Anonymous
12/11/2024 07:31
Subject: December money saving tips for single mom?
For your days off, pick a theme each day or every couple days to make it feel festive. You have a ton of ideas here for Mexico Day.
Pick another day or couple days and call it Space Day. Reserve timed tickets for the Air and Space museum. Make sure you do the walk on the national Mall sidewalk outdoors where you can see the relative size and distance of the planets. Get space books out from the library. Watch a space themed movie (if you have Disney Plus, Hidden Figures is great, but if you don't have a streaming service, the public library gives you access to free movies as well). Do space crafts (ideas online or at the library).
Pick another couple days and be nature themed. Print a nature scavenger hunt from online. Do a hike, even if around your neighborhood. Go to the natural History museum. Go to the grocery store and count how many plants you can find not just in the produce aisle, but also on labels. Do leaf rubbings and other nature crafts. Use Google lens to identify plants and animals you see on a walk around your neighborhood. Etc etc.
Adapt as needed if your kids are 2 or 17. Little kids will eat this stuff up. Older ones can get involved with the planning.
Pick another day or couple days and call it Space Day. Reserve timed tickets for the Air and Space museum. Make sure you do the walk on the national Mall sidewalk outdoors where you can see the relative size and distance of the planets. Get space books out from the library. Watch a space themed movie (if you have Disney Plus, Hidden Figures is great, but if you don't have a streaming service, the public library gives you access to free movies as well). Do space crafts (ideas online or at the library).
Pick another couple days and be nature themed. Print a nature scavenger hunt from online. Do a hike, even if around your neighborhood. Go to the natural History museum. Go to the grocery store and count how many plants you can find not just in the produce aisle, but also on labels. Do leaf rubbings and other nature crafts. Use Google lens to identify plants and animals you see on a walk around your neighborhood. Etc etc.
Adapt as needed if your kids are 2 or 17. Little kids will eat this stuff up. Older ones can get involved with the planning.
Anonymous
12/11/2024 07:14
Subject: December money saving tips for single mom?
Mexican hot chocolate! Taza brand comes in these little discs and you break off the pieces to add to milk.
Also watch YouTube videos of festivals in Mexico.
Also watch YouTube videos of festivals in Mexico.
Anonymous
12/11/2024 07:08
Subject: December money saving tips for single mom?
Eat from your pantry. There are websites where you can put in ingredients you have and see what you can make. Breakfast or lunch (sandwiches) for dinner. Buy less meat. Make sure you use all leftovers even if everyone ends up eating something different or a few bites of everything.
Anonymous
12/11/2024 06:53
Subject: December money saving tips for single mom?
There are credit cards that give you cash for signing up, 0% for a year and 1.5% cash back on most purchases.
If you use the card for living expenses, pay it off monthly, you will have several hundred dollars by next Christmas to spend on kid. Capital one has very good cards that don't require the best credit. They even have referral program and both will get cash back.
Can't help you with the Mexican theme as I can't cook nor am I good at arts and crafts.
Don't start churning cards as it's not worth it, but there are so many tips and trick when it comes to saving money.
If you use the card for living expenses, pay it off monthly, you will have several hundred dollars by next Christmas to spend on kid. Capital one has very good cards that don't require the best credit. They even have referral program and both will get cash back.
Can't help you with the Mexican theme as I can't cook nor am I good at arts and crafts.
Don't start churning cards as it's not worth it, but there are so many tips and trick when it comes to saving money.
Anonymous
12/11/2024 05:27
Subject: December money saving tips for single mom?
Anonymous wrote:Help! First year as a single mom. I pretty much lived on a fixed income and budget for the month. My kids Christmas presents are bought and paid for, but I’d like to try and take some of my food budget this month and use it towards making the week of Christmas extra special for my kids. I’m off and I’d like to take them to do things, one has been wanting Mexican for weeks, for example, but that costs money. Other than not buying anything other than essentials, are there any other ideas for saving a couple hundred dollars? Thanks!
