Living on a Budget

Superpoints

2012-01-29T18:47:00.001-05:00

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

Another great referral bonus!!

2012-01-28T22:03:00.001-05:00

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

It’s that time of month

2012-01-28T10:57:00.001-05:00

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!!

And the winners are…

2012-01-26T08:02:00.001-05:00

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!!!!

Special SuperPoints Link

2012-01-25T20:21:00.001-05:00

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

How We’ve Saved/Earned

2012-01-22T18:04:00.001-05:00

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!!

Purex/Jockey Winner

2012-01-22T09:29:00.001-05:00

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.

Ocean Spray Giveaway!

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

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

Let me know What flavor gummy you'd like to try
Like Living on a Budget on Facebook
Follow Living on a Budget on Twitter
Tweet about this giveaway (one entry each day)
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

Ways we’ve saved/earned this week

2012-01-17T19:47:00.001-05:00

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.

A little shopping

2012-01-16T20:56:00.001-05:00

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!!!

Purex Giveaway!!!

2012-01-14T11:45:00.001-05:00

This giveaway is now closed. Be sure to check out the Ocean Spray Giveaway!!!

Who’s ready for a giveaway???
I’m a Purex Insider and was lucky enough to receive a full size sample of Purex Crystals Tropical Splash and a Jockey Tech Terry Sports Bra.

The new Tropical Splash scent is so nice!! I love this fabric softener because it doesn’t use any oils and I can use it on any of our clothes without worrying. Typically you are not supposed to use fabric softener on work out clothes (moisture wicking) or on kid’s pajamas that are fire retardant. However because Purex Crystals doesn’t leave an oil film on your clothes it is safe for all clothes types. Including

This fantastic Jockey Tech Terry Sports Bra. This sports bra features a pocket to stick your house key in without it digging into your side when you are out running, a reflective spot on the back to help make sure you are seen when running when it’s darker out and fantastic moisture wicking to keep the sweat off your body. You can get a 20% off coupon for this bra at www.Purex.com/Jockey
Plus one of my faithful readers will receive one bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener and 1 Jockey Sports Bra!!!
I’m going to give you 3 ways to enter for this giveaway. First leave a comment on this post to let me know you are a follower, second head of to Facebook and like Living On A Budget then come back here and leave a separate post letting me know, the third way is to follow along on Twitter again you need to come back and let me know here. The giveaway will run until 1/21/2012 at 9pm est and the winner will announced on 1/22 in the morning you will have 24 hours to contact me with all the info I need to get your prize pack on the way.

I received a prize pack for myself and the giveaway prize for free courtesy of Purex and Jockey. All information provided has been given to me by them as well. All opinions are my own.

SuperPoints Network

2012-01-10T14:39:00.001-05:00

This seems like another great points program to redeem for Amazon giftcards, Starbucks cards or even cash via Paypal!! SuperPoints Network is currently an invite only program and I’d love to invite you to join me on this new money making program. I’m currently working on leveling up so I only have a few invites to offer which I will post below, if you can’t use those because someone else has leave me a comment with your email address (I will not publish it)and I will send you an email invite.

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/i69q0b worth 50 points

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/hh81ch worth 25 points

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/9ykg9j

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/awx5fx

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/3ab3ga

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/9qsxrb

Handmade Gifts

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things to make that work up really easy and fast are cotton washcloths. They are great gifts and great to use around the house. I need to make a few more for myself because they do after awhile need to be replaced (especially if you wash knives with it) and I thought I would share a few patterns I use. You can buy a skein of cotton yarn at Micheals or Joanns for about $1.25 on sale or with a coupon and usually I get 2 dishcloths out of a skein. I’ve always knitted mine (you can teach yourself how to knit just look on youtube that’s what I did) but am going to try and crochet a few since I seem to crochet faster than I knit (again self taught via youtube).

This is a knitting pattern that I’ve used with great success lots and lots of times. I love this pattern and so have several people I’ve given them too. The pattern says use a size 7 needle but you can use something close to it if you don’t have that size. You can also keep repeating row 2 until it is a size that you would want.

WASHCLOTH
Cast on 5 stitches. Knit 1 row.
Row 2: Knit 2, yarn over, knit to end of row.
Rep last row, until you have a total of 37 stitches.
Next Row: Knit 2, yarn over, (k2tog) twice, knit to end of row.
Rep last row until 5 stitches remain. Knit 1 row. Bind off.

FINISHING
Weave in ends.

This is a crochet pattern that I’m going to try. It sounds alot trickier but sometimes once you get started you see the repeat and it works up easy. This is a granny square pattern.

Note: Ch 5 at beg of rnd counts as dc and ch 2.

Ch 5. Join with sl st to form a ring.
1st rnd: Ch 5. (3 dc. Ch 2) 3 times in ring. 2 dc in ring. Join with sl st to 3rd ch of ch 5.
2nd rnd: Sl st in next ch-2 sp. Ch 3 (counts as dc). (2 dc. Ch 2. 3 dc) in same ch-2 sp. [Ch 1. Miss next 3 dc. (3 dc. Ch 2. 3 dc) in next ch-2 sp] 3 times. Ch 1. Join with sl st to top of ch 3.
3rd rnd: Sl st in each of next 2 dc and ch-2 sp. Ch 3 (counts as dc). (2 dc. Ch 2. 3 dc) in same ch-2 sp. [Ch 1. Miss next 3 dc. 3 dc in next ch-1 sp. Ch 1. (3 dc. Ch 2. 3 dc) in next ch-2 sp] 3 times. Ch 1. Join with sl st to top of ch 3.
4th rnd: Sl st in each of next 2 dc and ch-2 sp. Ch 3 (counts as dc). (2 dc. Ch 2. 3 dc) in same ch-2 sp. [(Ch 1. Miss next 3 dc. 3 dc in next ch-1 sp) twice. Ch 1. (3 dc. Ch 2. 3 dc) in next ch-2 sp] 3 times. Ch 1. Miss next 3 dc. 3 dc in next ch-1 sp. Ch 1. Join with sl st to top of ch 3. (Four 3-dc groups on each side of square, including corner groups).

Rep last rnd 4 times more, having 1 more 3-dc group on each side of square on next and every following rnd. Seven 3-dc groups on each side of square.
9th rnd: Ch 1. 1 sc in each dc and 3 sc in corner ch-2 sp around. Join with sl st to first sc. Fasten off.

How we’ve Saved

2012-01-09T10:43:00.001-05:00

These are a few things that we did this week to help save some money. Please feel free to leave a comment with anything you have done to save, I love hearing everyone’s ideas.

Shawn went back to school this week so I’ve been packing his lunch everyday to save some money.
We went out yesterday and did quite a bit of shopping in a pretty good circle to save on gas.
Shopped at Save A Lot and picked up some fillers that I can’t get cheaper anywhere else.
We stayed home alot this week which kept impulse shopping to minimum and gas usage low.
The weather the first half of the week was really cold (well for us) but by keeping the curtains closed at night and making a few meals in the stove we didn’t turn on the heat.
The weather the later half of the week has been beautiful so I’ve had the windows up to allow light and air in the house.
I’m currently working on decluttering the house, I’ve packed up the Christmas stuff and made note that I do NOT need anymore paper or labels since I was able to pick up some at 50-90% off after Christmas this year.

Another hint on this which is probably too late now but you should always look for papers that don’t scream Christmas. This year I picked up a transformers paper, a red paper with multi colored dots, a white paper with blue and red circles, and a black paper with white scrolling on it. The transformers paper will be good for boy’s birthday parties, the two with dots are great for any occasion and the black paper will be great for adult gifts or weddings/anniversaries. And it was a ton cheaper to buy it even at full price then a trip down the birthday paper aisle would cost (remember Christmas paper rolls are much bigger).

Picked up 4 boxes of mac and cheese for free at Target using their new printable coupon. I also picked up some supplies on clearance to start making gifts for next Christmas.

This coming week will bring more decluttering and working towards simplifying life some. I believe that the more organized I am and the less stressed I am the better I will be at shopping smarter and saving our money.

It’s Freebie Friday

2012-01-06T16:41:00.001-05:00

As promised I’m back with a freebie Friday post. I’ll be posting links for you to request free samples or coupons from every Friday. Some of these samples also come with great coupons so I strongly suggest you fill out the forms. I don’t request all the samples I post so I can’t verify that they all come or that they all work out, please leave a comment if you find one that doesn’t. Also I recommend that you sign up for a freebie email address to save your personal email from being over junked, gmail and yahoo offer great services for free that’s what I use for all my sample requests.

Meow Mix Pates Toppers and a Coupon

Gas-X Thin Strips

White’s Premium Dog Food

Marietta Max Drain Cleaner (full size sample)

BiPro Whey Protein Sample

Dove Leave In Smoothing Cream

Carefree Liners

Beech-Nut Toddler Kit

Find Your Bliss Samples

Hills Bros Cappuccino (Facebook offer)

This last one is a Kindle book. If you don’t have a Kindle you can still download the books to your computer for free using the free programs available here.

I Used to Know that: stuff you forgot from school

Big Plans

2012-01-02T16:50:00.001-05:00

I tried to post yesterday about some of my plans for this blog and my life and it seems the only thing that didn’t get lost in cyber space was the title.

For me personally this year is going to be about organizing, I feel that if I’m more organized I can save more money. We are also headed into declutter mode, we have lots of stuff and it’s just too much I’m overwhelmed so it’s time to clean out a bunch of stuff and organize what is staying. As a friend of mine said “A place for everything and everything in it’s place”

As for the blog Precious has renewed her money saving challenge and I’m on board again. With the cost of everything going up, up, up I’m going to be figuring out ways to keep my money in my account, I’ll be pinching every penny until it bleeds. I’ll be starting up everyone’s favorite again and will be posting my Freebie Friday posts again the more samples we request the less full size product we’ll use. I will also be posting once a week on how we are doing to save and I’m hoping that you will chime in with how you save. I will also be posting about deals I see and how some of my shopping trips have gone, I’ve never done match-ups before but I’ll be happy to point you in the right direction if you are looking for match-ups, just let me know. Plus you’ll be seeing product reviews and giveaways from me, I occasionally post links and I really appreciate your clicks they allow me to do more and better giveaways for you.

I’ve slowly been growing my craft business and will be continuing that this year. In keeping spending in check I’ll be challenging myself to use up alot of my supplies before I buy new items. There are things I will have to keep replacing as I sell things but I think it will be fun to force myself to use up some of the odds and ends before buying more stuff. Make sure you check out my Etsy page to see what I currently have for sale!! This year I’ll also be posting a few tutorials/ideas for gifts, one easy way to help with spending around the holidays or birthdays is to give handmade gifts and I’ve never given a handmade item that wasn’t well received.

