Review: Molly’s Money-Saving Digest

I had the chance to review my first ever Molly’s Money-Saving Digest. What a great opportunity! I have often thought about purchasing one but well, never have. Sometimes it takes seeing or trying it before you buy to make that final decision. You can find Molly’s Money-Saving Digest at The Old Schoolhouse Store for $4.95. Since this is my first exposure to Molly's Money-Saving Digest I really didn't know what to expect.

The issue being reviewed was January 2010, Evaluate, Prioritize, Organize. Being January and a time for resolutions, I thought the title fitting. Molly helps us to put into perspective what we need in our life, and what we don't.

The issue begins with a note from Molly giving a heads up on what to expect in the issue. It promises to be full of tips and ideas to help us evaluate, prioritize and organize.

It starts right off with a great recipes and simple instructions from Mrs. Martha Greene on how to make pies, crust and all, at home. The recipes can be made by any age, some with more help than others. The story that goes along with the recipes is a great one and funny at times. I particularly found it helpful with the tips for getting pie crust from counter top to pie pan- without it falling apart! The other recipes include summer pie with Minute Tapioca (not as bad as you might think), German Chocolate Pie, strawberry pie, and tips for making turnovers or mini pies.

True to the title of money-saving, next can be found a list of things to look for after Christmas that are on sale or at great deals. Also included are some 'special' dates. In our house, family members' and friends' birthdays, and major holidays are marked on the calendar so we miss some of the obscure days...like Dress up Your Pet Day (January 14th) or Chocolate Cake Day (January 31st). That last one may become a holiday every year for our family!

Very appreciated were the printable forms included in the digest. I personally have been thinking about my budget (lack of one) and Molly's forms come at a great time for me. The first form, Monthly Bills, includes just about anything that you can think of to spend your money on. We don't have some of the expenses that are listed in our household so those I simply crossed off with a pen. Based on the Monthly Bills form, a budget can be figured out. The 'actually spent' forms were wonderful! I am in need of organization skills and keeping receipts or track of my spending sometimes is haphazard, at best. Since this form is simply for one week at a time, it was easy for me to keep track of my actual spending. Other forms included are a handy monthly calendar, daily to-do list, and family clothing inventory sheet. I haven't used these last three forms but can definitely see them being put to use in the near future.

I loved, yes, loved the bits about decorating frugally! I have been looking for how-to's for decorating with framed phrases, pictures, and mottos for a while now. For some reason, I have not been able to bring this out of my own mind based solely on other people's photos of what they've done. I need it in writing, with pictures too.

The one that I would really like to try myself (working on acquiring the supplies as I speak) is the photo on canvas. We have quite a few photographs of places that we have gone and would like to display them in our home. Molly's tutorial on applying the picture to canvas with adhesive and finishing with decoupage is very well done. The pictures supplied are clear and informative. The inclusion of the price was great, too. Later in the digest there is another feature about using personal photos for decorating. It looks great as well.

After these wonderful tidbits, Molly includes a Kid's Corner with a craft, helpful tips and suggestions for opening a checking account (yes, I did say checking) and reproducible 'checks' and a register for teens to practice with for when they have the real thing. The checking account is a little beyond the ages of my children but the register and 'checks' are perfect for teaching how to actually use them.

Near the end of the digest is where Molly gets into Evaluate, Prioritize, Organize. The information is useful and it is easily separated into Time, Money and "Stuff". Each heading includes tips on how to more effectively evaluate, prioritize and organize your time, money, and "stuff". Another great and helpful feature is the inclusion of links to sites (either Econobusters or others) that will be of use to those trying to implement the suggestions. I really like how it points back to the printables included in the digest to better be able to carry out the suggestions. Much better than saying use a blank form that has to be tracked down from some other source, or made up by oneself. It is included in the digest for ease of use.

Before closing the digest, there are two more features- This Is My Story by Amy Howard and From My Mailbox. Both of these are very encouraging. Amy Howard lets us into a bit of her life and how being frugal has been a blessing worth far more than she would have anticipated. The notes From My Mailbox include different readers tips or suggestions for more money saving ideas. Ending the digest is a list of links that were provided throughout the digest. This makes is really easy to locate a site that you know you saw in a certain section of the digest but are not sure just where exactly. The links are listed in order as they appear. Talk about organized ;)

The one and only complaint I have about this digest is that the information pertaining to evaluate, prioritize and organize (the actual 'article' I suppose) was listed after all the other useful information and tidbits. I thought it might be better put before or after the reproducibles.

This was a great money saving digest and I would definitely recommend it to others. The pie recipes, free printables, and decorating tips alone are worth the cost, in my opinion.