Women And Home Repairs

 I have been doing a lot of repairs and upgrades on our new Arkansas home. Today I was looking for a couple of books for some rewiring on electrical and plumbing. I came across a write up on things women should know about home repairs and was in shock at how little so many women know about home repairs. 

The beginning was mentioning tools a women should have. The tools was the simplest things that I have owned even before learning to do many home repairs. Things such as a hammer, pliers, and a screw driver. I personally recommend having your own tool set, even if you have a partner. 

I am a single mom. I have owned the last two homes I have lived in. I have also learned to do most of my own home repairs on those homes to save a lot of money. 

For example, today I am putting all new outlets and switches in my sons room. The outlets I am using are safer and have USB ports for electronics. They are also beautiful cosmetically, so it increases the home value over time. If I would have paid an electrician it would have cost me around $500. It could have takes a week or more to get an electrician here to do it also. So learning to do this project myself has only cost me around $50 in materials and about 4 hours of my time.

So how did I learn about home repairs and upgrades? I read a lot and watched a lot of videos. If I noticed a project that I would like to do, I would look up how to do it. As long as I was comfortable doing it, I purchased the supplies and did it myself. It is not always something you do correctly the first time, but it does save a lot of money and makes you feel accomplished once it is completed.

Things I have done myself to upgrade my new home so far;

- Piped in water for ice maker

- Mounted new vanity

- Replaced plain mirrors with cabinets in all of the bathrooms.

- Painted all the rooms and bathrooms

- Put up smoke detectors

- Replaced all faucets in bathrooms

- Replaced most outlets 

- Made a pathway in our yard with only rocks and gravel from the yard

- Replaced outdated light fixtures

The fixtures and old items removed from the house will all be cleaned up and resold, unless it is unsafe. So, I saved a few thousand dollars in labor by doing these things myself, while increasing my home value by a few thousand dollars. 

Never doubt the things you can do. Up until about 10 years ago I had never done most of this on my own. It took me time to learn. Do not get me wrong, I would love to have a man to help with a lot of these things, but I have been a single mom for a long time. I learned that I need to do things to save money and keep my home in proper repair. It is always good to know how to do things on your own. You never know what could happen.

Doing Home Projects to Save Money

 

 As you have read from recent posts on my blog, we purchased a home in Arkansas and have been moving everything in recently. We will have everything completely moved, and we will be permanent Arkansas residents. We took a trip last week and have been discovering projects that either need to be completed, or updates that we want to complete. Now I am not the best at DIY projects, but I have learned a lot through the years. There has been three huge influential people that has helped with that; my mom, my very good friend Chris, and his absolutely wonderful wife, Ella. Each of these people have taught me a lot about accomplishing things on my own. If someone else can do it, you can generally learn to do it yourself. Now in that you should also know your limits. If you are unsure of something or uncomfortable with working on a certain thing, get a professional.

There are several things we have started planning on the new home. The flooring has carpet in each of the bedrooms, and honestly I am not a fan of carpet due to the dirt that builds up in it. It just makes it worse when it is someone else's dirt in the carpet. The home is a log built home, built by the previous owners. There is some gaping in the interior wood that needs to be repaired. A couple of spots with electrical I want to get checked (a professional will do that). Loose faucets in all three bathrooms, a vanity in a half bath, running new water lines because of the pressure being low, and a big project of replacing a large bathtub and stand alone shower with a walk in shower and a linen closet. This is just to name a few projects, and most I will be doing myself and share my progress with everyone on here.

BIG PROJECT AREA WE ARE LOOKING AT

I began the home renovation process by starting with my moms room, which is the most important room in my home because she takes care of us all. I pulled all of the carpet off of a concrete floor, pulled all of the tacking, and scrubbed the floors and walls. On my next trip down I will be repairing the concrete and doing measurements to determine whether I want to put peel and stick flooring or paint the concrete. With just the pulling of the carpet I saved about $175 from the average costs I have found online. I spent about four hours on this project, so that is paying myself $43 an hour. 

