Thanks to the great folks at Dial and the Purex Insiders I was recently able to try out a couple bottles of Dial’s Foaming handsoap.  I received two cute bottles with holiday scenes on them and they looked great in the bathroom.  In my house liquid soap seems to disappear so quickly, I think my son must bathe in it because I feel like I’m always refilling the bottle and bar soap well just forget about it I end up with thousands of soap shards laying in the soap dish.  I was really excited to try out Dial’s Foaming Soap and you know what it lasted alot longer than I thought it would.  Everyone was using less soap because they had something they could see in their hands and it was working great.

Did you know that Dial is the #1 doctor recommended antibacterial foaming hand wash? It kills 99.99% of germs. Which is great this time of year. I’m sure all you mom’s can agree. The germs are in high supply right now!  Knock on wood we’ve been staying pretty healthy this year so maybe Dial is doing the job around here.

Next time you head out to buy handsoap take a look at Dial’s Foaming Handsoap.  It’s worked really well in our house and I’m sure it’ll work out for you too.

I was provided with samples of Dial’s Foaming Handsoap courtesy of Dial and the Purex Insiders.  All opinions are 100% my own.

If you are thinking about getting someone on your list (or yourself) a Kindle Fire you can’t beat this deal

Today only you can get the Kindle Fire for $129 when you use the code FIREDEAL at checkout.  I’ve had my Fire for nearly a year and I absolutely love it, we are even thinking about getting one for my son or upgrading mine and giving him my old one.

Recently I was asked to put together a short video showing how we incorporate Disney into our holiday traditions.  I had a lot of fun looking through old pictures and reliving what we do every year.  It actually got me pretty excited to start planning our outings to Disney this year.  I hope you enjoy the video.

Feel free to share your favorite holiday traditions and let me know if and how Disney is incorporated into your Christmas celebration.  It might not be nearly as involved as ours but I’d still love to hear it.

I was compensated for my time in making and posting this video by MomTV, all opinions and photos are my own.

    Currently $49.99 but act fast!!!

Today starts the week of deals from Amazon.com All week Amazon will be matching some of the hottest sale items from the popular Black Friday ads as well as throwing some other great deals out there.

This is the perfect time to get what you want/need and not have to stand in lines or in my case run the risk of the recipient seeing it since Black Friday shopping is a family affair in this house. Throughout the week I'll be posting the best deals I see (provided there'e time) but you can always check here Black Friday Week to see what the current and upcoming lightning deals are.

Remember these are all lightning deals and may go as fast as they come so you need to be on top of it. I appreciate you doing your holiday shopping through my affiliate link, I don't make much off running this blog and the bit extra I get from you and Amazon really helps. Thanks so much!

You can pick up a $50 certificate for only $25 right now for PajamaGrams.  My mother has a pair of pajamas from them and she loves them, she’s had them for several years and they are still in great shape too.  So head over to Eversave and pick up this deal.  You can use it to cross a gift or two off your Christmas shopping list!!

One of my favorite freebies is available again but you need to act fast as quantities are limited.

Head on over to Pillsbury.com and BettyCrocker.com and sign up for your free 2013 calendar!!  I get these every year and they are great quality calendars with nice big spots to write in.  I keep one in my kitchen with my weekly menu on it and the other in the living area with plans, events, days off on it.  Thanks to these 2 great companies I haven’t had to buy a calendar in years and I get a year full of yummy recipes. 

Well Shawn’s birthday has come and gone and was a success.  He was very surprised by his new video game (that I payed very little for through Amazon thanks to Swagbucks) and had a great day.

I think life is settling down a bit well as settled as it can be given the fact that the holidays are quickly approaching which means lots of cooking, cleaning, baking, decorating and crafting both for gifts and for selling through my business.  I can’t share all of my homemade gifts with you as I do have a few family members who read my blog so I’m looking for a few of you to do a guest post for me highlighting a gift you are making for your family or friends.  I’m especially interested in gifts for boys or men but will happily take ideas for anyone.  If you are interested in a guest post please email me at bellemitchell702 @ gmail.com with Guest Post in the subject line and let me know what you might like to write about.

For now I’m going to link to a few posts from last year with some homemade gifts that I’ve made and had great success with.  I’m also looking for some input from you guys, I’d love to know what kind of deals and gifts you are looking for this holiday season.  I’ll be posting some of best deals that I find but I’m sure there are plenty I overlook (like girl gifts since I buy for all boys) so let me know what you are looking for in the comments below and I’ll keep an eye out and post them for you.

One of the easiest ways to get updates from me is on Facebook provided you use it, but thanks to Facebook’s recent changes requiring me to pay to promote my posts you’ll need to occasionally like posts from me or set up a list with your favorite blogs so that you see all the posts.  Alright here’s a few posts with homemade gift ideas, I hope you enjoy!!

Homemade Snuggie for Kids

A Crafty Useful Gift

Knit Washcloths  Really cute wrapped up with a bow

I know I’ve been missing in action lately but I’ll be back very soon.  Life is starting to even out not settle down but at least I’m adjusting to the constant chaos.  And since October is the beginning of holiday season for me I really need to get back to deals, bargains and saving my money!!!

So here’s a few things you can look forward to in the next few months:

• Reviews & Giveaways I’m working with a few companies to get some great giveaways for you guys!!
• Tips, tricks and patterns to making a homemade Christmas   A great way to save money is to make Christmas gifts and I’ll be sharing a few of my favorite ideas
• Deals Deals Deals!!!  I’ll be sharing Amazon deals on great gift items, grocery deals to help you save on your holiday cooking, and any other deals out there that I think you’ll love.

So stick around I’ve got lots of great things coming I just need to get through Shawn’s birthday this weekend.  Be sure to like my facebook page (and like comments every once in awhile) to stay up to date on all the deals and while you are over there you could like my business facebook page to see all the great things I’m making/selling, you might even get a few ideas.

I was lucky enough to be selected by MommyParties to host a party for the new books called Neon Tiki Tribe!

Neon Tiki Tribe is a new series of children's books featuring exciting stories with a positive message. Plus, all of the books feature Dyslexie, a font designed to help the 1 in 10 kids that display dyslexic symptoms.  Neon Tiki Tribe are "The Brightest Heroes on Earth!" They include Tribe members Tia, Zeke, Mowah and Dar, and use sunglasses that give them super-powers to defend Earth from the evil Ku Tiki Tribe.  This book series is great for elementary school age children 6-10 years old, who enjoy either hearing the stories or reading them on their own, as well as the lessons being taught.

The boys really enjoyed reading through the books and running around the house with their crazy glasses on.  My son’s favorite book is the Dog Rescue Mission since he loves anything to do with dogs. This book teaches kids about the importance of honesty and the courage of telling the truth.

Check out the whole line of books available on www.neontikitribe.com

I was provided with books and other gifts courtesy of MommyParties in exchange for my hosting a party and providing a blog post.  All opinions are my own as always!!

And the winner is..... Jenna Marie!! You have until noon on 9/18 to contact me with your name, mailing info and email address so I can get your prize out to you. I'd like to thank everyone for entering and be sure to stick around for more exciting giveaways and reviews!!

