My Precious Pennies

Flip Flops at Old Navy

2009-05-22T17:08:00.004-05:00

Old Navy is having a sale on 5/23/09 for $1 flip flops. I think is a pretty good deal. With summer coming up who doesn't need flip flops? The limit is 5 pairs per person. Be sure to get there early because I am sure these are going to go quick!!

Free Mp3 Download at Walmart

2009-04-07T16:59:00.002-05:00

At Walmart Soundcheck you are able to download a free mp3 of a track from Rascal Flatts exclusive Soundcheck session.

Free Glam Slamwich at Denny's

2009-04-07T16:51:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow, April 8, 2009 you can get a free Glam Slamwich at Dennys. You do have to buy a regular grandslam breakfast though. The sandwich looks pretty good so I think I will be stopping by to try one myself. The special is only going on from 6am until 2 pm.

www.1stopmom

Let's ease back into this...

2009-03-17T15:53:00.001-05:00

...I'm back, and with somewhat of a certainty this time. Last time I checked in, we had internet temporarily set up, but then somehow the transfer from temporary internet to permanent internet didn't go quite as planned. Moving into a house is one thing...moving into a house that you own is quite another. The past couple of times we've moved, the extent of my work was just to unpack. Which wasn't easy, but easy enough considering I've done it about a thousand times. But when you move into a house that you own, it's a completely different game. We've had to fix toilets, install sinks, install faucets, paint and put up base boards, paint the front door...you name it, we've done it. And the to-do list is not getting any smaller.

So, even though I'm not exactly sitting around with loads of time to spare, I'm going to ease back into this whole blogging thing. For at least a while longer, I unfortunately won't be doing anything deal related or freebie relate, simply because I just don't have the spare time to dedicate to that right now. The blog will take a temporary lean towards organization and stuff like that. I will be doing CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid deals again, but just not right now since I've got more pressing issues (like getting my house presentable in time for out-of-the-country guests in the middle of April).

Thanks for bearing with me through all of this!

So where are Ginger, Tricia and Rita????? Ummmm.....

2009-03-05T21:51:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,

I am so sorry to have neglected you. I hope you have been keeping up with me a little on my blog to know where I was. Running crazy as usual. Seems my family can't stay healthy. Dad is in the hospital. Doing well and expected to be discharged tomorrow if all of his labs come back the way they are expected. Sister-in-law is in the hospital too. Infection in her arm pit. Daughter-in-law is waiting test results for some abdominal pain in the ovary area. Daughter went for a battery of tests today -- hormone probs and skin so dry she says she is crumbling.

I have posts on most of my blogs with all kinds of updates. If you go to this one, it will lead you around my personal blogosphere. Be sure to look around the sidebars, scroll down to some of the older posts to find all the offers, updates and opportunities. Bookmark me, subscribe by email or RSS.

I've not heard anything from Rita other than what you see her post so I don't have an update. I haven't even had time to check in on Tricia's blog to see where she is. I do hope all of you are fairing better than I am --- at least in the family health department.

If you need anything, please email me Ginger (at) adlibcorner (dot) com. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. I can't see any comments to approve so I won't know if you commented. Only Rita is able to approve comments.

Until next time....

Ginger

AttentionTargetShoppers.com

Coupons Rebates & Refunds

AdlibCorner.com

Nearly there!

2009-02-26T22:48:00.003-06:00

Finally, after about a week and a half of no internet whatsoever, I'm back online. Sort of. It's a complicated mess, but it's better than nothing. I will have a reliable connection starting March 4th though (hopefully).

And in the meantime, we've moved in, had our stuff arrive, bought a new truck for hubby, and bought a refrigerator and dishwasher for our house. But the hot water in the kitchen leaks (and thus was turned off). And 2 out of 3 toilets in my house doesn't work. And the downstairs sink only leak if you pull up the stopper and then let the water go...if you just run it normally it doesn't leak. Oh, and my backyard is so muddy that I basically have to give the dogs a bath every time they set foot outside.

But it's our house, and we're all here in one piece, and all of our stuff is here in one piece. The kitchen is nearly done, and this weekend we hope to get everything functioning again. It's all just unpacking from this point, which in comparison with everything else is a easy piece of cake.

I've already done my scouting around, and it looks like there are not one, but two CVSs around. And a Rite Aid. And a Walgreens. Soon I can start stocking my HUGE toiletry/towel/spare closet again. The storage space in this house is scarily amazing...!

Playing Catch Up with MPP!

2009-02-23T11:34:00.001-06:00

I'm playing catch-up with MPP. I've been busy with a few projects. One is a new fence for the fur babies. A nice chain link fence should go up this week. I'm waiting to hear from the installer.

$1 off any four Hunt's® Diced, Stewed, or Whole Tomatoes
$1 off any two Healthy Choice® Fresh Mixers™
$1 off any two Healthy Choice Café Steamers™
$1.50 off any two Orville Redenbacher's Natural Gourmet Popping Corn

More coupons HERE!

The Target coupon match-ups for this week are done if you haven't seen those already. This week I matched some freebies, samples and sign-ups with them while I was putting it together.

Safelink Wireless Service - you or someone you know may qualify for free cellular telephone service. Check it out for all the details.

I have one other project to share with you. I have a new blog. I called it Channeling June Cleaver! I've listed 9 Free Recipe Books for you. I've also added the FDA Salmonella widget for the peanut butter recalls in the side bar. You can keep up with any changes. I've also added a widget for Sweepstakes Advantage. If you aren't a member, you can join and quickly keep up with the sweeps that are being added.

That about does it for me. I'm off to find more info to share.

Ginger --- reporting in for Rita :)

Just a few freebies

2009-02-23T01:05:00.003-06:00

Kleenex Viva Paper Towel
Free Weekender Sample Kit
Free Pancakes

www.1stopmom.com

20 free 4x6 prints

2009-02-19T16:00:00.005-06:00

Walgreens is having a one day only promotion for free 4 x 6 prints. The coupon code is ONEDAY. Remember it is for 2/20/09 only!! Don't miss out :)

www.1stopmom.com

One Day Sale at Kohl's

2009-02-18T08:36:00.002-06:00

Today only Kohl's 40%-50% off select shoes for the entire family. The deal of the day is Converse® Chuck Taylor® All Star® Three Strap Ox Shoes - Navy for only $18.99. The regular price is $38.00

www.1stopmom.com

Hanes shipping deal

2009-02-13T08:12:00.002-06:00

Until midnight February 15, 2009 Hanes is offering $1.99 shipping. The steal of the day is a Hanes Woman Fitted T-Shirt for only $3.99, regular price $7.

www.1stopmom.com

Gevalia - 3 Boxes for $3 and A Free Mug

2009-02-13T07:58:00.003-06:00

What a great deal! At these prices I just can't resist. I am going to get some for a gift.

www.1stopmom.com

Update

2009-02-13T00:51:00.004-06:00

We're finally here. Somehow, we managed to pack up the house. It was hard though. We went 48 hours without sleep and was quite literally moving stuff at 3am in negative degree weather. But it got done, and at this point that's all that matters.

Remarkably, we survive the 2100+ mile trip without too much incident. The little princess didn't even cry that much. Back in July when we drove from SC to IL, she screamed pretty much the entire way and had lost her voice by the time we got there. This time around, she didn't really cry too much. I'm thinking that it was a good idea of putting Chloe and Chip beside her instead of behind her.

Anyway, we are here, but we're busier than ever. We were supposed to close on the house by Tuesday, but through no fault of our own it's now been delayed to NEXT Tuesday. The sellers keep pushing back the close date, and it's driving me crazy. We got our first glimpse of the house a few days ago, and it is everything I dreamed of and more. It's going to be a LOT of work, but it's all work that we can do casually and enjoy. I love my red kitchen, and the rest of my tan house. We're going to have to replace the carpet though, amongst a whole bunch of other things. The house needs to close ASAP, because my stuff will be here in a week, and we need to get that carpet replaced BEFORE we start moving furniture in.

And since we got here, we've been trying to find a second car for my husband that's under our budget. We're looking for a truck (so we can haul stuff from Home Depot or Lowes for our new house), but with our limited budget, we really can't afford to go to a car dealership. I've been looking on craigslist, but it's hard. I've gotten 3 scam replies already, and the one non-scam local car turned out to need over $1000 of work on it. Tomorrow morning hubby starts work, and we are both very excited. So far, this new command seems to be pretty understanding and decent. I just pray that they'll continue to be tolerant and understanding until the end of the month, because my ability to take him to work is non-existant, since we now live 30 minutes away instead of 5 minutes away.

The little princess also had her first appointment today with her new civilian doctor. And FINALLY...someone is doing something about her weight issues. I definitely wasn't happy about the 8 (yes EIGHT) vials of blood that they took from my little girl this afternoon, but they are pretty much getting every test under the sun. We're going in a few days to do a sweat test, and they're even doing a chromosonal test. I have always been willing to accept that she's just petite (because after all, so am I), but I just can't sleep at night if they haven't even TRIED to find out what's wrong. I'll gratefully and willingly accept the fact that she's just petite AFTER some tests have been run, but not before. I am thanking my stars for the option to see a civilian doctor here.

It's hard, and my days are currently non-stop 12+ hours long running around town. But I'm so happy to be in our home state, and I cannot express how grateful I am to be able to step out in a t-shirt and jeans instead of having to bundle up like crazy. In fact, we have the biggest laughs when we see people walking around with gloves and scarves...!

I really really miss blogging, deal hunting, and budgetting. My goal is to be able to get back on a schedule by March 1st. It seems like forever away, but it's important to have goals...!

Proctor & Gamble Free Gas Cash Offer

2009-02-09T19:02:00.002-06:00

Get a $15 gas cash card with your $40 P&G purchase or a $10 gas cash card with your $35 P&G purchase.

Official offer form and original cash register receipt must be obtained from the same participating sore. Purchase must be made in one transaction. Mail-in offer. Offer ends 3/31/09. See mail-in offer form for deails. Limit one per household. For Customer Service call 866-538-5230.

Unfortunately there are a few states that do not have a single store participating. I would be calling customer service in that instance.

NOTE: Okay, I am still mentally exhausted. Here is the link!!!
http://www.pggascash.com/

Free Video Games

2009-02-09T13:51:00.003-06:00

Since my family is big on gaming I was happy to find out that Amazon is now offering game downloads. Right now there is a promotion where you can get 3 free games! For a limited time, you can grab these three full version games for free:

Jewel Quest II, a matching puzzle game
Build-a-lot, a house building simulation game
The Scruffs, a seek-and-find object game

My daughters love The Scruffs and I am a huge fan of Build-A-Lot. It is so addictive! I have played all three versions. This offer ends tomorrow!

http://www.1stopmom.com/

Save money on glasses

2009-02-09T06:51:00.003-06:00

Today only at Eye Buy Direct there is a 24 Hour stock clearance giveaway. For every pair of prescription eyeglasses you buy, get another pair for FREE!
Eye Buy Direct offers:

Hundreds of new frames
New high quality ultra thin lenses (1.67, 1.74)
Loyalty points rewarded
Free Shipping over $99
100% satisfaction guarantee

www.1stopmom.com

Free E-Book: Jumble Pie

2009-02-09T00:38:00.003-06:00

Reading is one of my favorite hobbies and I really like reading e-books on my laptop. Melanie Lynne Hauser, the author of "Confessions of Super Mom" and "Super Mom Saves the World" is giving away copies of her book Jumble Pie. Jumble Pie is a story about the friendship of two women and pie.

www.1stopmom.com

Pinecone Research - Join Here!

2009-02-08T21:39:00.003-06:00

Pinecone Research has been one of the many ways that I have earned money for years. It has always been fairly difficult to join since you had to find one of their banners floating around the net in order to join. Well, not now. At least not at this point in time anyway. I received an email asking me to pass along an open invitation. I find that to be wild.

Pinecone pays. Currently it is $3.00 per survey. The surveys aren't all that long. Usually the average time is 10 minutes or less. There will be opportunities to do product testing and sometimes focus surveys as well. They also enter you into sweeps for prizes for doing updates on your profile or a few questions. A very fair site and again, they pay. I earned around $75 cash last year and did at least 8 product tests for them. All the products are name brand. I also got in on one focus group that paid $25.

Here is the email I received...

**It’s not too late to take advantage of this special opportunity to refer households to apply for membership on the PineCone Research panel.** If you have already assisted with this effort - thank you and please feel free to disregard this email.

PineCone Research continues to grow and we invite you to help! We are offering select members the opportunity to recommend membership to a friend or relative who is NOT a member of their household.

Do you know of households that would like to join the PineCone Research Panel? If so, please FORWARD A COPY of this email to each household you would like to refer so that they may click on the registration link shown below. That household should complete the registration form themselves and submit it. REMEMBER THAT ONLY ONE PERSON PER HOUSEHOLD MAY REGISTER. Multiple registrations of the same Household will void all registrations.

Here is the link to the registration:

http://www.pineconeresearch.com/signup/ds531Referral1.asp

As a member in good standing, you've already seen the benefits of being part of PineCone Research. So please, share the benefits of membership with a friend. Just don't forget, please don't tell them about any of the products that you have seen in our questionnaires or tried in your home. Remember, it's important that your PineCone Research survey and product testing experiences remain confidential.

If your referral has any questions, they can email us at scott@pineconeresearch.com or click on the attached links to learn more about PineCone Research.

http://www1.pineconeresearch.com//about.HTM

http://www1.pineconeresearch.com//policy.htm

While this is not a paid referral program, we genuinely appreciate your help in spreading the word that PINECONE IS GROWING!

Thank you,

Karen Scott

Web site: http://www.pineconeresearch.com/
Email: scott@pineconeresearch.com

Refer a Friend

Get a Neutrogena(R) or Dove(R) Facial Cleansing Cloth Sample.
Click Here

75 prints free at Kodak

2009-02-04T19:54:00.002-06:00

Kodak Gallery is having a promotion for new members where you can get 75 4 x 6 prints free. You do have to pay for shipping though. This promotion is only going on until February 13, 2009. You have 30 days after registering to use your credit or it expires.

www.1stopmom.com

Do your taxes get a free dvd!

2009-02-04T19:38:00.004-06:00

Every year before I buy my tax software I keep an eye for deals with purchase. It is usually something different each tax season. This year at Best Buy, with the purchase of tax software you can get a free dvd. Any dvd priced up to $19.99 is free. This includes all dvds even television series. The following tax software titles are the ones that must be purchased:

TaxCut 2008 Premium Federal + State + E-file
TaxCut 2008 Premium Federal + e-file
Turbo Tax Deluxe Federal + State + Federal e-file 2008
Turbo Tax Premier Federal + State + Federal e-file 2008

You can also $35 on Quicken Deluxe with the purchase of Turbo Tax.

www.1stopmom.com

An open letter

2009-02-02T23:16:00.001-06:00

Dear CO of my overworked & underpaid hubby,

'Sup? This is his neglected, abandoned, and much-abused personal secretary (commonly known as "wife"). I am writing to you today because I think I'm missing something. You see, when you handed me my dependent ID, I think you forgot to give me my allotted super powers. Y'know...the super strength so I can lift a sofa, a hutch, a bed, and various other heavy furniture items by myself since you refuse to give my husband the time to do the job. We're doing the best that we can, but since you keep him for all the daylight hours, it's getting a tad bit hard to move heavy furniture in the dark of the night when it's a lovely 10º out and our fingers are freezing off. I regret to inform you that I was born a normal human being who cannot lift a 200lb hutch by herself. It's a shame that I live with on a daily basis. I cry myself to sleep every night over my pathetically weak genetic makeup.

And I still have not received the clone of myself, which I so desperately need because you refuse to give my husband time to otherwise make arrangements for moving his family cross country with just 6 weeks notice. It probably doesn't help that the housing wait list is 8 months old, and we've had to find either a overpriced closet to rent or buy a house. I really don't appreciate you keeping my husband busy with unimportant tasks like sweeping the floor or watching 8 hour marathons of CSI because he's got nothing to do but you just want him around. It's okay to admit it...you're smitten with him. I am too. I want him around constantly too. It's okay...join the fan club. We have t-shirts, and the hats will be in next week.

Anyway, I digress. You've kept him so "busy" that he doesn't even know the address of our new home. Poor fella doesn't even know the kitchen is red. He wouldn't even recognize the house if it was animated like Frosty the Snowman and then proceeded to uncharacteriscally hit him in the nose.

I'd appreciate it if you could send my missing super powers and clones to my house ASAP. Oh, and if could send a little love note over to personal property, I'll be real grateful. See, if they could have just scheduled a household goods move in time, we wouldn't be in this mess. By the way, just a word of advice - if supporting offices (i.e. personal property, housing...etc.) cannot support short notice orders for a permanent change of duty stations...here's a wacky idea...DON'T GIVE SHORT NOTICE ORDERS.

Thanks so much for your time.

Hugs and kisses,
Me.

P.S.: Enjoy the enclosed batch of homemade cookies. Know that I sympathize with the fact that you are a heartless bastard with a heart of stone and no family or other human ties to the pitiful unimportant outside civilian world. So here, have some cookies, and try not to have a heart attack when you finally feel what it is truly like to be human and have someone care.

P.P.S.: i promise i didn't poison them. i promise. taste test them if you don't believe me.

FOUND: House

2009-02-01T23:55:00.001-06:00

Don't knock those shooting stars...because they really do work. WE HAVE A HOUSE!

Someone out there must be looking out for us, because we got the original house that we wanted. Last week I told you that our offer was "unofficially" declined, and it was - they accepted one of the other two offers and gave the house to someone else. But those buyers ended up backing out...and so they accepted our offer instead!

My parents flew down there this afternoon to look at the house before we finalize things, and it will be a very nice home for our little princess to grow up in. The neighborhood is gorgeous, safe, and relaxing. My mom described it as a "breath of fresh air". The house itself needs some minor work, but in general it's in move-in condition and we can take our time and enjoy working on our home. The layout of the house is everything that we wanted, and after 2 years we will finally have a fenced-in yard again for the puppies. Granted, it's a far cry from the ¾ acres that they had while I was in college, but at least there are no coyotes here to eat my little Chip dog.

And best of all...my kitchen is RED.

That might seem weird that I am deliriously happy that my kitchen is a bright red, but after living so long with the military housing white walls, any color is a very welcome change.

Technically, it's not official yet because I don't have the keys in my hands. But if all goes well, the keys will be waiting for us next week when we roll into town. We're leaving this frozen wasteland on Friday, and hope to cover 2100 miles by Tuesday. We will be without our stuff for a week, but that's just a minor detail at this point.

The end is truly in sight now. I will be non-existent for the next week as we finish up packing the house and drive cross-country. I will give updates whenever I happen to luck upon a wireless connection. Thanks for sticking around, and it won't be long before I'm filling up my new house with freebies...!

$10 off $10 purchase at QVC

2009-01-30T12:29:00.004-06:00

I really have to thank iMommies for this deal. It is a code so you can save $10 off a $10 purchase at QVC.

From iMommies site:
Click HERE to register with QVC. Once you’ve registered, QVC will display a page that contains your account number and pin code…SAVE the pin code (it won’t display again). At the prompt, sign in with your QVC account number and pin (don’t sign in with your email address). The $10 discount will automatically be applied to your account, and you can begin shopping immediately.

I did exactly what she said to do and I found my daughter a cute khaki tee for $1.33! Shipping included.
This is definitely you should not pass up on. There are some really great deals in the clearance section.

www.1stopmom.com

Sunkist Lemonade Stand FREE

2009-01-29T18:18:00.007-06:00

Sunkist is offering their free lemonade stand again this year for children. Please go HERE and fill out the form to get yours on order. There is a pledge where you state that the money you earn will be donated to charity (of your choice).

