I know alot of people that are trying to figure out how to afford a Disney Vacation (cough…Laura lol) and it’s awfully expensive.  I’m sure you all know about the free admission on your birthday but that’s only good through the end of this year.  But Disney has an exciting new offer good for next year where you can earn a 1 day pass to the theme parks.

Starting January 1, 2010, Guests can go to www.disneyparks.com to search for volunteer opportunities made available through HandsOn Network and sign up for a day of volunteer service. As the nation’s largest volunteer network, HandsOn Network has 250 on-the-ground volunteer action centers across the country and connects volunteers to more than 70,000 nonprofit agencies that need their help. Many of the opportunities will be projects that entire families can participate in together.

Isn’t this exciting?!?!  For more details go here.  I’ll be checking out where we can volunteer as well.  Shawn won’t be six to late in the year and we have annual passes but we’ll still volunteer, it says that we can receive a fastpass for the family or a Ear Hat figure.

We depend very heavily on my car.  It’s the only one we have at the moment so we need it to get Shawn to and from preschool and Dave to and from work.  When you are driving home and the front driver side brake starts making some horrible obnoxious noise my blood pressure goes through the roof.

So off I go to Tire Kingdom (192 and 27 in Clermont) they gave me a quote of $500 for the brakes and rotors and told me I needed new calipers that quote would have been $900.  I nicely told the man that assumes I’m an idiot because I have boobs to put my tires back on.  He proceeds to led me down the gruesome path of what will happen if I drive my car home.  I’m pretty sure he was trying to paint a picture of my son and I horribly mangled on the side of the road all because 1 of my 4 brakes was in need of repair.  Why is it that slick haired morons think I’ll give them my life savings just because a mechanic that barely speaks english says I need to have everything replaced.  My family made sure that I knew a little about cars and how they work so that I' wouldn’t have to fall victim to men that think since I’m a woman I’m stupid.

I do a little research and find out that I can buy all the parts including calipers for about $250.  For that much Dave can learn how to replace them and the rotors, since he already knows how to do the brake pads.  I pick him up and we head to the Advance Auto Parts store where we met a wonderful man.  His name is Pops and he’s a mobile mechanic, he’ll come to your house if you need him to.  Since Dave wasn’t sure about how to properly replace the calipers we decided to ask Pops for an estimate.  He told us to buy the parts (and let us use his discount) and he’d do it for a very reasonable price.  He also said just to buy the pads and rotors and he’d check on the calipers because he didn’t think they needed to be replaced.  This was at 7:30 at night.  He got his friends to bring his mobile truck to the store and fixed my car right there in the parking lot.  He looked at the caliper on the driver side and said it was fine, he greased it and put it back on.  I left there with new brakes and knowing everything was fine for less than $200.

So please don’t go to the Tire Kingdom they wanted to charge me $100 for brake pads which were $45 at Advance Auto $110 per rotor which were $33 at Advance Auto and $190 per caliper which are $83 at Advance Auto and I didn’t even need them.  If you are in my area and are in need of auto repair give Pop’s a call at 352-702-7065 or 352-277-2061  He also has a tow truck if you need a tow.

I’m not getting any incentive for sharing his info, I’m just a very satisfied customer who is glad there is someone out there helping those of us who can’t afford the crazy high prices at the chain stores.

Even though I’m behind and this is a little late I wanted to remind everyone that today is Building Day at Lowes.

I believe they are building a Fire Truck today and my little man is really excited.  It’s advised that you sign up before hand for these events but you can’t sign up for this one now.  You can however sign up for the next two, print the forms and it’s one less thing you have to do at the store.

Sadly Sweetbay doesn’t usually have deals worth mentioning or even going for.  But they are trying to drum up business so they sent out a mailer with a $10 off $40, a free Green Giant 5lb potatoes, free Hannaford Barbeque Sauce.  Since we are having a party this weekend I decided to stop in and get some stuff.  Here’s what I got:

• 1 AMP Tall Boy  $2.49
• 2 Glade Lasting Impressions  $7.99  free coupon
• Hannaford Barbeque Sauce $1.55  free coupon
• Mahatma Jasmine Rice $3.39  free coupon
• Mahatma Basmati Rice  $3.99  free coupon
• 3 Ramen Noodles .33 each
• 4 pounds 80% Ground Chuck  $7.96
• 2.7 pounds Boneless Pork Sirloin $4.68
• Sweetbay Italian Sausage $2.99  -$1 mq
• 5 pounds Russet Potatoes  $3.99  free coupon

Total Spent $9.41  Total Saved $39.60  So I didn’t do to bad and I got some meat for the party and some to put away.  I picked some extras of the potato coupons out of the recycling so I’ll be going back for more, we love potatoes here and I’m on the hunt for some ways to cook and then freeze them.  If you have a great recipe please share.