So be sure to check back, it may take a few weeks to get the blog organized but you can look forward to Freebie Fridays coming soon and a How We’ve Saved post probably over the weekends. And don’t forget about the giveaways, I maybe working on one right now for you.

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T11:54:00.001-05:00

It’s been like Christmas here

2011-12-10T09:24:00.001-05:00

The UPS and FedEx men made my day yesterday and it was like Christmas with all the goodies they delivered.

First I got this great box of goodies from MomSelect and Children’s Claritin. I’m part of the Mom Crew for Children’s Claritin and I was so happy to get this box as my son just recently started suffering from seasonal allergies.

Then I received this Full Size sample of Triple Action from the Purex Insiders group. I love how they package things so even if it leaks it won’t make a huge mess.

And i finally got the Science Diet dog food from my latest BzzAgent campaign. The pup was very excited to try it and I’m happy to report that the first ingredient is Chicken just plain chicken no meal or byproducts!!

The last box and the heaviest brought my Hershey’s Cookie Exchange party goodies. They sent 3 bags of kisses, 3 Betty Crocker cookies pouches, an apron, a container of cocoa powde, recipes and boxes for my guests to take their goodies home in.

I’ll be reporting back on each of these fantastic goodies in the next week or two and letting you know how everything went with each of them. Now why couldn’t every mail day be like this?? Oh I know because I’d be up to my ears in boxes and work LOL

All of the items pictured were received free of charge in exchange for my honest opinions, no monetary compensation was given by any of the groups mentioned.

Amazon Deals Still Going Strong

2011-11-30T11:41:00.001-05:00

Make sure you keep an eye on Amazon this week as the deals just keep going!!

Great Deal on a Kuerig

2011-11-25T12:02:00.000-05:00

We have this machine and really like it!!! And at only $59.99 it's a great deal but act fast it won't last

XBox Deal coming really soon

2011-11-25T11:54:00.002-05:00

Make sure you check Amazon because at Noon they will have an Xbox deal live similar to Walmarts!!!!

Amazon

I appreciate you clicking my links for doing your Amazon shopping.

A deal I was looking for

2011-11-22T22:37:00.003-05:00

If anyone on your list is receiving or already has the Spyro Skylander Video game Amazon is matching Kmart's Thanksgiving Ad with 2 for $10

Skylander's 2 for $10

These normally run $7.99 and don't seem to be on sale too often. The selection isn't big but if you order now you can get 2 more gifts for under the tree!!

Lego Storage

2011-11-22T20:03:00.002-05:00

For a limited time this table is only $59.99! When you place the table into your cart the $40 will come off automatically. I'm always getting asked about my lego table and this is a pretty good deal for one.

This awesome storage item is also $40 off for a limited time!!

More Amazon Deals that pop out at me

2011-11-21T11:04:00.000-05:00

Remember these are very limited so act fast!!!

This little guy would be great for the person that has everything on your shopping list. It's on lightning deal for $12.99

Moxie Doll for only $14.99

Amazon Deals Start Now

2011-11-21T10:14:00.000-05:00

Act fast most of these items I'll be posting are for a limited time only!! Lightning Deal price on this is only $18.99 But act fast!!!!

This is on my son's wishlist

2011-11-20T14:03:00.001-05:00

maybe it's on the list of someone in your life too and $19.97 isn't an all bad price. I don't believe I've seen this in the ads for this weekend yet.

My favorite time of year

2011-11-20T09:20:00.001-05:00

It’s time for Amazon to knock our socks off with some fantastic deals. Technically their sales don’t start until Monday but it’s time to get ready.

I have an Amazon link that I would love for you guys to shop through for all your holiday shopping. Make sure you check back often this week because I’ll be posting some of the best deals. If you haven’t already sign up for Amazon Mom you can do that now and receive free shipping on most of your orders.

And for the first deal to start off the week

You can pick up Toy Story Mania!Toy Story Mania for Wii for only $9.99 right now. This game is a lot of fun especially if you’ve enjoyed the ride over at Hollywood Studios.

Party on a Dime

2011-10-26T09:02:00.001-04:00

We’ve had a very busy weekend. My son’s birthday was on Saturday, we had a party for him on Sunday and on Monday a big special surprise. But it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to have a great celebration here’s what we did to save.

I started buying gifts right after Christmas. We managed to pick up legos at 50% off and through the year I’ve picked up all the gifts for his birthday and Christmas at 50-75% off.
We went to a Character Breakfast which we do every year and is a bit of a budget buster. But to help we made the reservation for 10:30 and since it was a buffet we managed to eat enough to not have to get lunch later in the day.
For his party I’ve been shopping sales and Sav-A-Lot to make sure we had food and drinks. Hot dogs, chips and hug jugs make for very happy kids and are really easy on the budget.
I made cupcakes instead of a cake because they are easier for kids to eat. They are also really cheap and with printed decorations I found online they looked really good and cost nearly nothing.
I picked up fabric from the remnants bin at Joann’s and sewed the goody bags and filled them with clearance finds, homemade crayons, copied coloring pages, and a few things from Oriental Trading Company (not a bad place to find lots of great goodies)
And for his big surprise we went to the brand new Lego Land. With careful planning and quick action when I got the lego catalog we were able to go for $55. Lego offered free admission to their VIP members so we signed up so that hubby and I got in free, my mother in law signed up so she could also get in free and then we paid for Shawn’s ticket and received $10 off it.
We had a fantastic time at the park and did purchase lunch while we were there we could have packed a lunch but I was so exhausted from the rest of the weekend festivities that I didn’t. We were surprised to find that the food costs in the park were very reasonable.

So there you go. We spent less then $50 on probably $150 in presents and that cost was spread out over the year, we spent less then $25 on goody bags, decorations and food for his birthday party and had a fantastic time. With lots of careful planning we were able to have a fantastic weekend without spending a small fortune. Plus since I’ve been buying presents all year we have plenty of gifts for Christmas and won’t have to be spending much with the exception of a few gifts he may ask for I am done with his presents for the year. You have no idea how great it feels not to have to rush around in holiday craziness at the stores to pick up presents.

Halloween Savings at my favorite store!!!

2011-10-13T14:49:00.001-04:00

Click here to see all the great deals and coupons available this week to get you ready for Halloween!!!

Savings, it’s really the small stuff

2011-10-11T08:23:00.001-04:00

When you are trying to trim your budget it really is the small stuff that you need to look at. Those sodas or coffees at the gas station really add up but there is more you can do than just cutting out your morning caffeine fix. Here are a few things we’ve been doing to save.

The weather has been cool so I’ve been keeping the A/C off and just running fans. I read somewhere you could use lots of fans for a lot less than the cost of A/C unfortunately the humidity got the best of me last night and I had to turn on the A/C.
We’ve been keeping the lights off when possible.
I grouped all my shopping trips together and went to Sav-A-Lot, Aldis, Micheals, and Kohls. I’ve been finding that shopping at Aldi’s and Sav-A-Lot are really helping fill in the holes from the grocery sales. Now to convince my Walmart to pricematch Sav-A-Lot so I can pick up a few things closer to home.
We managed to cut out all trips to grab a quick snack or a drink by making sure we planned out trips and packed accordingly.
I picked up tickets to two free events the apartment complex is hosting. One for Shawn to paint a pumpkin which will save me the cost of at least one pumpkin this year and the other for an Adult Halloween party. My mother in law will be here then so Dave and I can go out and have free drinks and snacks.
I made invitations for Shawn’s birthday party using cardstock I got free at Staples. They cost me almost nothing and came out much better than the store bought ones.
For entertainment we’ve been using video games and watching TV since we pay for overpriced cable we might as well use it.
I’m also working on some homemade Christmas gifts that will save us money over buying gifts.

In addition to saving on the small stuff I’ve been working hard on my crafts to prepare for lots of shows/markets this fall. I have a call in to someone about getting into another couple of markets. I’ve sold some of my items from my Etsy store and my website at www.TiffanyMitchellDesigns.com If you get a moment I would love for you to check out my items and let me know what you think. I also have some new items posted on Facebook and I believe the prices are very good for handmade work. If you are looking to try and make some extra money figure out what you are good at and run with it. From babysitting, to handyman work, painting, crafting, alterations there are lots of options out there.

A favor to ask

2011-10-07T14:21:00.001-04:00

of my local readers or anyone visiting Disney before October 21st. My son’s PE department is doing a fundraiser partnered with the Little Miss Matched Store at Downtown Disney. They have entered a design and the more votes they get the more money they’ll earn. The PE department is in dire need of funds they are really trying to get a gym built for when the weather is bad.

All you have to do is head to the Little Miss Match store and tell the cashier you’d like to vote for Four Corners Charter School they will give you a sticker for each member of your group and all you have to do is stick it on Four Corners sheet. There is absolutely no purchase needed so if you happen to be at Downtown Disney please head in and vote for Four Corners Charter School!!!

How we’ve been saving

2011-10-04T18:48:00.001-04:00

Here are a few things we’ve been doing to save money.

We’ve been blessed with cooler weather so the A/C has been off since Saturday afternoon. We have a few fans running but this should really help save on the electric bill.
A very good friend moved this weekend two weeks earlier then scheduled so we inherited a bunch of groceries. With the addition of her stuff we have a very full freezer and fridge so we are eating from the stockpile to free up some space.
We had a yard sale this weekend with my friend. I sold some stockpile type stuff and made a good chunk of money. I could have made more if I had been in the stockpiling game this summer so I’m going to work at building a big beautiful stock for the next sale. We used all the money earned to pay down some bills.
I’ve been driving as little as possible. Dave has to go to work so we can’t shave much of his bill but I can stop going out as much. I’ve been making only planned trips and maximizing my mileage by stopping at all the stores along the way.
Today I did two loads of laundry and used sample size detergents that I got for free. I’ve noticed my sample boxes (old wipe containers) have been getting full so I’m on a quest to use them up.
I called and argued with the cable company today. One of their techs came out on Friday and messed up the wiring that gave us spotty TV and no internet all weekend, they came yesterday and fixed it but I still felt we were owed something. They are giving me a credit and “rebundling” my package to lower our bill. Don’t be afraid to call and ask the worst they can say is no.
I worked on making some crayons today for my own trick or treaters and to get a head start on a few orders I’m hoping to get. I posted about my Halloween special yesterday and I’m hoping that it makes me some money!!

So how have you been saving? I plan on heading out to the grocery stores on Thursday so I will be clipping coupons and matching sales tonight and tomorrow to be prepared. I’d love to hear what you are doing this week!!