Have I told you all lately how much I love being a Purex Insider??  I was fortunate enough to be chosen to review and host a giveaway for Combat Ant Gel.

Living in Florida I swear we are just residing on top of a giant ant hill and so fighting with ants is a year round battle.  Sometimes they come into the house without any visible signs drawing them in.  I was very happy to receive the gel because it will kill the whole colony and works very fast to get rid of ants.  I also received a box of ant baits to help keep the ants away and so far so good.  The best part of these baits is that they are much safer then the sprays, I have a small dog and a 7yr old monster running around the house and both of these baits are very contained unlike sprays that have alot of overspray. 

So far I'm very happy with both of these fantastic products!!  So here's the good news for you Purex and Combat want me to give you a box of Combat Ant Gel.  This is a quick giveaway since I received my kit a little late so be sure to enter soon and share with your friends.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to Progresso and MyBlogSpark I was able to review all the new flavors of Progresso’s fantastic recipe starters.

These are not my pictures because mine are refusing to cooperate.  I first tried a chicken recipe on the side of the can using the Creamy Parmesan Basil and it was really good but beware of the strong basil flavor.  Then I made some chicken up with the Creamy Roasted Garlic with Chicken Stock where I just pan fried some chicken and added the sauce we also used the sauce on the veggies we had and it was great. 

The recipe starters really help make starting dinner easy!  They come in 5 great flavors and there are tons of recipes available online at Progresso.com plus you can use them to start your own recipes.  It’s so nice to be able to come home and throw a few things together with some sauce and have a great flavorful meal.  I look forward to trying the rest of the flavors and will try and report back on them (I’m a bit concerned about the Creamy Portabella Mushroom since we are not mushroom people but we’ll see).  I’ll be making some Easy Weeknight Chicken Parmesan using the Fire Roasted Tomato flavor and Cheesy Southwest Chicken Skillet with the Creamy Three Cheese sauce.  If you’ve tried these let me know how you like them and if the mushroom sauce is really mushroomy.

The information, products and Progresso™ Recipe Starters™ gift pack was provided by Progresso through MyBlogSpark.  All opinions are my own of course.

Sorry about the delay in posting the winner to this giveaway I’ve been super busy lately.

 

The winner of 2 coupons for FREE Dry Idea Deodorant is

Entry #20 Theresa Melix for Liking Living On A Budget on FB

as an added bonus I am giving away one more coupon to the runner up

Entry #18 Lori Edmonds for Sharing the giveaway on FB

 

Ladies you both have 24 hours to email me at bellemitchell702 @ gmail.com with your mailing address and your coupons will be on there way!!

Just as a not for any future giveaways I do check that you are meeting the requirements to enter so please don’t just click the button and claim that you did something if you did not :(  I had to disqualify 2 winners for that tonight.

As a Purex Insider, I have been given numerous opportunities. This time I was selected to review Dry Idea Advanced Dry Roll-on deodorant. This was a refreshing change from my usual deodorant stick. I have been using a stick for years. First, a Roll-on is just different. I had previously thought that a Roll-on wouldn't keep me as dry but I found that this wasn't the case for me. I actually like that my roll-on is unscented and hypo-allergenic. The best part about my new antiperspirant and deodorant roll-on, it works!

The new AdvancedDry Formula is available in roll-on (Unscented, Powder Fresh, & Cotton Dry), Clear Gel (Unscented & Powder Fresh), and Invisible Solid ( Unscented, Powder Fresh, & cool Burst w/Air Conditioning Effect). The roll-on & gel will give you 24 hours of protection & the solid will give you 48 hours of protection!

I have been able to give this deodorant a pretty good test, it’s been worn during workouts and while I’ve been at a craft market on a pool deck that checked in at over 100. I was a bit concerned (don’t want to stink while selling stuff) and brought my regular deodorant with me that day and was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn’t need it. The roll on is different that part is the only thing holding me back from buying more and more of this deodorant, it does dry very fast after you put it on but it’s still just strange to me.

So if you are sold on giving Dry Idea a shot keep reading!

 I will be mailing One winner 2 coupons for free DRY IDEA deodorant! The coupon is good for ANY DRY IDEA advanced dry formula 3.25 oz or smaller maximum value of $5.50 I've been so busy lately that I am really late getting this giveaway up so please share with your friends as this is a short giveaway.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Today was another great day as far as savings.  The only spending done was me driving to the gas station to get a soda.  Since they were on sale I picked up 2 so that I didn’t need to stop tomorrow on my way to a market.

The soda was bought to try and fend off the headache I’ve acquired today between the storm that’s been slowly moving through all day, my allergies and my inability to break my caffeine dependency I had a horrible headache and making coffee was not an option so we made a quick trip to the gas station which is literally around the corner and came home.

Otherwise today we’ve kept the lights off almost all day, the TV has been off for a good portion of the day (and that overheating cable box has been unplugged) and all dishes were done by hand today so no electric to run the dishwasher.  All meals were cooked at home today using items from either the pantry or freezer.

Tonight DH and I plan to exercise using our videos and then I’ll either work on some more jewelry for my markets this weekend or I’ll start checking out the grocery ad preview and see what I’m going to be picking up this week.  I am fortunate to have a well stocked freezer and pantry but with the cost of everything always going up I want to make sure they stay well stocked so I will be hitting the best sales hard to keep my family well feed on very little.

How have you been doing on your quest to save??  Check back this weekend as I’ll be giving away a couple of coupons for free items and posting my reviews on those items!  I hope to have the post up by Friday but with markets I get too busy and forget sometimes the giveaway will run for several days though so you will have an opportunity to sign up!

Sunday and Monday were both bad spending days.  There was alot of running around for my TMDesigns business and then Dave wanted to play hockey on Monday.  There isn’t a rink close by so we had to be out for a good chunk of the day and lump other errands into the trip to make the most for our gas.  We did end up eating out but we ate at Ikea where you can get meatballs, mashed potatoes, salad and drink for $5.99 so we left full and the 3 of us ate for less then $16.  Because we were out running we stopped at Toys R Us to take advantage of the sale on bookbags, every year we buy Shawn a new character bookbag and lunchbox it helps get him excited to go back to school but I still search for the best sale.  TRU always runs a sale where you purchase a bookbag and receive a free lunchbox so we went out and got both for $14.99.  We have last years book bag and lunch box put away (scrubbed at the end of the year) so that if anything happens to either of them we have backups.  I recommend if you don’t have an extra put away pick up a generic one on sale (or clearance) and put them away, mid year there are no sales on book bags/lunchboxes and the only ones you can even find are the higher priced ones and that is exactly when they rip/tear or get lost.

