You can also take the mylar balloons back into the store and they'll refill them for you. I've never had to pay to get them refilled. My MIL does the same thing. Maybe your DH could take DD out to the store to pick out ONE mylar balloon that she LOVES and then keep refilling it. Maybe the two of them could even go to the $1 store at the beginning of each month and pick out one balloon. It'd be a nice tradition between them, and as a bonus, it would cost only $1 a month, would teach her to choose something that she REALLY likes and she'd take care of it so it lasted all month.

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~~Amanda~~ Mommy to one Little Man (3 1/2 yrs old), TTC #2

WE'RE ADOPTING!!!

What a brilliant idea- I never realized you could bring them back for refilling - I have always just tossed them!! This is the exact reason why I love MS so much - cool savings ideas from so many peple willing to share!! Thanks!

Why don't you and your husband give each other a certain amount of cash to play with. For example give him $10 and take $10 for yourself and use it for whatever you want, a coffee, a bar of chocolate, a balloon for your daughter.
He won't take long to realize the value of his money, and if he chooses to spend $6 on a balloon, that's his decision.
He's an adult, he knows the consequences of overspending.
I've given up couponing. I found I was putting a lot of work into saving pennies. I keep some restaurant coupons but only if they're decent restaurants (no fast food for me).
I found that since I gave up wasting time cutting coupons I spend about the same amount of money on groceries and nothing gets wasted.

That IS a great idea!!! I never knew you could do that either!!

Thanks for sharing, flybygrace!!

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I feel that way about coupons. I clip coupons, use the consignments store, sell things on craiglist & ebay. I do all this penny pinching trying to keep up with his spending.

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I do all of that too!! Plus I look at the weekly ads and figure out how i can match them up with my coupons. For example, I found a coupon for $1 off betty crocker cake mix AND frosting. Well...they were both on sale. So I paid $1.09 for the frosting and basically got the cake mix for free. I also wait till colgate goes on sale 2 for $3. Then I use my $1 off one and get the toothpaste for $.50! I have enough for the next year!!!

I do that ALL the time. Yes..it does take time..but my panty downstairs is like a mini-mart! I have just about everything I use on a regular basis...plus the occasional things I use for baking that you don't use that often but hate to NOT have when you need it...

Anyhow..what drives me crazy is not so much my husband's spending...but his lack of appreciation for what I do to save money! He works full-time..I work part-time. His bills pretty much pay for our living expenses and he rarely has any leftover. My money goes towards ALL food, diapers, wipes, formula...and basically anything extra throughout the week. See I don't work full-time...so I spend my time online looking for deals, printing coupons...and building a HUGE food storage when I find things on sale and clearance so that I don't have to buy them full price...EVER. So that's how I supplement. If I worked full-time, I wouldn't have the time to do what I do to save us money....yet this way, I get to spend time with my baby and "work" to save us money while she is asleep....like right now! =)

So one day we were arguing because he says my paycheck goes the moment I get it. He said that I had more money to play with than he does! I was like.."Excuse me?!" First of all...yes...my money goes right away...because I have a list a mile long that never seems to end...I prioritize that list so that after my grocery shopping is done...I head out to Costco to stock up on diapers, wipes...etc. (I can't wait till we are done with that!). It's never ending! right now...I'm waiting till next pay so I can go buy a 40 lb bag of science diet...that will last my dog about a month....it's on sale right now and I hate to wait till last minute to buy it because it's usually about a nice $40 chunk!

He has no idea what I do or how I do it! All he knows is that he NEVER runs our of toilet paper, shampoo, soap, etc....and that whenever he is a hungry...all he has to do is look...plus whenever he has buddies over for football games...I ALWAYS have sodas and snacks! (I got a bag on chex mix on sale for less than 50 cents with a triple coupon last week!) It just frosts me when he acts like I have all of this money to go out and do whatever I want...when I work so hard to keep up our standard of living while being a stay-at-home mom!

Men are clueless!

Heres a q: Do kids really need to get 2 gifts a week when theres no reason. Its one thing for a reward system or holiday, quite another to think a child NEEDS so many material things. With the $12 spent on stuff you could buy food for a picnic in the park or other family activity. I think that would be the bigger issue for me. I can understand wanting to bond with a daughter and show her love but I feel time is a much better gift.

Another thought- maybe you could let him take over the money for a month or so, no coupons, no budgeting help from you. Maybe he would realise just how much you really do contribute.