A Halloween Special

2011-10-03T21:52:00.001-04:00

at TiffanyMitchellDesigns!! For a limited time you can order larger quantities of my handpoured crayons at a great discount. These crayons are great to hand out to your trick or treaters, goodie bag fillers for birthdays, or little Christmas goodies for the kids in your life (or your childs class)

You can purchase 56 Lego Brick, Witch Fingers or Mickey Head crayons or 70 Lego Figure or Star crayons for only $10. Your crayons will come in packages of 2 with a label identifying them as crayons (so no one accidentally tries to bite one) ready for you to hand out to all the cute ghosts and goblins on Halloween. Shipping on these is going to be $3

For the Star Wars fans

You can pick up 24 of these adorable R2-D2 crayons for only $5!!! They will be packaged the same and come in more colors than the photo shows.

No color requests can be made on this special order.

And the winner is…

2011-10-03T21:44:00.001-04:00

The winner of the General Mills Star Wars giveaway is…

AubreyLaine said...

I like tiffany mitchell designs on fb!

Congrats Aubrey you have 24 hours to contact me at bellemitchell702 @ gmail dot com with your full name and shipping address so we can get your prize pack in the mail to you!!

It’s time for another Giveaway!!

2011-09-28T09:50:00.001-04:00

As I’m sure you all know by now Star Wars The Complete Saga was released on Blu-Ray a few weeks ago. This is the first time ever that the full Saga is available in one complete collection, 9 discs featuring all the movies and tons of special features. If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time you already know that my boys love love love Star Wars. My husband could hardly wait for the bus to come the morning it was released. They have been watching it piece by piece and all out of order may I add since. It is so great to have something we grew up with that we can share with Shawn.

Well Walmart and General Mills have teamed up to provide you with a limited edition good vs evil scene on the back of 3 cereals. On the back of specially marked boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms you will find pieces to a panoramic poster showcasing your favorite Star Wars characters like Vader, Han, Yoda, R2-D2 and many more. These are only available at Walmart!!

How cute is this? My son is going to want to keep them forever LOL For more information on the whole grain benefits of these great cereals go here and for more info on Star Wars head here.

So what about the giveaway you ask. Here’s what you can get, you’ll receive one of each of the boxes in the photo with the limited edition good vs evil poster on the back AND a $25 gift card to Walmart!!

Here’s how to enter (be sure you leave individual comments on this post for each entry):

Leave a comment telling me your favorite Star Wars moment and make sure you are a follower!!!
Head over to Facebook and “like” Living On A Budget
While you are there “like” Tiffany Mitchell Designs (this is my craft store)
Share this giveaway on Facebook, your blog or Twitter and leave me a link
Follow Living On A Budget on Twitter
Like Walmart on Facebook

There you go 6 easy ways to enter to win $25 and 3 boxes of cereal!!! You have until 9pm on Monday 10/3 to enter.

This prize pack and giveaway were generously provided to me by General Mills through MyBlogSpark. All opinions are my own and are never swayed by anything.

A New Way to make some Money

2011-09-27T13:16:00.001-04:00

Have you heard of Endorse? It’s a Facebook app that allows you to endorse products/stores that you currently shop at. It’s very new and I have no first hand experience with it but I am very excited about the possibilities! It appears you can get 10% or more depending on your followers. The example they use is Lipton Green Tea say you buy it and 5 of your followers also love it and have purchased it everyone gets .82 (based on a price of $8.29) and since you are the first endorser you get an additional $8.29. Now you know why I’m excited so if this sounds like something for you I ask that you click my links below to my favorite endorsements and share your favorites with me.

You can endorse Walmart, Starbucks, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Cheerios and many many more. All you do is like your favorite brands, share with your friends and shop as usual. Then drop your receipts into a prepaid mailer mail it in and start racking up the cash. The more followers you have the more money you will make in bonuses.

So sign up and let’s all team up to help each other make some money!!! If you’ve used this service please share your experiences with us. You can get info about them here.

Great Deal on a Laminator

2011-09-25T10:16:00.000-04:00

I purchased this laminator the last time it was on sale and I love it. You can buy refills for it on Amazon or at Walmart, Joann's and Micheals which makes it so easy!! If you craft or have kids you can't beat this price!

Freebie Friday

2011-09-23T17:33:00.001-04:00

Let’s make your trips to the mailbox more exciting!! Sign up for these freebies and start looking forward to getting your mail.

Eucerin Sample (facebook offer)

Fiber Choice Sample

Step Dri Sample

Beech Nut Toddler Kit

Natural Kibbles Doggie Snacks

Dove Leave In Conditioner Sample

Poise Pad Sample

Free Holiday Recipe Booklet from Land O lakes

Plus tomorrow (Saturday) there is a free Build and Grow event at Lowes from 10-11.

And to make for some cheap entertainment this weekend if it looks like rain alllllll weekend free Blockbuster rentals

FERRELL- Free Will Ferrell movie exp 9/28
ROCKNROLL – Free Rental exp 10/9
These are all good thru 9/23

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Enjoy your Freebies!!!

Welcome!!

2011-09-19T13:53:00.001-04:00

I’d like to Welcome all the new readers and followers that found me due to the Monkey Quest giveaway! I hope I can keep your interests with my posts about savings in every aspect of life. I really believe that you can save tons of money by doing the little things and that’s what I talk about.

So stick around and be prepared in the coming weeks I’ll have a freebie round up, a few what I’m doing to keep my pennies posts, grocery shopping trips, and another fantastic giveaway!!!

The winner is….

2011-09-18T09:29:00.001-04:00

According to Random.org the winner of the the Monkey Quest giveaway is:

#20

mrsblack said...

Follow you on FB

September 14, 2011 12:59 PM

Congrats MrsBlack you have 24 hours to contact me with your name and address so we can get your prize pack out to you!!

Monkey Giveaway!!

2011-09-12T14:11:00.002-04:00

If you are like me you have a young child at home chomping at the bit to use the computer and play games online. They play educational games at school and want to use the computer at home too. Shawn is always asking if he can play and we were given an opportunity to try out Monkey Quest. What is Monkey Quest you ask?
Monkey Quest takes place in the land known as Ook. Long ago, a Monkey King and 5 of his brave companions traveled Ook in search of knowledge and adventures. Things were great until the evil Shadow Demon Ka came about with his army of monsters. Ka was out to destroy all that was good in Ook. The Monkey King and his pals battled Ka for years. In an epic final battle, the Monkey King summoned all of his powers and shattered Ka’s black core into a million shadowy shards. Ka was gone, but so was the Monkey King. Generations have since passed and now Shadows from Ka’s army are starting to seep back into the darkest reaches of the jungle.
I thought it might be too much for Shawn but within minutes he was playing with very little help from me. You start out with a Free Play game that is a bit limited like most online games and by purchasing a game card you can unlock extra features. Shawn played for a few weeks before I loaded the game card we received into his account and he had a great time without the extras, but he’s really enjoying the extras now. If your child is much younger than 6 they will probably need a little help plus there is some reading so be aware of that and to ease your concerns about your child being online Nickelodeon offers parental controls that you can set up for your child. I can tell you that Shawn’s favorite part was setting up his monkey with a yellow body and a mohawk.
So go on over to Monkey Quest and sign up today and see what you think. Plus you get to win a prize pack right here!! Your prize pack includes a Monkey Quest tote bag, t-shirt and hat along with an insider’s guide to best navigate the land of Ook!

Here’s what you have to do (giveaway ends 9/17):

You must leave a comment on this post to have an entry!!!!!!!

For extra entries

Follow me on Facebook and leave a comment on the post to let me know
Follow me on Twitter and let me know on this post
Subscribe to us through Blogger and let me know
Share the giveaway on either facebook or twitter and leave me a link to get another entry
You can also Like Tiffany Mitchell Designs on FB for one last extra entry

Remember you must leave comments on this post for me to know what ways you are entering!!!!

In return for my opinion and this giveaway I received a $25 game card, tote bag and guide for Monkey Quest from Nickelodeon and MomSelect. All opinions are my own and true no fluff here!!

On a Quest to happy Mail Days

2011-09-08T21:31:00.001-04:00

As long as we are still getting mail I’d like to see things other than my bills and I’m sure you would too. Let’s try some of these freebies and see if it makes getting the mail as exciting as it was when you were little and those bills where someone else’s problem LOL.

Twinings Teas- Head here and scroll down and select your 3 teas to sample

Icy Hot Naturals- Click here

Prilosec OTC Sample

Christie Brinkley Skin Care Samples

Joe Coffee Sample

Infusium Sample (facebook promo)

Ojon Hair Serum Sample (facebook promo)

Playtex Gentle Glide Sample

Poise Hourglass Sample

Eucerin Sample (facebook promo)

Rachel Ray Just 6 Sample

Ob Sample Pack

Invisible Glass Cleaner Sample

Natural Nibbles Sample

Saving a bit here and there

2011-09-06T14:56:00.001-04:00

Yesterday Shawn and I headed up to Sav-A-Lot. I’m new to shopping at this store but they have some unbeatable prices on things I don’t have coupons for. I spent just about $20 there and since my receipt has magically disappeared I can’t be too exact. I did get:

Gallon of Milk ~$2.29
Loaf of Sandwich Bread .99
Bag of store brand Tater tots (my son loves these)
5lbs of ground beef $1.99 per pound
2 large sweet onions ~$2
Tortilla Chips ~$1.20
over 2 pounds of grapes .99/lb
Hamburger Helper .99

While I was up that way I stopped at Staples and picked up 2 reams of paper, 2 boxes of pencil top erasers, and a package of pens. All of these are .01 after rebates and I used my 15% off coupon that I got in the mail free which I believe will make it a little money maker for me! I also stopped into Michaels and picked up a few things to make earrings for an upcoming craft fair.

Today I headed to Target. This is what I got for $17.xx, most of these items are for us but I am trying to overstock my stockpile for an upcoming yardsale. This has always proved to be a good source of extra holiday spending money and is one way I contribute financially to the household.

