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Tips on How to Survive Back-to-School Shopping

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JanSport Big Student Bookbag Where in the world did the summer go? It seems like just yesterday, kids were just getting out for of school for the summer and now they are getting ready to go back. I

f you are like me, you are probably feeling a little stressed about getting your kids ready for school. There’s the time issue and the money issue, and I well remember how glad I was when it was over.

Here are some tips to help you cope with back to school shopping.

Make a list for each child of what they will need. I know our schools send out a list when they mail out the school schedule of what the kids will need to bring so add those items to the list. If you didn’t get a list or lost yours, the office supply stores have them.

Also we found as the kids got older, that the individual teachers would have their own list of things separate from the “official” list sent out, so put aside a little money for after school starts when you will have to buy those things.

Go through your child’s closets and drawers and pull out everything they can no longer wear. Give the clothes to a charity or if you have a younger child of the same gender, hand it down to them. Throw away things that are stained, torn or look too worn out.

After you have gone through everything, now you can see what your kid really needs. This will help you from buying duplicates. Add the clothes items needed to the list.

If there are some things needed but not right away, such as winter coats and heavy winter clothes, you can put these purchases off for awhile, specially if money is an issue. You could always put these type of items on lay-away. I know K-Mart still has layaway.

Discuss with your child the budget you have to buy their things. If they want expensive, designer items, then they have to be aware that will cut into how much they can get.

Kids really need to learn the value of money. In fact, once my kids got into early adolescence, they really didn’t want me to go shopping with them anymore. So after we made their lists, I would give them the cash and drop them off to where they wanted to go shopping. They always had to have a friend or sibling with them and often, I would sit in the car or on a bench in the mall and read a book while they did their shopping.

They learned very quickly how fast money goes and how to make wise shopping choices. Once or twice, one of them would over spend on something and then not have enough of something else. But being the meany I am (and the fact that I really just didn’t have more money to give them then) I didn’t go out and buy the item needed. They had the option of doing without it until Christmas when they would receive it as a gift, or they could return something (preferably the thing they over spent on) and buy what they needed.

Some other tips on school shopping:

  • Check out the store circulars that come in the mail and newspaper for sales.
  • Shop during the morning and on a week day if possible to avoid the crowds.
  • Try to shop several weeks before school. Don’t wait until the last minute.
  • Shop online. Amazon is my favorite place to shop but you can find lots of specialty online retailers for just about everything you need.
  • Set an amount to spend and stick to it. Bring a calculator and notepad to keep track if you need to.

What is your best tip for school shopping? I’d love to add some more to the list above.

Cathy

Household Cleaners Don’t Have to Be Expensive – 5 Ways to Clean Cheap

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woman doing housekeeping

Walk down the aisle at a local grocery store and you are sure to see the price of cleaners on the rise. For many people, the thought of pouring money down the drain—almost literally—is not a good one. Many times, you are paying a high cost for the company brand or the mixing of household ingredients you could do yourself. Before you spend any more money on cleaning products, check out these inexpensive solutions that can change the way you clean forever.

Make Your Own Household Cleaners

One of the ways to reduce the costs of household cleaners is to make your own from items you already own or cost less. The following are a few simple recipes that cost money to make but do a job as good as anything on the store shelves—and you’ll end up saving money in the long run.

• Need a disinfectant? In a mixing container, dissolve one cup of borax (found in most laundry aisles for just a few dollars) with a gallon of warm water.
• For a scouring powder that can help you to scrub even the toughest stains, use a greener solution. You can use borax, dry table salt or baking powder on the stain. Then, scrub with a soft brush or sponge and rinse off.
• To clean out your sink drains, avoid those costly drain cleaners that damage the pipes. Instead, use one cup of baking soda poured into the drain. Then, pour one cup of vinegar down the drain after it. The chemical reaction cleans the drain quickly. Flush with running hot water after the fizzing stops.
• One of the most expensive cleaning products in your home is the dishwashing detergent you put into a dishwasher. You don’t have to buy it, though. Instead, use one part washing soda (also found in the laundry aisle for a few dollars) with one part borax. This green solution works very effectively and creates a spot-free shine.
• To wash clothes, avoid expensive laundry soaps. Rather, use the same solution for your dishwasher of one part borax and one part washing soda. Then, add two drops of vinegar into the laundry water to keep colors from fading.

These cleaning products are perfect for getting rid of dirt and debris. Most of the ingredients are very inexpensive, too. With lemon juice, borax, baking soda, vinegar, and washing soda on hand, you can clean virtually any surface or appliance inexpensively, but completely effectively.

