Amazon: 10 Magazines for $5

Amazon is on board with this whole Black Friday business.  Today and today only you can subscribe to 10 different magazines for $5 each!  The magazines range from:

~ Real Simple

~ People - Style Watch

~ Sports Illustrated

~ and more...

I love the magazine Real Simple, and I think I might splurge and get that one.  For a year's subscription, it would be totally worth it, because in newsstands one copy is worth $5!  You can save up to 91% on that one magazine subscription.  So check out Amazon here for more details. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Hope you have a great day celebrating!

New Salvation Army Store

If you haven't heard already, there is a new Salvation Army store in town!  Yup, my husband discovered it a couple weeks ago when he went to the laundromat for me.  It is located at 109 W. John St. here in Champaign.  So, today was the first time that I actually went inside.  I was surprised at how organized and clean the store was!!  I asked an employee where they got all their nice shelving and racks, and they said that they got them from the Steve & Barry's store that went out of business awhile back.  I was just really impressed with the whole setup of the store.  And of course, if you know me well, you know that I can't just walk into a thrift store without finding something.  Here's what I ended up with:

VTech Thomas the Tank Engine Laptop: $4.50 (retails for $18.00) (Christmas gift!!)

Wooden Frame: $0.50 (Christmas gift!!)

Photo Album: $0.75

Mini Christmas Lights: $2.50 (and they all work!!)

I have to say for $8.50, that's a steal!  So if you're in the neighborhood, I highly recommend that you stop by their store and support them.  

Free Photo Book

The first 25,000 people to order a personalized photo book (thanks to the Bonnie Hunt Show) will get it free if you type in BONNIE at the checkout page.  This would make a great Christmas present!  Click here to see more details.  This is a $39.99 retailed value, so hurry!

Amazon: B.F. Deal on KitchenAid

I just read Common Sense with Money's blog and since I've been hearing alot about these KitchenAid around the holiday, I thought I'd post this. Amazon is having some sweet Black Friday (B.F.) deals each day this week. Today one of their deals is a Meringue colored KitchenAid (Professional 600 Series 6-Quart) Mixer. Originally these fine peices of equipment are $499, and the price on sale is at $299! Also, to add onto that you can mail in a $50 rebate! That totals out to $250!! For more information, check out Amazon here.

Salvation Army Finds

Our local Salvation Army store out behind the mall has been updated and remodeled!  If you live in Champaign, I suggest you check it out.  It looks like they got alot of their cabinets and shelving from one of the big clothing stores that went out of business.  

This was the first time I'd been in there since they've remodeled, and here's what I came out with:

We scored some Bob the Builder birthday decorations for our little Silas who will be turning 2 in February.  Book = $1, Hat = $1, Balloons = $0.50, Banner = $0.25.

The Photo Album isn't as nice on the outside as it is on the inside.  It was $2.50, and has lots of pages where I can store some free photos! :)

Here are some cute shelves that I will find a nice spot for in our bedroom ($3 each):

And these black corner shelves were only $1 each, so I'm going to paint them white and also find a spot for them, and put candles on:

And last but not least, I got this 7.5 foot Christmas tree for only $10!!  It's currently in our garage airing out, because it kinda smells like someone's attic.  My mother-in-law suggested hanging little cute packages of air freshners in the tree when we bring it inside.  Any suggestions on how to get that attic smell out of a Christmas tree?

Overall, I'm quite pleased with out findings at the local Salvation Army store.

Hallmark Cards = $2.02

I recently got 2 $5 off coupons at Hallmark from my (free) Martha Stewart Living magazine and from the December issue of Woman's Day.  If you have these magazines and need cards, head over to Hallmark and snag some of their $0.99 cards, making your total with coupons, $1.01!  There are some super cute cards in that section!  I know a lot of women who are expecting soon, so I was excited to pick up some baby cards, as well as thank you cards for after the Holidays are over.  So if you don't get these magazines, maybe consider picking up these specific issues if you need some cards on hand.  

DIY: Re-Upholster Bar Stools

Today I had the urge to use some of my leftover curtain material to use on the bar stools in our kitchen.  The material on those bar stools have gotten so gross because of our kids.  I'm serious, check them out here:

I know, they're so gross!  So we're having extended family stay with us this weekend, and what better time to be motivated to fix up the house.  Like I said earlier, I've been wanting to do this for a long time, so I've just let the kids be kids at the dinner table or whenever we're eating.  

