Andrea Dekker

Weekend Giveaway: Money Saving Mom’s Budget Book

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure here.

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed.

Even as a very small child, some of my favorite play-time activities were playing store {I was the cashier} and writing numbers in my “bank book” {see picture below}.

When I was six, my parents helped me open my first savings account and then make small deposits on a regular basis. You can probably imagine how excited I was to balance a REAL bank register after each deposit!

I opened a checking account when I was 18, and was extremely hesitant to spend even one penny more than I absolutely had to!  I used coupons to buy groceries all through college, and worked as many hours as I could to quickly pay off my student loans.

Now that I’m “all grown up” I’m still frugal, I still use coupons, I still don’t spend money if I don’t have to, and I still balance my bank register after every transaction {yes, I do online banking too!}

Basically, I’ve been frugal for as long as I can remember — thanks in large parts to my parents who have always encouraged me and my sisters to save, save, save!

Because of my love for frugal living, I am simply ecstatic about today’s giveaway — The Money Saving Mom’s Budget. It’s a brand new book written by one of my blogging friends, Crystal Paine of MoneySavingMom.com.

Crystal’s book is not only packed FULL of hundreds of tips and tricks to save more, spend less, and pay off debt; it also contains a wealth of information on how to simplify and organize your entire life… which I’m all in favor of 🙂

Plus the entire book is written from a “normal” person’s perspective on finances; so you won’t have to weed through financial jargon or constantly wonder if you’re understanding it correctly.

As I was reading her book, I kept thinking “I could have written this” because I honestly agree with pretty much everything she says. You can read more about her book here, but then come back and enter to win one of 5 copies!

The Giveaway:

Today, five lucky readers will win a copy of Crystal’s new book, The Money Saving Mom’s Budget! 

How to Enter:

1. Leave a comment. How are you trying to save more and spend less this year?

2. Like Simple Organized Living and/or Money Saving Mom on Facebook, and then leave a separate comment letting me know you did {or that you do already}.

If you are reading this in your email or feed reader, please visit the actual blog post to enter. Email entries, Facebook comments, and Twitter messages will NOT be counted.

Prizes:

(5) copies of The Money Saving Mom’s Budget as described above.

This giveaway ends at 10:00 pm on Tuesday, 1/17/2012 and is open to all U.S. and Canadian residents 18 years or older. I will use And the Winner Is to select the winning comments at random. Winners will be notified by email and noted at the top of this post. Winners must respond within 48 hours of notification to claim their prize or I will choose a new winner. Please see my full disclosure policy and contact me with any questions you have. Good luck!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  5. Kristin says

    I am trying to watch weekly sales more and stock up when things are on sale and then combine those purchases with coupons. I would love to win a copy of Crystal’s book!

  6. Heid says

    We switched to a mostly cash based system briefly last fall, and found that our spending decreased. But, things happened and we started using credit cards again and our spending was way out of control for the past several months. This year, I plan to use cash for all my personal purchases. Hopefully that will make a big difference.

  7. Sarah sudduth says

    In the fall of 2011, I started a new part-time job tutoring in my home. Over the last few months I have enjoyed the extra money, but I realized that I have not been smart about how I spend the extra money I make. This year, I am collecting the money each month instead of spending it as soon as I get it. At the end of the month, I will decide what to do with the extra funds. I will give a portion to my church and put a portion in my savings account. The rest of the money will go towards buying something on our wish list for the house. That’s my plan!

  9. Kristin says

    My husband and I are definitely cracking down on our budget. We are learning how to really coupon, to make meals rather then eat out….we are in a very, very tight financial situation and really need help on how to stretch the few dollars we have!! thanks for the opportunity!

  13. kristan says

    I’m making a budget this year, and will be sticking to it! I like money saving mom on facebook.

  15. Shayna D says

    We’re working on potty training DD to save on diapers, and I’m experimenting with frugal dinners and we’ve worked out a meal plan to save on groceries. We’ve also switched over to CFL lightbulbs, started recycling baby food jars, formula containers, and tin cans, and we’ve committed to making every run to town count… We only make unscheduled trips out if we can cram something else in, too, to waste less gas.

  17. Tasha says

    This year I hope to get better at reducing our grocery bill through meal planning, couponing, freezer cooking and shopping the deals. Thanks for the book giveaway!

  19. Katie says

    Some of the ways our family is trying to save more and spend less:
    >I work hard to maximize my coupons by stacking them with store coupons & sales.
    >We are eating out less and cooking at home more.
    >We are trying to “never pay retail” as much as possible for clothing and household items (watching for good sales, shopping consignment, etc.).
    >We use our credit card to pay for most things so we earn cashback bonus awards (paying the card off in full each month so we don’t pay interest!), and we exchange those rewards for gift cards towards things we need.

  21. Christina says

    I am determined to be more diligent with my coupons and attempt to cut my grocery budget by $50 for the first 6 months of the year, and $100 by the last half of the year. I am also doing much more ‘at home’ activities with my kids instead of spending so much out and about.

  23. Lisa says

    I am trying to use less meat in our meals, be more creative with beans, and go out to eat less!

  28. Erin says

    I’m just trying to remind myself whether I really NEED it or whether I WANT it. And also working as many hours as I can get at work so I can pay off debt!

  30. Diane says

    I just liked simple organized living and already did lik money saving mom! Thanks

  32. Elizabeth says

    I am trying desperately to continue being a stay at home mom, but am faced daily with the thoughts, “I really should go back to work because we just aren’t making ends meet” running through my head. We live a very simple life and honestly I don’t know how we could cut back or do without anything else. I am determined to make this work! So this year, I will continue to coupon and use store brands. Thrift/ second hand stores will still be my best friend. I will continue to cook all meals at home, but will make sure that any leftovers are eaten and not thrown out. I will continue to make my own laundry soap and such. I will keep looking for other DIY opportunities that will lesson my housekeeping bill. I will whole heartily look for my niche and find and opportunity to generate income from home. I will become more organized!!!! Finding Simple Organized Living is already a blessing, winning the MSM book would put me even closer to goals! Thank you so much for this!

  33. Lisa says

    I unsubscribed from all the marketing emails I was getting that were encouraging me to shop. I am also having more “home days” and trying to only go into town once a week.

  34. Kim Foley says

    Cutting back on eating out and cooking from scratch. That’s how we are saving in the New Year!

  36. michelle clayton says

    We are really trying to budget this year. We are going to try the envelope method, couponingand self control 🙂 which is so hard

  39. Megan M says

    We are trying to save for our wedding next year and some house renos. Since I am a full-time grad student and my fiance works full time and is finishing up grad school as well, money is very tight! I would love to have any help with better budgeting!

  40. Nicole S says

    We cut back a lot once we had our first child and I went from full-time to part-time. No cable, no smartphones (just a basic text and talk), coupons help a lot, subscribe and save diapers on Amazon, etc… I am always looking for new ways to save and would love to see what Crystal aka Money Saving Mom can offer in her new book!

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