Free printable children's Advent calendars and Christmas countdown crafts - Grand Rapids Holidays | Examiner.com

Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas. During Advent we focus on prayer, fasting and almsgiving in preparation for the Feast of Christmas. Many people use an Advent calendar to countdown to Christmas. Here are free printable advent calendars for children. Advent calendars feature little windows that are numbered. Children open one window each day before Christmas. Some advent calendars have a Bible verse that follows the Christmas story of Jesus's birth in Bethlehem.Free printable children's Advent calendars and Christmas countdown crafts

 

Save big bucks on Thanksgiving turkey with money-saving tips

Thanksgiving dinner isn't cheap to prepare. We feed 10-15 people every year and it costs us about $6-$8 per person. The turkey gobbles up the biggest portion of our grocery dollar. So I save by seeking cheapest prices on Thanksgiving turkeys.  Save big holiday bucks on your Thanksgiving turkey with money-saving tips - Grand Rapids Holidays | Examiner.com

Save Money on Crafts with Free Printable SVG Patterns for Scrapbooking

Do you like scrapbooking, making homemade greeting cards or 3D crafts? Whether you use a paper die cutting machine like Cricut or make patterns free hand, you'll want these free printable SVG (scalable vector graphics) patterns.  Free Printable SVG Patterns for Scrapbooking and Cricut Machines

Free TI-30, TI-83, TI-84 Scientific Graphing Calculator Apps and Software

The TI-30 scientific calculator from Texas Instruments is the required calculator for most middle school math classes. TI-83 and Ti-84 are graphing calculators used in high school math classes. These calculators can be pricey. So try the free calculator downloads and graphing calculator apps available here. Free TI-30, TI-83, TI-84 Scientific Graphing Calculator Apps and Software 

Free Printable Checkbook Registers for Budget, Personal Finance

 Raise your hand if you write checks or make debit purchases. Raise your hand if you balance said checkbook and debit purchases. Well, if you raised your hand to both, good for you. Most people don't track their purchases as well as they should. Then they wonder where the money went and why there are fees and bounced checks!



To help you proactive folks, here are free printable checkbook and debit card registers to help balance your books and keep in the financial black. Keeping a balanced checkbook, including ACH, echeck and debit card transactions makes fiscal sense and cents. You should track credit, cash, even EBT purchases too. If you note down every payment made (regardless of form) you'll know where your money goes. You can also stopgap leaks and prevent fees, over-charges you might not have noticed before.

Free Printable Checkbook Registers for Budget, Personal Finance and Math Lessons

Make Money Niche Blogging

I'm an online writer WAHM (work at home mom). When people ask me how I make money, I say start niche blogs on subjects you know about and add links to your articles.

Unlike personal or general blogs, niche blogs focus provide subject-specific information and resources to viewers. Viewers are directed to niche blogs from searches, by keywords linked to blog posts.

My blogs cover food, recipes, diet, writing tips, health advice, lesson plans, homeschooling, coloring pages, movies, music, holidays, Catholic faith, crafts, household hints, shopping tips, money saving advice, green living and more. Readers come looking for info and they find it.

 Personal blogs don't earn money because they only chronicle an individual's life. Great for social sites, not for generating readers, subscribers, page views or income. You can place advertisements on personal blogs but ads don't line up as well as they do on subject blogs.

I manage 55 blogs through Blogger and Wordpress. Both sites are free. To begin your blog, list what you know about: music, restaurant reviews, babies, cooking, crafts, sports, martial arts, technology, special health issues, video games, fishing, car repair, wherever your skills and interests lie. Choose a blog title and URL that fits your site. For more on blogging follow my blog onlinewriterwahm.blogspot.com. 

Free Printable 4th of July Crafts and Activities for Cheap Holiday Fun

I love to save money. One of the easiest places to cut costs is by using free printable kids' activities. You can print games, crafts, lesson plans, learning activities, puzzles, greeting cards, party decorations and gob more online. Just in time for Fourth of July Free Printable 4th of July Cut and Paste Paper Crafts and Activities

Cheap, Leftover Use-Up, One-Pot Meals

Busy parents need easy prep meals that don't require multiple steps or that dirty a sink full of pans. Here are simple recipes for quick, nutritious meals. These can be made while helping a child with spelling words or nursing a baby. These recipes use up leftovers and use ingredients on hand plus have enough for a second night. If you line baking dishes with heavy foil, you can freeze food, remove pre-wrapped in foil and store. Read on Super Easy, Inexpensive, Kid-friendly Leftover Use-Up, One-Pot Meals