There aren’t many deals that jumped out at me this week but that could be because I only have had time to glance at the ads and I can’t even find the CVS one.

Wags

• ThermaCare Wraps single pack $2.49 with $2.49 (probably $2.50) RR
• Aussie Shampoo $2.99 with $2RR  I have a $1 off coupon from a mailer for this
• Roots of Nature Hair Care $6 with $6 RR
• Vitamin Shampoo is BOGO and some of the ones at my store still have the try me free thing on them.  I’m not sure when this expires so please let me know if it’s already expired.  But if it’s not you could get 2 for free

CVS looks pretty weak this week the only thing that looks good to me is the Crest/OralB deal.  If you find something great please feel free to share.

Alright I’m off to see if I can unbury my crafting corner and get to work on some gifts.  I’m going to get make to my Frugal Gift posts and I have an exciting giveaway that I’m working on.  Let’s hope I find the corner quickly though since Christmas is just 3 months away.

Huggies Pull Ups Potty Prints

Free Mars Chocolate Bar

Not free but a great deal  $5 off any $10 or more animal at Build A Bear.  The $10-$12 bears are great and Shawn loves them.

Bausch & Lomb Free Trail

Free Disney’s Christmas Carol Train Tour.  (Not coming here)

Science Diet Simple Essentials Treats

Free Picture Package through the Picture People

Knitting & Felting Pattern for a Pirate’s Booty Bag (great for Halloween)

Free Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition

Sorry for this being so late and much shorter then the regular list but it’s been a long week.  Here’s to hoping this week is a little easier on me and I can get back to my regular life.  I’m off to bed, I hope you all had a great weekend.

I hope that starting tomorrow or Monday at the latest I can get back to my regular schedule of blogging.  I’d like to thank everyone that keeps checking in.  The yard sale was today and was very successful, I have some stuff to put away tonight or tomorrow and then I should be back to normal around here. 

Check back tonight or tomorrow for the very late Freebie Friday post and of course what the deals are for next week.

Here’s what we did this week to save money:

• Went to the Tampa Lightning practice so Shawn could watch and got free tickets to a preseason games tomorrow.  The boys are going to enjoy a free night out and I’ll get some time to work on the yard sale pricing.
• We walked to Lowes for the free Build n Grow clinic
• I used a giftcard we got at Publix for gas this week.  It was super cheap with coupons and overage a few months ago.
• The A/C has been used a little more this week but it’s because I’ve been working alot in the closets and it gets warm running around.
• We have purged alot of stuff for the yardsale and I’ve got alittle more work left to finish.  Tonight and tomorrow night I’m hoping to get everything priced so I’ll just have to set up Saturday morning. 
• We are still unplugging things around the house it took awhile to get used to it but now it’s second nature.
• I opened my paid emails, seached with Swagbucks, check my youdata account, and report all my BzzAgent stuff to earn alittle here and there
• I’m currently scouting out the best deal on sodas so Shawn has something to sell on Saturday.  He had a blast last time when he sold sodas and is looking forward to doing it again.

What have you been doing to save?  I love hearing all your tips.

I’ve been alittle out of the loop for the past few days.  I’ve just been very tired and overwhelmed cleaning and getting ready for the yard sale.  I still have a ton of cleaning, pricing and organizing left to do but I needed to go to Publix to stock up for a party next weekend.

• 3 packs of Bounty Napkins
• 1 Reusable Shopping Bag
• 2 Revlon Nail Clippers
• 10 TGI Fridays Appetizers (for the party)
• 2 packs of Sorrento Cheese Sticks
• 1 Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 2 Publix Sliced Deli Meat Packages
• 2.5lb of ground beef
• 1 Stuffed Flank Steak
• 1 Banana (not pictured)
• 1 AMP (not pictured
• 4 Glade Soy Candles
• 2 Cookie Crisp
• 2 Sunny D
• 1 Glade Lasting Impression
• 2 Mahatma Rice

Total Paid $16.28 Total Saved $118.21  Today is the last day for this possible deal so I didn’t add coupons used.  If I get out earlier for the next sale I’ll do the coupon matchups.

