Google Calendar on my iPhone for Free

Note: I didn't realize that there was a Back to School Theme for this week's Works For Me Wednesday when I typed up this post. However, back to school typically means more activities to keep track of, so this could still be a good tip for the back to school season.

I have been using Google Calendar for months now. So when I finally got my iPhone I was very excited to see that I can sync the iPhone Calendar with my Google calendar. This way I can update my calendar either from my iPhone or from Google Calendar online. I've also setup my Google Calendar so that my hubby can access it. That allows him to update my calendar and it automatically updates on my iPhone. I love it.

Plus you can setup alerts so that it emails you and/or pops up an alert on your phone. I love the pop up alert. I set it to remind me a few minutes before an event when I think I could easily get busy and forget it. For example, I have setup pop up alerts for 5 minutes before a tv show I want to watch. You can turn the alerts on on off for each event, so don't feel like you're going to constantly have alerts popping up on you.

I also like to use the pop up alert to remind me in the mornings about what we're doing for dinner that night. That way I remember to pull what I need out of the freezer before I head off to work. Before I started doing this I was always forgetting to take dinner out of the freezer. Now I have my reminders. I've gotten to a point that when my husband wants to make sure I remember something he tells me to put it in my iPhone. Yeah, he has no faith in my memory.

The best part is that you can do all this absolutely free. Setting up Google Calendar is free and so is using the sync when you do it the way Google instructs. There are several apps out there that you could pay for that accomplish this, but Google has the instructions right on their website. They walk you step by step through how to sync your Google Calendar and/or Contacts with your iPhone. I have both of mine synced and love it. I highly recommend it. And remember, do it the free way. Don't pay a third party app to do something you can do yourself for free. And this will work on the iPod Touch too.

For more Works for Me Wednesday, head over to We Are THAT Family.

Starting the Day on a Positive Note

Lately I have taken to listening to podcasts during my drive in to work in the mornings. I purposely choose positive, upbeat, motivational podcasts. This helps me to get the day started on the right foot. I’ve found that by listening to these I podcasts I have a more positive outlook throughout the day. One podcast that I like to listen to every morning is Morning Coach. Another podcast that I enjoy is Mommy Brain. You can get these and lots of other podcasts free on iTunes. Just login to iTunes and do a search on whatever topic you want to find a podcast on. Or you can go to their podcast page and browse by subject. I load my podcasts onto my iPhone so that I can listen to them whenever I get a few minutes during the day.

Do you have any podcasts you would like to recommend? If so, leave me the details in the comments. I would love to find some new upbeat podcasts to listen to.

For more Works For Me Wednesday tips, head over to We Are THAT Family.

Brita Filters For Clean Cheap Water

Lately I am making an effort to drink more water. Now, I'm not a fan of bottled water because of all the trash that generates and it just seems ridiculous to pay $1.00 or more for a bottle of glorified tap water.

To help keep us in fresh clean drinking water we invested in a Brita filter pitcher. I was a bit skeptical at first, but I can taste and smell the difference. The water is deliciously refreshing. To keep it easily accessible we keep the filled pitcher on our kitchen counter. That way its nice and easy to fill up your cup with water. Plus I prefer room temperature water over cold water. By using this method I have been drinking a lot more water.

The pitcher is super easy to use. You just flip up the lid and fill it with cool tap water. There's even an electronic gauge on the lid that let's you know when you need to change the filter. You can see a list of Brita Filter FAQs here.

I can't remember what we paid for the pitcher itself, but we just got a refill pack of 3 filters and a reusable bottle for $14.99. Each filter is good for approximately 40 gallons (2 months of an average family's use). That works out to a cost of $0.13 per gallon. Super cheap for clean water.

To see more Works For Me Wednesday posts, head over to We Are THAT Family.

Loving My Cold Travel Cup

I’m one of those people who gets thirsty a lot. This results in me stopping to buy drinks while I’m out. That can get expensive real fast. Just one 20 oz bottle of whatever drink each day adds up to over $40 a month. By planning ahead and eliminating those extra drinks I can easily save over $480.00 a year. Not a bad return for a little bit of effort.

