I always put them away when I happen to get them too. I love them! I just started giving them in birthday cards as gifts for kids. I have some kids that have left my daycare, but I am still close too. I can't afford to buy everyone birthday presents all the time, so I get a cute card, one sheet of stickers, and either a $2 bill or a gold dollar coin. I mail that to them and they love it all. I don't feel guilty for not getting them something and save money for not having to buy something big.
I remember getting them from grandparents and great aunts in the mail all the time as a kid and I absolutely loved them!

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Daycare mom

I found out that you really only need about 2 tbsp of dishwasher soap too!! I mix powdered dishwasher soap with baking soda (half and half) and only use 2 tbsp per load. I have clean dishes and no residue and the soap lasts forever!!

search for the coupons & price drop product online. You could found too many discount products and saving more money.

Thats a great idea or at least the loose change,we all end up with in the bottom of your purse!!!!!!!!

Kids always want the toys and books they don't have, so arrange a swap with families from school. My students love Fridays because they each bring a favorite toy to share (labeled appropriately) and they get a new one each week to play with. Books, CD's and movies work the same way.

For fun craft projects try ENCHANTED LEARNING HOME PAGE, they have free activities and coloring pages on just about everything. Really good for rainy days and most of the materials are around the house items.

For school lunches try to purchase bulk family size chips or cookies and wrap in foil or reused bags (instead of individually packaged items) Buy a cheap one time plastic drink bottle to send with water or milk each day for a drink. (works for moms too!)

On car trips, pack a lunch and stop at a rest stop, not fast food joints. You avoid the temptation of eating out expensive and the kids can run around.

Check at a local butcher for extra paper and let the kids color it for you to use as wrapping paper. For kids gifts, just write the card information right on the package with a marker. Save $ on a card since most kids probably don't care anyway.

Deliberately make large portions of meals and freeze extras. Food is cheaper bought in bulk and when you pull them out of the freezer it is almost like eating out since you don't have to cook!

I save money by eating a meal at home before I go out and only spending $3-4 on coffee. I only eat out when it's a real occasion.

I coupon and belong to a coupon train that way I get more coupons for what I need and then trade off the coupons I dont. It is great. I save a ton of money with coupons. My local Lowes foods doubles up to a dollar and then if I can get to Kroger they also double and have great dollar sales. I also buy my meat in the clearance bin. I get good meat and cuts I couldnt afford to buy other wise. they even have lunch meat in there and everything even coleslaw. I also use the library alot and go to the thrift stores for my books as I am an avid reader. My husband works nights at a golf course so we get movies alot for him at the library. It is just getting harder and harder to stretch the dollar. I even make my own hummingbird food. I love to feed the birds but it is expensive.

My kids still talk about the fact that when we would go out we would not order soda. I used to tell them that we could eat out more if we skipped the soda. It would save about $5 or more everytime we ate out. I just told them they could have soda when we got home.

Set savings goals. For short-term goals, this is easy. If you want to buy a video game, find out how much it costs; if you want to buy a house, determine how much of a down payment you’ll need. For long-term goals, such as retirement, you’ll need to do a lot more planning (figuring out how much money you’ll need to live comfortably for 20 or 30 years after you stop working), and you’ll also need to figure out how investments will help you achieve your goals.

I am using powdered milk more and more. I will make up a quart of it on Monday and use it thru out the week. Here is what I use it in and no one knows

Any boxed mixes that call for milk-mac and cheese
instant oatmeal
pancake mixes
mashed potatoes
coffee along with my homemade powdered coffee creamers

Since I can usually get whole milk for the same price as 2% I will get that and than when the milk gallon is half gone, I will mix up 2 quarts of powdered milk and add it to the whole. Makes our milk stretch a lot further and no one can tell. Even dh doesnt know I am doing it.

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Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate.
Jon Bon Jovi