Turkey Pot Pie

Last night was my very first attempt at making a pot pie. I used left over turkey and it came out pretty good. I would make a few changes though. First I forgot to get roll out dough (BC no way was I going to make my own lol) so I used 4 frozen in pan pie shells, two I had to peel away to use for the tops so they weren't very pretty lol. I also was in such a rush I forgot to add the frozen peas I bought (The recipe didn't call for any but I wanted some in there) I am not sure what I would do to change this recipe but it was a little dry, I loved that it cut easily without all the juicy everything falling out but I think maybe it would be perfect with less potatoes or more milk/water, I also would use more turkey, the recipe called for 1 1/2 C if I remember correctly but I added 2 C and I prob could have used more too since it made 2 pies. Other than those few changes it was actually amazing. It had a great flavor and was pretty easy too. Maybe just some gravy over the top would make this perfect. The hubby loved it (at least he said he did lol) I think I can freeze these once they are put together and not cooked yet I am going to be researching some recipes soon because I have a huge bag of meat still left over that I am afraid if I don't find a recipe for soon it will go bad.
Here is the recipe I followed

Good luck if you are making a pot pie, I pretty much use that website for every recipe I am hunting for, I can always seem to find one that sounds like it is exacly what I am looking for.

iphone/ipod charger deal

Click here to get an extra ipod/iPhone charger for under 2.00 shipped. This is amazon and the prices change pretty quickly so this may not last long. It is nice to have an extra around. I keep one in my suitcase for traveling. I also have one that I got for my computer I don't use the plug of course but I keep a USB attached for my phone most of the time anyway. Just thought this was a great deal to share. I also keep one in my car and by the side of my bed I am just realizing this may be a problem lol I have considered keeping one in the kitchen actually since I often look up recipes on my phone while cooking and my battery just can't keep up..... wow

What to buy now

I think that a lot of people this time of the year are thinking of paying off Christmas debt. We only pay as we go, we do not use credit cards regularly at our house. There is no Christmas gift debt to pay off. Right now I'm looking at deals to stock up my gift closet. I don't like having to rush out and buy a gift at the drop of a dime. I like to be able to go upstairs and grab something nice and be able to wrap it up without even leaving the house. This is a great time of year to do that. January is a great time to buy exercise equipment for yourself or someone you know that is into working out a lot. Lots of stores put this stuff on sale because this is the time of the year that people swear to change the way they eat and exercise (until about Feb. anyway) This is also a great time to buy linens, such as sheets and towels, things like that because for years there has been "white sales" where stores sell linens at a great price so in January have your eyes open. I like to take the week after Christmas and the second week after for buying toys and holiday decor because stores have marked them way down. This year I hope that you will think about shopping all year to prepare for Christmas and birthdays so you are spending less. Keep your eyes open for sales on great items so you can give great gifts for a great price. I will keep you posted on all the great deals I cash in on :)

I forgot to show pics of my rein-beer :)

Today my friend asked me why I didn't post pics of my rein-beer so I am doing that as to not dissappoint. :)

Best Turkey Recipe EVER EVER



Finished product

 On Christmas day I cooked my very first Christmas dinner. I am going to tell you all about how to cook a turkey perfectly! My turkey came out as the most moist turkey that I have ever eaten and I'm not just saying that because I made it lol. First thing you need to know is depending on how big your turkey is you will need to defrost it many days in advance. At the bottom of this blog I will post a link to the website I followed. My turkey was 13 pounds (that is what the tag said, speaking of tags I thought turkeys were very expensive and I only paid about 10.00! FOR A WHOLE TURKEY!) I asked my grandma (Maw-Maw Ruth) about defrosting and I knew I needed about 4 days but I wasn't sure of the best way to do it. The method she suggested I used. I took a clean ice chest and dropped the turkey in (wrapped and still with the netting on the outside) then I covered it with cool water from the tap, not warm because it needs to thaw slowly. Online I read that it is good to thaw it in the fridge but my maw-maw said that using the ice chest would free up the space in the fridge and the ice chest will still keep the bird cold. So on Christmas Eve I took out the turkey and unwrapped it and totally washed it. On the skin I found some of what I thought was feather stuff lol (sorry I really don't know the technical term) I rubbed the entire bird making sure to get under the wings and everywhere... It seems a little gross but it is all so worth it in the end, I kept imagining women from a hundred years ago whose husband would kill an animal and bring it in and the wife would clean the animal before cooking it, I was thinking I wonder if this is kind of what it felt like back then. Anyway inside the cavities, yes you have to look in/put your hand in there, where you would find the head there is a little bag thing that has all the "giblets" which is the liver and all of that, you have to pull that out  I think that some people keep that and cook it but I just trashed it. After that you need to reach into the other cavity and you will find the turkey neck which I also trashed because I don't think I would ever have a desire to eat that. I read online that you should weigh the turkey once it is washed inside and out (inside meaning in the cavities) and drained, to drain it I just shook it in the sink for a second. I put it in the pan I was planning on baking it in and then I put it on the scale ( I just used the one we weigh ourselves on) and it said 12 pounds even, the website I found said this is important because sometimes the giblets and ice that may be frozen inside the cavities could add a pound or two which could cause you to overcook the bird. I then melted about 3 tablespoons of butter (I say about because I really didn't measure and the site I used said you don't need much and I wasn't really sure what that meant lol because not much to one person might be a lot to me) then I took some Thyme and put that with my butter, I didn't have fresh I used the kind you buy in the seasoning section at the grocery, that also said don't go overboard only use a little bit. I then set that to the side so I could take the skin away from the turkey, not pull off or cut it but pull it up starting between the legs and just gently pull it away from the meat. Take the butter and thyme and rub it between the skin and the meat, take note that I said rub it not just pour it in. DO NOT put butter on the outside of the skin. Then take salt and pepper and rub into the outside of the skin, all over, I put it under the wings and everywhere on the outside turning over to make sure you get it all. Then I put the little plastic thing that was holding the legs together originally back on so the legs would be back where they need to be to keep moisture in (I was worried that it would melt in the oven but I read somewhere either online or on the tag from the turkey that it wouldn't so I just trusted that and it didn't) I used a metal pan and covered it with aluminum foil. I put it back in the fridge since I would be cooking it in the next 24 hours. On Christmas day I preheated the oven to 475 and cooked the turkey for 20 minutes then without opening the oven I reduced the temp to 250 and cooked it for 20 minutes for each pound so 20 minutes times 12 pounds was 240 and then I divide that by 60 to find out how many hours that was and it was 4 so I set my timer and didn't come back until it was done. I cooked the turkey breast side up. Amazing site on "How To" for your turkey
This site has pics of a lot of the things I described on here. Later this week I will let you know what we will be doing with all of our left overs :) I see lots of amazing sammiches (yes I said sammich!) to come :) Good luck and let me know how you do. Maybe you can try this at Easter, if your family celebrates, it is suprisingly easy and you will do great if you try it!!!

