Smile.ly—Be Heard. Be Happy.

Smile.ly—Be Heard. Be Happy.

Just signed up for this. It's a site where you can earn freebies, trials, etc. Still working on exactly how everything works. You get "smiles" based on the number of missions that you complete. These "smiles" move you up through the ranks, thus earning you more opportunities.

Thanks MoneySavingMom!

Cooking from the Pantry

I've been inspired!

In January, MoneySavingMom is doing a month of cooking from the pantry. I've got a stockpile, I'm looking to cut my grocery bill even more, so I'm going to try! I'm not going to do it for a month, but maybe a week. I'm going to see how her first week goes before I try it, too. There's something intimidating about it to me for some reason. Why can't I cook from my pantry and my stockpile? We'll see how this goes!

Watch for updates...

My Savings Goals - 2010

I'm not really a resolutions kind of girl, but there's nothing wrong with setting goals, right?

In 2010, this is what I want to do to keep practicing a more frugal lifestyle:

*Raise my coupon savings to over $1000;

*Get our grocery bill to $100 or less a week. Currently budgeting $120 a week;

*Not get burned out on coupons and utilizing my resources;

*Reduce our non-mortgage debt by at least $7,000;

*We are having to buy a new TV soon since our main TV died last week, and I pledge to only pay cash;

*Only buy clothes that the kids really need, mainly for E Belle. I'm already seeing that she's got quite a summer wardrobe. She doesn't need a Gymboree spree;

*Look even harder for good deals.

As you can tell, I've got several food oriented savings goals. I feel like that's the easiest place for us to cut, and it's one of the areas that I have the most personal control over. We'll see how this goes! What are your goals?

Grocery Game - Second Attempt

Before the cashier hit the total key at Harris Teeter today, the screen read $183.30.

After she hit the total key and ran the coupons through, the screen read $98.38.

The Grocery Game is definitely helping me shop the sales at HT, but I was hoping to see more coupon usage as well. My coupon savings only totaled $8.15 today, which is kind of low for me.

But one of the couponing elements that I have a hard time with is when to use a coupon and when not to buy the item at all. Today, I'd guess that 90% of my coupons went with an item that was on sale, making the item free, nearly free or cheap. I've gotten burned in the past by using a coupon on an item not on sale, only to find it on sale the next week. So, my new guideline is only buy items with a coupon when they're not on sale if I absolutely need it for that week. Not just because I can.

The best sale today was the buy 1, get 2 free on chicken breasts. I saved more than $30 just on chicken alone today because I bought six packs. I'm up to my eyeballs on chicken, but it's a rich deal when you pay $16-ish for nearly 10 pounds of chicken breasts.

Of course, right in the middle of my free trial, I find out that I have won a subscription to a competing website called the Savings Angel! I'm very happy to have won, and I look forward to checking out the new site and being able to compare it to GG. We'll see!

The Grocery Game - First Attempt

I finally got talked in to trying The Grocery Game. You can get a month's trial for free, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

I've been very hesitant about trying TGG because you have to pay to get the information. There's so much out there that's free, and since the point is to save money, I didn't want to spend money.

So, I signed up late last week. First of all, the lists go up on Friday, with a final list on Sunday after the coupons for the week are released. This allows for a list that contains unadvertised specials, not just the flyer specials, which is what the free sites have. The list is color coded to indicate which items are free after coupon, good deals and decent deals. It also includes original price, sales price, how many to buy, coupon match and percentage off.

I headed down to the local Harris Teeter this morning, list in hand. How did I do? Well, my end savings weren't much more than usual. However, I bought an absolute ton of groceries for $108, and my weekly budget is $120. I've got so much stuff to put in the stockpile I've been dreading it all day. The $108 also includes items I don't normal buy at the store unless I can get them for a steal like Ziploc bags, aluminum foil, etc.

TGG took a lot of the thinking out of the process for me today, and I appreciate that. If I think about what I would have bought this week without the list, I would probably have spent the same amount and got less stuff. I wouldn't have known that I could get a bag of steamfresh veggies for free, or a strip of yeast for free.

Right now, my monthly budget for groceries is $480 for my family of four. I'm trying very hard to get it down to $400. I'll update and let you all know if TGG is the secret to getting it down for us.

I've gone Deceptively Delicious

Yep, I've done it. I'm two years late to the party. And I've been taken in by none other than Jessica Seinfeld. Yes, I have issues with how she and Jerry Seinfeld married. I don't advocate getting married then wanting a divorce by the time you go on your honeymoon, then quickly marrying someone else. But no one asked me........

I was at the library a week ago and saw her cookbook. Again. I'd tried The Sneaky Chef but really didn't like it at all. I browsed Deceptively Delicious (hereafter called DD), and I decided to give it a shot. If you aren't familiar with the concept, you make a bunch of fruit and veggie pures and sneak them into food where people can't tell that they are there. Since me and E Belle are about the only veggie eaters in the house, I've been looking for ways to up our veggie intake.

