Thrifty Thursday - Save on Sports

Ok, not much time left to get a Thrifty Thursday post out there, but I just came across a great deal that I though I’d share.  While checking the deals on slickdeals.com (great thrifty resource) I saw one for 25% off and one item at Sports Authority (good through the 19th).  You can get the in-store coupon here or you can use the following code at the online store (TSA25DEAL).  The catch is that there are a LOT of items on the “fine print” list.  That said, I still managed to score some new tight kicks… Funny “Ryan” trivia is that I only buy tennis/running/sneaker shoes once about every 5 years… my last pair (6 years old) retired a couple weeks ago.

You can use the discount on stuff besides shoes, so if you’re in the market for a new backpack for school or some sunglasses for the summer… hey, 25% off is hard to beat.  Oh, another thing, I noticed that some items not listed on the “excluded” list were not working with the online code (like the shoes I just bought).  However, if you go into the physical store, everything should be fine.  Just tell them that the item isn’t listed on the exclusions and they should honor the discount… initially my shoes didn’t get the  discount but the kind lady at the register took care of that issue.

In totally unrelated news, I launched a new website the other day called Photography Inspiration. It has nothing to do with Thrifty Thursday, but since I own and run Going to SeminaryI figure it is ok to give myself some free advertising… which remides me, did you know that you can now advertise on goingtoseminary.com for A BUCK A DAY!  Heck, for a buck you could just post a picture of yourself and feel cool for a day… the possabilities are endless… feel free to get creative.

Thrifty Thursday - Free Family Fun

Having kids can be expensive… especially when “fun” is involved. Being an Orlando resident affords us many fun activities, however many of them cost a LOT of money. A trip to Disney with the kids would cost almost $200. So, needless to say we haven’t visited the oversize mouse just yet.

So, what do we do on our tight budget for family fun? Well, here are a few things but feel free to add your own in the comment section:

• Public Library - With younger kids this is a real winner. Most libraries have a kids section and numerous events just for kids throughout the week. Currently my wife takes the kids to story time once a week and the kids love it. Even when there isn’t a story time the library offers lots of fun stuff for the kids.
• Barnes and Noble - Typically once a week we go to B&N after dinner. It is a good way to blow those couple hours between dinner and bed time when you want to get out of the house but the weather isn’t cooperating. The kids section is great and, of course, there is the Thomas the Train toys to play with.
• The Park - If you’re a parent then odds are you know where every playground is within 20 miles of your house. This is a great option because it affords the kids a chance to play with other kids their age. Also, it is a great way for you to meet new people. Now, if you’re like me, you live in Florida and you only go to the park in the winter when it is 78 degrees. The summer heat is typically a bit too much for the park on a regular basis.
• Mall Playground - Sadly, the malls in Orlando have crummy playgrounds. When we lived in Richmond the mall was a weekly destination for the play area.
• Family Walk - Again, with the heat, these have become less popular with the family, however, when the temprature was right we often took an evening stroll together.

Now, I’m sure there are lots of other ideas out there, so lets hear’em…

Thrifty Thursday - Student Advantage

I thought I’d throw this one out there in case anyone might be interested. Student Advantage is a savings card that is only available to students and offers discounts on both local and online retailers. Much like the Entertainment savings guide we’ve mentioned before, the Student Advantage card does cost some money. However, it looks like you can recoup your expense in one or two purchases. Along with that, Student Advantage is offering a free trial month… So, if anything you can give it a try for free, save some money, and if you’re not happy you can cancel before you actually have to pay for the card.

If anyone has a Student Advantage card, let us know what you think.

Thrifty Thursday - Taking Care of Your Cloth Diapers

Last week I wrote about cloth diapers. This week I would like to elaborate a bit more on the care of the cloth diapers as well as a few more tips for being a good steward of your funds while keeping your children clean.