Rein-beer

OK so this is a cute under 10.00 idea to bring to a party or someones house during the holidays. I already had the googly eyes and puff noses and pipe cleaners but if you don't then you can get them at the dollar tree for only a dollar each. I used my hot glue gun (if you don't have one they are around 5.00 at hobby lobby for a small one like I have) I'm sure you could use regular glue or super glue but this was easiest for me. I then just glued the parts on. I used hot beer that isn't chilled because I didn't want it to sweat while out on the counter. It only took about 5-10 minutes to do the whole 6 pack. :) Merry Christmas to you all.

Christmas Day!

Ok so I just finished prepping the turkey, green bean casserole and now I am working on two casseroles for breakfast tomorrow morning. I am hoping that all I will have to do is turn on the oven and stick a few things in. I will have to make the stuffing on the stove, I am using a cheater box so that will be easy. I am also making a couple pies that will be super simple, one pumpkin and one pear, my grandma gave me pears that she jarred with seasonings and juice all ready to go all I have to do is put them in my crust. I already baked Santa's cookies and now I am making lunch for today. I am so excited. Rylan woke up this morning and ran to the tree he said he wanted to check and make sure Santa didn't come early, I went too because I wanted to know too lol. I am also making some rein-beer today :) I saw an idea online to use little red puff craft balls and googly eyes and brown pipe cleaners on beer bottles to make them look like reinbeer :) I am excited to see these completed I'll try and remember to post pics. I am hoping to find a super simple perfect recipe for french toast casserole (from what I understand there are lots that you prep the night before so all you have to do is pop it in the oven) I'll let you know. I am also looking for a sausage egg hash brown casserole dish for in the morning.  My dad and step mom and little brother will stop by on their way to my grandmas house and we will exchange gifts too. I am making breakfast for everyone and I am so excited about staying home with my baby and taking him for his first ride on his new bike (he will get it tomorrow of course) When we get home from my step dads family party tonight we will put out the reindeer food in the yard and we will also make elf doughnuts (cheerios with dipped in chocolate and sprinkles on them) before bed but that will only happen after we go look at lights!

FREE ice cream cupcake!!!!

AAAAAAHHHHHHH! Oh how I love ice cream, cupcakes, and freebies! Tomorrow is national cupcake day and marble slab is giving away free ice cream cupcakes from 4-7... go here to see if one in your area is participating!


Sad moment... none by us :( lol guess I will have to eat Christmas candy instead... bummer hahaha

Have you seen this?

I just ordered a pair of the gloves that let you use a touch screen without taking your gloves off. Click here if you are interested on how to get a pair shipped to your house for only 3.00 (that includes free shipping) The site is called save more and when you are new you will get a 10.00 free credit and you can use the credit to buy the gloves and it comes with free shipping. I don't think you will be able to get them before Christmas but it is still a fun gift if you know someone who uses an iphone or touchscreen device. I am not sure how many days are left on this deal but their deals usually only last a few days then you wait until the deal is over and they send you a voucher which you will use at the company website for whatever product you selected. I have gotten free slap watches (two of them), and one of those power bands, from time to time they also have great 1/2 off deals on gift cards (you usually can't use your free credit on those) I've gotten 10.00 to CVS for 5.00 and I have also gotten 10.00 to subway for 5.00. It is an actual gift card they sent too not some weird thing where you have to jump through hoops to use it. I actually took my gift card to subway and used it in conjunction with a BOGO coupon and was able to make multiple meals out of  it :)

Santa's Reindeer!!!!!!

So tonight another mom gave me a link to a site, a guy has a farm and he owns reindeer and he has set up a live feed of them online, he feeds them (I'll have to get back to you on the time) but when he does he dresses up like SANTA! This guy makes my heart smile! I love this! So anytime you can go here and see them and what they are doing. On the site you can donate a dollar to help him feed them I don't know how you would do it or if it is a secure site or not because I did not choose to donate but I see it on the site anyway. I remember as a kid the news channel we watched at my dads would always on Christmas Eve do a "tracker" and let you know when Santa was headed to the US. They would have "sightings" from people who would call in or whatever and they would say well he was just spotted in New York so he will be headed to Louisiana in the next hour or so lol it would help parents rush kids to bed I think lol. I showed Rylan and he was too interested in getting something to eat to be concerned with it but we will try again. I hope you like it :)

Today...

Well today was crazy! We had the class party so that was a lot of fun! The "Santa's sack" race was a success, the kids had a great time and the teachers and parents all thought it was a super cute game. The ornament craft was also a success, the kids enjoyed stuffing them and the parents couldn't wait to get home and hang them on the tree. I came home and passed out with Rylan! I haven't taken a nap with him in forever I was so worn out lol I have been keeping myself up late and getting up early, for no reason really other than late at night is the only time I really feel like I can relax and not have to get up every five minutes to take care of my boys. Speaking of my boys let me brag on my first boy for a minute...

Prescriptions

If you are one of my army wife readers, don't forget to move any prescriptions that you and your family have at Walgreens before the new year because they will no longer be a provider for Tri-care... You can go in and they will give you a print out of any that you have on file with them.

As promised... How to make a great cake

Today I am making the cake for Rylan's class Christmas party that is Tomorrow. I will be posting as I go today a little "How To" on making a cake that looks expensive but is actually fun and inexpensive. I purchased all of my ingredients first which include, fondant (you can get this at Walmart now or at a craft store like Hobby Lobby) I buy the big pack which is around 18.00 but it lasts a long time and it will make multiple cakes, you can purchase a box which is only a pound of fondant for around 6.00 and that will make one cake and you may have a little left over.  Then you need to get the color for the fondant (unless you buy the precolored but that is more expensive) they are about 2.00 each and I already had red so all I needed was green. Then I got my cake mix (2 boxes) and my icing (2 cans) I am cheating this time and doing my cake the easy way lol. I usually don't use all of the two icings but I would always rather have too much than not enough. I also use melted white almond bark (you get this in the baking section for making chocolate covered pretzels and all) to "glue" on any decorations that I will add.