Well I found all the walls in my closet also known as the land where stuff goes to die lol.  But in the process we lost the bed, did I mention that the shelf in the closet that we hang clothes from gave way and ripped off the wall.  I installed a new system that I picked up at Lowes with my ebay money and got a lot more room in the closet.

Then I took a hard look at my clothes that are in the closet and got rid of half of them.  I don’t wear them and haven’t worn most of them in over a year so they are going to the yard sale, a friend or to the church’s thrift store that we found.

I’m happy to report that I have found the bed again and the closet is looking pretty good.  It’s not like any pictures anywhere but it’s better.  I put my wedding dress in a space bag and am amazed at how much less room it takes up.  This is my one sentimental ridiculous keep, I can’t bring myself to get rid of it even if I’ll never wear it again.  I also put some of our extra coats in a bag and they fit nicely under the bed now.  I have a few more bags and a space saver tote to put to use tonight so I’ll report back.

My yardsale piles are getting huge, I can’t wait till Saturday when I can get rid of all this stuff.  I’ve already promised myself that if it’s leftover after the sale it’s going straight to the thrift store’s donation pile, none of it is coming back in the house.  Of course the exception to this will be any of my stockpile stuff all the new stuff I get for free or better that’s left will come back in and be put away for possible Christmas gifts.

I hope your Monday is going well and not nearly as exhausting as mine is.

I know it’s not spring but down here in the hot lands we don’t usually do spring cleaning in the spring when it’s starting to get very warm out.  We do it when it starts to cool down and can finally open the windows.  We can’t open the windows yet but there’s a yard sale in the community this weekend so I’m cleaning out the closets and everything this week.  And since I’m at it we might as well just do it all.

So if you don’t hear from me for a day or 2 know that I’m buried in a closet somewhere in this house and that Dave is trying to dig me out.  I’ve had it with the clutter and it’s all going over the next couple days.  So here are a few of my tips about cleaning out the clutter.

• If you are cleaning and find something and say “I forgot I had this” THROW IT AWAY!!!!!  You didn’t know you had it you don’t need it.
• Start when you are angry, this sounds weird but if I’m in a good mood I look through everything and get rid of nothing if I’m in a “mood” I get aggravated and just purge.
• Look at the big picture.  If you are not going to use it and you don’t need it then give it away.
• When it gets too hard walk away.  Give yourself a few minutes/hours and come back if you get to fed up with it you’ll never finish.

Do you have any other suggestions for cleaning?  I’ll be in the closet for awhile so I’ll check in later.  But I’d love to hear how you guys get rid of the clutter.

If you are sitting leisurely sipping your coffee and reading this I will believe that you have already gotten your multiple newspapers for today.  If not don’t tell me but get up and run to the store… I don’t care if you are still wearing your pajamas as long as you have a shirt and shoes you are good.  By the way did I mention there are 5 yes 5 inserts in the paper today, so go what are you waiting for?  Stop reading already and find your keys….

…you’re still here, I said GO!!!!

Enjoy all the great coupons out today.  We are headed out to take Shawn to watch the Lightning preseason practice so I’ll be back later to update you guys on the sales I see for the week.

Today I received 2 Magazines (Parents & Motor Something)  2 Cesar Bistro Free Dog Food coupons, and Stamps.

These are my stamps from the $4 Picture It Stamp thing I bought on clearance at Walmart.  They are really cute and I’m very happy with my purchase.

I’ve been working on getting ready for the yardsale and was doing really good this afternoon until I ran out of stickers.  I think I might have some more but I can not for the life of me find them.  So until Dave gets home I’m just waiting now.  I guess I can do laundry.  I’m not walking over to Walmart again today we already walked to Lowes (in the rain) for the Build & Grow which is great exercise for me and Shawn but now it’s really really muggy out from the rain.

So what did you get in the mail this week?

Sorry I’m a little late with this but it seems like life is just getting in my way lately.

Below in red are the goals I set for use in this no spending challenge and in black are how we are progressing.

Keep almost all spending below $60 a week.

I kept all the normal spending below $60 this week.  We did buy some extra alcohol on clearance and a few other things but that all comes out of my ebay funds. 

