Game Night

 

SimplyFun is offering two of their top games in a “Blah Buster value pack” to beat the winter blues!  This offer is only available until Jan 31st.

Eye to Eye and Sneaks together for $24.50 – that’s 57% off the regular price!  Eye to Eye alone is $40 regularly, and it’s one of our favorites!  There is also no limit, so you could order one set for yourself and have one handy for gift giving.

My aunt sells these so I thought I would post this to help her out.  If anyone is interested visit her site before Friday as that will be the last party she can put them on.  These would make a great Frugal Family night.

I Love Lowe’s

So tonight we were out just looking around at things at Lowe’s.  We were just looking at trim for the house.  We are so excited because as long as all the stars line up this week we will get sheet rock on all the walls.  For those of you who don’t know, we started building our house last year.  As you can imagine it feels like we will never get it done.  So I am getting more and more excited as things are taking place! 

Back to my story… We were shopping around when a sales associate in the curtain area said they were marking down all of the rods laying on the floor.  We are not ready for curtain rods but figured if the sale was good enough we could look.  This is what I found!

    

We needed 4.  They had exactly 4 in the color/finish we needed.  They match our light fixtures really well.  We bought them up and saved 88 dollars!  They were 50% off the 26.23!  I love Lowe’s! 

For Sale

 I decided myself I need a backwards day! 

I have been trying to sell my car for so long.  We bought a new car last summer and now I need to get rid of my old car.  I have it listed on Auto Trader.  I have never used them but I felt like that was the best route to take.  No one has called about it.  It is great on gas and has low mileage.  It has never had any troubles at all and it looks almost brand new! 

Please can anyone help me figure a good way to get my car sold!?  Does my ad look alright?  How would you feel about the price if you were interested in it?  Any tips, suggestions, or anything would be great.  Or maybe you know someone who would like to buy it!

My Mother

There are not many words that I can use to express my gratitude toward my mother.  She has been the rock in my life for so long.  Today on her birthday I just would like to take the time to let her know how thankful I am for her.

My mother has taught me great values that I hold tight to.  First she has shared with me the true love of a mother.  She has also shown me God’s love.  Teaching your children good morals is one thing but teaching them the Jesus Christ came to Earth to die for their sins is another.  My mother became a Christian when I was about a year old.  I am the second of six children.  Since then she has never wavered from her belief.  She has shown me first hand to never give up.  God’s love will endure everything; I believe her love for me will too!

My mother has been patient and forgiving to me.  She has loved me unconditionally.  She has made sacrifices for me and my siblings that can only come from a mothers love for her children.

Mom,

Thank you for loving me through everything.  Thank you for showing me how much God loves me.  I thank God for everything you have done for me.  You taught me to be a strong woman by never giving up on me.  Even through our fights and disagreements you were right there.  You were always there to help me through whatever life put against me.  You helped me and encouraged me to seek the right things in all situations.  You always supported me in my good decisions and forgave me in my bad.  You always believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. 

Now even though we are apart I want you to know how much you mean to me today.  I hope that you are having a great birthday.  I miss you!

Happy Birthday

CVS 101

Okay I am not really prepared to teach anyone about CVSing.  But I can easily show you were I learned it and give you a few of my own tips from my experience so far.  With only having made 2 trips so far I am still learning.

So to start an ECB is an Extra Care Buck.  First you must have the store savings card to get the deals.  With that there are certain items that you can get money back on.  They ECBs print at the bottom of your receipt. 

Here is a page from this weeks ad.  Notice the Speed Stick in the lower right hand corner.  You pay 3.99 but get 3.99 in ECB back.  (limit 5)  This is a deal I will take advantage of this week.  My total will be 19.95 plus tax.  I have a CVS coupon for 4 dollars off 20 dollars.  You can find these to print here (this is also where I learned CVSing myself).  Every week Crystal posts all the best deals.  So back to the deal-21.24 after tax + use the 4/20 coupon=17.24 out of pocket(oop).  Then you get 19.95 back ECB on the bottom of your receipt.  You made 2.71 on the purchase!

You will have oop when you first start but after you build up your ECB amount you will use those toward future purchases.  Not all the deals are always really good but I figure how much it would be with out the deal at Wal Mart because that is where I shopped for these things before.  If I am saving money even a little it is a good deal!  I am not trying to get everything for free, just at discount. 

My biggest tip is be organized.  Take a calculator to figure you cost before you get to check out because sometimes you need to pick up fillers (like candy bars or something cheap) to bring your price close to a whole number.  Also have all of your coupons you are using ready.