Number 19 complete

So I just thought I would take a look at my list of things to do before I die and see if I have completed any of the things on my list. While Rhett was in surgery last week I actually completed number 19.... I got ordained

Finishing up some projects

This weekend I finished up the snowman soup packets and the ornaments. I was up typing way to late when I was typing the snowman soup because I noticed the next day I left way too many mistakes in my grammar and spelling lol. Sorry about that to all my teacher friends out there... Here are some pics to see my work :) I love both of these and I must say that they both took little to no time at all once I had all of the things I needed to make them. I made 5 ornaments in under one hour and the packs of "soup" Rylan helped me put all the things into baggies (it is amazing what a bribe of 2 Hershey's kisses will get you around here!) and so all I had to do was the typing and stuffing of the papers and that just took me about 5 minutes :)



this is the bag full without the note/poem





my last blog about the "soup" will tell you what this note says





60th wedding ann party invite



my favorite



Our Wedding <3

So on the ornaments I love the one that had cream paper and brown writing, it went great with the ribbon I had. That was def. my favorite. I love the one I made with our wedding invite of course, it just doesn't exactly match my tree lol, I love that my invite had a ribbon with the invite though because I used it to make the bow on it. I went today to Michael's to buy more ornaments and I got smaller ones too because if you notice two of the ones I already made are only half full and so I think they will look cuter in smaller balls. The invitation was just smaller paper. I bought extra ones too because I think I will make one for a friends baby shower that I went to. I think that will be a fun memory to relive every year at Christmas. I really took less than 15 minutes to do each one of these.. It was a lot of fun for me too. I hope that they love them and I still have more to make so I hope I remember to post pics of those too.

I just realized I never actually wrote about how I made the ornaments, I will quickly give a lesson lol.

You take the invite you wish to use and cut into strips making sure not to cut out any words, then you take each strip and roll it around a finger, when you place the little roll of paper into the hole at the top it will spring out like a little spring. That is all you do! Use all the pieces of paper carefully stuffing until the whole paper is in the ball then you put the top back on and add a cute ribbon! EASY

Snowman soup

Tonight and tomorrow for Rylans class party I am making a cute addition to the gift bags, snowman soup. I will take a pack of hot chocolate (1.00 for 10) and place it in a clear plastic bag maybe I will use a Ziploc bag then I will drop in about 10-15 mini marshmallows, a couple Hershey kisses (I like the white and dark swirl ones) and a candy cane. If you wanted to for this you could drop all of these ingredients into a cute coffee mug. At my dollar tree they have a whole aisle of cute mugs for only a dollar so this would actually be a great gift idea for a teacher or neighbor or just someone who you know that gets sick this winter and you would just like to cheer them up. I bet your coworkers would love this too! You could probably make 10 of them for under 20.00, 10.00 for 10 mugs, 1.00 for 10 packs of cocoa, 1.00 for 20 cellophane bags with twists at the dollar tree, 2.00 for a huge bag of marshmallows, 1.00 for a box of 10-12 candy canes, and that leaves 5.00 for chocolate lol..... anyway there are tons of cute sayings on line I'm sure I don't particularly love this one but it makes sense and so I am going to continue to search since I am getting my supplies tomorrow, I am planning on mainly making the tags tonight.

When it's so cold that you hollerr and whoop
It's time to bring out the snowman soup!

Pour the packet in a mug and add the marshmallows too,
now drop in the kisses that are special like you.

Add hot water, use the cane to stir it, although it's hot do not fear it,
sip it slowly until you will feel the holiday spirit.

I'll slip in a cute little pic of a snowman on the note card attached :)

cute gift tag idea

I saw this idea last week and I thought I would share it with you, since Rylan can not read but is so interested in all the presents under the tree. I think this is the perfect way for him to be able to hand out gifts without any help from an adult. I am going to print from my computer pictures of the people we love (prob in sepia tone) and tape/glue them on each package accordingly. He will then be able to go under the tree and pull out each gift all by himself. He will also be able to shake and smell what gifts he has :)

As a kid I remember my mom used to wrap our gifts in two different papers and not tell us which paper belonged to who so we would sit for hours shaking and smelling gifts and begging to open one. My brother and I would sit together and try to figure out which paper was for who so we could only shake our own and not waste time guessing on the other persons gift... I knew many years in a row which paper was mine because I always got a holiday barbie and they almost always came in the same package. I still never knew what was in the other boxes though, I also remember asking over and over and over again if I could open one. I hope Rylan will do that one day, shaking and guessing presents is so much fun, trying to guess by the weight what it might be or by the size and shape of the box or if it had to go into a gift bag or not...

homeless helper?

I just saw a cute idea for helping the homeless without giving them money. If you feel bad for people standing on the street corner here is something you can do that will only take a few dollars (if you use coupons) and will truly help someone if they are truly homeless. It is called a blessing bag. You take a Ziploc bag, of your choice, and fill it with things that would be of help to someone who does not have a home. You might put travel size toiletries in there, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, or a bar of soap. You could also put some single serving high calorie food items, a protein bar, cereal bar, individual apple sauce (with a spoon of course) also a great idea would be to stick in a to go bottle of pain medication, such as Tylenol or Advil. Any individual edible item would work great in there. You can either do a gallon size bag with a lot of stuff or a sandwich size with a little less stuff and be able to make more bags. Anyway this is a great idea for all year round not just around the holidays, I would also suggest making bags and just taking one and keeping one in the car until you are ready to hand it out, then once you give one away grab another one from home and you will be ready for the next person in need.

