Do you need something simple and easy to carry that you can hand over to a child while you wait in line or going up and down the grocery isle, or while you travel short distances? Then this easy to make Writing Wallet on the go is the thing you need.

I simply used my old Wallet. I don’t carry a wallet anymore so this was perfect to use.

What you Need:

– Old Wallet with pockets (More pockets the better)

– Different patterns of paper

– Pens or Pencils

– Stickers

How to Make:

1. Cut different pattern paper the size of wallet cards. Insert them into the wallet.

2. Add some stickers to on of the pockets.

3. Add some color pencils or pens to another pocket or if you have the pen holder you can use that.

That is it! You are done!

This will not occupy your children very long but it will be enough minutes to collect your thoughts and get a couple things done!

10 Things you can make from Plastic Tablecloths from Dollar Tree that are pretty simple to make.

1. Princess Peach Castle

2. Princess Wall Castle

3. Eugene Vests

4. Minion Tablecloth

5. Rapunzel Banner Hair

6. Minnie/Mickey Mouse Silhouette

Topic: 10 Dollar Tree Plastic Tablecloth Crafts

Hi I am Rebecca Autry and I am a Stay at Home Mom who helps others save money. I have three beautiful children, married to my super hero hubby for over 10 years. I am a frugal living, DIY type of person. I like to make my own Pinatas, Cleaners, and all about reusing and re-purposing anything and everything.

I left you with writing down the prices to the basic items you listed to start a home. Well lets revisit the prices and list.

1. Taking pictures – Our memories are not very great and we tend to remember differently then what we actually saw. So lets not take our memories word for it. Take the extra step and take pictures as you are getting prices. Because of our financial situation, I do not have a cell phone but my hubby does. Either way I did not have a camera on hand or a device to take pictures such as a cell phone so I wrote everything down. Believe me going thru Wal-mart and Dollar Tree to write basic descriptions of the products and cost takes time. I have been to several stores and done online pricing several times. I think I have easily invested 10 hours but the best thing is I have plan and although I can be flexible I know I will accomplish most of my goal each purchase. Remember we are looking at basic needs so pictures come in handy when it comes to calculating the best buy. For example buying Dish Detergent or any liquid you will want to know the best value for your money so you need to take into consideration ounces per unit. Also very helpful to be realistic when in my case I want to have 1 yrs worth of cleaning and health and beauty products. So for me its a bit easier because a couple years ago when I first started couponing and creating my stockpile I wrote down how often we use a certain product and how much if needed for a year.

My kids are much older now so I do have to adjust shampoo, body wash, etc for their higher usage now then just a couple years ago. So as you can see these pictures will help you plan out how much you will need to reach your goal whether it will be for a year stockpile or more. Don’t rely on your memory, I’m sure you are stressing out over other items right now like me!

2. Setting up a budget plan – finances. Oh boy this is so hard to do but you really need to chug through it and write it all out so you can see the entire year and be able to see how to plan it out and know exactly how much you can spend each month toward your goal. Start with each month dates of your paychecks and how much they are or expected to be. I used Microsoft Excel to set up a simple table. I did not start from January because its passed and what was made was already spent. I started from the nearest paycheck to come. Both my hubby and I get paid close in date. I get paid 2 times a month and my paycheck is the exact same every time. I don’t have to guess is its less or more. I am not salaried but payroll purposes it seems like it. My husband on the other hand is part time and his schedule is a week to week basis but we can guess he gets between 20-23 hrs a week so for our realistic purposes and manage our money effectively we budget that his check will be the lowest he has been paid in the past year minus his first paycheck which is always the lowest. This way we know his check will be that amount for a minimum of 20 hrs a week. There is no surprises, we can expect the bare minimum and it also seems like we are cheating because we get to celebrate every time its a little more than expected which is most of the time.

