Photo by Abjbrewer

Costco has announced that it will begin accepting food stamps at its warehouse clubs nationwide. This is a surprising move for the wholesale corporation given that, until very recently, the company doubted that consumers would actually opt to use them in the stores.

Photo by Jeanmarie1975

When mommy blogger Kim Julian of St. Louis, Missouri became a stay at home mom after the birth of her second son, the loss of a second income hit hard. So she did what a lot of moms who want to continue staying home with their kids do -- she became a self-taught expert at saving money through coupons, free samples, free events and discounts.

And she created a couple of websites to share what she learned with other moms, STL Mommy in November of 2008, and My City Mommy in June of 2009. My City Mommy and the My City Mommy team offer national and local grocery and drug store coupon match ups along with free samples, free events, restaurant deals, kids eat free locations, discounts and more.  

I thought it was worth an individual chat with Kim to glean some of her personal at-home tips:

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CafeMom ReesesPieces (Clarisse) is one of my favorite go-to people for money saving advice. She has an incredible track record for busting debt and for spending only $200 a month on groceries, diapers and other necessities for her family of five. That still baffles my mind.

Babies are so expensive, costing on average $11,000 in the first year of life, but Clarisse spends nearly nothing on her one-year old daughter by clipping coupons and buying clothes on clearance.

Here she is sharing her best super-saving secrets:

Photo by stacy77

I often envy moms who have kids many years apart, especially when their oldest one is a teen -- instant babysitter!

Paying for sitters is one of the reasons my husband and I don't get out much these days. At the end of the week, we're tapped. The trick is to get a little creative. Here are some of the suggestions the Daily Buzz has compiled over the last year:

Photo by KerriAndAustin

Cafe Suzanne shared a great idea recently on how to save money on baby clothes -- Snap N Grow Garment Extenders. They snap onto the bottom of onsies, shirts and any top that fastens at the bottom to give a little extra "crotch" room. Brilliant.

In general, baby clothes are not something many moms want to spend tons of money on because before you know it, they've already grown out of it. My personal tip is to extend the invitation for as many hand-me-downs as possible. Sometimes people won't want to impose the offer unless you bring it up first. My neighbor's daughter is a year older than mine, and I don't think I've spent a penny on her clothes in four years.

Shopping the clearance racks at Target, Walmart, Kmart, and other big stores is another popular way to save big on baby attire, but here are some others:

I was talking to a breastfeeding mom about electric pumps and she told me the one she uses, but also said that I should check out the book Baby Bargains by Denise and Alan Fields -- an invaluable resource on everything you need for your baby registry and to prep for baby's arrival.

I eat books. Well, only chocolate covered ones. So of course, I picked up a copy.

One of the best things I ever bought!

We've all torn out pages from our favorite beauty magazine for that little fragrance strip from the perfume ad. I mean, just because we can't afford the perfume doesn't mean we can't smell like it...at least for a little while, right?

Photo by my2luvbugs

Those little toddler sandboxes shaped like turtles or crabs are such a great idea. You can stick them anywhere, even in the smallest of yards or patios, and your toddler will almost always find some type of creative activity to play in them.

What I didn't realize was how expensive the sand is!

We considered building our own sizable on last year, but after we priced out the sand, we scrapped the idea. I forget the exact total, but it came to something like $200 for the number of bags of superfine sandbox sand we'd need.

For those who have made the investment, the good news is it's not necessary to replace the sand every year, or even empty and store the receptacle, the Toddler Moms say.