Keep gas spending down as low as possible.  My gas bills are going to go up since I have to take Shawn to daycare everyday but I’m going to try and run all my errands when I’m out.

Again I’ve only been out shopping when I was already out.  I did run out of the way to Kmart 2 days in a row but the bonus was that I got some moving boxes to pack up stuff for the yardsale from someone on FreeCycle. 

We will not be eating out.  You spend lots of extra money eating out, the food is not better than you can make at home and you consume a lot more calories when out then at home.

This is sometimes so hard to do.  This week we ate out at Arby’s on Wednesday and got free sandwiches with the purchase of drinks.  My closest Arby’s says they are not participating this month but they let us do it this once.  I also bought a coffee at Dunkin Donuts and a couple at Starbucks (those coffees were paid for with a giftcard I got for my birthday)

I’ll continue shopping for the free/super cheaps at CVS, Walgreens, Publix, Target, and a few things at Walmart. 

I’ve done really good at sticking to this.  I’ve only been buying the frees or really really cheap stuff anywhere.  I’m still looking for a great deal on sodas for Shawn to sell at the yardsale.  We have popsicles for him to sell too and I bought a new cooler since our old one has a huge crack in it.

This week should be relatively easy to stick to the budget.  We don’t need much and I’ll be staying home to clean and get ready for the yardsale.  So how has your spending going?  Do you have a goal that you’ve set, feel free to share it here.

It’s better late than never.  Well here goes:

Cesar Entree

Free Keychain from Orient Watch

Free Town & Country 3 year Subscription

Free Metropolitan Home 1 year Subscription

Free Golf Digest 1 year subscription

Free Snikiddy Snack Sample enter “babybix sample” in the comments box

Secret Clinical Strength

Curel Lotion Sample

Huggies Little Movers Sample

Emergen-C Multi Vitamin Sample

Pumpkin Stencils

Dove Advanced Care

Tomorrow is Build n Grow at Lowes they are vuilding a really cute drum.

Free Coupon Books from Mambo Sprouts

Palmolive Sample

I love stupidly easy deals and this is one of them.  I did several separate transactions but the cashier didn’t mind at all.  I got all of this:

for I wish I could insert a drumroll here………$2.46

I had a $5 off magazine catalina so the Scrapbook magazine cost me $1.06

Then I got a catalina yesterday for $5 off a leapfrog purchase when I bought a tag book so I used that and got 2 Tag Books and the Cars puzzle.  I used 2 $4 off coupons for the books and the cat and paid .35 and got another $5 cat

Next I bought 2 more of the books, the matchbox playset and a box of crayons.  Again I used 2 $4 off coupons and the cat and paid .98 and got another $5 cat

The last transaction I bought the Fridge DJ used a $4 coupon and the $5 cat and paid .07 and again got another $5  cat just in case I decide we need more.

You are probably wondering how the heck that worked well the Tag books I bought (I Spy, Spongebob, and Goldenpaddle) are on clearance and then an additional 20% off so they are $4.80, the Fridge DJ is on clearance for $8.80 and those other 2 toys were also in the clearance section.  For every transaction where you purchase leapfrog products you will receive a $5 off your next leapfrog purchase catalina.  As you can see as long as your leapfrog purchase is over $5 you can use the catalina along with your coupons for some really cheap gifts to add to your christmas/birthday gift stash.

Restaurant.com has good deals all the time but this one is a really great deal.  You can get a $25 gift certificate for just $1.

If you’ve never used them before be sure to read the small print before you buy a certificate.  Many of them have purchase requirements ie you have to spend $50 to use the $25 certificate.  They also may have time constraints but even with all that you can get a really good deal at a local restaurant so go check them out.

This is what we did this week to save some extra money:

• Stayed home alittle more to save gas and spending money
• Took Shawn to Home Depot for the free building workshop and made my last run to Kmart while we were out there
• We stopped at BJ’s and saved about .09 a gallon from the station across the street on gas.
• I used a coupon at CVS when we got Shawn’s prescription filled, it was only for a $10 giftcard but it’s better then nothing.
• We’ve been keeping the A/C around 78-82 and it’s starting to let up outside and cool down a bit.  Hopefully I’ll be opening the windows soon.
• I used the crockpot twice this week and made double portions which were reheated in the microwave to keep the house a little cooler.
• I’ve started getting ready for the yard sale, it’s slow going but I hope to get alot done today.
• Since they refuse to fix my dishwasher I continue to wash dishes by hand and I believe it' saves some electricity unfortunately it doesn’t save time.
• I continue to unplug everything at night and am surprised at how few things I actually turn back on during the day.
• I open my paid emails, search with Swagbucks and check my youdata account everyday to make a little extra.