I’m not someone who can just not get a drink when I’m thirsty. And I know that if I’m out for more than 20 minutes or so I’m going to get thirsty. So I purchased an insulated reusable cup at Starbucks and I carry that with me pretty much everywhere. I love it. The cup is even dishwasher safe which is a big plus in my book. It did cost $14.95, but I’ve had it for over a month now and I figure I’ve already saved way more than the cost of the cup. As I’m heading out the door I just make sure that I fill up my cup with either water of homemade iced tea and I’m good to go. If I need another drink while we’re out I look for a water fountain or just fill it with tap water.

My reusable cup definitely works for me. To find out what works for others, head over to Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family. There are always some great tips over there, so check it out.

Register that Starbucks Card

This weekend we were out for a family walk when I saw a Starbucks gift card laying there on the ground. It looked sad and lonely so I picked it up and brought it home with me. I figured it probably didn't have any money left on it, but if I was lucky there might be a buck or two left. I could tell that it had never been registered because the pin number hadn't been scratched off.

Later that night I finally got a chance to call the automated system and check the balance. Imagine my surprise when it said that the card had $30.00 on it. As someone else said when I told them about this, "That's a Lotta Lattes."

I took the time to register the card. This way, if I lose the card I will be able to get it replaced. I love this feature of the Starbucks card and I have taken advantage of it in the past. It's completely free to register your card and it only takes a minute. Plus, once its registered, if you lose your card all you have to do is call them and they will mail you a replacement. Again, free of charge. What do you have to lose? Register those Starbucks card. Don't wind up like the poor person who lost the card I found. And, if you find a gift card laying around, it could be worth taking a minute to call up and check the balance. It could just be your lucky day.

For more Works For Me Wednesday, head over to We Are THAT Family.

The Perfect Start to the Weekend

Around here the weekdays are hectic and often very stressful. So when the weekend comes we like to relax as much as possible and not spend the whole weekend running around and stressed out.

To help get our weekend off to a good start we have a basic Saturday morning routine that we follow. When we all get up we have breakfast together as a family. After breakfast daddy and Pumpkin watch cartoons together while mommy gets time to herself for a relaxing morning. This is the only time that I actually get to take my time in the shower and as I get ready for the day. I enjoy this time and look forward to it every week.

Once mommy is ready, daddy and Pumpkin finish up whatever cartoon they were watching and mommy gets Pumpkin ready while daddy gets ready. Once we're all good to go we try to do something as a family. Sometimes we hit yard sales, sometimes we head to the park or library and sometimes we may even head to the mall. It all depends on the weather and what needs to be done. Our main goal for the day on Saturday is to enjoy our time together as a family and not stress ourselves out.

To read more Works For Me Wednesday tips, head over to We Are THAT Family.

Top 10 Frugal Grocery Tips

This week Works For Me Wednesday is following the frugal theme. We're all supposed to give our best frugal tip. It's hard for me to figure out my BEST frugal tip. There are so many good tips. I think I could rattle off tips all day. Yeah, I come up with some crazy stuff sometimes. Anyway, I finally decided that the grocery budget is where most people look to cut their spending first; so I settled on doing a list of frugal grocery tips. So here you go, my best frugal grocery tips:

1. Don't be afraid of generics. Some of the generic products out there are really good; others, not so much. It's trial and error figuring out which ones your family will like. So each grocery trip, pick one or two generic items and try them. Only buy one of the item until you try it. That way you don't waste money on items your family won't eat.
2. Limit trips to the store. Think about it, how many times have you run to the grocery store for just one or two things and spent way more then you planned. Enough said.
3. Bulk items don't always save you money. Check the unit price. Sometimes it really is cheaper to get the smaller container; especially if you have a coupon.
4. Coupons aren't always a savings. Sometimes its cheaper to get a generic version. Or maybe the item is one you don't really need or want. Don't feel like you have to get the item just because you have a coupon.
5. Stockpile non-perishable items that you use regularly. When you find an item that you use regularly at a low low price. Stock up on it. That doesn't mean you need to buy the store out of that item. You just need to buy enough of that item to last you until it goes on sale again. Once you watch the sales for awhile you will start to learn the sales cycles. When stocking up, keep your storage space in mind. You don't want to buy so much that you don't have room to store it all either.
6. Know your target price. Do you know how much you usually pay for milk? bread? soap? Create a price book where you track the unit prices for the items you use regularly. This allows you to know when it's a great price (stock up time) vs a good price (buy one if you need it) vs a high price (don't buy unless you have no choice)
7. Use reusable shopping bags. Many stores give you credits for using your own bags. These credits aren't much, typically $0.05 per bag, but over a year, that adds up. So use um.
8. Link your store cards to Upromise. This gives you free money for college. You can use it for yourself or a family member. And did I mention that its free? It isn't much, but every little bit helps with college bills.
9. Groceries don't need to be purchased at the grocery store. Lots of times you can find great deals on milk and other food items at drugstores. You can also pick up some grocery items for cheap at Walmart and Target. Keep your eyes open and know your target prices so you know when to stock up.
10. Use online resources to help find the deals. You can use sites like A Full Cup , Hot Coupon World and Slick Deals to help you find the deals at lots of different stores. These sites are all free too which I love. And don't forget all the great blogs out there that help you find the deals. Find some sites you love and check them regularly.

