Well, its been a while...

It has been a very busy year in 2012, and I realized I hadn't written a post since April... for that I am sorry.  However, I have made some awesome discoveries since then that I am excited to share!

**MAKE YOUR OWN FLEA SPRAY**
This is safe to use on carpets, bedding, and pets!  and it is so easy and, of course, cheap!!!

1. Get a spray bottle.  I got mine at Wal-mart in the cleaning section for $.98.  I have also saved febreeze bottles and rinsed them out.
2. Fill your bottle halfway with 70% rubbing alcohol.  (I found this works the best.)  Fill the rest of the way with water.  Add about a 1/8 tsp of Dawn dish soap.  
3. Shake well and spray carpets and bedding every other day.  The Dawn kills eggs, and the Alcohol burns and suffocates the fleas.  When spraying pets, saturate them and rub it into their skin.  After they have their spaz moment like they do with all sprays, comb or brush with a flea comb dipped in a cup of undiluted alcohol.  Do this weekly to daily until the problem dissipates.

Some other tricks:

• When bathing your animals, make a mixture of 1 part dawn and 1 part alcohol.  use to bathe the animal, then follow with a hair conditioner.  The alcohol/Dawn mixture will kill the fleas and the conditioner will soften their fur, soothe their irritated skin from the flea bites, and prevent their skin from getting too dry.  This works well for both Cats and Dogs.  (Yes, I bathe my cats, they get bathed about once a month.  Yes, they hate me for about an hour or two then get over it.)
• Put a flea collar in your vacuum canister.  This will kill any fleas that get sucked up by your vacuum.
• Use the flea powder that is meant for pets on your carpets, especially under couches, tables, desks, etc.  This is cheaper than most carpet powders/sprays and a little goes a long way.  Just sprinkle, let it set for about 15 minutes, then vacuum the whole room. 

**MAKE YOUR OWN LETTER BANNERS**

This is something that is a lot of fun to do!

1. Get a pack of cheap construction paper at like Dollar Tree.
2. Write out what you want the banner to say, then jumble up the letters.  (For example: If I want the banner to say "Happy Birthday Amanda" I will jumble the letters like this: "HDAAPYPAYMBAINRDTAH"
3. Open up Microsoft Word
4. Type out the letters for the banner in CAPS and with a space between each letter.  Make it in Bold and do it at a size that will have about 4 letters per page.  Dont forget to have the letters mixed up! (I have found that around the size of 280, narrow margins, and Times New Roman look the best to me, but play with it.)
5. Make the letters only outline.  (If you have the latest version of Word, click the little icon and the bottom right corner of the text box on the toolbar.  it looks like a box with an arrow coming out of it.  When the popup box appears, click the "text affects' button.  Select "No fill"  for the text fill and then select "Solid Line" and Black color for the Text Outline option. then close out the pop up windows.)
6. Trim the construction paper to the size of the standard paper.  Cut the number of pages you need for your letters.
7. Print.
8. Once your pages are printed, carefully cut out your letters on the lines.  Now place them in order.  Try to make sure no two colors are touching.  (thats why you mixed up your letters! :D ) punch a small hole on each side of the letters.  like *S* the astericks being the holes so to speak.
9. Tie together the letters with thread, string, or embroidery floss.  (whatever is available)
10. hang and enjoy!

It takes a little bit of work, and its more complicated in instruction form.   You can also just tape up the letters individually to the wall, stick it on a door, window, whatever!  Get creative with it!  Use pastels for a baby shower, school colors for a graduation, favorite colors for a birthday, holiday colors for Easter/Christmas/Halloween, the possibilities are truly endless!  Aren't you glad you didn't drop all that money for a cricket cutter?!  For letters like S,W,H,M, you will need to reinforce the letter if you do it as a banner.

**HOMEMADE CLEANERS**

you will not believe how well these work, and how much they will save you.

• BLEACH CLEANER-  in a spray bottle fill 1/4 with bleach, the rest with water.  Add a 1/2 tsp of Dawn.  Shake well before each use.  works great on cars/soap scum/kitchen counters.
• OXYGEN CLEANER- substitute the bleach for Hydrogen peroxide.
• HOMEMADE FEBREEZE- Soak and squeeze out 4 dryer sheets (or use 1/2 tsp of liquid fabric softener) in enough water to fill a spray bottle.  Shake well before each use.
• QUICK WRINKLE RELEASE- spritz item with homemade febreeze and tug wrinkles away, then blast with a hair dryer on warm.
• FURNITURE POLISH-take a washcloth and dab some lemon juice onto it and wipe off your furniture.  Follow QUICKLY with a rag dabbed lightly with olive oil.
• TOILET CLEANER- Pour about two cups of cheap off brand cola then swish brush around the rim.  let set overnight, then flush.

