Ways to save money at home, Ciara style!

Here are a few of the things I do to save money at home, some of these things you may not realize you can do, but if you try you may be surprised!! Feel free to email me to ask for further details or help!

Pedicures/Manicures, I get them bi-weekly at Ciara's Salon haha. A few years ago I bought a foot bath/massager (Sears puts them on clearance a lot, mine is nice because it has a remote!) and I use that and a few other small inexpensive tools to do my own pedicures! I also do my own finger nails, so I save roughly $80-100/month doing that myself. For you ladies who like to have french manicures, most grocery stores carry kits to do it, and it comes with a template and everything, not too hard at all. Just remember, practice makes perfect!

I try to find ways to make everything we could ever want from an expensive restaurant at home. For instance, Walmart carries some delicious filets of steak, or you can get filet mignon (2 servings) for less than $5. Pair this with your favorite veggies, then make a salad or a dessert if you want more than a 1 course meal! Not hard to do at all, and you're saving approximately $50-$60 depending on where you usually go to eat steak! I also make pizza at home, I bake my own cakes for every person in my family (if you want to see these go to sweetsbyciara.blogspot.com)

Birthdays, here's my specialty haha. I have a toddler, so obviously his birthdays are a big deal, I want to make them something special and something my friends and family will admire and talk about! So, with the help of my very talented mom, I do my own invitations, cake, food, and decorations. The only thing we go get is balloons and party favors. You don't have to be super creative or anything to make this work for you. Just get familiar with Microsoft Word and find a place where you can print invites on card stock for cheaper than purchasing a bunch of them. Making my own invitations saves me a lot, for example the first year we needed 60 invites, if I purchased these from a store the way I wanted them to look they would cost around $23, I spent $5 for 60 invites, and they were 100% personalized. On a cake, the first year I didn't bake one and it cost $90 to get one to feed those 60 people that matched the theme, last year I made 2 cakes and only had to spend maybe $15 total. As you can see, simple things like this make it a lot easier and I am able to spend more on his gifts than his party! If you want to save money on your cakes but you don't think you can bake or don't have the time, look at my website above and I do cakes much cheaper than the stores do.

You can do a lot of things that will save you money if you just try to simplify your expenses. Make a list of what you spend every month, especially if you are going to a salon to get your nails done, and just watch the person who does your nails next time. I've never had any training or lessons, I just watched last time and figured out how to do it. And remember, practice makes perfect. If you're worried, wait until you are home for a day or two and do it then so you don't have to go in public right after you do it :).