Now that we have the bare minimum we know to expect for 1 months time, we can plug in our monthly expenses; groceries, fuel, car insurance, health insurance, schooling, and yes Netflix! Netflix is our sore spot. But for $7.99 we can pamper ourselves with a little entertainment! Don’t forget housing, utilities, cell phone and so on. Write down all your expenses for the month in broad categories. Really quick you will be able to see how much is going to each category. Do you find yourself shock? I hope not, now you need to write out projected costs and when you might have the services done. For example health, dental, eye appointments, oil changes and vehicle registration and inspections if your state requires them. These are expenses that are not monthly but over the course of the year you will need to have done. Don’t forget property taxes! Being able to write it all out on paper will show you where you need to plug them in your budget and how long you need to save to pay for the services. Do you feel tied down now? It was a very depressing site for me when I did this for my family. I cried and tons of thoughts went through my head about how will we ever get on our own again. I am scared and I apologize if I come of paranoid and silly but we’ve been rock bottom and its not fun. As a family we have to take every precaution and think of every little expense. We do not want to end up in the same situation we have been in.

After much prayer and talking to God, I got a grip on my emotions and realized our expenses are not so bad. They could be worse. In fact not even 12 months prior I hadn’t found a job yet and my husband was only part time and had only been working a month at most and we were so swallowed in debt and not to mention a whole lot of other stuff was going on as well. We were by the state considered homeless. I tell you this because when I started to have a fit over $20 it was a huge deal to me. $20 is a lot. I can buy about 18 items at Dollar Tree with that amount so to put that amount away in an envelope has hard for me. But I was being very silly. We could afford to put $100 away in an envelope towards a new to us car and $100 towards household items for our new place. We are not rolling in money, believe me we are not. The federal government says we are 400% below the poverty line for our size family. Doesn’t feel good at all.

So now that we have set aside in an envelope of $100 for the car and $100 for household items, we can now set our goals of our basic needs.

Check out Frugal Fresh Start Week 3

Now that you have figured out your storage issue, now its time to take a look at your lists and make a game plan.

1. Creating maps/Put your pictures in your mind down on paper. Why is this important to me? Because for me seeing things on paper, makes it feel like I can really accomplish something. Its more concrete for me plus I can erase and adjust it very easily. You can physically write and draw with paper and pencil or you can use the computer. Which ever way works best for you. If I can visualize my needs, I can create smaller goals to get to the end result.

For example I want to have our very basic needs to start a home before we move on our own. I also want to have another vehicle to replace our current one. So what does my thoughts look like on paper? For the car I put how much I want to spend, what mileage I want it to be under, the year and the possible make and models. I have also put down how much I plan on putting down upfront and that is 2500. I also wrote how much from each paycheck I am able to put towards the vehicle. The most important, I wrote down registration and licensing, taxes, inspection, insurance cost and estimated fuel for the year. I want to see the big picture of how much a car will cost us because it is a huge factor on whether we can afford it and maintain it. Remember I am paranoid so I want to make sure we can afford it before making a huge decision. Hence I don’t want to be stuck with a car payment for a couple of years. I want to pay it off before we move and yes that may seem like eight or nine months away but take 2500 and divide by eight months that is just over $300 a month and like always, things happen and I may not be able to put that much towards the car each month. I want to give ourselves some wiggle room but not put ourselves in a bad situation again.

Continue to map out each goal you want to accomplish in starting over. The more work you put into it the more will want to achieve it and make it happen.

2. Check things off as you get them. I admit it was a thrill and rush to make my first purchase trip. Now I get to actually show you what I purchased on my first trip! The hubby went back to school so getting him a book bag was one of my purchases. He had some Kohl’s gift cards from Christmas so originally I had him pick out a bag on Kohls.com. They were having a sale but even with the gift cards I was going to be spending a bit more than I was wanting. So I took the few bags selected and searched on Amazon. I found one even better than the ones selected and even cheaper with shipping included. I ended up spending $24 and some change. That left me with around $75 to spend.