I've heard that it's pretty simple to re-upholster chairs, so I've always kept that in the back of my mind.  Today I actually flipped over those chairs and saw that there were only 4 screws to undo.  Pretty simple!  As I was looking over the chairs I noticed how much gunk and crusted over milk was on the underside of the chairs.  So away I went to find my baby wipes and give those chairs a good "wash down" (as Zechariah and Thomas the Tank Engine would say!).  

It turns out that the whole project would've taken me 1 hour or less to finish re-upholstering 4 bar stool chairs!  Wow!  The only thing that is hindering me at the moment is my staple gun seems to be jammed.  So I'm going to see if my hubbie can take care of that when he gets home from work.  Other than that - I am SUPER pleased at the outcome of my 1 hour DIY project for today!

Steaz: Free Coupon

Just thought you all should know, there is a coupon to get a free 16 oz. Steaz Organic Iced Teaz product. The coupon says that it's redeemable at Target Stores. I've never tried their products before, but with a free coupon, who could resist!

Thanks, moneysavingmom!

El Monterey $5 off Coupon

I've never tried this product before, but with a $5 off coupon, I just might!  Head on over to El Monterey on Facebook, upload a recipe and after you submit one, you will be encouraged to leave a mailing address to where they will send you a $5 off coupon.  This is the fun about getting high amount coupons, you can try things that you never would have before! 

Stacy's Pita Chips: Sample and Coupon

I know one thing that makes my husband happy, and that's Stacy's Pita Chips!  So if you've never tried these tasty chips, check out this link to get a free sample and a $1 off coupon.  Can't beat that!

Walgreens Run

Here's what we got for really cheap at Walgreens this week:

And yes, that is my crazy husband behind the goods, and no, he's not cheap! :)

For all the items above, we spent $5.90.

Goldfish = on sale 2/$3 = 2 $0.75 coupons = $0.75 each

Campbell's Turkey Gravy = $0.50 each (with in-ad coupon) = $1 off 4 cans coupon = really cheap!

Lindsay Olives = $0.99 (with in-ad coupon) = $1 off 2 cans coupon = $0.49 each

For more deals at Walgreens check out Common Sense With Money's blog.

Monday Baking

Since it's gloomy, cloudy, windy, and rainy out today, I've decided to do a little baking.  This morning I made some sandwich bread.  I was inspired when I saw the posting on The Frugal Girl on how to make your own sandwich bread, that I had to try it out for myself.  And the results were nearly perfect! 

Here is my little helper that LOVES to play with the flour:

And here is our end result, YUM:

And just a dab of butter on warm bread makes the whole day feel a little warmer:

White Sandwich Bread

5 3/4-6 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 pkg (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups milk (you can use water if you don’t do dairy)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt

1. In a large mixer bowl, combine  2 1/2 cups of flour and yeast.

2. In a saucepan or in the microwave, heat milk, sugar, butter, and salt to 115-120 degrees.

3. Add hot liquids to flour and yeast. Beat at low speed until combined, then beat at high speed for 3 minutes.

4. Add enough additional flour to make a soft, but kneadable dough, and turn out onto a floured surface. Knead for 5-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.

5. Put dough back into mixing bowl, cover with wet tea towel, and let rise 1 hour.

6. Punch dough down, divide into two pieces, and roll into a rectangle, about 6″x18″. Starting from the short end, roll up jelly-roll style and place into two greased 4×8 inch loaf pans. Cover with wet tea towel and let rise 30-40 minutes, or until doubled.

7. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool before slicing.

FujiFilm: 50 Free Photo Cards!

Okay, so truthfully, I've known about this deal for a couple of days now, and wanted to make sure if was legit before I put it on my blog as well.  

Get 50 free 4x8 or 5x7 photo cards including free shipping when you type in the coupon code "freebies4mom-1109" in the checkout lane.  If you need more details, go to Freebies4mom's blog to read more about it.  My order totaled out to be $39.50, and then I typed in the code and it came out to $0.00!! 

Great idea for Christmas cards!  Thanks Freebies4mom!!