This offer is valid while quantities last.

AttentionTargetShoppers.com
Coupons Rebates & Refunds
AdlibCorner.com

Countdown to Kickoff

2009-01-29T14:16:00.004-06:00

I heard about this really cool promotion that Papa's John is having.

Papa John's is kicking off its 25th Anniversary in 2009 — and wants you to be part of the year-long celebration, right from the beginning!

Here's how it works: If the opening kickoff of the Big Game is returned for a touchdown, everyone who pre-registers will be eligible to receive a LARGE 1-topping pizza for just 25 CENTS!

How cool is that? To register go here.

www.1stopmom.com

WANTED: House

2009-01-27T11:42:00.003-06:00

In 11 days, we will officially be homeless. Okay, technically in 16 days, because we'll need to spend somewhere between 4 to 5 days driving cross country. According to google, it's 2100 miles. Guesstimating that we average 70mph and drive 8 hours a day, we'll get there in 3.75 days. But of course, that's not accounting for the fact that there will be 2 dogs and a baby in the car.

And our lack of a home isn't because we're not trying, mind you. We had our search narrowed down to 11 houses, which were VERY carefully selected after viewing the insides and checking out the neighborhoods on google maps (I love that street view). But out of the 11 houses, only 2 came back as actual possibilities. Some houses were just way too squished together, others overlooked freeways and the noise was terrible, and then there were the curveballs. One house had over $80,000 of foundation issues, and another house had a previous tenant that decided to go on a destruction rampage before he was evicted.

And just as our luck would have it, one of the final two houses already had 8 offers on it, which really only left us with one house. We offered on it (along with 2 other people), and as of right now the "unofficial" word is that we didn't get it. The "official" verdict hasn't been handed down yet, but unless a small miracle happens I doubt we're going to get it.

We're not giving up - we're still looking. I mean, we really don't have a choice but to keep looking. The wait list to get into military housing is 8 months long, not to mention we'd be in a teeny tiny townhouse. We found 4 more houses that look promising, but I'm trying to not get so excited about them. After all, our original list of 11 got chopped down to just one actual plausible house...that we didn't get.

And in the meantime, we've been packing up house like crazy headless chickens. We're going it camping style and eating off plastic plates right now. All the toys are packed up, and we're about 80% done. We just need to dismantle furniture and move things out into the containers. Then we can be free of the terrible housing here. I'm not looking forward to shacking up in a motel for a couple of weeks, but I AM looking forward to getting out of housing.

I know that right now it looks like I'm just going to abandon this blog, but that is so not the case. I really miss blogging, and can't wait to get back into the swing of things. Soon....!!!

Weekly Savings & Coupon News

2009-01-26T01:15:00.001-06:00

Hello My Precious Penny Pinchers!

Here are links to a few coupons you may be interested in today.
$1.00/1 Gorton's Butterfly Shrimp and $.50/1 Heinz Cocktail Sauce printable

$1.00/1 Tide printable

Eat Better America - $10.00 + in printable coupons from Green Giant, Yoplait,
Fiber One, Muir Glen, Cheerios etc.

More coupons and coupon info can be found at Coupons Rebates and Refunds. Check the side bars for loads of places to go and print coupons, rebates linked to forms and more. Print 20% off coupon for Big Lots here.

I discussed the massive recalls of products with peanut butter here. Be sure to revisit and double check those links often. They are being updated quite often.

I updated AttentionTargetShoppers.com with this week's coupon match-ups. I also discuss my latest shopping trip and give you some observations.

A heads-up that I am having "issues" with my Internet provider. I've not been able to connect way more than it should be. I have a lot of traffic jams getting any speed during the evenings too. So, I have arranged to go with a new company on Thursday. Additionally, I'll be leaving Friday afternoon and will be home a week later. At this point, I won't be able to connect with a computer. My only Internet connection will be via my cell phone. I'm attempting to find a solution that isn't too expensive.

AttentionTargetShoppers.com
Coupons Rebates & Refunds
AdlibCorner.com

Freebies

2009-01-24T20:33:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to share a few freebies I signed up for.

Quaker's Dark Chocolate Raspberry Almond True Delights
Crest White Strips
Mini Football
Child Safety Package
Dog's Life Subscription
Rachel Ray Nutrish Dog Food
Boost Kid Essentials Drink
Hansen Junior Juice
Orville Redenbacher's Popping Corn

www.1stopmom.com

Weekly Savings & Coupon News

2009-01-18T12:46:00.002-06:00

Before I give you the goodies, I want to tell you that the first week in February I will be traveling. I won't have anything to contribute live but will do what I can to set up a couple of auto posts. I'll be going to celebrate oldest grandson's birthday. He'll be 7 years old next Saturday.

I posted the Target Coupon Match-Ups for this week. It was only about 3 1/2 pages this week but still some nice savings. Most of the Target stores are at 75% on toy clearance, clothing and many other items. People are doing all of their '09 Christmas and birthday shopping now.

I participate in the BeCentsable Grocery Gathering. If you didn't know it existed, you should visit and check it out. Several bloggers contribute their coupon match-ups to about every grocery store in the United States. You'll also find the match-ups for the drug store chains too.

2009 Coupon Insert Schedule and Info was just posted too. I put this together so that you can easily see what coupon inserts will be included with your Sunday newspapers. If you have a Dollar Tree in your area, visit them and get spare copies for $1.00 each to get your multiples

Kmart is Doubling Coupons Up To $2.00 again this week. Over the last several weeks when they have done this, there have always been limits to how many you can use per transaction or per day. Be sure to call your local store to see if they are participating because not all stores do from my reading.

If you haven't heard, Circuit City is closing their remaining 567 stores. The website will close 1/18 (today). If you have any Circuit City gift cards, visit the stores to liquidate them on something you can use. If nothing else, get paper, pens, blank CDs, mouse pads etc.

And, if you haven't used the Coupons.com banner you may not know that there are several $2.00 off coupons for DVDs from Twentieth Century Fox. Rita has a banner at the very bottom of her blog and a small one in the right sidebar. Please support her by clicking on the banners to print all of these coupons and many great grocery coupons. Every time you click print, you are supporting her with a small but important payment.
$2 - An Affair to Remember
$2 - The Devil Wears Prada
$2 - Ever After
$2 - Lars and the Real Girl
$2 - Moulin Rouge
$2 - Mr. and Mrs. Smith
$2 -The Princess Bride
$2 - Romeo and Juliet Music Edition
$2 -Say Anything
$2 -When Harry Met Sally

If you happen to like trivia, I publish updates for daily, weekly and monthly trivia. I also publish the code words for Cosmo and Seventeen magazine. Several of our readers have won many times. Please visit AdlibCorner.com to see what I offer.

Ginger

AttentionTargetShoppers.com
Coupons Rebates & Refunds
AdlibCorner.com

Quick note

2009-01-16T00:59:00.001-06:00

Just a quick note to let you all know that I didn't freeze to death in the sub-zero temperatures here. I've been working overtime trying to find a house, and I must say that it's looking good so far. We have found 11 houses that fit our criteria and price range, and my father-in-law is going to see them on our behalf this weekend.

If everything checks out, hopefully we'll be able to put down an offer and have it accepted by the end of next week, which leaves a total of 3 weeks for the closing process before we hop into town. I'm praying and wishing that it will work out this way, because then we wouldn't be homeless for weeks on end staying in some hotel.

And in case anyone is wondering, buying a house online is possible. We used the wonderful website ziprealty.com. It requires that you sign up (it's free), and then you're assigned an agent, but you're under no obligation at all to use that agent. We're using an agent that we found through Military Moving Station. I also suggest using google maps - once you type in an address, for certain locations you will be able to see a street view. It's like taking a drive down the actual road, and you can "drive" around a corner or "drive" out to the main road. It was a priceless tool for us to see the surrounding neighborhoods.

And while we're doing all of this, it ends up that we're going to have to move ourselves. The military is compensating us for it, and advancing us most of the money, but this is a BIG deal. When we've moved in the past, they hired a moving company to pack EVERYTHING and load it into a truck. I literally didn't have to lift a finger. This time around, we're responsible for packing everything AND load it into a container. Then the company will drive it, and at destination we need to unload everything.

Packing everything is going to be challenge, especially with the baby. Loading everything is going to be a bigger challenge, considering that the snow comes up to my knees in certain places, and it's constantly negative 20-something.

The actual move is going to be a PAIN, but we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and with a little luck we'll be able to get there safe, sound, and sane in a month...and then I can get back to blogging in full force. I have REALLY missed blogging and sharing awesome freebies and deals, but this ordeal is nearly over...!

Refund Cents - Open House

2009-01-15T11:32:00.001-06:00

This coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 16-18) will be open house when everyone can visit http://www.refundcents.com/. I've been a member there for quite some time and enjoy the vast amount of info I have learned there.

The free password/username will be:
Username: wifeswap
Password: wifeswap

Be mindful that access will not start working until early Friday. Log in and look around. There are several options for receiving information when you join.

Ginger
AttentionTargetShoppers.com

Free bottle of Suave

2009-01-14T16:16:00.002-06:00

I was over visiting one of my favorite sites, Mommies With Cents, and saw a freebie I just had to share. Suave is giving away coupons for a free bottle. They are only doing it today so hurry up and sign up for yours!

Register on suave.com to receive a coupon for one (1) bottle of Suave Shampoo, Conditioner, Hair Spray, Styling Aid, BodyWash, or Body Lotion (good up to $3.00) by mail. Registration begins at 12:00:01 a.m. ET on January 14, 2009 and ends at 11:59:59 p.m. ET on January 14, 2009. Open to all legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, age 18 years or older. Limit one coupon per household. Coupons will be mailed 2 - 4 weeks after registration close and can be redeemed through February 28, 2009.

www.1stopmom.com

Free digital magazine subscription

2009-01-11T13:27:00.004-06:00

The Read Green Initiative is helping us to become more green. They are offering free 1 year subscriptions to your favorite magazine. You do not have to participate in any special programs. You don't have to have a credit card. There are no strings attached. I signed up and created my account through Zinio with no problems. I like the idea of a digital magazine. All of the links are clickable and you are able to bookmark information you want to come back to later. A big plus is I won't have a huge stack of magazines that I already read. So why not go green yourself?

www.1stopmom.com

Good News & some resources

2009-01-09T17:15:00.001-06:00

Finally a tad bit of good news amongst the chaos. We're staying here for 2 more weeks than originally planned, thus wiping out our previous housing rent issues. But it's rather ridiculous how we lucked out into staying 2 more weeks. After housing basically refused to speak with us anymore on the matter, hubby decided to go to his boss. And here's the pathetic part - his boss decided to change his orders instead of just calling housing. I have a feeling that it wasn't the first time that someone had approached him with the same issue, and I guess it was easier to just change hubby's orders than to speak to housing. I'm so grateful for the extension, but seriously...how pathetic is the fact that military orders are bending around military housing...and not the other way around? It's pretty sad, but I'm not complaining too much since we do get 2 extra weeks now. I just feel sorry for everyone before and after us that have been sucked into the same hole but didn't have such a nice (or resourceful) boss, and I really do wish I could have done something to change housing's attitude so this would never happen again to someone. But right now, I've got bigger fish to fry.

Today it's official that we did not get the house we offered on. Not really a blow or shock to me, considering we weren't expecting to get it anyway. But I have already found another agent, and as soon as I'm done with this post I've got a few houses to look at. Obviously, buying a house isn't something you can do online or over the phone, but the point is to narrow the field down before we even get there, so hopefully we'll be able to be in a house within a few weeks.

Just to respond some comments quickly - we do have a year lease, and the orders allow us to break the year lease without penalty but not the 30-day notice. We do have a DLA, and travel advances, but the problem with tapping into those allowances to cover things like pointless rent is not exactly a good idea - considering that money is given to you for a purpose. For example, the DLA is supposed to help out with any security deposits that you'll incur in a new place. And travel advances are so you can pay for hotels on the way there, and gas, because they do understand that not everyone has money to front. Since we are buying a house, we could technically tap into our DLA without feeling the pain afterwards, but the problem is that we'll be in a short-term rental, and will still have to provide a deposit.

And I thought I'd just take a quick moment to share some of the resources that I've found so far, in case anyone else out there ever needs it:

PCS/Relocation Allowances FAQ - all you ever wanted to know (and then some) about available allowances

Navy Housing OneStop - technically for housing, but you will find all other gems of information on here about your area from schools to childcare. They also have nice little calculators to help with money matters.

Operation Homefront - provides emergency assistance and morale to troops, and also sponsors some fun community programs. We haven't used any of their services or been to any of their events yet, but they've been a great resource in providing some vital phone numbers and suggestions.

Military Moving Station - will set you up with an experienced real estate agent to help you either buy/sell a home. These agents have worked with military in the past, so it's great not having to explain every single bloody thing. Not only that, but you have a coordinator that will keep in touch after the referral is made to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Military Homefront - look up any and everything you ever wanted to know about your destination base. I mean, their phone directory is so complete I have the phone number to the flower shop and McDonald's.

Guardian Angels for Soldiers' Pet - a great organization that fosters pets for deployed military members or families in an emergency hardship situation. There is no cost (beyond regular pet car such as food or vet bills) to the military member. I mean...how great is this? It's bad enough that these people are basically dropping their lives to go fight for us...they shouldn't be forced to abandon their pet at a shelter to possibly die.

Thank you so much to those of you that have offered your help and support during this time. I really appreciate it. Hopefully, no one else ever has to go through a move from hell. Moves are hard, but it's a part of military life that we're prepared for. Moves from HELL, on the other hand, are a different story. But hopefully these resources will be able to help someone else out.

$10 off 2K Games at participating retailers...

2009-01-08T10:44:00.001-06:00

$10 off select video games at participating retailers. I am reading that major retailers are also accepting this coupon. If you want more than one game listed, just print more coupons. I'll go a step farther and say print and don't cut. This isn't the usual manufacturers coupon and it may be scrutinized. By not cutting it, it will leave the full URL intact at the bottom of the page of the site where you printed it.

Games included:

Carnival Games - Wii and Nintento DS
Dora Saves the Snow Princess - Wii, DS
NBA 2K9 - Xbox 350, PS3, PC
BIOSHOCK- PS3
Carnival Mini-Golf - Wii
Civilization Revolution - Xbox 360, PS3
Colonization - PC
NHL2K9 - Xbox 360, PS3, Wii

Print as many coupons as you like HERE.
Expires 1/31/09

Ginger

Update

2009-01-08T03:15:00.001-06:00

Just so you know that I'm not completely abandoning this blog, I wanted to give everyone a quick update on what's going on. I first shared some of the troubles we were facing in this move on Monday. And as much as I will it to be, I just don't really have anything positive to say.

When we were on vacation, we took some time to go house hunting. We actually found 2 houses that my parents put an offer on. Except one house wasn't available - it was a foreclosure and one bank had approved it for sale but not the other. What it was doing on the market I don't know. We put an offer on another house following this, and my parents made the decision to put the offer down in cash and for 20K higher than the asking price.

Then the agent calls us 2 days ago and asks us to up the offer to 50K higher than the asking price. Unless we complied, there's a 90% chance that our offer was going to be declined. Now, it's a lovely home -it has the potential to be absolutely gorgeous. However, that's just a bit more than we were planning to spend, not to mention 50K above an asking price is a tad bit far-fetched.

So, where does this leave us? In 22 days, hubby needs to show up for work. We currently have no address to go to, but obviously this doesn't excuse us from going. Our best options right now is to move into a furnished apartment or crash with relatives, and find an agent who will house-hunt with us 24/7 until we find a home. Our stuff will have to be put into storage, because frankly there is no way I can handle doing this again anytime soon.

Obviously, being practically homeless for a couple months is not something that I want to subject my family to. But really, there is no choice. And it gets even better. We are still trying to tackle the housing issue, and hubby is getting some limited form of help from his command, but if it doesn't work out we will be paying about $600 in rent for a house we're not living in. Oh, did I mention the $500 cleaning fees? Technically, it's not a requirement - we can choose to clean the house ourselves and hire our own professional carpet cleaners. But when you have an 8 month old child that you need to feed every second and you need to be packed up and on the road in less than 2 weeks...the actual possibility of doing that stuff by ourselves is extremely low.

Combine that cleaning fee with gas and lodging to get there, we're looking at a $900 tab. Include the $600 rent for a house we're not living in, and it's $1500. And of course, this isn't including the actual moving of our stuff, and definitely doesn't include the rent for any type of temporary housing situation we enter into. It's true that we will be re-compensated by the government for this, but that takes time. Mind you, if we're renting some month-to-month place, there will be a deposit to handle too. It took 9 weeks for us to get our money when we moved here in July. We just don't have that kind of money to pay off credit cards while we're waiting for them to reimburse us. The Navy can tell you to wait, but you can't tell the credit card companies to wait. Yes, we can take out a loan, but that puts us into debt. And I'll be damned if we're going into debt through no fault of our own.

And that pesky thing of needing a place to live once we get out there. They will pay for 10 days of temporary housing, but I somehow doubt we'll find, buy, and close on a house in 10 days. And speaking of, we will need to find temporary housing that's furnished (because remember our stuff will be in storage somewhere), is close enough to his work, and will fit 2 adults, a baby, and 2 dogs.

Some people have asked me why I bother with the dogs. Our lives are so unstable, and everyone these days are so pet unfriendly. Why bother? Because they are family. It's true that when we took responsibility for their lives we had no idea how crazy things would get. I never imagined taking them on a plane. But just because my life got a little bit out of hand it doesn't mean that I'm going to abandon my family. If you go by that logic, why not abandon the baby? She needs SO much stuff (box of diapers, pack and play, mountain of food, feeding chair, mountain of clothes...etc.), and she's less portable than a dog. At least the dog walks itself. And she's a lot more expensive too. By that logic, I guess I should drop my kid off at the local shelter too. She's cute, she'll be adopted by a loving family soon enough. She won't know the difference, right?

I really don't know where we're going to end. It is my belief that families need to stick together, especially in trying times like these. A simple solution would be for him to stay on-base (they obviously have housing for him. It's us that don't matter, remember?), the baby and I to stay with relatives, and the dogs to stay at a kennel. But honestly, how happy would we be in that situation? So unless the only remaining alternative is to sleep in our car, that solution is one that we will not even entertain. And call me crazy, but I would rather sleep in a car with my family than sleep in a king-size bed without them.

I guess there is a silver lining to this quickly darkening cloud. I've been on the phone nonstop with various people and organizations, and from what I can tell so far the folks at our destination are a whole lot nicer than the folks here. They're a lot more put together, a lot more efficient, and just a lot more willing to help. They're also very considerate and comforting. Not once has someone told me "get used to it". It's not exactly comforting to know that this is going to happen again, or that it's going to get worse.

We also found out that hubby probably won't be leaving "home" (where that is...mom's, hotel, back of the car...etc.) for any concern-provoking amount of time for at least a couple of months. After all, it's kind of hard to choose a house you're living in for at least the next decade without your husband. He might even be able to take time off to look for a place to live, which in my book makes a lot of sense. I'm working hard to keep my excitement in check on that though, because it's always better to be pleasantly surprised than to be let down.

So, it looks like I'll be away for a bit longer than I originally anticipated. But by no stretch of the imagination will I be abandoning this blog. This is the one thing that I am determined to keep for myself through everything. You always need to have a little something to keep you sane - and after my family, blogging keeps me sane. So bear with me, be super extra nice to the wonderful blog sitters, and if you catch a falling star...whisper a much-appreciated wish on our behalf.

