If your are a Verizon prepaid user, read on. I bought a portable Wifi to take with me when I went to the desert. The story behind that is long so I’ll spare you. Anyway, in April I went to Best Buy to get a card, having trouble finding what I was looking for I was directed to a Verizon Card. When I went to top off my device it wasn’t working. After spending a ½ hr with tech support I finally figured out the the Verizon card would not work on my Virgin device. Unfortunately they could not give me a refund. So now I’m looking for someone who could use a Verizon  prepaid card. I bought it on 4/18/12, so it’s good for 90 days. I’m asking $40 for a $50 card. Use the Contact form to message me privately and we’ll work out the details. Lesson learned know what brand my device is before I go shopping.

Avocado Chocolate Pudding

I haven’t made this yet, but I am intrigued.  If you follow the Fat Belly diets, avocados are one of the things you want eat to help reduce belly fat. I first saw this on Pinterest. The picture lead to a post about avocados and their benefits on the Gluten Free A-Z Blog. In preparation to share this with you, I found several variations. The recipes vary in the number of avocados, some sweeten with maple syrup others with agave and some add water or milk alternatives like coconut or almond. You can also add things like bananas, peanut butter and more for variations. So, does this sound like something you would try? If you’ve tried it, I love to hear your comments. Is it worth my time to make it? Put your 2 cents in below.

Have you heard of Pinterest? Do you have a Pinterest account? Don’t need another social site or know what you’d use it for? Well hopefully this video was helpful. I’m with you about not needing another distracting, time stealing addiction. My curiosity finally got the best of me and I set up an account. One thing not mentioned in the video is the social aspect. I haven’t done a lot with that, but you should know that if you find someones board that you want to follow you can just follow that board. If you follow the person you will be following all their boards.

The main way I use Pinterest is when I’m run across things that I want to come back to later. Once your a member, you can see my boards at http://pinterest.com/bygproductions/. If you need an invite, let me know.

These tips come for the authors of the book Penny Pinching Mama, and as you can see from the article below it is good, practical, advice as a reminder or as new information. The only one I differ with slightly is #3 eating out, because for me and my husband, we seem to have better conversations when eating out. But, you definitely need to have a budget, or it can quickly become out of control. I’ll go more into what my husband and I are doing regarding that in a future post. In the meantime I hope you enjoy this article, and would love your feedback in the comments. Valerie~

11 Tips for Frugal Living
by Tawra Kellam
http://www.LivingOnADime.com

Frugal living is all about making the most with what you already have. Here are 11 tips from LivingOnADime.comto help you get started:

1. Barter for services when possible. For example, we exchanged lawn mower repair from our neighbor for a table (garage sale find) that he was looking for.
2. Learn to fix things for yourself. These days, with the Internet making information so easily available, you can fix most things yourself. We do 95% of the repairs around our house and we aren’t that handy. We just keep looking for the information about how to do it and keep working until we get it fixed!
3. Stop eating out. I know you hear it all the time but STOP!!! The “average” family spends $300-$500 a month just eating out! Eating out truly is one of the biggest causes of debt! I am always amazed how someone can be “totally broke” and can’t pay their bills but are still able to go to the drive-thru of their favorite restaurant.
4. Study nutrition information and find out what you need to eat to have a healthy and balanced diet. Then stop eating the junk and eat healthy inexpensive meals at home. We have a lot of menu ideas here at LivingOnADime.com that can help you get started.
5. If something breaks and you don’t have the money to fix or if you are out of something and you don’t have the money to buy more, figure out a way to live without it. If the lawn mower breaks, can you borrow a friend’s lawn mower? If your washer breaks, go to the laundromat. If you break your tea kettle, use a saucepan to heat water. In most instances, you can find a way to make do or do without something until you have the cash saved up.
6. Do things for free. Go to the library, have a picnic or read a book. Kids are just as happy playing with mom and dad in the backyard as they are going to the zoo. If you can’t pay cash for the “fun stuff” you can always have fun at home.
7. Buy items used. We buy 90% of the items for ourselves used. Going to yard sales and thrift stores does not take any longer than going to a retail store but you can save 90% off the retail price!
8. Just say no…to your kids. Let kids buy their own toys and extras! Our kids pay for all their own soda, candy, treats like nail polish, their own computers and extras. You are not the Bank of Mom so just say no!
9. Find a cheaper way to do things. Go to a beauty school to get your hair colored (or don’t have your hair colored at all it isn’t something you need to survive). Go to a mechanic school to get your car fixed. Hire a kid instead of a lawn service to mow your yard (only if you can’t do it yourself for medical reasons. Paint your own house instead of hiring someone, cut the cable and the cell phone (gasp!), and have birthday parties at your house. There is almost always a cheaper way to do things so try to find the cheapest way and save some money!
10. Cut kids’ activities. Most kids are in way too many activities and they’re often expensive. I know families who pay $175 a month for gymnastics lessons but can’t pay the mortgage. There is a problem with this kind of thinking! Kids won’t die if you don’t give them all the lessons and activities you can’t afford.
11. Get it for free. When the landscapers were laying sod in our new neighborhood, I asked for the scraps and we were almost able to put in our entire backyard for free. When they were building houses, I asked for the 2×4′s that were going into the dumpster and got enough wood for our shed. When they were pouring concrete patios, I asked for the leftover concrete and they just poured our entire cement pad for our shed for free!! If friends have kids older than your kids, ask if you can have their hand me downs when they are done.