Thankfully today is back to normal living.  We have been running around so much, you can just tell by looking at my house everything is a mess so I’ve taken today to clean up.  I’m also trying to take it easy as I had 4 markets in 4 days over the weekend and I need a bit of a break before this Thurs when I start my 3 in 4 days stretch again.  The best part of taking a break is no spending.  I had to run to the store this morning when I realized we were out of bread and I picked up a few items we needed that there are no sales on and spent about $16.  For the rest of the day we are eating out of the stockpile, kept the A/C at 78 while I’m relaxing and 76 while cleaning, the lights have been off all day and we are keeping up with our exercise videos to stay healthy and save money over a gym membership.  As I was relaxing today the cable started acting up again and that pushed me to make the phone call I’ve been putting off since I’ve been so busy.  Dave and I have talked and agreed to cancel the cable because of the lack luster service, the ever increasing bill and the fact that there is nothing on TV anymore so I called today and figured out how much it was going to cost to keep just the internet and then proceeded to listen to her sales pitches on different ways to save and finally let her talk me into a basic cable plan with the internet.  We are going to purchase an antennae and see how well it works, if it works great I’ll call and cancel the basic cable if it doesn’t work well we’ll return it and keep the cable for now.

So today I spent $16 and saved over $50/month on the cable.  I have been clicking on all my “paid” emails, searching through Swagbucks, using Superpoints, and any other chance I can to add to our funds.   How have you been doing?  I’d love to hear how your quest to save is going.

I did mention I would do my best to make this a daily thing didn’t I.  One day in and I’m already behind oh well that’s life.

Yesterday we stayed home and did a whole lot of nothing.  A few days ago I had picked up about 5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast on sale for $1.29 a pound and so I threw that all in the crockpot with a bit of water and let it cook all day.  The result is shredded chicken just from stirring it in the crockpot so I warmed up some of that with BBQ sauce for dinner last night.  The only money spent all day was for a soda and a juice when Shawn and I headed to the local farmer’s market to set up my tent.  We had a good time and I made a little money in my business fund.

Today I attended another vendor show and made contacts with some people for this fall when the snow birds come back.  The shoppers weren’t there today but the contacts were more then worth my time and effort.  After the market I came home and DH and I worked out to a video we already own (no wasted money on gym memberships) and then set off on my quest to find shells.  I’ve been doing some markets with alot of tourists and I feel that a few items with shells would sell really well.  We headed to one of my favorite cheap places for findings and found no shells but $5 in other stuff for my crafting business, while we were out we had dinner at the A&W that had reopened since I’m a sucker for their fresh rootbeer.  Our continued search somehow brought us to a comic book store where we spent about $10 on books for Shawn, to Target where I spent $7 for pasta salad making supplies and to JoAnn’s where I finally found some shells.

So today wasn’t a great savings day but it wasn’t too shabby in the grand scheme of things since alot of today’s spending came out of my TMDesigns money.  In addition we’ve been keeping the shades closed and curtains drawn to help keep the sun out and using the fans as much as possible to supplement the A/C.  I’ve also been using the microwave and crockpot more and more to help keep the heat out of the house.  Plus using the crockpot means turning cheap cuts of meat into delicious tender dinners that require very little work from me, and with 3-4 markets a week right now the less work I have to do the better.

In an effort to save more and grow my bottom line I’m going to start posting how we’ve spent and what I’ve done to earn hopefully daily.  There will be days when I can’t but I’m going to do my best to stick to it.  You can check out my inspiration for these posts by heading for to Frugal Makes Cents a fantastic blog written by Precious.  I want to be her when I grow up and am going to do what I can to at least get close.

Last night we drove just a few miles up the road to a new park and walked up to the soccer fields and where treated to several fireworks shows.  We were able to see fireworks from 3 different towns plus 2 different theme parks we weren’t real close but still enjoyed the show and spent very little on gas to get there.

Today Shawn and I stayed home and ate leftovers for lunch, breakfast was poptarts for him and oatmeal for me both bought on sale with coupons.  I stuck 3 bottles of water in the fridge to take with me for my evening market.  On the way to the market I stopped and picked up a package of apple slices and a soda to eat while I was there.  I’d planned on taking some fruit with me but we ate it all yesterday and I know myself well enough to know taking sandwiches with me wouldn’t have worked.  On the way home from the market I stopped and picked up 2 bottles of juice for DH and I to make cocktails tonight.

All in all it was a basically frugal day.  The apple slices and soda come out of my TMDesigns money as does the gas to get to my event and back so really all that was bought today was 2 bottles of juice and of course gas for Dave’s car to and from work.

Today wasn’t the best day for earning, days that I have markets never are because I am focused on them.  All the earnings I will be talking about will be the little things I do to make extra never Dave’s job or my market money (rarely will I include any spending for that either).  I did however use Swagbucks to do my searches this morning and evening, if you aren’t using swagbucks you should start by clicking my link who couldn’t use free money/giftcards?  I also clicked through my Superpoints account (leave a comment if you would like an invite) to earn points for more free money!!  DH and I both used a workout video that we own today to help stay in shape and not waste money on a gym membership and all the lights were kept off during the day to keep the electric bill lower.

Please feel free to leave a comment and tell us what you’ve done to save or earn or leave a link to your own blogpost on the subject.

I hope you all have a fantastic holiday!!  Stay safe and please remember your pets today, most pets are frightened by the loud noises of fireworks and firecrackers going off.  Keep your pet inside today and try and give them a safe haven to hang out in away from the chaos.

Starting tomorrow I’ll be joining Precious in her money saving challenge with a daily (hopefully) recap of what was spent every day and what was down to save/earn money.  Be sure to check it out!!

and I’m proud of it!  It seems that some advocate groups have got their panties in a bunch about Mom Crew members hosting Madagascar Viewing Parties.  The New York Times has reported on their complaint that they have brought up with the FTC claiming that Claritin is stepping over the line by including stickers with their medications and allowing some of us moms to host a viewing party in anticipation of Madagascar 3 coming out.

Well I have some words for those lovely folks.  GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!!!   I don’t mean to cyber yell but I feel that they are using bits and pieces to defame alot of mom bloggers and bring them bad press.  If you are a blogger you know how hard it is to build a fan base you don’t need someone calling you a kiddy pill pusher without a reason.  We were asked to invite 5 MOMS and their kids over for a viewing party to watch Madagascar 1 and 2.  If you asked any of the children at my party who sponsored the party they’d probably tell you that I did, as a responsible adult I did not discuss Claritin with the kids in my home.  While the kids were playing we discussed allergies and I gave out plenty of samples to the moms who had a use for them.  Nothing provided for the kids had anything about Claritin on them so there was no way that this party was advertising to them.  Honestly if you ask me it was advertising the new movie the Claritin samples were just a nice little perk for the moms.

Yes there is advertising to kids on everything we use it seems.  However if I don’t want to purchase a product I don’t whether it be overly sugared character cereals, overpriced licensed bubble bath, or medicines with some ad on it.  I purchase products for the members of my household based on 2 things need and price.  Have I bought the store brand of medicines before YES if there is not a coupon or sale and the store brand works just as well I’ll buy it regardless of character endorsements.  I also think that criticizing Claritin for making grape flavored chewable medications is a bit ridiculous, I am nearly 30 years old and took flavored medicines when I was younger and you know why my parents bought them?  Because I took them without a big fight and that is why I buy flavored medicines for my son, take a look in my medicine cabinet and you will see that my son doesn’t care for cherry flavored items which is made clear by the fact that nearly every medicine is either grape or blueberry flavored.  And for the record my son doesn’t walk into the bathroom and start sucking down his children’s Advil even though he likes the way it tastes, he knows better and it’s up out of his reach. 