Great ornament gift idea

This week I am making an ornament for myself and Rhett and I will also be making a few more for some friends that were married this year.  What you do is take their wedding invitation and cut it into long strips, leaving the lines of words connected then roll it up and stuff it into a clear ornament. I will probably use a plastic one, they are about .75 each at Michael's if you can get them on sale. I will put a pretty ribbon on the top like this pic I will probably try and use one that matches the invite. I think I will add a cute note that says "Cheers to you both on your first Christmas as Mr. & Mrs." I will also add the year somewhere. I am making mine too and I am pretty excited. I have this weird thing about keeping invitations from people so I am glad that I do now that I have this great craft to do :) I also have a wedding that we are invited to at the end of the year that we will make one for and I may buy a few extras in case I want to make any of these during the year.

My mail box 12/5

This week I got back a Brita water filter rebate which means I just got paid to shop once again. I bought an 8.00 Brita water pitcher at Wal-mart and used a 5.00 coupon so I paid 3.00 out of pocket. I submitted a rebate to them for 10.00 back if I sent in my receipt and my UPC from the box, I can not find the rebate for you anymore I guess it is no longer available. I got the check back today meaning I got paid 7.00 to buy that pitcher. I also got my coupon in from my Disney movie reward order for a free box of popcorn I will probably use that to put with a movie bucket that I got for someone on my Christmas list. I got another JCPenny certificate in the mail today and I went and used it on a scarf for someone else on my Christmas list. I am looking forward to hopefully making it to Victoria Secret at some point this week and see how much my gift cards are worth. I will let you know.

magnolia garland

This week I made magnolia garland from my yard. I made it to decorate for Breakfast with Santa because we wanted it to look nice without spending a lot of money! I am pretty proud of it! I will be selling it in the future :) These pics do this no justice!!

This is a close up of it on the mantle where pictures with Santa took place.

Christmas eve

I just want to say that at our house, we always leave cookies and milk for Santa (dad) and carrots or other veggies for the reindeer (mom) but this year we will be leaving elf dognuts too.... (I don't know who will eat them but I can't wait to make them! They are simply cheerios that you dip in melted choclate then in sprinkles.... AHHH I can't wait to make them! I'll post pics... this is going to be so awesome

I am such a kid lol

Free Music

Have I ever told you that you can get free songs on your iphone/ipod every week? I just downloaded 5 I think. On Itunes on my phone they have lots of free ones on the main page. At the bottom you select music then at the top there is a box that says free songs. Every Tuesday it changes. I guess they have extra for Christmas. You select the free song and it goes straight into the music on your phone! Easy!! Amazon is also offering free songes every day until Christmas. I just downloaded one but I'm not sure where it went on my computer to be honest lol. When I figure that out I will share with you how to get it.

Childrens Christmas party idea

 

Today I am making party favors for Rylan's class party. I am making puzzles. I wanted something cute and inexpensive and also something that everyone else won't already have seen. (I like to pretend that I am Martha Stewart on the weekends lol) I already had all of the supplies that were needed for this project. I needed Popsicle sticks (you can get over 100 for a dollar at the dollar tree usually) regular school glue, and print outs. I was thinking that if you didn't have access to a printer or copier you could use magazine cut outs too and I bet that would still be super cute.  First I searched the web looking for cute free clip art to print. I found a Rodolph and an elf that I loved so I copied them onto regular white copy paper. I used a slicer paper cutter that I have that

 makes straight edge cuts easily. You could use

 scissors if that is all you have I just thought this

 would be quick for me. I got out my craft Popsicle

 sticks, that is what will be the puzzle pieces. I read

instructions online that say you should cut the paper

before gluing them onto the sticks but for me I think

 it will be easier to glue onto the sticks then use an

 exacto knife to slice each one into separate pieces.

 First I tried making glue lines on each stick and placing the paper on top. I did not like it this way, it was not that easy I found that putting the glue on the back of each square and then laying it on the straight sticks was very easy. I pressed them down lightly to make sure the glue was all over since these papers are going to be cut into small strips later. I let them dry for over an hour before I started cutting them. I was not sure exactly what I was going to use to cut them since this was quite spur of the moment.  I found a pocket knife that was quite sharp. Once they were dry I bent them before cutting each one because some of the glue soaked through and made the sticks stick together.

 Bending them also gave them a little gap so it was easier to fit the blade in for

 straight cutting. Once I cut the first one apart I realized that the children would

 not have a box or any pic to know what the puzzle was supposed to look like

 so I decided I would number the sticks on the back in case they are not sure if

 they are doing it right. I found it was easier to do this before cutting them apart. I took 100 calorie ziploc bags and wrote on the bag what kind of puzzle was inside for example "Elf Puzzle" then stick the pieces inside. I made 20 puzzles, 2 for each of the 10 children in the class. I got elf hats and Reindeer headband antlers from the dollar tree for them to each choose from. This party should be pretty cute. The week of the 14 of Dec. I will be making the cake and I am planning to blog all about it so stay tuned........ Oh and by the way, this project of 20 puzzles took about 3 hours. Now, before you go OMG!! That time includes browsing the web for the perfect pics and printing and figuring out if I had enough sticks to make 20 or not and figuring out the hard parts and what was easier, I even took time in the begining to blog about it lol I decided to just finish tonight after I was done since I was turning into a 5 year old with glue all over my fingers.

Christmas show

Today Rylan's class put on a program at a local old folks home, I was so excited I ran out the house to make it in time to watch my baby! I got in the car and got back out again because I realized I wanted to grab the video camera so Rhett could see it too. I got there got a great seat right in front of our baby. I pressed the button to record and watched. When it ended I pressed the record button again to stop and a big red dot came up and the letters REC were also in red.... I was confused for a split second before it hit me.... I really did that! I watched the whole program with the camera on pause... WOW I am just putting things in the hat to get that mom of the year award every day lol. I was pretty disappointed because it was very cute, especially when he finally realized I was there, the first half of the first song he was turned around being nosy looking at all of the other kids and what they were doing lol. He turned around and his smile was so big when he saw me! It was priceless.

Spend free money tomorrow!

I think tomorrow is the day to be able to go and spend my free money at Victoria Secret!!! I will let you know tomorrow what I find out about my cards! I have three to check I will try and buy 10.00 perfume to see if I have more on my card than just the 10.00..... Cross your fingers, well unless that is bad luck then do something else.

My first garland to ever make!