Making Better Use of What You Have

Another way to save money on household cleaners is to use products more effectively. For example, you may need a disinfectant spray to clean countertops and bathrooms. Instead of buying premade cleaners, make your own. Use one tablespoon of bleach in a gallon of water to make a disinfectant spray.

If you already have powdered laundry soap on hand with bleach in it, use a few tablespoons of it, along with two tablespoons of vinegar in your dishwasher. Run it on empty. It will clean out the dishwasher for you, removing odors from it, too.

Another trick is to put a handful of ice cubes into the garbage disposal and run it. Not only does the ice sharpen the blades, but it also helps to get rid of grease and stuck on debris.

Often, you can clean your home without spending a lot of money to do so. The only thing you have to do is to think outside of the box and learn new ways to use the products you already have. Try these methods out. You’ll see just how effective they can be for you.

Author Bio: Diane Johnson graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in political science. When she’s not traveling she enjoys writing articles about Colorado Technical University, reading books and shopping.

Kitchen Tips for Frugal Living in the Summertime

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family dinner

Note from Cathy: Next in our guest series while I’m away on vacation, is a timely post from Clair. Great advice!

Kitchen tips are welcome all year long, but energy saving tips are especially welcome during the heat of summer when we’re trying to stay cool by minimizing unwanted heat in the kitchen. Here are six kitchen tips to help you conserve energy. If you’re using less energy, you’re generating less heat in the kitchen.

Stay cool, lower your energy bill, and reduce the challenge to your air conditioning system by taking advantage of these tips. They’re easy to implement.

Use the stove top. Instead of heating up a large oven, try making one pan dishes on the stove top. You’ll use less energy and reduce unnecessary heat in the kitchen just when heat in the house is most unwelcome. If you use a high-sided fry pan with a lid, you’ll heat a much smaller volume and that will require less energy. Many casserole recipes that you’d otherwise cook in the oven can be prepared on the stove top using low heat and a large fry pan with a lid.

Match the pot to the burner. Are you putting a small pot on a large burner? If so, you’re heating up the kitchen and wasting energy at the same time. If you match the size of the pot to the burner, you’ll get energy delivered to the pan instead of wasting a portion of it that escapes around the sides.

Most stove tops offer two sizes of burners so you can match the burner size to the pot or pan. Some electric stoves feature a dual burner that allows you to use it as a small burner in the center, or engage the outer ring as well for heating larger pots. Make use of heating element sizes to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of your stove top cooking.

Use the microwave. This is one of the kitchen tips especially useful for leftovers. It saves time and energy because a microwave delivers energy directly to the food instead of heating up the entire volume of the appliance. This is a good approach to meal preparation if you create meals in a “batch process” and refrigerate them so they can be reheated over the next several days.

Try no-cook recipes. Make use of your summer garden harvest while minimizing use of the stove and oven. Here’s an easy no-cook recipe that you can adjust to taste.

Slice tomatoes, onions and cucumber, and lay them out in rows in a shallow casserole dish or plastic food storage container with a lid. Mix up a few cups of water, a healthy splash of cider vinegar and a handful of sugar, and use the mixture to completely cover the vegetables. Sprinkle on a little salt, cover and refrigerate for at least several hours.

The result is a nice lightly pickled summer dish that is delicious and refreshing, without the need to fire up the stove or barbecue.

Enjoy sun tea. Instead of boiling water on the stove, let sunshine do the work. Keep the heat outdoors, and let sunlight make your tea. Any clear glass gallon jug with a lid will do just fine. My neighbor uses an old pickle jug. And, if you need to have an official sun tea gallon jug, they can be had at garage sales for less than one dollar.

Fill the jug with water, pop in your tea bags, and set it in the sunshine. After sitting several hours in the sun, you can put the jug in the shade to cool it off before placing it in the refrigerator. This approach makes great tea without using the stovetop, but you’ll want to consume the tea within a few days to avoid spoiling.

Prepare everything on the gas grill. If you want to keep excess heat out of your home, one sure way of doing this is to cook your meal outdoors. Gas grills are highly efficient when compared with charcoal fired barbecues, so if you simply plan your entire meal to be prepared on the grill, you’ll save money and keep from generating heat indoors.

How about grilled onions, grilled corn, hamburgers and toasted buns? A favorite of mine is grilled skewers of meat and vegetables. If the grill has a side burner, you can boil and fry outdoors as well, thus giving you additional flexibility with respect to preparation of the entire meal.

So there you have it, six easy ideas for saving money, keeping yourself fed, and beating the heat. Enjoy these kitchen tips and enjoy your summer meals.

