Author: ThriftyMomma

I decided to post a series of frugal living tips daily. TMR is an abbreviation for Thrifty Momma Ramblings. I will try to post a new tip everyday except for weekends, since I get busy with my husband home. There are literally thousands of ways to cut costs in all areas of our lives. I don’t do every tip but I do apply many of them to our budget.

My first tip for today is to hang your clothes on a clothesline. The weather has been very unpredictable so I have a chain that runs the length of my washroom. I can hang a good bit of clothing on the line. I do have a dryer that runs on natural gas but I like hanging sheets outside on a nice sunny day. An inside line would be better for those that have snow or allergies. I also wash a load every other to every 2 days instead of waiting for the weekend.

Nope not a horror story, unless you consider shaving your head one, but a story on hair. My son was begging me to shave his head so I did with a pair of clippers we have. I do have a couple of different size guards so I used a one. It was super easy to do and my hubby was impressed and asked for me to do his without a guard. He loves it and has told me it keeps him much cooler when working. He wanted to accept his fate since his hair is receding, but it really didn’t look bad.

A good pair of clippers from a box store is about $30-40. They both got their hair cut every 4 months so 4 cuts a year each. I’m still letting our son have a cut for Christmas time but most of the year it will be kept around a size 2 guard and a 1 for the summer. His cuts were $11 each so that saves me $33 a year. My husband’s cuts were $14 each, and he wants to keep his clipped all year so that saves $56 for a total of $89 per year! The clippers paid for themselves in 3 cuts. I have had these clippers for well over a year so hopefully they won’t need to be replaced for several years. I wasn’t good at actually cutting hair but this is something anyone can do.

My dad’s birthday is coming up next month, and he is making the big 65! I have been trying to think of something special to buy him. I keep thinking of a great pocket watch for him. There is something nostalgic about them, and he used to tell us stories about his grandfather’s watch. I think this will be a great memento that would be great for him to pass on to his grandchildren one day.

Jewelry is a great way to express your individuality and a great finishing look for costumes. This site has a great collection of celtic jewelry earrings, necklaces, rings, pendants, and so much more. There are pieces for everyday wear or even special occasions. All of the pieces are made from genuine sterling silver. The jewelry would also make great gifts.

This weekend I was scouring a free paper we receive that is basically a whole paper full of classifieds ads. There are great deals listed at times so I like to browse since you never know what will be listed. I came across a deal for a Little Tikes bed. It was the twin size red race car bed. We bought my son a futon bed a few months ago but it’s just not working well. The character sheets he wants for his bed are so much more expensive for full size if you can even find them. We had a twin size a couple of years ago but my husband thought it was better to go with the full size bed we got for free from his parents. I have been kicking myself ever since for getting rid of the twin bed.

When I came across the ad I was intrigued. These beds sell well and usually for more than the asking price. I called and she was desperate to get rid of it as she needed the space in her garage. I sent my husband over with the truck and it was in pristine condition. She even gave us an almost brand new twin mattress with bunk bed box spring and a brand new set of yellow sheets. I paid $200 for the bed. It’s the red one with the bookcase headboard and a toy box at the foot of the bed. This particular style retails for $400 new. The best part is the Little Tikes bed looks almost new. There are a couple of light scuffs on the corners. An added bonus is that when it’s time to sell the bed, then we can recoup almost all of our money. We got such a great deal and still can’t believe she gave us a new mattress. We put the futon bed in our spare room to keep for company. I also got a killer deal on that one from the furniture store.

We only have full size bedding so we had to buy twin size bedding for our son. So we went to Wal-Mart yesterday and found a Speed Racer comforter for $18. I wanted the sheets but thought it was odd they weren’t marked down. Hubby scanned them and it rang up at $7! I was very excited to get the whole set for $25 and he will be able to use these for several years. I also splurged on another set of character sheets for him so we spent about $50 with tax for 2 sets of sheets and the comforter. We now have 3 sets and I still plan on using his other full size comforters for now.