|
Here's What's New 
Silas is studying the letter “S” in his My Father’s World Kindergarten curriculum this week. Since I’m a big fan of hands-on learning, we’re having fun practicing making the letter in different forms. 
Yesterday, we made “Salt Letters”. Otherwise known as: dumping salt on a baking sheet and drawing in it.  
Silas thought it was the best! The salt feels interesting on your fingers and it’s fun to draw in. Kathrynne had to try it out, too! They got so engaged in drawing in the salt that I ended up reading some of the read alouds while they were drawing names, letters, and pictures in salt. 
Looking for more fun letter ideas? Check out my post on Pudding Finger Paint or Pancake Letters and Numbers. Got student debt? Sign up for SmarterBucks (for free!) and earn rewards that help pay down your student loans. Click here to learn more.    Related Stories 
Sign up for a free P&G Sampler Box from P&G Everyday. The samples will include: Cascade, Gain, and Pantene. Thanks, Coupon Pro! Got student debt? Sign up for SmarterBucks (for free!) and earn rewards that help pay down your student loans. Click here to learn more.  Related Stories 
Note: It looks like the Chick-fil-A site is getting slammed right now. Sign up to get a free Breakfast Entree from Chick-fil-A during the week of September 9-14, 2013. This offer is only available at select locations. Thanks, Capitally Frugal! Got student debt? Sign up for SmarterBucks (for free!) and earn rewards that help pay down your student loans. Click here to learn more.  Related Stories 
Every week in 2013, I'll be sharing a different way you can save $100 this year. If you do all of these things, you'll be able to save over $5,000 this year alone! Many of these things will likely be things you're already doing, but hopefully all of you will pick up at least a few new ideas or some inspiration from this series.
One way we stretch our dollars is by buying deals from daily deal sites. They can be a way to get amazing deals on restaurants, local attractions, family fun, local stores, and more! Here are three things to keep in mind when shopping through daily deal sites: 1. Stick With Your Budget I don’t care how good the deal is, if you can’t afford it, it’s not a good deal for you. Daily deal sites only save you money when you actually buy deals that are for things you will use and have room in your budget for. For instance, if you allot a $50 monthly budget for eating out/family fun, you can stretch those dollars much further by buying Groupons or AmazonLocal vouchers for restaurants, bowling, and local attractions. But you still have to stick with the $50 budget. No cheating is allowed just because it’s a “great deal.” Otherwise, you’ve defeated the purpose and it’s not saving you money but encouraging you to spend more money. How to Save $100+ Per Year If you want to guarantee that you save $100 per year by using daily deal sites, cut your current eating out and entertainment budget by $10 per month for the next year and try to make the lower budget stretch with vouchers from deal sites. Unless you live in small town or you are really particular about what types of restaurants you’ll eat at or things you like to do as a family, I bet you can make the reduced budget work just fine! 2. Read the Fineprint Always, always, always read the fineprint carefully before purchasing a voucher. Check the details on whether there’s a purchase minimum. Be sure that the voucher is good at your local store. And double-check that you’ll actually use the voucher before it expires. One good thing about Groupon is that they have amazing customer service and money-back guarantees. So if you do end up accidentally buying something that isn’t what you thought it was, you can usually get your money back. But I still recommend reading the fineprint with a fine-toothed comb and then taking a little time to think through the purchase and make sure it’s a good use of your money. 3. Shop Through Ebates Once you’ve determined that the voucher is, indeed, a good deal for you, be sure to purchase it through Ebates. If you’re unfamiliar with Ebates, basically it’s a site that rewards you with a small percentage of cashback on your online purchases. All you have to do is sign up for an account and then go to Ebates.com, search for the online store you’re planning to purchase from, and click through to the site to make your purchase. You’ll usually receive anywhere from 3% to 8% cashback on each purchase. It might not seem like much, but I think it’s worth earning a few dollars in cash back for taking an extra 30 seconds to click through to Ebates. Each quarter, Ebates will send you a check for your accumulated cashback amount earned over the past quarter. It’s always a fun little bonus — and it’s FREE money that you’re earning for making a purchase you were already planning to make! My Top 4 Favorite Daily Deal Sites What are your favorite daily deal sites? What tips and tricks do you have to add to my list? (Note: The links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.) Got student debt? Sign up for SmarterBucks (for free!) and earn rewards that help pay down your student loans. Click here to learn more.  Related Stories 
Mrs. Butterworth's is on a mission to help make your mornings better by giving away some Yummy Breakfast Kits and gift cards. Head on over to the Mrs. Butterworth’s Facebook Page to enter to win gift cards for back-to-school shopping or $100 Gift Cards and Breakfast Kits. They are also giving away two of these kits on my blog this week. These Breakfast Kits include a $100 Walmart gift card plus Mrs.Butterworth's thick and rich syrup, pancake and waffle mix, electric waffle iron and pancake molds to add a little fun to the morning routine. To enter to win one of these breakfast kits, just click on the graphic below and type in your name and email address. Two winners will be chosen and post next Tuesday. This giveaway ends Friday, August 30, at 11:59 pm, CST. 
