Monday, November 26, 2012

keep your kids out of trouble while shopping with them

photo credit



Recently, my friend Daynon told me about shopkick.  It's a free app available on your IPhone that gives you "kickbucks" while you shop. Kickbucks are earned automatically by walking in stores and/or scanning items in the store. You can redeem kickbucks for giftcards. I found this YouTube video to break it down for you. The kid is adorable. There is also an official "how to video" on the shopkick website.





Here's the breakdown:
1. You get points for walking in stores.
2. You get points for scanning items in the store. (You don't have to actually purchase the item in order to receive the points...just scan them with your IPhone.)
3. You redeem acquired points for gift cards.
4. This is a great opportunity to keep your kids entertained while shopping with you.  A scavenger hunt of sorts.

If you are interested, let me know. I can refer a friend from my app.




Wednesday, November 21, 2012

This week at the store

I am not really going to the store and planning any big trips, because of the hip. I am so grateful for the wonderful friends and family who are bringing us meals during this tricky time. Last week, I shared Audrey's haul with you and this week Rebecca was kind enough to share her great deals of the week.

She writes that she spent about $44.00 for about $98.00 worth of merchandise. She shopped at Kroger and used sales, manufacturer coupons, and Kroger coupons to save $54.00ish!  She used a gift card to help one of her favorite organizations, Young Lives. (You can read about that here).
She knows she will save at the pump because she increased her fuel points.
 
Rebecca is a busy mom and admitted that this trip required her to take a late night trip sans kids but it was totally worth it.
 
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(Sorry for the 2nd blurry picture. Rebecca took a great picture, but for some reason it didn't upload clearly,)
 
Yogurt, orgnic milk, vegetables, diapers, cereal..... it just goes on and on.
 
Atta girl, Rebecca.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Pretty Cheap Fuel





photo credit
Between November 18th and December 9th, Kroger is rewarding their customers with 4x the fuel points with any gift card purchase. (Kroger gift cards are not included in the deal).

If fuel points are new to you, here is how it works.  Let's say you plan on buying a $100 item at Best Buy for someone for Christmas. Before you head to Best Buy, pick up a $100 Best Buy gift card at Kroger.

Right now, That $100 card is multiplied by 4 to give you 400 fuel points. Four hundred fuel points is equivalent to a $.40 savings at the gas pump. That is $.40 off per gallon of gas you purchase, up to 35 gallons.

Hopefully, your Christmas list is ready and organized and you know exactly how much you are spending at each store. Since Kroger stocks so many stores' gift cards, you'll likely find the store you have on your list.



Monday, November 19, 2012

Organizing requires four healthy limbs

I had hip surgery just short of 3 weeks ago. As you can imagine, it sure slows down any chance you have to organize something. I can only walk with crutches and if you have ever had crutches, that means you can't carry so much as a glass of water. I have a backpack that I use to move things from one room to another. It's pretty ridiculous. I want to watch TV and drink water so I have get to get a bottle of water out of the fridge and put it in my backpack in order to carry it to the den. And by the way, buying bottled water is NOT MY THING. Ugh. But for now, it will have to do and I am grateful for the bottled water.

Organizing just about anything around my house is out of the question, except for one thing. For a person who has a high need to organize things all the time, this is what I have been reduced to:








I guess it's good for my soul. Sometimes a body just needs to slow down and this is my time. 

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

A little something for the mailman

Our house was built in 1925, so that makes it 87 years old. Although, I guess the mailbox we inherited is not that old, it sure looks like it could have been.



I am not against the golden finish.  I am just against weathered, nasty, never cleaned gold. So, once again I put my dad to work the last time he visited. (I don't abuse him if you are starting to be concerned about my dad. He actually likes doing all of these projects I write about it.) Just like the lamp, this appeared to be another paint job for dad. I will say that he sanded it before he painted and the finish after sanding looked pretty cool. But, I had the black paint and our door is black, so it seemed like the better accent color. And for the price of a can of black spray paint, here is the new mailbox.



 
 

 
I hope it makes the mailman as happy as it makes me.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

More JCP free kid haircuts in november



Sorry to be a little late out of the gate on this one. I just learned that JcPenney is offering free haircuts to kids on Sundays in November, grades K-6th. There are several online articles announcing the offer like this one.

No coupon required! Just make your appointment on Sunday!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Too good to waste

I've needed a beside table lamp for a long time, and just couldn't find one I really loved at the right price. I searched store after store and came up short. I was searching in all the wrong places because all the while, my lamp was in my parent's basement.

My mom found this in front of her neighbor's house one day. She had put it out for the trash man. My mom picked it up with no real intention, but thought it was too good to waste.

(Did  you know there is a section of the county dump here in my town that they call "Too Good to Waste" and you can rummage through it? I only know that because my friend Katie went there in high school because she does random things like that. She returned to tell my 33ish year old self that that was like me - "You are too good to waste!" This in reference to my status as a single woman. I digress...)

(It came with a shade, but I didn't care for that so much, so I just took the base.)
 
 
The height and shape is what I appreciated, but I knew the color wouldn't work. I wanted a robin's egg blue  and found a can of spray paint at Michael's for a little more than $6.00. It was worth a shot, I thought. My dad came for a visit a few weeks later and I asked him to do it because he is such a careful painter. I took a lampshade that I had that I was not using and it all came together.
 
 

 
 Try the same if you see a lamp at a yardsale (or your parent's basement).  It may only need some paint. Since having hip surgery last week, I am in bed a lot. (Nothing serious.) It's nice to have something pretty to look at while I get better. Thanks  to my friend, Melissa, for the "get well flowers" to round out the look!



Wednesday, November 7, 2012

A whole mess of produce

My friend, Audrey, sent me this picture a few weeks ago.


She is a couponer and she knows what she is doing. She must have even impressed herself with this trip. She surely impressed me. I love this picture because Audrey has shown that you don't have to buy a bunch of processed food to benefit from coupons. I mean, do you see the produce in this picture. It is practically falling off the cook-top.

She wrote:

I got free toothpaste for the church food pantry and took advantage of
the Betty Crocker/General Mills Catalina to get some cheap potatoes
for the food pantry and some of our own pantry staples. Then I used
the catalinas ($15 dollars worth) to get fresh produce. All in all, I
spent exactly $28.00! (just realized I forgot to put the 2 bunches
of bananas and 2 avocados in the picture)....Yay Kroger deals!


Later, she wrote:

I saved $47.23 in 2 transactions (I had $11.20 in coupons, $15 in catalinas from 1st transaction, and $21.03 Kroger plus savings). I love when I can save on produce. The produce alone would have been over $23.00 without a Kroger card.


If you don't know what a catalina is, here is a tutorial from forthemommas.com

If you want to go shopping with Audrey, you best just get in line.






Monday, November 5, 2012

This week at the store

Well, actually this was a few weeks ago. A little orthopaedic hip surgery hindered the blogging process for a while. It's not earth shattering for sure, but it reinforces that toiletries don't have to cost an arm and a leg. Never pay for toothpaste. Never.

 
Had I paid full price this would have cost $15.09 + tax. Instead, I paid $3.50 + tax. Each packet of Angel Soft was $.50 and the toothbrushes were $.50 as well. Toothpaste was free. (The week before this, I picked up 3 tubes of Crest for free. As long as you are not brand specific, you can stock up during certain times of the year.)  It's just matching a coupon that doubles with a sale price.
 
The only person who is missing out is your dentist, because he's not making a lot of money off of you.