2 7th Generation Cleaning Products $2.99 each -$1 TQ and $1 MQ from 7/31RP
4 Trial Size Cascades .97 each -$1 MQ from the 8/28 P&G (these were with the rest of the detergents not with the trial stuff at my store)
1Mossimo Tank Top $5.60 -$5 TQ
1 Mossimo Swim Trunks for DS $2.48 -$5 TQ (no overage it adjusted down)
1 Nabisco Snack Pack $1.04 this is for later since we will be running as soon as DS gets home and this is cheaper than buying him a snack at Disney
Pepperoni $2.39 no coupon
2 Market Pantry Pastas $1 each
3 Market Pantry Sauces $1 each I used 2 $1/2 TQ that were good on the sauce and pasta the one other sauce was too small for the coupon but I wanted the Alfredo and it was a decent price
4 Pillsbury biscuits/pizza crust $1.27 each 1 of them rang up free and I used 2 $1/2 MQ found online
2 Single Serve Simply Lemonade .73 -$1 IPQ
2 Nivea Bodywash $3.99 each -$1 TQ and $2 mq from 7/31RP
2 Bic Disposable Razors $4.49 each -$2 TQ and $2 mq from 7/31SS
2 Purina Cat Treats .99 -$1TQ and $1/2 mq from 6/26SS
2 Star Wars Notebooks on clearance for $1.25 each
2 Revlon Nailclippers $2.89 each -$5 TQ from the inserts and $1mq in the 7/31 insert (I think)
3 Delimex Roll things $4.89 One of them was free and I used $2 mq that were stuck to the front. There is also a $2 TQ (good on the taquitos) and $1mq for liking them on facebook.

Also in other exciting news my crafting website is open for business at TiffanyMitchellDesigns.com. Please don’t mind the dust (lol) I am still working on it and am new to this stuff. I will soon be adding some holiday items under that heading but it’s currently empty. Check it often as things will be added regularly!! I’ll be back later or tomorrow with another post about savings!!

It Costs What??

2011-08-31T14:04:00.001-04:00

Lately I’ve been thinking about the costs of things in life. The cost of my groceries, electric, driving, blogging or lately the lack of blogging these all have been running through my head. See we live awfully close to paycheck to paycheck and everything has gone up lately with the huge exception of the paycheck. So how do I fix my cost problems?

I’ve decided this craptastic economy isn’t one to start living off my stockpile in. I plan on making sure we have plenty of food and keep everything rotated but I do need to stock up at the best prices and will keep up with it.
My electric bill well we are making an effort to keep things off as much as possible. If Mother Nature would just cooperate and stop giving us the warmest start to fall I could turn off the A/C.
We have cut way back on driving lately and will continue to plan our trips out so that we make the best use of gas.
This blog. I love you guys and love sharing my shopping trips, when I’m overwhelmed I neglect the blog and then I neglect the sales which hits me square in the wallet. So no more, I’m making the commitment to blog once a week at least about what we’ve done to save money. This will keep me more accountable and hopefully keep money in my wallet.

In addition to dealing with these costs I’ve been working with a dear friend to set up an online store to sell my crafts and handmade goods. I will be offering discounts to readers every once in awhile and offer custom work all the time. I would love if you would like my store on facebook Tiffany Mitchell Designs and share it with your friends and family. I will post the web address once we get the store up and running so you can check it out.

So how are you handling the costs of everything? I’d love to hear your ideas and tricks!

Great New Coupon!!

2011-08-08T09:49:00.001-04:00

Print out the new $2 Expo Marker coupon for some freebies at Walgreens. You can go this week and pick up 2 2pks of markers this week for free or you can wait until next week and 2 6pks for free!!

This week the 2pks are on sale for .99 and next week the 6pks will be on sale for $3.99 so you can use this coupon and the $3 coupon for the August coupon booklet and get them for free.

This couldn’t come at a better time because I just realized I hadn’t gotten dry erase markers for Shawn’s supply list.

I do receive a small monetary referral for every coupon you print through my link to coupons.com. I appreciate you clicking my links when printing your coupons :)

A Nice Trip to Publix

2011-08-07T18:42:00.001-04:00

I had a great trip to Publix today. We didn’t really need for much but I wanted to get a jump on snacks and juice since we seem to go through so much lately. Unfortunately I’m not completely sticking to my .50 rule but I still think I am doing great. I ventured out to Sav A Lot the other day and was able to buy the bulk of my grocery list for $25 which included 3lb of pork and 3lb of hamburger. So anyways back to today:

2 boxes of Aunt Jemima Pancakes on BOGO for $2.69 used a $1 off coupon from the Facebook promo
4 jars Peanut Butter on BOGO for $2.95 used 4 $1 mq from 7/31 SS and 2 .75 TQ from today’s paper
2 Bottles of Vitamin D $2.99 each used a $6/2 PQ and 2 $1 mq from today’s paper for a profit!!
2 Children’s Advil $5.99 each used $5./2 PQ and $5/2 printed coupon from the Advil site
4 bottles of Blueberry Ocean Spray on BOGO for $3.99 used 4 .55 mq’s from 5/15 RP
1 Pantene Shampoo FREE with coupon from Facebook awhile ago
1 Herbal Essence Shampoo FREE with coupon from Facebook awhile ago
4 boxes of Nabisco snack packs on BOGO for $5.99 used a B3G1 Free TQ
1 Sunny D $3.99 with no coupon I forgot I needed it

I used a $10 off $50 Sweetbay coupon and paid $9.16 for everything and according to my receipt I saved $85!! I also picked up a raincheck for 10pks of Crayola crayons at .33 each they are a bit cheaper at a Walmart about 15 miles up the road (unless they changed the price) but at my store they are currently .40 I use these for my crafts and Shawn uses tons of crayons so I was glad to get a raincheck for at least a few.

My analysis: If you break it down to item price I only spent .43 per item so I did actually come in below my limit. The snack packs are great for Shawn’s lunch box once school starts they aren’t needed but are nice to have. The pancakes will give us some easy meals as we make the transition from summer to getting up at 6:30. Because we have funtainers for his lunchbox I can buy bottled juice at a much lower unit price then juiceboxes so I am getting a jump start. The advil is one of the few meds we use and well we go through peanut butter like water (I’m disappointed I didn’t have more coupons).

So how did you do at the grocery this week?? I’d love hear how you did.

Want to Host a Party

2011-08-06T11:04:00.001-04:00

or Sampling Event? There are many different party/sample sites out there and you should be signing up for them. A few I can think of are HouseParty, MomsMeet, and Psst (MyGettogether).

To receive the party pack or the sampling pack you need to fill out an application and get picked out of tons of other people that also applied. MomsMeet recently posted an article to help make sure you get selected check it out here.

You have to be willing to provide your opinion of the products and sometimes pictures, blog posts, video, or facebook posts on it. In return you usually get free products, coupons to share with friends, and usually a few other special goodies just for you. For example I just was notified that I will be hosting a sampling event for GreenMomsMeet, I will be sharing some Kashi TLC Peanutty Dark Chocolate bars with some mom friends at our next big playdate. For this event I will receive enough bars for everyone coming and Kashi Cinnamon Harvest Cereal, Kashi TLC Strawberry Cereal Bars, and a Kashi reuseable bag for me in return I will be providing them with the groups feedback, some photos of friends (who are ok with me sharing their photo) trying the bars and a blog post with my opinions (this isn’t required).

So what are you waiting for sign up for a few of these companies and check out the article on how to get the best chances for being accepted. Another piece of advice don’t apply for every party just because you can I did that at first and ended up with a few events that I wasn’t really excited about and possibly missed out on getting ones that I really wanted.

If you can think of any other sampling/party sites please share!! I’m sure I am forgetting some since I’m running on just a few hours of sleep today.

Print Your Coupons

2011-07-29T17:00:00.000-04:00

It’s that time of month again it’s time to print out those great coupons before they are gone. Head over to Coupons.com and print out any coupons you may want to use as they will be either resetting or disappearing at the end of the month! There’s lots of good coupons out there so print now.

I do receive a few cents from every coupon you print and I thank you for printing through my link! It helps me save for our goals!

Great Time to Pick up a few gifts

2011-07-27T10:14:00.002-04:00

It's never to early to think about birthdays and the holidays!! Check out this great deal at Amazon today!!! Buy 1 Get 1 40% off

Back to School Shopping

2011-07-17T13:40:00.001-04:00

Today I headed up to Staples and Target for some back to school deals.

Target has construction paper on sale for $1 per package. This is a fantastic deal and is great to buy a couple extras for gifts. They also had tape on sale for .50 and I picked up 2 packages of pens for .02 each after the TQ. Shawn’s school requires glue sticks and this week the 6pks are on sale for .80 each so I picked up 2 of those and 2 sets of watercolor paints for $1 each. The paints will be added to the gift stock.

Staples has a bunch of great sales right now including free after rebate highlighters and reams of copy paper for $1 after rebate. Their rebates are super simple to do online and they come pretty quickly so I picked up my limits on those as well as 2 pencil boxes for .50 each, 2 small clipboards for .50 each (for crafting), as well as a few other items on the .50 list. I also price matched Crayola crayons to Office Depot’s ad and picked up 5 for .25 each. That will save me driving out of my way to go to Office Depot this week however if I find myself out by office depot I will stop in and pick up more crayons (and maybe a couple extra ads for price matching). It’s my firm belief that you can never have too many crayons especially since I repurpose crayons for my crafting business.

So make sure you head out and pick up the best deals. Even if you don’t have young ones in school these are some pretty great deals on things you probably use anyways or that you can put together to give as a gift.

Frugal Gifts

2011-07-16T17:33:00.001-04:00

I know with the heat outside not many of us think Christmas and the cold of winter is ever going to come but it is never to early to start your Christmas/Birthday Shopping!! The cheapest way to give great gifts is to plan plan plan if you aren’t shopping at the last minute you are alot better off.

With all the school supply sales starting up this is the perfect time to start your shopping. I love giving the gift of art supplies most kids devour these and who doesn’t love crayons. This is the time of year to start picking up all the really really cheap items and the freebies this week I got Sharpies and pens for free. Next week I’m headed to Staples to pick up some more great finds. Then after the school year starts you’ll find backpacks on clearance so you can pick up a couple of those or just pick up a cheap rubbermaid type storage container and fill it with all your great cheap/free finds for a fantastic gift for the kids in your life.

This year I plan on putting together a giftbag for my son and then hopefully putting together several small art kits for any birthdays that pop up on us. I love having extra gifts around for friend's birthdays and art kits are gender neutral and never go out of style.

You could even make something like this and spend a whole lot less then the $45 price tag on this site. Think of the hours of fun a gift like this could bring.

A Trip to Target

2011-07-15T20:56:00.001-04:00

Following my previous post that I wasn’t going to spend anymore money on stuff and start saving that money for the other expenses we headed to Target. This isn’t exactly the smartest thing to do when you are looking to save money but we needed to start the back to school shopping. So we headed out and got a few deals.

