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Twin Cities Frugal Mom

Living well and centsibly in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area

The Costs of Raising a Child

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The costs of raising a child are surprising! Did you know that parents spend an average of $330 a year on gifts for their children, and that raising a girl costs $3,000 more than raising a boy? Some interesting facts on the high costs of raising our kids in this infographic, from www.easyfinance.com!

Get your Christmas shopping done EARLY. Here’s why.

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Have you ever noticed how stores run out of hot merchandise in December, especially toys, well BEFORE Christmas approaches? One reason is that stores do whatever they can to sell off and not restock their merchandise through December 31st, because anything they do not sell by the end of the year will then be considered assets, and anything they do […]

Frugal Christmas Ideas

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Why do we need Frugal Christmas ideas? Because the average Christmas & holiday season gift budget for Twin Cities shoppers is $773 this year, according to a University of St. Thomas study. It’s up from $703 last year and $680 in 2010. How does your family compare? Our budget has always been lower than all of […]

Go Minneapolis – a useful website with info and deals

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Looking for things to do in Minneapolis? Looking for a good place to find and print coupons for attractions and restaurants in the area? Visit Go Minneapolis, a user-friendly site run by Meet Minneapolis, Convention and Visitors Association. I heard about it from a reader (thanks, Josh!) and there are a few family-friendly coupons to print, such as $2 […]

Don’t mess with me! I’m shopping at Rainbow Foods on Double Coupon Day

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Today I shopped at Rainbow Foods and got $108.10 worth of groceries for $54.80. That’s 50% off! I’ve never shopped very much at Rainbow Foods – for years I’ve been faithful to ALDI, SuperTarget, Wal-mart and recently, Fare for All. The prices at Rainbow just always seemed – high. ALDI & Wal-mart have rock-bottom prices. […]

Great gifts for busy, frugal moms!

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Frugal Moms – give this list to anyone planning on getting you gifts for Christmas! Or use it as a starter list for yourself. These are some ideas for gifts that have long-lasting or money-saving value. Here are six, in order from cheapest to most expensive: 1. Free night of babysitting. Moms (and dads) NEED this. […]

Black Friday! Flip Thanksgiving to snag the early deals

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I am NOT impressed that the “Black Friday” deals are starting as early as 8pm on Thanksgiving this year. In the last couple years we’ve seen the 5am Black Friday openers turn into 4am, then 3am, then midnight. Now the big box stores are opening on Thanksgiving in the evening while we otherwise would all lay around, stuffed […]