Today I made my very first ever garland. I cut branches off of the magnolia trees around my yard and then wired them together and then spray painted them gold. So pretty and creative. Also this is a great inexpensive way to decorate for the holidays, well that is if you are a good spray painter and you are not wasteful because it can get expensive really quickly if you aren't careful. I will take pics with my phone tomorrow and post them for you to see. I did not come up with this idea on my own I must admit... The lady who was selling the idea to me I thought was a bit crazy to be honest with you. I was thinking magnolia tree leaves? REALLY?? OOOOKKKK.... and then we made 1,2,3... and I love it!

Christmas Class Party

So now I have to start thinking about Rylans Christmas class party. I am going to post on Facebook looking for fun creative ideas... I feel lost for this one... I don't have very many cute ideas up my sleeve like usual I want something I haven't seen before that is going to be fun and the kids will love it while not being totally tacky and not spending a fortune at the same time. Please give me fun ideas if you have any. We will be having birthday cake as a sweet treat and a song to the sweet baby Jesus and we will prob do a fruit tray too bc the kids loved that last party. I need fun games and crafts. I think I really want to do a time capsule ornament as one of the crafts I will have to find a cute pic like the one I found online to share with you.

Last place is...

My last cyber shopping spot is going to be JCPenny. I hope to find something and be eligable for free shipping. If not I'm going there tomorrow morning :) Looks like tomorrow it is for me... I only have a 10.00 certificate and you need to purchase 25 or more to get free shipping soooo.....

Dillards

I have a gift card to Dillards that I was willing to blow today however I was not offered free shipping so I will just wait until I can make it to a store becasue I am too cheap to spend free money on shipping lol

Letter from Santa

Some time last week I was looking for a letter from Santa. Well I found one for only a penny! The promo code to get free shipping is 41878. This is for today only!!! Go get one for your munchkin I did!

disney store

Im checking out at the Disney Store and I'm using the 20.00 free gift card and I just choose a lego set that is on clearance for 16.00ish and they are offering free shipping with code CYBER today only. So that will be a good freebie for either Christmas, Easter, or for another child that will just be put into the toy closet.

Amazon

I am now on Amazon looking for something special for my hunny I wish I could say what I am getting and the amazing deal I found on it but he reads this soooo.... Ask me when you see me :) They have some pretty good deals on there. I have been looking for some kind of a deal that I just couldn't walk away from on a smart tablet but I just haven't seen one yet. I will keep you posted if I do though. I will be shopping the Disney store next though!

Free MP3 Amazon credit

Go to amazon here and put in code studybrk for 2.00 for free song download. There are plenty of singles you can download for .75 I am pretty sure! Personally I am going to check out the christmas songs right now :)

Free Nescafe

While shopping of course I need to score some freebies :) click here to get some free peppermint mocha. I just tried to submit mine in the midde of typing this and it keeps kicking me back and saying my information is incorrect. I hope you have some luck with this one I am going to try again later.

Here we go!

I am going to be making my first stop at walmart.com... I have a walmart gift card from Rylans birthday to buy him some gifts so lets see what I can score! Today I will have multiple tabs open on my computer so I can keep you updated with all the great deals I find so you may have to check back at the bottom of posts to see what I find. I will also be using my swagbucks toolbar to search for these pages in hopes to score some free money! OK so I am checking out at walmart.com. I have multiple games for the new Wii that Rylan got, I never knew they offered so many games for under 10.00 at walmart.com. They also offer preowned games which I had no idea about, I purchased all brand new games though. I got another controller as the console only comes with one and a new lego item and a small canning kit as a gift for someone on my list. I didn't really see any amazing deals that I just had to have I must admit but it was far easier than standing in lines at walmart. They have a section I just decided to look in before hitting the check out button. They have a value section or something like that at the top so I am now going to browse the section real quick for toys. I will be removing something from my previous picks lol I found lego bundles for 2/20 which is a great deal and you have choices of what to pick from too.

Avon

Avon has some cute stuff this campaign. They are offering free shipping on Cyber Monday. I like their cute sleep shirts :) and they have cute slippers for under 10.00 check it out if you still have someone to pick something for.....Shop Avon here I also just noticed that I think they have gloves that are compatable with touch screens so you don't have to take your gloves off to use your device!! Use code cyber2011 to get free shipping on any order.here are the gloves :)

The 4th Birthday Cake

 As I promised here are the pics of the birthday cake that I made at home. I printed some free clip art from my computer that I found on Google that I liked. They were black and white so I enlarged them quite a bit and made multiple copies so I could cut them up and make stencils for when I got the fondant colored and rolled out perfectly. I should have used chocolate or something to hold all the pieces together but I was so tired at the end of the night making it that I just didn't lol. This whole cake probably cost around 15.00 cake mix, fondant, icing and icing color too. I have friends all over who make cakes at least this well if not 200xs better. and would probably make them for inexpensive. Let me know if you need a cake made :) any occasion!

victoria Secret deal

OK I just got yelled at via text for not sharing this secret earlier. So I will give you the scoop. go here to shop at Victoria Secret and you can earn your free 10.00 gift card with any 10.00 purchase that will be able to be used Dec. 2 through Dec. 21. Look up all of the details up on the website and you can check out my previous post and see what I bought!    :) Happy Shopping

Ellen... the campaign continues

So I was telling my friend Courtney today about a blog I like to check out from time to time called "Couponing to Disney" and she asked me if we could be "couponing to Ellen" of course my response was YES! So the campaign continues. I feel a little bummed that she has all these people on her show who have some sad story about how their life sucks and so she comes in as the shining light and brightens their world. I am not bummed that she does that at all do not take this the wrong way lol, I am bummed that my life in fact does not suck and I love every bit of it so I can not really write in and tell her how much I need her help instead I just keeping sending letter after letter to her asking for her to be friends with me sheese I sound lame lol. I invited her to our wedding in case I never told you, she must have had a serious family emergency and that is why she didn't make it and surprise me with some amazing honeymoon lol nor did she open the doors to a new vehicle.... ( we didn't get a real honeymoon and my car sucks lol) anyway I know she is just waiting to call me when she has some super amazing show that she wants me to come to and another thing please don't judge me that I am envious of the people that get to sit on the floor level lol they always get the good seat. I would not want to be in a wheelchair of course (I think that is the only way to get one of those seats) I would want to sit by her mom bc I am pretty sure that is the best seat in the house. I have day dreamt of what job I would be perfect for in her office and all I can come up with is that person who gives her the mint before she walks onto stage. I'm only kidding I know I would be perfect for just about every single job especially those jobs where she sends someone out for her. Anyway I asked for tickets once and I'm asking again soon!