So that is all I have to share today!  Happy Saving!

Awesome Coupon Tip of the Post: Some stores will allow you to stack a BOGO coupon with a BOGO sale resulting in two free items.  Make sure to check your store's coupon policy before attempting this! 

Making Your Dollar Stretch EVEN further!!

Hey all! today I am going to do a quick post of how to make everyday items last twice as long AND how to recycle a few everyday items! (who thought that being cheap can also be green?). 

*STRETCH YOUR DISH SOAP*

I know that this works on dish soap like Dawn or Ajax, not dishwasher soap like Cascade.  There are usually coupons for Dawn in every P&G brand-saver, but its a small $ coupon, and some will over look it.  BUT I will use them on the little bottle of the dawn ultra.  (it ranges from $1.25 - $1.50)  so im usually able to get it for around half price.  well its such a little bottle so it doesnt last as long! WRONG!  a small bottle like that will last me a week and a half to two weeks (i hand wash my dishes.)  DILUTE IT!  Take an empty bottle (i have an old Ajax dish soap bottle) and fill it 2/5 full of the concentrated dish soap and full the rest with water!  the scent is just as good, and use the amount you normally would.  It actually foams up BETTER and QUICKER with your sponge and its less detergent per load of dishes going down your drain which (if you have one) your septic tank doesn't go into shock!

*YEAST IS YOUR FRIEND*

How much is a treatment of rid-x? even WITH  the coupons you find, its just too much in my opinion!!! but did you know you can do the same thing for PENNIES ON THE DOLLAR?! Take one packet of yeast per toilet in you home and flush it down once a month.  the yeast feeds the bacteria, which then will thrive and prosper and eat the yucky stuff that it is supposed to!  for about $1 a month!!! (or even cheaper with coupons)  as long as it is active dry yeast, it will work.  :)

*DRYER SHEET DOUBLE DUTY*

love the scent of your dryer sheets and are super excited to have a huge stack of them sitting in your laundry room that you got for cheap!  well i actually have TWO tricks with dryer sheets.  the first one is to cut them in half.  You can soften your clothes with a half cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle, and only half a dryer sheet will scent them nicely. 

But after the drying is done and you have spend up dryer sheets littering the floor of your laundry room and where ever you fold your clothes... you pick them up and throw them away.... STOP! your used dryer sheet can be used to scrub out your bathroom!  the texture is amazing for scouring off soap scum!! also use them to scrub rings out of your toilet! 

*MAKE YOUR OWN DRYER SHEETS*

this is an even CHEAPER way to make your clothes soft and stretch you dollar.  Take a bottle of your favorite fabric softener an pour it into a container with a seal-able lid (make sure it only fills it 2/3 full)  fill container rest of the way with water.  take a common household sponge or washcloth and soak in mixture.  when you need to use it, squeeze it out and toss into your dryer! when its done toss it back into the fabric softener mixture! :D (and use this along with your homemade laundry soap and you will be spending only $10 a year on laundry supplies!!!!! how awesome is that?!?)

*FILL YOUR OWN INK CARTRIDGES*

I save HUNDREDS refilling my own ink cartridges! you can get photo quality ink in a starter kits for black and color for under $15 on eBay!!!!  and even better you can refill the same cartridge over and over.  the ones in my printer have lasted over a year!!! they DO wear out over time, but you don't have to buy a brand new one, get a refurbished one for a fraction of the price, then keep refilling it until that one dies.  I save around $400 a year doing this (hello, internet coupons?!) and it is a life saver.  (if you attempt this, ALWAYS read your directions CAREFULLY and make sure you refill BEFORE the cartridge is out.)