Affordable Father's Day Gifts Dads Will Love All Price Ranges

Father's Day shopping is tricky if you don't know what dad wants. And some dads don't like you spending money on them. And holiday gift-giving can get expensive. So you'll want the most bang for your shopping buck. Here are top 20 affordable Father's Day gifts in different price ranges--starting at free. My husband enjoys these and your dad will love them too!  Affordable Father's Day Gifts at All Price Ranges That Dad Will Love

Free Printable Wedding Planners, Online Bridal Organizers, Checklists, Expense Summaries

My husband and I paid for our own wedding. We paid everything off, including the honeymoon, beforehand so we incurred no debt. The total wedding and reception tab cost less than $1,800. Granted this was 1987, but we could do it again now. How? By doing many things ourselves, including wedding planning. Brides and grooms planning your own wedding, here are free printable wedding planners to help. Print organizers, gift registry trackers, checklists, guides, schedules, calendars, budget tools and expense sheets to manage your big day.  Free Printable Wedding Planners, Online Organizers, Checklists, Expense Sheets

Budget Homemade Memorial Day Party Fun for All Ages

Holiday party planning is easy when dealing with one age group. Planning for young and old is more challenging. Easily-bored kids want to romp while grandparents want to sit (quietly!) and visit. Here's a cheap, easy backyard Memorial Day party--crafts, food, parade, patriotic games and activities--everyone from toddlers to seniors, yes even parents, will love! High on fun, easy on the budget! Lots of recycled and homemade fun. Cheap Homemade Memorial Day Party Fun for Toddler to Grandparent

Free Printable Spring Coloring Pages, Activities, Lesson Plans

I just sat outside in the sunshine--our first warm day since October in Michigan. Spring is a glorious season, isn't it? Birds chirping, nest-building. Today's penny pincher tips are links for free printable spring coloring pages and lesson plans. Homeschoolers, teachers, parents, you'll want these. Maybe you're hosting a spring birthday party. Or wedding or bridal shower. Use these for decorations and crafts. Work at home parents, take the kiddies outside and let them color at the picnic table while you work. Have kids make Mother's Day cards! Free Spring Coloring Pages and Lesson Plans

Lose Weight, Save Money With These A-Z Fat-Burner Food Swaps

I've lost nearly all the 100 pounds I gained taking the antidepressant Paxil. I've shaved 11 BMI points and eight clothing sizes. I didn't use invasive methods like surgery. I cut calories, controlled portions and made healthier food swaps like those in Men's Health "Eat This, Not That." I follow weight loss gurus like Dr. Oz and amend my diet as I learn more. Sometimes, advice is contradictory. So I experiment. If it works, I keep doing it. Here's an A-Z guide to food switches that helped me reduce. Simplifying my eating has cut grocery expenses too! I Lost 98 Pounds With These A-Z Fat-Burner Food Swaps

Free Printable Vintage Memorial Day Greeting Cards, Retro Nostalgic Clipart

Do you love old-fashioned things? Do antiques make your heart beat faster? How about free stuff you can print? People love free stuff and printable things just tickle us silly. I discovered a site with printable vintage greeting cards and clipart. This article shared links for retro Easter cards but there are printable Memorial Day cards in nostalgic images too. I think there's even some for Arbor Day (the old name for Earth Day). Look for the left menu for different holiday clipart. You'll love the pictures. And they're free to print so long as you abide by the terms of use. Free Printable Vintage Easter Greeting Cards, Retro Nostalgic Clipart

Free Printable Easter Baskets and Homemade, Cheap Gift Basket Ideas for Kids

This Easter, why not save money on baskets and make your own homemade. Store-bought baskets are usually cheap and flimsy and break. And you can't personalize. The toys and candy costs are inflated. Buy your own Easter basket fillers and save a bundle. Make paper baskets using these printable templates.  Free Printable Easter Baskets and Homemade Gift Baskets 

Free Printable Easter Cards for Children to Color

Easter comes very late in 2014. It's been a long, cold winter for many of us. Parents are your children getting restless? Do you need some new, fresh activities to get them through till Easter? Here are color-your-own Easter cards to make and share. I've listed websites to print free secular (non religious) Easter cards for kids in any public setting. Save money and print cards.Free Printable Easter Cards

