When I was still working in the real world, I was reminded on an annual basis by my employer about the need for further education. Not only did the continued education help me to remain a viable employee, but it allowed me to progress slowly through the ranks of a successful employment. The education not only helped my employer though, it helped me as well because it allowed me to be a more prepared employee with the tools that I needed to succeed. Forward ahead four years, and I come to the realization that I still need continued education to keep me on my toes at saving money, and living frugally. I actually find enjoyment at doing both so it definitely does not feel like a job, but a way of life.

Along the way, I have had to try new things, change my way of thinking (code for accepts change well), and yes, work well with others; all items that would have been listed on my annual review. Even though I’m a housewife, I still have to look at my life as a job and apply things that I learned during my working years to my stay-at-home life. The two really are more similar than one would think. After all, I rise each morning for my workday just as everyone else does, although my day is a little different with snacks, and playtime interspersed with house work.

I furthered my education slowly at first, learning along the way as I went. I didn’t have a clue where to start, except that I knew that I would need to use coupons in some fashion to help me save. I had tried to use coupons in the past, but they never really worked and I would only save a dollar here or there, nothing that really excited me about using coupons.

My first introduction to learning how to save creatively landed me on CouponForum a discussion board that talked about saving money, using coupons, and coupon experiences that other board members had experienced. I was excited about the opportunity to learn from other moms who were just like me. I learned a lot about shopping at CVS and Walgreens, and how to use coupons more efficiently.My next and greatest fascination was finding another mom’s blog. This of course was long before I started my own blog. The mention of the MrsMoneySaver blog (then, it was Frugal In Virginia) was a topic of discussion, and after I landed on her blog, I can clearly say that I was addicted to the blogging world of other moms.

Between CouponForum and MrsMoneySaver, and now other blogs, I have learned a good deal about saving money, where to find the deals, and when to limit my spending, even if it is a good deal. After all, it isn’t really saving me money if it’s not something I would use already, even if it is a good deal. There is certainly a learning curve when first figuring out all the changes that can be made to help save money. There are so many ways to save money that it can be a little overwhelming at first regarding all the changes that you can make to help stretch your budget just a little further.

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas. We are currently snowed in, literally. We received record snow fall for Oklahoma, some parts receiving as much as fourteen inches. I’m not sure of the actual snow fall we received in our area, but it was at least eight inches. Some of our snow drifts are deeper than three feet. Both Christmas dinners with our families have been postponed until hopefully Saturday. We were however, able to enjoy Christmas here at our house this morning with our kids. Shopping for the after Christmas sales will definitely have to wait until the roads are a little better.

The Home Depot and My Coke Rewards have teamed up to offer a bonus for attending one of The Home Depot’s Do It Herself Workshops. I’m actually excited about it, and like the workshops that they offer. The next Do It Herself Workshop will be offered January 14th, and not only will you receive the benefit of attending the workshop, you will also receive 20 Bonus points from My Coke Rewards.

Never heard of My Coke Rewards, check my previous post for a little more information. Check The Home Depot’s site to sign up for the next Do It Herself Workshop. It should be a good one. They will be focusing on bathroom updates and two of the main topics will cover installing a faucet, and installing a toilet. Sounds like fun to me!

I was informed last night, as my husband walked in the door, that he was responsible for decorating a wreath for his office area. Instinctively I knew immediately that it meant I would be doing the decorating. Luckily I’m the person that purchases the odds and ends leftover after Christmas. I had a few things in my Christmas box to decorate the wreath with. It reminded me of the times when my kids have told me at 9:30pm that they need a certain school supply or some other crazy item for school. Be prepared, you never know what you might need at a moments notice.

I turned what should be a simple project into an art project. These wreaths arrive just like the Christmas trees that come out of a box. They have to be fluffed by separating all of the branches, so that’s the first step. Then, I had a can of snow, and immediately sprayed the wreath so that it would dry before I decorated it. Spray snow takes a really long time to dry. It wasn’t dry when I started decorating, but I didn’t have time to worry about messy projects. I had some leftover red decorating wire (with stars on it), and some bulbs that hadn’t been used. I wired everything on and poof instant decorated wreath. I then tied a ribbon on to match the bulbs, which could be shortened or removed if it wasn’t needed. It took less than an hour for the whole project.