I managed to pick up 2 pairs of jeans one for $2 that will be crafted into something new and one pair for $4 for Shawn that he will hopefully fit into when it starts to cool down. I also picked up 2 pks of Colgate Max that had toothbrushes attached they are on sale for $2.99 and I used $1 TQ and a .75 mq. I don’t generally like paying for toothpaste but for about .60 each hubby and I both prefer this toothpaste and these toothbrushes so it worked out ok and under my limit. I also picked up a Suave Shampoo and a Conditioner in a scent that I absolutely love after the TQ they were .09 each so when I go back tomorrow I’ll be picking up 2 more I can justify this cost. We also picked up 2 large bottles of hydrogen peroxide for free using the Target First Aid coupon!

Now we move on to the school supplies. There have been a few deals on backpacks/lunchboxes going on but I am really picky about what we buy. Last year I broke the bank and spent $24 on Funtainers we got a bowl sized one and a thermos sized one well that was about the best money I spent and we are using the same ones again for next year however you have to consider their size when buying a lunchbox which means no buying them online. Toys R Us currently has a promo where you can get a free lunchbox with the purchase of a backpack which is a great deal but we didn’t take advantage of it because the closest store is just too far away. DS picked out a Cars2 backpack for $9 and after plenty of inspection we settled on a lunchbox that also cost $9! I can’t believe I paid as much for it as I did the backpack but it will fit the containers and leave a bit of room for any other food and I feel that it will stand up to the test of time.

We also picked up 2 pks of Sharpies that were on sale for $1 and there for free with the TQ, 2 pks of tape that were also free with TQ/MQ and 2 packs of pens that were $1 and free after TQ. While I was there I ordered 40 photos (on sale 10/$1) and will be going back tomorrow to pick them up and use 2 TQ to make them free as well. While I’m there I’ll be using a few more coupons to take home some more freebies.

Some of my work

2011-07-15T14:56:00.001-04:00

I’ve had a few of you ask what I make or what something looks like that I mention so I thought I’d post some pictures for you. I’d love to hear your opinions on any of my pictures, all of my items are handmade and for sale. I attend a few craft shows and a farmer’s market plus I’m starting to list items on Etsy. Hopefully once Shawn starts school I’ll be able to attend a few more farmer’s markets.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul

2011-07-15T14:36:00.001-04:00

It’s that time of year again when I have to start restocking the school supplies for Shawn and it’s time to buy him new uniforms for school. BLAH!! I absolutely love Shawn’s school and I truly believe that this school is the best fit for him what I don’t love is their uniform policy. I have nothing against uniforms but his school requires you buy very specific clothes that are only sold by one company, no competition means we pay through the nose for the uniforms. The tops and bottoms are both embroidered just to make sure you don’t go buy the better quality cheaper uniform bottoms some where else. LOL

Thankfully this year we don’t have to buy everything like we did last year. We will have to buy a couple pairs of pants but are waiting for it to get colder to make sure they fit in length. He should be fine with shorts but we do need to get him some new shirts his are faded and well crappy looking. Of course he also needs a new lunch box and backpack and the never ending supply list (which is surprisingly shorter this year) so I need to “find” the money to pay for it all.

The good news is I found that money it’s in my freezer and pantry. Precious over at FrugalMakesCents got me thinking about it, she’s going to be living off her stockpile to free up freezer space for the holidays. That sounded like a great idea, my freezer needs to be defrosted badly so I figured why not try. I won’t be able to spend as little as she is doing because I don’t have a large enough supply of meat in the freezer. So for my version we will be purchasing fruits, veggies, milk, peanut butter and bread as normal since this are my regular needs. We have some meats in the freezer and will be using those and only buying meat when I can get it for less then $2 a pound. To help keep my pantry from becoming bare (which would give me a heart attack) I will continue to purchase the best deals each week as long as the item prices are less then .50-$1.

I won’t be trying to grow my health and beauty stockpile right now so unless it’s free and I’m going to that store anyways I won’t be picking it up. I will however probably be making several trips to Target and Staples for their great back to school sales. Going to those stores will take me past several Walgreen’s and a CVS so if it’s free I’ll be happy to pick it up but I’m looking to spend nearly nothing. I’m also going to start posting all my purchases maybe even some pics so you all can help me stay accountable.

So are you robbing Peter to pay Paul this summer? Feel free to share your tips!

Looking for new recipe?

2011-07-06T16:30:00.000-04:00

Sign up here to receive a free weekly email full of delicious easy recipes that your whole family will love!! This is great for the weeks were you are really feeling in a slump!

Free Chips at Chili’s

2011-07-06T14:21:00.001-04:00

Sign up for Chili’s Email Club and receive a coupon for FREE Chips and Queso. Plus be the first to find out about new specials and receive any future coupons!!

Lego Monthly Mini Build

2011-07-05T10:36:00.001-04:00

Today at most Lego stores you can take your kids and they can build this

The event starts at 5pm and goes as long as they have supplies. I would recommend getting there at least 30 minutes early, our local store is always very busy and the line usually wraps around the building. We go early and wait otherwise you are going to be waiting in line anyways. Go here to get all the details.

Some new coupons

2011-06-30T14:13:00.001-04:00

Coupons.com has released some great new coupons!! Here’s a list of a few of them.

Food & Beverage:
$5.00 OFF 1 Enfagrow Powder
$1.50 OFF ONE (1) multipack of BOOST Kid Essentials Nutritionally Complete Drink
$1.00 OFF TWO (2) 3.5 oz or Larger Bags of T.G.I. Friday's Snacks
$1.00 OFF 1 Skittles, Starburst, Life Savers Gummies
$1.00 OFF 1 lb. or more of Sara Lee meat at the service deli or 1 package of any pre-sliced meat
$1.00 OFF any 12oz bag of Seattle's Best Coffee
$0.75 OFF 1 package of Keebler Granola Fudge Bars (6 ct. ONLY, Any Flavor)
$0.75 OFF Any 1 Sargento Natural Blends Slice or Snack Cheese
$0.75 OFF 1 Newman's Own Salad Dressing
$0.75 OFF 1 package of Truvia natural sweetener
$0.55 OFF on any Bagel-fuls (4ct)
Personal Care:
$5.00 off Any ROGAINE product
$2.00 OFF 1 renu fresh or renu sensitive multi-purpose solution (8 oz or larger)
$2.00 off any Sally Hansen Nail Treatment Product
$1.00 OFF any Sally Hansen Nail Color Product
$1.00 OFF 1 JOHNSON'S Baby Powder 15 oz. or larger (excludes sizes 1 oz. - 9 oz.)
$1.00 OFF 1 Triple Paste product
$1.00 OFF ONE (1) 12 pack or larger of SCOTT Naturals Tube Free Bath Tissue
$1.00 OFF any 1 AXE product
$1.00 OFF 1 N.Y.C. Eye Color
$1.00 OFF 1 NIVEA Express Hydration Lotion or Gel

Household:
$3.00 OFF Lysol Clean-Flip Starter Kit
$1.50 OFF ONE (1) 12 pack or larger of SCOTT Naturals Tube Free Bath Tissue
$0.55 OFF any Chore Boy Product
Home Entertainment:
$2.00 OFF Nurse Jackie DVD or Blu-ray
$2.00 OFF Prada To Nada on DVD or Blu-ray
Toys and Games:
$5.00 OFF Tag Junior book pal

Please head over to coupons.com and print your coupons out today while they are still available.

Coupons

2011-06-29T17:00:00.000-04:00

I do receive a few cents from every coupon you print and I thank you for printing through my link! It helps me save for our goals!

Take a piece of Disney home for free

2011-06-29T11:33:00.000-04:00

If you are planning a trip to Disney this DVD is great to help you and your family plan what you are going to do. This is also a fantastic way to have a piece of Disney in your home (for free!!). We have ordered a few of these in the past including one the year my son was born and made sure we put the date on them as a memory of the way things were. Go ahead and sign up for yours today! It’s free and you’ll enjoy watching all that Disney World has to offer.

I Love VistaPrint!!

2011-06-29T10:28:00.001-04:00

Today features a can't-miss deal for any camper - a FREE Tote Bag! It's the perfect accessory for carrying everything your camper needs, like swimming gear, clothing and other personal belongings to and from activities.

If you’ve never purchased anything from VistaPrint let me tell you they are a fantastic company and produce great quality items and offer so many great freebies. When I first started this blog I printed business cards at home and after about 2 months I found VistaPrint and worked out the math that it was cheaper to get my cards through them then it was for me to even buy the business card paper never mind the ink! Since then I’ve ordered 100’s of cards, postcards, business banners, stamps, and labels. And I’ve always been soo happy with the results, so if you need anything printed including this adorable bag click the link and check them out you won’t be disappointed.

Planning for a cheap weekend

2011-06-28T20:16:00.000-04:00

We are planning on attending the Nationwide race in Daytona this Friday night and it is my goal to spend as little money as possible. I suspect we will probably buy a toy car or two for Shawn and we will have to put gas in the car but it is my hope that we spend no more money than that. So far this is what we plain to do.

I will be packing lunch and lots of snacks so that we don’t have to purchase food while we are there. Since we are planning on going early we’ll need lunch and dinner so I’ll pack sandwiches, fruits and snacks
Drinks is another big deal. It will be July and hot so we will need lots of drinks so I will be packing water, beers for later when it cools off, soda, juice etc.

I have a couple of thermal totes that should carry everything pretty well. I will also be bringing sunscreen and a tote bag to carry all of our goodies. I already checked and know what size bags/totes we are allowed to bring in with us so we should be good to go.

So are you making plans for this weekend? Make sure you plan accordingly and have lots of drinks along with you!!

Are you prepared??

2011-06-27T19:48:00.000-04:00

I know most of you don’t live in the land of hurricanes but given the severity of recent storms all over this country are you prepared for the next big storm? Hurricane season started here last month but we are still making sure we are prepared. There are a few things on my list to finish preparing I’d love for you to add in what you do to be sure you are ready for bad storms.

Get a full tank for the grill. I saw yesterday that Walgreen’s had refills on sale for $17.99 and have a $3 mail in rebate so I’ll be taking our tank in this week and switching it out. We also were lucky enough to have a neighbor move and throw away their grill and they gave us their tank so I need to get that tank swapped out for a full one as well. If we have a hurricane and lose power we will need the use of the grill to cook the food in the freezer.
Make a freezer inventory. This will be good for eliminating waste as well. If we should lose power I want to know what is in my freezer before I open it up.
Pick up a few more shelf stable meals and some shelf stable milk.

We also need to make sure we have water on hand but other than those things we are prepared.

So are you prepared? I think we need to be prepared year round but for us this is an especially important time of year to have everything on hand. What time of year do you prepare for and what do you do to make sure you are safe in case of an emergency.