Do you have any frugal grocery tips you would like to add? If so, feel free to leave them in the comments.

And for even more great frugal tips, head over to Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

Works For Me Wednesday - Tub Toy Storage

My daughter, like most toddlers, has tons of tub toys. And as any mother will tell you, they make it crazy trying to clean the tub and keep order in the bath. So to help corral the tub toys I picked up some small storage containers at the dollar store. I love these because they are stackable and they have holes so the toys can dry.

As you can see, hubby and I also use the tubs to store our shampoo and body wash. This makes it much easier to clean the ledge next to our tub. When we're ready to clean we just move the containers. Once everything is clean we put them back.

These tubs will get a bit dirty after awhile, much like the tub toys. So I periodically throw all the tub toys and containers in the dishwasher to clean them off. I just set the dishwasher to the gentle cycle and air dry. Everything gets clean with minimal work from me. I love it.

For more Works For Me Wednesday, head over to We Are THAT Family.

Works For Me Wednesday - Yogurt

Right now I'm on a two week course of antibiotics. This is not fun for me because the antibiotics are making me very nauseous. And anyone who has had to deal with several days of nausea in a row knows how not fun that can be. The only thing that I have had help with this antibiotic induced nausea is yogurt. Don't get me wrong, I'm still nauseous, but it isn't anywhere near as bad.

If you're going to try this, make sure that you get yogurt that specifically states that it has live active cultures. If the package doesn't say that, try another brand. The way it was explained to me is that the antibiotics kill off the good bacteria in your digestive tract along with whatever bacteria you're taking them to fight. The yogurt helps to replenish that good bacteria and improve how you feel. And for the ladies out there, eating yogurt while you're on antibiotics also helps prevent yeast infections caused by antibiotics. Thank goodness I love yogurt because I'll be eating it every day until these antibiotics are gone.

For More Works For Me Wednesday, head over to We Are THAT Family.

Monthly Budget - Works For Me

I've written before about how I use to keep an annual budget and the problems I had with it. So this year I decided to start keeping a monthly budget. This method is working so much better for me and it keeps me much more conscious of my money.

Near the end of the month I sit down and review my budget for the current month and how reality compared to the budget. Then I start working on my budget for the coming month. A lot of our expenses are the same from month to month (mortgage, insurance, Internet, etc), but there are also a few that vary. When I'm putting together my new budget I find it easiest to use my previous month's budget as a template. I can look at the last budget, see what areas we over or under spent in and adjust the budget accordingly.

I have personally found it so much easier to keep up with my finances when I review our budget monthly. Having an annual budget left too many gaps and places for money to slip through. Now that I'm checking the numbers monthly I know pretty quickly when money starts slipping through the cracks. Monthly budgeting definitely works for me.

For more Works For Me Wednesday, head over to We Are THAT Family.

Automatic Savings - Works For Me

Building up an emergency savings account is very important. I think we all know that, but there are plenty of people out there who have problems getting their money into a savings account. When the money is sitting there in your checking account it's so easy to just spend it. Especially with the prevalence of debit cards. To help prevent that problem we have automatic transfers setup on our bank account. We have one automatic transfer that moves money to our Christmas Club account every pay and another one that moves money to our savings account every pay. Once the money is out of my checking account I no longer even think about it. To me, that money is already "spent."