Create a google phone number
Sign up for coupons
Use google phone for text sign up things
Uncle Julio’s usually has a discount for text / email rewards members
Use a rebate site shopping online , Mr rebates lets you cash out when you want I do it my birthday month and December
Museums in dc most are free
T mobile tuesdays if you have t mobile
Anonymous
12/10/2024 09:59
Subject: December money saving tips for single mom?
This is a great family-friendly resource of things to do in the DC area. You can subscribe for weekly emails...
https://www.kidfriendlydc.com/
And, Certifikid offers discounts to local attractions, similar to Groupon but kid-focused.
https://www.certifikid.com/
Also, this month many area high schools host free choral and orchestra concerts in evenings, with amazing young talent. My son is easily bored or squirmy at shows so I opt for the free ones where I can leave without the guilt of having wasted $$.
I'm taking time off for a staycation because it was too expensive to travel. My son doesn't mind because there is so much to see and do in the DMV area. (But, I admit to feeling guilty when he returns to school and tells me about the fun or exotic trips his school friends have taken over the holidays.)
--signed another single mom
https://www.kidfriendlydc.com/
And, Certifikid offers discounts to local attractions, similar to Groupon but kid-focused.
https://www.certifikid.com/
Also, this month many area high schools host free choral and orchestra concerts in evenings, with amazing young talent. My son is easily bored or squirmy at shows so I opt for the free ones where I can leave without the guilt of having wasted $$.
I'm taking time off for a staycation because it was too expensive to travel. My son doesn't mind because there is so much to see and do in the DMV area. (But, I admit to feeling guilty when he returns to school and tells me about the fun or exotic trips his school friends have taken over the holidays.)
--signed another single mom
Anonymous
12/06/2024 22:52
Subject: December money saving tips for single mom?
Anonymous wrote:I have some bargain ideas for you. Particularly about Mexican themed fun.
My younger son loves to make paper snowflakes out of white printer paper and he is good at it. One year he went to town and made about 30. I placed them on the tree and saved them. He has been so proud of them. Now they are among my favorite ornaments.
My personal favorite is making rolled sugar cookies with my family. I enjoy doing that just one time per year. Every mom in the family has the same cheap cookie cutters that were given out by a flour company in the 1960s or so. I'm nostalgic about those shapes. Some are shown in the kid's book "Mr. Cookie Baker".
Regarding Mexican food...try online restaurant reviews and look for the kind of restaurants or food trucks that immigrants run for other immigrants. It may be more affordable and even tastier than chain or the restaurants you think of first.
Also, as a serious suggestion, crunchy beef Taco Bell tacos are really yummy for American style hard shell tacos. You can buy party box 12 packs of those.
Target sells frozen taquitos and flautas.
If you want to have a festive meal, you can buy some pre-made stuff but maybe also find some free resources about Christmas in Mexico to go beyond a meal and have a holiday fiesta.
You could make a paper mache pinata as a craft project. Or maybe find one at a dollar store. Cheapest fillers are pennies (for luck), Laffy Taffy, Tootsie Rolls. Oriental Trading does sales and coupons and sells pinata filler. If your kids don't want to smash it, make a hatch with a string and decoy strings surrounding it.
You could find free Mexican Christmas music and videos to play on Youtube.
You can decorate a light fixture or mirrors or windows with festive crepe paper streamers.
Maybe your local library has this book? And also books about Christmas in Mexico?
The Pinata Maker
https://www.amazon.com/pi%C3%B1atero-Pi%C3%B1ata-Maker-George-Ancona/dp/0152000607
Teach your kids to sing the Feliz Navidad song we hear on the radio? There's probably a video for that.
The point is to add hype, color, and festivity to what's just a box of tacos or cooked taquitos.
My older son loves Pace salsa and kids like unlimited corn chips. There are likely to be places where you can buy more authentically Mexican corn chips that aren't Tostitos. A good trick is to buy blue corn chips if your kids haven't seen them before. They taste the same. The brand sold near me is Xochitl.
