How many times do you SWEAR you have the right key but it just doesn’t want to work? And because you just must drive yourself insane, you keep trying it over and over knowing that it will unlock at any second?

I don’t know any of this from experience of course…I’m just sayin’. *yeah right*

Here’s an easy trick. Paint the tops of your keys with nail polish.

For each key that needs to be marked, use a different color. It’s much easier to remember that my office key is red and the work kitchen key is orange and so on and so on. Also, if your children are using the keys, it’s much easier to say, “Use the PINK one,” instead of trying to pick out the correct key for them. Now, I know you can go out and buy those little inexpensive rubber thingys to put on your keys, which will help lower your insanity level just the same. But, why buy them if you happen to have nail polish laying around?

Quick and simple time saving remedy!

More Thrifty Thursday at Coupon Teacher

Wow. Thanks Halloween.

Thanks a lot.

I now need to put away my “skinny” jeans that I worked SO hard to get into.

Besides stuffing more and more into my mouth, something needs to be done with this candy. Considering the price of treats this year (could you believe it?), it would obviously be wasteful to just throw it all away. So…what’s one to do? I can’t stay in these “fat” jeans forever.

• This Sunday, trade some of it in at Noodles & Co. for a free bowl of noodles!
• Turn the candy into luscious desserts…and then give them AWAY…far…far…away. Great recipes can be found from Real Simple and BabyCenter.
• Think Christmas. You know… “Can you bring a tray of cookies to the party?” Baking gets quite expensive after about the 142nd tray of sweets. Save yourself some money by bagging and freezing all of the chocolate Halloween candy. M&M’s or chopped snicker bars make great additions, instead of buying chocolate chips.
• Buy MORE (what?), while it’s being marked down. Then, see above statement. Also, do you provide bags of candy for holiday parties? Now is the time to scoop up the Skittles and other yummies for those little prize bags.
• Save the hard candy for Operation Christmas Child or Any Soldier gift boxes.

I only have one child…what does one with FOUR children do with FOUR times the amount of candy? Give us ideas please…before we ALL outgrow our jeans.

More Thrifty Thursday Here.

Concerts. Festivals. Expo Halls. Mail. Stores. Parties. Hotel Rooms. Internet.

Everywhere you look, there are free samples.

You can’t help yourself, can you? Me neither. I HAVE to pick them up.

Why? Because I absolutely, need, can’t-do-without a little baby bottle of shampoo or lotion? Well, no…basically…because they are free (and sometimes really cute!) Believe it or not, free samples can actually be useful! Now, trust me when I say I don’t spend hours per day scouring the internet to sign up for tiny little freebie deebies (unless it’s Prilosec, which saves me money in the end.) A few here and there take no time at all. Periodically checking sites like Walmart Samples or P & G Brandsampler makes it very easy to sign up for several with little effort.

What are the benefits of free samples?

• More times than not, they will also come with a high value coupon
• Sometimes they will include other offers, like free music downloads or ebooks
• Good for traveling or to keep in the vehicle glove box
• Perfect for purses or diaper bags
• Great to carry on airplanes (I have found the PERFECT sample bottle – have been refilling it for YEARS)
• Use them as gift basket fillers
• Take along camping
• Save up and send to a college student (they’ll use ANYTHING) or military (like Any Soldier)
• Save them for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes
• Give them to nursing homes, homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters, food pantries (which accept MORE than food, by the way) – when you have NOTHING, a sample is SOMETHING

Giving to charity WITHOUT affecting my budget is one of my favorite things to do in the whole wide world. SO many people do without the little things. Won’t you please help? It doesn’t take much.

What do you do with YOUR free samples? Give us some ideas on how they save YOU money.

More Thrifty Thursday at Coupon Teacher

With regret, I am here to tell you, our bill has now gone UP by $27 per month. *tears up* I think I know why. With a hurt ankle last summer, I barely got to use my outdoor clothesline. It was just too much (I was lucky to get laundry up and down the stairs at all!) Then, by the end of the summer, SOMEhow *looks at children playing in yard* the clothesline got broken.

Relying on the dryer is the only reason I can think of for the bump in budget (unless the rates are just going up dramatically.)

So, guess where I headed – straight to Lowe’s.

About $55 later, I had myself a new clothesline and three packs of clothespins.
Since I have only used my dryer twice in the past month, I’m really hoping this will pay off come next year’s budget. For now, I can puke about paying the extra $27. Bleh.

If anything, anything at all, I feel good about using the gifts of nature to get by. Not to mention, the clothes smell great (especially sheets & blankets!)
Want to start using the power of wind?

Here are a few tips:

• Decide what clothesline would work best for you: an umbrella type (like I have) or a clothesline stretched from tree to tree
• Find some nice, strong clips. To be honest, the ones I have are wimpy. Whatever happened to the big, hefty ones? Remember clipping them to your lips and earlobes as a kid? Um..yeah…me neither.
• Keep your clips in a reusable bag that you can carry in and out with your laundry. If you leave the wooden ones on the line, they will start to weather and turn black. It is not favorable to have black clothespin marks on your white clothing. It’s just not.
• If the weather is nice, be sure to get the clothes out early in the morning. Jeans take a long time to dry…like…all day. If you try sneaking them out in the afternoon, you’ll only have to rehang…or use the dryer to finish them up. Defeats the purpose.
• Shake out your clothes before bringing them in. Sometimes little buggies like to catch a ride into the house. No hitchhikers allowed.
• Lastly, always remember – even if there is NO rain in the forecast…it will rain on your clothes…just for the mere fact that they are out there. Oh, this rule also applies to washing your car.

Peace. Love. Save Money. Save the Earth.

More Thrifty Thursday at My Coupon Teacher

Are you going crazy yet?

“I’m bored.”

“It’s too hot outside.”

“There’s NOTHING to do!”

From June 13 to August 13, Goodrich Quality Theaters is offering NINE family friendly movies, Monday through Friday at 10:00 am, for only ONE DOLLAR per ticket. Click HERE to see your local listings.

Of course, they are also offering concession stand specials (like $3 and $4 kid’s packs.)
Ack.

I have to say, I would hate to take advantage of a $1 movie and then end up spending $40 on popcorn, snacks and the like. Now, I’m not encouraging you to “sneak” in snacks – how embarrassing to get thrown out of a $1 movie for snarfing forbidden munchies. Though, make sure you and your kids eat BEFORE going to the movie so upon entering, the smell of buttery popcorn doesn’t immediately tempt your pocketbook.

Many movie houses around the country offer free or discounted summer time kid’s movies. Check with your local theater so your kids will not be bored, stay cool and have something to do over summer break.

Know of another great movie offer? Leave a link in the comments and share with us.

More Thrifty Thursday ideas HERE.