With all of this being said if advocate groups still feel that Claritin’s and Dreamworks handling of this campaign was in any way inappropriate then they need to attack the people responsible.  They should not be taking innocent Mom Crew members with them, after reading the article and the complaint filed I am just outraged.  We are parents and saying that we are not intelligent enough to know when our children need medicines and when they don’t or insinuating that we will purchase anything and everything our kids want based purely on the character’s face on the side of the product is insulting.  Please know that I would never push anything on you or my own family just for some freebies, every opinion expressed on this blog is purely my own.  You can check out the article for yourself here if you care to read it. 

I thank you for being a loyal reader and taking the time to listen to my opinions which may help you decide on what to purchase next time you are shopping. 

With the kids home from school you have a great chance to save some money and if you are not careful a chance to spend way too much.  Over the next few weeks I’m going to try and talk about some of the ways to save and how to avoid those money pits that we all fall into.

So far I’ve found having Shawn home means we are going through more food he is constantly looking for a snack it seems so here’s my tips. 

• By favorite cracker types in large boxes either on sale or at discount stores like Aldi’s.  I’ve found that Shawn isn’t nearly as fussy as I am when it comes to exact tastes and buying big boxes is 100x cheaper then snack packs
• Another snack saver Jell-O it’s really cheap and easy to make.  Pick up a pack of small glad containers and make individual servings of Jell-O up once or twice a week.  I’ve found that a standard size box of Jell-O makes 6 of those cups.
• Freeze juice pops, yogurt (small serving sizes with a mini popsicle sticks in them are great), and fruits to make a fantastic cool treat for those hot days.
• If you have a dehydrator you can buy whatever fruits are on sale and make snacks that store well.

I’d love to hear any other summer snack suggestions you can think of.  Next time I’ll be talking about how to avoid the boredom blues without breaking the bank.  Feel free to email me any suggestions.

Being part of the Claritin Mom’s Crew I was invited to host a viewing party in anticipation of the newest Madagascar movie hitting theaters this Friday.

I was provided with Madagascar, Madagascar 2, popcorn boxes, lots of Children’s Claritin samples to hand out and some recipes for snacks.  We planned out a party and found Madagascar Kraft Mac & Cheese, animal shaped chicken nuggets, popcorn, penguin gummies and Jell-O.  The boys had a good time watching parts of the movies, they were very excited about the end of the school year coming soon and wanted to play.  We enjoyed a yummy lunch, some great snacks and the boys even settled long enough to watch most of the second movie. 

 

 

 

 

While they watching I told the moms about Children Claritin and handed out samples for everyone and some stickers.  We broke out desserts and had a great time.

 

I’d like to thank Claritin for making this fantastic little party a hit, the boys were all very excited about seeing the newest Madagascar and we are trying to plan a trip to the drive in with all of them.  I was provided with party supplies and movies from Claritin however all opinions are my own.  You can find coupons online here and lots of fun Madagascar activities on Claritin’s Facebook page.

The winner of the Post Honey Bunches of Oats giveaway is Entry #8 Claudia E. for sharing on FB Claudia please email me at bellemitchell702 @ gmail.com with your shipping info and I'll get your coupons in the mail to you asap. Thanks to everyone who entered I hope you'll stick around as I have a couple more giveaways in the works for you coming soon.

Thanks to Purex and Post I received a box of Honey Bunches of Oats to taste and review.  You should have seen the look on the face of Shawn when I opened the "boring" laundry detergent box to find a box of yummy cereal.

Shawn is my primary cereal eater so I tested it out on him and after he inhaled 2 bowls worth he told me that they were yummy.  I just bought another box to try myself because we got the blueberry/banana and I don't do banana but they did look good.  Shawn really liked the crunchy pieces and said that they were sweet enough but not to sweet (if you can believe it my 7yr old will turn down cereals that are too sweet).  This is not the old Honey Bunches of Oats you had years ago this has lots of clusters and the fruit blends has some extra yummyness (is that a word?) in it.

I also received a few coupons for FREE boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats to give to you guys!!  One lucky reader will receive a couple of coupons so they can try out the new fruit blends for themselves.  All you have to do is fill out the super easy Rafflecopter entry form below.  The winner will be posted here and have 24 hours to respond, I will not be emailing the winner so please check back Monday morning!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

There are lots of great free books available for your Kindle and if you don't have a Kindle you can download the free app for your PC and still take advantage of all the great freebies. I'm going to try and post some books for you at least once a week so you can add to your library. I'll be posting the books in the Amazon widget form so that you can see if they are still free, prices on Amazon change frequently so you'll know before wasting your time!!
 

Of course I get the widgets and now it's not posting prices.  As of 6:10pm 5/28 these were all free, be sure to check around there are lots of great free books available.  I've got probably 5 years of reading saved on my cloud, kindle and PC and haven't paid for one yet!!

It’s that time of year with Teacher Appreciation week coming to an end and the school year coming to an end very soon many of you are probably thinking about a small gift to give your children’s teacher.

Well I have a fantastic, inexpensive idea for you.  Here’s what you need:

• 1 clay pot mine was $1.25 at Walmart but with a good sale or coupon it could be cheaper at the craft stores
• some paint I used paint I had from other projects but noticed that the small bottles at Walmart were .53
• Floral Tape $1 a roll at Walmart
• Some fake flowers .94 for a small bouquet with 6 flowers
• a bag of rice or beans roughly $1 at Walmart
• a package of ball point pens (you probably have some free ones laying around from when school started)

You may also want to have a flexible measuring tape, a sharpie, chalk, a sponge brush and the hot glue gun

  Here’s the pot being painted, it took several coats of paint to cover nicely but it honestly didn’t use much out of the jar so you could make several of these without needing to buy more paint.  I may make several to take to the Farmer’s Markets with me in the future.  

Here’s the completed gift.  We used the measuring tape to help measure out the markings so that the rim looks like a ruler and Shawn wrote a message on the front in chalk.  To make the flower pens I popped the tops off the pens, put some hot glue on the flower stems and shoved them into the pen, then wrapped the pen with floral tape.  Before you add the rice to the pot make sure you tape off the stupid hole in the bottom (this might be experience talking LOL) add your rice and pens and Voila and adorable (cheap) teacher’s gift.   I figure this gift cost me about $4 to make I did have to buy 3 rolls of floral tape but didn’t even use half of one roll so I have plenty for my next project I also bought 3 bouquets of flowers but only used half of them.  I plan on using the rest of the flowers to make more pens and trying to sell them but you could make them up and put them away until you need another gift.

There’s a great deal right now for Purex fans to pick up a subscription to The O Magazine.  You can get a one year subcription for only $10 right now!!

If you are interested click here and check out the great deal

As a Purex Insider I may receive compensation for referring you.  All opinions are my own.

It’s time to come clean about life, laundry and whatever. 

Purex has launched a new Let’s Be Honest promotional campaign featuring Second City Comedian Molly Erdman.  They’ve created a funny series of short videos sharing honest moments that reflect the ironic truths of everyday Life, Laundry and Whatever.

