Nicole

February No-Spend Month Challenge: Day 8 Recap #nospendchallenge

Hello again, savvy savers! Happy Sunday! Can you believe we are a week into a No-Spending Month Challenge!

A full day, a new way to find to save at home! This last week, we focused the first part of the week on pantry organization, organizing food swap days, creating meals based on pantry staples, and then switched focus to alternative pantry re-stocking methods, including starting and maintaining a coupon swap, rain-check shopping, and saving money on the grocery bill, and monthly expenses for that matter, by channeling funds from utility premiums back into your overall family/personal budgets. So you could say, last week was all about food!

This morning I discussed that this coming week I want to change course. I want to focus on our homes. I want to focus on all of the cluttered, chaotic, dirty, overlooked blemishes that hinder out overall vision of what a simple, efficient can bring into our day-to-day existences. This week we are going tackle the chaos that be head on. We are going to scrub, dust, sort, purge, evaluate, and hopefully make a profit in the process! No matter is you rent, lease, or own there is work to be done! No matter if your home is showcase worthy or disaster-adjacent, there is something can can be done to better your home this coming week! Today’s challenge was to make a list of four areas in your home that need organization, cleaning, and sorting, and to prepare to clean this week.

As well, in addition to the challenges ahead of you today, I encourage you to procure from your home the following:

A large basket, bin, or box.
A clipboard with paper, or notepad.
A few pens, markers, or sharpies.
Three empty bags, bins, or boxes large enough to hold a load of laundry or like items.
A handful of sponges or rags.

So, today I spent the afternoon making lists and projects to fill my week with, and I hope you have done the same!

As well today, I was also able to accomplish:

I woke up at 7:25, walked my fur babies, showered, & dressed to my shoes. (Thanks, Flylady!)
Worked on my daily Motivated Moms Planner.
I finished today’s Day8 No-Spend Challenge!
I cooked from my pantry for each meal.
I finished all of my daily blog posts on time!
Read my daily devotional.
I donated a trunk full of household goods to charity.
I finished all of my errands and shopping before 1 pm!

So today I saved:

I used drying racks for six loads of laundry this afternoon, saving an average of $3.25, the cost of running my dryer for 3.5 hours!
I completed 2 surveys online via Ipsos-iSay, and earned a $1.00 towards my next Amazon gift code.
I eat at home this evening for dinner, saving our family $6.95.
I recycled, upcycled, and composted one bins of deluge, and saved $0.25, the cost of 1 trash bag.
My family drank water today, and saved $0.69, the cost of a 2-liter of soda.
I also did not watch cable tv, and saved $3.68 by doing so.
I blanched 19 bags of DIY Stir Fry Bags, and minus the $12.00 cost of the produce, a savings of $24.00!

So, overall today my family saved: $27.82

This months savings goal remaining: $417.66

A full day, a new way to find to save at home! Be sure to come back tomorrow morning for a new day’s challenge!

Here’s to saving,

Challenge Links:

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$25.00 ETSY Shadow Cat Crafts Gift Card Giveaway! #etsygiftcardgiveaway

Hello again, savvy savers! Be sure to mosey on over to The LadyPrefers2Save Giveaway tab, and take a looksie-loo at all of my current giveaways on the blog!

Typically, there are two-three of the following per week:

Giveaways
Contests
And promotional offers

I encourage you all to enter for your chance to win a myriad of fun prizes, products, and gift-cards! To check out these giveaways, click here! Enjoy!

For this weeks giveaway, I am giving away a $25.00 ETSY Gift Code to my ETSY shop, Shadow Cat Crafts! To enter simply:

Be a current blog subscriber to the LadyPrefers2Save.
Fill Out the rafflecopter below
Leave me a comment letting me know which item from my shop you liked best!
Sweepers entries will be voided; the point of the giveaway is to promote my shop, not to promote sweeper sites, or to draw subscriber-ship to their blogs, such as this.
Also please note, tagged posts, such as here, and entries channeled to this post via this outlet, will be disqualified.
This giveaway is for American entries only, due to the higher costs of shipping internationally.
Please note, all entries will be verified, and this giveaway will run through 2/15/15 at 11:59 pm CST.
Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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February Reading List, Week 1 Update & Giveaway!