I got home and pureed the almost 100% brown bananas sitting on my cabinet. The next day, I made the DD French Toast. What a hit!! Little Man and E Belle couldn't get enough. And it was soooo easy.

So I roasted some sweet potatoes and steamed some carrots, then pureed them. Now, I hate carrots. I despise carrots. I sometimes call them the Food of the Devil. No joke. I hate them that much. But if I don't know I'm eating them, then I'll do it.

I have since made chili (pureed carrot), applesauce muffins (pureed carrot) and Greek dip (pureed chickpeas and artichokes). And you know what? They've all been a success. What I like about her recipes versus The Sneaky Chef is that her recipes are, well, normal. I'd try just about all of the recipes if I could. Nothing out of the ordinary. No crazy ingredients other than some of the veggies. The recipes just read as if they make good food.

The cookbook has its detractors, and I think some of the criticism comes from people who haven't read it. Even when you're sneaking in the veggies and fruits, you don't leave them off the plate on their own, either. It's just another way to get some good nutrients in our bodies. You still should be serving veggies on the side, but you don't have to worry so much if your kiddos aren't eating all of their green veggies when you've got some stashed inside. It's also only deceptive if you make it that way - I don't hide what's in there from my kids. And finally, some say cooking DD is a lot of work for a little benefit. When you're only putting 1/2 cup of a veggie into something that serves 8, that doesn't break down to a lot per serving. But it's something. It's more than they were getting. And sometimes the veggies can sub for something in the recipe for something not so healthy, like using sweet fruits to replace some sugars or using veggies to thicken instead of something like corn starch.

And how is this frugal? Well, I found a use for those bananas instead of trashing them! Also, I've spent so much money on veggies that never make it into our bodies. This way, there's less veggie waste. I'm at least using what I'm buying. You can also use frozen veggies instead of fresh without sacrificing on taste or cooking prep, and that's a savings.

Of course, we don't eat DD every night, but I'm definitely sold on the concept!

Free Apples at Earth Fare

Print out this coupon, get a FREE 3 pound bag of honeycrisp apples at Earth Fare!

http://view.earthfare-email.com/?j=fe62157371610c7f7116&m=fec815747367037f&ls=fdf1127177610775711d7774&l=fe9415797666017c73&s=fe9612717d61067d76&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe2315757c670274771677&r=0

I love honeycrisps. When you get a really good one, it tastes like candy!

Thanks Money Saving Mom!!

Coupon for homeopatic kids products

One of my big things lately is trying homeopathic products. While I definitely reserve a place in my medicine cabinet for the more mainstream products like Tylenol, Delsyum and the like, I have begun to incorporate an initial, more natural treatment for all of us. These products aren't for the green crazies, either! Ever tried Zicam? Well, that's homeopathic! My family thinks I'm nuts, but I don't see what's wrong in trying something that's been used for centuries to treat common ailments.

I use primarily Borion and Hyland's products because those are the most familiar to me right now. I recently received a package of samples for kids from Borion, and it will be interesting to see how they stack up to the ones I'm already using from Hyland's. Right now, I'm loving the Hyland's Cough Syrup with Honey. It worked really well with Little Man, and he doesn't like honey.

The downside to almost anything you put in your medicine cabinet is that it gets expensive. So to help you out, check out the link below for a $1 off coupon for Borion products.

http://children.boironusa.com/images/BoironChildCoupon200909.pdf

Also, check out your clearance tables at CVS/pharmacy. I was at a local one last week, and they had several different Hyland's products on super dooper clearance. I picked up cough syrup for 79 cents, and I grabbed three boxes of their Sniffles and Sneezes for Kids for 69 cents. No, there's nothing wrong with them. Homeopathic meds also don't expire like conventional meds, so no worries there! It just might be worth checking out if you're stopping by soon.

Free Seventh Generation Detergent Sample

I have tried Seventh Generation detergent in the past, and I thought it was pretty good! Get a free sample here to see what you think:

http://www.seventhgeneration.com/offers/liquid-laundry-trial-samples?gclid=CK2dkfjixp0CFSFRagodCVprrg

Just over halfway through the month

And we're doing pretty well on our budget. Just got on to Dear Hubby this afternoon because I found out he spent TWICE on his mom's birthday present than we agreed. But in all fairness, I only spent about 30% of what we had budgeted for my mom's present, so the damage wasn't as bad as I first thought.

I did pretty good at recording spending for the first few days, then the guilt set in. I just felt soooo bad keeping track! Dear Hubby reminded me yesterday that that's part of the point.

Dear Hubby gets paid twice a month, so we break apart the month into two sections. We did pretty good during the first half! I even paid cash for my $284 dentist appointment last week, and we still didn't come up short. Our insurance reimbursement paid for all but $2, and that check is going into savings tomorrow, not checking. That will take care of some of our savings plan for the month!

The second half of the month has already taken a few hits I didn't expect, like a sick doctor's visit for Little Man. Even though our copay is only $25, it still adds up. It still counts. We also ended up spending more on Dear Hubby's mom's birthday lunch due to extenuating circumstances, and I certainly hadn't budgeted for that.