Cyber Monday!!!

Who is ready for Cyber Monday is this girl right here!!!!! I think I am going to break away only long enough to go to subway use my BOGO 6" sub coupon and my 10.00 gift card that I only paid 5.00 for! Also people if you are eating out now is the perfect time to ask the store you are going to visit before you visit if they are having any gift card promos. Check out the retail gift card deals too. For example last year at Lowes if you bought 25.00 (I don't remember the exact amount this is an example) in gift cards then you got 10.00 in Itunes gift cards free. I was buying stuff anyway so I bought the gift card first then paid for my stuff with it and I got a free CD on my Ipod that night :) I also suggested restaurants because lets say that you are going out to eat, lots of places offer special deals buy 50 get 10 or something like that. If you are eating out already buy the gift card before you sit to eat. Pay for your food with the card then guess who gets a free lunch later or a great free stocking stuffer. That's right you do :) I have been to Victoria Secret 2 times now since they started their gift card deal (I think it ended tonight) The deal they were running was, Buy 10.00 worth of merchandise and you are guaranteed to get 10.00 on a gift card to use after 12/2, some only have 10.00, but some have up to 1000.00! They have lots with 100.00! I bought 3 things for about 12.00 each and paid for them each in a separate transaction. ( I got 2 perfumes that were 50% off! I was so excited and I wished it was in my budget to buy about 8 more lol) I now have 3 gift cards that are worth at least 30.00 maybe more! You can't call to find out how much is on each card, you have to purchase something to find out what your totoal is. That sounds like a catch but do you have any idea how many 10.00 and under things they offer in their panty and perfume sections? They have a huge section of purse size perfume bottles (Possibly even every fragramce) for 10.00 exactly... That is probably what I will be going back for.

What I used my first free amazon gift card for

So I have talked to you about using swagbucks right. It is a search engine with a tool bar that is free to download and you receive "bucks" for searching with them instead of your usual search engine. Once you get a certain amount (the amount I look for is 450) you can redeem for free stuff. Gift cards to stores or online shopping spots, there are so many things that you only need a few searches to get freebies. I look to earn 450 because that is how much I need to get a free 5.00 amazon gift card. I got my first one last week and I decided today to use it on a book idea that my friend Courtney begged me to do for Rylan as she does not have kids yet. I couldn't wait to take the idea and put it into motion. The idea is to get the book by Dr. Seuss called "Oh the places you'll go" and as he finishes each grade have his teachers write a secret note to him and then give it to him as a graduation gift. I ordered his book today (I got it used as that was a good bit cheaper than new) and I still have about a dollar left on my card for my next amazon purchase. Last week (maybe two weeks ago actually) I cashed in my 450 swagbucks (sb) and I already have 138, while I'm writing this I am watching their TV channel which earns bucks also... whoever invented the split screen for windows made my life so easy lol. You should sign up for swagbucks because there is still time to earn points and redeem them for free gift cards before Christmas!!

best mail call ever!

So while I was out of town our mail box was loaded down with great stuff I have been waiting on! A free sample of 5 hour energy. I don't use or like this stuff but my honey does for days when he didn't sleep well. They are 3.00ish at the store and it is a full size bottle that comes in the mail. 5hr energy here says that they are temporarily out of samples for this month but this month ends in a few days so if I were you I would try back at the end of the week. I also got a coupon for a free box of hair color. I think I went to the walmart site and got this one from the sample section but when I just went to find it for you it said that this promo is ended. I have been especially anxious to get a gift card from the Disney store that I ordered for, get this... FREE (imagine that)!!! I will be using this on cyber Monday to shop online probably. I used my Disney movie rewards points I think it cost me around 700 to earn this card for free. If you are not familiar with this program every Disney movie comes with a code inside and it is free to enter them into the free account that you can create. I have in the past ordered a movie and tonight I just redeemed 100 points to get a box of pop secret pop corn for free too. You don't even pay shipping it is 100% free.  About a month ago I guess I paid 5.00 for a gift card to subway worth 10.00 at save more and that came in the mail too. I also got a huge amount of free labels for winter that have our return address on them. I will donate to St.Jude for sending them to me. I'll probably drop 5 or 10 dollars in the mail to help their charity.

Rylans 4th birthday party!!!

This last weekend we had Rylans birthday party. If you keep uP with this blog you would know I have been shopping around for a while and it really paid off. I called around and found the cheapest bouncy house for 100.00 they were great (1st jump rentals was the name I think) I would recommend them to anyone! They were on time clean and the employee was soooooo polite. They set up and took down so I had no wOrk to do with that. I wanted a fancy looking cake with my cheap budget, so I made one. I bought a small 1pm box of fondants (6.00) and two colors (about 1.50 each) to color the fondants. I already had black so I only needed red and blue. I two boxes of cake mix (with coupons of course) and two icings (again using coupons) so I spent around 12.00 and all the private school moms (who would probably be willing to spend 50-100 on a cake where I don't want to) were going CRAZY over it. It made me feel so good that they all were talking about how they could not believe it was home made. I will have to make a blog the next time I make a cake. I will have to post pics later when I'm by my laptop. We made a fruit tray and a veggie tray as it was cheaper than buying them already assembled and they looked great on my platters too I must add. My wonderful mother in law made all of that for me as I was running around trying to finish last minute stuff. She also made 3 loaves of bread worth of finger sandwiches which were all gone by the end of the day. We have been stock piling wine from a local grocery that has a huge selection and so I was able to open and serve around 6 bottles of wine for around 12-15.00! This store often gets new inventory so they put items on clearance that aren't moving as quickly. So bottles that retail for 12-15 each were marked from 2-5.99 so I grab one every week or two! There were so many people and kids I let everyone help themselves and it seemed as if everyone had a great time. I think I want to open a party planning business!!

Jcpenny freebies again!!

This week I got another 10.00 coupon to jcpenny so you already know I basically ran over there to see what I could find. This week in the home goods section I found clearance champagne glasses (4/7.00) and a tank top. I paid .80 after my coupon! I was so excited. If you don't get these at your house and you want to get some I know you can buy them online on eBay I'm not sure of the price but if they are only a dollar or so it could still make for a serious good deal...