Clair Schwan believes in living well, and well within your means, and he offers additional www.Self-Reliance-Works.com where he and his team of writers tackle many and varied subjects associated with a self-directed life, such as personal finance, frugal living, energy conservation, and cooking and recipes.

5 Ways to Save on Air Conditioning Costs

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air conditioner

Here’s another guest post. Alban has been kind enough to provide us with some tips on cutting our cooling costs. Enjoy!

An air conditioner is a luxury that not many of us are willing to go without, but when the bills come in the months after summer you can be wishing you’d been a bit more discerning in its use. Luckily there are easy ways you can save on your air conditioning costs which won’t leave you sweltering through the summer heat.

1 – Save at installation

A lot of the costs from your air conditioning unit can come when you buy it, because while you may have picked up a great deal at the stock take sales, you can still be hit with high installation costs when you get it home. Instead, make sure you shop around for the best deal on your installation costs, because not all services will be the same. There are plenty of people out there willing to take advantage of you wanting your cooler up and running quickly n time for summer.

Average air conditioning installation rates will be around $40 – $55 an hour for a small wall or window air conditioner, and around $66 an hour for a split system air conditioner. Or if you are getting a ducted or central system the installation will cost between $77 and $88 per hour. Therefore, when you are getting installation quotes, ask for a per hour costing so you can see exactly how much time you will be charged for.

To install a split system air conditioner in a window or in a wall should be around $500 but for a larger air conditioner or a tricky site you may need to budget around $880. If you are having a ducted system installed this could cost as little as $500 or as much as $6,000 depending on how many rooms you are having linked to the system.

2 – Cool your appliances

If you can keep your home cooler, your air conditioner won’t have to work as hard, so cut down on the heat coming from your other appliances by:

  • Keeping lamps and other heat producing appliances away from the air conditioner thermostat as they’ll make your air conditioner think your house is hotter than it really is.
  • Upgrading to CFL bulbs which produce less heat than incandescent bulbs.
  • Turning off your lights during the day or when you’re not in the room because even energy saving bulbs produce heat.
  • Using your oven sparingly, instead cook in the microwave, crockpot or your toaster oven.
  • Waiting until after dark when it is getting cooler, to use your dishwasher and dryer.
  • Line drying your clothes to avoid using the dryer.

3 – Insulate your home

You can also keep your home cooler and lighten the load on your air conditioner by adding insulation elements such as:

  • Fewer rocks and less cement and asphalt on the south and west sides of your home as they will absorb and radiate heat.
  • Plant shady trees around your condenser unit so that it can draw in cooler air and doesn’t have to work as hard.
  • Close the curtains and blind during the hottest part of the day.
  • Insulate ductwork, attics, crawlspaces, the garage and any other areas which aren’t air conditioned so the heat doesn’t come back into your house.
  • Install reflective window tint which will let in the sunshine but not the heat.
  • Plant shade trees along the south and west of your home to shield it from the sun.
  • If you are building a house or repainting choose a light colour exterior paint and roof to reflect the heat.
  • Properly ventilate your attic so that hot air can escape and cool air can enter.

4 – Maintain your air conditioner

To keep your air conditioner running cost effectively, make sure you check and change the filter regularly and have a professional check the system in the cooler months. Also make sure that the condenser for the unit is in a shady spot, but still has room to dispose of the hot air it removes from your home.

5 – Air conditioner efficiency

You can also save money on your air conditioning costs if your unit is running efficiently in the following ways:

  • Choose the right sized unit. If you are buying a window air conditioner, buying the bigger unit won’t necessarily make it work any better, and can just cost you more to run. Instead, look at the size of the room you want to cool, and the other factors which will affect the heat of the room such as which way it faces and how many windows it has.
  • Choose an energy efficient unit. As well as comparing the price and the features, also look at the energy efficiency rating of the air conditioning unit you are looking at buying because a unit which is more efficient from the outset will go on saving you money.
  • Install a programmable thermostat. This will allow you to set the temperature when you are at home, and if you know you’ll be out for several hours, you can set the temperature slightly higher, but still keep the house cool for your return.
  • Install ceiling fans. By using energy efficient ceiling fans in conjunction with your air conditioner, you and use the fans to cool off when it’s not quite hot enough to need the air conditioner. If you do need to turn on the air conditioner, use the fans at the same time and you can set your thermostat five degrees higher than normal while still staying cool, and your unit doesn’t need to work as hard. Only turn on the fan with the air conditioner in rooms you are using because the fan doesn’t actually lower the temperature of the room, but instead moves the air around and increases the amount of evaporation on your skin to cool you down.