Free Huggies Sample

Click here to get a free sample of Huggies Little Movers.  Thanks Walmart! 

Grocery Shopping this week

I found some GREAT deals this week at County Market and Schnucks.  Check out on what all you can save on as well.  My total came out to $68.48.  I know that this is over our $40 budget for food/week, but my husband and I discussed that we'd spend a little extra ($20) on cheese that was on sale.  So we're stocked up on cheese for a long time! :)

Pictured above: County Market deals = Spent $61.26.  

Total savings of $83.70 or 57%!

Pictured above from Schnucks = $11.22

Favorite deals at Schnucks this week is the Scottie Tissues were $0.50 each with coupon.

Also, the Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice was $0.96 each with coupon.

Pictured above (non-grocery) spending at Schnucks = $13

Laundry Soap was $4.53 with coupon, also prints out $3 Catalina at checkout. 

Which makes is $0.99 per bottle!

These candles were in the clearance cart, and I had $3 off coupon for each! 

Find the Time

Today I wanted to spend a little extra time with my husband who has been working extra hard on yard work all weekend.  He cut the grass, while at the same time, mulching the massive amounts of leaves outside, while bagging them all up and putting them by the curb for a free pick-up.  (wow, that was a mouthful!)  Needless to say, he's been a huge help this weekend and I wanted to do something special for him.

After I put the kiddos down for a nap, I thought to myself, what better time to have a "date" with my husband than while they were napping?  I decided that since my husband was still at church, I could cook up a nice lunch and put together a nice table arrangement.  The more I thought about it, the less time I had.  So I quickly threw some leftovers in the oven and set to work on putting the table arrangement together.  

It all worked out in time, and we had a great meal of leftovers and sparkling grape juice! I was surprised at how relaxing a lunch together in our home turned out!  I just needed to let go of the little details and enjoy the person that I love to be around.  And I could tell that he appreciated the thought just as much as the meal.  

So take some time out of your busy schedule to enjoy the people around you that mean the most.  Even if  it is eating leftovers and sipping grape juice!  

Frugal Idea of Mine

So for awhile now I've been tossing out our washcloths that we use to wash our dishes.  They just tend to have an odor whenever we have kept them too long.  Does that happen to you?  

As I've been tossing the odor-filled washcloths, I knew in the back of my head that we'd need to replace these sometime soon before we ran out.  I always kept an eye out at the store for wash cloths, but they've always been a little to much for me to pay.

The other day I was putting away a TON of these white towels that my father-n-law buys in bulk at Sam's Club.  He had left a bunch here when they moved out, so I decided that since we had so many, that I would cut them and use them as my "new" wash cloths.  Brilliant!  

We'll have to see how they turn out after I wash them.  For now I'm just excited to have new washcloths and I've been cleaning away with them ever since.

Have you had any frugal ideas that have come to your mind lately?  If so, I'd love to hear them!

Walmart - Halloween

My boys and I ran into Walmart this morning to figure out how to get duplicate copies of this one receipt that I have.  It turns out that I can only get multiples of receipts whenever I am purchasing these items.  So I was bummed about that. 

Anyway, I always know to check the holiday before carts which have items drastically reduced prices.  The Walmart in Savoy, IL had a TON of these Halloween buckets leftover for only (not $1, not $0.50, not $0.25) $0.10 each!!!  Can you believe that!  They were originally $3.

My boys LOVE Toy Story and so when I saw these, I knew that they would be worth the $0.10 invested in them.  My boys love to carry their toys around the house, wether it's in their arms, in a basket, or in a dump truck.  Even when we go outside to play, they love to put rocks, leaves, and sticks in their ride-on-toys.  So it was fun to see them come home with them and see what they would put in their new buckets.  

"Z-man" went straight to his Toy Story figurines (from Grandma and Grandpa F. on their trip to Disneyworld), and put those in his bucket, along with some quarters and dimes.  "Pudge" had it figured out from the beginning that his "blankie" would fill up his bucket.  

Goodwill Date with Hubbie

My husband and I got a chance to go to the Goodwill last night while Grandma and Grandpa stole our kids.  It was a surprise visit and we were happy to have them wisk the kids away while we had some time to ourselves.  

And what did we do with that precious time???  We went to Goodwill!  I know, I know, we're crazy, right? We love the thrill of finding a great item or just the cheap prices.  (Don't worry, we also went out for a bite to eat at Panera as well before we came home to our kids!)