Got student debt? Sign up for SmarterBucks (for free!) and earn rewards that help pay down your student loans. Click here to learn more.  Related Stories 
Aldi 1 Red Grapes – $1.58 1 Celery – $1.29 1 Tortillas – $0.99 1 Strawberries – $0.99 1 Cauliflower – $1.69 2 Cantaloupe – $0.99 each 1 Roma Tomatoes – $1.49 1 can Crushed Pineapple – $0.89 1 Italian Dressing – $1.29 1 gallon Milk – $1.99 Total with tax ($1.01) – $15.19 
Dillons 2 Chobani Champions Yogurt – $2, used 2 $1/1 printable - $1 each after coupons 1 Breyers Ice Cream – $2.99, used $1.50/1 e-coupon (no longer available) – $1.49 after coupon 1 lb Simple Truth Ground Beef – Marked down to $2.99 2 Imagine Organic Chicken Broth – $2.50 each, used 2 $2/1 printable - $0.50 each after coupons 1 Kroger Unsweetened Coconut – $2.19 1 Kroger Brown Rice – $0.89 1 Kroger Chow Mein Noodles – $1.15 3 Navel Oranges – $0.69 each 0.77 lbs Broccoli Crowns @ $0.99/lb – $0.76 $0.93 lbs Red Plums @ $0.99/lb – $0.92 1 Romaine Lettuce – $0.99 1.82 lbs Organic Bananas @ $0.67/lb – $1.22 4 cans Kroger Green Beans – $0.39 each 2 Moms Best Cereal – $1.99 each, used $0.75/1 e-coupon (x2) – $1.24 each after coupon 2 Brut Deodorant – $1 each, used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 8/11 SmartSource insert – Free after coupons 2 Ramen Noodles – $0.20 each Total before coupons and sales: $49.63 Total with tax ($2.15) after coupons: $24.26
Total for all grocery items: $39.45 Menu Plan for this Week: Breakfasts Cereal, Homemade Bread, Bananas Lunches Leftovers, Fruit, Tossed Salad, Scrambled Eggs, Cheese & Crackers, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches Dinners We ended up having leftovers once and also went to my parents for dinner last week, so I’m using 2 meals from last week’s menu for this week. Pop-Up Pizza Casserole, Steamed Broccoli, Cantaloupe Spaghetti with Garlic Gravy and Lemon Chicken, Gluten-Free Oatmeal Spice Muffins, Green Beans Italian Chicken Drumsticks, Biscuits, Tossed Salad Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs, Fruit Salad Taco Beef Skillet, Cornbread, Steamed Cauliflower Hawaiian Haystacks, Bran Muffins Out to eat Got student debt? Sign up for SmarterBucks (for free!) and earn rewards that help pay down your student loans. Click here to learn more.  Related Stories  Here are the best deals at Walmart right now with thanks to Heather from Passion for Savings for her help in compiling them. The prices below are based on Northwest Arkansas region. Please keep in mind that Walmart deals vary by region so the prices listed here will not be valid at all stores.
Snickers Bites Singles – $1
Use $0.50/1 printable
$0.50 after coupon Heinz Ketchup 10 oz. Pouch – $0.98
Use $0.50/1 coupon from the 8/25 RedPlum insert
$0.48 after coupon Knorr Bouillon 8 ct. Cubes – $0.72
Use $0.35/1 coupon from the 8/25 RedPlum insert
$0.37 after coupon Mt. Olive Relish – $0.99
Use $0.75/1 coupon from the 8/25 SmartSource insert
$0.24 after coupon Ball Park Lean Hot Dogs – $1.98
Use $1/1 printable
$0.98 after coupon Wet N Wild Liner, Nail Polish, and Lip Stick – $0.93
Use $1/1 coupon from the 8/25 RedPlum insert
Free after coupon Yakisoba Bowl – $0.78
Use $0.50/1 coupon from the 8/25 SmartSource insert
$0.28 after coupon See the full list of Walmart deals here.