Through mid July, there will be new funny videos uploaded every few days at www.purex.com, posts on Facebook and promotional tweets on Twitter.  There is also a daily sweepstakes where you could win a year’s supply of Purex detergent!!

Head over and check out the videos and enter the sweepstakes!!

For all of my Star Wars fans readers you probably know that today is Star Wars day!!! I married a huge Star Wars fan and because of that also gave birth to a Star Wars nut (who is wearing his Captian Rex socks with his Commander Cody shoes today). Because of my two crazy fans I'm always on the lookout for Star Wars deals and there are plenty to be had today. Amazon is running Star Wars Gold Box Deals all day today so be sure to check it out here  You can also check out StarWars.com to watch all 22 episodes of The Clone Wars season 4 and get a sneak peek at Season 5 plus they have cute ecards and other goodies

Let me know if you find any great deals today!!  And for your viewing pleasure my baby Vader.

 May the Fourth be With You!!!

Don’t forget it the end of the month and it’s time to print your coupons.com coupons before they reset!!!

As always I really appreciate you guys clicking through my coupons.com links I do receive a bit of an affiliate bonus for it so thanks!!

posted under | 0 Comments

Today only Amazon has select mysteries in their Gold Box deal of the day for only .99!!!  The books are all for your kindle and a great deal.  If you don’t have a Kindle don’t dismay you can still take part in the deal with the free downloadable kindle app available for your computer.

Check out the deal today!!

On April 30th Purex will launch their new Let’s Be Honest promotional campaign featuring Second City Comedian Molly Erdman. They’ve created a funny series of short video vignettes sharing honest moments that reflect the ironic truths of everyday Life, Laundry, and Whatever.   Through mid July, there will be new funny videos uploaded every few days at www.purex.com plus posts on Facebook and promotional tweets on Twitter.

The best part is that the campaign will also offer a sweepstakes. Everyday one lucky entrant will win a year’s supply of Purex detergent !  The daily sweepstakes will run through July 24th so be sure to head over daily to enter to win a years supply of detergent!!

In exchange for this post I will be receiving 3 free product coupons from the generous folks at the Purex Insiders group.

And the winner of the Curvy Straw General Mills giveaway is….

 

#16 Madeline Brubaker

 

Madeline you have 24 hours to contact me and claim your prize or another winner will be picked.

Thanks to all that entered, I hope you’ll stick around!

Well yesterday was not a banner day for savings but we didn’t really do to badly.

We attended the Lion King show and therefore had to pay for parking, a stuffed Simba for a spoiled little boy, a bottle of water and some nachos.  We were able to get our Disney discount on the Simba so that helped ease the sting a little the worst was the parking. 

The past few days have been busy but uneventful as far as savings/spending so I’ll spare you all the boring details.  Today the only spending was on my newspapers, I get one delivered every week through a great deal and I purchase usually 3 more every week unless the free paper is giving out coupons which it didn’t this week.  I will try and post later about we are doing to save money but there is no more spending today!!

In the past few days I’ve received a couple of items courtesy of MomSelect one is a great kid’s book I won will attending a webchat and the other is my Coppertone Water Moms welcome gift.  So be on the lookout for future posts about both and if you are a blogger check out MomSelect I love being a member!!

Oh one more thing don’t forget to enter the Curvy Straw giveaway there are just a few more hours left!!!

Yesterday we didn’t do a whole lot so saving was pretty easy.

• When we headed out I resisted the urge to get a coffee even though the hubby had stopped to get one.  I can’t blame him for needing one though he’s been working night shifts and we had to run in to see family in the morning just for him to drop me off at home and go back to work.
• Other than gas yesterday the only real money spent was on Dave’s coffee which isn’t too bad
• In order to save some money I had all the windows open all day and the A/C off at night we use window fans to keep it cool upstairs and when it’s to warm during the day I use fans downstairs.  I once read somewhere that you could use several fans and it wouldn’t cost as much as one hour of A/C
• All the food we have eaten has come out of the freezer and pantry

Today I have to run to the store and pick up a few things so I won’t save nearly as much.  So how have you been saving?  I’d love to hear your ideas I think it can benefit all of us.

Originally I set out on this post to tell you how much more money you can save if you are organized.  If your home is organized you can find that birthday card you bought instead of buying another, you can use the foods in your freezer, fridge and pantry before they go bad.  But as I sat down and started I thought I am not one to preach on this subject.  Currently my pantry looks like 2 bombs exploded in there (not one but two LOL), my filing cabinet hasn’t been cleaned out in ages, my freezers are so full I just cram things in there (and am out of space).

So I decided I’d take a different approach and challenge myself and you if you are up for it to tighten the belt.  I see people doing no spend challenges all the time but I know that I can’t not spend any money each week, we eat too much bread and fresh veggies for that and as soon as I broke the challenge that would be it.  So instead I’m tightening the belt.  For the rest of this month we are tightening the belt around here and here’s how:

• Shopping less!!  If I can get it free you can bet I’m still going to buy it however if the price is over a dollar it will be very carefully analyzed before I buy it unless it’s on my list.  The list
• Bread I will look for the best deal but it’s needed almost daily here
• Milk Again it’s needed so will be bought
• Fresh Veggies  I will only buy at the Farmer’s Market where I can get the best prices
• Peanut Butter is a staple in this house and I know we are getting low so it’ll be purchased when needed unless it’s on sale first
• Newspapers I still will need my coupons to continue to get things for pennies or free
• Organizing so I can make sure we use everything we purchase without waste
• Driving as little as possible with gas up up up staying home will save us alot of money
• Reducing electricity use as much as possible even if I have to chase Shawn around and shut things off

I will also be posting daily (as allowed) to let you know the little things we are doing to tighten the belt and to report on my purchases, doing that will help hold me accountable.  In addition to not spending I’m going to be doing all things possible to make some money.  There are plenty of ways out there to make a little extra money (not getting rich here so don’t think that) but I will go over them in a separate post another day. 

So do you need to tighten the belt, stop the financial bleeding, or just save some money for something? I’d love for you to join me feel free to blog on this or just comment on these posts and let us know how you are doing each day too!!  I’m starting today and will be back this evening or tomorrow morning (I need to figure out when it will best fit into my schedule) and let you know how I’m doing.

Did you know that simply drinking the leftover milk from cereal bowls may help kids work towards fulfilling their body’s daily dairy, calcium, and Vitamin D needs? And what better way to slurp down to the bottom of the bowl than with the new Curvy Straws, available in-pack of specially marked boxes of Big G cereal! With these collectable, connectable Curvy Straws, children of all ages can enjoy mixing and matching to build bigger, colorful straws all while helping them work towards stronger bones and muscles through increased calcium intake!

Collect all 6 Curvy Straws featuring the beloved cereal characters!  The straws are in specially marked boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch® (17 oz.), Lucky Charms®(16 oz.), Reese’s® Puffs (18 oz.), Honey Nut Cheerios® (17 oz.), Trix®(14.8 oz)  and Cocoa Puffs® (16.5 oz).  For a limited time there is a coupon available for $1.25 off the purchase of 2 Big G cereals just click here.  This coupon made my day we love the Big G cereals in this house and I never turn down a good coupon.