A trip to Publix

2011-06-26T20:15:00.000-04:00

I made a quick trip to Publix today and will probably make another one tomorrow since I have to return a Blockbuster free rental. My store accepts Target and Winn-Dixie as competitors so I used those today along with manufacturer’s coupons. Here’s what I got:

4 Kellogg’s Cereals BOGO $4.49 -$1/2 mq’s and $1/3 TQ =$1.50 each
- these were the big boxes and we are running low on kid cereals especially with the boy going through a growth spurt so there weren’t a bad price
4 NutriGrain Bars BOGO $3.49 -$1/2 TQ =$1.25 each
- these are great for Dave to take to work and for me to throw in my purse when we go out cheap snacks help save us money at gas stations
2 Dannon Activia $2 each -$1/2 MQ =$1.50 each
- Dave has been eating these and likes this one flavor so I bought a couple more
Cars Bandaids $2.59 –.50 MQ and .75 PQ =$1.34 (kids)
- not a great price and I have cheaper plain ones but the boy realllllly wanted them LOL
4 Crystal Light on the go BOGO $2.99 -$1 mq and $1/4 TQ =.25 each
- This is a great price and are great to take to Disney (get a cup of free ice water and add one of these)
2 Smuckers Shell Syrup $1.89 -$1 PQ and .55 MQ =.34 each
- at this price they’ll be nice to have around
2 Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream BOGO $4.49 -$1/2 MQ = $1.75
- for this it’s a good price and since we don’t eat much ice cream it’ll be nice to have these every once in a while in our favorite flavors
2 Oscar Meyer Deli Creations BOGO $2.50 -$1 MQ =.25 each

For this price I’m going to try and get a few more. Dave has been working really odd hours and this will give him some more meal options

I spent $16.69 on everything above since I used a $5/$30 Winn Dixie coupon and I will be entering my codes off all the kellogg’s products and sending in for 2 $5 gas gift cards. I’m going to try and plan another trip for tomorrow since I have one more WD coupon and wouldn’t mind stocking up on more cereal/snack bars.

Just Checking In

2011-06-26T16:08:00.001-04:00

I’ve had a few emails from concerned readers so I wanted to let you all know that I am still here.

With Shawn being out of school we’ve had an adjustment period to get a schedule going. We still haven’t perfected it but I will be back to posting asap. I need to get our savings on track, up my income both from this blog (I love you guys for clicking on my links especially coupons.com) and from my Etsy store and a few other things.

So watch this week for money savings days, an organizing post and possibly a few other things. Also make sure you follow along on the facebook page as this is where I post alot of my quick things including any free codes for Redbox and Blockbuster Express. I also post Swagbucks code links if I see any available there.

Vocalpoint

2011-06-17T09:55:00.001-04:00

If you haven’t signed up for VocalPoint you should head over and do that today.

Today they have a Mott’s for Tots sample giveaway. Mott's for Tots^® has 40% less sugar than 100% apple juice and a great taste kids love—it's an easy and healthy way to spoil 'em. I love giving this to my son since it has less sugar than regular juice! Click here to see if you are eligible for this sample

Another Great VistaPrint Offer

2011-06-16T11:22:00.001-04:00

I really love VistaPrint and have used them to print many things in the past. This is a great deal and I might be ordering one to advertise my crafting business.

A fresh start

2011-06-01T10:34:00.001-04:00

It’s June 1st which means we all get a clean slate and get to reset our goals and go go go!!!!

This year has been a hard one for my little family and a very spendy one. I haven’t been doing the deals like I used to, we’ve been overwhelmed by too much going on and of course those semi unexpected costs have been hitting us like a one two punch. Let me tell you the first half of this year has managed to knock me and our spending out of whack but it’s a fresh start and I’m getting back on track for this half!

In order to recoup some of our costs and rebuild our savings I’m getting tighter than tight. No eating out, no single drink purchases, no spending on much. Too often in the past few months I’ve been too tired or overwhelmed and have just said lets get something out not this month, Shawn is getting out of school so some of my life will be slowing down and I’ll be doing more to have a few quick meals in the house. We spend too much money at the gas station and we aren’t spending it all on gas we get drinks/sodas in an effort to stop this spending I’ll be purchasing soda when on sale. I hate buying soda but it’s certainly cheaper to buy a 2 liter at Walmart/Publix than it is to buy a 20oz at the gas station.

We have 2 more weekends of Star Wars weekends and I will be making sandwiches and refilling some water bottles so that we won’t have to buy any food/drinks while we are there. I’m going to be striving to live off of $50 a week (not including gas) so let’s see how I do. I’m not even sure if it will be possible but we’ll see, the one exception to this will be if I receive any orders for my crafts but even with those I’m going to strive to use what I have instead of buying more.

Is anyone else looking at their savings account and wishing it would grow?? Join me on a quest for a frugal summer where we can grow our bottom line.

And the winners are….

2011-05-30T08:53:00.001-04:00

According to random.org the winners of the Purex with Zout giveaway are

shawneemom said...

I also liked you on FB

and

Precious said...

I like you on FB also.

Ladies please leave a comment on this post with your mailing address, don’t worry since comments are moderated they won’t be seen as I won’t “approve” them. Your coupons will go out tomorrow morning as long as I have your address.

I received 2 free coupons and a full size free sample for this giveaway and my review from the Purex Insiders! All opinions are my own though.

A Review and a Giveaway

2011-05-24T14:06:00.001-04:00

A while ago the fantastic people at Purex sent me a bottle of Purex Complete with Zout to try out and some free coupons to give to my readers.

So what is Purex Complete with Zout and what makes it different from other stuff. Well here’s a few of the facts for you

Purex Complete with Zout combines the proven performance of Purex with the triple enzyme stain fighting power of Zout
It contains 3 powerful stain fighting enzymes. Each enzyme targets a different type of stain.
It is formulated to work in both traditional and HE washers
It can be used as both a pre-treater and a detergent making it great for everyday use.

I have used this on my son’s school clothes and let me tell you this boy is rough on his school clothes. They have black mulch and entirely too much sand in his play areas at school, he comes home everyday covered in dirt with a pound of sand in each shoe. Well Shawn’s clothes actually come clean with this detergent and a bit of pretreating, it also seems to work really well on the rest of our clothes. All in all I am very happy with this detergent and given the price is the same as other detergents I’m happy to buy it.

If you’d like to give Purex with Zout a test drive go here and sign up for a free sample to be sent to your home. Now if you’d like to have more than just a free sample say a free bottle of detergent then please enter the giveaway. You can enter simply by leaving a comment on this post, if you’d like an extra entry leave an additional comment and let me know that you’ve liked LivingonaBudget over on Facebook and or on Twitter. So you can get up to 3 entries to win a coupon for a free bottle of Purex Complete with Zout.

I received a free full size bottle from the Purex Insiders and 2 coupons for free Purex in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and not swayed at all.

Freebies!!

2011-05-17T12:14:00.001-04:00

I love checking my mail and finding free samples, it’s much better than the normal bills and junk. Let’s see if we can’t start filling your mailbox with some great freebies.

Free Shout Color Catcher Sample –has anyone tried these? I have one (sample) and still haven’t tried it

Purex with Zout Sample –this one has been around for a few weeks so if you’ve already requested it I’m sure you won’t work again, but I did get my sample and it came with a coupon too!!

Prilosec OTC Sample

Carefree Liner Sample and Coupon

Emeril’s Original Seasoning Sample Packet

Miracle Whip Samples

Zone Perfect Bar –You must like them on Facebook while you are there be sure to like LivingOnABudget

Miralax Sample

Breathe Right Nasal Strips Sample

Eucerin Sample –this is another facebook offer

Nescafe Taster's Choice Instant Coffee Sample

So Sweet Sample

NeilMed Sinus Rinse (Neti-Pot) –another facebook offer but I can tell you this one is great!!!

John Freida Shampoo Sample

Dove Conditioner Sample

Well there’s a good start to getting some fun stuff in your mailbox soon!! Free samples do more than just make you smile at the mailbox they also help you save a little money so make sure you sign up for all of them (plus they usually come with coupons to save you more money)

A New Toy from the makers of Zhu Zhu Pets

2011-05-06T17:16:00.000-04:00

My son loves Zhu Zhu pets and I can almost guarantee he'll love these too.

Racing DaGeDar™ balls requires skill, practice, agility and finesse. Players must control the speed and velocity of DaGeDar™ balls in order to propel them through thrilling loops and turns without forcing the balls off the tracks. Exciting tricks and stunts can be refined by whirling DaGeDar™ balls in Spinners or loading several balls into Battle Launchers to unleash them with supercharged battle play.

MomSelect & Cepia are offering a giveaway for members who post this commercial.

I love grocery shopping somedays

2011-05-06T11:13:00.001-04:00

I haven’t been posting too many grocery shopping trips because most of the time I don’t get to the store until Monday or Tuesday and the sale is over Wednesday. Who wants to hear about good shopping trips that they can’t replicate? LOL But today I went shopping and scored some great deals so I thought I’d share.

Since I had a $10 off $40 Sweetbay coupon I went shopping early this week. I’ll be going back on Sunday to use another one of the coupons and get to use any of the new coupons. If I’d been counting a bit better I could have saved even more and saved a few more coupons for my next trip, oh well I still did great so here’s the break down

2 Bags of Fresh Express Salad Mix BOGO $3.69 I had no coupons for this but I’m on a quest to eat healthier especially when it’s just me to feed so these will help
2 Pepperridge Farms Rolls BOGO $3 -2 $1 coupons from the 4/10 SS making them .50 each not a bad price for dinner rolls
6 bags Birds Eye Veggies they were 50% off this week making them .89 each -3 $1/2PQ from the Spring Savings book and 2 $1/3 mq from 3/20 SS making them 6 cents a bag
2 John Frieda Root Awakening Shampoo $5.49 each -2 $3 mq from 5/1 SS and 2 $2PQ from the green flyer to get them for .49 each
2 pks of Oscar Meyer Hot Dogs BOGO $3.29 - 2 $1mq from 4/10 SS making them .65 each
6 Crystal Light packs BOGO $2.99 -2 B2G1 coupons from 4/3 SS making them .50 each
2 Boxes of Snack Packs BOGO $5.99 No coupons for this either but I was feeling generous to Shawn since I had the sweetbay coupon
The Coffee-Mate, Wholly Gauc and the Soft Scrub I had free coupons for from various trials

So are you wondering how much I spent???? My total was drumroll please $9.65!!! Now without the snacks and salad I could have spent almost nothing but I live in the real world where sometimes things are just needed I plan on doing a similar trip on Sunday but with meat and more veggies.