And the great budget blaster of all is just around the corner - CHRISTMAS!! My goal is to actually make some presents this year, especially for the kiddos. As if my kids or my nieces need yet another plastic toy. This is one of the things I'm considering making for E Belle:

http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/02/fort-table-cover.html

I guess I really should be entering the spending instead of blogging!

Budget, Smudget

We were doing so well in the spring. We had our envelope system working. Our budget was on paper and discussed every month.

Then the summer came.

I guess we got cocky. We stopped writing out our budget. We were trying to keep up with money in our head. Game over - we lost.

This has been a difficult month money-wise, and we don't know why. Yes, there was the $200 a/c maintenance and freon bill that we didn't expect. It was money here, money there. When you're not keeping up with it, it will filter through your fingers in no time.

So, last night, we sat down and did our October budget. It's done. Supposedly, we'll be able to put a lot back into savings and still have some cushion. Which leads us to ask, "Where is our money going?" When we put it on paper, we have plenty. Why is there not plenty at the end of this month?

Hopefully, we'll get back on track this month. We've got some big stuff to take care of at the end of the year. I know we can do it, we just actually have to stick with it.

Arts and Crafts

I sometimes still think I'm not a very crafty person. I don't know why I still have this thought in my head! I have absolutely no credibility on that. I scrapbook. I do rubber stamping. I now make items with a sewing machine. Yeah, I do crafts.


I sometimes have felt guilty that I didn't do more stuff like crafts with Little Man when he was small. At the time, though, I worked 20 - 30 hours a week from home. It was a nearly ideal working situation, but it was still working. But even if we I had been a full time SAHM, I'm not sure he would have liked the crafts. To this day, he has no time, no patience to do anything artful.


I recently got in with a small improptu buying club through my mom's group. I was able to snag more than a dozen seasonal craft kits for less than $12 from Oriental Trading Company. So far, E Belle and I have done two kits - a Johnny Appleseed puppet and a squirrel.

I wasn't sure at first what to do with our completed crafts. I ended up hanging a piece of hemp twine over our back windows, and I secured it with push pins in the top of the wood (no one will ever see those holes!). I then pinned the items to the twin with clothespins. As we do more items, we'll just keep adding!

Not only does this showcase E Belle's craftiness, but it also gives us a cheap decoration! And yes, these are E Belle's actual work. I did do some, but I had to let go and let her put things the way she thought they should. Thus, our squirrel has sideways teeth. But who cares, right!? It's my E Belle's.

The dress is FINISHED!

I did it!! I finished the dress!

Okay, so it wasn't as cheap as I was hoping. It cost about $35 when it was all said and done. I could have picked a cheaper fabric, as my fabric cost alone was nearly $20, and that was with a coupon. I used a minky dot-style fabric, which then necessitated the purchase of a walking foot to make sure the fabric didn't pucker when sewn. The pattern also called for the use of a double needle to finish the hems. That was at least inexpensive, and now I know a new technique!

Like anything else I ever do, I know where the imperfections are, and I hate that. But, it got lots of compliments today on its first wearing!

I paired it with a pair of white tights and black shoes. It was super cute!! E Belle seems to find it comfortable. When she first put it on, she just twirled around and around.

Now I can't wait to make something else!

Another Disney frugal post - Dining!

Okay, so you're finally on your vacation at Disney. You've got your room, and you're heading to one of the parks. Then you realize you are hungry! That's when it hits you. Disney doesn't just want to take you out of the real world to play, they also want to take you out of the real world when it comes to food prices.

I'll be honest. We don't even BUDGET for food at Disney. We just have a spending money budget and go from there. But we've been enough times to know how to play the game.

1. The Disney Dining Plan - Ah, what a beautiful thing. Kind of. I love the idea of prepaying for your food, and Disney has started to provide more options for those who just want the quickie meals all the way up to those who want to have a sit down meal 3 times a day, every day.

We have been using the standard dining plan, which Disney calls Magic Your Way Plus Dining (you will learn that EVERYTHING has a Disney-fied name very quickly!). This currently includes 1 table service meal (entree, non-alcoholic beverage, dessert and tax), 1 counter service meal and 1 snack a day for each night of your stay for $40 per adult, $13 per child ages 3 - 9. While the prices haven't gone up on this much in the past several years, the value has declined. Three years ago, the table service credit included an appetizer, entree, dessert, non-alcoholic beverage, tip and taxes!! Then they dropped the tip, then this year, the appetizer. You can use them in any combination - if you have the credits and want to eat three table service meals in one day, that's fine! It's not a per day allotment, that's just how you buy the credits.

But still, we find it a very budget friendly option. I like knowing that I already have paid for a lot of my food prior to my trip. We like the table service options, and they can certainly add up. For example, my entree alone at Le Cellier (filet mignon with mushroom risotto) was $36. It's easy to get a good value for your money with little effort. You just have to make sure you actually use all of your credits!