But wait I said I had a giveaway didn't I??  Well just for you guys I have a fantastic prize pack!  Enter below to win 1 box of Big G cereal, 1 spilt milk bowl, 1 curvy straw, 2 glow cups and 2 tangle toys.  My son loves the cups and the bowl, he's not to sure about slurping up his milk yet but loves to use the straws for his glass of milk!  Make sure you share the giveaway with your friends!!
 

The winner of the Bobble Bots Moshi Monsters Giveaway is…

Entry #15  Laura Lane for leaving a Blog Post

Congratulations Laura!!  You will be receiving an email from me, you have 24 hours to contact me with your shipping information or I will have to pick a new winner.

There are lots of great Kellogg’s coupons available on coupons.com today!!!

Go check them out before they aren’t available anymore.

I had planned on hitting a couple stores today but I’m not feeling 100% so I postponed shopping until it was time to get Shawn off the bus and made a very quick trip with him.  It’s amazing how fast you shop when you have a 7yr old with you LOL.  It wasn’t my best trip since I picked up some stuff from the hot bar for dinner tonight.  I have a freezer full of food but being sick equaled a giant brain fart today and I forgot to get something out.  So here’s what I got:

• 2 French’s French Fried Onions BOGO $3.79
• used 2 .75 MQ’s = $1.15 each
• 2 Hellman’s Mayo  BOGO $5.29 (holy expensive!!)
• used 2 sad pathetic .25 MQ’s = $2.40 each
• 2 Gevalia Coffee BOGO $8.99
• used 2 $2 MQ’s and 2 $1 TQ = $1.50 each (that’s a great price for us)
• 2 Keebler Cookies BOGO $3.69
• used 1 .55/2 MQ’s = $1.65 each
• 2 Pepperidge Farms Breads BOGO $3.99
• used 1 $1/2 MQ's = $1.50 each
• 1 Allegra 5ct $6.49
• used $7 MQ =FREE
• 2 Duncan Hines cake mix BOGO $1.99
• used 2 .35MQ’s = $.65 each
• 2 Cool Whip BOGO $1.95
• used .50/2 MQ =.73 each
• 2 Hot Bar items $7.50 and a candy bar to get my total to $50

I also used a Sweetbay $10 off $50 purchase coupon which brought my total down to$23.75 which really isn’t too bad. So how has your shopping gone this week?  I’m planning on taking a trip out to Target this week hopefully tomorrow!

Innovation First Labs, the company behind HexBugs has created Bobble Bots Moshi Monsters.  An all new buzzing, explorative and collectible line of bobble headed mini robotic pets and playsets  that bring the popular online world of MoshiMonsters.com to life for your kids.
These little guys are really cute and like HexBugs they operate off a single battery and just vibrate. They are really cute and as simple as the idea seems Shawn really loved them.  We received these 3 products to review thanks to Mom Select.

• The Yukea Store (about $20) came with 1 Moshling, 2 cobblestone building tiles, 8 brick borders, 4 grass pieces, 2 small bush, 1 mushroom, 2 rocks, 1 weed, 1 lamp post and secret codes that unlock new Moshi Monsters content online.
• 1 Bobble Bots Moshi Monsters Starter Set ( about $10) which include a Moshling, 1 cobblestone building tile, 4 brick borders, 3 grass pieces, 1 small bush, 1 mushroom, 1 rock and secret codes that unlock new Moshi Monsters online content.
• 1 Bobble Bots Moshi Monsters Moshling (about $6) which came with a secret code to unlock new content online.

The fact that these were monsters immediately got Shawn’s attention but they aren’t scary monsters so every kid will love them.  With many different monsters and playsets to collect I see these becoming the next hot toy and with Easter just around the corner these would be great for Easter baskets.  And the best part for all us parents is they aren’t overly expensive and are available at Target, Walmart, ToysrUs, and Amazon.
Ignore the mess in the background I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep him away from them long enough to clean up after a disasterous week!!  LOL
Guess what I have for you?  I have one Bobble Bots Moshi Monsters Starter Set for one lucky reader.   Fill out the rafflecopter entry below to enter for your chance to try out this brand new toy!!

The lucky winner of the Trix/Yoplait Giveaway is…

Entry #27 Lori Edmonds!!!

Lori I’ve sent you an email and you have 24 hours to get back to me or I will have to pick a new winner.  Congrats!!!

without breaking the bank!!  Who doesn’t love potato skins?  Hubby and I used to order them when we went out all the time and occasionally picked up the frozen Fridays ones because well they are good.  But they aren’t cheap.

All you really need is a package of bacon, a bag of shredded cheddar cheese and a big bag of potatoes.  I picked up a 10lb bag of potatoes for about $3 the cheese and the bacon I picked up on sale a while ago but we’ll just say they were each $2.  First I scrubbed all the potatoes rubbed them with oil and salt and baked them, since the oven was on I put every single potato in that bag in the oven at once (which filled both shelves) while they are baking cook up your bacon.  After they bake for about an hour take them out and let them cool, once cool cut each potato in half and scoop out most of the insides save all of the insides in a big bowl.  Fill half of the shells with cheese and bacon for me that was 22 shells I froze half of them on a cookie sheet and then put them in bags in the freezer for the next time we entertain and we ate the rest for dinner while watching a hockey game.  That left me with 24 shells, a bowl of potato insides, about half the bacon and the cheese and with that I made twice baked potatoes.  I mashed the insides with some milk and butter stirred in the crumbled bacon and cheese and stuffed the shells.  I again froze them on a cookie sheet and bagged them in 3’s for dinners. 

So for $7 (the approx cost of one of the bigger boxes of potato skins) I made 2 big servings of potato skins and 8 nights of sides.  Now it wasn’t nearly as easy as opening that bag and tossing those frozen skins on a cookie sheet but my skins were much more filling without all the processed crap and a whole lot cheaper.  Plus there is the added benefit of having several easy frozen sides in my freezer that microwave or bake easily.  So next time you want a premade treat take a minute and think if you can make it cheaper.

It’s time to organize and get on track with savings!!  Time to focus on what you are saving for and attack it like a lion.  It doesn’t matter if you are saving out of pure need or because there is something you want it’s time to write it down set a goal and start working on it.  We are saving for a few things and I’ve always found that if you set a number goal it’s so much easier to reach.  If you are saving purely because you can’t spend much then figure out what you can afford to spend a week and then set a goal to spend $10 less or $20 less by the end of the year you’ll have $520-$1040 put away!!  We are going over the budget this month, finding the little things and tightening the belt.

When you start thinking about where to shave some off the budget remember that it’s the little things that count.  Just like in a relationship the big dramatic actions are great  but it’s the daily little things that let you know things are good.  In your financial life a big cut is great but the little things are the lasting things that really add up so watch your pennies and they will stack up quickly.

So how are you guys attacking the month and your financial well being?

Coupons.com put out a new batch of coupons this morning and to everyone’s shock there are printable coupons for Pampers!!!!!  Print yours now before they run out of prints because I am sure that they won’t last long (you never see printable P&G coupons)

Head on over to coupons.com to print yours now!!

It’s that time of the month again, it’s hard to believe it’s almost March.