I think that is enough for this time ;)

awesome coupon tip of the post: you can sign up for samples and fill out surveys for money.  Two good sites for surveys is www.inboxdollars.com and www.mypoints.com and a great one for getting to try stuff for free is www.bzzagent.com.   Also check out the freebies tab at www.thekrazycouponlady.com (this is my favorite site)

Coupon burnout - how to avoid it

I, Amanda, had suffered from a BAD case of coupon burnout. I had worked a TON of hours around Christmas time, got sick, taking down Christmas stuff, and having to reorganize closets to make room for all my new Christmas stuff. then I stopped making time for my coupons. I would put the inserts into a pocket of my notebook and then they became "out of sight, out of mind." Also, once I cleaned out my coupons at the end of the year... so many of them were expired! i was depressed! I was SERIOUSLY burnt out. i dove headfirst into couponing and hit the ground running. it was like i overdosed... I started to procrastinate, coupons wouldn't get cut for two or three weeks. sometimes by the time i got to them... they would have expired! i stopped printing Internet coupons, and i stopped checking my favorite blog! it spiraled out of control! my savings went down to only 30%! last month, i read some posts about coupon burnout and how so many newer couponers will go through this! i then got my notebook caught up, and i am back on track! now i can help YOU avoid this and learn from my mistakes!


*ALWAYS PACE YOURSELF*

i cannot stress this enough! I didn't and i suffered. i would put off cutting coupons until the night before payday or my shopping trip and i would be up all night cutting like 10 inserts at one time, so i was exausted by the time i went to bed and only got to take a quick nap. therefore, my thinking skills were not up to par and i would make impulse buys or costly mistakes. i will advise the following schedule (but make one work for you!!!).

• look through your coupons and pull the inserts when you get home with your papers. I am a visual person, so i have to see the coupon to catalog it in my mind what coupons i have.
• that same night go through your notebook and pull expired coupons. also, at this time i will see if there is a coupon that is close to expiring and if i will not be able to use it, i will give it to someone who might. (co-workers, my mother-in-law, my brother-in-law, ect.)
• the next day ( if you get the early edition on saturday like i do. do this the same day of it is sunday), cut all copies of your inserts. i have discovered the quickest and most efficent way to do this. i used to tear all my inserts one page at a time, then cut them, THEN separate them into catagories, then put them in the notebook. this took SOOOOO much time! this is a more efficent/space saving way to do it. take (#) copies on one insert. tear off the first page of each one and stack them together. (no more than 4 per cutting, so if you have more than 4, do 2 or more stacks) cut the coupon(s) and place them in stacks according to their catagory. (see previous post about catagories in you notebook) repeat steps with following pages of insert. take a break if you need to in between several inserts (if you are behind like i was)
• do all this while listening to music or watching tv. something just relaxing. if its only two sets of inserts, this should take no more than an hour or two. After you have cut all your coupons, paperclip your piles (so they dont blown away or get knocked off my a cat, dog, child, ect.) and take a break! play online, go for a walk, make dinner... whatever! give yourself a couple of hours and come back to it.
• place your coupons in their catagories in the notebook or organizer, and pull your ads from one of your newspapers.
• Monday - plan your trip. write your grocery list for the week, two weeks, month, whatever! Then take your ads and look at what is on sale, compare it to your coupons and write it down on some notebook paper. list the store, then the item with sale price, and the price of your coupon. this should take about an hour. take a break.
• check ineternet for any additional coupons you might want to use. also take envelopes and write down what you are getting at each store with before and after prices. at the top have the store with total estimated price (dont forget about tax!) put in corresponding coupons.
• you are now ready for your trip! take your notebook with you in case you find a awesome unadvertised deal! (like clearance!)

*TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS AND SPACE OUT YOUR TIME*

total amount of time (not including shopping) should take between only 4-6 hours each week if you keep up with them! make yourself a schedule that fits with your work schedule! i have sparatic work days, but I am also able to cut coupons at work when we are slow and my work is finished. (if i have never mentioned before, i friggin LOVE my job!!!) So my schedule for coupon work is not set, but it seems daunting when it really isnt! for LESS than the time of an average work shift, you can spend that time to double your money? uuuh TOTALLY worth it!

*TAKE IT SLOW*

Take your time. its like riding a bike. the first time you ride without your training wheels are you gonna ride down a mountain? (i hope) no! its the same with coupons. dont get discouraged if you are not getting shopping trips like on tv! my first transactions i only saved about 20-40%, and that is great! give yourself a good timeline and goals. "i want to be able to save 40-50% by the three month mark after starting couponing." thats a very realistic goal. Also, you do not have to cut EVERY SINGLE COUPON! i did this.. bad. i would cut coupons for stuff i knew i wouldnt need or use! why do i need more pasta coupons when i already had enough to feed the us army? know your stockpile as you are planning your trip. so by the end of the month im pulling a huge pile of coupons that i didnt get to use because i didnt need them... and its discouraging.


