How to be a Smart Dollar Store Shopper
An informed shopper is a smart shopper. Therefore, as a smart dollar store shopper, you need to know how to separate the junk from the good stuff.
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From The Dollar Stretcher Featured Content.
How to be a Smart Dollar Store Shopper
An informed shopper is a smart shopper. Therefore, as a smart dollar store shopper, you need to know how to separate the junk from the good stuff.
Continue reading How to be a Smart Dollar Store Shopper …
From The Dollar Stretcher Featured Content.
Birthday Cakes
Our family has 3 birthdays next week and 1 this week so we are frantically trying to figure out what to do for birthday cakes. Decorated cakes can really be expensive. I don’t have room to cover all the ideas I have today but will give you a couple to get you started if you to want to save or do your own cakes. You don’t have to take professional classes to to learn to decorate your own or to make some really cute cakes.
All these ideas are done with a simple basic frosted cake.
~ Go to the party section of your dollar store and buy a bag of party favors to decorate your cake. For example my one grandson loves balls of every sort so we would buy a package of assorted balls of party favors. You could also use some of your children’s own small favorite toys, like miniature Barbies, legos, dinosaurs etc.
Just stack or arrange in a nice order on the cake add happy birthday, candles and you’re done.
~Remember it doesn’t have to be fancy. Kids love lots of colors so you could do a cake in white frosting or whip cream and then sprinkle a bunch of colorful sprinkles on it.
~Another idea is to buy some of the child’s favorite candy and place a huge mound of it on the cake – wrapped or unwrapped it doesn’t matter.
~ I did not have a steady hand to write letters on a cake so here is a trick that helped me. Use a tooth pick to write your letters first. If it doesn’t look right you can smooth the frosting and start over.
~ Last but not least if you can’t do even that much and really feel you must buy a cake then watch when you favorite grocery store puts their cakes on clearance and buy it on clearance. You can freeze cakes easily so give yourself plenty of time to look and then freeze if you need too.
Relax, if it has lots of color and candles with their name on it most kids don’t care if it is a little lopsided or strange looking. It’s their birthday and they are looking at the world through rose colored glasses so just do the best you can.You won’t warp them with a cake with crooked lettering. 
Jill
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From Living On A Dime Blog » Living On A Dime Blog.
How To Have a Frugal Picnic
Memorial Day is right around the corner and if your family is like mine, we will be picnicking somewhere. With the temperatures beginning to soar in my region, I find myself trying to find a way to serve my family delicious meals, but yet stay on the frugal side.
Here are a few of my tried and true tips!
- If you do not have the gas to drive somewhere, instead of fretting, plan a fabulous picnic right in your own backyard. End the day playing Frisbee or just throw the ball back and forth together.
- If you are into decorating your picnic table with a cloth or need a blanket to sit on, why not make your own? Purchase clearance fabric and design a beautiful picnic blanket. You can use this design that I posted about in last year’s newsletter. Another option is to visit your local dollar store. Many of them have the gingham look table cloths for only $1.00.
- If you want to cut down on food waste and avoid having to pack tons of food, make everyone their very own special lunch pail. We have used beach pails before and packed them with a special sandwich, dessert, chips, and a drink. When lunch is finished, they have a toy to play with!
- If you are traveling, Picnic Recipes and Games offers a listing of picnic areas in the United States. They have over 109 listed!
- Organized Home has a Picnic Planner Checklist that will help you organize all those picnic staples!
Those are just a few of the things I do when I picnic. I look for any opportunity to spend time with my family, making it special for them–and still keeping things frugal!
What are your plans for this weekend?
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From Econobusters.
This Is THE Cutest Wreath
I love the Dollar Store Craft Site. I was looking at the recent posts they have and came across this one!
I think I actually might try to make one of these to hang in my kitchen!
To find out how you can make one, simply click over to Dollar Store Crafts to check out the tutorial.
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From Econobusters.
Homeschool Graduation Ideas
May is the month when our homeschool ends for the year. A friend of mine is watching her baby graduate this year. She has been looking for ideas to make this a special and memorable time for him since it is his graduation-which got me to thinking- – what can we do as homeschool parents on that special graduation day?
Here are some tips and ideas that you might use:
- Depending on the likes and dislikes of your teen, you can throw him a themed party. Some ideas are a 50’s party, fancy dress party, garden party, or just a simple graduation party.