Free VistaPrint Products

2011-05-02T18:40:00.000-04:00

I've ordered lots of stuff from VistaPrint from banners to labels and have never been disappointed. Check out one of the great freebies they have going on now and just pay shipping!!!

Some deals at Walgreen’s today

2011-05-01T10:30:00.001-04:00

There are a few good deals to be had at Walgreen’s, I’m going to post the best of the best. Let me know if you find anything!!

Gum Flossers $2 and receive $2RR
Right Guard Total Defense 5 is BOGO and there’s a BOGO coupon in today’s paper
Cottonelle 12pks $5 -$1 Wag’s Coupon in May book -.50 printable coupon =$3.50 or .29 a roll

But the deal gets better Buy 2 of these and get a $3 RR buy 3 and get a $4 RR

But don’t buy them three at a time buy them 2 at a time buying 2 = .17 a roll buying 3 = .18 a roll assuming you can print 3 of the .50 coupons which are limited to 2 prints per computer

So head out to Wag’s and pick up the best deals early before they are all out of stock. And before you tell me a penny a roll isn’t that much remember we are here trying to save our pennies for the big picture.

How does your garden grow?

2011-04-28T10:00:00.000-04:00

One great way to save some money is to grow your own fruits and veggies. Now you may not have the room to go crazy but you can grow a few things even in pots to help off set your grocery bills. So you ask how does your garden grow well mine grows pretty good when I remember to water it, but being in central FL means my gardening season is almost done until mid August since it’s starting to get too hot.

Contrary to what you’ve heard you can grow everything in pots you just have to water it alot and get a big enough pot. So I thought I’d take some pictures to encourage you to get out there and garden.

This is a new addition this year, it’s a cherry tomato with lots and lots of baby tomatoes on it. I can’t wait to have fresh salsa.

This is several strawberry plants growing crazy. With this many plants I might actually get to eat a few of my strawberries instead of the boy stealing them all. LOL

This pic has grapes on the far left, last year I bought this off the Walmart tried to kill it rack for a couple bucks and look it now. In the middle is one sorry tiny little strawberry plant that has produced 2 berries this year and on the other end is another tomato plant. The strawberry and tomato will likely be getting evicted soon as they aren’t producing and I can grow beans in the heat without problems.

This little pepper plant refuses to die, I bought it last year and didn’t bother to cover it through our multiple hard freezes through the winter since I didn’t think it would be coming back this year and it has lived to amaze me and has several small hot peppers on it.

This is the last pic for now. I should be a mint farmer at the beginning of last year this was a small single mint plant that has attempted to take over the world or at least every pot it’s close to. Behind the mint you can see a large pineapple plant that is the one that is fruiting for me!!!!

An exciting development

2011-04-27T21:32:00.001-04:00

At least I think it’s exciting.

That my friends is the start of a baby pineapple growing inside my oldest pineapple plant. You know how much it cost me???? Nothing, Nada, Zip, Zero, Zilch!!! That’s right I grabbed this particular plant out of the trash at my grandparents hotel room when they were here a few years ago. They had bought a pineapple to enjoy while visiting and were going to throw away the top but I happily took it did some research planted it and have been loving it and it’s friends for a few years now and voila a baby has been born. Now lets see if I can get it to grow to an edible fruit. LOL

Would you like to try and grow your own pineapple plant? I can’t speak for different regions but in Central FL it’s pretty easy.

Buy a pineapple!
Twist the top off, don’t cut it off it just makes more work for yourself. If don’t want to do step one find someone that has bought one or check farmer’s markets. At a few of the nicer farmer’s markets the pineapple sellers have the machine that cores and peels the pineapples and they usually will give you the tops for free.
Peel off a few layers of leaves off the bottom until you see those brown nubs. Those nubs are your roots.
Stick it in some dirt. Yup it’s that easy, I usually start them in a really small pot and keep them in the house until they are rooted and then transplant outdoors but the last two I just stuck outside in some pots.

Let me know how it works out for you. Once you get a plant growing you can force them to fruit just swagbucks it and you’ll find out how. I have been growing these because I like the way they look and they are very tropical but having the fruit coming in might encourage me to force my next few.

Great Deal on Capri Sun

2011-04-25T13:15:00.000-04:00

There is a great deal on Capri Sun 10ct boxes at Kmart this week. They are on sale (unadvertised) for $2 each and in the ad on the back there is a coupon for Buy One Get One Free making them $1 a box. The best price I get these for on sale is usually about .15 a pouch so .10 a pouch was a stock up price for me.

Please be aware that you do have to sign up for their stupid rewards card to be able to use the coupon. I have no problem with rewards cards really but I hate having one more stinking card to remember especially since I don’t shop Kmart very often.

Free Easter Basket Fillers!!!

2011-04-13T14:57:00.001-04:00

Go here and print a .50/2 Starburst or Skittles coupon and then head to Walgreen’s. Pick up the April Coupon Book that has $1/2 Skittles or Starburst coupon in it and go find yourself 2 eggs with skittles or starburst they are on sale for .75.

Using your coupons you should only be stuck paying taxes and walk out with up to 4 little eggs for your baskets this year.

Thanks goes to WildforWags for the photo and the heads up on this great deal.

Extreme Couponing vs Real Life

2011-04-06T21:18:00.001-04:00

I have little to no interest in watching the new TLC program “Extreme Couponing” but I can see where it would appeal to people. In the current economy with the prices of everything except our paychecks on the rise people are trying to figure out how to save. The show lures you in with get mountains of stuff for almost no money.

And it’s true you can get mountains of stuff for almost nothing, you can also not be welcomed back into a store for abusing their coupons, you can be shot down because you are clearing their shelves and you can be given a really hard time in line trying to check out. Please lets all remember that this isn’t reality of course a clerk/store is going to be courteous to these women they do afterall have a TV crew for national station with them.

But when these women get home and unload their bags what are they going to make for dinner? As I said I’m not watching this show and didn’t watch the previous one so I can’t claim for sure but I know the sales and the items that you can get for free don’t always equal balanced meals. I’ve been couponing long enough to know that canned veggies go on a great sale at my stores only twice a year, frozen veggie sales are more frequent but not as good, fresh?!? well forget about it you aren’t buying all your fruits and veggies for free. How about meat you ask well there are deals to be had on meat (on occasion) but if want real fresh meat it’s not free either at least not in large quantities or frequently.

If you’d like to learn about real life couponing, you know the kind that actually feeds your family I invite you to stick around. My family eats healthy balanced meals most of the time we are a real family, I have days where I don’t feel like cooking and I make mac and cheese or chicken nuggets. I’m not going to preach healthy living to you since we don’t always conform either, but I will encourage you to maximize your savings while feeding your family real meals (sometimes they are out of a box and sometimes from scratch).

If you are fairly new to couponing I have to warn you this show is not going to make things any easier. I experienced the rath of this stupid program after the first one aired when I was asked multiple times if I was “one of those shoppers” and each time I had to explain that most of us don’t clear shelves or hoard our freebies. When I do go a little overboard buying something it’s something that we have a real use for. Yes a few weeks ago I bought 12 jars of peanut butter but I make at least 12 PB&J sandwiches a week and yes this week I bought 12 containers of Smart Balance milk but with 2-4 bowls of cereal, 1 mocha latte, and at least 1 glass of milk drank a day it unfortunately won’t take us long to go through that much milk. A few weeks ago I purchased 6-8 boxes of dog treats but my dog only goes through a box every 6-9 months however the people at the animal shelter must have thanked me a hundred times for the donation. So please buy what you’ll use before it expires (food thrown away is not money saved!!!!) or buy items you intend on donating, from what I’ve heard the next logical step for some of these people is to go to TLC’s other program “Hoarding”

So have you watched this program? Are you new to couponing? Please feel free to chime in and if you are looking to cut your bill down and have a pantry/freezer full of food you can actually eat stick around you can also like me over on Facebook for easier access to all my posts.

Great Deal on Capri Suns

2011-04-06T18:15:00.000-04:00

Original Capri Sun Juice, Surf Cooler, 10-Count, 6-Ounce Pouches (Pack of 4)

This is a great deal is you sign up with subscribe and save you get 4 10pks for only $7.20 or $1.80 each. These will normally run you $2+ at stores. Just make sure you cancel the subscribe and save after it ships.

Gotta love Samples

2011-03-31T18:09:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite things when I was little was going to get the mail I don’t know why but it was always exciting. As I got older I got over that when getting the mail meant getting the bills but I’ve managed to bring back that joy from when I was a kid. It’s FREE SAMPLES!!!! I love getting little samples and goodies in my mail and I’m sure you do to so to help you fill your mailbox I’ve put together a list of samples. Go fill out the forms (I always recommend using a junk email account for these things) and wait for the freebies to start rolling in.

Creme of Nature Shampoo Sample
Quacker Oats Square Sample
NeilMed Sinus Rinse Sample (requires facebook)
Always and Tampax Samples
Jiffy Mix Cookbook
Miracle Whip Sample
Head and Shoulders Sample
Dove Hair Sample
Shout Color Catcher Sample
Fiber Choice Sample
MiraLax Sample
Carefree Sample
Purex with Zout Sample
Glad ForceFlex Sample
Vaseline Intensive Rescue Sample

Nutella YUM!!!

2011-03-28T12:54:00.001-04:00

I was lucky enough to receive all the goodies to host a Nutella Party from MommyParties and Mom Select.

We had a lovely time pairing Nutella with all sorts of yummy breakfast and brunch foods, unfortunately I was a giant bonehead and let Dave take my camera out with him that day so I only have a picture of the goodies my guest got to take home and his breakfast.

Nutella was very generous to provide us with lots of goodies for my guests to take home with them and they provided me with a large jar of Nutella. If you’ve never tried Nutella dig yesterday’s paper out of the trash and find the coupon for it and buy a jar this week, it’s delicious. Yummy chocolatey goodness!!! We found that there wasn’t much it didn’t taste good with and there are lots of recipes out there that use it in baking. Here’s some Nutella Facts:

Nutella is a great alternative to peanut butter for those with peanut allergies as it has no peanuts and doesn’t come in contact with any peanuts in manufacturing
In a 13oz jar they use more than 50 hazelnuts
Nutella is kosher
It also is gluten free
It is low in sodium and contains no hydrogenated oil or trans fat

Here it is spread on 15 grain bread.

The only bit a found trouble with about the lovely goodies they sent me was some of the marketing. Maybe it’s true in some households but not in mine, they claim that it can be hard to persuade your kids to eat their healthy breakfast and so the answer is to cover it in the yummy Nutella. Well in my house Shawn eats his healthy breakfast or he goes hungry I’m the mom and I make the rules. They might be better using a different approach such as a fantastic treat for kids or a decedent treat for the mom who gives everything to her kids and has nothing left. I’m also not really sure what Nutella brings to a balanced breakfast other than chocolatey yumminess (yes I might be making words up).