So what have you been doing to save money?  I’d love to hear your tips and tricks to save alittle more.  If we all share tips we can all save more. 

Let me know if any of you are interested in a piece about the ways to make some extra money online.  Remember that none of these will make you rich but every penny helps and puts you one step closer to your savings goal.

I love these workshops.  The next one is Sept. 24th and it will teach you how to build your dream kitchen.

Now I live in an apartment and will not be building my own kitchen anytime soon but I’m still going.  I’m sure you’ll learn lots of tricks and tips on how to fix things in the kitchen which is sure to save money and stress.  Make sure you register here so you have a spot.  Also when you’re there be on the look out for money saving coupons, they always seem to have something for people attending the workshops here.

I found 3 of these hanging in the craft department at Walmart today.  They have codes in them for a book of photo stamps you go online and upload your photos edit them how you like and enter your code and they mail them off to you.  The normal price for a book of photo stamps is $19.95 (I think) the normal price for a book of regular stamps is $8.80 the price of this little beauty at my Walmart  $4.  They are on clearance but not marked with clearance stickers and where hanging on a clip strip on the end of a fabric rack.  Now if you shop at my Walmart don’t bother looking there were 3 there this morning and there are 3 on my kitchen table now.  LOL  But if you shop elsewhere go out and take a look!!

Don’t forget to dig out some sporting attire today and head to Chik-Fil-A for your free sandwich today.  We went and had lunch there today and it was really good and not to overly busy.

Now for my scum rant- Why are some people so evil/rotten/stupid?  A while back I bought a little picnic table for my son at a yardsale, I painted it blue and put some cute little mickey heads on it.  Well he’s pretty much outgrown it so I was going to put it in the yardsale in a couple weeks but I can’t do that.  Yesterday I was outside and I noticed something was missing but was in a hurry and just thought it was in my head boy was I wrong.  Some one stole my son’s picnic table!!!!  Now why on earth would you steal that??  Full well knowing that it belongs to a young child and how upset they will be, let’s not even talk about the completely insecure feeling he now has or the fight mommy is going to have to deal with to keep his bike outside.  So for the record I hate scum!!!!  I truly hope that they drop that table on their toes and break a couple that it gives them slivers and falls apart.  I also hope that someone does them the same favor so they can explain to their child that the world sucks and some people are down right mean.  Generally I’m not this harsh but you don’t mess with this mama bear’s cub or his stuff.

Ok I’m done ranting!  If I see this table outside of someone else’s apartment you can bet I’ll be banging on their door and taking it back.

Boy I did a lot of shopping today.  But I got a majority of it out of the way for the week.  This is another almost head scratcher of a Target trip, but it worked out very nicely in my favor.  My purchase today didn’t come out of my weekly budget because of what I bought.

• Dog Food Bowl (fancy feeder)  $7.99
• Dog Water Bowl (fancy waterer) $7.99
• 3 5lb bags of Chef Michaels Dog Food $4.98 each
• 1 1.5lb bag of Chef Michaels Dog Food $2.24
• Police Car Transformer $11.89
• Tag Pen $12.48 (used $10mq)
• 8 Chef Michaels Soft Food .84 each

Total Spent was $19.55 as I said this won’t be coming out of my weekly budget since the Transformer is a birthday gift for DS and the dog bowls I had planned on buying a couple weeks ago (Belle’s dish has tipped over for the last time) and the cost of those 3 items is less than what I paid.  I saved $48.94

I did 2 transactions in CVS today.  I was hoping I’d be done with them for the week but of course I may have to go do the Nivea deal but probably not.

First Trip (my card):

• Aussie Shampoo  $2.99  -$1mq
• Schick Disposables $6.99  $3mq
• 2 Schick Quattro Trimmers  $10.99 BOGO –(2)$4mq
• CVS trial Cocoa Butter .99  -FREE CVS coupon
• TG Lee Milk $2.99

I used a $4 off $20 CVS coupon and $9.99 in ECB’s and paid .20  I saved $39.67 and got $6 in ECB’s back.

