Saving Money

Raising twins is an expensive adventure.  Food, diapers, supplies and clothes cost way more than Charles and I had planned on when we got pregnant.  This has forced us to tighten our belts and learn how to get the items we need for less.

Food is by far the biggest expense.  I have learned that I save money by not shopping in the center aisles of the grocery store.  There are a few items I still venture into the depths of the store for, but mostly I stick to the outer perimeter.  It may seem counter productive, however, when you eat healthy foods low in carbs, your body doesn't feel so hungry.  Our diet contains mostly produce and meat.  We spent about $350 a month on food before we had our daughters, and now we spend about $200.  We have also stopped going out to eat as much.  We are foodies so this was a hard thing for us.

I have also become the queen of clearance shopping.  I have to really really need a product to buy it at full price.  I don't use coupons very often because most of them are for things that I would not normally buy, therefor save me no money.

When I go clothes shopping I never go out looking for one thing in particular.  I peruse the clearance racks and see if there is anything that I need.  While I was still pregnant a fellow mother of twins gave me the best advice; she said, if it is something you will need and it's clearanced, buy it.  This is my mantra.  Today I bought two pairs of fleece pajamas for my daughters for $7.00.  They are size 5T, so it will be a few years til they can wear them, but I have ample storage space.  I saved a little over 50% on these pajamas.  I purchased Charles a pair of jeans a few weeks ago that were clearanced for $10.86, however, I had a $10 off coupon and a 20% friends and family coupon so the jeans ended up costing $0.84.  The deals are out there if you spend the time to look for them.

Waffles

Raising twins on a single income takes some creativity.  I am always looking for ways to save money and time.  One of our largest expenses is food.  I am always happy when I can find a way to save both money and time on food.

Mornings are always semirushed in my house.  Nadia and Nicole are hungry when they wake up and I dislike giving them cereal all the time.  We purchase a 10 pound bag of pancake mix for under $8.00 at the warehouse store.  The bag makes 80 servings.
We pre-make waffles when we have free time and freeze them.  When it is time to feed the girls, we stick their waffles in the toaster.  To make the waffles a little healthier, we mix in quick oats for insoluble fiber and either grated carrots or zucchini for some veggies into the batter.  We have also considered adding in grated sweet potatoes patted dry, but have not done this yet. We do not use syrup in the house to cut back on refined sugar.

The other trick is to keep the waffles interesting.  There are many things you can add to the batter to liven things up.  I typically add vanilla extract, cinnamon, or other yummy flavors.  We have tried powdered chai mix and cardamon.  I also add water based food colorings to make them more fun.  Charles loves to take his waffles and use them to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that he eats on his way to work.

Depending on what you add into the waffles, they come to about $0.09 per serving.

Diaper wipes, who would have thought they could do so many things.  Having twins and animals means having messes, lots of messes.  I have never enjoyed cleaning, I don't like cleaning products (don't like chemicals around the kids or critters, and hate the price), and have always been frustrated that I didn't have the right product to get things out.  Almost all of that changed when I discovered diaper wipes.

It happened shortly after Nadia and Nicole were born.  Spit up formula is horrible to get out of clothes, bedding, carpet, anything.  I heard that diaper wipes were great at cleaning up formula so I tried it, and VOILA!   formula came right out.  That got me thinking...what else could diaper wipes do.

I soon discovered that diaper wipes are the magic cleaner.  Charles and I are clumsy people and often spill things.  Coffee, grape juice, and wine in carpets are no match for a diaper wipe or two.  Car grease on your hands?  Try a diaper wipe, they will take it right off.  No dust bunny can hide from a diaper wipe.  Charles even fixed the suction on our aging vacuum cleaner with a diaper wipe. 

We shop a lot at a large chain warehouse store, where I buy my diaper wipes at an average price of $0.02 per wipe.