*HAVE FUN WITH IT!*

enjoy the "coupon rush", you cant enjoy it if you are so exausted you can think straight. Also, perfect your happy coupon dance ;) Happy Couponing!!!


Awesome Coupon Tip of the Post: Before order something online at a site, google the site in another tab/window. somethimes there will be a promo code (digital online coupon) for the site listed with the site link. ;)

Its the Most Wonderful Time of The Year!!!!

Well, not that Christmas insanity is behind us and the stores are not so insane! yay! Also the inserts are FINALLY gonna be in the papers this Sunday! (1/1/12 - TWO smartsource {eeeeee!} one redplum aaaaaaand the p&g! whoo-hoo!) I dont know about yall but I have been JONESIN over my coupons! TWO WEEKS with no inserts. I am going through withdrawls!!!! I realize that I misspelled the link in my last post so im gonna do it again; www.sundaycouponpreview.com and remember that is this is accurate for the AJC and not the Macon Telegraph! this thing is a life saver! depending on the coupons, I might get more papers if the coupons are really great, or just one or two if they arent! also if there isnt anything in there that you will use, then you can skip that week! it is totally awesome!


Now for me to explain why this is "the most wonderful time of the year"!!! This is when I do ALOT of my shopping for Christmas!!! (as in next Christmas) I get everything at this time and on the cheap!!!! Wrapping paper, bows, ribbon, garland, lights, ornaments, gifts, candy, pajamas, you name it! Some stores have already hit 75% off (Wal-Mart in Griffin did yesterday) but the best is when it hits 90%! Some "holiday collection" air fresheners will even be clearanced out and you can use a coupon on top of that!!! I will usually choose a scent you can use year-round like vanilla, sugar cookie, apple cinnamon, ect. Also holiday themed candy will be clearanced and some of the coupons that were in the inserts in the start on the season dont expire until 12/31 (today) so you still have some time!!!!


Also you know those fun little gift sets (like the bath sets, or the colonge sets, or little novelty items? well if you pick up ones that arent speciffically holiday themed, you can throw it into a "gift bucket". This is a bucket you have small gifts to bring for say a unexpected birthday, or something falls when you are in-between paychecks, you have a stockpile of perfect gifts! I have also see suggestions if you use coupons for travel sized toiletries (to get them free) you can use those and make up fun gift baskets! Also the make up kits? if you have a friend/family member tat is reaching the pre-teen age or has a daughter reaching that age? get a fun make-up pallet to give for their birthday! they wont know you paid $.50 for it at right after christmas time!


Also another great thing to stock up on is christmas lights! EXPECALLY if you know someone with a wedding coming up in the next two years! This is what my husband and I did. Any other time of the year, you can buy a box of 25 ct white wire white lights for (NO JOKE) $6-$10!!!! WHAT?!? ARE YOU %$^#&@(*&$^%*# KIDDING ME?!?!?!?! right now you can get a box of 100 ct white wire white lights for $1.25-$3. that is literally a savings of almost $30 per 100 ct lights!!! Also depending on the theme of the wedding, (birds, certain colors, ect.) you can find ornaments (a lady bought two dove ornaments one year and told me they were going to be the cake topper. she also bought snowflake ornaments, plates, and table toppers because it was going to be in December the following year and her theme was "winter wonderland"), garland, napkins (non-printed, solid color. I was able to get mine at Easter since the colors were cream and lavender), streamers, candles, candies, or ribbon on clearance!!! And all of it was pennies on the dollar!


And for the crafty readers, Christmas themed crafts and fabric clearance! WHOO-HOO! :D Use the fabric to make Christmas themed throw pillows, stockings, quilts, table runners and even tablecloths! and who doesnt love Christmas Pajammies?! Also some themed fleece will be marked down so that can be made into scarves, hats, pullovers, mittens, blankets, tree skirts, and even (for the expert sewers) stuffed animals! and those fun foam crafts? Oh yes. Save them for next year with your kids, classroom, or sunday school! Get creative!! the possibilies are endless!!!


So Happy New Year all! What are your Resolutions? Mine is to increase my average savings to 70-80%, keep up with my coupon clipping, and keep up with my blog better!!! :D


Awesome Coupon Tip Of The Post: When you get alot of food stuff for free or cheap and its more than you will normally use before it expires, donate the rest to a food bank or shelter. Also Women's shelters are constantly in need of toileties and femmine items. I really promote paying the awesomeness forward!