Freebies

2009-01-07T15:05:00.002-06:00

Gold Bond Ultimate Soothing Lotion
Quaker Oats Rice Snacks
Total® Cranberry Crunch Cereal
Bauash and Lomb Pre-Moistened Lens Cleaning Tissue Sample you can try both the Fog Shield and Sight Saver

www.1stopmom.com

Honey, we can't afford your job...

2009-01-05T21:09:00.002-06:00

Warning - incoming rant...but I really do need to get this off my chest before I blow a blood vessel and bleed to death.

Before today, I thought it was impossible to financially be unable to afford a job. After all, a job pays money, and thus increases your level of afford-ability. Well, that is...unless your job happens to be the military.

Today, I found out that although my husband didn't even get 30 day notice of his orders, housing that we are living in are still holding us responsible to the 30-day notice. And this is with orders, while living in military housing. Someone please explain to me how we were suppose to be able to give a 30-day notice when WE didn't even have a 30 day notice.

According to housing, we were supposed to give notice as soon as we had an inkling of an idea that we would be leaving. They "conveniently" provide 30-day, 45-day, and 60-day notices. Uh...hello? This is the military life...we're ALWAYS leaving. If you go by their logic, we would sign the lease, and then sign our intent to vacant form immediately afterwards.

The only situation in which a 30-day notice is NOT required is if he got orders to Iraq or Afghanistan. Which makes absolutely no sense because those orders would mean HE goes to Iraq or Afghanistan, not his family. We would stay here. And considering they ONLY rent to families and will not even rent to single people...that "exception" is really not an exception at all.

And it gets EVEN better. According to this lady, she meets weekly with the higher ups at the command, and she says that they know all about this housing policy and it is their responsibility to let hubby know about it. Well, no one ever said ANYTHING. No one said anything to him, and no one said anything to me either when I went to all those pointless but voluntary "informational" sessions. Somewhere, the ball was dropped. But you know what? It doesn't hurt the housing lady. It doesn't hurt the higher ups. It hurts us...the little guys that are scrapping by eating rice and beans.

Where we are at right now is that we will be charged a month's rent, but wouldn't even be here for more than half the month. We're not talking about pocket change here people...we're talking about hundreds of dollars. It might be pocket change for those higher ups that forgot to pass the message, but for us that's a couple months of food.

And when I called the family help center here, the "help" I received was a joke. First, I was told that only HE has to report, and we can move up to a year after he leaves. Uh...okay...we already tried that 6 months ago, and that resulted in a 2 month delay, $4000 of stuff broken, and a shoddy house. We are NOT going down that route again. And then I was told that the government gives us MORE than enough money, and we can make up the difference from the gas, hotel, and temporary lodging money they give us. I don't know what government she was talking about, but it definitely wasn't ours...because gas money is for gas, hotel money is for the hotel, and temporary lodging money is for temporary lodging. They barely give you enough to cover your expenses...under no circumstance will you ever have a couple hundred of dollars just left over like some holiday bonus check.

Frankly, it's becoming very clear to me. We simply can't afford for my husband to keep his job. He works 100-something hours a week, but yet we can barely maintain a savings. We would see more money if he was working minimal wage at McDonald's flipping burgers. Any money that we can save is pretty much whisked away from us in a few months. You're supposed to have a "moving fund"...kind of like an emergency fund, but set aside for moving. Well, once upon a time I had one...then I moved 6 months ago. It takes TIME to build a fund back up, especially when the moving company broke most of your stuff.

I can deal with not having my husband around. I can deal with the fact that he's sent to god knows where to do god knows what. I can deal with having to move around constantly. What I cannot deal with is the fact that the very people who are supposed to help us are hurting us left and right. Through no fault of our own we are now in-between a rock and a hard place, and all anyone ever wants to do is tell us it's our fault and to get used to it. I work VERY hard every single day to keep this family out of debt...and I refuse to let the Navy put us back into debt.

At this point, we really have no clear options. After some guesstimating math-work, the total sum of money comes out in the thousands. This is including the required professional carpet cleaning and flea and tick spraying of the house upon move-out. But the funny thing is that this is only required since we stayed less than a year. Someone explain the sense in that to me.

And to make things even cheerier, today I got news that the house we put an offer on is in limbo. They didn't reject our offer, but they're waiting a few days for more offers to come in. Obviously it's not the worse news, but honestly the agent didn't seem too optimistic about it.

I am so sick and tired of people telling me that this is how it's supposed to be. Call me delusional, but moves are not supposed to be this way, even government moves. I don't believe that there's really a "smooth move" out there, but things should not be this ridiculously crazy. It makes me furious that people are trying to make me see this as a "norm".

As of right now, I really don't know where things are going to go. I JUST stopped having nightmares about the last move, and I am in no way (mentally, physically, emotionally, financially) ready for another move. When it comes time for my husband to re-enlist, I really don't think we can afford it.

Moving is an unavoidable part of military life, but no one ever said anything about debt being an unavoidable part of military life.

Win a $10 CVS Gift Card

2009-01-04T01:20:00.008-06:00

I know a lot of people out there love CVS. So what better way to save money then to win a gift card? Frugal Rhode Island Mama is giving away a $10 gift card to CVS. The giveaway ends January 10, 2008. You can enter up to five times.

www.1stopmom.com

Petsmart Grooming - don't do it!

2009-01-04T01:02:00.003-06:00

My precious Chloe dog is currently sulking around the house with bandages around her front legs. It's actually quite funny - hubby thinks she looks like half a racehorse since racehorses always have their legs bandaged. Well, it's not at all funny how she came to have bandages around her legs.

Yesterday, I took Chloe and Chip to our local Petsmart to be groomed. Chloe really doesn't need to be "groomed", but she did need a bath and a nail trim. Chip, on the other hand, needs an actual haircut every 3 months or so. Normally I send Chip off and frugally bathe Chloe at home, but I was just way too tired and they needed it desperately, having spent the past 2 weeks with 6 other dogs playing nonstop. So we shipped them both off to Petsmart.

Let me state again that Chloe went in for a bath and a nail trim. No sharp objects (scissors, razors...etc.) were supposed to be involved. So imagine my surprise when we picked her up with two open sores on the insides of her front paws.

As you can tell from the pictures, the wound on her right paw looks more like a puncture wound than a sore...it looks like something stabbed her in the foot and made a hole. The one on the left is no where as deep - it's comparable to a mild rash from rubbing against something. However, she should have absolutely NO wounds at all.

Of course, the staff did not even mention it, and when I questioned them, they said that nothing out of the ordinary happened and they have no idea how she got them. I know for a fact that she did not have them on her paws before Petsmart...considering we snuggled for 3 hours on the couch with her and clipped her whiskers the night we got home. We would have noticed. It's kind of hard not to notice something like that. But Petsmart wanted me to believe that she tried to dig herself out of her crate and injured herself in that manner.

Before we go any further, let me share with you that Chloe is a dog that has been on a plane TWICE in her life, and has spent countless hours in her crate in various situations. The dog is considerably bomb-proof. And not to mention that it is quite impossible to do that in a crate in a short amount of time unless there are exposed sharp points...which there shouldn't be.

The staff offered their apologies, and said that if anything happens I can call them and they will "take care of it". What that means...I really don't know. Hopefully it means they will pay for her vet bills. At this point though, the only vet she's seen is Dr. Mommy and Dr. Daddy. It's not an emergency situation that requires us to head off to the $200 doggy ER.

However, a trip to the vet is pretty much unavoidable at this point. By the time we got home it was already oozing. I flushed it out with povidone-iodine, applied an antibacterial cream, and sprayed on a liquid bandage. Just to drive the point home and prevent licking, we protected it with gauze and the bright pink bandage warp. Just a disclaimer - I have no vet knowledge. It's just after Chip's near-death experience with the coyote and the following month that my neighbor and I spent flushing his wounds, applying various creams/bandages, and forcing pills down his throat every 3 hours...well, I obviously picked up some tricks.

When I changed her dressings for the night, the gauze and pink bandage wrap was soaked through with yucky ooze. I'm sure it's nothing serious, but it's an infection that will probably need a course of antibiotics to clear up. All this from a bath and a nail trim.

I will not be returning to any Petsmart grooming salon in the future. It's simply not worth it.

Saturday - 1/3/09

2009-01-03T22:20:00.002-06:00

Ifyou haven't checked, I've posted quite a few times on Coupons Rebates and Refunds. Here are a few things you might like to know....

I also post daily on AdlibCorner.com. A few interesting things that you can find by clicking the link and reading the posts ....

$4.00 worth off Dawn Dish soap
SwagBucks Code - I'm earning $10 a week here!
$1.50 Colgate Toothpaste Coupon Exp. 12/31/2010!!!
You'll find answers for many trivia sites around the Internet. All offer some sort of earning potential.
A list of freebies on the right hand sidebar towards the bottom.

Last, every week at midnight on Saturday, you'll see the Target Coupon Match-ups appear at AttentionTargetShoppers.com. This week there are 5 posts covering all of the match-ups.

I'm not dead either! ROFL -- Rita, take your vitamins! I am just blog juggling! I hope everyone has a great Sunday. Email me if you need anything Ginger(@)adlibcorner (dot) com! I'll respond as soon as I can.

Thanks for reading!

Ginger

I'm not dead!

2009-01-01T23:58:00.002-06:00

We're on our last night of our little whirlwind vacation, and I thought I'd just take a short break from packing to post a small update. I haven't exactly been around, and I wanted to let you all know that I'm not dead (though I feel real close to it).

We had a wonderful time hanging with the in-laws, and trust me...there's PLENTY of them to hang with. That's what happens when your hubby's parents get divorced and then remarried. Just to give you an idea, we had THREE Christmas-s. Yes, count them...THREE. Three separate occasions where we gathered around a Christmas tree and opened presents. And the little princess now has more toys than some daycares. And forget libraries - she's got more DVDs and books than most city libraries.

I can't wait to get home - leaving Chiploe is harder than it looks. Poor things must have thought we abandoned them by now. And the little princess can't wait to get home too. She's tired of playing "hot potato"...and she's the potato. Her schedule is all thrown off, and I'm not even going to try to get her back on a schedule because it'll just be thrown off again in the next few weeks.

As of right now, in partnership with my parents, we have an offer on a lovely house in San Diego...that I haven't seen yet. It's a long story, but we actually did spend a day house hunting, but this is a "back-up" offer house that became the front runner due to some technical issues (i.e. a house being on the market when it's not supposed to be). My parents have seen the house and can't stop raving about it, but we haven't seen anything other than pictures. From what I hear though, it's an AWESOME house, and we'll be really blessed to have it.

Well, actually, even if it's a broken down leaky shack we'll be really blessed to have it. Because without it, we'd be homeless. The wait-list for base housing is 6 months long, not that we even want to consider it since we're so done with the utter crap housing has handed us the last 2 bases we've been on. Trying to find a place to rent that's somewhat close by, allows pets, will fit all of us, and affordable is frankly impossible. And especially on so short of a notice, considering we have to be there by the end of the month...meaning we'll need to be on the road in 20 days at the latest.

So, I'll be gone for a while longer, while I try to plan and pull off a move cross-country in 20 days. The last time I did this she was 3 months old. This will be my 8 month old's THIRD state (that she's lived in...we're not even counting states that we've driven through). We were a fool to believe that the Navy would take care of a sailor's family, or even the sailor...because the amount of help we've had in trying to go through with their orders on an impossibly short amount of time can be compared to the amount of help you can expect from your dog in trying to prepare Christmas dinner.

Thank you so much Ginger and Tricia for holding down the fort, and eventually I'll be back...if I'm not committed to an insane asylum by then. Pray and cross your fingers that we'll be able to buy that house, and we'll be able to get through this with our minds intact. Thanks for your patience, and I will be checking in when I can. Hope everyone had a wonderful (and stress-free) holiday season!

2009 - It is almost here!

2008-12-30T11:19:00.003-06:00

Hello All!

I don't know about you, but for me it is nearly impossible to believe that 2008 is drawing to a close. So much has happened in our family this year. We had trips to attend graduations for our 2 older daughters, the oldest got married out of state so there were many trips for planning, showers and the wedding. My son needed some help with his boys for a week so I traveled for that. We lost our tenant in west Texas and had to travel to get the house market ready and put it on the market. Anyone want a nice house in El Paso, TX? My oldest daughter had surgery earlier this month so I traveled to be with her. We went back to be with my family for Christmas. I think we did 15 trips last year and all were in excess of 600 miles. You can see, I am anxious for 2009 to be a calmer year with less MUST DOs and more relaxation. How about you?

I've purchased a new calendar for work. I have new journals for tracking projects. Now I am preparing to pack down all the trim and do a whole house clean-up to start 2009 off in good shape. I am planning the makeover of a bedroom into my home office. There are taxes to consider and all the organizing and planning that takes. We still have to purchase our tax software though.

Clearance shopping is still on my to-do list in early 2009. I am not doing much but there are a few things I am eyeballing hoping to get dirt cheap deals. We had a big discussion and it lead to me purchasing the Amazon Prime membership. We decided that 2009 will be an Amazon Christmas. No shopping, no wrapping, no hauling and no mailing. Point, click and be done. The purchase price will more than pay for itself with me NOT buying stuff we don't need to get and the time and gas it takes to get there.

Amazon Prime - Check it out!

If you are looking for more coupons or deals, please consider visiting Coupons Rebates & Refunds. I have been posting some nice items over there. If you are interested in earning some gift certificates by participating at sites that will reward you, please consider visiting AdlibCorner.com. I list several sites in the two sidebars where you can create accounts and participate. All are brief and build over time. Most people who are faithful to visit the sites listed are earning over $1000 annually for minimal participation. It may be answering a trivia question or visiting links or even just opening and viewing an email. All the sites listed are tested and proven to pay. Nothing is set in stone, but I do try to ferret out sites that are trustworthy.

Here is wishing you all a wonderful 2009! I know that Rita is itching to get moved, unpacked, get her computer back and have a routine once again. I've got total admiration for her going through all of this during the winter, with little notice and with a baby too! I'm doing what I can to keep info flowing for her. As the new year settles in, I'm hoping to be better at doing that for not just My Precious Pennies but my own blogs too!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Ginger

Coupons.com Updated List of Coupons -12/28/08

2008-12-28T17:29:00.001-06:00

This is a list of all the coupons currently available on the Coupons.com site. The list is thanks to BeCentsable.com. All you have to do is click on the banner ad to the right and you can print two of each. You do this by hitting the back button. If some of the coupons listed aren't available, just keep checking back hit and miss to see if they reappear. There is a set quantity (undisclosed of course) and when the limit is hit, it will no longer be printable.

409 Natural Stone cleaner, $1.00/1

*NEW* All or Surf, $.40/1

*NEW* All or Surf, $1.50/1 96 ld or larger

Becton Dickson Lancets, $1.50/1

Betty Crocker, Cookie Mix $.75/1

Birds Eye Frozen Vegetables, $1.00/2

*NEW* Blink Eye Drops, $1.50/1

Boston, Bausch & Lomb Simplus, $ 1.00 /1

Bridgford Frozen Rolls, $.55/1

Caribou Coffee, bag whole bean or ground, $1.00/1

CloSys Toothpaste or Oral Rinse $2.00/1

*NEW* Country Crock, $1.00/1

Daregal Fresh Frozen Herbs, $1.00/1

Domino Sugar, 2 lb, $.50/2

Domino Sugar, 4-5lb, $.40/1

Dove SkinVitalizer, $3.75/1

*NEW* Dryel, $3.00/1

General Mills, Cheerios, $.75/1

*NEW* General Mills, Trix, $.55/1

*NEW* Gourmet Dining, Shrimp Skillet Meal, $1.75 /2

Hallmark Cards, $2/$10

Honey Baked Ham, any size bone-in half ham, $5.00 off

Honey Baked Ham, any size boneless half ham, $3.00 off

Huggies Diapers, 2 jumbo packs or 1 super-mega pack, $2.00 off

Hyland's, Calm Forte Sleep Aid, $1.00/1

Jones' Dairy, breakfast sausages, $1.00/2

Kaytee Bird or Small Animal Bedding Product, $1.50/1

Kaytee Bird or Small Animal Food, $2.50/1

Kaytee Bird or Small Animal Treats, $1.00/1

Keresal, $1.00/1

King's Hawaiian, Bread or rolls, $1.00/1

Kodak, Picture Movie DVD, $5.00/1

*NEW* Kraft Polly-O String Cheese, $1.00/1

Kraft, Bagel-fuls, $1.00 /1

Leap Frog, Didj game system, $10.00 /1

Leap Frog, Didj game, $5.00 /1

*NEW* Meaty Bone, B1G1 Free

Murray Sugar Free Cookies, $.55/2

Nature's Bounty, $1.00 /1

Nutrogena Theraputic Hair Care $2.00/1

OptiFree, $1.00 /1

Orville Redenbacher popcorn, $1.00/1

Picadilly Restaurants, Free Dessert with meal purchase of $5.99 or more

Pillsbury, refrigerated Holiday cookie dough $.75/2

Pillsbury, refrigerated pie crusts, $.60/1

Pillsbury, Savorings, $1/1

Pillsbury, sweet rolls, $.35/1

Promise, Supershots for Blood Pressure, $ 1.00 /1

Promise, Supershots for Cholesterol, $ 1.00 /1

Quilted Northern 6-pack dbl-roll toilet tissue $1.00/1

Renu, $1.00 /1

Renu, Multiplus, $1.00 /1

SheaFlex70 $5.00/1

Star Wars, AT-TE Vehicle, $10.00/1

Star Wars, Electronic Lightsaber, $5.00/1

Success Rice, $1.00/1

Sudafed, Any prod, $1.00 /1

Sudafed, Day/Night Cold, $1.00 /1

Sudafed, OM Nasal Spray, $2.00 /1

Super Pet Habitat, Critter Trail Home for Small Animals, $5.00/1

Super Pet Habitat, Defined Habitat for Small Animals, $10.00/1

Tabasco Product, any size, $.50/1

Tilex Mold and Mildew Cleaner, $.50/1

UDance Game for PS, $10.00/1

Wanchai Ferry Dinner Kit, $1.10/1

Walgreens $5 off $25 coupon

2008-12-27T21:44:00.003-06:00

Walgreens has a $5 off $25 coupon for online orders. Enter coupon code CELEBRATE at checkout. This coupon code is valid for up to five uses per account and good thru December 31, 2008.
With a purchase of $25 or more your purchase may be eligible for free shipping.

Get free shipping to the contiguous 48 states on orders with $25 or more on items marked as FREE shipping eligible or Ships for FREE. If the subtotal of eligible items is less than $25, the regular fee of $5.49 applies.

You will not be charged the basic shipping fee twice in one order. If your order does not qualify for free shipping, you will only be charged the shipping fees for the ineligible items.

Products that do not count toward the $25 FREE shipping eligible minimum:

• Products with individual flat shipping fees
• Contact lenses
• Pharmacy items
• Photo Center items (prints, photo gifts, etc)

www.1stopmom.com

Great Time To Go Shopping

2008-12-27T17:21:00.002-06:00

Now that Christmas is over one of the best times to shop is here. After Christmas shopping is high on the list right next to Black Friday. It is the perfect time to stock up on supplies for next year. You will find cards, ornaments, lights, wrapping paper and gift tags at 50% to 75% off. If you are really good you can find some gifts for next year. Only buy items that can sit until next year. Nothing that is perishable.This is also a great time to shop for upcoming birthdays. My son's birthday is in two weeks and I already bought his gifts at a fraction of the cost.

www.1stopmom.com

Merry Christmas 2008!