Do you have automatic transfers setup on your account? If not, what are you waiting for? Most banks let you set them up online and you're already online so get over there and do it. Even if your money is tight, you could manage at least $10 a pay, couldn't you? Just start somewhere and increase the amount as you can. Every little bit helps.

For more Works For Me Wednesday, head over to We Are THAT Family.

Monthly Shopping Help

This week is the backwards edition of Works For Me Wednesday. That means that we post a problem and other respond with thoughts for solutions.

This month I have decided to try out once a month shopping. Normally I go to the grocery store and plan out my menu once a week. In an effort to save myself some time and money I decided to try switching to going to the store once a month. And by that I mean I am planning to one big shopping day a month. During that day I will do ALL my shopping (groceries, household supplies, etc). Obviously I will still need to pick up things like milk and possibly bread a little more often then that so I will allow a quick trip to get any perishable necessities, but that is it. My goal is to stay out of the stores because if I’m not in the stores then I certainly can’t spend money there.

So, my question is, what tips do you have for monthly shopping or monthly menu planning? Please post your answers or links to any good posts about this in my comments.

For more Works For Me Wednesday Backwards Edition, head over to We Are THAT Family.

Works For Me Wednesday - Cupcake Edition

In this house we love cupcakes and muffins. Just about every weekend I'm whipping up some type of cupcake or muffin. So I'm always looking for ways to make preparing them a little easier.

One way I make cupcakes a little easier is by using a non-stick muffin tray. Of course, as we all know, once you scratch these trays they head downhill real fast. So I do not allow any metal utensils near my muffin trays. Since I also don't typically use muffin cups that can make getting the muffins out a little tricky.

The best method I have come across for getting the cupcakes out without scratching my trays is to use a plastic orange peeler. One end is pretty flat and slightly curved. I slide this around the muffin between the tray and the muffin and then pop it right out. If you're using non-stick trays and a little cooking spray they should pop right out with this method.

For more great Works For Me Wednesday tips and tricks, head over to We Are THAT Family.

And don't forget to check out my Ultimate Blog Party post to enter my giveaway for a $10 Starbucks gift card.

Free Coin Counting

Loose change drives me nuts. When you throw it in your purse, your purse winds up getting overly heavy and if you leave it loose in the car it can get messy real fast. And don't even get me started on pennies. Ugh!

To help collect the change in my car I throw it in the ashtray. This is typically change from the drive thru or getting gas. Since my vehicle is strictly no smoking this is not an issue. Once the ashtray is full I empty the change into a small bag and cash it in at the Coinstar machine at the grocery store.

In the house we have a large jar that we throw our spare change into. This use to go towards our Christmas fund, but now we put this money in our daughter's savings account. Well, I cash it in around Christmas for gift cards and move that amount of money from our Christmas Club account into her savings account.

When you cash in your coins with Coinstar the trick is to cash them in for a gift certificate. This way they don't charge you a fee. Since even my bank charges a fee for coin counting I love that I can get it done for free with Coinstar. Make sure that you select a gift certificate to a store that you would shop at anyway and that you're cashing in at least $5.00 worth of coins. If you cash in less then $5.00 worth they will charge you a fee.

Saving your change is a painless way to save money. I have been doing this for years and you can easily get at least $150 a year in spare change. Just make it a habit to empty your pockets or your purse every night into some sort of change collection container and before you know it, it adds up.

Update: I answered this question in the comments, but wanted to add it here to for those who don't click through to the comments. The question was if the machine gives you a choice of gift cards. When you go up to the machine, before you start dumping your coins in, it will ask how you want to cash out. You select gift card and then it gives you a choice of gift cards. The availability of gift cards varies by machine, so check out the coinstar website to see where the machines are and which gift cards are available at which machines.

For more Works For Me Wednesday, head over to We Are THAT Family.