Rinsing the Dirty Diapers

Last week I talked about attaching a kitchen sprayer to your toilet to clean out the dirty diapers. It is not as hard as one would think and it does not take as much time as one would think. Another benefit of having the sprayer attached to the toilet is that it makes rinsing down the bath tub much easier than just using a cup of water. (Because I keep my hair short, I usually cut it myself in the bath tub so as to contain the cut hair.)

At the end of this article, I have included step-by-step directions for how to make the diaper sprayer as well as how to attach it to your toilet.

Containing the Diapers

There are a couple schools of thoughts on what to do with the diapers while they are waiting to be washed. The first is to fill the diaper pale (trash can or whatever) about 1/4 or 1/3 of the way full with water and sprinkling some baking soda which acts as a neutralizer for the odor. The problem with this is that when the pale gets full of diapers and the additional water from spraying them out or the other bodily fluids that come in diapers, it tends to get pretty heavy. Unless you have handles to carry it, it can become very awkward to carry.

The second school of thought is to just rinse them in the toilet and toss them into the container. Our trash can that contains the diapers has a lid that flips open that we bought at Wal-Mart for like $8. My wife and I have discovered that the odor is hardly there and that it is easier to not only carry but to get into the wash machine. If there is an odor, we use vinegar during the first rinse cycle.

Washing the Diapers

***This is only cost effective if you have a washer and dryer. I would not do this at a laundromat or on-site coin laundry at a complex.***

The actual washing (or warshing if you are from the mid-west!) of the diapers is a two-step process in the washing machine. First, you dump the diapers into the wash and set the machine on the second rinse cycle (after the first spin cycle) This will agitate the diapers and get any extra junk out of the diapers and then spin them out before actually washing them. This is an important step.

After this first step is done, you then act as though you are washing a regular load of laundry except you should use a liquid detergent (All or ERA is what we use) that does not have any perfume or dyes. To be honest, I am not sure why this is necessary, but everything I have read says that this helps extend the life of the diaper.

I always set my load setting on the largest load capacity in order that there is more water for the diapers to be washed in. I also use the hot/hot setting for the water temperature. It is my opinion that this helps with the sterilization of the diapers each wash.

Drying the Diapers

We use two methods for this as well depending on how much time we have on a given day. The first method is to throw them in the dryer and set them on the low heat setting. This usually takes 40 minutes to dry the diapers completely. If you uses the high heat setting, the diapers begin to crack and the longevity of them is much less.

The second method is to hang them on a rack or clothesline to dry. We do not set them in the sun for the same reason we do not set them on the high heat. We hang them on a clothes rack we bought at Wal-Mart (bet you wouldn’t have guessed that) and then put them in front of one of our fans overnight (or not). After they are done drying this way, we throw them in the dryer on the no heat cycle just to fluff them up a bit.

It may seem like a lot of work put into saving a few bucks on diapers, but it really is not. We have two kids in diapers which translates to about two extra loads of “laundry” each week. Spraying out the dirty diapers does not take very long at all, either.

I will write later on how to either make your own wipes out of paper towels or simply make your own cloth wipes.

Directions on how to make a diaper sprayer

Supplies needed- you can get them at any hardware store

3/8″x3/8″x3/8″ tee
barb splicer
sink sprayer
hose clamps 2
toilet supply line

1. Shut off water at the valve behind the toilet
2. Remove supply line to toilet from the valve
3. Install 3/8″x3/8″x3/8″ tee to valve (One end should be horizontal- the other two are up and down)
***One of the two “up and down” ends needs to be a male (with the ability to attach to something) end and the other a female (with the ability to receive an attachment) end. The horizontal part needs to be female.***
4. Take the removed supply line and install it to the tee-the top of the tee
5. Cut off large end of new toilet supply line
6. Insert the barb splicer (this will connect the toilet supply line and the sprayer)
7. Put hose clamp on the new toilet supply line
8. Cut off very end of the sink sprayer
9. Install on the other end of the barb splicer
10. Add all of this to the other end of the 3/8″x3/8″x3/8″ tee-which is horizontal
11. You are finished. You can buy a hook to hang the sprayer on the wall.