Make Your Own Christmas Decorations!!!

You can save OODLES of money by making your own christmas decorations!! so so so fun! some will be kid friendly and simple and some will be more advanced!


Homemade Air Dry Dough:
Here is a quick and cheap recipe and you can make it in such a variety of colors! perfect for making something simple like ornaments or even something like a nativity for your kids room! great if you have kids as an awesome family/babysitting/daycare/classroom activity!

• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup water
• any food dye (they have such a wide variety inluding neon colors!)
• bowl for mixing
• newspaper to cover surface
• clear acrylic spray
• cheap latex gloves (if desired to keep from getting food dye on your hands as you mix in the color)

Cover your work surface with newspaper. then into the mixing bowl add your salt, flour, then water into the bowl. Mix or knead until a soft dough forms. then add your color, just a few drops for a light color or more if you want a richer color. Viola! Sculpt your desired idea (if an ornament make sure you have a hole near the top for a string or hook to go through so you can hang it :) and let it dry! once its dry, spray the clear acrilic over the object! YAY!

For a longer lasting clay, I would advice a bake-in-the-oven clay (availible at all craft stores and some walmarts). you can buy it in a variety of colors and it lasts a very long time. :)

Make Your Wreaths!

Yes you heard me right! My mom always trimmed off the bottom branches of our tree and made the wreath out of that. I like the artifical wreaths a little bit better because im able to use them yar after year. the one that hangs under my front porch light I made for like $6 and its on par with some of those $25 wreaths i hve seen for sale! I got everything I needed at dollar tree, but it was the best place for me to get it all for the best price. this is what I got:

• Two of the 12" plain wreaths (they are kinda thin looking but trust me)
• one thingy (lack of better wording) of the 15' pine garland that is plain.
• one spool of a pretty wire edged ribbon
• one or two of the little artifical flowers (I got one of the baby poinsettas and one with little holly berry and pinecones, but get whatever suits your fancy!)

Take your two wreaths and take the little branches and have them all sticking straight up. Then stack them to where one is inside the other and as close as you can get them. take your pine garland and wind it around the two wreaths, joining them together and filling in the gaps. (do it very tightly and close kinda like how you would wrap lights on a pillar or pole.) once you have used up all the garland, take the little braches and flatten them some and fan them out to make it look natural. Take your flower bunch and fan out the stems to where the heads are facing all kinds of different directions. Then take the leaves on the stem and push them to where they meet the head. (everything on each stem should all be at the tip) Three inches down from the head, take the stem and bend it back and forth several times quickly. this will cause the stem to break off. Take the stem and bend halfway between the end and head to create a hook. take the hooked end and push it into the desired spot of your wreath. once its pushed in, take one of the little branches and kinda wrap it around the stem right under the head to give it some extra support. (you can also hot glue it into the branches) repeat until wreath is well decorated! End with trying a pretty bow onto it with your ribbon and hang!

Quick and Easy Ornaments!

You can use a variety of things as ornaments! like using artificial flowers (break away the stems and have the leaves at the head like described above for the wreath, but instead of making the end a hook just stick it straight inot the tree), pinecones from your yard (brush a bit of paint onto the ends for a splash on color), or even oragami! use construction paper to cut out shapes or make paper chains! get creative! also make your own bows for your tree! the possibilites are endless!


Make Your Own Stockings!

This is more of a later this month type project or can be done now. get some fun Christmas print fabric, or any fabric of your choosing for that matter! (1 yard will easily make at least 3 average sized stockings) trace out a stocking shape (fabric folded and wrong side out). then sew the two sides together (wrong side out) and hem the top. add a loop of ribbon/fabric on the top back edge (on the top of the back seam) then turn it right side out! a pretty custom made stocking! for even more fun add glitter, fabric paint, sequins, embroidery, or whatever tickles your fancy! do a plain white one and have your kids draw on it with colored sharpies. have fun with it!

Happy Savings!

Awesom coupon tip of the post: weekends that have a bank holiday usually wont have coupons in the sunday paper (memorial day, labor day, ect.) If you are unsure if your paper will have coupons that weekend, check out www.sundaycouponpeview.com it will gave you what inserts are coming up and what coupons are gonna be in them (there are going to be some toy coupons in there this week)

Money Saving Christmas ideas! :D

Yes, yes, yes, I know. That time of year has come around once again and everyone is scrambling to let everyone on their list know how much they care, but you dont have to break the bank to give everyone a gift! also some great money saving gifts for kids too!


