There are many ways to save money on weddings, one of the easiest is to learn how to save money on wedding flowers.

Flowers are one fo the things that seem to define a wedding.  If you have the right colors they can make a large impact on the look of the pictures, the feel of the reception and the balance with the brides dress.  While they are important to the wedding there are many ways to save money on wedding flowers that don’t take away form the wedding.

Shop around - You may already know of a couple places, but it is important to shop around and ask about specials.  Specials change all the time and can be a big tool for saving money for wedding expenses.

Use silk - if you invest in nice looking flowers they look great even though they are silk.  They last longer and can be reused as wel.

Buy in bulk - Costco is a great place to get beautiful roses that last a while.  If you want a certain color ask for the florists number and have her pick out the best flowers that day so you get them.  You can also focus your flowers on 1 or 2 kids if you are ordering them through a florist.  This helps them save money so you save money!

Ask venue if other brides will be there that day and try to share the cost of flowers - you never know unless you ask!

Mix flowers with other items like greenery or lanters and candles - Flowers don’t always have to be the center of your decorating.  use other items and make the flowers an accent piece.

Use in season flowers - in season items are always cheaper because they have a lot of them and they don’t have to be shipped far to get to you.

If you know how to make flower arrangements or you know others who know, make your own - I had a friend who knew how to make them, so I had her help me make them with my costco bought flowers.  Saved me a couple hundred dollars on my wedding!  Use your resources when saving money for wedding flowers!

Consider holiday’s and the decorations already in the venue - some holiday’s the venue may already have decorations up and have flowers that match the season.  This can be used in many ways for how to save money on weddings.

How else can you save money on wedding flowers?

Check out more tips on how to save money on a wedding!

How To Save Money On Wedding Flowers is a post from: Living A Frugal Life

Just chain it on… that will fix it!

Frugal Fix: Soap Dispenser is a post from: Living A Frugal Life

Grocery saving tips are a great way to keep your budget in line with your families household income.  Even though the economy seems to be on the rise, saving money at the grocery store can help you have more money to use on the finer things in life.  There are many grocery savings tips that you can use to bring you budget down.

8 Grocery Saving Tips

Shop the sales – this is one of the best money saving tips out there.  If you can plan your eating around what is on sale you can save up to 50% on your grocery bill.  It is the best way to make the most of your money regardless of what you buy.

Buy fresh – most people say fresh costs more.  but if you are buying fresh items in season so they are on sale they are actually much cheaper then the pre-made stuff you get on the shelf.

Know your price points – Price points is a huge part of these money saving grocery tips.  If you are only buying things at the lowest price you want to spend on an item you will save a ton.  also knowing your price points helps you know when it is time to buy and when it is time to wait a while and watch for a better price.

Know your stores and their policies – If you know your stores mark down days, or how they work their sales or coupon policies you can save a ton more then if you walk into a store and hope to find what you need at a good price.  Knowledge is power in this area.

Check for clearance - clearance areas are a great way to save money.  If your store puts produce on clearance those items are usually great for freezing, eating right away, or using for cooking.  Clearance meats are a great way to save on the needed protein in your diet.  Be sure to check for clearance on all your items.  each store has a different policy on what they clearance and where it is stored.  Ask your stores manager about when and where these things happen so you can save the most.

Shop in season - In season items will always be cheaper because they are local to you.  This produce is always fresh and it usually tastes much better since it has been picked at it’s prime.  Get to know your seasonal produce and products in your area and use those in your cooking and meals.

Stock pile your items – This is another of the saving money tips that is very useful and it works!  When you see an item on sale, stock up on it.  Get as much as your family will use until it is on sale.  Don’t buy 50 because they have them on the shelf, just get what your family uses.  This helps you to shop from your shelfs at home and not buy it full price form the store between sales.

Go without - Sometimes you just have to decide to go without something to save money.  This doesn’t have to be 100% of the time.  You could use beans instead of meat 2 times a week, that is going without meat for a day.  Another way to go without is to use substitutions until the item goes on sale again.

What are some other ways to save money; tips, suggestions, lifestyle ideas???

8 Grocery Saving Tips is a post from: Living A Frugal Life

I had another chance to go get some thrift store shopping in for summer ideas for outfits.  I was able to get a few things for my own closet which I LOVE!

The summer fashion colors for 2013 are very close to the spring fashion colors, they are just a bit brighter.  So when I went to the thrift store I focused on finding brightly colored items that could accent items I already had in my wardrobe.

We had a great time as a family and as you can see my little one loves to model!

Here are some items I found in our local Savers that are under $10 and as promised I am modeling them so please be kind to my post baby body…

Both of these shirts were awesome shirts.  I especially loved the green one with the blue trim.  It was a perfect color combo for the colors this year!  Both of these shirts can be worn with many different bottoms too which is a great selling point for me in making a frugal wardrobe!

I loved the outfit ont he left but it was a bit small for me and I had to pass it up.  The colors on the bottoms are big this year.  So be on the look out at your store for colors you could use with tops you may already own.  I did end up buying the middle top.  I LOVED it and for $7 who could pass it up?

This is another shirt that I loves and ended up buying.  It is bright pink which is a great addition that can be paired with white or other bottoms very well.  It was $5.99 and looked brand new!

The pants on the left are another option of colors on the bottom.  They are much brighter in person then in the pic.  It just doesn’t do justice.  The shirt ont he right is a great option if you don’t like the super brights of the summer.  Still a bright color, but it is sheer so you can make it more pastel with a white or creme under shirt.

What items do you hope to see in your local thrift store this summer?

