I'm A Sucker

I went ahead and took the suggestions and ordered the Yummy Earth lollipops and LOVE them!!!  If you sign up for the subscribe and save option (I did every six months), you can save even more money and then cancel if you decide you don't need another five pounds of lollipops.  I liked these pops for a few reasons:  they are organic, they have great flavors and they are a bit smaller than other lollipops so they don't last forever.  Plus, you get enough that if your children, like mine, start them and then leave them somewhere, you still have a billion pops left.  I'd say, if you need a bunch of treats for a party or trick or treaters, give these a try.




Happy Licking!

Can't Win for Losing

I came up with a great craft idea today which combined crafting, learning and role play.  We played restaurant.  Lilly made menus by cutting out pictures from the grocery store sales flyers.  She and Oliver pasted them on to construction paper and then she decided on the prices for the items and she wrote the name of the item next to the picture.  She had all her "friends" come to the restaurant and order and she told them how much things cost and what they should eat - it was GREAT! 

And then it was time to clean up.  There were bits of paper and sales flyer that had fallen, construction paper that needed to be put away and all the "friends" to be returned to her room.  Suddenly, everyone was "too tired" or "too little" to pick anything up and neither of them were "going to be my friend anymore".  Our great activity ended with two crying children, nothing really picked up and steam comming out of my ears. 

I think my modification for next time will be that we clean up the project before we start playing with it and we will start cleaning up at 11:30 am so that we can be cleaned up before they get hungry and tired for lunch and nap.  Other than that, I'm open to suggestions . . .   

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaack!

I just now realized how long it has been since I have posted anything and, it's not that I haven't been shopping or saving, just that I've been too busy to write about it.  I've decided that even the small savings count also so I'll be posting daily on the things that I've done to make my home a better place or my money go a bit further.  Plus, I just realized that I'm out of diapers.  My stash lasted me six months and now I'm having to pay attention to diaper sales again - ahhhhh!  Let's see if I can knock the rust off of this old coupon holder and hit the town!

Thrifty Thursday - Other Savings

Target
Check your recent magazines because I have found two "20% off any Merona brand item" coupons in Parents Magazine and also in Real Simple Magazine.  It expires July 15, 2010.

Kohls
I just received ANOTHER "$10 off any purchase" card in the mail yesterday that is good from Wednesday, May 12-Saturday, May 22, 2010.

CVS
I just received my $15 extra bucks certificate for participating in a CVS survey as a CVS advisor member.  The survey took all of 10 minutes and I got an email with my $15 voucher the other day.  If you are interested, go here and sign up.  I can't remember where I heard about this program but, thanks to whomever you are! 

Thrifty Thursday - Free Sorrento Cheese Sticks!!!

There are peelies on packages of Sorrento Cheese sticks for a $5.00 mail in rebate when you purchase two Sorrento snack cheese products.  There is a FIVE rebate per household limit on this rebate and everything has to be purchased between 3/1/10 and 9/30/10 and received by 10/31/10.

The smaller packages of string cheese are $3.99 each at my local Wegmans but they will probably be on sale at some store somewhere in the near future so pay attention to your sales flyers.  There was also a coupon for $3.00 off when you purchase two Sorrento cheeses in the May 2, Smart Source coupon insert. 

Deal Scenario:
Purchase 2 small packages of Sorrento cheese sticks for $3.99 each = 7.98
Use $3.00 off 2 coupon from May 2 coupon insert = 4.98
Send off for $5.00 rebate = FREE CHEESE + $.02 overage - but who's counting :-)

My children love cheese sticks, as do I, but it is hardly ever the most economical way to purchase cheese so this is a fun, free way to get a treat for them (and me). 

Happy snacking!

Wild Wednesday - Better Late Than Never

On this fine, Wild Wednesday, my husband and I are planting seeds in our garden.  Nope, not metaphorically or spiritually, really we are planting seeds in the dirt, hoping we remember to water them, and hoping they turn into some wonderful food for our family.  We have tried to plant things in the past with varied success.  We have stumbled upon a remarkable fact:  if you don't water your plants very frequently, they will not produce very well.  Amazing and earth shattering, I know! 

This year, we are planting the following:
Florence fennel, corn, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, beets, squash, zuchini, cucumbers, brussels sprouts, sugar snap peas, regular peas, black beans, pinto beans, and basil.  We have a rosemary plant that is the size of a Mini Cooper and mint that came with the house that we just can't seem to get rid of.  We also have some strawberry plants from a friend of mine (love ya, Chris!) and a rather prolific grapevine and a weeping mulberry tree that is covered in green berries. 

We have had some good years and some bad years for gardening.  This year we have all of our planting locations established, we have been trying long enough that we now know the amount of sun certain areas actually get, as opposed to how much we would like them to get, and we picked specific plants that we like and think will grow well based on past years mixed in with a few newbies.  We shall see how it goes . . .   
 

Mama Tuesday - Happy Birthday Duke!

Today is Duke's 6th birthday and we are having a party!!!!  Duke is one of our dogs and yes, we are having a party.  It is a rainy, nasty day here in NoVa and for our Mama Tuesday activity, we are making cards, decorating wrapping paper and making him a snack.  This morning we went to IKEA for some other things and we lucked out in picking up a leather collar/leash combo in the clearance section for $4 - saving me a trip to PetSmart :-) 

I have laid out construction paper, glitter, glue, stickers, crayons, colored pencils, yarn bits, etc. and am going to let the kids just decorate away to make him some cards.  I also have a two foot length of butcher paper from Costco that I will have them decorate to make wrapping paper and then we will wrap his present.  We are going to "make" him a snack of dry food mixed with wet food but I'll let them measure and mix for as long as they want and maybe they can spice it up with some quinoa that I've got leftover in the fridge.  All this will be done on our dining room table which is covered with a vinyl tablecloth that I picked up for $1 at Target in clearance.  It only comes out for big, messy projects and really makes clean up soooo much easier (and keeps my anxiety level lower).

Hope you enjoy whatever you do on your "Mama Tuesday"!

Don't Get Lost

I am one of those people who tends to purchase for my family before I purchase for myself, but I have made a deal with myself this year: all rebates/free money should be used on me.

This might seem selfish but what it means is, after I spend all the time entering my pampers points, I will be the one using the Starbucks gift card and when I get the Kohl's $10 off card in the mail, I will look to see if there is anything that I want or need (before buying my children socks and underwear). All my SC Johnson rebates, 7th Generation rebates, etc. go into an envelope and if I want to go get my nails done or grab an overpriced coffee with a girlfriend, I raid "my" envelope.

All my savings and smart shopping benefit my whole family and if they need something, I'll certainly prioritize it, but I'm trying to make sure I don't get lost in taking care of everyone else and this is my small way of taking care of myself without feeling like I am taking away from my family. 

Think about it.