Hello again, savvy savers! Today finds me having been able to finish a third of my reading list books finished!

The 7 Books I’ll Be Reading in February:

Thus far I have been able to read the following, and will post a review for the group this Thursday:

Each book I would rate at as being informative, humorous, and useful. So far, so good on my list this month!

So, what books are you planning to reading this month? Leave a comment, and let me know!

Also, I will be giving away an extra copy of each book above to a lucky reader! Just follow the rafflecopter below!

Here’s to reading,

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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How To Organize & Store Seed Packets!

Hello again, savvy savers! With Spring slowly winding up around us, many stores are drastically dropping the prices of seed packets (the Dollar Tree currently has seed packets for $0.05 per packet in my area),to cash in on pre-Spring sales, and this is the time to procure the majority of your garden seeds for the 2015 Spring Summer, and Later Summer/Fall Planting Seasons. So I thought this would be a great time to discuss one of my primary means to organize my seed packets at home! I use the binder method, similar to what I would use to combine coupons. I find that binding my seed packets makes for easier planting, storage, and accessibility.

Here’s how I do it:

Materials Needed:

A Spacious Binder; 3″ at a minimum.
Playing card sleeves; you can purchase there in packs of 10 at the Dollar Tree.
Currency Sleeves; you can purchase them cheaper than office supply store through Amazon for under $6.00.
Tab dividers and Page sleeves; optional.
Seed packets.
Freezer.

Instructions:

Taking a seed packet, fold the back 1.25 inches into itself, so that the fold of the packet falls just above the front banner of the packet; see photo above.
Place seed packets, with the name and homogeneous name of each seed facing up.
Divide seeds from flowers.
For a more organized binder, use tabs to divide seeds according to the months they should be planted; I follow my local Farmer’s Almanac which can be purchased at your local Dollar Tree.
For larger seed packets, a small piece of scotch tape can seal each slot.
Store your binder away from pets, on shelves, out of direct sunlight, moisture, or air fresheners.
For long-term storage, freeze your binder in a deep freeze; this maximizes seed life by as much as four years per packet.
Enjoy!

Here’s to being organized!

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February No-Spend Month Challenge: Day 8 (Preparing For Cleaning Week)

Hello again, savvy savers! Happy Sunday! Can you believe we are a week into a No-Spending Month Challenge!

This coming week I want to change course. I want to focus on our homes. I want to focus on all of the cluttered, chaotic, dirty, overlooked blemishes that hinder out overall vision of what a simple, efficient can bring into our day-to-day existences. This week we are going tackle the chaos that be head on. We are going to scrub, dust, sort, purge, evaluate, and hopefully make a profit in the process! No matter is you rent, lease, or own there is work to be done! No matter if your home is showcase worthy or disaster-adjacent, there is something can can be done to better your home this coming week!

This week will be slow. This week will seem awful. This week will leave you feeling wonderful.

So today I challenge you two fold. First, I challenge you to make a list of four areas in your home that need organization, cleaning, sorting, or the like. Secondly, I challenge you to prepare to clean this week.

As well, in addition to the challenges ahead of you today, I encourage you to procure from your home the following:

A large basket, bin, or box.
A clipboard with paper, or notepad.
A few pens, markers, or sharpies.
Three empty bags, bins, or boxes large enough to hold a load of laundry or like items.
A handful of sponges or rags.

Nothing too dramatic today! So, be sure to have a cup of coffee or tea, take a moment to collect your thoughts, write your list, and then mosey on back here this evening to see today’s recap!

Here’s to saving,

Challenge Links:

5 Comments

February No-Spend Month Challenge: Day 7 Recap #nospendchallenge

Hello again, savvy savers! So for today’s challenge, I suggested you all look to find ways to lower your utility bills at home. For me, this meant mailing off letters requesting new, updated prorated billing information for all three of my utility companies, for gas, electric, and my city water station. Within a month, I generally receive this information in the mail, and from this letter, I can better plan my consumption and usage at home! A little forethought goes a long way towards living a greener existence!

