7 Uses for Extra Tote Bags

Have you managed to gather more tote bags than you think you need? They can carry a lot more than just groceries from the store. If you have more than a few of them, don't just put them in the closet and forget about them. Bring them out and make use of them! How? Try these ideas.

1. Carry knitting, crochet or other needlework projects in one. Most of them are big enough to carry several skeins of yarn along with needles, pattern, scissors and any small tools you may need. If you use a box or small plastic bag for your tools, you won't lose them in the bottom of the tote bag.

2. The kids always want to take toys along with them no matter where you go, right? Just grab a tote bag let them put their toys in it and away you go. They can put the toys in the bag when they're through playing with them and everyone is happy. If you go to the pool or beach, a tote bag can hold wet swimsuits as well as toys.

3. When you're traveling, tuck a tote bag in your suitcase to hold dirty clothes as you change. An extra bag is great for holding extra shoes so the rest of your clothes stay clean.

4. Washable tote bags are great for bringing in garden produce. Put the dirtiest root crops in the bottom and fill the top with lettuce, beans or other clean crops.

5. Take one to the farmer's market, of course, but don't stop there. Keep an extra one in the car for those unexpectedly found roadside stands.

6. You can store any number of things in them if you put the handles around the neck of a hanger and hang them in your closet. Use one for scarves, gloves and hats or even socks and underwear!

7. If you don't need them for clothing items in your closet, put one in the hall or guest room closet and use it to store such various things as extra soap, electric cords, Christmas decorations or whatever else you need to store.

Back to school sales are for you, too.

Back to school sales are all over the place right now! Don't think of them as just for the kids and school; they're for you and your home, too. 

There are sales on pencils, crayons, notebooks and so on, so as you buy for the back to school gang, buy some for yourself while they're cheap. Who couldn't use a few pencils or notebooks throughout the year?

Other deals you'll find right now are on computers and other electronics and inexpensive furniture (for dorm rooms, but who says you or  your kids can't use it at home?). Now's the time to get those storage bins for the laundry or the bright, comfy seating for the family room as well.

Grab some new bedding for the kids (thanks again to dorm rooms), then add a bulletin board and a stack of cube storage boxes and your kids' rooms will look new for very little cash.

Now's the time, but it won't last long. As soon as school starts and the stock is sold, we will be right back to the higher prices, so take advantage of the sales while you can. 

How to save 100% on every sale you find

In all the hype we hear about sales and how much we can save, one thought keeps coming to mind.

They tell us we can save 10%, 25% and even more on some of these "special" "Unprecedented" "wow" sales...

I have a better method. I can save 100% by not buying that item in the first place.

I mean, I didn't want or need it before the sale, so why should I need it now?

It's something we need to check ourselves on now and then, no matter how frugal we are. Wrong attitudes about savings sneak up on us, just like they intended.

Brand Name Mania

image courtesy morguefile.com

It doesn't do much good to keep the heat turned down, walk to work and scrounge coupons for groceries if we blow what we save on name brands. I hear you... some brands are worth it. I know that and there are a few that I will probably always use because they are quality products.

There are others that I have changed my mind about over time. I no longer buy brand name potato chips (and I do eat them sometimes and I don't always make them!). I don't buy brand name toilet tissue, having done the math. There's a store brand that works well for me and actually costs less per week. I have returned to a cheap brand of shampoo that I used to use long ago and my hair seems the same as when I used the more expensive kind.

Those are just a few things that I changed as I continue to pare down my spending.

Brand names don't necessarily equal quality, nor do they always mean value. Even if they seem to deliver a bit more, that little bit isn't always worth the extra money. Why should I pay for a gracefully shaped shampoo bottle with silver or gold lettering when a plain, square necked bottle holds shampoo just as well? The content is what I'm interested in, not the presentation, yet the price of a brand name shampoo includes the design and production of a fancy container. I just don't want to subsidize someone else's idea of beauty. If the plain jane bottle of generic shampoo bothers me that much, I can buy a pretty container and put the generic shampoo in it.

The fact is that when you buy a brand name product, you're not just buying the product. You're paying for the container design, the marketing and probably the CEO's yacht.

Something to think about. 

Five Things You Never Need to Buy

Paper towels. Use rags cut from old clothing, linens or towels. Cut and hem them and they will last a very long time, wash after wash. You will no doubt wind up with clothing or other material that isn't absorbent or won't wash well. Cut those up and save them for nasty jobs so you can throw them away like you would paper towels.