- Homeschooldiploma.com has all your homeschooling graduation needs. I checked it out and a cap and gown are only around $30 which is a great price!
- If you have been homeschooling your child’s whole entire life, or even just part of it, why not create a slide of photos with graduation music or a song that fits your child best and use this as the main event during your teens graduation ceremony?
- Purchase or make a guest book and have all the family and friends sign and write special notes to the graduating senior.
- For decoration ideas, check your local dollar store to see if they have any decorations in the dollar aisle. My dollar store has everything for a graduation party.
- If you need a large space to hold a party, try using a senior center, community rooms, churches, or restaurants. Another option would be to look in the yellow pages under weddings and they have options for banquet rooms.
What are some ways that you have prepared and celebrated this special day for your graduating teenager?
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From Econobusters.
Less Than Perfect House Numbers
Just thought I’d share a fun way to make inexpensive but cute house numbers using a platter. I got this platter at the Dollar Store for……$1. It’s blue/white and matches our house colors. We went forever without house numbers because I knew I wanted to do this but wanted it to be “just right”. I wanted to paint light blue numbers to match the platter and be, oh so pretty. Granted, that WILL look much better but I finally realized I’d better do something to help out the UPS man until I finally get around to my “big plans”. So I bought some of those cheap, rectangular stick-on house numbers at Walmart and then just cut around the numbers and stuck them on.
Doesn’t look as nice as painted blue ones, but the reality is, who knows when and if I’ll ever get to that. As it is, it’s still more creative than regular old numbers. Quick & easy, too!
And, as I’ve learned in my old age:
Not everything worth doing is worth doing well!!
Sometimes it’s best just to DO something. Come back later and fix it if you have time but don’t let perfection stand in the way of progress. Learn what needs to be perfect and what doesn’t!
Less than perfect works for me! To see more Works for Me Wednesday tips visit Kristen at We Are That Family.
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From Econobusters.
How I Use My Dollar Store Finds
Many of us like going to a dollar store. Try these outside-the-box uses for the typical items found at a dollar store. Be creative and having fun!
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From The Dollar Stretcher Featured Content.
Valentine Link Love
I have many blogs that I read every day looking for great ideas that I can share with you, and even learn a few things myself. This last week there have been some great Valentine links that I thought I would share with you:
The Frugal Family Fun Blog has a cute idea to make scratch and sniff Valentine’s.
Little Birdie Secrets shares her tutorial to make Heart Strings.
If you have some of those cute heart buttons, you can make this adorable onesie called Wearing Your Heart on Your Chest.
Print these free Chuck E Cheese Valentine Cards (they are good for five free tokens per child)!
Skip To My Lou shares her tutorial on making a Ladybug Valentine.
Dollar Store Crafts has a cute Valentine lei that looks absolutely adorable!
What have you found around the Internet lately that is Valentine related? Is it something we would all enjoy? Email me the link! I would love to see it.
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From Econobusters.
Free Chore Charts & the Chore Store
Looking for some ideas for chore charts? Look no more!
The Daily Docket is my favorite free Mommy Chart, courtesy of Simple Mom. Well…my favorite is probably the Motivated Mom planner, but it’s not free. Cheap, but not free.
Chart Jungle has chore charts as well as some itemized room-by-room checklists.
Fun site to create a custom chart for your child.
Didn’t see anything you like? Use the ideas in these charts to create a customized chart of your own. I have my daughter make charts for her and her brothers to help her learn how to manipulate tables in Word.
Wondering what chores are appropriate for what ages? Here are some age appropriate chore suggestions. You’ll find more ideas here and here.
One thing I like to do with my kids is to give them a trip to the Chore Store when they’ve completed a predetermined number of good chore days. Chore Store dollars are awarded depending on how well they’ve done their chores for the week without being told. The Chore Store contains a variety of odds and ends that I’ve picked up from garage sales, the Dollar Store, clearance sales and such. I also throw in tickets for outings with Mom, a game night, etc. Different items have a different price attached. This is a fun motivator that also teaches budgeting and promotes delaying gratification as they work toward the larger prizes.
What about you? Do you have a favorite chore chart or checklist? How do you keep your kids (and yourself) motivated?
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From Econobusters.