My big city has a "Mexicantown" neighborhood with a really good grocery store. You can buy crunchy green cactus leaves there for a fun "try eating cactus" novelty food. I bought a couple leaves. They are not sharp but you do have to take off the few prickles. Then what people usually do with them is dice them and throw the bits in omelets just like green pepper. I had toddlers so I just showed them that we were eating cactus and they ate a few small pieces to try.
Another fun thing to taste test would be a few tamarind pods from a bulk section. I like sour tastes...these are a little like sour dried apricots.
If you can find or visit a Mexican bakery, you should find affordable churros.
I wasn't really a fan, but you can get Mexican hot chocolate tablets made by Nestle at my supermarket. It's called "Abuelita" (grandma). You cook it on the stove.
Have a happy holiday season.
Just wow, PP. Thank you so much for taking the time to post all of this. It is SO helpful and SO appreciated! My kids are going to love this! Thanks again, so much!
Anonymous
12/06/2024 17:24
Subject: December money saving tips for single mom?
Also, are you in DC or close by! You could visit a different museum each week and pack a themed lunch.
Anonymous
12/06/2024 17:24
Subject: December money saving tips for single mom?
The best Mexican holiday traditions - tamales!!!
Anonymous
12/06/2024 16:45
Subject: December money saving tips for single mom?
I have some bargain ideas for you. Particularly about Mexican themed fun.
My younger son loves to make paper snowflakes out of white printer paper and he is good at it. One year he went to town and made about 30. I placed them on the tree and saved them. He has been so proud of them. Now they are among my favorite ornaments.
My personal favorite is making rolled sugar cookies with my family. I enjoy doing that just one time per year. Every mom in the family has the same cheap cookie cutters that were given out by a flour company in the 1960s or so. I'm nostalgic about those shapes. Some are shown in the kid's book "Mr. Cookie Baker".
Regarding Mexican food...try online restaurant reviews and look for the kind of restaurants or food trucks that immigrants run for other immigrants. It may be more affordable and even tastier than chain or the restaurants you think of first.
Also, as a serious suggestion, crunchy beef Taco Bell tacos are really yummy for American style hard shell tacos. You can buy party box 12 packs of those.
Target sells frozen taquitos and flautas.
If you want to have a festive meal, you can buy some pre-made stuff but maybe also find some free resources about Christmas in Mexico to go beyond a meal and have a holiday fiesta.
You could make a paper mache pinata as a craft project. Or maybe find one at a dollar store. Cheapest fillers are pennies (for luck), Laffy Taffy, Tootsie Rolls. Oriental Trading does sales and coupons and sells pinata filler. If your kids don't want to smash it, make a hatch with a string and decoy strings surrounding it.
You could find free Mexican Christmas music and videos to play on Youtube.
You can decorate a light fixture or mirrors or windows with festive crepe paper streamers.
Maybe your local library has this book? And also books about Christmas in Mexico?
The Pinata Maker
https://www.amazon.com/pi%C3%B1atero-Pi%C3%B1ata-Maker-George-Ancona/dp/0152000607
Teach your kids to sing the Feliz Navidad song we hear on the radio? There's probably a video for that.
The point is to add hype, color, and festivity to what's just a box of tacos or cooked taquitos.
My older son loves Pace salsa and kids like unlimited corn chips. There are likely to be places where you can buy more authentically Mexican corn chips that aren't Tostitos. A good trick is to buy blue corn chips if your kids haven't seen them before. They taste the same. The brand sold near me is Xochitl.
My big city has a "Mexicantown" neighborhood with a really good grocery store. You can buy crunchy green cactus leaves there for a fun "try eating cactus" novelty food. I bought a couple leaves. They are not sharp but you do have to take off the few prickles. Then what people usually do with them is dice them and throw the bits in omelets just like green pepper. I had toddlers so I just showed them that we were eating cactus and they ate a few small pieces to try.