BEFORE ON MOMS ROOM

                DURING CARPET PULL MOMS ROOM

 

AFTER PULLING CARPET IN MOMS ROOM

Another small project that we completed was to reset the key less Quiklock keypad for the door. I have to say this was all my six year old sons doing. He looked everything up, tried different options, and finally figured it out to have a all new codes and delete all of the old codes. We also ordered a rekey tool and will be rekeying this door to match a new lock we ordered for the back door of the home. 

The next couple of weeks we will be working on both homes, getting the Colorado home ready to sell and the Arkansas home ready to live in. At least be comfortable in the Arkansas home, because it is going to take a lot of work to get it to the point that we want. The one thing I will say is that home is a blessing. We have lived in a small A-Framed home that only has a loft bedroom. I have lived in a camper and the rest of the family in the home. Now we can all life together under one roof. 

As I work on projects I will share the progress and savings that I have for doing projects myself. I will also share any tips or ideas I come across during this time. I hope my experience can help others in their homes. Remember, I am a single mom raising two young kids. I have a bad back, bad knees and bad wrists, but I can complete these projects. I know you can as well!

Earning rewards with receiptpal

I am a mom that tries to find any way to either save or make money. It is something I have done for years and I have become fairly good at it. Each year it seems like things change and there is some different way to do those things, but I try to keep up with the trends. Learning about apps to save or earn money has been one of my big focuses recently.

I discovered that there is apps that give you points for simply taking pictures of your receipts. You do not have to itemize or break anything down. You just take a picture of the receipt then submit it to the site for points or rewards.

My favorite app is Receiptpal. It is a fairly simple app to understand and I use it for gift cards to Amazon. I did have issues in the beginning because you have to connect your email account and your Amazon account. I was hesitant, but finally gave in. Well it paid off. I now get points for everything I purchase that I get a receipt for through my emails and every Amazon purchase.

In the last three months I have been taking pictures and submitting my receipts. I have almost earned enough to get $25 towards Amazon for Christmas. $25 is a gift for a mom on a tight budget. This is enough to buy one of the kids something to put under the tree for Christmas morning.

I believe Receiptpal is very much worth the time it takes to submit a receipt. It may not pay a huge amount, but the task is very simple. I think saving through the year will be what I do, then use it every year towards Christmas.

Live on less Money than what you Earn

As a single mom I tend to be looking everywhere for financial advice, money saving tips, and other money saving advice. I have learned that one of the biggest mistakes that people make with their personal finances is spending more than you earn. Even before I was a single mom, I did the same thing. I have learned that one of the biggest mistakes that people make with their finances is spending more money than they earn. Some people are trying to keep up with their friends and others just think that they can't stop spending. I have even noticed some parents spending more than they earn because they do not want to let their children down, believe me the kids will understand when they are put in the same situation.

The first step in spending less than you earn is to know exactly what you are earning. Calculate everything that you have coming in; your income, your spouse’s income, investments, and any other miscellaneous earnings that you may have. Be sure to include all your earnings so that you are knowledgeable about what money you have.

Calculate your monthly spending. This calculation should include everything from housing to your everyday drinks. You need to know what you are spending every month so that you can determine what you need to do to spend less than you earn.

Now find out what you can do to cut back on your expenses every month. This may be cutting back on your bills like cable, phone, finding ways to save on utilities, or other ways to cut back on your bills. I have found that the biggest amount that I was spending was on things like sodas, food, and other small items that I honestly did not think about until I figured out I was spending more than $50 a month. Even the smallest cut in your spending can make the difference between spending more than you earn or less than you earn.

Stop using the lines of credit. Most people spend more than they earn because of credit cards. Stop using the credit cards and pay the balance down. Just because the minimum balance is only $200-$300, if you are adding more than that each month you are defeating the purpose. Leave the cards at home so that you will not be tempted to use them. Credit cards are good in cases of emergency, but that is it?

Once you have begun to spend less than you earn you should start a savings account. Put a small amount it this savings account each month. This money can be used during months when bills may be higher, or you just end up spending more than you earn. Things always come up; this can help you be prepared.

