershey Park where you buy admission for the day and can go on as many rides as you want).  Since tickets tend to go quickly you need to pace yourself and find other ways to distract the kids.

Find free or inexpensive diversions.  The beach in Wildwood Crest is free so that’s a good chunk of the day taken care of right there.  But there are other ways to kill some time without breaking your wallet.  If we bring the kid’s bikes we can let the go for a ride while we stroll up and down the bike path.  There’s also a nearby park with swings, slides, and monkey bars to keep the kids occupied.  Another option is to take a short drive into neighboring Cape May and walk around the shops and cafes.

What other simple tips do you have for saving money on a family vacation?

Talk of going green usually involves spending a lot of it, too. But reaping the economical benefits of eco-friendly living doesn’t have to come at the price of an audacious upfront investment. There are simple, cheap, and relatively easy ways to cut home energy spending especially during these dog days of summer. Some are even things you can do as soon as you’re finished reading this article.

1. Convert to CFLs

Compact fluorescent lamps use 75 percent less energy than traditional incandescent lamps, last six times longer, and can save users $40.00 on energy costs over the course of their life. Count up all the light fixtures in your house and do the math to figure out how much you can save. CFLs are a more expensive purchase up front, but they’re guaranteed to save money in the long run.

2. Stock the Fridge

The refrigerator and freezer use up about one-sixth of a home’s energy costs. By keeping a fridge full it increases the amount of matter that can be chilled, which in turn re-cools an opened fridge faster than if it were empty. If your budget or your bellies don’t agree with a packed refrigerator, gallons of water from the faucet will do the trick too.

3. Unplug Chargers

Phone chargers, laptop chargers, and other power providers continue to draw energy from outlets so long as they remain plugged in. Start the habit of having yourself and other members of the household unplug chargers whenever they are not in use as well as making sure not to overcharge electronic devices.

4. Resist Turning Off the A/C: Opt to Only Adjust

When a family is gone for several days, it’s the usual protocol to turn the air conditioner off. But it’s, in fact, more economically efficient to leave it running at a higher temperature. If you prefer your home at about 78 degrees during the summer, bump it up to 82 when traveling, but leave it on. Otherwise, you’ll be forcing your A/C to use up enormous amounts of energy cooling the house back down to 78 from 90-95.

5. Paint the Roof White

If you’re going to be in the market for a new roof soon, give your old one an extension by painting it white. While the overwhelming majority of roofs are dark colored, white ones are far better at reflecting the sun’s rays and therefore reducing the amount of heat that radiates throughout the building. It’s not exactly just a matter of buying buckets of paint from the hardware store, but it’s a project that can be done in a weekend that can reduce energy costs by hundreds of dollars every summer.

Don’t drop your retirement fund on solar panels just yet. Give cheaper eco-friendly options a chance first. There are plenty to choose from and none require much more than a little legwork and a ladder. Going green and saving green doesn’t get much easier than this.

This is guest post by Kiley Theiring.  Kiley is a film student at Chapman University who also loves to write. She currently writes many freelance articles about saving money and living frugally in every aspect of life.

Even in such a harsh economic climate, it’s tempting to spoil your kids rotten. Giving your little ones everything they want may put a smile on their faces now, but later in life they won’t be prepared to give up their spending-happy lifestyle. It’s important to teach your kids how to be frugal, even at a very young age. They may not grasp it at first, but understanding will come with repetition and constant learning. Think about it – your kids won’t really need to use complex math until they are older, but you wouldn’t wait to teach them everything right when they need it. So why not do the same with finances?

It’s never too early to start teaching your kids. Even a child as young as two or three can benefit from a lesson in frugality. At that age, kids are much more likely to listen to you and absorb what you say, especially if you do not waver from what you teach them. If your children are constantly nagging you to buy them things, simply sit them down and explain why you can’t buy them things in terms that they can understand.

Patience is key. Ignoring your children’s nagging and constantly having to say no can be difficult, but if you are going to teach your kids about finances you must not fail to practice what you preach. If you constantly tell your kids no then crack under pressure, all your lessons will be wasted. All they will learn is that they can get what they want as long as they are persistent.

Teach your kids to use their own money wisely. If you give your kids an allowance or pay them for doing chores around the house, teach them to spend wisely. If there is a toy that is burning a hole in your child’s pocket, encourage them not to go out and spend it right away. Show them how they can find the same thing cheaper somewhere else or have them put half of it in a savings account of their own.

Show your kids how to use coupons. Since clipping coupons is quickly becoming an activity of the past, introduce them to online coupons when they are old enough to use the computer. Even if you aren’t too comfortable navigating the internet, your children are “digital natives,” so they will be more likely to use coupons to help themselves save if they can do it online instead of cutting them out of magazines and newspapers.

Don’t let your kids get in the habit of throwing things away that can be used again. Show your kids how to recycle and reuse. If your kids pick up these habits now, they will keep them for the rest of their lives. Practices like this can help them save money and can even help save the environment. No matter how you teach your kids to save, start now so they will be well on their way to financial success!