Becoming a Money Saving Mom

As a Money Saving Mom reader, I was delighted to be selected to review Crystal Paine's new book, The Money Saving Mom's Budget, on audiobook.



The first thing I loved is that the book is read aloud by Crystal herself. I think this allows the listener to get a better glimpse of Crystal's personality. Honestly, its what I have seen of Crystal's personality on her blog that drew me to this book in the first place. The 'budget' theme of the book wasn't a huge pull for me because the hubs and I have figured out our budget pretty well. That being said, I didn't doubt that Crystal would have some great advice that I could still apply in my own life and home.

Crystal covers topics like constructing a budget spreadsheet, beginning couponing, menu planning, simplistic living, organizing, and executing a successful yard sale. While she doesn't dive super deep into each of these topics, I feel like she provided sufficient information to spark my motivation and pursue some of these money-saving options on my own.  And I feel like that was truly Crystal's intent in writing this book - to help readers identify some of the day to day ways they can save money, in addition to following a budget.

I was excited to find that some of Crystal's money-saving tips were things our family is already putting into practice; but listening to her book also inspired me to tackle a few more arenas, like making our own homemade bread, constructing a time budget for myself (for the first time in 10 years I just bought a day planner), and making a habit of regularly purging each room of our house to minimize clutter.

I particularly love Crystal's attitude toward simple living and being content. This is a theme that resonates throughout her entire book. If you have clutter in your house that you aren't using, give it to someone who can use it. Check out movies and books from your local library instead of buying them. If you find yourself stressing at 4pm each day what you're going to make for dinner, plan ahead! Set aside time each week to plan your menu and buy the necessary groceries. These are just a few of the simple tips Crystal highlights.

I think everyone can glean something from this book.

If you have never visited Crystal's blog, you can check it out HERE.

------------------

Are you looking for ways to be more frugal in your day to day life?

Here are some actions our family has taken to cut unnecessary costs:

1. We ditched our DirecTV subscription a few months ago when our contract expired. We get only a few basic channels now, but can watch most of our favorite shows online. Not only is this saving us cash but we also have the TV on less. This does mean that the hubs misses a few of his favorite sports aired primarily on the 'luxury' channels, but we make do. For instance, he paid $4 to watch March Madness online.

2. We haven't had a cell phone plan for years. We ditched our individual cell phones and overpriced plan back in 2007 and replaced them with a single pay-as-you-go phone. We pay about $26 every 2-3 months to recharge it and try to only use it for emergencies or on trips. We use our landline through Vonage for the majority of our calls.

3. We monitor our thermostat. The hubs has our programmable thermostat set to drop a few degrees during the day while we're at work; it heats up again around the time we get home. He also has it set to drop a few degrees at night. Those few degrees can add up to a big difference on your utility bill.

4. I make my own liquid laundry detergent. In the last six months we have spent a mere $10 on the necessary ingredients to make liquid detergent. Each batch makes two gallons of detergent. I anticipate that $10 worth of ingredients will produce 8-10 gallons of detergent before I need to restock. (This isn't for everyone - I have a friend who tried it recently but her sensitive skin didn't like the detergent. For us, however, it has been a fun and easy way to save a few bucks.)

5. We cut the boys' hair at home. To be fair, Justin has pointed out this savings for a few years now, and I admit that it wasn't until a few months ago it finally occurred to me we were saving at least $20 each month by doing home haircuts. Thats over a quarter tank of gas in savings each month!

6. We menu plan and take our lunch to work. We usually plan a monthly menu and do one primary shopping trip, with a small trip two weeks later to replenish our perishables like dairy products and produce. Since both Justin and I work full-time, it relieves a lot of stress knowing ahead of time what we're eating and when. I have found that we eat much healthier when we menu plan; not only do we have vegetables planned with each meal, but if dinner is already in the crockpot at home we are less apt to go out to eat or pick up a pizza. Then we take the leftovers for lunch.

Put these all together and they add up to some great savings! 

What fun ways have you found to save some cash?

Linking up here: