I recently perfected the recipe for the best DIY body butter ever—the mother of all DIY body butters, if you will. Get your pinning finger ready, because you are definitely going to want to save this one for later!

I originally posted a recipe for a creamy, luxurious DIY body butter just in time for Mother’s Day back in 2013. It was pretty awesome, but it had one drawback: you had to refrigerate it in the warmer months to keep it from melting because it was coconut-oil based. Now, I love me some coconut oil so I was not about to eliminate it from the recipe. But I did find a way to make it hold on to its creaminess.

Today, I’m completely updating that post to give you an even better recipe that doesn’t require refrigeration and that makes the perfect budget-friendly gift for any lady in your life (yourself included) who might need a little pampering.

My daughters, who are experts in the art of papering, are obsessed with this stuff and have been slathering it all over themselves ever since I made it. Note to self: double the recipe next time and stash some where they can’t find it! 😉

I’m not going to straight up tell you I’m cheap, but I’m most definitely… thrifty. If there are ways to save money on something, I generally have spent far too much of my time finding them. To compensate, I thought I’d share them here so that I can say that I spend so much time on these things because they save me money and they’re work. Two for the price of one!

So here are eight of my favorite sneaky ways to save some cash.

1. Make your own cleaning products.

For serious. Instead of spraying toxic chemicals on the countertops your kids are sure to lick (oh wait, that’s just mine?), you can easily make your own equally effective cleaners for a fraction of the price—and quickly. I promise they work and I promise you’ll want to hug me once you try it. Whether you clean with lemons or use other green cleaning recipes (and let’s not forget ditching the shampoo), you can save a serious chunk of change.

2. Cash in on birthdays.

Birthdays can get expensive. But did you know there are a ton of places that are willing to give you free stuff on your birthday (or on your kid’s birthday)? One of our favorite things to cash in on is a free cupcake at the cafe at Barnes and Noble through their B&N Kids’ Club. We also loved claiming free birthday sundaes at Friendlys before our local chain closed. The Penny Hoarder has a list of 100 places that will give you free stuff on your birthday. I’m definitely going to take note of a few I didn’t know about for when Samantha’s birthday rolls around in June!

Oh, hey. Nothing weird here. Just a grown woman dressed as a fortune teller making weird faces while having her eight year old take pictures of her. Totally normal.

And you know what? I did it for you.

If you’re anything at all like me, you do everything at the last minute. Especially if it’s something for yourself. I’m 90% sure that if I had a Halloween party to go to this weekend I still wouldn’t have a costume in my possession.

I mean, I would definitely have a completely elaborate idea in mind with Martha Stewart-level creativity going on. But my tendency to do things at the last possible second would force me to scrap my lofty idea. I would pace my house all wild eyed and irritable, trying to figure out what to do as if it was the most important decision of my life.

I’m here to save you the trauma.

It’s been sooooo long since I did one of these splurge vs. steal type posts! Now, we all now I’m a budget-minded girl—except when I go to Target, but that’s a whole other story. If I see something cute that’s out of my price range, like say a $550 Kate Spade dress (at left here), I will hunt down something comparable at a price that I find more reasonable.

I love this dress. The a-line skirt goes with the whole classic silhouette thing I wrote about when I was trying to define my personal style. And the Peter Pan collar adds a nice touch of quirkiness that for some reason yells fall to me (does anyone else feel that way about them? Or am I just a big weirdo?).

I thought some bright accessories and a little texture would add the perfect unexpected touches to make this style mine. So, of course, I had to hunt down some options.

I don’t know about you, but my belly is full of all of the turkey and potatoes and stuffing and desserts I shoved in my face yesterday. I don’t think I can eat for a week.

I’m full and I want to burrow into a nice cocoon—not maneuver though stores filled with lunatics who will claw my eyes out if it means they can grab the last Rainbow Loom before I do. No thank you.

Instead, I’ll sit back, relax in the noisiness of my own home (or my in-laws’ home if you want to get specific), and plot my moves for Cyber Monday. That’s when I do most of my holiday shopping. And because I love you so much, I thought I’d write you a nice little post on how I save money shopping online, at home, in my pajamas, with only my own crazies clawing at me.