I'm looking for free letter from Santa

So since our elf on the shelf will not come out until the morning after thanksgiving I thought I have already started talking about Santa sending his elves to watch over all the children (for example he pouts or uses bad manners I suddenly look out the window and when he says what is it mommy I just say oh nothing I just thought I saw something and he always asks "what was it" and I say I thought it was an elf! Rhett joined in the other day and didn't even know it when he was making fun of the guy next to us in his truck and said "oh that guy looks like Santa hahaha" and Rylan was stretching his neck as far as it would go and so I calmly said yeah it probably was him he told me he was coming to drop off his elf at our house the other day lol Rylan was soooo shocked he just sat in the back thinking so seriously) and I need to make it official now lol I have started looking up websites that you can get some free cards from Santa. Here is the first I found on a site that you type and print then put in an envelope and send from gmaws house or work wherever... I wonder can you send a self addressed and postage paid envelope to the north pole and someone there will open it and put it back in the mail so that it will be post marked from there... I will let you know about this. I know that some of you are laughing right now but my kid will think my Santa is better than yours if our letter comes from there and yours comes from the same state (I'm sure he will not know or care at this point but it will make me feel like it is more official lol) I need to ask around to my friends to see who has nice calligraphy and maybe employ them to write letters for me lol. I will give you the links for the ones I find as I go.... Here is the first I found I haven't tried it yet so I can't tell you if it is easy or looks good or not...letter from Santa here

Free movie in the mail

I cashed in on some Disney movie rewards points and got one of my favorite movies from when I was a kid, "The brave little Toaster" they sent it totally free! No shipping, no hidden costs. I simply put in all the codes from inside the movies I buy or receive as gifts and then I save my rewards points until this time of year and I pick out one fun thing to put under the tree for free from Santa. I have 2 other movies waiting upstairs and I know my mom will be giving him a movie too so we will be getting more points in the next month to get more prizes! It is free to sign up with the rewards club and free to earn points and get prizes... why would you not sign up lol? Since I signed up I have earned 2110 points and cashed in on 1500 I still have 600+ points left to spend! The movie I got today cost 750 points and there are hundreds of prizes to choose from! Good luck!

Free gift cards...

If you are a CVS reward member (I think that is what it is called.) then there are many items that qualify if you purchase 30.00 worth (mix and match all items so 1-30 different items its your choice) you get a free 10.00 gift card to whatever place (that they sell in store) for free!! So lets say that you need toilet paper, and dishwasher soap and a few grocery items... that may equal 30.00 so bam you get to pick out 10.00 free gift card. Maybe you have a teacher on your list so a barns and noble gift card may be perfect! There is also gas cards! I hope you can score some good items you need and a free gift for someone you love! (Or like a little bit even lol)

Fuel perks!!!

Are you traveling this holiday season? I just heard a new great way to save some cash! At Winn Dixie you can earn .15c off per gallon of gas for every 50.00 you spend on gift cards. So here is my idea for you. Our truck takes around 100.00 to fill up. That is 2 gift cards which equal .30c off a gallon. now lets say gas is 3.30 a gallon we pay 3.00 a gallon for 20 gallons I already have .50 off a gallon that I saved on my last shopping trip sooo that means we would pay 2.50 a gallon and our total savings would be 16.00. It would only be 6.00 if we didn't already have the other fuel perks saved. I can think of a few things that I could use my 6.00 saved on... free lunch maybe? I maybe would treat myself to a Starbucks or 2 :)

I felt like I was stealing from Kohls!

OK so I def. was NOT stealing but it felt like I was def getting away with something when I walked out of the store only paying .75!! I got a transformer puzzle, a batman monster truck (I have been on the hunt for this one ever since I passed it up nearly a year ago) a pair of flip flops and a set of 3 toe rings and my total was only .75! I don't remember if I posted or not but here is a link for kohls, if you sign up to receive their email alerts then you will be emailed 5.00 off 5.00 or more, I have 2 email addresses so I submitted one for each and got 2! This email deal expires soon so I hope you take advantage of it! I had to do two separate transactions so I did the puzzle which was around 4.00 and the flip flops which were on clearance for 1.00 and I paid .54. The second transaction I did the monster truck which was around 3.00 and the toe rings which were on clearance for 2.00 so I paid .21. I was sooooo excited! I walked out of the store smiling ear to ear lol. I only got the flip flops and the toe rings so I could use my coupons because you had to be spending at least 5.00. I will use the flip flops next summer with my LSU gear and the toe rings will get good use too I'm sure :) I could not believe I only paid .75!! Santa just got two more presents one for the stocking and one for under the tree :)

Mail call 3

So this week was light on the samples and freebies but I did get some fun stuff. I got a rebate back for Lysol wipes. I'm not sure if I blogged about this one but I printed a thing they were doing for flu season... click here to print yours. I just went and found the link for you. If you have receipts that show that you purchased 3 Lysol wipes between 7/1 and 10/31 then you still have a few weeks to print this out and get 3.00 back!
Don't wait if you can find your receipt because it has to be in the mail before 11/30. I found this rebate about a month after I purchased them. I had two different receipts (I have started holding onto my grocery receipts in a zip lock bag for a while for this reason) that totaled 3 packages so I submitted mine and got the money back this week. I also got my free samples of K-cups for my keurig coffee maker. This sample is expired so I hope you didn't miss this one. I am excited to try my new coffee :)

Rylan is having his first sleep over!!!

Madeleine and Luke are spending the night for the first time! Their mommy and daddy are having a date night and Rylan wanted them to spend the night anyway so it was perfect! We started off with a ride on the Polaris (I don't know how to spell it but for those of you who do not know what it is, it is a super fast golf cart slash, yes I just spelled slash, four wheeler slash fun work vehicle.) It is built for 2 adults basically I think but some how we shoved 2 adults and 3 munchkins all on it and even though we were going pretty slow I was yelling like we were speeding out of control because it was getting the kids so excited. When we started driving toward something I would freak out and say oh no we are going to hit the ______!!!!! Then Rhett would turn of course! They were all laughing and having such a great time. Then we came home and

I hope these two grocery trips last me into the new year

I shopped yesterday and today to restock my pantry and fridge/freezer. When I tell you our house was empty.... We had a pack of bacon in the freezer : /  I needed pasta, sides such as rice or macaroni, pasta sides, lunch soups, cooking soups like cream of chicken and mushroom. We had no meat left so I had to stock up on that and I also needed to get enough lunch meat for finger sandwiches and a few other snack/finger food items and drinks for everyone I also snagged some items for goodie bags for the party. You can imagine my face when I saw the first total was 140.00 ( I knew it was going to be a lot I haven't been to the grocery in a month) that was my total at Walmart I will give you the run down of some of the items I purchased for that price.

free movies again...