Sometimes you may end up doing separate transactions to get the best deals; have everything together for each one so that it is easy for the cashier.  The last thing you want is a frustrated cashier because if you plan on going back frequently she will eventually remember you!

Check out Crystal’s tips here for a better explanation of how to CVS.  Also check out Hot Coupon World for CVS tips and many other stores!  (If you join HCW my ID is picchick)

My biggest piece of advice is “Don’t get stingy!”  Lots of people get several cards even though we are only supposed to have one store card.  that way they can get more deals and even make money on lots of things.  I only get things I will use!  Stockpiling is great but I feel like you can get out of control.  Don’t clutter your life with “Stuff” just because it is cheap!

Does this help???  Feel free to ask away if I can’t answer your question I will try to help find the answer somewhere else.

CVS Trip #2

There were not many good deals this week.  I just picked up some things we needed and used my ECB’s to pay.  I got 9 ECB’s back and spent 42 cents out of pocket.

Also I picked up this plant with my 10 dollar coupon at Lowes.  I spent 58 cents out of pocket.

Help!!!

http://design.hgtv.com/kitchen/SpecialFeatures_detail.aspx?id=42&photo=9

Here is a picture of a kitchen I like.  I need everyone’s opinions.  Do I order mixed match cabinets like this (black sanded through finish with regular stained cabinets)?  I absolutely love this look BUT I am afraid that it is too trendy and I will get tired of it.  This will be my first kitchen so I need the advice of all you who have had a kitchen of your own.  Please I need suggestions!!!!

*Sorry the picture didn’t work.  Try the link.

Natural Cleaners

I love being able to use anything natural that I can to clean!  It always smells so much better and I don’t have to worry about the dog licking up something that can hurt her!  I have been researching what you can use certain things for and here is a list I have come up with:

                          

Baking soda: provides grit for scrubbing and reacts with water, vinegar or lemon by fizzing, which speeds up cleaning times.  Use on the toilet-bowl, to wash fresh fruits and veggies, clean stainless steal, flush down clogged drains and clean your oven.
Borax: disinfects, bleaches and deodorizes; very handy in laundry mixes.  Makes a good all-purpose cleaner with a little water, clean tub and tile, and soak clothes for stain removal. 
Distilled white vinegar: disinfects and breaks up dirt; choose white vinegar over apple cider or red vinegars, as these might stain surfaces.  Clean wood and linoleum floors, takes spots off of stainless steal, and works great on glass or mirrors with water and newspapers. 
Hydrogen Peroxide: disinfects and bleaches.  Works great on taking fresh blood out of cloth and can be used as a bleach alternative.
Lemons: cut grease; bottled lemon juice also works well, although you might need to use bit more to get the same results.  Works great with baking soda on tubs and tile, in smelly drains and in vacuum bags as freshener. 
Olive oil: picks up dirt and polishes wood; cheaper grades work well.   
Vegetable based (liquid castile) soap: non-petroleum all-purpose cleaners.  Use with water to clean marble counter tops. 
Washing soda: stain remover, general cleaner, helps unblock pipes; should be handled with gloves due to its caustic nature. Washing soda is usually found in the laundry aisle of grocery and drug stores. 

I have been filling little spray bottles of each one so that I have them handy under the sink.  So far the ones I have tried I really like!  Have you tried any of these natural things?  If so what are your favorites?

New Light Fixtures

Well things are coming along!  We finally went and purchased our light fixtures for the house.  It feels so good to be making progress!  I can’t wait to start seeing all of our ideas come together.  It is harder than I thought to try to decorate a house.  Making sure that all the fixtures, tile, carpet, paint colors, etc. match is harder than I could have ever imagined.  Maybe I am too much of a perfectionist about it all.  I am lucky that Blake has the same taste in everything as I do!  It has been lots of fun doing it with him!

Here are some of the lights we picked out.  We are going with an old Italian look.
  This will go over the table behind the couch.
  This will go in the entry way and in our bedroom.
    This one will go over the dinning room table.
  This is my favorite.  I love how it looks so much like a real candle!  There will be one on each side of the living room and also on each side of my sitting room in my bedroom.

The biggest thing now is I have to decide my bedroom colors because we will be painting the first of February!  Please ideas!  I need ideas if you have any!

Success at CVS

Wow I did great!  It took me a little to figure out all the deals but in the end I came out ahead $1.17.  Or I will at least.  Let me break it down.

Total- 128.63
Coupons and In Store Savings-67.81
Out of Pocket Cost-60.82
Mail in Rebate-12.99
ECB-49

In the end I made 1.17!