I am really not very good at crafts and art projects. I can do them, but they don’t look like the projects created by the professionals at Michael’s or some other craft store. I’ve learned to live with my end projects though because in the beginning I don’t like them much, but over time they grow on you.

If there is ever an opportunity for my kids and I to make something together, we try to do the craft together. Last year we attempted to make three dimensional snow flakes that didn’t turn out so well. We tried, but no matter what we did to connect the snowflakes in the middle, all you could see was the pipe cleaner from every stem of the snowflake. This year we opted for something a little simpler, and it actually turned out better than I thought it would. These were constructed using the same materials as last year, we recycled them.

Our project consisted of white pipe cleaners and clear beads that would fit on the pipe cleaner. This year I had a clear idea about how we could keep the snowflakes together. A hot glue gun. I’m not sure why this thought never crossed my mind last year, but I’m sure that every crafter out there has a hot glue gun hidden somewhere. I actually found mine at Dollar Tree, and it still works after several years.

First we hot glued three strips of beaded pipe cleaner together at different angles, which made for a very pretty and simple snowflake.

We could have actually stopped right there, but then as I was laying two of the snowflakes together, I thought that it looked even better, and decided to hot glue to snowflakes together as well. The end result is the picture at the very top, and then these can be hung by fishing line (I’ll have to buy some of this), or by some other means, like a pretty ribbon. I think that the large snowflake could actually take one more layer of snowflake hot glued together, but we were willing to stop with what we had and experiment in other ways with out leftover beads and pipe cleaner. The kids enjoyed this project immensely for about the first five minutes, and then of course it became like a job threading the beads onto the pipe cleaner. Don’t forget to unplug the hot glue gun. I did.

I’ve posted a few times about my plans on making Christmas candies and cookies for gifts this year, and while I was excited about making it all, I knew that I didn’t have enough containers to put all of my goods in. I wasn’t worried, because I figured I could pick up a few containers at the dollar store, or some Glad containers which the recipient could use again. My trip to the thrift store this week allowed me to pick up a few great Christmas tins that will work great for my gifts. I’m sure that people get these tins every year with Christmas candies or cookies, and I am so glad that my thrift store had some available.

These will work really nicely because I can cut parchment paper out in the shape of the tin and separate all of the layers this way. The tins were priced at a $.25 each, so I grabbed six of them. My son has taken claim to one of them, so I’ll make do with the five that are left in addition to what I already had here at the house.  Now all I have left to do is make the cookies and candies, fill the tins, and put either a pretty bow or ribbon on the tin.

It’s getting closer to Christmas and all of our gifts aren’t purchased, but I’m not panicking. I don’t want to rush out and purchase something just for the sake of it. I have a little less than three weeks, and have plenty of time to find the right gift for everyone. For the adults in our family that we buy for, I like to give them something that I know will be used. Last year, all of the adults received a bag of Starbucks coffee purchased on sale of course, along with a bag of Russell Stover chocolates that were nearly free after rebate at Walgreens.

I haven’t seen any great sales lately on Starbucks coffee this year, and Walgreens no longer does their rebate program, so this year I’ll have to be a little more creative. I don’t know if I’ll be doing the coffee again this year, but I do want to make cookies, and candies for our adults this year; since it’s something they can use.

I have some excess in my stockpile of items that were purchased at deeply discounted prices when combined with coupons and sales. The men will be receiving deodorant, body wash, and a razor; while the women will be receiving either the cookies or the candy. Sometimes I feel a little guilty giving away gifts that cost me so little, but this is how we’re able to stretch our budget and give to all of the people that we want to in our family. Baking cookies and making candies will definitely help me stretch our budget and will allow me to make things at a fraction of the cost of what it would be to purchase them outright.

I actually have some of the gifts for the kids that we are buying for already purchased. By watching sales and waiting for the right price on things throughout the year, rather than going out the day before Christmas and paying full price I was able to pick up some really nice gifts at a much lower price.

Stumped on what to buy for that hard to buy for person? Think about their hobbies, or purchase something neutral. Check out my post on giving creative gifts. These things can be purchased throughout the year to cut down on costs around Christmas time.