All that being said I think Nutella is fantastic and a wonderful treat. Would I eat it or serve it everyday to my family? No!! But does it make for a great addition to a special breakfast maybe once or twice a week? Yes it does and in my house that’s when it gets eaten once maybe twice a week.

I received no monetary compensation for my opinions however I did receive samples and other goodies to distribute to my guests from Nutella, MommyParties, and Mom Select. Have a product or service you’d like an honest review on please contact me.

Getting back in the game

2011-03-26T17:35:00.001-04:00

So for the first time in months I went to CVS today!!! I really need to get back into the drugstore deals so I finally after weeks of saying I should took the step today and went in. Our allergies have been bothering both Dave and I so I thought we could give the Allegra a shot that is free after ECB’s. There was a recent coupon for it in the newspaper (3/6 I think) and I had a coupon for Physicians Formula makeup that was on sale.

I spent $6 on my purchases and got back a $6.99 ECB to use next week. Now to keep it going, find my CVS card and get back into Walgreen’s too. I really hate that I’ve been paying cash for my newspapers so it’s time to get in there and start getting some of my groceries paid for again. I’m thinking about posting the best deals I see so let me know if you are interested in drugstore deals!!!

Flea Market Day (staycation)

2011-03-21T16:05:00.001-04:00

First off if you are ever in the area on a Monday I highly recommend the Webster Flea Market. It is huge!!! I believe they say it sits on 40 acres and they have something for everyone. There is a large Farmer’s Market area, antiques, yardsale type items, new stuff and even a wholesale area. If you are thinking of visiting in the summer I must warn you there aren’t as many vendors, it’s hotter than hot and you need to have lots of sunscreen on. Most of the vendors are in covered open air stalls however there are lots that aren’t and you’ll be in the sun between each row.

Here’s some pics of my goodies today.

The first pic is my knock off purchases. LOL Those shammys were 4 for $5, they had smaller cheaper ones but after I cut these in half they will work out cheaper and a great deal for us. I don’t think I can go to this market without buying a purse but at least I got this one for only $10. The second pic shows the beads I picked up the 2 sparkly strands were $2 each and the other 2 were $1 each, I plan on making some jewelry with those and the basil plant came from the fantastic herb guy who sells all his herbs for $1 each (the mint he sold me last year is doing great and has filled an entire window box) The last pic is my finds from the Farmer’s Market area, we always wait until it gets close to closing time to buy produce. We got thata whole flat of strawberries for $5 (the guy on the other end still was selling them for $8) and that strawberry onion was $1

So today’s staycation day cost us about $50 once you add in lunch and drinks. That’s not too bad for a vacation day especially when I’m hoping to make at least $30 of that back with some jewelry sales. What are you planning for your vacation this year?? I’d love to hear!!

Spring Break

2011-03-20T20:55:00.001-04:00

Shawn is out of school for the week and Dave is off work. Of course we’ve been asked a million times so where are you going?? Well in the interest of our checking account we are staying home, we have a few Spring Cleaning days planned and a few "vacation” days planned.

How are you spending your Spring Break this year?? I’m going to be posting what we are doing to save while we have our vacation days. Today we spent the day at my grandparents hotel room, they have a washer and dryer so we were doing laundry for most of the day there. They were out visiting a friend so we went and relaxed the boys went to the playground and I worked on crafts when my grandparents got back we visited while finishing up the laundry we brought. We did 4 loads today so I saved $8!! Tomorrow we are headed to the Webster Flea Market, we love going there but since it’s only held on Mondays we haven’t been in a long time it should be fun and we’ll probably pick up some cheap veggies and fruits.

Feel free to chime in with your plans!!

What a Great Deal

2011-03-12T08:20:00.000-05:00

Check this out now!!! Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2011 for only $27.99!!!!

Don't forget Father's Day is coming up this might be great to hold on to until then.

Are you using Groupon??

2011-03-08T16:14:00.001-05:00

If not you really should sign up and get your local deals emailed to your inbox daily. Go here and sign up today so you don’t miss out on anymore great deals

I’ve picked up several in the past year and they have always worked out great. When you visit the site make sure you check out some of the other cities alot of times there are online deals listed in other cities that you can get in on too.

Motivate your Kids for FREE!!!

2011-03-07T08:53:00.001-05:00

Vistaprint - 6 Free Products to Motivate Kids
3 days only- 6 Free Products to Motivate Your Children!
The products are FREE, just pay shipping and processing.

Purex Crystals

2011-03-03T19:28:00.001-05:00

I may have mentioned that I was chosen to be a Purex Insider!! I received coupons for free product to try out the new Purex Crystals.

Click here to get some more info about Purex Crystals straight from the horses mouth. This is what I know about Purex Crystals:

They come in 3 scents and the blue and yellow smell really good.
They are 92% natural and don’t coat your clothes in an oily substance like some liquid softeners.
They won’t reduce the effectiveness of your kids fire retardant PJ’s like some liquid softeners.
They are super easy to use, just toss them in with your detergent and forget about it.
So far the freshness has lasted and my linen closet has never smelled so good.

So have you tried these yet? They are available at Walmart for $4-$6 depending on your area and the size. Purex says they will be available everywhere but I know I got mine at Walmart. Click here to see a video about the Crystals and to get a $1 off coupon for them.

ETA: Next Walgreen’s is supposed to have these on sale for $4.99 with a $2RR. So if you use the coupon you will pay $3.99 and get $2 back making them only $1.99 and a great price to try them out at.

I received a coupon for free product from Purex for my review. My opinions on this product are my own and have not been influenced in anyway by receiving the product.

Free Cookbooks for your Kindle

2011-03-02T10:04:00.000-05:00

You can download 4 free Gooseberry Patch cookbooks for your kindle or your kindle apps. You can download a free app for your computer, BlackBerry, Android, iPhone or iPad so even if you don’t have a Kindle you can get these free cookbooks.

25 Meatloaf Recipes

25 Slow Cooker Recipes

25 Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes

25 Mac & Cheese Recipes

Remember prices can change at any time on Amazon so don't delay download yours now!!

Family Fun Magazine

2011-03-02T09:23:00.001-05:00

This is one of my favorite magazines. It comes with soo many great things to do with kids and recipes that are kid friendly.

You can order this magazine now for only $3.76!! Just click here and when you get to the check out make sure you enter WKLYSPEC.

A Great Living Social Deal!!!

2011-03-02T07:13:00.001-05:00

Hubby and I don’t generally go to the movies because it is soo expensive but with this deal we’ll be seeing one this month for sure. For only $9 you can get 2 tickets through Fandango to see the movie of your choice so head over to Living Social and pick yours up today.

Just make sure you check Fandango first to make sure your local movie theater participates in online purchasing (our first choice theater does not but there is another one local that does) before you buy.

Kellogg’s Coupons

2011-03-01T18:15:00.001-05:00

Sign up Today!!!

2011-03-01T08:03:00.001-05:00

Become a member of Right@Home and get great offers, time-saving tips and recipes. Sign up for Free Today!

This is a great source for coupons as well so head on over and get on the mailing list.

Money Saving Challenge Update

2011-02-28T16:51:00.001-05:00

So I started the money saving challenge with Precious at the beginning of the year. Things have been going OK they could be much better and I’m going to start cracking down on that. Since the beginning of the year we’ve had some big purchases that we’d planned on but now I’d like to regain that money we spent and get back to saving. So here are some of the things I’ve been doing to try and save money and increase our bottom line.

We have had some beautiful weather the past few weeks so I’ve had the windows open everyday. That has helped keep the electric down since we aren’t using AC or heat and we haven’t had lights on.
I’ve also been following Dave and Shawn around and making sure the lights are shut off behind them.
I’ve been doing my best to keep my coupons organized so that I can save the most money on my grocery and health/beauty bills.
Today when I went out I ran all my errands in a circle so I could save some gas (I also nearly cried at the gas station today LOL) I’ll be reviewing my shopping later after I put it all away.
We’ve also been staying home a bit more so that we don’t spend gas driving around and money when we get there

I’m going to keep working on my grocery shopping and try to keep my weekly spending to less than $60 a week. What are you doing to keep your money in your wallet? I’d love to hear your ideas.

Walgreen’s Photo Deal

2011-02-24T06:59:00.001-05:00

Today’s photo deal is a free 8x10 collage print. Just go here and get yours today. I’ve done these in store before so they should be really free with no shipping charges.

Target!!

2011-02-21T12:47:00.001-05:00

Have you checked out the printable coupons on Target.com this week?? If not get on over there and start printing!! I headed to my target today and here’s what I got:

Kodak Ink Cartridges $29.99 I was really hoping to hold out until my Staples rewards came but I ran out this morning and I need the ink to print out more coupons for Target so I can go later today or tomorrow morning.
3 prs of Jeans $4.98 each -$5 tq off the website. I found 2 pairs of jeans for me and then I got another pair to use for my crafting, I will also be going back to pick up more jeans for crafting purposes
Small Up & Up Ibuprofen $1.09 -$1 Pain Relief TQ at this price I’ll be picking up more we go through lots of Ibuprofen around here
1 Finish 10ct $2.50 -$1.00mq and $1.50TQ I didn’t really need these the last time they were on sale so I don’t need them now but for free I’m happy to keeping stocking up
Up & Up Bleach $1.47 -$1TQ this is a good price and we use it to clean sometimes
Up & Up Floss .89 -$1TQ that auto adjusted making it free
16 bags of frozen veggies .99 each -$1/4 TQ

This is the deal of the week but is regional so check your ads first. When you buy 7 frozen items you receive a $5 gift card. I used 4 coupons so my total was $11.84 and I received $10 in giftcards making each bag .12 I got corn, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and mixed veggies. I plan on using those 2 giftcards and purchasing 16 more bags tomorrow once I find room in the freezer. LOL

My total was $42.83 and considering $30 of this was on my ink and I had $10 in giftcards when I left I consider this a success. So are you headed out to Target this week?? Make sure you print out your coupons ASAP as Target has been known to pull coupons randomly.

Day 2 at Walgreen’s Photo

2011-02-21T08:10:00.001-05:00

Today’s deal is this great 5x7 Easel Art for only $1.99. Just click through the link and get yours today. I’m sure you’re going to have to pay shipping on this one so be prepared.

Walgreen’s 7 Days of Photo Deals

2011-02-20T09:56:00.001-05:00

is back again!! Today’s deal is 2 5x7’s for only $2!! Just visit Walgreens website and get yours today!!