Make your office/church/aquaintance gifts!


This is so much easier than alot of yall realize! and is so easy on the wallet... it comes out close to $1-$2 per gift! here are some great ideas, and go from there!

• make scented bags that they can keep at their office, in their car, sock drawer, whatever! there are sooo many ways to do it! these are my two suggestions: [Quick and Easy] take tulle circles (you can get a pack of the at dollar tree that has I think either 10 or 15 circles in it) and place a small handfull of potpourri (approx 1/4 cup) in center (they also have a good apple cinnamon at dollar tree, and they have decently priced big bag of potpourri at walmart in many great scents.). Take the edge and bring it up and over the potpourri until you have it all bunched together at the top. tie the top with a pretty ribbon of a christmas-y color(s) (you can get a perfect thin ribbon spool at walmart for only $.47 in bright pretty colors). {A little more advanced} get some scrap or holiday themed fabric. cut a swatch of fabric 6 inches long and 2 inches wide. fold in half (3 inches long and 2 inches wide) with the wrong side facing out. Sew up both sides and leave the top open. turn right side out, fill with potpourri, and tie off the top with a pretty ribbon or sew top closed with a lace trim.
• make little hot cocoa mix bags. we did this for a church christmas party once and they seemed to really enjoy it. it is sooooo easy to make and the materials do cost around $20 but you can easily break this down into 2-20 units to pass out per batch and materials make about 4-5 batches overall. here is the recipie *2 cups of nonfat dry milk *3/4 cup powdered sugar *1/2 cup unsweetend cocoa *1/2 cup MINI semi-sweet chocolate chips *1/2 cup powdered non-dairy creamer *1/8 teaspoon salt *1 cup mini marshmellows (optional) Mix all ingredients together until blended well and makes 4 cup total. You add 2-3 heaping tablespoons to either hot water, coffee, or milk for one serving. you can use the little treat bags you find near the party favors and tie closed with a fun ribbon. we printed little instruction cards (about the size of a return address label) on white paper then glued on red or green construction paper an tied it on along with the ribbon for a fun touch!
• Make your own christmas cards! there are so00000000 many personalizable templates you can use on the computer and cardstock is only $6 a pack (white, at walmart) and you will have enough to print anywhere from 150 (full size) to 300 (half size, 2 cards per page) per pack! (save even more money when you refill your own ink cartrages. more info in a later post)
• make treat bags! who doesnt love yummies during the holidays?! you can get a pack of candy canes for like $1 and some fun hard candy fairly cheap too! who says it cant be homemade candy either? dont limit yourself! do fudge, cookies, candies, snack mix, peppermit bark... the possibilities are ENDLESS with this!!! just fill a treat bag with your yummy of choice, tie off with a ribbon and a candy cane! TA-DA!
• make candy cane reindeer. get green/red/brown pipecleaners, the little googly eyes, and the little pompoms in either red or brown. take either elmers glue or a hot glue gun (I like the glue gun better because of quick drying time) and glue a pompom at the tip of the shorter end of the candy cane. glue the eyes about halfway up to the curl (above the nose about 1 inch or so). then take the pipecleaner, fold in half til it makes a very narrow "U" shape and hook the pipecleaer to the candy cane where the top of the cane is resting inside the bottom of the "U" of the pipecleaner. twist the pipe cleaner twice right at the top (like you would a twisty tie) and pull the two ends outward like the arms of a "T" (you should be able to look at the nose dead on and see the eyes right above it and the pipe cleaner endssticking out on either side. Take each end of the pipe cleaner and crimp each end until they resemble antlers. (here is a link for a picture www.craftelf.com/Crafting_with_Food_Candy_Cane_Reindeer.htm )
• bake cupcakes, mini cupcakes, or cookies for your workplace.
• take it from here! get creative!

money saving ideas for kids

there are always gonna to be the big this toy that kids are gonna be huning under that tree for, but these are tips for some of the "filler" gifts.