Works For Me Wednesday - Pump Perks

The Safeway stores in my area offer a Power Pump Rewards program. Basically, you earn a discount on your gas purchases based on the amount of groceries you have purchased from them. And the rewards are stackable so you could possibly get free gas. I personally have not done this, but it is possible. Here are some of the highlights of their program:

• For every $100 you spend on groceries you will earn a $0.10/gallon discount on gas.
• Discounts are stackable so if you've earned 4 discounts that you haven't used yet, you get $0.40/gallon discount on gas.
• Discounts expire quarterly (3/31, 6/30, 9/30, 12/31)
• To redeem your discount, simply swipe your Safeway Club Card at the gas pump. The pump will tell you how much you have in rewards and ask if you want to redeem them.
• You can purchase up to $100 or 35 gallons of gas per transaction.
• Purchases of certain products do not count towards your $100 spending. Those products include prescriptions, milk, stamps, lottery tickets, cigarettes, liquor, gas, money orders, some gift cards, club card savings and Safeway Store Coupons. (See store for complete list of excluded items, I have just listed some of the bigger ones here.)
• Amounts for current rewards available and spending towards your reward are listed at the bottom of your cash register receipt.

Please note that manufacturer coupons do count towards your spending totals. I love this because I try to keep my out of pocket spending to a minimum and this helps me earn rewards much faster.

Normally I don't let my gas tank get below half. I have a 27 gallon tank so you can get sticker shock if you let it get too low. However, when I know that I am going to be redeeming my Power Pump Rewards I'll let my tank go down to a quarter tank so I can get more gas at the discounted price.

You'll also want to pay attention to the reward expiration dates. Try not to wait until the last day to redeem you reward because everyone seems to do this and there are lines at the pumps. I've seen the lines at our local Safeway and there is no discount out there that would get me to wait in those lines. It's much easier to just redeem them a few days earlier and avoid the chaos.

Not all of the area Safeway stores have gas pumps. In fact, I can only think of one around here that does. For earning the rewards though, it doesn't matter which Safeway I shop at. All of my Safeway purchases (expect excluded items) count towards earning my rewards. This is great because it means I can stop at whichever Safeway is on my way.

There are other grocery stores that offer similar programs. One other local store with a pump perks program is Redners. Their program is very similar to Safeway's except that their discounts expire 30 days after you earn them. This is an important distinction.

No matter which pump perk program you participate in, be aware of the rules of the program. It makes life easier for everyone. I'm sure there are other grocery stores out there with similar programs. If your grocery store has gas pumps, you just might want to check and see if they have a similar program. I'm a big fan of taking advantage of any discount programs that fit my life and don't require me to go out of my way. So far this quarter I've only earned one $0.10 discount, but I'm very close to a second one. And considering that I only shop at Safeway when they have sale items I really love, I think that is a good savings.

For more Works For Me Wednesday, head over to We Are THAT Family.

Scarf and Glove Organization

For years my coat closet seemed to be a black hole for gloves and scarves. They would go in, but you could never get them back out when you wanted them. So I tried to tackle the chaos with bins. All the gloves were matched up and put into a bin and then the scarves and other assorted winter wear went into another bin. This got to be a pain because you still have to pull out the bins and dig around until you found what you were looking for.

I thought that my gloves would never be organized in an easy accessible way. Until I put together the system in my picture. I went out and bought a shoe organizer that has little cubbies for the shoes. Then in each cubby I was able to put together the gloves, scarves and hats that went together. There were also enough cubbies for the dogs sweaters and even the few scarves and gloves that my husband owns. I love this system and it works wonderfully for me. I only wish I had thought of it years earlier.

This week is a themed Works for Me Wednesday. The theme is Greatest Tips/Hits. To see more of these tips, head over to We Are THAT Family.

Works For Me - Presto Pizzaz Pizza Oven

Normally I'm not one to go out and buy a "specialty" kitchen appliance like this, but I received the Presto Pizzazz Pizza Oven as a gift about three years ago. At first I was a little leery of having an appliance taking up space in my kitchen that is only good for heating up pizza. Well, this thing can do so much more then that. I use it to make pizzas (of course), quesadillas, melts and even cookies once. I wasn't crazy about how the cookies turned out, but everything else cooks up beautifully.

To use the pizza oven you simply place whatever you're cooking onto the round tray. The tray rotates so that all portions of the food get time under the heating element. There are top and bottom heating elements and you have the ability to cook with just one or both of them. There are instructions with the oven for cooking the various types of pizza and how long with which elements, but for everything else you will have to do some trial and error.