Simple tips for spending less than you earn Quit trying to impress others. Stop being concerned about what others think Don't worry about your children being disappointed, explain to them the situation. Find ways to save on everything from paper products to bill payments. Keep up with your spending. Continue to work on spending less than you earn, you will continue to do better every month.

How to Feed a large Family on a Budget

Feeding a large family can be a task in itself, but it is even harder when you have to feed a large family on a budget. There are a lot of ways for you to cut your grocery bill, and save money. Here are a few things that you can do to feed a large family on a budget.

Begin by clipping coupons, or take advantage of online sites that offer coupons. You can use these coupons to receive merchandise for a big savings, or even at times free. You can save even more if you shop at grocery stores that offer to double or triple your coupons. Coupons have been a very big part to help feed my family on a budget.

Look at all sales papers from your local supermarkets and compare them to the coupons that you have. You want to make use of the coupons and sales papers so you can make the most of your grocery money. Now they have Apps for all of the Grocery stores, and I love an app called Ibotta. They reimburse you for certain items you buy in stores or online. It has saved me the most money in the last couple of months than any other one thing.

Start shopping late at night or early in the morning so you can catch the discounted meats. Meat tends to be one of the larges expenses for any large family on a budget, and there is ways to save. When you shop at night or in the morning you are more likely to find the meat at discounted prices. You can also ask your grocer when they reduce the meat so you can catch the best prices.

Start preparing your food from scratch, and prepare in large portions. Most of the pre made items that you purchase cost quite a bit more than preparing your food from scratch. Preparing food from scratch is actually much easier than most people think, and it helps when you are trying to feed a large family on a budget.

Learn to make use of all of your leftovers so you can feed your large family on a budget. Most of the money lost on groceries is due to the fact that most people do not use there leftovers. You can plan your meals around the leftovers; learn recipes to use with your leftovers, or even plan one day a week to have just leftovers.

Buy non perishable items in bulk if they are at a good price, and if you have the money. Before you make a purchase you should always make sure it is something that you will use, not something that you may use. I have helped someone clean out there pantry before only to find that most of the bulk items were expired. That means that she actually wasted quite a bit of money on items that she never used. That defeats the purpose, and will not help you feed your large family on a budget.

Read my Ebook Couponing for the Busy Mom to learn to save more money when shopping.

$10 off $50 purchase at Walgreens.com

Walgreens has an offer that is a good way to save a few dollars on items that you need. The offer is $10 off a $50 purchase at www.walgreens.com. The only exceptions to the savings that I noticed is contact lenses, electronics, photo orders,  and gift cards. This offer ends November 5th 2011.

Walgreens also has free shipping for online orders over $25 for up to 10 pounds. There is an additional .49 for each additional pound.

Walgreens weekly online specials

How to Save Money on a New Baby

Since I have learned that I am expecting a baby I have been trying to figure out as many ways possible to save money. Since I am a single mom working for minimum wage part time, I had to figure out the best ways to save money on the new baby. From free baby items to money saving coupons, here is a few ways that you can save money as well.

How to Save Money on a New Baby

No matter if you are a new parent, or experienced, when a new baby comes along they can cost a lot of money. With the expenses of the next 18 years weighing on your mind, you will probably want to save as much money as you can on the new baby. These are a few simple steps that you can take to save money on your new baby.

Save Money on Makeup and get Great Tips

I have been reading a friends blog about makeup and cosmetics. She is licensed and shares a lot of great tips and money saving ideas on makeup and other shopping. I know Kendra personally and know she will share some great information that can save money and time, and give you great tips.

Simply Kendra

Make Saving Money A Second Income

We all look for ways to make an additional income, but why not use what we have. If you can find ways to save money in your home it is just like making money. The good part about this is you will not have to report it as an income. There are so many ways to save money on almost everything in your life. Think about things that you can reduce or even give up.

When you begin saving money, put that money away in a savings account. You can do this unless you have to use it to pay for a necessity, do not use it for play money in the beginning. Save the money until you have to have it, or for something special.

I have been doing this for a while, and it does help. We only have one full time income in our home, and my online income which is not very much at the moment. We had to find a way to make ends meet. We still have some problems paying some of our bills, but it could be a lot worse if I had not been finding ways to save when I could.