Paper napkins. A very simple solution is to cut some squares of cotton or other absorbent material and hem it. Voila! Instant cloth napkins. Some people buy washcloths in special colors to use as napkins, but making your own is cheaper; your choice. Wash them with the other kitchen items like dishcloths and teatowels. Also, it doesn't hurt to use the same one a couple or three times if everyone has their own color or design (unless it's a messy meal!)

Trash bags. For the smaller trash cans, use plastic grocery bags. They're a sturdy or sturdier than bags you buy and you have them already! They even have handles. For larger trash cans, save bags that dog food, bird seed, mulch, compost or other garden amendments come in. Anything that comes in a large enough bag works. I have used the large plastic bags from Goodwill or other thrift stores (or even retail stores!).

Pots for starting seeds. Use any small container that you can poke a hole in for drainage. Some people use egg cartons, putting soil and a seed into each egg compartments. This is enough to get started, but plants will need to be transplanted soon because there is little room for roots to grow. Think: Soft drink bottles, cut down, yogurt containers, cottage cheese and sour cream containers or any plastic container that you can cut down to size.

Bulletin boards. Need a place to pin up pictures, notes or lists? Get a piece of cardboard from a cardboard box that is the right size for your space and cover it with piece of solid color cloth. Better if the cloth comes from an old sheet or tablecloth that you were going to use for rags! Wrap the cloth around the cardboard and tape it down with duct tape. You can either poke holes in it to hang from or attach a string from each corner to hang it. A few pins or thumbtacks and you're in business.

The Rule of Three

Are you in the market for an appliance or other "big ticket" item? You can save money by following the rule of three. It goes like this:

1. Go to the store or site of your choice and choose the exact one you want, or decide on a type that you want, with brand, size, etc., negotiable. Make detailed notes.

2. Go to another store or site and compare what they have with what you saw at the other store. Make sure each item is comparable. If you find a size or type that the other store didn't have and you like it better, make  note of it.

3. Go to yet another store. Follow the same procedure. Check the exact item if you're sure that's what you want, or look through the types, sizes and so on, to make up your mind. Make notes.

That's it. Go home. Wait three days.

1. Sit down with your notes.
2. Decide which one is the best deal.
3. Go and buy it.

5 Ways to Save at the Grocery Store

1. Never shop hungry. When you're hungry, everything looks good and you'll bring home a lot of snacks and items you wouldn't have bought otherwise.

2. Look up; look down. Grocery stores put the highest price items at eye level. Stoop over and see what's on the bottom shelf, then stand on your tiptoes and check out the top shelf.

3. Shop alone. The more, the merrier and the higher the grocery bill, as children or spouses add their favorites and things they want to try to the cart.

4. Shop the sales. Never go to the grocery store without looking at the current sales ads. If you don't take a newspaper, most stores have their ads online. Plan your meals around sales items and stock up a little if you can.

5. Ditch the brand name "must haves." Try store brand cereals, bread, dairy and meat. Most of the time, they're just as good as the brand that you pay the advertising for.

Guest Post: Five Tips for Mother's Day Shopping

If you're looking for great Mother's Day gift deals because you don't want to spend a fortune, the good news is – you don't have to. Following a few savvy shopping tips can help you land the best gifts at the best price. Here are five of those savvy shopping tips to help you get started.

1. Shop Clearance Sections
Clearance sections can be treasure troves of discounted items. Retailers will slash prices on old stock to make room for new. Some prices can be discounted by 75% or more off retail prices so this is definitely a do-not-miss area to check out.

2. Shop Ebay
You can find almost anything you're looking for on Ebay. Most Ebay sellers offer items at a cost far below retail value. Ebay isn't just for used items. You can find plenty of brand new items as well so it's worth checking out.

3. Gift Certificates
Even though a gift certificate may seem like an impersonal gift, there really are some great deals on them out there if you know where to look. Websites like Groupon will offer gift certificates to local area merchants at 50% or more off the retail value. For instance, a $100 gift certificate to a local spa may sell for $50 on Groupon – but you can still redeem it for $100 in services.

4. Book Trips Well In Advance
If you want to send your mom on a trip for Mother's Day, booking the accommodations months in advance will ensure that you get the best deal. Cruise lines, for instance, offer a savings of several hundred dollars off the price of a cruise if booked between certain dates. It doesn't have to coincide with Mother's Day. She can take the trip any time.