Total cost: about $17.00-$21.00.

Thrifty Thursday - Saving on Diapers

If you are in seminary, then you realize money is tight (that is why we have a Thrifty Thursday). If you are married and in seminary, then you definitely realize that money is tight. My wife and I are always searching for ways in which we can cut our budget. One way we did this was to transition to cloth diapers.

Now that you are over the “eww” factor, let me explain a few things. First, cloth diapers are not like they used to be back in the day. There are no diaper pins and there is no proper folding of the diaper as such. The cloth diapers I am talking about are just like the disposable diapers from all the major name brands (or not so major brands). Second, depending on which brand you invest it, you may never have to buy diapers again.

Brands

For example, the bum genius brand of diapers are made to grow with your child. Basically, it is a one-diaper fits all model. They are designed to fit newborns up to toddlers (7-35 lbs.). They are about $19-$21 a piece depending on where you buy them.

The fuzzi bunz brand are one of the more popular brands of cloth diapers (along with bum genius) but do not offer the one-size-fits-all model. They have sizes small-medium-large for the child. These diapers have an insert that you need to stuff inside the diaper in order to absorb liquids and such. They run about $18-$20 a piece depending on where you buy them.

Finally, the model my wife and I use are the Kushies brand. These are an all-in-one diaper in that there are no inserts to be added. They do come in various sizes from newborn (up to 10 lbs.) to infant (10-22 lbs), and toddler (22-45 lbs). I know you can buy inserts to help with absorbency, but they are not necessary as each diaper comes with an insert as part of the diaper. They run from $9-$10 per diaper depending on where you buy them.

My wife has found that the best (and cheapest) place to buy cloth diapers is Wal-Mart.com. However, of the three I mentioned in this article, you can only by the Kushies through Wal-Mart. If you are able to do Site-to-Store, then you do not have to pay for shipping and handling. The other two can be found at most cloth diaper stores (I had no idea there were stores dedicated to just cloth diapers!) or online.

How Do I Clean Them

Now, I am sure most of you are balking at the thought of having to wash poop out of diaper. Did you know that on the box of every disposable diaper there is a little note that says, “Rinse or shake baby soil into the toilet”? Most people do not know that, but it is true. I will wait while you go and look on your package of diapers. See, I told you. We have a kitchen sized trash can with a lid on it in one of our bathrooms. We also add a little bit of baking soda to the can to fight odor though it is not as bad as you would think.

If you are going to get started with cloth diapers, I would recommend getting 20-25 diapers to begin with. That is about three days worth and then they need to be washed. Given all that has happened to my wife and I regarding income and such, cloth diapers have saved our…er…butts a time or two. We do have disposable on hand for when we go to church or just go out, but not having to buy diapers once or twice a week has helped with the budget immensely. It is also a great way to “go green” if you are into that. Personally, I just find that it is helping me to be a better steward of what we have.

In a later post, I will show how to attach a kitchen sprayer to your toilet. This helps to not only clean the diapers but also clean your tub and or sink. A by-product of the sprayer is it makes a good conversation piece as well. I have actually used it to witness to a few friends about stewardship and God’s faithfulness.

Thrifty Thursday - Savings in Seminary

Several months before we sold our house in Richmond our savings account balance dropped below our bank’s minimum requirement. The consequence was that we had to either deposit some more money into the account (not really an option at the time) or we needed to close the account. As I mentioned, adding money wasn’t really an option, and at the same time I didn’t like the idea of having no savings account. For me, I’ve found that having a savings account, even if it only has a couple hundred dollars in it, is a good idea. The main reason I like it is that I am much less likely to touch that money unless I really need it. So, I began to see what other options were available to me.