Make sure you print out your coupons today from coupons.com before they reset at the beginning of the month!!!

Pick this up quick before the price goes back up!!

Everyone knows that “Trix are for kids,” and now Yoplait Trix yogurt is giving moms even more reasons to love it! Yoplait Trix yogurt has been reformulated to remove artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and high fructose corn syrup, but only you will know the difference! Whether it’s for an afterschool snack or the highlight of your kid’s lunch box, now you can feel even better about giving your kids the snack that has the same great taste with two bright natural colors in every cup that they can enjoy every day. 

Check out Yoplait's website for more details about this great yogurt and for any available coupons.  Shawn loves this yogurt and the best part is he thinks it's a treat not something that is actually good for him.  Plus in the summer stick them in the freezer with a lollipop stick or a spoon in it and you've got a refreshing frozen wholesome snack.


Yoplait and MyBlogSpark were gracious enough to send me a prize pack and coupon so I could share my opinions with you and they are offering to send one to one of my lucky readers!!!  Here's what you could get:

Due to the previous winner not contacting me I had to pick a new winner for the White Check General Mills cereal giveaway.

Entry #3 Allison (like the blog post) you have 24 hours to send me your contact info to receive your prize pack!!!

Congrats

Check out the 7 days of deals available through Walgreens this week.
Today’s deal is this 11oz coffee mug for only $5!!!  This would make a great gift for a birthday, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day so pick up one today!!

Did you know that all cereals with the white check has more whole grain than any other single ingredient with the same great taste?  You will see “whole grain” as part of the first ingredient on the ingredient list.
You can learn alot about your cereal from the front of the box but you really need to read the ingredient list to know if you are getting enough whole grain.  Check this out to see if you are getting your whole grains.

You can also check out the info on General Mills website here.  In this house we really love all the General Mills cereals we all have our favorites and they are all different.  I love Cheerios, the hubby loves Lucky Charms and Shawn loves Honey Nut Cheerios.  So what about that giveaway well if you win you will receive all 5 of these cereals!!!

One full size of each of these white check cereals Total, Honey Nut Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cheerios.  I’m sure your family will be as excited as mine was when the box comes, hopefully you can get them to agree on opening only one box at a time (that never works here LOL)  You can enter 5 ways check out the widget below.

I swear I haven’t disappeared on you guys.  This past week has been an emotional week for me so I haven’t had the strength to blog (I appreciate those of you who’ve emailed me to see how I was).

The boy has a new set of homework which is taking alot more time and my computer we are getting the hang of it and I’ll be figuring out a new blogging time soon.  A classmate of mine from high school got life shattering news on Friday that her beautiful 5 yr old had an inoperable tumor on her brain stem and was told she had a very short time left with her family, unfortunately her time was even less and she passed away today.  Emotions have gotten the best of me since Friday and came to a head this morning.  I have learned from this to treasure every moment I have with my friends, family and most importantly with my son.

This new found insight has led me to a savings thought.  We are not a family of means but I will be doing everything in my power to save on the basics you know the things we don’t even notice so that we can afford to make memories.  Not every memory costs money but I want to be able to go to a race or a game every once in awhile and that means spending less on the basics.  Hubby and I are talking about what we can do and I’ll be sharing those with you coming soon.  All I ask for now is that you stick around, give me a chance to get my head right so I can share our savings with you and if you pray please include the Musto family in your thoughts.

Make sure you check back often I have 2 more giveaways in the works that will be coming soon!!  Thanks for your patience with me.

I got another great referral link today!!!!

If you haven’t already signed up for Superpoints please do so now!!  Using this one time use link will get you a bonus 50 points just for signing up.  Once you confirm your email and enter some basic info you will get 30 clicks a day on the lucky button which is where I keep getting these sign up codes.

Check it out today and sign up now!!

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/i69q0b

I just got another referral bonus for anyone wanting to sign up for SuperPoints!!! 

Superpoints is a fantastic points program with great rewards!  You can redeem your points for giftcards to many popular companies or for cash through Paypal.  When you sign up make sure you upgrade your status to basic asap so you can get more clicks through the SuperLucky Button which is where I get most of my points.  For basic status all you have to do is validate your email and fill out some basic info.

So here’s the link if you click this link to sign up you will get a bonus 25 points into your account right off the bat, what a way to start out!!!

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/hh81ch

Make sure you print out any of your Coupons.com coupons that you may want or need before they reset at the beginning of next month. 

I noticed a few news one today when I printed mine so make sure you check.  There was a $2 coupon for Welch’s Sparkling Juice and I heard a 4pk was around $2.99 at Walmart making for a cheap treat!!

I appreciate you clicking my links when printing your coupons, as an affiliate I receive a small compensation when you print each coupon and it really helps so thank for your support!!

The winners of the Ocean Spray fruit flavored snacks giveaway are:

#93 Nicole C.

#52 Rene D.

#71 Zesty W.

#3 Laura M.

You will all be receiving emails from me shortly and have 24 hours to respond or I will have to pick a new winner.  Congrats everyone!!!!

I have a very special link for one of my readers to sign up for SuperPoints!!!!

If you follow this link, sign up and achieve basic level (fill out basic info) you will receive a bonus 75 points.  Please leave a comment if you use this link.

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/7m3f7h

These are the things we did this week to save some money

• My hubby bought me a kindle for Christmas and I love it.  So I finally registered it with my local library and borrowed one book for me and one for Shawn to read.   I also placed a hold on a few books I’m interested in reading.  It’s my goal to spend as little money as possible on reading materials for the Kindle and thanks to the library and all the free books offered on Amazon I should be good for awhile.
• I’ve been staying home as much as possible and planning my few trips out really well to save gas.
• We’ve kept the lights off during the day with the exception of the stove light which is an energy saving bulb as I need it when I pour crayons.
• The A/C and the heat have been off all week, we usually have a fan or two running in the evening to cool off the bedrooms but we are really racking up the savings this month on electric (someone remind me of this when I’m suffering billshock in July lol)
• I spent an hour or so organizing my coupons this week so that I can get the best use out of them.  I pulled out all the coupons that are expiring soon that I want to use and all the coupons I found that I knew would get me free or near free products.  Sometimes it’s easy to overlook coupons like the Nabisco $3 off 3 because it doesn’t match to a sale but will still get me some free snacks.
• I’ve used Swagbucks for all my searches and am earning as many bucks as I can, free Amazon giftcards will help pay for gifts, k-cups, and books for my Kindle.
• I’ve done most of my shopping in just a few trips so that I save gas. 
• We are using lots of items out of the pantry to save grocery money.  I’m trying to put aside some of our extra for the next time Zaycon comes to town and I need to clean and organize the pantry so I’m trying to use up as much as possible to make it easier to organize LOL

And this is what we’ve been doing to earn

• I’ve been clicking on all my paid emails.  Nothing like earning money for just clicking links.
• I’ve also been using SuperPoints everyday.  Even when I don’t really want to sit and click on the Super Lucky  Button I let Shawn sit and do it.  He loves using the computer and is so happy when he wins some points, I’m well on my way to getting my free giftcard.  If your interested click the link above for an invite and then start inviting your friends once you get a few friends signed up the points start adding up really quickly!  If you’ve signed up make sure you update your profile so that you get to basic status (at least) so you get more chances at points!!!
• I filled out a rebate for something we bought this week and sent it in immediately.  If I don’t do them right away I’ll forget and risk it expiring.