2008-12-24T08:29:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

May your holiday be a plesant one filled with joy. Please be safe and warm. I'll be thinking about you all and keeping you in my prayers. I am sure that Rita, Tricia and myself will all be back to work as soon as we can bringing you more great deals, offers and news about how to make those precious pennies stretch!

Ginger

Stay on top of prices

2008-12-23T12:54:00.004-06:00

With the holiday season being so busy it is sometimes hard to keep up with everything. A lot of stores have price protection policies so if the price drops on something you bought you are able to get the difference back. Well there is a site that will watch the prices for you. It is called Price Protectr. If you shop at one of the retailers Price Protectr supports, all you have to do is enter the URL for the item you purchased. If the price drops within the item's price protection period, you will be sent an email with detailed information on how to get your money back! Price Protectr supports more than 150 retailers.

There is even a toolbar you can use to save you more time! The toolbar features:

One-click protection. When you visit a supported retailer, a "Protect" button is enabled which will open a new tab at Price Protectr and automatically fill in your URL.
Never forget to protect a purchase. The toolbar will stay up to date with all the supported retailers, so you never have to wonder whether or not a site is supported.
Retailer ratings. When you visit a supported retailer, their price protection rating will show up letting you know how accurate out users have found the price protection policy.
Save some dough with coupons. When you visit a supported retailer, it will automatically show you any coupons that are available.
Provides easy access to the deals search, price protectr pages, full retailer profiles, and more!

1stopmom

Freebie Frenzy

2008-12-22T20:02:00.000-06:00

50% off At Michaels + Bonus Coupons
Michaels is offering a printable coupon for 50% off one regular priced item good 12/21-12/27.
PLUS three bonus coupons:

extra 10% off holiday decor sale prices
extra 10% off Christmas ribbon sale prices
extra 20% off Christmas handcrafted floral arrangement sale prices

Harbor Freight

Free Screwdriver Set from Harbor Freight - Good for in-store redemption 12/22 - 12/24 only!
Click here to find a location.

Captain D's

Join the Club to stay posted on new dishes and money-saving coupons. Each new member gets a coupon good for a FREE Fish & Fries or a FREE Chicken & Fries.

Sunny California (sorta)

2008-12-22T09:56:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone! Just checking in from sunny sunny California. Well, sorta - it's raining this morning. But I'll take rain ANY DAY over the -3 degrees blizzard that we had in Chicago. It was quite literally blizzarding...it was -3 degrees but with windchill it was -35 degrees. Surprisingly, we had no delays whatsoever, and go checked in and through security in 15 minutes.

There's a lot of stuff on the agenda for today, but I am DETERMINED to head out to CVS for some major holiday shopping! Not to mention the free Conair Gel Grips Ionic Styler Dryer from Walgreens. Today ONLY, it's half-off at $10 with a $10 register reward. And the best thing abotu all of this shopping is that I won't have to take it home - I'm just going to leave it at my in-law's house, and when we move down here in a couple of weeks I will collect my haul. Or, they can always just use it - we all know that CVS and Walgreens offers enough freebies and moneymakers for one to share with the entire block, and then some.

I will continue to check in while on vacation, and I might even have more time to blog than when I was at home, considering there is currently a mile long waiting list to hold/feed/entertain the baby. Ah...don't you just LOVE family?

AMEX Gift Card Rebate - Sweet Deal

2008-12-21T21:47:00.000-06:00

1. Go to CVS. There is a special promotion offer if you buy (3) $25 American Express Gift Cards.

Receive $10 ECB w/purchase of 3 ($25) AMEX GCs. Use these cards your self at any retailer that accepts AMEX or use as gifts.
There is an activation fee of $3.95 per card x (3) = $11.85 - $10.00 ECB= $1.85 out of pocket.

2. Go HERE and print a $15 American Express Gas Card Rebate.

Results in a profit of $13.15.
This rebate qualifies for purchases made until 12/31/08 and must be submitted before 1/22/09.

AttentionTargetShoppers.com
AdlibCorner.com
Coupons Rebates & Refunds

Brick 'n Mortar Printable Coupons

2008-12-21T16:32:00.003-06:00

How about the motherlode of printable coupons for your shopping wrap-up at some well known brick 'n mortor stores in your very own neighborhoods? Hopefully some of these will be of use to you. Thanks to CouponDivas.com for the assist on some of these coupons. And you can go completely crazy at MommySavesBig!!!! Load up the printer. Here is a sample of what these two sites have to offer.

American Eagle 20% off total purchase - Expires 12/23

Carter's 20% off of $50 or more. There is also a coupon attached that is for a free wooden sled ornament while supplies last, no purchase necessary - Expires 12/23

Borders

50% - 75% Borders Coupon (12/21 ) From 50% to 75% discount on the entire stock holiday trim, cards and novelties. Print coupon is not required. Click link for more details.
20% Printable Borders Coupon (12/23 )
Receive a 20% discount on any list price of one item in store at Borders.
30% Printable Borders Coupons (12/24 )
Print coupon and present it to any Borders book store near you and save 30% off the list price of one item for your first purchase on borders.com. Borders rewards exclusive offer.

Kirkland's $5 off $25 - Good 12/22 - 12/24

Macy's (Some restrictions apply so be sure to read the fine print.) 15% off storewide sale and clearance merchandise. 10% off home, ladies suits, ladies and men's outerwear, intimate apparel, ladies & men's shoes, also men's tailored clothing - Good 12/21 - 12/23

Ruby Tuesday - Free $5 bonus coupon w/$25 GC Purchase in store only. Expires 12/31/08

Sports Authority $10 off $50 - Good 12/21 - 12/24

Stein Mart - $10/$50, $20/$100 or $30/$150

Yankee Candle - $15 off $35 purchase. Expires 12/24

I want to also direct you to my blogs for yet more great coupons and offers.

AttentionDealShoppers.com - Shop online and get some great deals
AttentionTargetShoppers.com - It's all about Target and a few other select goodies.
Adlibcorner.com - Here you'll find trivia and ways to earn out of thin air.
Coupons Rebates & Refunds - Self-explanatory and loaded down with info.

Drop by and see what I do. Be sure to sign up on all of them just as you have done here at MyPreciousPennies! Rita, Tricia and I want to help you stretch your your precious pennies until they squeel!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ginger

Payless Shoe Sale ends today

2008-12-21T15:52:00.003-06:00

The Payless Shoes promotion for buy one get one 1/2 off ends today. This promotion is good for everything in the store. There is free ground shipping for purchases over $60 or you can choose free shipping to a store near year.

Tricia

Free 5x7 or 8x10 at CVS

2008-12-21T15:41:00.002-06:00

With all the pictures that everyone is taking during this holiday season, how about getting a free 5x7 or 8x10 at CVS? All you have to do is add a 5x7 or 8x10 print to your cart and enter the promo code ENLARGE. There is a limit of 1 promo per account and the offer is only good through December 24, 2008.

CVSing on vacation!

2008-12-21T11:52:00.001-06:00

We are leaving in 3 hours for the airport, and unfortunately I just don't have enough time to head out in the snow to our local CVS, but FEAR NOT! Because our destination hosts a number of CVSs, so either after our plane lands tonight, or tomorrow morning, I'm heading out to CVS...while on vacation!

Here's the magic that I plan to weave:

Buy 1 Benefiber Drink Mix 16ct: $7.29
Buy 1 Excedrin Express Gels 20ct: $3.99
Buy 1 Zantac 150 8ct: $4.99
Buy 1 L'Oreal HIP Metallic Eye Shadow Duos: $6.99
Buy 1 ThermaCare Neck to Arm Heatwrap 1ct: $2.49
Buy 1 Arm & Hammer Essentials Starter Kit: $2.99
Buy 1 Listerine Antiseptic 16.9 oz: $2.99
Buy 1 Right Guard Profession 1.8oz: $6
Buy 2 Sally Hansen Lacquer Shine Nail Color ($5.99 each): $11.98
Buy 1 Sleepinal 32ct: $8.49
Buy 1 Slimquick 2pk: $4.99
Buy 1 Zipfizz Energy 3ct: $5.99
Buy 1 Alteril Sleep Aid 30ct: $9.99
Buy 1 Halls Naturals 25ct: $2.59
Buy 1 EAS AdvantEdge bar 2.11oz: $1.69
Buy 1 EAS advantEdge shake 4pk: $7.49
Subtotal: $90.94
Use $2/1 Benefiber mfg coupon (-$2.00)
Use $2/1 Excedrin printable (-$2.00)
Use $1.50/1 Zantac mfg coupon (-$1.50)
Use $2/1 L'Oreal mfg coupon (-$2.00)
Use $1.50/1 ThermaCare mfg coupon (-$1.50)
Use $1/1 Arm & Hammer printable (-$1.00)
Use $1/1 Listerine CVS coupon (-$1.00)
Use $0.50/1 Right Guard printable (-$0.50)
Use $3/2 Sally Hansen CVS coupon (-$3.00)
Grand Total: $76.44 (use $65.68 stash of ECBs + $3.23 Moneycard)
OOP: $7.53 + tax (on CVS giftcard: balance will be $6.95)
ECBs returned: $7.29 (Benefiber) + $3.99 (Excedrin) + $4.99 (Zantac) + $6.99 (L'Oreal) + $2.49 (ThermaCare) + $2.99 (Listerine) + $2.99 (Arm & Hammer) $6.00 (Right Guard) + $11.98 (Sally Hansen) + $8.49 (Sleepinal) + $4.99 (Slimquick) + $5.99 (Zipfizz) + $9.99 (Alteril) + $2.59 (Halls) + $1.69 (EAS bar) + $7.49 (EAS shake) = $90.94

Profit: $14.50 + $90.94 of merchandise!

I'm not sure if I can take a picture of my haul, but time (and resources) permitting, I will try to at least stop by and let you all know how my vacation trip went. I feel a tad bit silly CVSing while on vacation, but I really do enjoy CVSing, and vacation is all about enjoying your time! As an added plus, maybe I can convert some family members to the ~~religion~~ joy of CVS!

Let the chaos begin...

2008-12-19T20:39:00.001-06:00

I apologize for being non-existent in the past couple of days, but I've been trying to keep some sanity in the insane mess that is otherwise known as my life.

We'll be away for 2 weeks during the holiday season, and during that time (and possibly longer) I will be completely out of touch. Mainly due the fact that my laptop's screen is detaching and I'll need to send it in to get fixed. And of course, hubby's laptop conveniently decided to completely die at the same time, so I'll be completely in the dark until my precious laptop is fixed. I will be checking in every now and then when I can get access to a computer, but for the most part I will be out of touch.

But fear not, because two WONDERFUL ladies have stepped up to the plate and will be keeping the cobwebs away while I'm gone. Ginger from Attention Target Shoppers and Tricia from 1stopmom will be holding down the fort and keeping the darkness at bay while I'm gone. Thank you SO much for being my lifesavers!

I wish I could say that the only hurdle standing in the way is 2 weeks during the holidays, but once we get back I will be going stir crazy getting ready for another PCS move, hopefully my last for at least a few years. I should be a pro at this, considering I've moved 7 times in the past 3 years, but it really doesn't get easier - you just figure out how much Tylenol you need to take beforehand.

Tomorrow will be my last day of sanity before I kiss goodbye to my precious laptop, so I will try my hardest to set a few things up so it's not completely chaotic around here.

Thanks for all of your patience and support!

Sassy Clink 'n Chew Keys - a review

2008-12-16T02:22:00.001-06:00

One of the presents that we received at the baby shower for the little princess was a set of Clink 'n Chew Keys by Sassy. The recommended age is 6+ months, so they've been sitting at the back of the closet until recently. And she really does love these keys. They produce a real-sounding jingling key sound, and there are two buttons on the "remote" that makes either an engine starting noise or a honking sound. The actual keys are full of different textures, so not only is it fun but it's also good for baby...or so I thought.

One day when I went to take my baby out of her car seat, I found blue spots on her nose and lips. At first I had no idea what in the world this was, until my eyes went to set of Sassy Clink 'n Chew Keys in her hands.

Mind you, she's only been playing with them for a month. Considering the recommended age is "6+ months" and the name of the toy is "Clink 'n CHEW keys", it's to be expected that babies are going to chew on them. I am so disappointed that the paint flaked after only a month of play.

When I emailed Sassy requesting a refund, I was contacted by a consumer relations representative the next day and offered a replacement. According to Sassy, they only use "safe non-toxic materials", and all of their products "meet and exceed all safety standards set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM)". That's great and all, but paint is paint and I would rather my child NOT ingest paint, no matter how safe and non-toxic it is.

Sassy says that they will be sending me a set of "new revised keys that do not have any paint on them", and they will also be sending a postage-paid envelope for me to send the defective toy back for a Quality Control inspection.

It's great that Sassy is offering a replacement, but I have to admit that I have my doubts on the replacement keys and any other Sassy products. We're not talking about a pair of toy keys that I picked up at some garage sale. We're talking about a toy purchased brand new less than a year ago that has become a hazard in under 1 month of play. I don't care how many standards and tests they've exceeded at, but they have certainly failed my expectations.

Christmas Catalog: Marshalls

2008-12-15T02:22:00.000-06:00

The CHRISTMAS CATALOG is all about making Christmas shopping easy, and one of my favorite places to shop is Marshalls.

Marshalls carry brand names and designer products at a fraction of the price. They are able to offer such tremendous saving because sometimes department stores overbuy and designers overproduce. Marshalls negotiate prices on that overstock, and are able to bring the same merchandise to shoppers for a much cheaper price.

Not only is Marshalls a great place to save on quality brand-name merchandise, it's also a treasure cove of many different items. Marshalls gets more than 10,000 new items every week, so every single time you shop you are quite literally walking into a different store. Merchandise at Marshalls is always rotating, so if you see something that you like...grab it before it disappears!

On my most recent trip to Marshalls, I bought the Safari Roller by Infantino and a duck breakfast set. The Infantino Safari Roller retails for $10.99 at Toys "R" Us, and I got it at the deal price of $6.99. The breakfast set was just so cute that I had to get it, and it was an awesome deal at just $4.99, compared to the regular retail price of $10. It would make for an awesome gift, if I didn't like it so much that I decided to keep it.

I love shopping at Marshalls because I can find something for just about everyone. I love browsing their home decor department, because they have so many unique and quality pieces. I remember one year I bought a model sailing ship for $20 for my best friend and his family from Marshalls, and to this day he tells me that they still get compliments on it.

If you're tight on time and money this Christmas, be sure to stop by Marshalls - it's a truly one-stop shop for everyone on your list!

Through the Storm: a book review

2008-12-14T00:01:00.001-06:00

Recently I read the book Through the Storm by Lynne Spears, and I would like to share with you my opinion of the book.

Before I begin my review, I need to admit that when I first started reading the book, I thought it was just going to be another celebrity-mom arguing with tabloid claims and trying to ride her children's coat-tails and make more money off them.

But I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. When I read the book, it felt like I was reading the story of any other ordinary mother, but as luck would have it her daughter just happened to be a pop star. I found the book very refreshing and definitely not what I expected, but in a good way. Lynne's approaches to parenting and life challenges were interesting, and while I do not agree with her ways and choices, I can certainly understand her point of view.

The book felt like a true memoir instead of some money-making gimmick, and I applaud Lynne for having the courage and honesty to write such a lasting gift for her children. The book is centered around family and family decisions, rather than entertainment careers. If anything, her daughters' careers are mere backdrops to the true family action.

I am glad that I gave the book a try, and I consider it time well spent. Although I do not necessarily agree with her choices, I do appreciate her view and willingness to share her experience. If you're looking for a relaxing read for the rainy day, pick up a copy of Through the Storm by Lynne Spears and settle down with a cup of hot chocolate for an interesting look into a very special mother's world.

ON HOLD

2008-12-13T20:23:00.000-06:00

Mailbox of Goodies and the Incoming Freebies and Received Freebies listing will be put on hold while I'm trying to get my life back together.

We will be away for 2 weeks during the holidays, and after we get back the focus will be on our upcoming move.

I will remove this notice when things are back to normal, and in the meantime I appreciate your patience!

CVS: what are you doing...?!

2008-12-13T18:04:00.001-06:00

On my last trip to CVS, I received a $/$$ coupon at the end of my ECBs. I had originally thought it was $3/$15, so imagine my surprise when I double checked this morning and it turned out to be a $5/$15!

My plan was very simple - buy 5 packs of Duracell batteries at $3 each, and get back $5 ECBs for having spent $15. If only it was actually that simple.

When I went to check out, the batteries rang up at $2.99 each. That's only a cent difference, but the problem though is that I would NOT be able to get my $5 ECBs because I would be five cents short of $15, and would have to buy ANOTHER pack of batteries. Not cool.

After I pointed out that the batteries are advertised as $3 according to both the price tag AND the ad, the manager decided to take the creative path and have me buy 6 packs of batteries and then refund the 6th pack, just to force the system to print the ECBs. Sounds complicated, but okay, whatever...he's the manager so he knows what he's doing.

Here's the rather confusing transaction breakdown:

Buy 6 packs of Duracell @ $2.99 each: $17.94
Subtotal: $17.94
Use $5/$15 CVS register coupon (-$5.00)
Use 2 $0.50 Duracell mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Use 2 $0.75 Duracell mfg coupon (-$1.50)
Grand Total: $10.44 (use $3.99 + $3.45 + $3.00 ECB)
OOP: $0.20 tax (on CVS giftcard: balance $14.48)
ECBs returned: $5 (Duracell)

Return 1 pack of Duracell batteries: $2.99
Tax: $0.24
Total on CVS money card: $3.23

So, after all is said and done, I paid $10.44 in ECBs and $0.20 on my giftcard, and then got a refund on for $3.23. My total expense
was $7.21 in ECBs, and I got back $5 ECBs. That means I paid $2.21 for
5 packs of batteries - not too shabby!

Granted, if only the CVS system was right and rung the batteries up at $3 each instead of $2.99, it would have a lot less confusing, but I'm so grateful to my store for stepping up and making it work regardless.

JCPenney: $35 savings!

2008-12-13T17:52:00.001-06:00

A couple days ago I received a $15 off $15 coupon to JCPenney, and today we stopped by to pick up a last little something for Christmas.

Both of these were originally priced at $20, but they were on a 50% sale, making them both $9.99. Combined with my $15 off $15 coupon, I ended up getting both items for $2.50 each!

Normally I prefer to do my shopping at discount retailers, but $2.50 for a revolving clock with photo is a pretty sweet deal that really can't be beat!

$0.40 Lambie!

2008-12-13T17:46:00.001-06:00

After the little princess' Gymboree class this afternoon, I braved the Christmas crowds and stopped by Bath and Body works to pick up my free Little Lambie. Until tomorrow, you can get a free 6" Little Lambie with ANY purchase by printing and using this coupon in-store.

There is no minimum purchase required, so I picked up at $1.50 nail file. This would have been a pretty sweet deal already, but the nail file was 75% off, making it a grand $0.37!

After tax, I paid $0.40 for a nail file and a Lambie. This new cheapie Lambie will be a fine addition to my Lambie Army.

Our lives are about to be turned upside down...again

2008-12-12T12:32:00.002-06:00

Yesterday as I was vegging out on the couch hopped up on Theraflu, hubby came home for dinner with some ~~good~~ ~~bad~~ news - we're moving to San Diego.