Enter, The Orange Savings Account. Great rates, no fees, no minimums. When I found ING I was pretty psyched because not only did they have a great interest rate, but there were NO FEES and NO MINIMUM BALANCE. So, I closed our other savings account and moved our money over to ING. It was all online and really easy to do. The bonus was that when we sold our house, we deposited our equity into the account and now, since the interest rate is so good, we’re getting a nice little return each month (nothing earth shattering, but every $30, $40, is a nice addition).

Now, some might wonder why we put our equity in this savings account and not something else (like a CD or as a down payment on a new house). Well, for us, we decided to sacrifice our equity in order to decrease our monthly expenses for one year (with the hopes that something would change financially after that one year). So, for now, we have a monthly draw set up in ING that transfers our rent into our checking account each month.

In all, I’ve been extremely pleased with ING and wholeheartedly recommend it as a great Thrifty Thursday idea. Not only do I like the savings account, I’ve been so happy that I am considering changing over to their checking account -> Electric Orange from ING DIRECT: 1.75% APY or more. Free ATMs. FDIC. Open online now.. With the checking, the free ATMs is pretty sweet since my current bank doesn’t have an ATM near by and I usually pay about $10 a month in ATM fees… So, I think we’re gonna change over soon.

Oh, and yes, if you sign up for an account Going to Seminary gets some money…

Thrifty Thursday - Help With Your Money

For a lot of seminary students, financial considerations are something that is always on the mind. Getting an advanced degree is not particularly cheap, and especially as a lot of us enter our studies married and possibly with children, this becomes an even greater undertaking.

I am blessed to be married to an accountant. My wife and I complement each other well because she is good with budgeting and working with numbers, while I am not. Left to my own devices, I’d probably find myself in quite a financial mess once I was done seminary. In high school, my wife was introduced to Dave Ramsey, a well-known radio personality and author who is also the founder of Financial Peace University. She decided that we should enroll in the 13-week program, and although I have a proclivity to steer away from anything numbers-related, I agreed.

It has been simply amazing. If you have not heard of Dave Ramsey, you need to stop what you are doing right now (well, finish reading this first) and go find out who he is and what he does.

The content of the course is a simple step-by-step guide to learn how to budget and plan financially for emergencies and the future. There are a lot of churches that host FPU, and a typical night has an hour-long video presentation by Ramsey guiding you through the process followed by a group discussion led by the person who organized FPU at the church. Lessons include creating your budget, getting out of debt, how to buy insurance, and suggestions for investing and retirement. Ramsey has an infectious personality which will really fire you up to get your finances in order. And because Ramsey is a Christian, his lessons and his methods are influenced by principles of stewardship and biblical wisdom on how to deal with money.

The people who organized the FPU we’ve been attending told us that churches have ministries for everything imaginable, except for finances and handling money. There is so much potential here not only for students, but for everyone in the church. This is a simple and practical way to get involved and serve in your church. Christians in the West control such a large amount of the money in the world, yet our churches have the lowest rates of tithing anywhere, our missionaries are grossly under-funded, and we ourselves are plagued with debt and financial problems. Here is an opportunity to really grab hold of.

You can visit Dave Ramsey’s site for more information on Financial Peace University and other services that his company offers. Also, there is a search feature where you can find an FPU program in your area. The cost is around $100, but what you will benefit from it is worth so much more than that.

Thrifty Thursday - Save on Groceries

This guest post was written by Terry Delaney. You can read more from Terry at Diary of a Seminary Student and Said at Southern.

If you are like most seminary students, money is tight. In order to be good stewards of what God has given us, we need to find ways to make our budgets stretch. In this day and age of high gas prices and even higher food costs, money disappears fast. This is where Angel Food Ministries comes into the picture.

Angel Food Ministries is a non-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated to providing food relief and contributing to benevolent outreaches in communities throughout the United States. They do this by partnering with church to provide quality groceries at below grocery store prices.