2. Bring your own food - Sounds kind of obvious, but if you are flying, is this something you would do? We fly, and yes, we pack food and drinks for the kiddos. This year, I brought Capri Sun-style drink pouches, as well as just little snacks that fit great in both a suitcase and diaper bag and yet won't crush. When E Belle got thirsty in that hot Florida sun, I didn't always have to go run and get her a $2.50 bottle of Dasani. I just pulled out the drink pouch.

3. If on the dining plan, figure out what your cheapest meal of the day will be, then use cash - For us, this was almost ALWAYS breakfast. The exception was our character breakfast at Chef Mickey's. All other breakfasts were eaten at the quick service area in our resort. We're not big breakfast eaters anyway, so we were happy with things like bagels and a drink. Even so, breakfasts ran close to $15 just for simple breads.

4. Get the resort mugs - If you stay in property, get one for each member of your family who can drink from a cup (we didn't buy E Belle one). They're about $13 a piece, but you can use them to refill your drink the length of your stay in your resort's quick service area. When drinks are running $2+ a piece, this is a quick money saver. In the end, you take home the mug. I still have mugs from about 15 years ago when they were new and smaller. Technically, you aren't supposed to use these at different resorts, but I'll confess - when we were staying at the Polynesian, we did use our mugs at the Grand Floridian when we ate at their quick service one day for lunch. Disney's really made doing this pretty easy because the mugs no longer are resort specific, meaning the one you get at the Conteporary is the same that you get at Pop Century. I really hate this because I liked having the resort specific ones, and Disney's made it easier to abuse the system. Not promoting doing this, now, but it is possible. *Note* you cannot use these mugs in the Parks.

Disney on Ice discount code!!

I'm probably in Charlotte WAY too much, but I just love going down there. It's the benefits of living near a pretty big city without having to deal with the negatives, KWIM?

Anyway, I got this discount info for Disney on Ice for their 10/8 - 10/11 shows. If you think it's just for girls, you will be pleasantly surprised! Little Man went last year and had a blast. This version of the show also has a Halloween element as well!

Here's the 411:

**The coupon code is be ‘MOM’— four tickets for $44 for weekday shows Monday-Friday and $4 off all tickets for weekend shows. Any additional tickets beyond the 4-pack for shows during the week are still priced at $11.

**The tickets can be purchased from http://www.ticketmaster.com and by entering the MOM code in the “MC promotion” box when purchasing tickets.

**Offer not valid on Rinkside or VIP seating.

**Cannot be combined with other offers.

**Service Charges, facility & handling fees will apply.

Making clothes

I like to shop. No, scratch that, I LOVE to shop. And I really like shopping for kids clothing! The downside - the price. Little Man's pretty much outgrown the good stuff at consignment sales, and he wears a husky size pant, so I almost always buy new for him now. E Belle is another story - I can't stop buying for her! But this season, I've only bought new if I have had a coupon, and I've managed to pick up a few cute used items along the way. Yet E Belle has managed to be short on dresses.

Last year, I bought several Chez Ami dresses. Once I got them, I noticed that they had a handmade feel to them. Not that that's bad - it's not! But it got me thinking, maybe I could do that?

So, I've learned to sew. I've made a few household items, and now I've moved on to clothes. I'm on PJ bottom pair #3. Next project - a minky dot swing dress for E Belle!! There's one very similar to it on the Chez Ami website for $60. My price today at Joann for the fabric, pattern, extra needles, interfacing and string - $28. Not a real cheap-o deal, but way cheaper than the boutique version!

I'll get some pictures going once the projects are completed.

Another Triple Coupon Week

I was just looking at some of my old posts, and I saw one from a few months ago on my first Triple Coupon savings day. Well, here's the results of this past Monday, which was my latest Triple Coupon day:

Spent: $78
Saved: $71.88 ($46.58 in coupons, $25.30 in shopper card savings)

Woohoo!!! My couponing has gotten better - our weekly budget for groceries has gone from $140 to $120, and as you can tell, I spent well under that. In fact, I've spent less than $100 each week this month.

It's been worth it to start couponing. I do get funny looks sometimes when I'm walking around the store with my 3 ring binder in my hand, but I've saved nearly $700 in the past six months with coupons and shopper card savings. I only count the shopper card savings because I've started actively shopping the sales, but it all counts! It's all money saved!!

How are you doing?

Looking for savings? Check your insurance

We got the insurance bill for the next 6 months for Dear Hubby's car the other day. It's almost $400. He has no points, no tickets, no anything, and he drives a 2002 SUV. We know that my bill is right behind, and it is closer to $450. I, too, have a perfect driving record, and I have a 2007 minivan. $1700 for a year just seemed high.

So, I started snooping around. Sure enough, we're paying about double what other name brand companies are charging!! We're in the process of switching. Not only is our new company cheaper, but their payment options are much easier on our pocketbook. The current company requires payment in full or half payment now, the other half in a month. Our new company allows you to pay monthly, quarterly or biannually with very little price difference.

If you haven't reviewed your insurance lately, it's definitely worth the time and hassle.