That’s about it for this week.  It wasn’t overly exciting but it works for us, please feel free to let me know what you are doing.  I love hearing everyone’s ideas!!

Congratulations to:

Terra said...

I follow Living on a Budget via GFC

I’ve sent you an email, you have 24 hours to get back to me.

Do your kids love fruit snacks? My son does and he is always asking for more but I try my best to make sure that I only buy ones that are good for him. Ocean Spray has come to the rescue with their new fruit flavored snacks they are available in two varieties Berries and Cherries and Assorted Fruit. Within minutes of receiving my pack Shawn was already begging to try them and immediately ate an entire bag without sharing with mommy. I didn't even know he had the bag open before it was empty so I opened a second and tried them for myself. I was pleasantly surprised, truthfully I don't really care for gummies they have a weird consistency and flavor usually but these were actually pretty good. They are soft but not so soft I'm spending the next hour picking them out of my teeth.

Ocean Spray Fruit Flavored Snacks are made with real fruit juice and natural colors and flavors. They are also gluten free and each pack only has 80 calories!! And to top it off they are available with year round double boxtops!!! If you've got a kid in school you know that the boxtops go to good use. For more info on these head over to Ocean Spray's website.  To get your boxes today just head over here to print a coupon for $1.10 off 2 boxes.

So now you want to know about this giveaway I suppose. Well Ocean Spray and BlogSpark has graciously given me 4 prize packs to give away to my loyal readers!!  Each pack will contain 6 boxes of Ocean Spray Snacks for you and your kids to try, you will get 3 of each flavor.  Just fill out the form below to be entered (I'm trying a new giveaway system to hopefully make it easier on everyone).  You can get up to 5 entries

1.  Let me know What flavor gummy you'd like to try
2. Like Living on a Budget on Facebook
3. Follow Living on a Budget on Twitter
4. Tweet about this giveaway (one entry each day)
5. Tell your friends on facebook by sharing this post (one entry each day)

You have to fill out the form to be entered and you must do it for each time you wish to enter!!


Disclosure: Ocean Spray® Fruit Flavored Snacks, information, and giveaway have been provided by Ocean Spray® through MyBlogSpark. All opinions are my own though and no way influenced by the giveaway. a Rafflecopter giveaway

These are the things we’ve done this week to save some money:

• I’ve kept all the lights off until it’s too dark and we’ve had the windows open.  I love this time of year since the electric bills are so low.
• Done most of my shopping in just a few trips out of the house and planned out to get the best use for my gas.
• Matched my coupons with some grocery sales to get a few good deals and am planning on getting a few more great deals tomorrow.
• We’ve been eating at home and last night was fend for yourself night and we used up all the leftovers so nothing is going to waste.
• My father bought hubby a Mr Coffee Keurig for Christmas.  We thought it was a great idea because he is the only one that drinks regular coffee and so we were wasting alot of coffee, anyways K-Cups are not cheap!!!  So to combat that he also bought us the reusable cup that you fill yourself which is great when it’s not super early at 6am with those so easy K-Cups sitting right there but a quick trip to the dollar store and I’ve fixed that.  I picked up a 10 pk of really small plastic containers and measured the coffee into those so now all he has to do is dump one of those in the reusable one and brew.
• We’ve been running the dishwasher only when it is full and use the no heat option.

While saving is great there are also a few great ways to earn a bit of money and this is what I’ve done this week.

• I use Swagbucks for all my searches.  You’d be surprised how fast those bucks add up to free money, Amazon giftcards, or many other giftcards
• I’ve been reading and clicking on all the MyPoints emails I get.  I usually cash out for giftcards late summer or early spring and use them to help pay for Christmas gifts.
• I’ve recently started using Superpoints which is turning out to be one of my favorite programs.  It’s by invite only right now but if you click on the name above it’ll take you to a page of invites from me.  If they don’t work just leave me a comment with your email and I’ll send you an invite.  They make it super easy to earn points and you can also cash out for Amazon giftcards, Starbucks, cash via Paypal, etc (and unlike Swagbucks cash won’t cost you anymore points then a giftcard!!!)
• I’ve been working on cleaning and decluttering the house and while I’m at it I’m filling boxes with stuff for the next yardsale.
• I’ve been working on items for my Etsy store, if you have a craft or trade that you are good at you should really sit down and see if there is a way to turn that into money.  Etsy is a great place to sell your handmade items and I’ve had some good successes with it.

So how have you been saving??  I’d love to hear what you are doing to save or earn this year is a year of pinching pennies for me and I’ll take any ideas I can get.

I did a little shopping yesterday.  I planned my trip out to try and get the best bang for my fuel and picked up a few good deals!!

The first stop was CVS to use the $3 off 3 Nabisco coupon that came out a couple weeks ago and pick up an extra newspaper.  My total was less than $2

The next stop was Michaels to pick up some yarn.  I posted a few patterns the other day for handmade washclothes and the yarn I suggested you use is on sale this week for $1 each.  This is the best price you will find it at and it doesn’t come around often anymore so I bought a few skeins for myself.  If you buy this yarn be aware that the variegated skeins are smaller (not as many yards) so you may not get as far with those.  I also picked up the candy tray on clearance for a future project.

Since it is right there I stopped into Walmart and picked up 2 bags of Purina One Beyond Dog food.  This size bag is $6.48 at my stores and after the coupon that was in this weeks paper it makes them $1.48 each which in my opinion is a great price.

Next was a quick stop to Aldi’s I spent about $15 on everything pictured.  We like this wine and it’s $2.69 a bottle so I bought a couple bottles and then I picked up a few things we needed.

 

My last stop was to Publix where I spent $17.30 and here’s how

   

• 6 Ritz Crackers $3.79 BOGO  -2 $3 off 3 mq = .90 each
  • I find with the grab and go we waste a lot less crackers so I picked those up instead of the regular boxes that have more in them.  We deal with alot of humidity and those are better for us.
• 2 Quaker Chewy Bars $2.99 BOGO –.75 off 2 mq =$1.12 each
  • this isn’t a fantastic price but we are running low on snacks
• 4 Dannon Activia $2 each  -$1 mq and $2/2 TQ  = FREE
  • As an added bonus Dave really likes these so I’ll be stocking up this week!
• 2 Banquet Chicken Nuggets  $4.99  BOGO
  • No coupon for these but we were out of nuggets and if you’ve ever had a kid in your house you know that you can’t go without nuggets LOL
• 1 Smart Balance Fat Free Milk  $2.50  -$1mq =$1.50
• This milk will be used for my coffee so I can cut out a few extra calories
• 2 7” Mickey Bowls 2 for $2.99
  • These bowls are really cute and will solve a problem with our new dishes and at that price I couldn’t pass them up.  Now we can have spaghetti and salads in these bowls instead of dealing with cereal bowls or plates with no lip.

Did you get any great deals this week??  I’d love to hear how your shopping went.  And be sure to enter the Purex Giveaway!!!