Frugal Friday

Well it is Frugal Friday, over at Biblical Womanhood! So I was racking my brain for something to talk about that might help someone out! I really couldn't come up with anything really awesome! Or that was so mind boggling that people would comment as to what a great idea it was and why in the world had they not thought about doing that before! So I decided to just post about something that made my day this week! That something is shopping for clothes for my girl! Hubby and I don't really have a "clothing budget" for the kids or for ourselves so shopping for clothes can be challenging at times. Not just challenging in the money aspect but also just finding decent clothes at a reasonable price.

I feel blessed that my boys are far apart enough in age that it is easy to keep my four boys' closets full of clothes! I just hand the clothes down to the next one! To acquire their clothes, I have talked with several friends at church who have boys and they are willing to give me(someone they know) the "hand me downs" rather than just donating them to an organization where they don't even know if they will be used or not. I also hit the many different thrift stores that I have found with living in the big city.

However, keeping my only girl clothed with "girly" clothes can be challenging!! Most of my friends with girls are in the same size as my girl!! So I have to hit up the thrift stores which can be a lot of hit or miss! However this past week, I went into Goodwill and found her TWO Land's End brand dresses for $2.29/each! They both look brand new. One won't fit her for awhile as she is only in a size 6 and it was a size 12!! But it is a jumper that won't go out of style before she wears it. The other dress is a summer dress that she will be able to wear this summer.

Also I have found a couple of families at my church with older girls that now know my need for my girl and are giving me clothes that they would otherwise be donating. One of the families has three girls and she has given me several bags of clothes for my girl. She has even stated that some of the clothes will make good "play clothes" for my girl because of stains on the clothes. Most of the stains though I have been able to get out of the clothes and have been able to use the clothes for "good clothes" as well. I have also found that people if they know your need are more willing to donate the items to you because they know it will be used rather than just in a box or a store unused.

Also this past week, I went into Kohls' while they are having great sales and clearance racks! I found her two dresses and a white sweater shawl for the regular price of one of the dresses!! One of the dresses will be her Easter dress. The other one will be one for her to wear thru the summer. I love being able to get my kids new things at discounted prices!

So my tips for you are this:

1. Don't be afraid to ask others in regards to your need!
2. If you want new items, check the sales or clearance racks, esp. around the season change!!
3. If you have clothes that you are going to be donating, look for or ask someone you know first if they would like to have them for their children.

For other tips, ideas, and resources, head over to Biblical Womanhood!

Economic Stimulus Rebate Package

These days there is alot of talk about this stimulus package on the web, news, and even in our homes!

I just wanted to touch on a couple of things in regards to it that keep coming up, basically spreading the word around!

First, is the stimulus package a loan?

I am one of those who thought at first that it was going to be a loan and that my refund for my 2008 taxes would be smaller. However, it is not a loan it is a rebate and it will not effect my refund next year! On top of it being a rebate it is also not taxable, and will not effect your income any should you be applying for food stamps or welfare. Gather Little by Little posted about this very topic the other day and did a very good at explaining things along with referencing the IRS FAQ about the stimulus package.

Secondly, when can we expect to receive our rebate?

While I was reading Thrifty Florida Mama, I found that on Monday, the IRS sent out an "news bulletin" with the schedule!! You can read about here or here! The IRS also has a link in the article where you can use an online calculator to find out how much of a rebate that you will be receiving.

If you have any other questions about this package, hopefully you will be able to find them over on IRS FAQ-stimulus package page.

Other articles to check out are: MarketWatch, and CCH Group--Tax Briefing

I hope that this helps you to understand things about the stimulus rebate package a little more!

As a side note, hubby and I haven't totally decided how we are going to spend our rebate. We have talked about several different options from putting it all in savings to using all of it on debt to doing a combination of savings, debt, and spending it on house repairs.

Dove Family Film Festival

The Dove Foundation is hosting another Family Film Festival this spring!!! The films start this weekend, check your local theaters! Admission is $2.50 per adult at all times and kids under 12 are FREE!!!

The movies are:

• Bee Movie
• Bratz
• Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium
• Spiderman 3(recommended for 12 and over)
• The Pirates Who Won’t Do Anything
• Alvin and the Chipmunks
• Mr. Bean’s Holiday
• Fred Claus (recommended for 12 and over)

You can go here for more information on the festivals!

Also a special thanks to Big Binder for posting/reminding me of this event!

Works for Me Wednesday

Having five kids brings on challenges(and of course blessings)!! One of those challenges is keeping up with all of them when we go out as a family and end up in a crowd setting(think the zoo, mall shopping, vacationing, etc). What works for me in keeping track of all of them is dressing them in the same colors or matching clothes.

Why it works for me is that if they get too far ahead I can scan the crowd and find them! Also, should one get lost (heaven forbid!), I can remember in the panic what the lost child was wearing by just looking at the other kids that are with me. It really takes the stress off me in trying to remember exactly what the kids are wearing. Also hubby and I wear the same colors to what the kids are wearing so the kids can describe us, if necessary.

Also having everyone in the same colors or matching clothes helps me if we are vacationing! If I have to do laundry, I can do all of the clothes in one shot rather than having to do several loads because of all the different colors.

This is what works for me with having a big family!

To find out what works for others, head over to Rocks in My Dryer

Weblink Wednesday

This week for Weblink Wednesday, I am going to share two sites that I find helpful!

Blue Web'n --library of over 2,000 Internet learning sites!!! The sites are categorized by subject, grade level and format. They are updating the site monthly!

Kid Info --another site with a wealth of information. I mostly use the section for students! They can find "homework help" for all the different subjects. My kids have used it to find information for their lapbooks or research reports that they are doing. This is a very kid friendly site!!

For other interesting links that are shared each week, head over to Homeschooling with Encouragement!