Remember I had already set out to get a 12 pk of toilet paper each purchase trip so that was on my list. Just to let you know I typically round up to the nearest dollar so it takes into account of taxes. I have a solid $100 to spend each purchase/check trip so taxes are included in that amount. At the beginning I had you visualize room by room and write down what is needed in each room and get prices for each item. I started with all the dollar items.

Back to those Kohl’s gift cards we had $20 and Kohl’s also sent me an email to save $15 on a $50 purchase plus free shipping. So it took me 2 days pouring over household items on that were on my list that I can get a better deal that I had originally planned. What did I get! I got 9 Large Bath Towels originally $9.99 each and 3 Queen size Big One Pillows that were $11.99 each. Did I mention they were having a sale on Household items excluding luggage so the bag the hubby picked out did not fall in the sale (I was bummed). The pillows were on sale for $4.99 while the towels were on sale for $3.99. This made my total 50.88 plus taxes. After the $15 off and $20 in gift cards I ended up having to pay shipping but my total came to $24.30. Which made everything just over $2 a piece which was cheaper than I would have spent if I bought the items at Wal-mart for the cheapest ones.

I still had $50 to go so I bought the toilet paper $6, another item I need tons of is Snack Bags so that was another $2, spent another $10 in Washing Soda, Baking powder, course salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, Purex Laundry detergent so I can make my own Dish washing tablets and Laundry detergent tablets. I spent $12 on Beach towels from Wal-mart. We have never had beach towels but I did get these for the kiddos. I spent $10 in Wash clothes, Shampoo, Bar Soap, Body Wash, Deodorant. I then spent the remainder $8 in kitchen utensils; such as pizza cutter, spatula, ice cream scoop, measuring cup, cutting board, silverware.

I know not to exciting but I was extremely excited when my huge box from Kohls.com came in the mail because I had to clean out a second storage tub just to fit the pillows in. I need to put 2 containers on my next purchase trip because I don’t have room in my first container anymore. Did I mention I have been cleaning out all my items to see what I still have.

We didn’t get rid of totally everything. We kept our modem, cordless phone (Do not know if the work), Thermometer, personal plug in fan, glue gun, first aid kit and so on. With these household items they take up a bit of room in the container that I started with.

Check out Frugal Fresh Start Week 5 – Getting everyone on board

So what part of the birthday party is the most exciting for my son. No, it is not the cake and ice cream, nor is it the presents. In fact he would rather I serve carrots and ranch instead of cupcakes and ice cream!

The favorite part of my son’s party for him is seeing everyone dress up. He loves to play dress-up and when I was a little girl I too was a huge fan but i had to pretend in my mind because I did not have dress-up clothes nor did I have the means to buy or make my own.

My kids are only going to be kids once and all of them enjoy dress up when we all can dress-up together. Last year we dressed up as Minions and the year prior for my other son my husband dressed as a Pirate.

So this year my son’s theme for his party is Avengers. What did he ask for? He asked that is be a Costume party and asked if Daddy can dress up like an Avenger.

I recently got a Captain America costume for my son on clearance after Halloween. Now it is time to surprise my son that daddy will in fact dress up as an Avenger. Guess who? Captain America of course. Birthdays are meant to be celebrated and this is no exception. I know my son has enjoyed daddy coming down the stairs in his costume.

I am partial, but I do believe this Captain America Costume looks wonderful on my husband. This costume is the Captain America 2 Winter Soldier Retro Adult costume from Costume Discounters.

The material is thin but just right to have clothes underneath. Unfortunately my husband is self conscious so he decided to place pants over the bottom half of the costume. I wasn’t able to get a full body picture of how the costume would look like.

The material is solid and breathable. I suspect that the material will not frey easily with how rough my hubby and kids are! If you are self conscious like my husband I do recommend buying a size larger.

The party went well. The best part of the costume is that even with how cold it was outside my husband still managed to work up a sweat and was very thankful as to how thin the costume was.

Topic: Dress like Captain America #Review

Now that I got you here, April Fools! NO I did NOT get DMCA’d and my blog is NOT closing.