This is great news because all of our family is in Southern California, and frankly we could not have hoped for better orders. We'll be getting out of here before the really bad part of winter (read: constantly below zero). And the best part is instead of leaving immediately after we get there, hubby will be around for at least a couple of months before they even consider sending him out for a little boat ride.

The bad part to all of this is I have no idea how we're going to get there. We need to be there by February, and with everyone shutting down for 2 weeks for the holidays, we really only have a month to work on finding a house and getting movers out here. Mentally, I'm still trying to recover from the ordeal that was the last move.

This poor blog has been much neglected lately, and unfortunately there's more neglect in the near future. My main priority right now is to find a house and to get us all on time.

Once I get past the hyperventilating and sheer panic involved with a PCS move, I'm actually quite excited about it. The thing that I'm most excited about is the permanency of this move. Technically, the orders that bought us here for a grand 6 months were "permanent" too, but 6 months is not "permanent" in my book. This time, we're going to be there for a couple of years. My baby is not even a year old, and this is going to be her 3rd address in her 3rd state. The dogs just turned 3, and in their 3 years, they've had 7 addresses in 3 states. I'm so excited that we can finally put down roots, at least for a little while. We can actually attend family gatherings again! I can't wait to be close to all of my friends and family again, and the lovely weather will be a nice change. I won't have to replace my entire wardrobe after all!

I ask for your patience in the coming month - it's going to be crazy and completely insane. If anyone would like to write guest posts or be a blog sitter, I'm all ears!

Sick leave

2008-12-11T14:32:00.001-06:00

I am taking today (and possibly tomorrow and the weekend depending) off so I can concentrate on battling this monster alien mutant cold bug. I have officially been sick for an entire week now, and believe it or not I just keep getting worse. Fortunately, I still have my voice, but I can barely say 3 words without coughing up my lungs, and you don't want to know the amount of tissues that I've gone through lately. Oh, and how could I forget the killer headache that makes me fainty every time I stand up or otherwise switch positions.

So, I'll be horizontal today as I try to get better. Hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow morning completely healed...!

CVS results

2008-12-11T00:01:00.000-06:00

I stopped by CVS today to do my one planned transaction, and not only did everything went exactly according to plan, I also happened upon a couple of treats. In the pharmacy section, they have a whole stack of CVS coupons for grabs. They look like the ones that come in the Beauty magazine, except that I didn't have to pay for these. Definitely a plus.

My second treat came at the end of my ECBs - I received a $3/$15 coupon good for the next 3 days! Since I didn't take advantage of the battery deal, I will probably be heading back to do that soon. My store doesn't have the coupon tear-pads, and I don't think I have enough manufacturer's coupons...but the $3/$15 will help and I need to get rid of some ECBs anyway.

Here are the details on my transaction today:

Buy 1 Powerade: $1.59
Buy 1 Theraflu Warming Relief: $5.99
Buy 1 Complete Eye Solution: $8.99 (December deal limit 2!)
Subtotal: $16.57
Use $2/1 Theraflu mfg coupon (-$2.00)
Use $2/1 Complete printable (-$2.00)
Grand Total: $12.57 (use $4.47 + $7.99 ECB)
OOP: $0.11 + $0.07 tax = $0.18 (on CVS giftcard: balance $14.68)
ECBs returned: $1.59 (Powerade) + $2.00 (Theraflu) + $8.99 (Complete) = $12.58
MIR returned: $3.99 (Theraflu purchase price minus $2 coupon)
Total return: $16.57 ($4.00 profit!)

Not too bad for a 5 minute trip, especially when you take into account the awesome treats that I picked up. And for once, everything that I bought at CVS is MUCH needed in this house. I'm nearly running out of contact solution, and I am STILL not over this monster cold bug thing. I have some resemblance of a voice, but the majority of my day is spent coughing and blowing my nose. Hopefully the Theraflu will help...!

Things I Love Thursday: Scotch Paper Cutter $0.50 at Walmart!

2008-12-11T00:00:00.000-06:00

Couponing isn't exactly a chore to me (because otherwise I wouldn't do it), but I really can't admit that I enjoy cutting coupons too much. I don't mind sorting them, and I probably wouldn't mind cutting them so much if the scissors didn't give me carpel tunnel syndrome after a bit. Part of the reason is that I use these large scissors that I found in the fabric department of Walmart, and while they obviously don't fit my tiny hands, I would use no other type of scissors because they're just so sharp and so efficient. That still doesn't change the fact that my hands hurt after a while.

Enter the Scotch Paper Cutter. I think it's originally designed for holiday gift wrap cutting, but it works wonders on coupons (and actually anything else you need to cut out). It's basically just a push action, instead of having to work my fingers. I'm pretty sure that you can purchase it anytime of the year, but around the holidays it tends to be a bit easier to find and is often on sale.

Which is how I got my paper cutter for $0.50. Yes. Just two quarters. When I set out to find it at Walmart yesterday, I was expecting to have to pay somewhere in the range of $4 or $5. I had a $1 coupon from a recent insert, but honestly price wasn't the main issue here. I was just tired of using scissors, and a paper cutter that I will be heavily ~~abusing~~ using every week seems like a good investment.

Imagine my surprise when I found them in the home office department for $1.50! They had some in the actual aisle priced at around $4, but then at the end of the aisle on the side of the endcap they had a whole display of paper cutters, and someone had written with a sharpie $2.50, then crossed it out to $1.50.

I really didn't expect it to scan at $1.50, especially with the so "unofficial" markdown. I mean, really now...anyone passing by could have scribbled it on. But nope - it rang up at $1.50, and after my $1 coupon I ended up paying $0.50 for this couponer's hand-saving grace.

Best fifty cents I ever spent!

Twilight - a book & movie review

2008-12-10T03:28:00.001-06:00

When it first started, I really didn't understand the whole hype about the Twilight saga and movie. But recently I bought the entire series through Barnes & Nobles (and since I went through the Box Tops Marketplace my school will be getting a 6% donation), and now I understand the hype...sort of.

I devoured all four books in a matter of days, and I now understand what all the hype is about. It's a great series, but I must admit that I might be a bit biased - for some inexplicable reason, I have always been fascinated and attracted to anything vampire. Read all of the Anne Rice books I could get my hands on, probably at too young of an age, and I am so throughly obsessed with the vampire thing that I even kept up with Buffy the Vampire Slayer like it was my new religion.

My weird and crazy obsession aside, I really appreciated the series for its depth, suspense, and character relationships. Ultimately, it is a love story. But the great thing is that it doesn't read like some sappy romance and there are actually other events happening outside of the love story. There is no "filler" junk - every single word matters and is ultimately important. I've read a lot of series, but the Twilight saga is honestly the first one where I find myself re-reading a passage in a previous book - because that's just how much every single thing is related to each other. It's a true universe.

And then tonight, I watched the movie. And this is where I don't get the hype. People were tripping over themselves about the actor who plays Edward, but honestly...after watching the movie I think he's all wrong for the role. Maybe it's just my take on Edward, but he just doesn't seem like an Edward. Don't get me wrong, the actor is some fine looking eye candy, and while I do understand that Edward is incomprehensibly gorgeous and all that, I'm pretty sure they could have found someone better (especially in the acting skills department).

The girl that plays Bella, on the other hand, is exactly what I imagined Bella to be...perfect match. Although I was under the impression that Bella is supposed to be kind of...simple non-beautiful looking. Granted, I thought the acting was a bit...immature and HSM, and I really shudder to think how the same actress can pull it off when it comes time to make the last sequel, but compared to the drastic mis-match that is Edward, I think I can live with what they did to Bella.

That being said, I am so utterly disappointed. Now, I know better than to expect 100% of the book represented, but saying that 10% of the book was included is being very generous. It's going to be really funny watching them make the sequels work. As I said before, there is no "filler" in the book - every single conversation and every single word counts. Not only does it give you a good feel of exactly how deep and profound their relationship is, a lot of that information is also essential to the rest of the saga. After watching the movie, the relationship between Edward and Bella seems something more like a high school crush or infatuation, and cannot even be compared with what it actually is.

If you've watched the movie and loved it, but haven't read the books, treat yourself and get the entire saga. Set aside a couple of days and just read them - you will find your head spinning. If you loved the movie for what it was, you will forget to breath when you see for yourself how it really should have been.

Meanwhile, I will be sitting here giggling to myself thinking about how they're going to make a sequel. I don't think I will be able to watch the sequel in theaters - people will be shooting me mean looks since I'll probably be laughing my way through the entire thing, considering they made such a huge (and detached) mess of things in the first movie.

WFMW: Foil that stove!

2008-12-10T00:03:00.001-06:00

I'm not a big cooker, so most of our meals are easy and quick. Dinner is not a major event in our house, and thanks to the simplicity of the recipes I rarely make a mess on the stove. But somehow, it's just inevitable. Whenever oil is involved, things just tend to just splatter everywhere. And of course, my lack of coordination when it comes to cooking instruments probably has something to do with it.

I make a serious attempt to scrub the stove every night, but I'm going to be honest and admit that sometimes I just don't have the energy to or I just plain old forget. Burnt food is near IMPOSSIBLE to get off. But I have the perfect solution: FOIL.

After the last hour-long stove scrubbing, my genius of a husband had the lightbulb idea to cover the entire stove-top with foil. At first I thought it was so wasteful to plaster our entire stove with foil, but then it dawned on me that we're not exactly replacing it on a weekly basis. Actually, we're not even replacing it on a monthly basis. The matter of the fact is that foil is just a whole lot easier to wipe down than the actual stove. And if something is just stuck for the rest of eternity, we'll just replace that particular piece of foil. It's not as wasteful as it sounds...especially when you take into account the hours and chemicals we used to scrub the stove down.

Wordless Wednesday: Snow Dog

2008-12-10T00:02:00.001-06:00

CVSing for 12/7 - 12/13

2008-12-09T00:00:00.001-06:00

Click here to check out my CVS results!

I skipped CVSing last week due to the mass ~~chaos~~ family gathering at my house, but honestly there wasn't really anything that great anyway. I am really starting to sweat the $86.51 ECBs that I have from Thanksgiving, since I will be leaving for a CVS-less land in 2 weeks. I'll worry about that though later. Here is the one transaction that I will be doing this week:

Buy 1 Powerade: $1.59
Buy 1 Theraflu Warming Relief: $5.99
Buy 1 Complete Eye Solution: $8.99 (December deal)
Subtotal: $16.57
Use $2/1 Theraflu mfg coupon (-$2.00)
Use $2/1 Complete printable (-$2.00)
Grand Total: $12.57 (use $4.47 + $7.99 ECB)
OOP: $0.11 + tax (on CVS giftcard)
ECBs returned: $1.59 (Powerade) + $2.00 (Theraflu) + $8.99 (Complete) = $12.58
MIR returned: $5.99 (Theraflu)
Total return: $18.57 ($6.00 profit!)

I'm going to poke around tomorrow and see if I can plan my scenarios for the next few weeks before we leave - if I don't see anything worth using up my load of ECBs for, I might take advantage of the Duracell and Hershey's deal. This week, buy $15 worth of Duracell Batteries and get $5 ECBs - a pack is $3 right now, so it'll come out to $2 a pack of batteries after ECBs. With the right coupons, it'll be down to $1.50 a pack. Not exactly free, but still acceptable.

And then there's chocolate - buy $20 worth of Hershey's Candy and get $10 back in ECBs. Worse comes to worse, it's ALWAYS acceptable to "blow" ECBs on chocolate-y goodness!

Back to our regularly scheduled programming!

2008-12-08T15:23:00.001-06:00

My parents and grandma are currently on a plane going home, and I'm sitting here going through a thousand and one cough drops. Not only did I have 10 people in my tiny little house this weekend, the baby, my mom, and myself caught some monster cold bug. Everyone is doing better...everyone except for ME. I still have no voice, and my head feels like some overinflated balloon.

Today will be dedicated to getting resettled and trying to get better, so I hope to have things back to normal tomorrow. My poor Mailbox of Goodies and my freebie listings have been completely neglected, so I'm hoping to have a huge list up for your viewing pleasure sometime tomorrow.

Thanks for all of your patience!

20% off at Macy's

2008-12-08T15:17:00.001-06:00

Starting this Wednesday, enjoy 20% off at Macy's during their Friends and Family event. You can either print a coupon to use in store, or you can save online at macys.com or macysweddingchannel.com with the code MACYSFRIEND during checkout. Don't forget that you can get 8% cashback by shopping through Ebates!

Don't delay, because the offer expires Monday, December 15th!

Dreaming Giggles Design Winner

2008-12-08T15:02:00.001-06:00

This is nearly a week late, but it's better than never! The winner of a personalized custom canvas bow holder from Dreaming Giggles Design is Sherrylinn!

Congratulations Sherrylinn! Be on the lookout for more giveaways once I get resettled!

Guest Post: Entertaining on a Budget

2008-12-04T10:31:00.000-06:00

In case you don't know, my parents and grandma have been visiting us for the past week. My grandma lives in another country, so we rarely get to see her - this was the first time that she met my husband and our daughter. This evening, my uncle and his family will be driving in from New York, and they will stay the weekend. Although they're not expecting to be entertained, they are still company and guests in my home, and to a certain degree I feel a moral undeniable obligation to play hostess, no matter how much they protest. And playing hostess is taxing - not only on your mind but also on your wallet!

When Beeb, the Super Coupon Girl, offered to scribe a guest post on how to entertain on a budget, it was just too good to be true. So, without further ado, here is the awesome budget-saving post. Take it away, Beeb!

Entertaining On a Budget

With the holidays quickly approaching, many of us are starting to plan parties and family get-togethers. If you're playing host this year, you may be concerned about the impact this will have on your budget. Perhaps you're making the family dinner on Christmas Eve, or maybe you've been nominated to cook for the annual holiday party at work. Whatever the event, if you're cooking for a crowd, it can get expensive. Sure, you're utilizing your coupon skills and shopping the sales, but it might not be enough. Here's some tips to help you stretch your dollar to the max.

Meal Plan Around Your Stockpile
Open your cupboards, and take a good look at what you've got. If you can plan some of your menu around what you already have, you'll save big. When I hosted my annual Halloween party this year, one of the things I served was “Jack 'O Lantern Toast”. I have several loaves of Sara Lee bread in my freezer that I got over the summer, thanks to a free coupon that came out in the newspaper. I defrosted one of those, and topped them with Kraft Cheese slices that had little “faces” cut into them. The cheese was also free, from yet another great coupon that appeared in the newspaper. I made a big batch, and grilled them in the oven. Not only was it a free way to make a bunch of appetizers, it was a hit with the guests!

Stuck for ideas as to what you can make with your stockpile? Check out Recipe Matcher. You can type in a list of what ingredients you have on hand, and it will show you recipes that can be made using them!

Use Inexpensive Ingredients
If you haven't built up much of a stockpile yet – or if it mostly consists of Windex – then you'll still need to purchase quite a bit of food. Think of what items you can buy in large quantities for fairly little. For example, a bag of potatoes doesn't cost much, but it can feed a lot of people. Mashed potatoes are a traditional favorite for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and baked potatoes make a great side dish for almost any meal.

Making your own soup is another great way to make a large amount of food in a cost effective way. I made a simple, delicious soup using pumpkin and potatoes for my Halloween party – have I mentioned yet how much I love potatoes?

Pasta has always been a favorite of mine to serve guests, even before I used coupons. It's easy to make in large quantities, delicious – and cost effective! This year, I got a bunch of pasta and pasta sauce for free using coupons. But even if there's no fantastic sales in your area, it's still a low cost staple that goes a long way.

Make It From Scratch
Baking your own desserts, breakfasts, or breads is another fantastic way to save. If you bought a pie at the grocery store, it would probably cost about four or five dollars. For that amount, you could buy some flour and sugar and make several pies of your own. To save even further, substitute more expensive ingredients with lower priced alternatives. Got applesauce in your stockpile? Use that in place of oil in cakes and brownies. Out of butter or shortening? Opt for margarine. Check out this great list of other ingredient substitutions.

I make a lot of pies during the holiday season, and I often get feedback on how light and fluffy my crusts are. When I tell people that I make my crust out of oil, not butter, they're always shocked. Not only is an oil crust inexpensive, it's also easier to make than a butter crust. Interested in giving it a try? Here's the recipe:

Oil Pastry
Recipe from Betty Crocker's Cook Book - makes an 8 or 9 inch one-crust pie

Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt (I always omit this)
1/3 cup salad oil
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

Measure flour and salt into bowl. Add oil; mix until particles are the size of small peas. Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing until flour is moistened and dough almost cleans side of bowl. (If dough seems dry, 1 to 2 tablespoons oil can be added. Do not add water.) Gather dough together; press firmly into ball. Shape dough into flattened round and roll out.

Budget The Bird
The turkey is probably your biggest expense. Watch your store's sales fliers and see what kind of deals they're running. Some grocers offer special promotions where you can get your turkey for free with a certain purchase amount. Obviously, it makes no sense to spend $100 just to get a free turkey, but if you have to buy those items anyway, or if they allow coupons to sweeten the deal, it may be worthwhile for you.

Hold A Potluck
Finally, you may want to consider making your event a potluck. This could be especially helpful for family gatherings – instead of burdening one person with the planning and expense, everyone can pitch in a small amount and bring one dish.

This is also a big time saver, so it can help reduce the workload for everybody, and leave more time for what's really important during the holidays: spending time with each other.

Remember me?

2008-12-03T15:36:00.001-06:00

Hi there. Remember me? I ~~used to~~ blog here?

In all seriousness though, I apologize for my absence this past week. It feels like a month since I've been around, and I'm sure that my inbox felt the same way. I wish I had good news and could say that I'm back in full force now, but unfortunately for the rest of the week I will have to remain a ghost.

My parents and grandmother arrived on Thanksgiving night, and since then I have been slowly losing my sanity. Besides having 3 additional people in my tiny house, it's just been taxing and exhausting in general. I love them dearly and it's wonderful that they're here, but it's extremely tiring. They'll be leaving on Monday, so things should get back to normal next week.

And of course, this week I've been keeping up with the baby feeding marathon. The good news is that she is heavier - somehow she magically gained the required 14oz and we managed to escape from the hospital admission we've been trying to avoid. But it was close...we had a bag packed in the car.

I say "magically" because when we weighed her on Monday, she had gained only 6oz. And this is on the same scale that we've been using for the past month. While I'm glad that I'm not typing this in a hospital and my little princess doesn't have tubes coming out of her, I'm also a bit concerned and dumb-founded on what in the world happened. I'm no medical professional, but somehow a sudden 7oz weight gain in less than 24 hours just seems a bit off to me. I know that scales can differ from each other, but a 7oz difference just really doesn't add up to me.

But right now, the important thing is that we're not in the hospital. I also have to entertain the fact that I've just been doing this for so long and with such intensity that I was expecting the worst and it's almost a shock that it's not.

And for those of you who have been following this whole baby dilemma of mine from the beginning, including my first run-in with the specialist, you might be interested to know that this second run-in wasn't that much better. We weren't accused of being complete idiots and starving our kid, at least. But he did tell me to "stop keeping records" and to just weigh her every couple of weeks.

Right. Sorry doc, but I anin't going to listen to you on that one. I'm not about to wait a month to weigh her just to find out that we've lost the progress we fought so hard for. Besides, I should mention that no one else thought that it was a bad idea for me to keep a food log for a WEEKEND. Not even the full 2 weeks, just a weekend. Whatever. I seriously wonder who let that guy be a doctor.