Get as much as you can for free and you can save thousands of dollars!
-Tawra

Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit http://www.LivingOnADime.com , sign up for our free Living On A Dime Newsletter and learn to save more!

Every year it’s my desire to get my Christmas Cards out right after Thanksgiving. In the last 25 years, I think its happened once or twice. More often I’ve sent them out on the Dec. 24th. The last few years I’ve paid extra for shipping so I could get my photo cards in time. So here is the challenge to myself, you can join in if you’d like. I’m want to order my cards before Thanksgiving and have them in the mail by Dec. 10th. For the last few years, I’ve ordered photo cards via Vista Prints. I’ve used them for Christmas & Graduation cards, checks and business cards. I’ve found they usually ship quicker then the time quoted. Below you’ll find links to two of their current specials in case you’d like to use them too. So let me know if your taking on the challenge. If you’ve used Vista Prints, let me know what you think.

On August 8th my father pasted away.

This is a video I made from photos. RIP Dad.

In the latest issue of my newsletter, I share about my favorite produce market closing and some of my solutions. These included a local international market, Henry’s/Sprouts and even Costco. I also found this cool  video on saving money by buying prepackaged produce at the grocery store.

So my question now is “Where do you get your produce?”

Last month in my newsletter I mentioned a book The Amen Solution: The Brain Healthy Way to Lose Weight and Keep It Off. I finished a page that gives a brief overview of each chapter to give you a better idea of what the book is about. I found the book at the library, but my own copy is on its way. Since I have a bagillion books and am trying to get rid of them you know it has to be good if I’m willing to bring another book into the house. Here is a clip of Dr Amen on the Morning Early Show that explains some details and shows some brain scans. What I find most exciting is that by determining your brain type you’re able to eat the foods and take the supplements that will help you succeed in making good food choices.

As of this writing I have yet to fully implement the things suggested in the book, yet I am losing weight and am able to resist temptation more often. I hope you’ll read this page, and then order the book for yourself from the link on the page. You’ll be glad you did.

Creative Concept by Dierk Schaefer

Summer is half way through and another school year is on its way. If you’ve looked at your ads, I’m not the first one to bring this to your attention.  Your children may not be  excited for school, but now is the time to buy for your family and for charities.

Did you know that school supplies are one of the suggested items for charitable contributions. In some countries kids need supplies in order to go to school. If there families can’t provide these they simply don’t go to school. One of these organizations is Operation Christmas Child by Samaritan’s Purse. So, while your child may not be excited about school supplies your shoebox recipient likely will be. Do you know of other charities that collect school supplies? Post them here and get to the stores so you don’t pay full price for you pencils, paper, etc.

Crayola Crayons have been part of my life since my early years. I colored into my teen years and when my children were young they were back in my life along with the memories. Recently I heard about a product called Crayola Crayon Maker, boy, do I wish I had this when my girls were young. This product was so cool I just had to write a lens about it. It recycles all those little pieces of crayons into a new multi colored crayon. Do you still use crayons or have little ones around using them? If so, you have to check this out, its a fun way to recycle.