Deals on photo prints

I realized the other day that I have over six years of memories stored with Shutterfly.com. Kind of scary! And yet, I've only ordered a small fraction of these pictures, mainly because of price.

Right now, my task is to complete the Disney photo albums for the kiddos. E Belle's holds 80 pictures, while Little Man's holds 100 pictures. The thought of spending upwards of $35 just to fill these two albums does not sit well with Frugal Mama right now.

One of the best non-photo plan prices around right now is about 15 cents on Shutterfly, 19 cents if you pick up your pictures in store at places like Target or Walgreens. But, I've discovered an even better plan.

I've gotten on CVS.com's and Walgreens.com's photo email lists. They run some seriously good specials! I've gotten free prints before at Walgreens, and today, I cashed in on their current special - 30 prints for $3.

Shutterfly also gives away free prints. I think most people know that you get 15 free prints for inviting friends, but you also can get free prints for making a Share Site. This is simply a website where you can post photos, and you can invite people to come look at them instead of sending out a sildeshow email. I did this for our family after our Disney trip, and Shutterfly rewarded me with 50 free prints! All I had to do was pay $3.19 in shipping and tax.

So, I've gotten 84 photos thus far for the grand sum of $7.20. Not bad!

In defense of Deluxe Level resorts at WDW

So, trying to be frugal means trying to not spend a lot of money, right? But it also means getting the most bang for your buck. At Disney World, this is an even bigger game than in every day life.



For those who don't know, Disney has three resort levels - Value, Moderate and Deluxe. Value resorts are a steal, as rates usually fall between $80 - $110 depending on the room, season and number of people. The downside - ginormous resorts, tiny rooms, all bus service, tour groups, etc. The next step up, the Moderates, are still ginormous, but the theming is more toned down. Rooms are slightly larger, but it's still all bus service. Then there's the Deluxe. Some are serviced by the monorail, others have boat service, but there are some places where bus service is mandatory. Rooms are much larger, have interior coridors and are overall just nicer. However, they come with a hefty price tag.



On our last three trips, we've stayed at Deluxe resorts - the Wilderness Lodge (cheapest), Polynesian (most expensive) and Contemporary. But why would we do this when we're trying to get out of debt? Now, I'll admit that the rack rate for our room at the Contemporary in the tower this year was $390, but we certainly didn't pay that much. I would pass out to think of paying that much anywhere in the 'normal' world, but that's pretty standard for WDW.



While we are open to staying in a lower priced resort, we feel like we do get a lot for our money.



*We like our space and large beds. Our largest room ever was at the Polynesian, and it was about 490 square feet. That's huge! Deluxe resorts also feature queen sized beds, while almost all of the Moderates and all of the Values have doubles.



*We go back to the room every day. Some argue that they are happy staying in a Value resort because they don't use the room except to sleep at night. We don't. Our kids need a break! So, we spend several hours in the afternoon in our rooms, on top of the nights and mornings.



*Ease. At the Wilderness Lodge and the Contemporary, we stayed in the same building as all of the amenities - front desk, quick service, sit down dining, etc. It was nice to be in the room, jet down to the quick service for a drink, and be back upstairs in less than 10 minutes. Not all Deluxes are like this - this same trip at the Polynesian would have taken closer to 20 minutes! But if you are at one of the other level resorts, it's a guaranteed walk to everything.

*Transportation. By staying at a monorail resort, we have been able to get to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and back again much faster than if we were traveling by bus. In fact, you can even walk from the MK to the Contemporary, which saved us time when leaving at peak transport times. Why is faster better? That means we're spending more time in the parks! We're not having to wait 20 minutes on a bus, then spending another 10 - 20 minutes on the bus back to the resort, then traveling within the complex, then spending 10 more minutes getting to the room. We were able to go from the gate at the MK to our room in 20 minutes!

I could go on, but I think you can get the picture. When staying at Disney and looking at prices, those numbers don't tell the whole story. You've got to look at what you are getting. Now, if your budget calls for you to have to stay at a Value resort, stay there or look to stay off property. I'm not saying at all that you HAVE to stay at a Deluxe resort. But I just hear so many people on the Disney fan boards scoff at the Deluxes based on price alone. I've never felt ripped off when it comes down to it.

Disney - Yes, it can be done!

Well, we just returned from 5 days at the Happiest Place on Earth. I can't believe we went! We started planning a trip to Williamsburg, and we ended up in WDW. Now, how is this frugal?

First of all, we paid cash for the WDW portion of the trip. Now, we do have to save that cash back up again, but it was wonderful knowing that we didn't put everything on the credit card. We did, though, put the airfare on the Visa.

Speaking of airfare, we flew out of Charlotte instead of our local airport for roughly half the price. We found airfare for $59 each way, which is just a bit more than the $49 each way we had 3 years ago on Southwest. If you're willing and able to drive to a different airport, you can really save! Of course, unlike our 2006 flight, we had to buy four seats this time, and US Airways also charges extra for checked bags. But still, it was the cheapest deal around. We also discovered that we really like the Charlotte airport better than our local airport or our closest Southwest serviced airport.