Shopping For Thrift Store Summer Fashion is a post from: Living A Frugal Life

Awesome!

PVC Pipe Bunk Bed is a post from: Living A Frugal Life

I LOVE ground beef stuffed bell peppers.  I didn’t know I loved them until a couple years ago when I decided I needed to try some new things and my mom had a recipe for them.  I am loving how you don’t just have to have stuffed bell peppers with ground beef and rice though.  There are so many varieties of stuffed green bell peppers you can have now.

This stuffed bell peppers recipe is a very simple recipe and takes less then an hour to make so it is a great one to have in your weeknight meals.

Beef Stuffed Bell Pepper Recipe

What do you like in your stuffed bell peppers with ground beef?

Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe is a post from: Living A Frugal Life

Happy Mothers Day! is a post from: Living A Frugal Life

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to go to my daughters preschool for a mothers day tea.  It was so fun to spend some quality time with her.

When I got there they had the kids meet us at the door with a rose.  SO cute!  They then told us to go sit down whee we saw our placemat and I saw this:

This is something I will forever cherish!

What did your kids bring home from school for mothers day?

My Daughters Mom Tribute is a post from: Living A Frugal Life

There are so many ways you can accomplish having a money saving wedding.  One of the best areas to do that in is the reception.

The most important thing to remember while you are planning your reception is that people remember a reception not because of the table decorations or the lights, they remember it because of the people they are with and their comfort level during the reception.

When I got married almost 8 years ago, I knew I wanted to have a reception people would talk about.  But it wasn’t remembering the fancy dinner and the shows, but that they came and had a fun time.  So I set out to have a fun wedding while still using these simple ways to save money on a wedding.

I was able to accomplish a lot on a very little money all through being conscious of the fun factor while using my resources well.

There are a few wedding money saving tips that you can focus on to bring costs down but still have fun.  So check out these tips and try to figure out how you can apply them to your personal wedding to make your list of money saving wedding ideas.

Cake

When planning your cake try to remember that with 4 or 5 tier cakes, there is usually a lot of left over.  This is a very important thing to think about when your planning.  Times have changed a lot and people don’t always eat cake at a wedding anymore.  A lot of people either are full on the other food or they try not to have the cake for whatever reason.  There is nothing wrong with ordering a smaller cake so you don’t have a lot left over.

There is a tradition that is one we chose not to follow, that is the save your top tier to eat at your first anniversary tradition… YUCK!!!  I talked to many people who did it and they said the cake was so gross!  So we chose to save our money and then get a special cake for our first anniversary.  It was a much better idea!  The cake is fresh and SO good!  So don’t waste your money on planning that tradition into your cake order.  Save your money and get a fresh one!

The biggest money saving thing we did for our cake was to use our resources.  My husbands mother made wonderful wedding cakes!  As part of our wedding gift, she made our cake for us.  So our cake didn’t cost much at all.  We had a small 3 tier cake and didn’t have tons of leftovers.  So be sure to check your friends and family.  Ask if they have any resources so you can save money on your cake.

Decor

Decor is probably the easiest thing you can save money.  When you are planning your theme you want to be sure to think about what is the least amount of work you could do to make the atmosphere, but still be focused on how to save money for a wedding.

For us that was a luau.  I have always loved the islands and I love how their parties are casual and relaxed.  So we decided to have a luau.  I got a box of lais from oriental trading company.  And I planned a very minimal table decor with some sand, some fabric with hawaiian print, and some hurricane lamps and candles.  That was it!  A very simple but very connected to the theme relaxed party for my reception.

I still get people telling me how fun it was for the people who attended.  We danced, We talked, and we had so much fun and it didn’t cost a huge amount!

Food

Like I said above, we had a luau.  For food we were able to have a BBQ and have lots of fresh produce.  This helped so much because we were able to get discounts on food by buying it in bulk.  We were able to get most of it from places like costco.  This saved us a ton!  I then had some friends of my parents that were willing to help with the cooking and prep of the food.

When you are thinking about your theme, try to think about what you can do to reduce the cost.  What family or friends could help you with the prep and how can you utilize bulk buy stores to give you a discount.  Alos try not to get too fancy with your food choices.  people love food, but they wont remember your reception just for the food, and if they do, you better spend most of your money on that food!

DJ or Music

If your going to have dancing remember you don’t HAVE to have a DJ to do that.  you do have to have music.  So this is a great thing for the bridesmaids or groomsmen to take care of.  This is a great option for them to be involved in the wedding.  All you really need are speakers and a computer with a bunch of music.  So use your family and friends again.

Another option is to look for coupons for the DJ.  There are tons of coupons for different businesses in the yellow pages including for entertainment.  Use those coupons and do internet searches for discounts.  search until you find someone you like at the price you want to pay.

Venue

We were blessed to have a friend who had a wonderful back yard that helped us by letting us use their backyard for our luau.  This is another area you want to think about when planning your theme.  if you can make it a theme that works in a back yard or park you will be able to save a huge amount of money!

This was the best choice for us.  People came, had a blast and remembered their time with us.  they loved the feel of the relaxed reception.  We had it outside in the evening with candles and lais!  It was a great way to save and still have the desired feel.  you can do most themes outside.  you have to string christmas lights above the tables, but it is workable!

What other ideas do you have for how to save money on a wedding reception? 

How To Have A Money Saving Wedding Reception is a post from: Living A Frugal Life

Truth!

What other good things do you see to being frugal during a financial meltdown?

Financial Meltdown Frugality is a post from: Living A Frugal Life