Second Trip (Dave’s card):

• Tooth Tunes Transformers clearanced $2.25
• Schick Disposables $6.99  -$3mq
• 4 Schick Quattro Razors $9.99 BOGO –(4)$4mq
• CVS trial Cocoa Butter .99  -FREE CVS coupon

I used a $4 off $20 CVS coupon and $7.58 in ECB’s and paid .41  I saved $59.29 and got $4 in ECB’s back.

I did 2 trips into Walgreen’s today.  I was hoping to be done for the week but it looks like I need to go back to use the rest of my glade and carefree coupons and get the scrubbing bubbles cleaner.

First Trip:

• 1 Glade Sense and Spray  $5.99  -$4mq
• 2 Glade 2oz Candles $2 each  -FREE mq from a few weeks ago
• 1 Mini Highlighter .59 (was supposed to be .14 but I didn’t notice till too late)

I used a $2RR from last week and paid $1.33 out of pocket.  I saved $16.58 according to the receipt and I received $3 in RR’s.

Second Trip:

• 3 Starbucks Frap 4pks  $5 each –(2)$2mq
• 1 Glade Sense and Spray $5.99  -$4mq
• 2 Glade 2oz Candles $2 each  -FREE mq
• 2 Mini Highlighters .14 each (I caught it for this one)

I used $10 in RR and paid $3.99.  I saved $30.56 and got $8 in RR’s back.  I knew I was going to spend more this trip but I love those Fraps and it’ll save me on impulse buying them when I take Shawn to school at least for a couple weeks.

I had a great run to Publix today and got some stuff that we need and will use.  It’s always nice to have a great run at the grocery store and leave with some food.  Here it is:

• 2 Tide Stain Release Boost $3.99 each  -$2PQ + $1.50mq
• 1 Revlon Emory Board $1.89  -$1mq + $2 PQ (overage)
• 1 Revlon Nail Clipper $1.49  -$1mq + $2PQ (overage)
• 2 Heinz 40oz Ketchup $2 each  -$3wyb 2 fries
• 4 Ore Ida Easy Fries $1.09 each
• 1 Bounty Roll $1.99  PQ Free wyb 3 PG products
• 2 Sunny D $1.99 BOGO
• 2 Barber Chicken $4.99 BOGO -$1mq
• Basmati Rice FREE with mq
• Jasmine Rice FREE with mq
• Ground Chuck $1.67  -$1 baby club pq
• Bounty Everyday Napkins $1.99  -$1 PQ + .25mq
• Publix Chocolate Milk $1.49  -$1 baby club PQ

I used a $5 off $30 Sweetbay coupon and paid $3.82 and saved $48.91.  My tax was $1.22 this is what I get for buying lots of non food items.

This is one of those rare occasions were I can’t even come close to explaining what happened.  I paid $2 for the following and I left with $9 in coupons that I should have used, but it seems stores don’t like to actually pay you to take their stuff and I wasn’t prepared for that kind of outcome.  Trust me I’ll be better prepared next time.  Tonight I’m not going to list what coupons or the prices since my receipt gives me a headache just looking at it.  LOL

• 1 Johnson’s Buddy Bar
• 2.76lb Bananas
• 6 .5oz bags Chef Michaels Dog Food
• 6 1.5lb bags Chef Michaels Dog Food
• 6 cans Chef Michaels Wet Dog Food
• 200 sheet pack of Construction Paper
• 1 Kyle Busch Nascar (birthday)
• 1 Leapfrog Tag Pen ($12.48 -$10mq)

Total Saved was $43.77

It was a great and unexplainable trip.  I ordered extras of the dog food coupons since my pup seems to love this food so I’m going to try again tomorrow my store has 1 more Tag pen and I’m hoping it’ll be there tomorrow.

It’s that time of week again so get ready to sign up for lots of great freebies.

Huggies Little Moves Diapers

Kashi Cereal Sample

Good Neighbor Day Flowers from FTD

Free Burger at Friday’s (facebook)

Country Bob’s Sauce

Fancy Feast Appetizers

Free Chick Fil A Sandwich on Monday

Free PC Tune Up at Staples

Kotex and FDS Sample

Free Small Cup of Coffee at Borders

Free Sample of Dove Hair Care

Free eCookbook: Quick and Easy Chicken Casserole Recipes featuring 47-pages of quick and easy recipes. Click Here

Make Money on Ebay today!  Get your Free Success Kit.  Click Here

Enfamil Lipil Formula Free Sample Click Here

Free Fonts!!  Great for Scrapbooking or Card Making

Free Ebook with 60 Cheap and Easy Craft Projects

I’ve been a bad blogger this week.  You ever have one of those weeks were you have way too many things to do and absolutely no drive to do them?  That’s been this week laundry, dishes and chores are piling up and I need to focus on those tonight.  I will be posting my regular Friday posts tomorrow at some point but as far as my deals or sales it probably won’t happen till Sunday.