I had some really strong opinions about our trip this time, so I'm going to be posting most of it. Keep looking!

First shot at baking bread

We love bread. That's actually an understatment! We adore bread. Bread amatus. Whatever - it's in demand around here. But 1) bread at the store is expensive; 2) it's usually overprocessed; and 3) so much of it has HFCS.

So, I'm trying to start making my own bread. I don't bake, so I'll guess I need to start. I'm talking to everyone, including the check out lady tonight at the grocery store. There's so much to learn.

Speaking of starting, I got a sourdough starter going about a week ago, and I made my first loaf tonight. It isn't pretty, and it's slightly underbaked, but it's not bad! The starter isn't old enough to have a great sour flavor yet, but at least I know that it is alive and working.

Have you ever tried Kiss My Face products?

I am IN LOVE! Kiss My Face is all about natural products without any harmful additives. I've been buying their products at wholesale prices through my Frontier co-op, but even at retail prices, they are reasonable when compared to other natural brands.

The fam went to the beach about two weeks ago, and I tried their sunscreens for the first time. We used SPF 30 spray and regular lotion. E Belle and Dear Hubby are fair skinned and were burn free, and Little Man and myself were able to get our natural shade of brown with no hint of red at all. I paid less than $8 a bottle for the sunscreen at wholesale price.

Megan over at Focusing on the Bible, Family and the Great Deals is giving away a $250 package of Kiss My Face! Head on over before May 28 to enter.

First Time with Triples

Just got back from my first trip to Harris Teeter for triple coupon week. Decided to go super early so that E Belle would be in a good mood.

Here's how I did:

Total before coupons and discounts: $226.94
Paid out of pocket: $159.51

I ended up with $41.01 in coupon savings, in addition to the $26.42 in loyalty card savings.

Not too bad! I was hoping to keep it under $150, but I definitely feel like I did a good job and good some great deals. It definitely helped that I did at least an hour of homework the night before pouring over websites to match coupons with good deals. I was totally ready this morning. The savings was worth the time.

I just saw a stat that said that people who use coupons spend well more than people who don't. I don't want to be that person! I'm trying to stay within my budget, and I only went over this week by less than $10. I will accomodate for that later in the month.

Target Deal

Ladies, have you seen the new Always Infinity pads? Evidently, they are made of gold (just kidding!). They are crazy expensive, and my first reaction was like, hey, do they know what those are for? But since they were new, I knew that the deals would not be too bad.

I ended up with two $3 off coupons for Infinity, and I honestly didn't plan on using them. But Target has a deal this week where if you buy two packages of either Infinity or Tampax Pearls, you get a $5 gift card. Target gift cards NEVER go to waste around here!

I bought two boxes of 36 count Infinity at $8.99 each (actually, the boxes I picked up had one of those "extra bonus free" in them, so they're more than a 36 count). With my coupons, that made them $5.99 each, for a total of $11.98 plus the $5 gift card. Not too bad for us frequent Target shoppers!

Couponing at Walgreens

I've always stayed away from going to drug stores because traditional wisdom is that they are more expensive than someplace like Target. Yes, in general, they are. But then again, I can't walk into Target and NOT spend at least $40, so perhaps it's better for me to hit the drug stores.

Walgreens opened up a few months ago just up the road, and I love having it so close! So, I clipped some coupons, did my homework and headed up there yesterday. Here's my bounty:

1 box Dora bandaids - $3.49
1 .5 oz Neosporin - $4 on sale
1 Neosporin To Go - $4 on sale
2 Huggies Size 5 (30 in pack) - 2/$19.98 on sale
1 Replinish Contact Solution - $7.99 sale
1 Schick Quattro razor with blades - $8.99 sale
1 breath mint package - .79 cents

Total before coupons: $55.82 w/o tax
Total after coupons: $41.56 w/ tax (so, $11 in coupon savings)
Total Register Rewards: $9.00

Actually, out of pocket I only spent $37.17 because I had a balance on my gift card from the March Easy Saver. Of course, my latest Easy Saver money was uploaded later yesterday afternoon! Unfortunately, Walgreens is discontinuing the Easy Saver program as of May 1, but supposedly, the in-store deals and Register Rewards are supposed to be better.

The important part here was that I had a coupon for everything but the mints. The Walgreens register is set up so that you have to have an item for each coupon. Now, you can have a manufacturer's coupon and a store coupon for the same item, but you would have to pick up a second item as well, or the register just won't put it through. Weird, but that's how it is. My lowest value coupon was $1.00, and my best coupon was $4 for the razor.

I now have $9 in Register Rewards for a return trip. So, I'll just wait for next week's deals to come out and see what I can do between the coupons and RRs!

I'm finding it expensive to get started couponing, but evidently, I'm not alone. Funny thing was that as I was looking for the razor, another woman showed it to me without me asking. She was also a couponer, and on top of that, her husband was a manager at the same Walgreens. We started talking, and she said it definitely gets much easier and cheaper once you get that stockpile going. We agreed that you should never have to pay for razors, shaving cream, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes and shampoo (except I don't use drug store shampoo) because of coupons and deals. We'll see how fast it takes me to get there!