So, here is what I did today:

I was able to stop by Winn-Dixie and purchase 40 pounds of produce for under $12.00 (post to come)!
I mailed off letters for today’s challenge, as well as Valentine’s Day Cards for out-of-state family.

As well today, I was also able to accomplish:

I woke up at 7:25, walked my fur babies, showered, & dressed to my shoes. (Thanks, Flylady!)
Worked on my daily Motivated Moms Planner.
I finished today’s Day 7 No-Spend Challenge!
I enjoyed a Free Chik-fil-a- frozen latte!
Ate free samples for lunch at Sam’s Club!
I cooked from my pantry for dinner.
I finished all of my daily blog posts on time!
Read my daily devotional.
I finished all of my errands and shopping before 1 pm!

So today I saved:

I used drying racks for six loads of laundry this afternoon, saving an average of $3.25, the cost of running my dryer for 3.5 hours!
I completed 2 surveys online via Ipsos-iSay, and earned a $1.00 towards my next Amazon gift code.
I eat at home this evening for dinner, saving our family $3.95.
I recycled, upcycled, and composted one bins of deluge, and saved $0.25, the cost of 1 trash bag.
My husband and I both enjoyed free Chik-fil-a frozen lattes, a savings of $5.98!
I received $7.99 worth of product review items, which can be placed in my home gift closet!
My family drank water today, and saved $0.69, the cost of a 2-liter of soda.
I also did not watch cable tv, and saved $3.68 by doing so.
I created a years worth of DIY Hand Sanitizer from materials I found in my home stockpile, saving my family $30.00; the cost of twelve, twelve ounce bottles.

So, overall today my family saved: $56.79

This months savings goal remaining: $445.48

A full day, a new way to find to save at home! Be sure to come back tomorrow morning for a new day’s challenge!

Here’s to saving,

Challenge Links:

2 Comments

February No-Spend Month Challenge: Day 7 (How To Save On Your Utility Bills) #nospendchallenge

Hello again, savvy savers! It’s a new day, and time for a new challenge! Did you know that you can request from your utility companies, your gas, water, and power companies, an itemized summary of your peak and non-peak hours and service pricing? Did you also know that you could be saving as much as 1/4 off of your bills monthly? Well, you can! Here’s an example…

Starting last Spring, my water bill went up by 20% in a months time! Not that it was a lot of money, but in a year’s time it would have amounted to $400.00! I set out to figure out how to reduce this amount!

Here’s what I did:

I started by calling my city water department, who did not return my call.
I then called my city managers office, and was informed by a kind gentleman there, that water, like electricity has a variable cost, and there are peak and non-peak times of the month, season, and year when water charges are higher, so countries and cities can offset the cost of public works projects in many areas. He also said, that you can request in writing, that your city water department tell of you of current charges, pending spikes for everyone, etc.
When I found this out last summer, I noticed that charges were higher the last week of the month, so I implemented new water usage strategies in my home; I purchased rain barrel systems to attach to my gutters, which I now use for watering my garden the final week of the month, I also do not wash during that week, making sure all of my wash is prepped before that time, for example.
I also checked all of my toilets, plumbing, and water lines for any leaks or pipes that needed to be replaced; luckily they did not!
Just these two changes saved me $38.10 monthly!

What’s better? I then went on to repeat this process for all of my other services, too! I found out that every county seat in this country must provide customers that opportunity to learn what are peak and non-peak hours for consumption. I requested this from my local power co-op, and was then able to see that later in the week, from 7-12 am nightly power premiums were less in price, so I adjusted my washing, drying, dish-washing, and vacuuming to this time. I also found out the same schedule from my city managers office, in terms of out city water department, and adjusted watering for my garden to Sunday’s and Wednesday’s, as the water was nearly 20% less in premiums on non-peak times.

With just these two changes, I was able to save over $400.00 last year!

So today, I challenge you to pull out your paper and e-print utility statements, check out your peak and non-peak hours, and then write your companies and request an itemized usage statement so that you too can reduce your overall gas, power, and water consumption rates in your neck of the woods!

So today I challenge you to start the process of seeing where you can save on your utilities, too! Be sure to come back this evening to see today’s recap!

Here’s to saving,

Challenge Links:

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