• halloween clearance. if you have a little one that plays make belive or dress up... this is the perfect time to cash in on a really epic gift! accessories (crowns, wings, hats, ect) and generic costumes (pirate, princess, faerie, fireman) are clearance right now all the way down to 60-90% right now. some stores even have them at $1 right around this time. To add a whole new dimention of fun, get a old trunk froma thrift store or consignment shop and fill it with all these fun items and call it the "imagination trunk".
• Consignment shops and thrift stores. locally owned consignment shops are popping up everywhere along with some big chains like Once Upon A Child and Plato's Closet. Thrift Stores you can find some great books, easiliy washable toys and even gently worn/brand new (yes you just have to really look) clothes and even fun kids funiture. Goodwill and the Salvation Army are usually brighter and more organized. My only advice with these is to wash what you get because you cant be too careful. :)
• Clearance. Always check clearance for boardgames, certain name brand toys, and even accessories to current toy sets they own (do this throughout the year). also around New Year, get those clearanced out stocking stuffers, wrapping paper, decorations, and ornaments! im just now pulling out the stuff we got from last years clearance and we are good for NEXT christmas too when it comes to bows and wrapping paper!!!
• Party favors make excellent stocking stuffers.

Dont hesitate to get creative! a difficult economy is no excuse to leave anyone out of the Christmas Cheer! get to craftin' and shoppin'!

Awesome Coupon tip of the Post: there are coupons right now for baking goods (like the chocolate chips and the powdered sugar for the hot cocoa mix) and there are sometimes coupons in store's sales ads for things like XX% off a total purchace (of $XX amount or more)! and I have seen toy coupons before in the inserts. :D

Donating Expired Coupons and Timing for the BEST savings!!

Happy Veterans Day! Thank you to all the military and their family who have gave such a sacrafice for our safety and freedom!


On that note, as you collect coupons and wait out for the best deal, or just dont get a chance to use them, you will get expired coupons. As much as it breaks your heart to see them go, did you know our military overseas can use those expired coupons up to 6 months after they expire?! there are many families who are living overseas with their military spouses/parents and are trying to live on a small single income budget. We can help our military by sending the coupon love!!! YAY!! there is information and addresses found here: http://thekrazycouponlady.com/coupons-for-military/ (you will find a quote this site ALOT)

Now, I know some of yall got your papers and clipped some awesome coupons! and youre so excited you wanna run out to the store as soon as you get them and see how much you save! while your first few trips you will save 15-20% overall while you are building up your stockpile (either it be your pantry and freezers, or a empty room that get taken over)but timing is everything!!! The trick is to get something on sale along with your coupon!. For example, this week I was able to get Campbel's Cream of Mushroom soup (a hardcore staple in our home) for $.30 a can!!! 4lb bags of sugar for $1.50! Its all about the timing. I usually dont get to combine store and maufacturers coupons very often, but then in able to combine them with a sale on top of that its great! Also sales a very seasonal! right now alot of the thankgiving staples and baking items are gonna be on sale. (i.e. sugar, flour, canned veggies, turkey, stuffing, paper plates, ect. and those coupons will reflect those sales as well)

so keep scouring those ads and keep that couponing awesomeness going. it will start off kinda slow with the savings but then start to pick up higher with each trip. my last big trip (wed night) landed me 78% savings! I was so excited! Most of my normal trips save me about 55-60%. Also to start up your stockpile, when you find a great deal, get twice what you normally will. That way it takes you twice as long to run out and hopfully another coupon will come for it! and if you are afraid it will expire before you use it, here is a list of things that can freeze and will expand the life of the item:

• Bread
• Cheese
• Butter or Margarine
• Lunch meats
• Bacon
• Veggies
• Milk (drink about 1 glass worth first before freezing to account for expantion)
• chicken stock (whenever I boil chicken for a dish, I save the stock. I use clean pickle jars and fill them while the broth is still hot. sometimes they even re-seal!)

also items that have an almost indefinate shelf life. I will still use these items up to 6 months after their expiration date (alot of times its a "better if used by" date. that just means they cant guarantee the freshness of that product past that date)

• canned veggies
• canned soup
• pasta
• flour
• pancake mix
• box dinners (rice-a-roni, hamburger helper, ect.)
• sealed peanut butter
• unopened cereal
• oats
• unopened spices

So dont throw out pantry items if they are unopened! If they are still sealed, they are still good up to 6 months!! so that is where i will leave yall for now ( I know it was kinda a shorter blog, I have cleaning on the mind today and chirstmas shopping!)

Awesome coupon tip of the post: you can use coupons on clearance merchadice as long as the coupon is not expired!