The beauty of the program is that you get about $60 worth of groceries for $30. There are no conditions that need to be met other than you pay for your box of food and/or the special boxes you want to purchase each month. There is no need to show proof of income or even residency. There are no membership fees or long term agreements to sign. All you do is find a church that is a host site for the delivery of the food, pay for your food before the deadline (it varies according to whatever state you live in) and bring an empty box or laundry basket to carry your food home on the day of pickup at the local church in your area.

The food is name brand quality and usually consists of frozen meats and veggies and some box type dinners. You can view a menu, which changes every month, here. Keep in mind that the menu can vary from state to state and location to location. In case you might be little worried about the quality of the food you’ll get:

Our food is “restaurant grade” meats, frozen vegetables, fruits, dairy products, etc. which we acquire through our involvement with only the best producers/vendors of high quality, “name brand” foods. Never “seconds” or “day old” type products are involved.

Again, the cost for one box of food is only $30 and you’ll get about twice as much food than if you were to go to your local store and buy the same items there.

There is also information on how to become a host church if this is a ministry that you would like to share with your community. I know of some churches that purchase boxes of food to bolster their own food pantries and others who choose a family or two each month to help out with groceries.

Slacker Saturday

Talk about being a slacker… One measly post this week and it was merely a job ad. Hopefully I can get my act together this week, but I guess only time will tell if I can do that… Until then, since I was a slacker this week, I’ll try to make up for it in one post.

Two Cent Tuesday - Saturday Edition

Saturday is always strange for me because I never know what to expect. On any given Saturday I am as likely to have a project for work, as I am to have school work to do, as I am to have a list of honey-do’s around the house. While I always have something on my plate, I do typically try to spend at least half the day with my wife and kids. I also attempt to get a 30 minute nap in there somewhere. In the end, Saturday is like a half day off for me. Mix that with, typically, a whole day off on Sunday and I am usually ready to go come Monday. So, what’s your Saturday like?

Thrifty Thursday - Saturday Savings

Well, tomorrow is Mother’s Day and my mom happens to be in town tonight. So, in true best-mom-in-the-world fashion, she has offered to watch the kids and give Just a Gal and I a date night. As I was looking online to decide where we should go for dinner, I was reminded of a really great date resource: Restaurant.com

Restaurant.com is a great site that offers you some instant savings on dinner. The gist of the site is that you can buy a gift certificate to a restaurant at a very discounted price. Typically you can get a $10 gift certificate for $3 or a $25 gift certificate for $10. Now, you can only use one per visit, but that is a pretty nice little savings on dinner. Also, if you sign up for an account, they typically send out discount codes towards the end of the month and you can get an even greater discount. Major score on those nights.

One final note… when you buy your gift certifiate and print it out, don’t forget to take it with you! Sad to say I’ve done that more than one! Sheesh.

A link for all you would-be-Ph.D’s

Here is a great post by Sean Michale Lucas on Ministrial Students, Calling, and PhD Studies. It is incredibly insightful and is worth reading for all seminarians. Along with the original post, there is a LENGTHY comment section that I suspect will only get longer once you visit the post. Enjoy.

Thrifty Thursday - Save Money on Having a Baby

Wow, with the announcement of our Seminary Meme winner I almost forgot it was Thursday…

This item is something I stumbled across several months back (when uninsured) and we thought Just a Gal might be pregnant. While I knew, if that was the case, that God would take care of us, I couldn’t help jumping on Google to try and find out how to afford a pregnancy without insurance.

That is when I found the MaternityCard. The gist of the card is that, while not insurance, you get insurance prices at the doctor. See, crazy as it sounds, insurance companies get to pay less for the same services that out-of-pocket people pay. Therefore, if you don’t have insurance you not only have to pay yourself, but it is more expensive… The maternity card seems to be a good solution. Basically, you still have to pay for everything, but having this card allows you to get discount (insurance) prices on your service (check out the savings potential).

Now, most seminaries require you to have insurance, so this might not be an issue for you (actually, all seminaries require insurance) but, none the less, this is a thrifty site to remember for the future, should you or anyone you know need it.

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