5. Err On The Side of Practicality
Instead of wracking your brain trying to think of something your mom might want, need or use – find out straight from her. Maybe she's been wanting her sewing machine repaired. Maybe the oil in her car needs changing. Maybe she wants to replace the curtains in her bedroom or buy new bedding. There may be something you can do for her that she wants and/or needs and it could cost considerably less than what you planned to spend anyway.

Todd is a writer for Dealio.com

Frugal shopping and seasonal sales

With back to school sales and end of season sales, now's the time to dig out that stash of cash you put back for sales. (Didn't you??)

Don't just think "school" when you see pens and pencils, jackets and shoes and backpacks on sale. First, check the price to be sure it's a real sale price, then you can shop for what you need, and not just what the kids need. It may be time to buy a few extra pens to have on hand for your checkbook (or to sign those notes to the teacher), or you may be in need of socks. Take inventory and see what you can save money on by buying it now.

End of season sales brings up all sorts of possibilities. Buy for next year, of course, but if you're buying for children, make sure you can estimate what size they'll be by next spring or summer. Think summer gifts, too. Birthdays and other celebrations may be covered less expensively if you buy on sale now.

Again, take inventory and see what you may need for next year. You will find great discounts on sandals and summer wear now.

As you shop, always think ahead but be careful. Don't overbuy or assume that things will always be the same. For instance teenager's tastes can change overnight, so stay away from fads and extreme fashions when you buy ahead for them.

With some caution and a little common sense, you can save a lot of money by taking advantage of sales for future needs.

Smart Tips to Shop Frugally

Guest post by Jack Reed

The need for being innovative and coming up with new ideas to save your hard earned cash has hit an all time high today. With a large number of Americans resorting to debt settlement to settle their debt woes, many are realizing the importance of frugal living and taking advantage of the money-saving opportunities in life. Spending less than you earn helps you to meet all your financial goals and what’s more, it keeps you away from debts!

Perhaps the greatest urge to spend money develops when one goes for shopping. With credit cards in wide use today, the impulse to splurge money while shopping is on the rise. Therefore, keeping some smart tips in mind while you go out to shop can help you save your hard earned dollars. Keep the following points in mind the next time you step out to shop:

1)Plan: This is very important. Decide what you really need to buy. Often, you go to a departmental store and end up purchasing things that you do not really require. Say you just go for an outing to a mall with your friends where a $200 jean strikes your fancy and you end up buying it. Thus chalking out a plan of what you really need to buy can save you a lot of money.

2)Control impulse purchases: Since impulse purchases can cause you to spend much, give time to yourself. You might come across an item which you ‘think’ you need. The best way then is to give time to yourself. Often after a day or two, you give up the idea of buying that item. It means you never really required it, thus this can be a good way to control your unnecessary expenses.

3)Make use of coupons: Coupon inserts can be found in most Sunday newspapers. Start collecting coupons; it really begins to pay off after a month or so. At the end of one month, a couponer should be able to take advantage of several excellent deals at multiple stores every week.

4)Use secondhand items: Look out for thrift stores and consignment shops. You can save hundreds of dollars over the years by purchasing used items such as different kinds of furniture, books etc. from such stores.

5)Buying online: You can google and find out where in the local market you can find the products you are looking for. Local markets and online auction sites are a good source where you can get things at a cheaper rate. The internet is also an easy way to learn and compare prices before you decide to spend your money.

6)Avoid brands: You do not want to pay for the brand but for the item that you require. Why pay a high price for something when you can get the same thing at a much cheaper rate by going generic? Don’t be brand conscious. This can really help you get steep discounts in your purchases.

7)Stop keeping up with the Joneses: Many people try to purchase brands even if they cannot afford it. This provides them an ego boost. If your neighbor is well off financially, you might go buy something expensive to escape feeling inferior! You should get rid of this mindset right away. Finding ways to cut your expenses is a sign of financial wisdom and paves your path for a better tomorrow.

8)Do not carry credit cards: This is a complete no-no! Carrying credit cards while shopping can tempt you for impulse buys. Often, the feel of a credit card is as if it is not real money. That feeling makes it easy to spend too much, as the credit card company pays for your purchases.