Well, it’s not really gingerbread, but we were able to construct a house out of Nabisco Graham Crackers and plenty of icing to hold it together. This was a really neat project for the kids and kept them entertained for about an hour while they worked on putting it together. I searched for a recipe on making my own gingerbread house from scratch, but after I found one, decided that I was not that ambitious. My daughters were really wanting to make a gingerbread house for their brother, so I decided to go out and purchase a few things to make it happen.

I purchased a box of Nabisco Graham Crackers, two tubs of icing, a bag of M&M’s, a box of Dots, a Hershey’s Candy Bar, and Candy Canes. We didn’t end up using the candy bar or the candy canes, and the house turned out fine. To pipe the icing, we put some in a Ziploc bag and cut off the tip of the bag on the bottom, which makes a great piping bag.

Our first house we put together fell apart, so we made one a little differently the next time. The one pictured is still standing. From rooftop to base it is almost five inches tall. We constructed the bottom of the house with four sides, but to give the roof more stability we placed a ceiling on top of the four walls with icing of both sides which held to the walls, and the roof of the house. We then placed our rooftop together with more icing, and cut a triangle out of graham cracker to place between the roof to give it more stability, and of course added more icing. The key to the entire house holding together, was all of the well placed icing.

After the whole house was put together, we put M&M’s and Dots on for the decoration. The green M&M’s around the path are supposed to resemble bushes, but they didn’t work out so well. All in all, we had a fun time putting it together, it allowed us to spend some time together, and of course, eat all of our mess-ups in the process.

Our family is planning a canoe trip for next year and I am already planning and thinking about the items I need to bring. Why am I thinking about this so early? Well I love to plan. I love to make lists, and I love to look at lists. Lists are comforting to me because they are simple, organized, and structured. I am actually really excited about the canoe trip! It is three days and two nights on the river, so all the camping gear, food, and other essentials will need to be in the canoe with us. Of course the people have to fit in the canoe as well, so packing light is key.

This is a trip I took on three different occasions while I was in Camp Fire, but my brothers and I enjoyed it so much that we wanted to do it again. I made these trips as a teenager, and remember all the hard work that went into it, but also all the fun we had. I basically haven’t been camping in more than ten years so I have zero equipment. The great part is though that because I’m a fanatical planner, I’ll have everything I need before the trip, and hopefully will pay rock bottom prices for everything I need. The other good thing is that I can borrow what I don’t have from family who won’t be going on the trip. Any camping equipment that I do end up purchasing will cut down on the following years costs as well.

I wasn’t able to make the trip that my family took this year, but in talking with my mom and brother who did make the trip, we’ve decided to start a list now so that we won’t forget anything for next year. Planning this early is actually a good thing because it will allow us to make our purchases for the trip at a price we are willing to pay, rather than waiting right before the trip and purchasing everything at full price.

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year. I have an excuse to decorate the house with bright colors that I wouldn’t usually use. This is our cats third Christmas with us, and I opted for a little different decorating. Instead of putting all of the ornaments on the tree this year I decided that they were much safer placed in containers out of the way and not dangling there for what seemed like her entertainment. Last year our tree looked like a train wreck after only a week into having the tree up. By the time Christmas arrived our tree looked worse than Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree.

This year as soon as the tree came out of the box, it was open season on the Christmas tree. I knew that the cat would immediately look at the Christmas ornaments on the tree as an excuse to jump five feet into the air to get as many of the ornaments off as possible while damaging the tree with each leap into the air. She not only tries to climb the outside of the tree, but the inside as well. It’s quite a sight. This year the cat loses and I win with my new strategy.

I actually saw this in a magazine one year, and thought that it had an elegant look. I gathered the glass jars I had around the house, emptied their contents if they had other objects in them and filled each jar with similar colored ornaments. The look is quite stunning and creates the perfect centerpiece. The jars can be grouped together or stand on their own, but they truly are quite beautiful together. We may have to use this tactic for several more years until our cat gets a little more mature. This year our tree is decorated with lights and silver ribbon, simple and sweet, and something our cat cares nothing about.