Think about it; If you can find a way to save $25 a week that would give you an additional $100 a month. That is actually 4% of a $30,000 yearly income, which is a very large amount that can add up quickly. There is an even bigger possibility of that income being a lot more if you can find even more ways to save money.

This is something to think about. Can saving money actually be the same as a second income? Yes it can if you determine ways for you to save the same amount as you would make at at the second job.

This article may be interesting for anyone trying to save money.


50 Real Ways To Save Money In Your Home

Save Money Grocery Shopping

Your grocery bill tends to be one of the most important bills. You have to feed yourself and your family. To save money on groceries you can use coupons, compare prices, and compare unit prices. I have written numerous articles about saving money on groceries, and I wanted to share them with individuals that are looking for steps to save money on there grocery bill. I hope these articles will help someone else, because there are a lot of us that need every dime that comes into our home.

How to Organize A Coupons Swap Group

Coupons can save you a lot of money, but we usually do not use all of the coupons that we get. Having a coupon swap group can help you and your friends save money by sharing coupons. This group can share coupons, money saving ideas, and recipes with each other.

Read the article in its entirety

How to Be An Organized Coupon Shopper

Coupons is a great money saving idea. Using them can be easy if you can be an organized coupon shopper. These are some very simple ideas for becoming an organized coupon shopper.

Read the article in its entirety

How to Organize Your Clipped Coupons

Clipping coupons can save you a lot of money on groceries, and many other items. One of the major complaints I hear from people is they do not know how to keep them organized. Many people miss the money saving opportunity because they can't organize there coupons in an efficient way. It is actually very easy, and inexpensive to do.

Read the article in its entirety

How to Get Checked Out Quicker When Using Coupons.

In today's economy there seem to be more people looking for ways to save money. Using coupons can save a lot of money. Some people tend to not use them, because it can take longer. If you are organized, and keep things in order, it will be worth your time.

Read the article in its entirety

How to Get The Most Out Of Your Grocery Money.

Our money going towards certain aspects of our lives are getting reduced. Groceries seem to be one of those areas. No matter what happens, you have to eat. Why not find ways to get the most our of your grocery money?

Read the article in its entirety

How to Make A Personal Price Book, To Save Money.

Saving money is important to us all. We all try to buy items at the best price, but it is hard to remember every price that we see. Making yourself a price book can help you remember all of the prices, and purchase items at the best price you can find. It will give you a reference guide for comparing prices.

Read the article in its entirety

How to Determine The Unit Price Of An Item To Save Money.

Calculating the unit price can save you a lot of money. I have been in a few different circumstances where I believed I would be getting a better deal with one item, but was very wrong. There are a lot of grocers that are putting the unit price on there labels, but do not update it when the item is on sale. This makes it very important for consumers to calculate the unit price. Doing this can reduce your grocery bill.

Read the article in its entirety

Saving Money That Your Spouse Does Not Know About

There are many different reasons for saving money that your spouse does not know about. It is usually because the spouse does not save like you, or spends much more than they save. I have to save money because my spouse spends like crazy. It is only on small things, but he does not realize how fast that the spending adds up. We are already living paycheck to paycheck, so I had to start taking a few different strategies to save money for us. I wrote an article that can help if you are interested in doing this. It is easier than you think to do this, and will help both of you when times get hard.

Read The Article HERE!

Mypoints

I have signed up for Mypoints recently. This site helps you save money with coupons, shows you where to find special sales, shows you sites that has free shipping, and more. While they are showing you ways to save money, you can earn gift cards for many different retail stores.

I have only been a member of the site for about a month, and have earned enough for a $10 gift card, but I am going to let the points accumulate. This site is great for saving money, and making a little extra.

MyPoints

Welcome to My Blog Saving Money and Home Finances

I want to welcome you to my blog. I have been an avid money saver for years. I use coupons, compare prices, and find any other way to save money in my life. This blog will be a place for me to share some of my ideas and tips for saving money and home finances.

I hope I can share my experiences and help others. Please let me know if you know of any articles or tips about saving money. I feel we can all help each other in this tough economic time.