All content on my blog is of my own creation and unique with the exception of two wedding posts from my future sister-in-law, a DIY from my sister, a review from my niece and giveaways that I work along other bloggers to promote. Credit is given when due and with permission of those bloggers.

However I do want to bring up the issue of DMCA. I have within the past couple of months had to issue DMCA through my host and Google because my Minion Pinata was copied verbatim, pictures and all on websites claiming it as their owns.

I do periodically check to see if my content is being copied. I have no problem with any deals I find and post and another blogger posts them with my picture but I do have a HUGE problem when it comes to my Pinatas. I spend time creating them and stopping at every step to take pictures and explain what I did. If you ever have written a tutorial you know how hard it is!

What made me furious is these two websites used this quote, “I was seriously trying to talk my son out of a Despicable Me Theme birthday party because I could not think of any ideas for decorations except a million minions!!!”. Let me explain they did not use my post to criticize or recreate they stole the entire content. You can find the entire Minion Pinata Tutorial in its entirety on my blog.

Let me be clear, yes there is a lot of grey area when it comes to copyright, however I am all for people taking my content criticizing it, pulling it to pieces and if someone cannot follow my instructions and recreate the same item, I do want to know, I want to know how to be a better tutorial writer. I promise if you take my content and say why you cannot recreate or what its missing I will not DMCA you, that is not what it was intended for. A DMCA is intended to be issued when someone is taking your content and claiming it as their own.

As a Christian I am expected to go to the source first to work things out and I did just that. When those websites refused to remove the content only then did I go to my host, their host, and Google and filed the necessary paper work along with all communications between myself and the two companies. Those posts were removed from Google search and dealt with by their hosts to be taken down.

So please if you DMCA a blogger, vlogger or anyone else please I urge you to read what a DMCA is for and everything about copyright issues. Also if you want to know if Tweets can be copyrighted – not very likely and hard to prove.

Also know the terms of agreement for the social media you participate in. Don’t get yourself stuck in a hard place.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful April Fools day.

I  couldn’t resist going out but not to buy anything but to see what deals I might find.

First off Dollar Tree has all Christmas decorations including Christmas gift bags are 50% off.

But here is the hot deal Nut-tuition Peanut Butter for $1 Use the $1/1 Nut-trition Peanut Butter Printable

Final Price: $.25

Posted on November 11, 2012August 20, 2015 by Rebecca Autry

Dollar Tree has 16ct lozenges for $1 Use the $1/1 off any printable except 4ct (must fill out form to get coupon)

Final Price: Free

Posted in Deals and tagged Dollar Tree.

Hi I am Rebecca Autry and I am a Stay at Home Mom who helps others save money. I have three beautiful children, married to my super hero hubby for over 10 years. I am a frugal living, DIY type of person. I like to make my own Pinatas, Cleaners, and all about reusing and re-purposing anything and everything.

Hi I am Rebecca Autry and I am a Stay at Home Mom who helps others save money. I have three beautiful children, married to my super hero hubby for over 10 years. I am a frugal living, DIY type of person. I like to make my own Pinatas, Cleaners, and all about reusing and re-purposing anything and everything.

Kroger has 12 oz Suave Professional Shampoo for $1.79 (Reg. Price)

Use the $1/2 Suave Professional Shampoo or Conditioner, exp. 2/24/13 (RP 1/27/13)

or $.50/2 Suave Professional Shampoo or Conditioner, exp. 2/24/13 (RP 1/27/13 R)

Final Price: $1.29 each ($.11 an ounce)

Or you can get the 28 oz. for $2.49

Suave Professional Shampoo 28 oz. $2.99

use a coupon mentioned above

Final Price: $2.49 ($.09 an ounce)

Hi I am Rebecca Autry and I am a Stay at Home Mom who helps others save money. I have three beautiful children, married to my super hero hubby for over 10 years. I am a frugal living, DIY type of person. I like to make my own Pinatas, Cleaners, and all about reusing and re-purposing anything and everything.