The Presto Pizzaz Pizza Oven is pretty easy to store. The tray comes off for easy cleaning and storage. I keep the tray with my other baking sheets and the base of the unit gets stored on a shelf on my bakers rack. After three years the non-stick tray has a few scrapes on it, but it is still working. My husband is starting to worry though because we use this so much that we don't want to be without it if something happens. And since we're so frugal we don't want to pay full price for it either. I'm sure that whenever that day comes we'll figure out something.

Keep in mind that just because an appliance says it for this one thing, that doesn't mean that you can't use it for other things. Be creative and keep an open mind.

For more Works For Me Wednesday, head over to Rocks In My Dryer.

Works For Me Wednesday - Sugar Dispenser

Ok, I am a total tea nut. You probably don't even want to know how many kinds of tea I have in my house. I drink it hot, I drink it cold, I drink it all day, every day. Now, I like my tea sweet (no milk thanks). That isn't a problem with iced tea, but with hot tea it can be a bit of hassle if you're trying to spoon your sugar out of a sugar bowl. I've tried keeping a sugar bowl and it just does not work for me. So what is a tea loving girl to do?

Luckily, I came across the Zyliss Quick Blend Shaker. The label says that you can use it to mix and serve salad dressing and blend protein shakes. It supposedly fits most blenders and has a leak proof spout so you can drink directly from it. None of those uses interested me. Nope, I decided to fill mine with sugar and use it to dispense it into my hot tea. There's no muss, no fuss and no wet sugar getting clumped up in your dish. I love it. I just pop the lid and pour the sugar onto my spoon and then into my tea. There is no longer a need to get out a new spoon every time I fix another hot tea.

I'm also hopeful that it will keep the ants out when they once again invade my kitchen this spring. We'll have to see about that one though. It does seal tightly so it is promising.

I purchased my Quick Blend Shaker at Bed Bath and Beyond. It was priced at $5.99 and I used one of their 20% off coupons to get it for $4.79. (Remember that Bed Bath and Beyond coupons never expire and you can use one for every item that you purchase. I keep a whole pile of these coupons in the cubby of the driver's door of my car.)

For more Works For Me Wednesday posts, head over to Rocks In My Dryer.

Works For Me Wednesday - Gmail

About a month ago I switched over to Gmail. Now that I'm starting to use more of its features, I'm loving it. Here are some of the things I love about Gmail:

• Ability to send and receive from all my email accounts in one place. I have four personal email accounts and gmail allows me to keep them all in one place. Yes, other email software allows you to do this too, but I really like the way Gmail does it.
• Search capabilities. I get a lot of email so being able to do a google search of my email is a wonderful thing. It allows me to find emails I had lost hope of ever finding again.
• Filters. I subscribe to lots of newsletters and as I said before just get a lot of email. The filters in gmail allow me to filter on several different things. I'm still getting everything filtered the way I want it, but it is so wonderful to not have all the newsletters cluttering up my inbox. I tag them as newsletters and archive them. Then when I get a chance I look at them. Filters are a wonderful thing.
• Spam Filtering. One of the email addresses that I have going to my gmail account is one I have been using for over ten years now. So you can imagine the amount of spam it gets. Well, since I've switched it over to gmail I have only seen one spam message in my inbox. That is just amazing to me.

I'm sure that the more I use gmail and check out all the features I will find even more to love about it.

For more Works For Me Wednesday listings, check out Rocks In My Drier.

Works For Me Wednesday

This is my post for Works For Me Wednesday over at Rocks in my Dryer. My daughter is 11 months old and so far she doesn't seem to have any particular toys that keep her attention for weeks at a time. The only thing that she loves to play with every night is her shelf of books. Here you can see her checking out her books. We actually had to remove the door to this shelf because we were afraid she would hurt herself opening it.

Every night my daughter makes a game out of crawling over to her shelf and pulling the books off. When I try to read her a book she crawls off. Don't worry, I do read to her at bedtime so she does get to actually hear the stories. I'm very big on reading and there are plenty of books in our house. She just enjoys playing with her books before bed.

If anyone has some good recommendations for toys that a 1 year old likes, I'm open to suggestions. Next month we have her first birthday and Christmas and right now I really don't know what to get her. All the toys we have gotten her so far are hits for a little while and then there they sit in the toy box.

To check out toys other bloggers recommend, head over to Rocks in my Dryer.