Anyway, here's what we walked out with:

4 CDs = $8

$2 Limited Dress Pants (50% off women's slacks)

$2 Daliha Dress Pants (50% off women's slacks)

$1.50 Liz Claiborne Skirt (50% off skirts)

We also snagged 3 cute blue baskets that I'll use to store all our art supplies for the kids, and I found a little shelf to hang in our spare bedroom (will be painted at a later date).

That's it folks!  Check out Homebody's Thrift Store Thursday for more fun posts!

Groceries - County Market & IGA

I only have a picture of what we got at County Market, I didn't get a chance to snag a picture of our IGA items.  Total spent was $37.21.

Our IGA items were mostly spent of fresh fruit that got gobbled up before I remembered to take a picture.  I remember that Banana's were on sale for $0.39.

This week at County Market, there is a coupon to get 4 boxes of cereal for $6 (with an in-store coupon).  So on top of that there are some boxes of cereal that have $1 off 2 boxes, which makes each box was $1.23! Which is an AWESOME deal, especially for such big boxes!

The Del Monte Pineapple was on sale and I had a $0.75 coupon to go towards that.  The cans of broth were $0.49 each.  The vanilla was on sale and the shells were $0.99.  The little bag of chips were free!  The store had a cart full of free bags of chips!  And the onion and pepper are for salsa that my husband will hopefully make later this week. :)

Not pictured:  4 yogurts, eggs, cilantro, and a head of lettuce.

***

As a reminder, I am not here to show off what we buy every week.  It's to let people know that it is possible to stick to a budget for grocery shopping and it is worth it to use coupons.  We've decided to go with $40/week for our grocery spending.  Happy deal finding!

Goodwill Findings

While I was away on a mini vacation without my kids, my husband and I stopped at a Goodwill in Ohio, and here's what we found.  I've been looking for awhile now to hang some sort of a big wall-hanging in our spare bedroom and I think I may have found something that I can use!  It cost us $20 and the only thing wrong with it is the back hanger part.  But we can fix that easily. 

I also know that it looks like it belongs in a church, but for now it will work! :)

 

The Goodwill was also having a $0.99 sale on women's knit shirts that cost $4.99 originally.  So I scooped up these 4 shirts/sweaters.  It really was a great deal overall!  I been loving the light pink color lately on my clothes, so I found some more items for my closet. 

Pink button down sweater from Eddie Bauer ($0.99).

Pink t-shirt from Old Navy ($0.99)

Brown Sweater from Liz & Co. for ($0.99).

Pink fleece from Old Navy for ($0.99).

I LOVE fleeces!!

A compilation of the all the clothing I found for super cheap = $4!

Free Movie on General Mills!

I love to shop for cereal.  There are so many deals to be had each week, I have to restrain myself from them.  I've been committed to never buying cereal for more than $1 a box, but this week at our County Market there was a great deal on General Mills cereal.  (I'll blog about that later). 

Anyway, I was looking at all my options on the cereal shelves and I always look for an inside deal.  Wether that be a free t-shirt with proof of purchase, a free cereal cup, or even extra Box Tops for Education.  I guess you can say that I'm trying to get more for our buck.  

So this time at the store, I was pondering getting the cereal that I REALLY like...Lucky Charms...compared to this deal that General Mills is having.  Buy 2 boxes of cereal, enter their codes on their website, and get a free movie pass!  I could only find this deal on a couple of General Mills cereal at our store.  

Here's what the boxes look like from the back:

It seems really simple.  

1. Enter the code inside the box at www.generalmills.com/moviecash

2. For every two codes entered you'll receive one free adult admission*.

(*Online codes need to be entered by 6-30-2010. Valid only in the USA. 

Ticket value is up to $12.)

3. Print out your ticket and head to the theater!

I'm way excited about this deal because I think I might go see the movie 2012 that comes out in theaters on Friday the 13th. :)

Let me know if you've seen this deal in your stores, or even if you've used your ticket already.

HOT coupon for cheese!

For those of you who live in Champaign and have the zip code 61821, go to coupons.com and print off your (2) $1.50 coupon towards any brand of cheese! Click here to begin!
Print now, while it's still available!