The good news though is that he doesn't think we need a specialist and that our regular pediatrician can handle it. For once, I agree with him. We don't need a specialist...at the very least, not him. I'm not completely sure that we're out of the woods considering she's still FAR underweight, but honestly I don't think the specialist is out to help us. It's sad, but it's the truth.

We've gotten a handle on the whole food thing, and things should calm down now that we're not being threatened or insulted by some crazy psychotic specialist. Bear with me, it's nearly over - I will be back on Monday!

Coupon Counselor: Out of Office & winner

2008-12-03T14:50:00.001-06:00

The Coupon Counselor is out of the office this week, but will be back next week with tips on how to troubleshoot coupons!

The winner of last week's giveaway is Momstart, who shared the following tip:

"You can stack coupons at Albertsons, they take competitor coupons too.
I use a plastic organizer that I got in the office section at Target
for four dollars"

Remember to come back next week for another installment of the Coupon Counselor and a HUGE giveaway!

Wordless Wednesday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2008-12-03T05:55:00.000-06:00

Happy 3rd birthday, Chloe McFloe!

I know your birthday isn't until Friday, but here's a peek at last year when you turned 2.

I'm so proud of you this year - you put up with so much...handing your spot off as the "baby" of the family, moving again, and taking up a new job. But you handled it all gracefully.

Now that I've inflated your ego to the point of no return, I guess I'm morally obligated to bake you a cake this year too.

Can you try to NOT eat the candle this year?

Mommy hasn't quite figured out how to make edible candles yet.

Guest Post: Make Your Own Baby Food

2008-12-02T10:31:00.001-06:00

Today's guest post is brought to you by Ali Hooper of Henry's Treehouse. Since 99.5% of our days are currently made up of baby food, this is a topic of extreme importance to my family. We're still buying Gerber foods for the little princess right now, simply because I think I'll be admitted to a psychiatric hospital if I attempted to make her food on top of handling everything else, but it is something that I do want to move away from once things calm down a bit. Thank you, Ali, for this wonderful intro to baby food making!

Make your own baby food - It's good for the baby and the wallet.

It is a small miracle that I am a nutritionally-conscience mom. No lie, I ate McDonald's (or something equally artery-clogging) nearly everyday of my pregnancy. Yet the minute that precious little boy entered my world, my desire for greasy french fries fell a far second to my son's nutrition.

So in terms of his baby food, I knew that I wanted to serve him foods that I controlled – foods made with my hands, in my kitchen. This has not only benefited my growing boy, but also my wallet. Not to mention, making baby food is simple, easy, cheap, and good for the environment.

Here is how I get the most bang for my buck:

Basically, I consider the fruits and vegetables that we typically eat and buy those for my son. That way if he does not like something then I am not wasting food because my husband and I will eat it. Pureed "baby" food is great in smoothies and baking! You can "hide" pureed veggies in baked goods making your cookies yummy and wholesome.
Make sure to buy frozen or fresh, not canned, because frozen and fresh produce is often more nutritious. I buy all produce from Aldi's or Sam's Club. If buying organic is your priority, that is awesome, but I have found Whole Foods to be too expensive for my budget. Occasionally I can find organic produce at Aldi's and Sam's, but not consistently. If you live in year-round warm weather, buy your produce from a Farmer's Market. I do that in the summer months, and the produce is cheap and often organic (and locally grown, allowing us to give back to our community).
Choose a storage method (pureed baby food can be frozen, and I recommend this because you can make a ton at once and save it for later). I splurged on ice cube trays with lids (I found these at Bed, Bath & Beyond for under $5, and I used a 20% off coupon that I received in the mail). That might seem expensive, but the trays last for months, and you will use them over and over again. Some people use Ziplocs, which is fine, but most people throw the bag away after each use which can be wasteful.

For more information about making baby food, I recommend Wholesome Baby Food.

About the author: Ali Hooper is a full-time mom and wife who is in love with her boys (hubby, baby, puppy). She is a licensed School Counselor with a profound interest in the current trends and research relating to a child's health and success. You can find her discussing and processing those issues that affect her life as a mother, educator, and mental health professional at Henry's Treehouse.

Christmas Catalog: Giving, Caring, and Sharing OH MY!

2008-12-01T10:31:00.000-06:00

Not only do I highlight unique products in the CHRISTMAS CATALOG, but I also want to bring to your attention ways to give back during this Holiday season. Presents are a HUGE part of Christmas, and the source of much stress and concern, but it is important to remember that Christmas is not about STUFF. It's so easy to lose sight of what Christmas is really all about - giving, caring, and sharing. And today, Jennifer of the Lady Riposter has kindly shared with us simple ways to spread the Christmas joy this year.

The holiday season is rapidly approaching. It’s a time everyone loves to spend with their families, especially children. Yet not everyone is as lucky as we are and it’s important to keep the less fortunate in mind as we move into Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I believe it’s important to teach children about the importance of giving, caring and sharing. My parents tried to instill these values in me and even now, at 26, I try to keep those less fortunate in mind, even when doing something as simple as the weekly shop.

Giving, caring and sharing doesn’t necessarily require a lot of money, or any at all. It just means doing something special for someone else. Here are some ideas of how you and your children can help brighten the lives of others this season:

Care packages – help your children put together a care package for an organization such as Operation Christmas Child. This organization collects shoeboxes filled with toys and toiletries and distributes them to children in need. You can also put together a care package for someone closer to home. Do you know a soldier serving overseas? A foreign exchange student?

Goody Bag – Bake some special treats and deliver them to friends and neighbors in need of a little bit of extra cheer. Do you know someone, perhaps an elderly neighbor, who won’t have the opportunity to visit their family this year? Due to the current economic situation, it’s likely many will choose not to travel this season. Shameless plug – I have a number of easy recipes on my blog.

Tree of Cheer – Help your children make ornaments and put them on a small tree. You can deliver this tree to a shelter or a retirement home. Alternatively, you might ask your church if they know of someone who could use some additional holiday cheer. You can also just make the ornaments have the children deliver them.

Giveaway Challenge – Ask your children to pick a few toys or items of clothing (in good condition, of course) that they would like to donate to a local shelter for children who aren’t as lucky as they are. Remind them how much it will mean to a child who might not otherwise get a gift this year.

Christmas Carols – The sounds of children singing can brighten anybody’s day. Have your children gather a group of friends and take them to a retirement home, assisted living community or hospital to sing carols for the residents. Check into this before you go, of course, but there are many places out there that would love to have your group visit.

Alright, now it’s your turn. I challenge you to come up with a way that you and your family can brighten someone else’s life this season. Post your ideas in the comments and let’s inspire each other to give, care and share!

Aloha Friday

2008-11-28T03:52:00.000-06:00

Today is the day for shoppers everywhere - Black Friday! And of course, my question just has to be Black Friday related:

Do you shop on Black Friday?
Did you grab any steals 'n deals that you need to brag about?

When I was in college, Black Friday was a crazy day for me. We'd get together at Denny's, and then just go store hopping. It was fun, and we got a whole bunch of crap that we really didn't need.

I haven't done any Black Friday shopping for the past two years. Last year I was pregnant and mainly horizontal - standing in line and fighting for a $2 DVD was not high on my priority list. Besides, we had no one to shop for - we were on the other side of the country from our family and they didn't want us to send presents...pictures were enough.

We're visiting our family for Christmas, but I didn't do Black Friday this year either. My parents and my grandmother from overseas are visiting, and obviously shopping is not a priority - spending quality time together as a family is. Besides, our Christmas present to everyone this year was the act of flying home - they didn't want any other presents except for us. Obviously I still have a few treats to hand out, but for the most part my Christmas shopping is done.

Thanksgiving haul at CVS

2008-11-27T17:40:00.000-06:00

My Thanksgiving CVS haul didn't go too badly - $91 of stuff for $3.10 OOP with $71.24 ECBs left for next time! That's a $12.09 profit, and of course, you can't forget the $91 of free stuff. And no, I didn't get the pumpkin at CVS - I just wanted to be festive.

Although things didn't exactly go as planned, it was still a successful run. I am WAY behind on everything this week, so I didn't even work up my transactions under late Wednesday night. We didn't make it out to the store until 9am (they open at 7am), but I guess 2 hours really make that much of a difference. By the time we got there, they were already sold out of a lot of things. This is depending on your area, of course, but if you haven't done your CVSing yet I wouldn't be too optimistic about things still being in stock.

Here are my transaction details:

Transaction #1
Buy 1 Maybelline Mineral Power Liquid Foundation: $8.99
Buy 1 Crest Pro-Health (4.2oz): $3.49
Buy 1 Colgate Total: $2.99
Buy 1 Aussie Hair Care product: $2.99
Buy 1 CoverGirl Smoothers pressed powder: $5.99
Buy 1 Bic Soleil Single Razor: $5.99
Buy 1 L'Oreal Colour Juice sheer lipgloss: $6.99
Buy 1 Sally Hansen max growth nail color: $3.79
Buy 1 Johnson's Soft Lotion: $5.69
Buy 1 Playtex Gentle Glide: $3.99
Subtotal: $50.90
Use $10/$50 CVS card scanner coupon (-$10.00)
Use $3/1 Maybelline mfg coupon (-$3.00)
Use $0.75/1 Crest mfg coupon (-$0.75)
Use $1.50/1 Colgate printable (-$1.50)
Use $1/1 Aussie mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Use $1/1 ANY CoverGirl mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Use $1/1 L'Oreal printable (-$1.00)
Use $0.50/1 Sally Hansen mfg coupon (-$0.50)
Use $3/1 Bic mfg coupon (-$3.00)
Use $1/1 Johnson's printable (-$1.00)
Grand Total: $28.15 (use $15.99 + $9.00 + $1.59 ECB)
OOP: $1.57 + $0.90 tax = $2.47 (on CVS giftcard: balance $15.49)
ECBs returned: $9.00 (Maybelline) + $3.49 (Crest) + $2.99 (Colgate)
+ $2.99 (Aussie) + $5.99 (CoverGirl) + $5.99 (Bic) + $6.99 (L'Oreal) +
$3.79 (Sally Hansen) + $5.69 (Johnson's) + $3.00 (Playtex) = $49.82

My Maybelline ECBs didn't print out, but apparently it's been happening to everyone the entire day. In fact, the lady behind me had the exact same problem. It's great that the store can now print missing ECBs on command, because I was able to use the $9 ECBs instantly. Also, I forgot to fork over my Playtex $1/1 coupon, but the cashier was nice enough to let me lump it in with the next transaction.

Transaction #2
Buy 1 Crest Pro-Health (4.2oz): $3.49
Buy 1 Colgate Total: $2.99
Buy 1 Aussie Hair Care product: $2.99
Buy 1 L'Oreal Colour Juice sheer lipgloss: $6.99
Buy 1 Philips universal remote: $6.99
Buy 1 CoverGirl Smoothers liquid makeup: $7.99
Buy 3 Gatorade ($1.49 each): $4.47
Buy 1 5hr energy drink: $3.99
Buy 1 Hersey's King size bar: $1.00
Subtotal: $40.90
Use $5/$30 CVS emailed coupon (-$5.00)
Use $0.75/1 Crest mfg coupon (-$0.75)
Use $1.50/1 Colgate printable (-$1.50)
Use $1/1 Aussie mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Use $1/1 L'Oreal printable (-$1.00)
Use $1/1 ANY CoverGirl mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Use $1/1 Playtex mfg coupon (-$1.00) missed from last transaction
Grand Total: $29.65 ($4.99 + $5.00 + (from last transaction) $3.49 + $6.99 + $9.00 ECBs)
OOP: $0.18 + $0.45 tax = $0.63 (on CVS giftcard: balance $14.86)
ECBs returned: $3.49 (Crest) + $2.99 (Colgate) + $2.99 (Aussie) + $6.99 (L'Oreal) + $6.99 (Philips) + $7.99 (CoverGirl) + $4.47 (Gatorade) + $3.99 (5hr energy) + $1.00 (Hersey's) = $40.90

CVS run - numbers review
Total Merchandise Total: $91.80
ECBs spent: $36.57 (on hand) + $19.48 (from today's transactions) = $56.05
Total OOP: $3.10
Total ECBs returned: $90.72
ECBs left for next time: $71.24

TOTAL SPENT (ECBs + OOP) = $59.15
TOTAL ECBs LEFT = $71.24
Total profit: $12.09

Technically, I spent absolutely nothing OOP since I paid with my $25 CVS giftcard. When this giftcard finally runs out in March or something ridiculous, I plan on reloading it with $10. It's a GREAT way to really put things in perspective at CVS. It's a scary thought that I forked over $56.05 in ECBs to pay for everything today, but when you take into consideration that I've used the same $25 CVS giftcard since last month, it really puts things into perspective.

Thankful for CVS

2008-11-27T09:01:00.001-06:00

Here are my CVS transactions for Thanksgiving. I'm about to head out the door to get them, but it's already been 2 hours since they opened so I'm a bit nervous. Hopefully they have everything!!

Transaction #1
Buy 1 Complete Multi-purpose solution (12oz): $8.99
Buy 1 Maybelline Mineral Power Liquid Foundation: $8.99
Buy 1 Crest Pro-Health (4.2oz): $3.49
Buy 1 Colgate Total: $2.99
Buy 1 Aussie Hair Care product: $2.99
Buy 1 CoverGirl Smoothers pressed powder: $5.99
Buy 1 Bic Soleil Single Razor: $5.99
Buy 1 L'Oreal Colour Juice sheer lipgloss: $6.99
Buy 1 Sally Hansen max growth nail color: $3.79
Subtotal: $50.21
Use $10/$50 CVS card scanner coupon (-$10.00)
Use $2/1 Multi-purpose printable (-$2.00)
Use $3/1 Maybelline mfg coupon (-$3.00)
Use $0.75/1 Crest mfg coupon (-$0.75)
Use $1.50/1 Colgate printable (-$1.50)
Use $1/1 Aussie mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Use $1/1 ANY CoverGirl mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Use $1/1 L'Oreal printable (-$1.00)
Use $0.50/1 Sally Hansen mfg coupon (-$0.50)
Use $3/1 Bic mfg coupon (-$3.00)
Grand Total: $26.46 (use $15.99 + $9.00 ECB)
OOP: $1.47 + tax
ECBs returned: $8.99 (Complete) + $8.99 (Maybelline) + $3.49 (Crest) + $2.99 (Colgate) + $2.99 (Aussie) + $5.99 (CoverGirl) + $5.99 (Bic) + $6.99 (L'Oreal) + $3.79 (Sally Hansen) = $50.21

The $1.50/1 Colgate printable is available after you sign up and go to the savings center - otherwise all you see is a $1/1. The $1/1 L'Oreal printable requires that you register for the website and fill out their online look consultation thingy. After you're done, it will be on your right hand side. Don't worry, the whole process took about 2 minutes.

Transaction #2
Buy 1 Crest Pro-Health (4.2oz): $3.49
Buy 1 Colgate Total: $2.99
Buy 1 Aussie Hair Care product: $2.99
Buy 1 L'Oreal Colour Juice sheer lipgloss: $6.99
Buy 1 Bic Soleil Single Razor: $5.99
Buy 1 CoverGirl Smoothers liquid makeup: $7.99
Subtotal: $30.44
Use $5/$30 CVS emailed coupon (-$5.00)
Use $0.75/1 Crest mfg coupon (-$0.75)
Use $1.50/1 Colgate printable (-$1.50)
Use $1/1 Aussie mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Use $1/1 L'Oreal printable (-$1.00)
Use $3/1 Bic mfg coupon (-$3.00)
Use $1/1 ANY CoverGirl mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Grand Total: $17.19 ($4.99 + $1.59 + $5.00 + ($3.79 Sally Hansen from transaction #1))
OOP: $1.82 + tax
ECBs returned: $3.49 (Crest) + $2.99 (Colgate) + $2.99 (Aussie) + $6.99 (L'Oreal) + $5.99 (Bic) + $7.99 (CoverGirl) = $30.44

Transaction #2
Buy 1 Garnier Nutrisse Cleaning Towelettes (25ct): $5.99
Buy 1 Johnson's Soft Lotion: $5.69
Buy 1 Playtex Gentle Glide: $3.99
Buy 1 Philips Headphones: $6.99
Buy 3 Gatorade ($1.49 each): $4.47
Buy 1 5hr energy drink: $3.99
Subtotal: $31.12
Use $5/$30 CVS emailed coupon (-$5.00)
Use $1/1 Garnier mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Use $1/1 Johnson's printable (-$1.00)
Use $1/1 Playtex mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Grand Total: $23.12 (use $8.99 Complete + $8.99 Maybelline + $3.49 Crest ECBs from transaction #1)
OOP: $1.65 + tax
ECBs returned: $5.99 (Garnier) + $5.69 (Johnson's) + $3.99 (Playtex) + $6.99 (Philips) + $4.47 (Gatorade) + $3.99 (5hr energy drink) = $31.12

CVS run - number review
Total Merchandise Total: $111.77
ECBs spent: $36.57 (+$25.26 from planned transactions) = $61.83
Total OOP: $4.94 + tax
Total ECBs returned: $111.77
ECBs left for next time: $86.51

TOTAL SPENT (ECBs + OOP) = $66.77
TOTAL ECBs LEFT = $86.51
Total profit: $19.74

That's a $20 ECBs profit, not to mention the $111 of stuff that I will have. Granted, I am a bit nervous about having $86 in ECBs, especially since I'll be on vacation in a CVS-less land for 2 weeks in December, but I think I once read about a vacation hold for ECBs or something. Either way, it's too great of a deal to pass up.

Okay...we are on our way out the door! Although I'm hitting the store 2 hours past opening, hopefully they will have everything left for me...! Fingers crossed!

Things I Love Thursday: my family!

2008-11-27T00:08:00.000-06:00

I'm besides myself with excitement. Tonight my parents and my grandma will be flying in to stay with us for a week and a half! And since it's also Thanksgiving, it only seemed right to dedicate this Things I Love Thursday to my family! My parents live in California, but my grandma lives overseas, so I rarely see her. My parents came out right after the baby was born, but I haven't seen my grandma for some years now.

Obviously, she has never met my husband or our daughter. She's seen pictures, but this will her first meeting them. I am so very happy and thankful that our little princess will be able to meet her grandma. Unlike my husband who has 3 FULL sets of grandparents, my grandma is the only grandparent left on my side. Most of my childhood memories involve my grandma (and my grandpa), and for a while I even lived with them during the week while my parents worked. After I started school, I still made sure to stay overnight with them during the weekend. I still have the teddy bear that she gave me for my 2nd birthday, and I'm proud to say that I still sleep with him every night (My husband swears I love the bear more than him). I am so thankful that my little girl now has a chance to get to know the wonderful woman that is my grandma.

With the little princess' crazy weight issues, I haven't really had time to figure out where to take them or how to entertain them, but that's the great thing about having family for company. They just don't care. They would rather stay at home and play with the baby than go for a whirlwind tour of the city. Nonetheless, it will still be rather chaotic. That's a total of 6 people and 2 dogs living in my house for 2 weeks.

And it'll get even MORE chaotic. Next weekend, my uncle and his family will be driving in from New York, and they'll be bringing their puppy. They're going to be staying in a nearby hotel, but obviously they're still going to hang out at my house. That makes for TEN people and THREE dogs crammed into my house next weekend.

I kind of wish that this family reunion could be postponed until after the baby's weight issues, but hey, at least that makes for more people to take over some baby feeding shifts! Maybe I'll remember what my arm looked like before a bottle or a spoon was permanently attached to it!