I looked at the family calender yesterday and I don’t have 1 free Saturday this month between running to Lowes for the Build and Grow and the Home Depot one this Saturday and then the surprise community yardsale they take up every Saturday this month.  But I do have some of my days free and I promise I’ll get caught up but tonight I need to find the countertops and the bottom of the hamper.

Hope you guys are having a better week then I am and are getting in on all the great deals.  There are lots of freebies at Target and Walgreen’s this week so make sure you get out there and do it.  If you don’t know what they are leave me a comment or email me and I’ll get back to you late tonight or tomorrow.

Here is what we did this week to save some money.

• Tried my best to run all my errands in efficient circles so that we didn’t waste any gas.
• With Shawn in school for a few hours the TV has been off alot more and I’ve had more chances to find the best deals.
• The A/C is staying at 78-80 when we are home and getting bumped up to 82-84 when we are out.  The dog doesn’t seem to mind and I think it’ll help.
• I’ve used the mircrowave a couple times this week and made double batches of things so I didn’t need to use the stove as often.
• The lights are off here between the hours of 8am and 7pm and when they have to be on we try to use the energy saver bulbs.
• I’ve made a pile of stuff for ebay sales but I still haven’t taken pictures hopefully I’ll get the stuff listed this week. 
• I’ve opened paid emails, searched using swagbucks and irazoo and checked my youdata everyday to earn a little extra $$, it’s not much but it adds up.
• I unplug everything or shut off the power strips when we leave the house or we go to bed, no phantom power suckers here.
• The desktop computer is off 75% of the time and I use the laptop which uses less energy to charge and holds a charge for 5 hours.  It’s energy star rated so I hope I’m saving some.
• I found out last night that the next community yard sale will be the 19th of this month so I’m going to be getting ready for that this week.

What have you been doing to save money?  I love to hear how everyone else shaves a little it helps me come up with new ideas.

I’ve been meaning to make it out to Publix this week and finally got there today.  I don’t have the receipt in front of me so no prices today but here’s what I got.

• 6 Boxes Ritz Crackers  BOGO
• 6 Ritz Crackerfuls FREE with purchase mq
• 4 A1 Steak Sauce BOGO
• 2 Sunny D  ($1.99)  BOGO
• 2 Mahatma Rices  FREE mq
• 1 Revlon Nail File  Overage from PQ

I paid about $7 with a giftcard earned a few months ago so nothing out of pocket and we’ve got plenty of crackers to last awhile now since Dave and Shawn love Ritz with peanut butter.

or in my case a not spending much challenge.  I’m joining Sara over at Learning the Frugal Life on a spending challenge this month.  I’m going to post my goals below and update on Fridays on how I’m doing.  I’ll still be doing my how I saved posts on Wednesdays so it’ll be Saving Wednesday and Spending (or lack of) Fridays.  Remember if you decide to challenge yourself to this you need to set realistic goals for yourself otherwise one slip up can led you to feel defeated.

1. Keep almost all spending below $60 a week.
2. Keep gas spending down as low as possible.  My gas bills are going to go up since I have to take Shawn to daycare everyday but I’m going to try and run all my errands when I’m out.
3. We will not be eating out.  You spend lots of extra money eating out, the food is not better than you can make at home and you consume a lot more calories when out then at home.
4. I’ll continue shopping for the free/super cheaps at CVS, Walgreens, Publix, Target, and a few things at Walmart.  But we’ll only be buying those items unless we absolutely need it.
5. I will have a few extra expenses this month since we have 4 birthdays in October but I’ll be working on keeping those costs as low as possible.
6. I have some birthday money left to spend since I’ve been told no paying bills with it so any of that shopping will not be included.

Please feel free to join us on this adventure.  We can all use to save a little extra money and without spending means we can put more into savings.  To add to our savings Dave is keeping his eyes out for any available overtime and I’m getting some stuff ready to sell on ebay and starting to prepare for a yard sale late this month or early October.