Another fun thing to taste test would be a few tamarind pods from a bulk section. I like sour tastes...these are a little like sour dried apricots.
If you can find or visit a Mexican bakery, you should find affordable churros.
I wasn't really a fan, but you can get Mexican hot chocolate tablets made by Nestle at my supermarket. It's called "Abuelita" (grandma). You cook it on the stove.
Have a happy holiday season.
My younger son loves to make paper snowflakes out of white printer paper and he is good at it. One year he went to town and made about 30. I placed them on the tree and saved them. He has been so proud of them. Now they are among my favorite ornaments.
My personal favorite is making rolled sugar cookies with my family. I enjoy doing that just one time per year. Every mom in the family has the same cheap cookie cutters that were given out by a flour company in the 1960s or so. I'm nostalgic about those shapes. Some are shown in the kid's book "Mr. Cookie Baker".
Regarding Mexican food...try online restaurant reviews and look for the kind of restaurants or food trucks that immigrants run for other immigrants. It may be more affordable and even tastier than chain or the restaurants you think of first.
Also, as a serious suggestion, crunchy beef Taco Bell tacos are really yummy for American style hard shell tacos. You can buy party box 12 packs of those.
Target sells frozen taquitos and flautas.
If you want to have a festive meal, you can buy some pre-made stuff but maybe also find some free resources about Christmas in Mexico to go beyond a meal and have a holiday fiesta.
You could make a paper mache pinata as a craft project. Or maybe find one at a dollar store. Cheapest fillers are pennies (for luck), Laffy Taffy, Tootsie Rolls. Oriental Trading does sales and coupons and sells pinata filler. If your kids don't want to smash it, make a hatch with a string and decoy strings surrounding it.
You could find free Mexican Christmas music and videos to play on Youtube.
You can decorate a light fixture or mirrors or windows with festive crepe paper streamers.
Maybe your local library has this book? And also books about Christmas in Mexico?
The Pinata Maker
https://www.amazon.com/pi%C3%B1atero-Pi%C3%B1ata-Maker-George-Ancona/dp/0152000607
Teach your kids to sing the Feliz Navidad song we hear on the radio? There's probably a video for that.
The point is to add hype, color, and festivity to what's just a box of tacos or cooked taquitos.
My older son loves Pace salsa and kids like unlimited corn chips. There are likely to be places where you can buy more authentically Mexican corn chips that aren't Tostitos. A good trick is to buy blue corn chips if your kids haven't seen them before. They taste the same. The brand sold near me is Xochitl.
My big city has a "Mexicantown" neighborhood with a really good grocery store. You can buy crunchy green cactus leaves there for a fun "try eating cactus" novelty food. I bought a couple leaves. They are not sharp but you do have to take off the few prickles. Then what people usually do with them is dice them and throw the bits in omelets just like green pepper. I had toddlers so I just showed them that we were eating cactus and they ate a few small pieces to try.
Another fun thing to taste test would be a few tamarind pods from a bulk section. I like sour tastes...these are a little like sour dried apricots.
If you can find or visit a Mexican bakery, you should find affordable churros.
I wasn't really a fan, but you can get Mexican hot chocolate tablets made by Nestle at my supermarket. It's called "Abuelita" (grandma). You cook it on the stove.
Have a happy holiday season.
Anonymous
12/06/2024 15:41
Subject: December money saving tips for single mom?
Just make tacos or quesadilla at home. Cheap and easy.
Anonymous
12/06/2024 14:33
Subject: December money saving tips for single mom?
Help! First year as a single mom. I pretty much lived on a fixed income and budget for the month. My kids Christmas presents are bought and paid for, but I’d like to try and take some of my food budget this month and use it towards making the week of Christmas extra special for my kids. I’m off and I’d like to take them to do things, one has been wanting Mexican for weeks, for example, but that costs money. Other than not buying anything other than essentials, are there any other ideas for saving a couple hundred dollars? Thanks!