I have a couple of posts prepared, and some AWESOME guest bloggers have covered my back. I will still be around, but please try to be understanding if I take forever and a day to get back to your email.

Oh, and I nearly forgot...HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Bumkins to the Rescue!

2008-11-26T23:08:00.001-06:00

Earlier this week, the Mom Bloggers Club treated us to a nice little package from Bumkins. We received a Dr. Seuss Coverall Suit, a Grinch SuperBib, and a Grinch Christmas ornament for the little princess to review. Without a doubt, the little princess' favorite item was the Christmas ornament. She wanted me to pass on the fact that it is a very yummy ornament.

Mommy, on the other hand, had a harder time picking a favorite item. Since the second that the little princess saw the ornament she had it in her mind to devour it, I am definitely very thankful and appreciative of the fact that it is not made of glass or another shatter-able substance. However, it's of such a high quality that unless you were to handle it (or drop it in our case), you would never know that it's unbreakable!

I also absolutely love how adorable the Dr. Seuss Coverall Suit looked on her. I was very impressed with how soft the fabric was, and what a nice fit it was for her. The colors are so sharp and Christmas-y - when daddy came home and saw her in it, he said that she looked like a sweet little candy cane!

My favorite thing about the Dr. Seuss Coverall Suit are the absolutely adorable back pockets. They're actually quite useful too - Mommy put her cell phone in one of the pockets when it was time for everyone to head up the stairs for bed. I'm thinking about storing a mini burp-cloth in there permanently.

We also received a Grinch SuperBib, and this is quite possibly my new favorite bib.

Bumbins' SuperBibs are made of waterproof fabric, and is PVC, BPA, phthalate, and vinyl free. Although we're eating 24/7, it's still a very messy business for us. I love the fact that the SuperBib can be wiped clean with a wet cloth, and is stain and odor resistant. With fabric bibs, I have to use various laundry stain removers and even then it's no guarantee, but with the SuperBib it's a simple process of wiping it clean and tossing it in the washing machine. I don't have to hold my breath wondering if it's been stained permanently when I go to collect my laundry.

As an added bonus, there is a catch-all pocket at the bottom, and comes in a very season-y and cute Grinch pattern. I can't wait to dress her in her Dr. Seuss Coverall Suit and Grinch SuperBib for Christmas dinner at her grandparents' house - they're going to go nuts when they see their cute little candy cane!

How would you like to get a FREE Grinch SuperBib of your very own? Until the end of the year, you can get a free Grinch SuperBib with any Dr. Seuss purchase by using the coupon code GRINCH08 at checkout. You will also be automatically entered to win a 4-pack of Grinch ornaments for your little one's ~~chewing~~ tree-decorating pleasure. A winner will be randomly chosen every week until 12/31/08.

Christmas Catalog: Box Tops giveaway winner

2008-11-26T21:56:00.001-06:00

Thank you to all of you who signed up for an account at Box Tops for Education! The lucky winner of the $50 Wal-mart giftcard is Barbara P., who chose to support her local elementary school.

Remember that a percentage of your purchase will be AUTOMATICALLY donated to your chosen school by simply going to the merchant's website through the Box Tops Marketplace. There is nothing to clip, nothing to mail in, and no additional cost to you! Everything is automatic and will be credited to your school's account in 2 months.

So when you're doing some holiday shopping, be sure to keep the Box Tops Marketplace in mind and do some good for your school!

Don't forget about the latest Christmas Catalog giveaway. You could win a PERSONALIZED canvas bow holder from Dreaming Giggles Design! Don't let this awesome giveaway slip away - it ends on Wednesday 12/03!

Wordless Wednesday: The Great Bumbo Escape

2008-11-26T05:55:00.000-06:00

You know what mom?

I have HAD IT with this eating crap.

Quit shoving food down my throat.

You think the bottle strike was bad? Try the food strike.

I'm D-O-N-E!

WFMW: Air Fresheners (for dogs!)

2008-11-26T03:55:00.000-06:00

To be completely honest with you, I have no idea when Chiploe last got a bath. It has been MONTHS. They're not exactly dirty dogs that roll around in the mud outside, but after a month or two they used to stink to high heaven regardless. Not recently. And since they're an integral part of this family and sleeps under the covers with us, we would know immediately if there was a stink, and then promptly give them a bath. But no stink, and therefore no bath.

If anything, they smelled good when I went to kiss and snuggle them. I was so confused...I seriously considered that Chloe was sneaking into the doggy closet and spritzing herself and her brother with puppy perfume while we were out. But their fresh and fruity scent smelled eerily familiar - it was nothing that I remember, but rather it seemed like a combination of a number of familiar scents. That's when the "EURKEA!" moment hit - they had a combination of all the scents of the air fresheners.

If you're a regular reader or if you follow any frugal blogs at all, you will know that lately there's been some awesome deals on various plug-in air fresheners. I really don't have a need for them, and to be honest with you I don't think they work because I never smell them, but I will get them if they're free or a moneymaker, especially if I need to bump up my total to use a $/$$ coupon. And if I have them, I might as well use them anyway, so basically every room and hallway in my house has at least one air freshener.

And it just so happens that the outlets are all pretty low to the ground. And Chiploe are both pretty low to the ground too. It's not like they sleep right by an air freshener outlet, but from what I could figure it's probably because they run around the house so much that they inevitably just catch all the drifting scents, and they combine into this one mega good smelling perfume once it's in their fur. By the time it gets up to human level, it's pretty much spread too thin to do anything, but at doggy level, it's the perfect freshen-upper.

So, if you have stinky dogs and a couple of air fresheners lying around, plug them in and let them do their jobs! Air fresheners works for me as an automatic doggy body-spray (I don't even have to catch them to spritz them down!), so it might work for you too...!

Coupon Counselor: Couponing Techniques

2008-11-25T00:07:00.003-06:00

This week we will be covering some couponing techniques that will sure to be useful on your shopping trips. If you're new to the Coupon Counselor series, be sure to check out some of our past sessions:

The Basics: This was the first installment of the Coupon Counselor, and covers all basic and general questions regarding couponing.
Couponing Dictionary: You will need to refer back to this for definitions and abbreviations that I tend to use.
Coupon Systems: An overview of the coupon systems out there, and how to find the one that works for you.
Prepping for coupons: how to efficiently plan (and carry out) your shopping trip.

In the coming weeks, we will start to move from the basics and get to more specific topics:

Troubleshooting Coupons: what to do when stores refuse coupons.
The CVS Handbook: how to work the ECB system
The WAGs Handbook: we'll cover the ESR rebates and register rewards
The Couponer's Bible: items that you should never pay for, never spend more than $1 on, or should never "buy" unless they're moneymakers!

COUPON COUNSELOR GIVEAWAY

Make sure you familiarize yourself with the giveaway rules and terms. Please follow directions or your entry will NOT be counted.

Prize: Over $300 in money-saving coupons!

To enter: Leave a comment with one of your couponing techniques. It must be an unique tip - it cannot be something that I've talked about already. If someone else beat you to the punch and posted your technique idea, then just think of another one!

Giveaway ends: Tuesday 12/02/08 at 10:00 PM CST. The lucky winner will be drawn from the valid entries via random.org and will have 48 hours to get in touch with me, or else a new winner will be drawn.

PLEASE be sure to read the giveaway rules and terms.

Today we are talking about Couponing Techniques to get the most out of your properly prepared shopping trip with your organized coupon system:

Coupon combinations or "stacking"
How to hand over your precious coupons
When/where to use your coupons
How to play the rebate game and moneymaking items

Coupon Combinations or "stacking"
"Stacking" refers to combining manufacturer's coupons with store coupons, and/or with store promotions and sales. MOST stores will accept a manufacturer's coupon and a store coupon for the same item. Stacking is most commonly done at CVS or Walgreens, but I have also done it at Toys r Us.

For the most part, you can combine a B1G1 coupon with a store B1G1 sale to get both items for free. You will still be responsible for tax. I have successfully done this at CVS, Walgreens, and Kmart. Be sure to read the fine print on the coupon though - most coupons have a price limit, so if you end up getting an item above that limit you will have to pay the difference.

You can also use 2 coupons during a B1G1 store promotion. You are purchasing two items, and thus you are entitled to use two coupons. It just so happens that the store is picking up the tab on one of the items.

Another combination is to use a B1G1 coupon and a $ off coupon. Again, you are purchasing 2 items so you are entitled to use 2 coupons. The logic is that you buy item A and item B. The B1G1 coupon allows you to get item B for free. This leaves item A for you to use the $ off coupon on. A rule of thumb is one coupon per item. Your item count should never exceed your manufacturer's coupon count (store coupons are a different story).

Since $/$$ coupons are store coupons, you can combine them with manufacturer's coupons to maximize your savings. However, some coupons state that your total must be AFTER all promotions and coupons (*coughWAGScough*), so be sure to read the fine print. Most stores (like CVS or Toys r Us) will go off whatever the subtotal amount is when the $/$$ coupon is scanned, so it's important to get your coupon handing-off order straight.

How to turn over your precious coupons
The most nerve wrecking part of every couponer's trip (veteran or newbie) is the dreaded check-out. Will my coupons work? Did I get the right thing? Is the cashier a jerk? You can avoid most of the stress by being organized and approaching the check-out process with a plan.

Have EVERYTHING ready. You should have a neat stack of the coupons you're going to use, in the order you're using them in. Have your store loyalty card out and ready, on top of your coupon stack. Behind your coupons, you should have your payment method ready. The way I see it, the cashier has to do some extra legwork on my behalf since I have so many coupons - I need to try and make it as simple as possible for them. No matter how efficient I am, the line always builds behind me just because it takes more time to scan more items (read: coupons), so the least that I can do is to make sure that I am READY. Cashiers appreciate this so much - I've actually had some tell me that they're thankful that I have everything ready, and it's awesome. They really don't mind the coupons...they just hate the mess and chaos that comes with it if the customer is not prepared.
Try not to dump all your items on the counter. I tend to line them up so the cashier scans certain items first. These items are perhaps questionably priced. It's easier to modify a transaction in the beginning, and you are more attentive at the start anyway. I've noticed when I didn't just dump everything out of shopping basket, clerks are less likely to go through my bag again to make sure I bought the item.
Double check the subtotal and item prices BEFORE handing over your coupons. Often times, once a coupon is scanned, you lose it. Either it's a one-time use coupon, or the clerk threw it into the drawer. Whatever the reason, it's always easier to make changes BEFORE coupons are introduced.
Hand your coupons over ONE at a time and tell the cashier what it's for. Don't just slap your mountain of coupons on the counter, because then they will spread the entire pile out and start scanning at random. You don't want that. So in order to control the chaos, just hand over one at a time. When one is scanned, hand over another and say what's it for. I've found that it's a time-saver, since the cashier won't be standing there staring at the coupon trying to figure it out. Some of them will still do that, but generally speaking it has helped me save time and sanity at check-out.
ALWAYS HAND OVER THE STORE $/$$ COUPON FIRST. Certain coupons state specifically that the subtotal amount will be after all coupons and promotions, but for coupons that do NOT have this restriction, the system will take whatever subtotal amount when the coupon is scanned, so it is important to hand over your $/$$ first before any other money-saving coupons are introduced.
Hand over other store coupons. Store coupons can be combined with manufacturer's coupons, but with some store coupons the system will beep if there's overage. I don't exactly understand why (they don't either), but I'm guessing it's maybe something tied into the fact that it's a store coupon. Also, most store coupons are widely available in an ad, or the store would be willing to work with you if it's an unique coupon. I consider store coupons to be less valuable than manufacturer's coupons, and thus I fork them over first.
Bid farewell to your manufacturer's coupons. Again, hand them over one at a time, and make sure that the savings ring up before they move onto the next one. At least once a week they wave the scanner gun at the coupon and thinks it scanned, but it actually didn't.
Don't be surprised if your total is more than you expected. When I first started, I was always surprised that my total was so high. The culprit is TAX. There are ways that you can figure out how much tax that you're going to pay, but it's rather pointless. So just give yourself a $3 margin, and don't be surprised if your grand total is higher than you expected. Once you check your receipt, chances are things will be fine.
Always look over your receipt BEFORE you leave the parking lot. Gas is cheaper these days, but you definitely don't want to have to return at a later time to fix a couponing issue. The clerk that helped you is still at the store, and still remembers you and your transactions. Take advantage of that.

When/where to use your precious coupons
I touched on this last week in the preparation discussion, but I am willing to discuss it again since it seems to be a major concern for a lot of people. Honestly, I really do not understand why. Coupons come around again, and so do sales. It is OKAY if you miss out on coupon and sale combination. It's alright to buy the item on sale or for a rebate if you don't have a coupon.

Couponing isn't easy, especially when you're starting out. Don't make it harder on yourself trying to figure out when or where to use it. Just find the coupon, find the sale, and GO!

How to play the rebate game and moneymaking items
This month I have received $12.75 in rebate checks, but I only spent $7.52 buying the required products. Not only did I make a small $5.23 profit, but I also got the items for free. I love rebates.

The trick to making rebates a moneymaker is to only buy the product when it's on sale, or with a coupon - preferably both. I received a $3.99 check from the Zout rebate, but I bought it when it was on a B1G1 sale for $3.99. I had a $0.55/1 coupon, so my total was $3.76 with tax for TWO bottles.

I won't lie to you...you won't get rich playing the rebate game. $5.23 isn't a lot, but every bit helps - not to mention that we've gotten some fine products that we otherwise would not have bought. If you're going to play the rebate game, make sure that you read the fine print on the rebate form. Some won't accept a mailing label and everything has to be written by hand. But I've had a few where I was to fill out a form online and print it out. Also make a copy of the rebate form and your receipt - if you're given a choice, always send them a copy of the receipt and keep the original for yourself.

Moneymakers are similar to rebates, but without the wait. Moneymakers happen when you combine a coupon with a sale. Moneymakers NEVER mean money back in your hands - the system will beep if you do not have another item to swallow the difference. Most of the time it either means extra "change" to go towards your subtotal, or a return in the form of store credit (ECBs or RRs) that is greater than what you paid.

Be sure to come back next week for a guide on how to handle issues with coupons! We're going to be troubleshoot common couponing issues, so be sure to join us so you'll know what to do the next time someone denies your coupon!

Christmas Catalog: Dreaming Giggles Design

2008-11-24T01:19:00.001-06:00

There is nothing more unique and appreciated than a personalized present for Christmas, and Dreaming Giggles Design is THE place to go for some breath-taking personalized artwork. Each piece is hand-painted by the very talented artist Patti Holcombe. Patti is a work-at-home, having left her job as a middle school art teacher after her daughter's birth.

Patti was kind enough to send me a canvas bow holder for my little princess. When I first removed it from its packaging, I have to admit that it literally took my breath away. The detail and quality is absolutely amazing, and the gloss varnish and hints of glitter made the piece almost magical. The picture does not do it justice - Patti's artwork is far more gorgeous.

As an added bonus, it's "personalized" for my little princess, and the colors match her room EXACTLY. We didn't even plan this - I had no idea what I was getting until I got to my mailbox, so maybe there was a bit of magic involved after all!

Sorry for the crappy picture - combination of bad lighting & an on-its-deathbed camera.

This is a gorgeous and thoughtful gift that any little girl will be delighted to find under the tree. Years after the ribbon is no longer needed for holding bows and clips, the personalized artwork will be treasured as a true keepsake - it is a gift that will survive the years. And here is your chance to win your very own custom canvas bow holder, personalized for the little princess in your life.

CHRISTMAS CATALOG GIVEAWAY

Make sure you familiarize yourself with the giveaway rules and terms. Please follow directions or your entry will NOT be counted.

Prize: 1 custom canvas bow holder, personalized

To enter: Take a look around Dreaming Giggles Design and share what item you would choose. What would the design and personalization be for that item?

For extra entries (you are only eligible for extra entires if you complete the first task):

Subscribe to see the "Dreaming Giggles Design" code that is at the bottom of every post. Send me an email with the code in the subject. Do NOT post the code in comments.
Share this giveaway on your blog or twitter with a link back to both this post and Dreaming Giggles Design. Leave a comment with the permalink or your twitter screen-name.
Grab my button and put it in your sidebar. Leave a comment with where I can find it!

Giveaway ends: Wednesday 12/03/08 at 10:00 PM CST. The lucky winner will be drawn from the valid entries via random.org and will have 48 hours to get in touch with me, or else a new winner will be drawn.

PLEASE be sure to read the giveaway rules and terms.

Besides beautiful canvas bow holders, Patti also makes holiday ornaments, birth announcements, leash holders, and even greeting cards! Her work is absolutely stunning and will be treasured for years to come. If you're looking for a meaningful gift for that special someone in your life this Christmas, look no further than Dreaming Giggles Design!

Guest MENU PLAN: Freezer meals!

2008-11-24T01:10:00.000-06:00

On account of utter mommy exhaustion, there will be no menu plan this week. I've been banned from even looking at the menu for Thanksgiving, and after my parents and grandma fly in on Thursday night, they're probably going to want to cook themselves or we'll all go to eat out. Either way, it's seemingly pointless to menu plan this week, not that I have the energy to anyway.

But fear not! I have a GUEST Menu Plan in store for you. Today's awesome guest post on freezer meals comes courtesy of Amber from Random Thoughts and Musings! Thank you Amber!

We have a very chaotic life and do our best to be as frugal as possible. I have three children, one on the way, and a husband who is gone for work quite a bit. I am a full time college student and work at home mom, so time is precious. Several months ago I realized that we were doing an excellent job of staying within our grocery budget, but were eating out way too much. It was totally destroying our budget, and had to be fixed quick! I did some research and decided to try freezer cooking. The way it works is you cook meals that can be quickly heated or cooked directly from the freezer. It saves all the meals out when you are in a hurry, don't feel good, forget an appointment, or have unexpected company. Not only is the meal ready to go when I need it, but I have fewer dishes to contend with on a stressful day. I have found that is also an excellent time to involve the little ones and have quality time with them.

Note on the kid's participation: my little ones are all toddlers, so you will need to adapt for older children. And as always, keep in mind that there are hot and sharp items in the kitchen!

This week we are cooking a few things for the holidays, several meals, and snacks for traveling. Here is what is on the agenda:

Brown ground beef with vegetables
Banana nut muffins
Breakfast burritos
Meat for gumbo
Chicken green bean casserole
King Ranch Chicken

Ground Beef with Veggies
We keep cooked ground beef in our freezer for soups, tacos, burritos, spaghetti, and any other meal that calls for it. I buy in bulk (8-10lb packages) to get a cheaper price. I run a small onion, two carrots, and four celery stalks through the food processor before I start. This is mixed in with the meat before I start browning it. We cannot tell the difference in taste, and it is a great way to sneak in extra vitamins and make the meat stretch a little further. I brown the meat/veggie mixture two to three pounds at a time, then drain in a colander for at least fifteen minutes. Once it cools, I freeze it in freezer bags in approximately one pound batches. When it comes time to cook, all you have to do is throw a little water in the pan, add the block of meat, and heat on medium until thawed. Then you continue the recipe like you normally would.

Kid's Corner: They love to help “squish” the veggies into the meat. They also like putting it in the bags. I always let them color on the bags once I am done with a washable marker. It doesn't hurt, and they feel like they are really big!

Banana nut muffins
I use the recipe from Simply Recipes. They freeze wonderfully once cooled and thaw out in just a few seconds in the microwave.

You will need (for 12 muffins):

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tbsp espresso or strong coffee (optional)
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup of flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (toasted or raw)
No need for a mixer with this recipe!

Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.
Mix in the sugar, egg, espresso and vanilla.
Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.
Add the flour, mix until it is just incorporated. Fold in the chopped walnuts.
Pour mixture into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool on a rack.

Kid's Corner: I let the little ones mix the batter and help dip them into the muffin tins.

Breakfast burritos
These are quick and are great for a breakfast or snack on the run. You can add or subtract just about any ingredient without a problem.

1 dozen eggs
1 pound sausage
¼ pound cheese, shredded
14-18 flour tortillas

Scramble the eggs and brown the sausage. Split evenly between tortillas. Sprinkle with cheese. Wrap up, wrap with saran wrap and freeze. These can be put straight into the microwave, plastic wrap included, for about 30 seconds and they are ready to eat.

Kid's Corner: They love to stuff the burritos, but expect a mess! :)

Meat for gumbo
Gumbo is a staple in our house. We use the Louisiana Gumbo Mix (usually around $1.50) for when we are in a hurry.

2 chicken breasts (bone in) boiled
½ lb sausage, steamed

Chop up chicken and sausage in bite size pieces. Cool and freeze all together in one bag. Save chicken bones for stock! When it comes time to cook, just add about 15-20 minutes to total cook time to allow meat to thaw. Super easy! This also works great to add to Jambalaya or Cajun Red Beans and rice. (Think Kroger's/Dillon's sales)

Chicken green bean casserole
This is super easy, tastes great, and freezes well.

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cut green beans
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
pepper to taste

Mix canned ingredients together, put chicken on top. Cover with foil and bake at 350degrees for about 25 minutes. Allow to cool, cover, and freeze. When ready to serve, bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until hot.

King Ranch Chicken
This is a delicious, quick meal.

One whole chicken, boiled and chopped into bite size pieces
One can cream mushroom soup
One can cream chicken soup
One can enchilada sauce
One small onion, chopped
½ bag Nacho Cheese Doritos, crunched and crumbed
½ pound shredded cheese

Mix all ingredients together in large pan. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted and it is hot.. Chill, cover, and freeze. Re-heat directly from freezer at 350 for about 30-45 minutes until hot. Serve over Doritos. We sometimes serve refried beans on the side. Don't forget to save your bones for chicken stock!

I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it really pays off in the end. You have lots of meals to choose from and can fix them with very little work. It saves us a lot of money because we do not eat out as much and I can plan our meals around what is on sale and we have been able to stock up on. Don't just let your freezer hold ice and Popsicles... let it be your frugal friend!

Make sure you check out Amber's site Random Thoughts and Musings for more awesome recipes and tips!

The Princess solution: Chip

2008-11-23T03:47:00.001-06:00

I've found the solution to the Princess weight problem - Chip needs to share the love and give her some of his weight. Or I need to start feeding her dog food. He's currently 18lbs and 5oz, but he's supposed to be only 12lbs. 6lbs doesn't seem like a lot, but when you're only supposed to weigh 12lbs, that 50% of your weight! That's like a 180lb man weighing 270lbs. For a dog with luxtating patellas, being 6lbs overweight is a big deal, especially since this will be his first winter in cold weather.

It's kind of ironic that I'm trying so hard to pile the pounds onto the little princess, and now I'm going to have to peel them off Chip. If only there was a weight transfer machine...then we can transfer those 6lbs from Chip to the princess. He'll be perfect at 12lbs, and she'll be perfect at 16lbs!

Can you tell that I'm starting to lose my sanity JUST a tiny tad? It's been a hard weekend - I've been trying to clean the house in preparation for my parents and grandma to visit for Thanksgiving. Hubby is away all weekend, so I'm on strict mommy-only duty and it makes it all that much harder.

When the doctor prescribed her diet plan, he certainly didn't have me in mind. When I'm not nursing her, I'm giving her a bottle (we're FINALLY taking one) or shoving a spoon down her throat. I don't have time to eat, shower, or sleep until she goes to sleep, but that doesn't last for long. Not that she doesn't want to sleep - but the doctor wants her woken up to eat. It's crazy, I tell you...the last feeding she actually fell asleep in her bumbo (again) while the spoon was in her mouth. When she eats, it's not like a 5 minute snack. Between nursing, the bottle, and eating solids...a feeding session could go for an hour or more, depending on how cooperative she is. There's just not enough time in the day.

BUT, it's not all for naught. We're making progress, just extremely painfully slow. Friday at the pediatrician's office, she weighed in at 10lbs 7oz - that's a 3oz weight gain. She's been holding steady at 10lbs 4oz since last Friday, so I'm not sure if a 3oz weight gain in 7 days is much cause for celebration, but at least it's not a loss.

Our home nurse was kind enough to lend me her scale for the weekend, so I'm been weighing her like a crazy person to see how much food she absorbs and how much milk I'm producing. If I have my numbers right, today she gained 1.25oz. That's great, but I was honestly expecting something more. On Friday, she had at least 27.5oz between nursing and the calorie-enhanced formula, and on top of it she had nearly 7oz of solids. That doesn't sound like a lot, but that calorie-enhanced formula is some major heavy stuff. It's like drinking a milkshake all the time.

The numbers seem right for what a 6 month old should be eating, but I thicken her solids with baby cereal, and her cereal is mixed with that milkshake formula. If you actually sat down and counted calories, she's on a mega super calorie diet. I mean, so much food is going into the child that it should be a highway to obesity. Something just doesn't seem right - they honestly can't expect me to stuff her mouth for the rest of eternity just to maintain a "normal" weight gain. What happens when we revert to a normal people diet? Something's just not right.

Or maybe she's just super mega hungry. I mean, I did catch her eating her foot earlier. I hope that specialist guy isn't trolling the internet...he'll probably accuse me of starving her to the point where she has to start eating her own body parts out of desperation. Oh wait, I forgot - he makes gazillions, he won't be trolling around penny saving blogs. I'm too low for him to dirty himself with. I'm safe. Whew. Had me worried there for a second.

Anyway, I REALLY appreciate the outpouring of concern, advice, and encourage from everyone. It means the world to me that strangers are reaching out to help us, when people who really should be helping aren't lifting a single finger. For those of you who shared stories about your own children, I am so grateful to you - in a way you're my glimpse into the future, because frankly I'm having trouble seeing tomorrow (or rather, seeing a tomorrow made up of something other than food).

We're meeting with our local pediatrician on Monday, and hopefully he'll say something smart and sensible and give me a break from this feeding binge. Thanks to some of you who emailed me with resources, we've managed to hit a small breakthrough with hubby's work. The right people are now aware of what's going on and are willing to work with him to make our appointments. Things are looking good, except for the fact that Mommy is dead tired and it's not a solution to do absolutely nothing but feed her. I mean, the poor kid can't even sleep.

I've got some awesome guest posts lined up, as well as a few regular features, so it shouldn't be a deserted graveyard around here. Besides, now that she's on a mainly bottle-and-solid diet, daddy can take over some feedings when he's home and mommy can enjoy some time without a spoon attached to her hand.

Walgreens DD results

2008-11-23T03:03:00.001-06:00

I think I did pretty good considering I had about 3 hours of notice that it was DD weekend. It's not a super mega awesome haul, but I still managed to turn a small profit and get $47 worth of stuff for my trouble. Here is the breakdown:

Buy 1 L'Oreal Age Perfect Pro-Calcium: $19.99
Buy 1 Almay One Coat Mascara: $6.99
Buy 2 bioInfusion 33.8oz shampoo/conditioner: $20.00
Buy 1 Jolly Rancher dog toy: $1.00
Subtotal: $47.98
Use $5/1 December ESR bioInfusion coupon (-$10.00)
Use $1/1 Almay mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Grand Total: $36.98 (use $4 RR)
OOP: $32.98 + $3.84 tax = $36.82
November rebates: $19.99 (L'Oreal) + $6.99 (Almay) + $10.00 (bioInfusion) + $3.69 (10% giftcard bonus) = $40.67 ($3.85 profit)

I had originally planned to get the Crest Spinbrush at $4.99, but the December ESR Crest coupon wouldn't work. The wording said "Crest Spinbrush Pro", but the picture was of a rechargeable $14.99 Spinbrush. I think it's ridiculous that a picture overrides the wording, but whatever - we don't need more toothbrushes anyway.

And no, I wasn't planning on getting the Jolly Rancher dog toy, but this week has been especially hard on Chloe and Chip. We've barely been home, and when we are home we're so focused on shoving food down the little princess' throat that we almost forget to feed them (thanks for the death glares and the reminding whines, Chloe). I found the toy in the clearance department, and they really deserve a little treat. Chloe took it the second after I snapped my picture. In hindsight, I was a fool to think that they would share...

Walgreens DD days

2008-11-21T09:05:00.001-06:00

To be perfectly honest, I didn't even realize that the Walgreens DD days were upon us again until last night past midnight. But then again, I haven't been altogether here this week. So I quickly pulled up a transaction this morning, and I'll head out a bit early before the baby's back-to-back doctor's appointments this afternoon to make a quick WAGs trip.

Unfortunately there's no $/$$ coupon to maximize the savings, but I still had to go considering I didn't get my November FAR items yet. I tend to wait until the end of the month for my FAR items, just in case there IS a $/$$ coupon or it's a rebate item for next month too. No such thing this week, but it's still worth a trip out for me. That, and I do have 2 $2 RR that are expiring today. I completely forgot about them, so it's a good thing I caught on!

Buy 1 L'Oreal Age Perfect Pro-Calcium Radiance Perfector, 1.7oz: $19.99
Buy 1 Almay One Coat Mascara: $6.99
Buy 1 Crest Spinbrush: $4.99
Buy 2 bioInfusion: $20.00
Subtotal: $51.97
Use $3/1 December ESR Crest coupon (-$3.00)
Use $5/1 December ESR bioInfusion coupon (-$10.00)
Use $1/1 Almay mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Use $2/1 Crest mfg printable (-$2.00)
Grand Total: $35.97 (use $4 RR)
OOP: $31.97 + tax
November rebates: $19.99 (L'Oreal) + $6.99 (Almay) + $10.00 bioInfusion) = $36.98

Item count: 5
Total coupon count: 6
MFG coupon count: 2
RR count: 2
Final coupon count: 4

Your item count must be higher than your coupon count, but any coupons that Walgreens does not have to send out to redeem (i.e. in-ad coupons or ESR coupons) does NOT count towards your final coupon count. So although I am technically using 6 coupons including my RRs, the Walgreens system only sees it as 4 coupons for 5 items because the ESR coupons do not count.

There's also a chocolate deal to be had, and while I love chocolate, I'm choosing to skip out on that deal this time around. It'll come around again, and frankly I'm just so confused on what type of chocolates I need to buy to use the coupon and get the December rebate back, and right now I really do NOT need to be standing in front of the chocolate aisle for 15 minutes. The deal will come again.

The Friday Declutter Challenge

2008-11-21T03:52:00.001-06:00

This week, I declutted my daughter's hair stuff that's been bothering me for a couple of months now. She's only 6 months old, but she has a whole head of hair. I can put her hair up in pigtails with no trouble. We actually had to cut her hair earlier this week - it was getting to the point where it was continually getting in her eyes and she couldn't see, so mommy took some manicure scissors and gave the little princess some stylish bangs. It's not the best job in the world, and I'm going to admit that it's completely crooked, but hey...no one's going to care about that on an adorable 6 month old.

Anyway, I declutted her hair accessories this week. Her stuff is mainly made up of a mega pack of hair-ties that I bought at CVS a while back for a $1 as a filler item. It's perfect because they came in every color of the rainbow, and since they're so cheap it's not a big deal if I lose some or if they snap. Before, I just threw them all in a recycled mushroom container. It was basically a grab-box of stuff, so it took a while to find a matching hair tie for her pigtails.

I went to Walmart and bought one of those beading boxes for less than $2, then I spent about 5 minutes sorting her hair-ties by color. I am more than pleased with the result! Not only can I find what I'm looking for in a fraction of a second, the box itself also looks so pretty with all the bright colors. I was surprised to find that she actually has a lot of "special" hair ties and hair clips with various patterns and trinkets on them. Some of them she's never worn because we just simply threw them into the box and they got lost at the bottom. Now, I've got 3 separate sections dedicated to these clippies and bows and headbands.

Daddy also loves the new solution. He will actually do her hair (I know, isn't it great?), but the problem is that the man is color-challenged. He grabbed the first color that he saw, because frankly he didn't have the patience to go shifting through the box. Well, now he can see at a glance what matches and what doesn't, so the days of having orange pigtails with a purple outfit is now over!

I am so happy that I took the time to declutter her hair accessories this week. It took me less than 5 minutes, but it has saved us a lot of hassle. My total cost for this project was $2. It does not take a lot of time or money to get organized...so pick something in your home and start TODAY!

Aloha Friday

2008-11-21T03:52:00.000-06:00

I am utterly exhausted. Last weekend was nothing but cleaning around the house trying to get prepared for a family visit for Thanksgiving, and on top of it all I've been fighting some mutant cold bug. The rest of the week was spent running around to all of the baby's doctor appointments. I wish that I can say that I'm looking forward to the weekend, but it's another one of those dreaded 72-hour mommy-only weekends.

What's your quickest (and most effective) relaxation and re-energizing method?

I've considered hiring a maid, putting the baby in 72-hour daycare, or just asking Chip to let me hide underneath the bed with him. Unfortunately, none of those options are available to me currently. My favorite (and most effective) relaxation method is to take a nice steamy bath with tons of candles before bed, and then leave some incense burning as I fall asleep, but I haven't been able to do that since the baby was born. I need to find new ways to rejuvenate myself...and quickly!

Christmas Catalog VPG giveaway winner

2008-11-20T23:17:00.001-06:00

The winner of a beautiful set of note-cards from Vertical Printing and Graphics, by random.org, is Amber R! Congratulations Amber! You have 48 hours to reply to my email in order to claim your prize!

Be sure that you take full advantage of those extra entries! Amber won by blogging about the giveaway...so those extra entries could be your ticket to winning! Remember that you are only eligible for extra entries if you complete the original task - be sure to familiarize yourself with the giveaway rules and terms!

Don't miss out on the Box Tops Marketplace $50 Walmart Gift Card that ends on 11/24! Christmas is fast approaching, so be on the look-out for more awesome product reviews and giveaways from the CHRISTMAS CATALOG.

I'm still around...for now

2008-11-20T14:14:00.001-06:00

We went in for the baby's weight check this morning, and it's somewhat good news. Well, I'm not typing this in a hospital room, that's for sure. But, we're not having a good laugh about it either. She's the same weight as she was last Friday, and we used the same scale at the pediatrician's office. In the past 6 days, she really should have gained at least an ounce, especially with the insane amount of food that we've been shoving into her mouth.

I've been on the phone all morning with the various people that's on her "team", both at the specialist's office and locally. I've also been calling around for outside and fresh opinions from various state and military resources that's available to us. Basically, everyone's wary at this point and doubtful that we should wait out the full 2 weeks to go back, but at the same time they're STILL not quite ready to press the panic button. But then again, as medical professionals I guess they don't get to press the panic button unless there's no pulse. Whatever.

She's going back to the pediatrician on Monday for an actual visit, so we will see what her weight is then. If it's STILL the same, then I will press the panic button for them, because that would have been an additional 5 days of this crazy food diet thing. I mean, if the child is not nursing, there's a spoon in her mouth.

My house is an utter mess due to this crazy baby stuff. I'm going a bit insane - I even put the wrong dog in the car when we headed out to class yesterday. Good thing I realized before we left the driveway. I'll be taking most of the day to blitz clean the house (my parents and grandmother will be here in a week!!), but tonight I will try to schedule a couple of posts. If you're interested in being a bog-sitter or doing some guest posts, please let me know!

Things I Love Thursday: Family-owned restaurants

2008-11-20T03:52:00.000-06:00

We love to eat out. We actually eat out more often than we should, and while we are working on fixing that, it's just something that our family loves and we treat ourselves to every now and then. Our daughter is probably the best restaurant baby - she's just content to sit in her car-seat and in her lap and watch us.

Being a military family, chain restaurants end up on our "favorite restaurant" list quite often. We know that we can find them, no matter where we end up. However, our absolutely favorite places of all time are small family-owned restaurants, especially Japanese restaurants.

My husband and I both love sushi, and we're both very picky on how our sushi is prepared. We'll eat supermarket sushi, but only when we're really desperate. So far, we've been fortunate enough to find a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant at every place we've lived in. These restaurants are most family-owned, and every-time we go we see the same waitress and the same sushi chef. The place is nice and cozy, and you'd have trouble fitting a party of 6+ in there. Their prices are extremely reasonable, and we love knowing that our food is prepared when we order it, not mass produced and then heated up.

Every once in a while we'll crave some Olive Garden or some Denny's, but without a doubt, we love small family-owned hole-in-the-wall places.

Maybe-leave of absence announcement

2008-11-19T22:22:00.002-06:00

I maybe taking a leave of absence starting tomorrow. This all depends on my daughter's weight. I ranted yesterday about my Grumpy Day at her specialist's appointment, and as the more time passes and it sinks in even more, the more pissed off I get about the whole thing.

If you want the full story, go ahead and read on. But the bottom line is that tomorrow morning I am going to take her in for a weight check, and if she has lost weight despite our above-and-beyond efforts today, I'm going home to pack an overnight bag and driving back to the specialist that morning. I am going to demand that he admit her for testing NOW and not in two weeks. Obviously, if this happens I will be taking a leave of absence.

Today we had a marathon run and fed her 7.5oz of baby food, 5oz of baby cereal and a couple ounces of calorie-increased formula ON TOP of her regular feedings from me. That's at least 12 ounces of food that went in today. I should see at least an ounce increase, or her weight should at the very least stay consistent. We will weigh her on the same scale in the pediatrician's office, and the last time she was weighed on that scale was Friday. In 6 days time, she should have gained weight with this crazy feeding rampage we've been on. However, if she's lost weight in 6 days time despite our maniac crazy efforts, something is wrong.

When this was first "diagnosed" as a problem, we were told to increase her calories with baby food and cereal. We've been doing just that. But she has STILL lost weight. I don't know, maybe our efforts might not have been enough, but it is still an increased diet than what she had originally. Even if she doesn't gain weight, at the least she should stay consistent instead of losing weight.

And yesterday, the specialist told me to increase her diet for another 2 weeks. We've already been increasing it for 2 weeks. It hasn't worked. He did not prescribe any special formula or cereal or food. Basically, he wants us to do what we HAVE been doing for 2 weeks, as if it will magically work just because it came out of his mouth.

I have tried to be a good "patient mommy" through all of this. I have agreed and followed everything they have said, I smile and nod at their every command, and I sat there and let some stranger criticize my parenting and common sense. Well, enough is enough. If something is truly wrong with her, we cannot afford to wait 2 weeks - we've already waited 2 weeks just to see the specialist. Shoving down food down her throat for 2 weeks didn't do anything. Shoving the SAME food down her throat for another 2 weeks won't do anything either.

I do have a couple of posts scheduled, so there should be activity until Friday. Hopefully, I will not be away for that long. If this leave of absence is confirmed tomorrow, I will do my best to post a quick note before heading out the door. But if I don't, you have been forewarned that I was not abducted by aliens or died of poisonous fumes or something.

What I'm hoping will happen is that I take her in, she weighs 11lbs, and I come back and we can all have a good laugh about what a freakazoid monster I turned into. We'll see.

P.S.: Thank you so much for all of your kind words yesterday. Those of you who shared your own struggles with your children really helped me put all this in perspective. I really appreciate your concern and well-wishes...more than I can express with words.