2 Die 4 and To Diet for French Toast to use up Stale Bread

 I adore French Toast. Literally, I kiss its arm like Gomez did Morticia and murmur "Caro Mio..." Okay, that's weird. Anyway, French toast or Eggy Bread as it's called in Great Britain, is a great way to use up stale bread. Here are two Eggy Bread recipes, a 2 Die 4 and To Diet for Eggy Bread

2 Die 4 and 2 Diet 4 kind (since poor Mar is dieting).

I Write and Interact on Bubblews to Earn Money

Here we go again. More backlash about writing on Bubblews for money. A fried wrote defending us mercenaries. I'll take it further, I'm here for the money first and only. If it didn't pay, I'd wouldn't be here. And neither, I hazard to suggest, would most of you. I socialize because I get paid to. Does that mean I don't like it? No. I doubt anyone would accuse me of not doing my part or being social (I'm beginning to hate that word). But it's irrelevant.   I Write and Interact on Bubblews to Earn Money and So Do You 

Work At Home Parent Multitasking---Save Time and Money with Craft Table

Remember, my penny pincher pals, saving money is earning too. That's why I feel for you online work at home parents who have small children. I can't speak to the online part as we didn't have computers when mine were young. But the WAHM juggling, I get. I homeschooled four children in a tiny home. I can identify with that feeling of being constantly torn between children and work, school and work. Here are some ideas to help Work At Home Parent Multitasking---Magic Multipurpose Table

Leftover Use Up Diet Bread Pudding

 Last week I made breakfast egg casserole from leftover bread. I had stale savory breads: rye and onion bagels, so I couldn't make my bread pudding. Then, my naughty family forgot to eat up the industrial-strength bag of English muffins I bought. So I made Light and Hearty Bread Pudding (daughter loved it so much she ate it for breakfast). And I used up some leftover homemade bread I'd made with other leftovers--carrots, raisins, pumpkin seeds. Super healthy and how's THAT for penny-pinching? Leftover Use Up Diet Bread Pudding My Whole Family Loved

Self-Employed and Freelancers, Save All Receipts for Taxes

 I've been filling out freelance self-employment taxes since 2006. There are a lot of things you can claim on your taxes as a work-at-home. Office equipment and furniture, office supplies, part of utilities (wireless internet, cellular and iPhone, heat, lights) repairs to office space. Even some travel, entertainment and dining costs are tax deductible.  Self-Employed and Freelancers, Save Your Receipts for Taxes

Removed Kaspersky AntiVirus, Internet Problems Solved Using Free Windows Defender

I've been kvetching about having internet problems for the last 10 days or so. I bought a new N-300 router on the advice of my ATT U-Verse tech support. And still had problems. I tried switching from Google Chrome to IE, still had issues.

I use Windows 8 for my sins and can't switch back to Windows 7 without a lot of hassle. So I didn't try that.But then I noticed that at the time I started having problems, my Kaspersky Antivirus 2014 had just auto-renewed. I contacted them and was assured, no that couldn't possible be causing problems.   Well, that turned out not to be the case. Now I'm back to free Windows Defender that came with the computer and problem solved. Removed Kaspersky AntiVirus and Internet Problems Solved

Free Printable Winter Crafts and Activities for Snowbound Kids

Uh-oh, winter skies promise snow and more snow. Another snow day. Kids love to play outside, but you don't dare let them for too long when it's super cold. What was fun in November is getting a little old by February. So Teacher Mama is here with printable winter-themed crafts for bored, winterbound kids.


First, clear a spot on the table. Or better yet set up a separate craft table. Bust out glue, scissors, markers, glitter, your nifty scrapbook edging scissors, stickers, pom poms, fake gems all your crafty goodies.Next, go to these websites and free   Printable Winter Crafts and Activities for Kids

Baked Bean Soup with Holiday Leftovers

 Are your holiday leftovers glaring at you, saying "eat us!" Are the sweet potatoes threatening to go sour? Are you fed up and out of recipe ideas? Well before those leftovers go bad, stage a refrigerator coup and take the other food hostage, here's a healthy, lowfat, high protein recipe to use them up. Baked Bean Soup
   Baked Bean Soup with Holiday Leftovers and Veggies Galore

Curtain Doorway to Prevent Drafts

Title isn't a CCR "Put a Candle in the Window" mashup. It's a solution I invented to combat our incredibly drafty back mud room. Drafty is an understatement. It's a frigid arctic ice station. The "walls" are a patchwork of drywall, panel, and Styrofoam, presumably for insulation. There are inch wide gaps between seams. I'm surprised the cat can't squeeze through. Put a Curtain in the Doorway Cause I Feel I Am Going to Freeze