Couponing

I'm really new to all this couponing stuff. I mean, I've used coupons for years. But to actually attempt at trying to buy like $100 worth of stuff for 50 cents or something crazy like that, it's all new to me.

So, I've been checking out other mama blogs who are much better at this than I, and I've picked up both pointers and coupons.

I went to CVS just now, and this is how it broke down:

Dove Skin Revitalizer Machine – on sale for $4 (was $12)
Dove Replacement pads – on sale for $3.49 (was $4.99)
Two Hot Wheels toothbrushes - $3.29 each

So, my total should have been $14.07

I had $4.50 in ExtraBucks
A $3.75 off the Revitalizer Machine (making it only a quarter)
A BOGO coupon for the toothbrushes

My total: $3.18

I'm pretty excited, even though this is so small. Dear Hubby is all about me doing this, of course. I think I'm excited not only about the saving money part, but also because it really does work your mind trying to figure out the coupon game.

Some of my favorites thrifty sites

I've found some great thrifty mom sites in the past week. I started off at moneysavingmom.com, and I've just gone from there.

My new thing is trying to shop at the drugstores for next to nothing. I've couponed before, but not at CVS or Walgreens. I'm really a Target girl, but I always spend too much money.

Here's a link to deals at CVS this week:

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/02/cvs-deals-for-the-week-of-march-17-2009.html

A lot of the sites also give away freebies. Here are a few of my favorite giveaways going on right now on these sites, too!

Yummie Tummie Giveaway - win a shape slimmer for your post-baby tummy from Thrify & Chic Mom. Check out yummietummie.com, find your favorite style, then leave a comment on T&C:
http://www.thriftyandchicmom.com/2009/03/yummie-tummie-giveaway.html

One of my weaknesses is hairbows. Win a St. Patrick's bow from the Soft Valeria Collection. Oh, and by the way, I'd totally support this mama anyway! Love the etsy sites!

http://www.thriftyandchicmom.com/2009/03/sofia-valeria-collection-giveaway.html

First month on the budget!

We did it! We have officially finished Month 1 of the Dave Ramsey financial plan. We're on Baby Step 2 - the debt snowball. And we're doing the envelope system, which means that we pull out the money we need for food and toiletries at the first/middle of the month, put it in an envelope, and that's ALL that we can spend on those items for the month.

I managed to only go over $12 on the food budget! Not bad for a first try. And I also go to the two most expensive stores in town - Harris Teeter and Whole Foods. For eating out and toiletries, we'll have to work on our budgeting a bit better. One other thing was that we forgot certain categories in the budget, like Little Man's school lunches.

But I'm starting up on couponing again, and I've netted nearly $70 on eBay alone from selling E Belle's clothes from last summer. That's my spring clothing budget for the kiddos! It's consignment sale season, and after going to a ton in the fall, I know there's only two that I really like.

Cutting up credit cards

Dear Hubby and I had a little credit card cutting up party on Wednesday night. It was rather liberating, actually! We haven't cut up all of them, but we've cut up most. Here's where we stand:

*Today starts Day 1 of the envelope system. Paying cash for most of my purchases - eating out, groceries, toiletries;

*We also have a zero based budget, but we're already realizing we've forgotten a few items. Like Valentine's Day and the last utility bills for the old house;

*I cut up the card and closed the account for a gas card. I didn't even use the card. It was just a throwback to my pre-marriage days when I didn't have a debit card;

*We both cut up our credit card for a regional department store, and that's going to be the first credit card that will be paid off. We had what amounted to a 90 days same as cash plan, and we never paid interest. But I always ended up shopping there because of the card even though other stores had better clothes for me. But now I'm not going to be beholden to them!

*I no longer carry credit cards.

*I'm unsubscribing to as many email subscriptions as I can. I get too many emails from companies advertising their sales. I usually just delete them anyway, but why be tempted?

And just one last thought: Proverbs 22:7 (New International Version) "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." Oh so true! I'm not going to be a slave to debt anymore!

Today is the day!

After one year, 12 days on the market, our old home is finally going to be sold as of 2:00 this afternoon barring any unforseen circumstances.

It's bittersweet. We bought that house almost exactly six years ago. I was eight months pregnant with Little Man when we actually moved in. We brought our children home from the hospital to this house. It was the first house we ever bought. There are more than five years of our memories contained in that house.

We moved out last June into our current home about 30 miles away. We love living here - the house, the location, the neighborhood, the schools. I wouldn't trade it at all.

It will be nice to not have two mortages, two electric bills, two heating bills, two tax bills, etc., etc., etc.

Bad cornbread

Check out this bad cornbread I managed to make tonight.

This is what I get for trying something new! Dear Hubby likes non-sweet cornbread, while I grew up on Jiffy out of the box. I know, Jiffy's not Southern, neither is sweet cornbread, but I still like it. I was making pintos tonight, and so of course, we've got to have cornbread! After we cut into this monstrosity, it was like a solid brick of corn. And that's what it tasted like - corn.