 Did you find a great deal at Walmart? Just post about it on your blog and leave your link below. To make it easy for everyone to navigate quickly through the links, your link must link directly to your Walmart deals post. Links going to the homepage of your blog or any other part of your blog besides the direct link to your Walmart deals post will be deleted.
Got student debt? Sign up for SmarterBucks (for free!) and earn rewards that help pay down your student loans. Click here to learn more.  Related Stories  A testimony from Cristina
My husband and I were married in 2012 and decided to take Financial Peace with Dave Ramsey beforehand. It was one of the best decisions we made! It helped us get on the same page for budgeting and made us realize our goal of living as debt-free as possible. We immediately paid off the credit card with wedding gifts and stuck to paying cash for everything else from then on. Other than school loans, we had no other debt and thought we were off to a good start. No sooner had we breathed a sigh of relief when a major car repair made it clear my husbands 2002 Corolla would need to be replaced. We knew a car payment was not an option and would go against our goal of living debt free. We also had no idea how we would have enough time to set aside enough cash to purchase a reliable vehicle before his current one died. We started immediately by cutting back on anything extra. We worked on saving gas money and conserving electricity at home. Instead of budgeting $40 for a date night we found more creative ways to spend time together. I found cleaning jobs in our neighborhood and did these after my regular job in the evening. We learned to enjoy the company of friends in public without always buying food to go along. With much prayer, research, and careful planning, we were able to purchase a 2007 Toyota Yaris with 32,000 miles on it about 6 months later — for $8000 in cash! 
It was the best feeling ever as we drove off the lot and still had our grocery money set aside to pick up food after. Ironically, a short time after this my 2001 Celica began having issues as well. We knew my car would need to be replaced soon, but we did not know it would be that soon! Long story short, we started the saving process over again and in less than one year, we purchased another new-to-us cars in cash and avoided a car payment. We are creatures of habit and bought another Yaris, a year newer Looking back, we were so blessed to have had the means to do this. We stuck with our way of life even after the cars and now have the cash to pay for the delivery of our first baby, which we are expecting any day! Striving to live debt-free has brought us closer together as we focus on things more important in life than possessions. Cristina and her husband live in Cleveland, OH. They are soon-to-be parents and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their baby girl. Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
Got student debt? Sign up for SmarterBucks (for free!) and earn rewards that help pay down your student loans. Click here to learn more.  Related Stories 
CVS Shopping Trip I made a mistake today when I ran into CVS to pick up a few sale items, saw the mouthwash on sale and thought the Crest and Colgate were part of the same sale (Buy $10, Get $5 ECBs). I was in a hurry so I just used ECBs to pay for it and I’m hoping to go back later this week and finish the deals so I can get my $10 ECBs. 2 Charmin Basic Toilet Tissue – $0.99 each
Used $1.50/2 CVS coupon from the in-store coupon machine
And used 2 $0.25/1 coupon from the 7/28 P&G insert 1 All Laundry Detergent – $3.99
Used $0.75/1 coupon from the 8/25 SmartSource insert 1 Stayfree Pads – $2.99
Used $1/1 coupon from the 8/25 SmartSource insert 1 CVS Cotton Balls – $1
Used $1/1 CVS coupon from the in-store coupon machine 1 Colgate Mouthwash – $4.39
Used $1/1 coupon from the 8/11 SmartSource insert 1 Crest Mouthwash – $7.99
Used $1.50/1 coupon from the 7/28 P&G insert
And used $2.50/$12 CVS coupon from the in-store coupon machine Used 25% off CVS coupon from my email inbox (My cashier took off $5.58 and even though I questioned her on this, she insisted that is how much she was supposed to take off.) Used $3 ECBs from my email inbox and $4 ECBs from my last CVS trip Total before coupons, sales and ECBs: $30.90 Total with tax ($1.13) after coupons, sales and ECBs: $1.16, Received $1 ECBs (for buying 1 Stayfree) and $1 ECBs (for buying 1 All Laundry Detergent) Got student debt? Sign up for SmarterBucks (for free!) and earn rewards that help pay down your student loans. Click here to learn more.  Related Stories | 
to download a free application that enables you to read Kindle ebooks on your PC.
No comments:
Post a Comment