It is unwise to consider frugal living as a financial handcuff. Frugal shopping is not about making sacrifices or feeling deprived. On the contrary, it is smart shopping! When you plan to weed out unnecessary expenditure, you develop a sense of financial discipline. So get geared up and start to paint a better financial picture of yourself!

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Jack Reed is a financial writer with Oak View Law Group. He offers advice to people on various debt related issues. He can be contacted at jackrd3[@]gmail(dot)com

Creative thrift store shopping

Ready to go to the thrift store or a garage sale? Put on your creative thinking cap first.

Sometimes second hand shopping is a lost cause when you can't find what you want or think you want. Those times, just a change of viewpoint can make things look altogether different.

Cast in point: Some time back I went looking for a new vase. I needed one for the table. Nothing fancy but nothing ugly, either. I looked and looked and didn't find a thing, so I gave up. (When I say I gave up, it doesn't mean I went to a retail store and paid full price for it; it means that I quit looking and did without for awhile.)

A few weeks later I was browsing a garage sale table with nothing in particular on my mind when a copper teakettle caught my eye. I suddenly envisioned it filled with fresh daisies - and voila! my new vase was in front of my eyes for a mere twenty five cents.

Looking at things creatively sometimes means seeing them for what they are and not for what they seem to be. The teakettle seemed to be a container to heat water on the stove. It really was just a container, period. A container that could be used for anything that would fit.

On the same wavelength: Sheets are big pieces of material. What do you need? A tablecloth? Curtains? Material for a new dress or shirt? There it is.

A coffee cup can hold celery or carrot sticks at dinner, or it can hold flowers or a small houseplant. It can hold pens and pencils, short knitting needles and crochet hooks or any number of things.

A pretty book that you don't even want to read becomes a door stop or a booster seat for a child.

It doesn't have to be what it looks like it is. It can be just what it really is... a container, a solid rectangle, a sheet of material.

Creatively... do you shop like that?

Of Supply and Rice

When Costco and Sam's Club "rationed" rice, there came upon some of us a vague sense of panic. Food was being rationed! We were going to have to do without! Buy it now, while you can, there isn't any more!

No, no, and no again. How many 20 pound bags of rice do you need? We've been told that the reason rice sales have been limited is that restaurants were buying against future prices, as the rice crop has failed in parts of the world. That make sense. If I were a restaurant owner, I'd be doing the same thing. But I'm not a restaurant owner, and neither are most of you. So what's the problem?

The problem is that if we all begin to hoard food - buying more than we need at regular prices - we're causing a problem. What might have been a normal week in rice sales went whacko because some large buyers increased their purchases, thus leaving the remaining suppplies low. We, collectively, can cause the same thing.

Hoarding is not nice. It leaves your neighbors and your friends without or paying even higher prices.

So how does this fit with the stocking up I'm always preaching? This way: When we stock up, we buy sales items - food at a lower price than usual, not food at the normal price. Food that's on sale is abundant, otherwise it wouldn't be on sale. It might not be abundant in the future; we can't know that and that's not the point. The only reason to stock up is to take advantage of sales and below normal prices.

In other words, let this be a lesson. Don't hoard. It only hurts us all in the long run.

Shop when you're happy?

I first saw this notion at: Wallet Pop and followed the link to Fox Business .

I wasn't sure about the idea because personally I tend to not shop when I'm feeling down but when I have to, I get what I need and get out of there.

Maybe it has to do with some basic feelings toward shopping and "things" in general?

This also brings up another question. Are Americans that unhappy?? Because it seems like there's always a whole lotta shopping going on!

The Cost of Healthy Eating

I've heard it over and over: "I can't afford to eat (or feed my family) healthy meals!"

Well... why not? Here's a challenge:

Add up the cost of all the junk food you bought the last time you bought groceries. Include "necessities" like chips for lunches, and include cake mixes and cookie dough and canned sweet rolls. If you bake from scratch, add in the cost of ingredients as best you can.

Take your total to the store and just look. Look at the apples and the cabbage and the broccoli and the carrots. Estimate how much fresh produce you could have bought for what you spent on junk food and be as honest about it as you can.

Compare how long the produce would last with how long the junk food lasts.

I'm going to make yet another confession: I did this. For some reason, I bought more junk food than I usually do, so I added it all up and went and looked. I'm embarrassed to tell you how much healthy produce I could have bought for that amount, so I won't.

I know that not all of you even buy junk food, but for the ones who do... take the challenge.