Kaake Family Blog

Picture borrowed from http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/09/get-a-jump-start-on-holiday-shopping.html/christmas-presents I love to plan my Christmas gifts starting in January.  This helps me not only save money but save sanity.  I save money because I have all year to look for those specific items and it saves my sanity because my family is not stressed about what to get someone.  We're prepared. Here's a few steps that have helped me. 1. First decide if you want to make all/some of your gifts.  If you want to make them, try to find neat and unique ideas online.  I LOVE pinterest.com for getting great ideas. 2. Is there someone in your family that has a lot of stuff?  For those people I get the same thing every year.  For our grandparents we do pictures in some form and homemade goodies.  For my mom and dad, I always get them a gift certificate to a Bed and Breakfast and add in something small for each one. 3. Make a list of everyone...

Some people think I'm crazy, some envy me and some do the same thing I do. Granted, everyone has those hard to buy for people. They change their mind like the changing of the wind. Those people I purchase things for last. However, for kids, some adults and parents, if you have an idea of what you want to do, why not buy ahead? Why? 1. $20-$30 spent here or there doesn't seem like a big deal. Hundreds of dollars in one month does. It causes many people to put things on credit cards or not hold up their end of a gift bargain if they have drawn names. Totally not fair for anyone. 2. It gives you time to bargain shop. I love finding special goodies in clearance sections, especially for my nieces and nephews. Then, I can get them more than I normally would have if I would have purchased everything at retail price. 3. It makes the season itself much less stressful because you've already done most of your shopping. Here are a couple tips: 1. Keep totes or bin...

We hit it today while it was only on it's second day of hte sale. Everything on clearance was an extra 50% off! Here's what we got with $35 and change. 1 black dress for Lyshie 1 twizzlers shirt for lyshie 1 blue shirt with a bird on it for me 1 black shirt with a bird on it for me 1 purple long sleeved shirt for lyshie 1 pink collared shirt for lyshie 1 sleeveless pink summer shirt for lyshie 1 winter coat for Joshua 2 stainless steel water bottles for the boys - don't like the picture so well but they were under $2! 2 pairs of flip flops for Jon 1 hooded sweatshirt for Jon 1 pair pj pants for me 1 flag shirt for Matt 1 green shirt with crazy floral print for me 1 sleeveless shirt for Jon for the summer 1 pair brown boots for me!!! 2 pairs flip flops for Lyshie for summer What do you think about that? To my knowledge this sale is still going on through Monday. Get it while you can!

I used to shop at Aldi a lot more frequently than I have been. So, as a "test" I thought I'd get everything but my milk, meat and cleaning products there. Here is what I got today for only $93.75!!! Needless to say, I'll be doing most of my shopping here once again. It was a good day. :) Dairy: Eggs 4 lbs butter 3 packages cream cheese Produce - which by the way, the selection and quality was GREAT!: 2lbs carrots Romaine Hearts - 3-pack 1 packages flat leaf spinach 3-pack green peppers 1 package mushrooms 1 package celery 1 cucumber 6lbs golden delicious apples - only a couple were bruised 3 pack roma tomatoes 3lbs onions Misc: 3 plastic aldi bags 1 brown paper bag Gallon freezer bags - 20 pack 2-pack sponges Meat: Cheddar Bratwurst Frozen Foods: 1lb peas 1lb whole green beans 2 boxes of French Bread Pizza (4 pizzas) 1 package chicken egg rolls 1 container frozen white raspberry and grape juice 100% juice Bakery items: 2 loafs ...

We have about 1 1/2 months till Christmas. How crazy is that? To be easier on our budget, I try to purchase gifts year round as I see them on sale or for a good price. That also keeps us from spending $100's at one time when we wouldn't have it. I also like to save money where I can. This year one of the $$ saving tips I'm passing along is paper shredding. I got out a huge stack of Christmas scrapbooking paper, folding them in accordion style and shredded them in my paper shredder. I'm using this instead of tissue paper. While it probably wouldn't be cheaper if you went out and bought the paper, it sure was for me because it was just sitting around. You could do the same with any kind of newspaper, or other papers you may have lying around. My two wonderful children and beautiful nieces 2 years ago for Christmas. How time flies! I thought I'd give you a peak into what my family does yearly. Here goes.... 1. Have a birthday cake for Jesus as w...

Just thought I'd share an updated picture since I hit the beginning of my 6th month and a picture of a diaper cover/soaker I made for my son Joshua out of fleece. I had so much fun making it. I can't wait to make more - Matt just has to fix my sewing machine. All in good time. I also just calculated how far the kids and I walked yesterday and it was exactly 1 mile. Lyshie was pretty excited about that. I hope to do more later but that's good enough for just starting out. I'll still keep up with my pg exercises - it feels good!

Here are the ones I've found lately that I like the most. They are easy for someone like me;) I have tried Rita's Rump, and the Sweater Pants and love them both. I also added a bib pattern. It works much better than other store bought bibs because it covers more. We even take extra long tea towels and just tie a loose knot around the back of their neck. It works great. Enjoy the links! Sweater pants/longies and soakers: http://www.borntolove.com/frugal -column2.html http://www.cafepress.com/thatski ndacool/864331 sewing all kinds of dipes: http://fernandfaerie.com/frugald iapering.html fleece soaker pattern: http://katrinassqs.blogspot.com/ 2007/10/free-soaker-pattern.ht ml http://www.geocities.com/Heartla nd/Oaks/1126/sewfleece.html Bib: here is a bib pattern - http://sewing.about.com/od/sewingf orbabychildren/ss/towelbib.htm Rita's Rump pocket pattern - http://handmadebyrita.blogspot.com /2007/10/classic-rrp-ritas-rum p-pocket-pattern.html ...

You've heard it said, if you currently drink a $2 every day, you could save a huge amount of money simply making it at home instead of purchasing it. After all, a coffee at that price daily would come to a total of $730 per year. Keep in mind, that's just the coffee, not bagels, muffins, etc.... What if you're like our family and don't go for the average American frills such as morning coffee, cable tv, 2 vehicles, etc.... We do save a lot of money, but is there more we could be doing? Here is a list of things we do currently to save money. Please feel free to post your ideas below in the comments section. First thing first....make a note of items you truly need and things you can do without. Almost any financial adviser would say to make sure you have something special or a little thing here and there that you don't give up - a frill. That way you don't go on spending sprees. If you need to do that, make sure this is a low cost item not done on a regu...