A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned (budgeting)

REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: A Penny Saved is A Penny Earned, by Tabitha Philen

WEB ADDRESS: http://www.pennysaved-pennyearned.com/blog/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Finding a balance between family, time, and budget is possible with Penny's helpful tips on living a frugal life. Menus, recipes, coupons, savings strategies, freebies, kids activities and so much more are published daily.

MY REVIEW: More than ever, it's important to live frugally. Who knows what the status of our economy is going to be two years from now? Living frugally isn't the same as living "on the cheap" - it just means getting the most out of every dollar you spend.

This blog will allow you to do so. If you're a coupon clipper this blog will tell you of great coupon deals. There's also tips on how to build stuff, recipes, and so on.

Check it out.

Sample post:

Franc’s third birthday came up on me fast and I was too lazy to clean. So, I wanted to find a place he loved but not spend a fortune. Plus, he wanted a Disney CARS party. Hmmm… I started thinking about cars which brought me to drive through which took me to Chick-fil-a.

I called to check things out with the manager. Did you know that you can have a small party at Chick-fil-a for no charge?

YES!

For the invitations, I made them myself using the computer, cardstock and some leftover foamie pieces for a 3-D effect. I found a piece of clip art of a road through the desert and another piece of clip art of Lightening McQueen. I sized McQueen to fit the road and cut him out, attaching him to a piece of foamie and then onto the main invitation. It looked like he was driving off the paper. We invited five children and grandparents.

Cost for invitations: Postage only!

I purchased a table cover, red napkins (July 4th clearance), dessert plates, and goody bags (inserted M&Ms, CARS gummies, party blowers that are a must-have for my kids at any party, party bubbles which were leftover from last year, and a sheet of CARS stickers sold 4 sheets to a pack). I also grabbed up a package of mylar balloons in the CARS theme and a helium tank that I used for all three children’s birthday parties. (We do this once a year and save tons by inflating our own helium balloons!) For the balloon holder (and centerpiece), I cut out the CARS shapes from the gummy box and glued it to a navy blue bag. Then, I used the bag as storage for the goody bags and stuffed the top with some red tissue paper.

Total cost for decorations and goody bags including 1/3 the cost of the helium tank: $29.05For the cake, I made my own pull-apart cupcakes. Franc got to help make them and finished up the decorating with sprinkles. Then, for the other food, we purchased one kid’s meal for each child. (I had coupons for two free kid’s meals.)

Total cost for food including cupcakes: $28.99

We had the party on a weeknight and showed up 30 minutes before party time to pull some tables together and decorate. When the first guest arrived, we ordered the kid’s meals. The children had a blast and when it came time to sing “Happy Birthday”, everyone in the restaurant joined in. It was so sweet and so easy! And, cleanup was a breeze! Just wrap everything up in the table cover and toss!

Total price for this FABULOUS party: $58.04!!!
Total headache: NONE!

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By penny | Filed in Coupons


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