Whatever you do, don't follow this recipe:

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour (all purpose, self rising, whatever is in the mystery container)
1 Tbsp butter, melted
4 oz low fat cream cheese (didn't have 8 oz of sour cream)
1 cup milk
handful of freeze dried corn
pinch of salt

2 Tbsp sugar

We're getting out of debt!

Like most, we're in debt. Yep - credit cards, auto loan, school loan, 2 mortgages (about to just be 1!). I don't think we've been irresponsible, especially over the past several years. But enough is enough.

We're currently doing Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey. We read his book a few years ago, and we put some of his strategies into practice, but now we really need to get into the plan. Dear Hubby and I are both spenders, and that's not great! But right now, we are very focused.

So, here's just a few money saving tips from a spender! Take them for what they're worth, but I wanted to pass them along:

1. Clip coupons. Sounds easy, but you can save some serious money. I'm not the kind of girl who goes in and gets $200 in groceries for 50 cents, but I usually can save about $10 a trip if I'm being super good;

2. Go co-op. I've joined a few wholesale co-ops so I can get better deals. Sometimes, I can save about 50%. This has been a good move for me since I've gone organic/natural;

3. Find things you can stretch out. For example, I use Aveda hair products. Love them, hate the price. I can't bring myself to buy the large bottles, and the small bottles last me about 6 - 8 weeks. Instead of using them every day, I'm using a decent but really cheap products every other day. This should stretch out my Aveda products to 12 - 16 weeks. This will save me about $120 a year. I know it's over a year, but hey, it's a savings, and it's almost a week's worth of groceries;

4. Buy second hand. I swore my children would never have anything but new. But once I started hitting consignment sales and stores, I found some great deals on items that had only been played with/worn once or twice. I've also had some great finds on eBay;

5. Speaking of eBay, I like to buy new things here, too, after seeing them in stores. I've bought E Belle's Christmas dresses on eBay the past two years for about $20 cheaper each than I found in the local boutique. I used to be afraid of buying clothing on eBay, but now I sell and buy clothes quite a bit on here;

6. Just never pay full price for clothing, especially places like Gymboree. There's always a coupon somewhere; and

7. Use retailmenot.com or similar sites for online coupons. Last year, I estimate that I saved about $150 on discounts and free shipping using coupon codes from this site.

Isn't anything safe to eat?

If you know me, you know that I love food! But lately, I'm becoming more and more aware of what's in our food. I think it started when I caught Dr. Oz on Oprah a while back, and he had a big bowl of partially hydrogenated oil. It was totally disgusting, and I couldn't believe I was putting that into not just my body, but Little Man's body when he had his daily PB&J.

I've been on a mission to get rid of artificial and manipulated food stuffs, even though I know I'll never be rid of it all. And I can't control what goes into our food when we're not home, but I figure if I can just get a grip on it in our home, that will be a big improvement. I hate that places like Whole Foods, aka Whole Paycheck, are so expensive, but I feel like it's worth it to pay more to keep mess out of my kid's bodies. But it's kind of hard sometimes explaining to Little Man and Dear Hubby about why I refuse to buy certain products anymore, why full fat is sometimes better than low fat and why we need to buy pork without nitrates. And as the mother and wife of asthmatics, I'm amazed at some of the connections between asthma, allergies, symptoms and our diets.

Lately, I've been hearing a lot about Stevia finally being approved by the FDA to be marketed as a sweetner, and Coke and Pepsi both are coming out with sodas sweetened with this natural herb. In my quest to decide if Stevia is better than Splenda, I was shocked at what I found out about Splenda. I thought Splenda was relatively safe as far as artificial sweeteners go, but what I've read has given me second thoughts. Check out these links - I realize these are from one point of view, but they give me pause:

http://www.westonaprice.org/modernfood/sugarfree_blues.html#sucralose
http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/articles/art_splendanotsplendid.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/024302.html

I can't give up artificial sweeteners for many reasons, including the prevalence of diabetes in my family, so hopefully, Stevia will prove to be a natural and safe alternative. I'm hoping that I like the new diet soft drinks, as I am totally hooked on them as it is.

Our first Montessori-style activity

I sat down E Belle this afternoon and showed her an activity I saw demonstrated at a local Montessori preschool last week. We think that E Belle has great potential to succeed at a Montessori school whereas Little Man's personality was not going to be a good fit.

I put down a dishcloth as her mat, and I put some beans in a pottery bowl. I showed E Belle totally by sight how to spoon the beans out of the bowl and into the cup. Her first instinct was to try and eat the beans, but she quickly found out that they didn't taste too good!

I couldn't believe how long she stayed interested in the beans! She was occupied for a good 15 minutes before I started hearing little dings from her throwing the beans across the room. She helped me clean up a bit, but she was more interested in one of Little Man's Simpsons Burger King toys that talks than picking up beans.

I so hope she gets into the Montessori preschool! We will know for sure by the end of February if she's in or wait listed. Our second choice is great, but it's not Montessori!