Here is another list of Blockbuster 1.00 movie rental codes for free rentals again it is said that these codes will expire on 11/11 which is Friday so I don't know if they will be good through that day?..... Anyway good luck on a good date night in :)


23DABC5
25JRTW9
45CEHW6
45KWMR4
4NLESJ
59CDJS4
64SGLM7
92BPSP9
JDLJTA
XKXRTG
37JRTW8
89BPSP8
33SGLM6
62CDJS7
67KWMR5
64DABC4
6AEVX4
KYKB53
R27X47
Y5WJ4B
3RFCD6

Are you a military bride to be? Want a free dress?

http://www.bridesacrossamerica.com/Aboutus.html  I heard from a friend that this group gives away wedding dresses to military ladies or military to be ladies (wish I would have know about this a few moths ago lol) so I took a look and sure enough I didn't go through the whole website but I am super glad that this ladyn Heidi started such a foundation!!! Good for her I bet she feels so good about herself for doing something so amazing for so many people... As Ellen says "Be nice to one another" I would say she is doing just that. Anyway check it out for yourself it looks like an amazing group, like I said I did not fully inspect every page yet as I could not wait to get on here and share the message lol. Thank you Jennifer for sharing this info with me I thought of a friend right away and before I even looked at the site for myself I messaged her on FB.

Laundry detergent

Ok so I am going through my blogs and my ads to get my grocery shopping list together I am thinking I may go to Wal-mart this week and do some price matching and use coupons to see if I get any better of deals than my usual trip to winn dixie I am thinking of going to both to be honest bc I don't think I will be able to get the usually great deals I find on meat at walmart. I wanted to let you know that this is a great week to stock up on laundry detergent though. At CVS there is arm and hammer on sale (after extra bucks) for only 1.99 for 50oz. That is a pretty good deal. Even better than that though if you have a Kmart near you then grab the ad and go to walmart for a price match on ALL detergent or snuggle softener for only 2.99 and if you have the coupon like I do for 1.00 off All then you will be making a steal on this stuff also I have a .75 for the softener which is what I am out of not detergent so I may stock up... Just FYI good prices right now!

I love Corny

So my BFF Courtney I like to call her Corny, its a long story... well not really I'll just tell you. One day she goes to Burger King to eat and they ask her what her name is so when her order is ready they will call her. She says "Courtney" and the lady behind the counter puts on her order "Corny" well it stuck in my mind! Anyway she said she is counting the number of times I have said "freebie" on here and I wish there was  a counter because that is kind of funny I like that word, freebie, free, inexpensive, cheap all of that lol! I love her for that fact she makes my heart smile. My face usually smiles too but.....mostly my heart!

I just got paid to shop :)

 Ok so one of my favorite places to shop for all things "kids". If you have ever heard of Platos closet this is very much like it only for children not teens/young adults. This place is a resale shop that pays on the spot for the items you don't want anymore. They buy clothes, toys, baby items (big and small) books the list goes on and on..Today I brought in a box of clothes that do not fit Rylan any more and it was sooo full I washed everything that had tiny stains last night to try and get them out as this place only buys stuff that is in good condition that is not too used and has no stains or holes etc. I fold them all neatly and separate them by size and season so 2T short sleeve and shorts go together, and 3T long sleeves all go together and shoes together, you get the pic. They offered to buy 29 items and wanted to pay 39.05 for them! I was so excited! I was like YES that is great. Keep in mind I usually get all of his clothes under 5.00 an item so to be paid 1.34 per item I was stoked! I usually get so many items for him for almost free too by shopping at the end of the season. While they looked over his clothes that they wanted to buy I shopped. Since they only buy clothes in good condition I love this place, I can get name brand clothes for better than Wal-mart prices! I needed new jeans for him in size 4T and I needed a few more long sleeve t-shirt style shirts also in 4T (he could use a few more jammies too but I do not recommend getting them here as these usually do not look new even if they have been well taken care of because they are worn so often usually) I got a pair of Levi jeans (5.50) and a pair of OshKosh jeans (8.50 I usually don't pay that much for his clothes but he really needs jeans and I was basically trading and not paying), a pair of sweats from Old Navy (4.50) , a red and white button down shirt from Gap (4.50) I'm thinking this will be cute for pics with Santa, two t-shirts from Gap (3.50 each), one polo t-shirt (3.50), a hoodie style shirt from Gap (5.50 Rylan loves shirts with a hood for some reason). So they put in my sell items and rang up the items I chose and she said "We owe you a nickle." Part of me wanted to go back into the store and pick another item but I just took the money and ran! I will try all of the items on Rylan tonight because I only have 7 days to return if something doesn't work. I really would have liked to get more long sleeve t-shirts but this store is totally hit or miss sometimes they have exactly what you are looking for and sometimes they don't it just depends on what is being sold to them in the last few weeks. I don't think I have ever gone in and left with nothing though. I mentioned that I don't recommend buying jammies there and another thing I don't really recommend that they do sell and have bought a lot from me is shoes. They sometimes have nice shoes, I have gotten a few dress shoes from there because they looked new and were hardly worn. If you are looking for a pair of play shoes though you can get a pair there that are usually 5-10 for Nike shocks even. Kids are just so hard on shoes it is hard for me to buy them there I would rather just pay more and get new ones. Once upon a Child is a chain (OUAC for short as my BFF Janette and I call it via text lol) so look up their site and see where the closest one to you is, if it is the one by me then call me and we will go to lunch :)

Fun mail box goodies!!

If you remember a while back I ordered the wax melter smell good things from Yankee Candle co. for teacher gifts. I knew I would be needing the wax drops to complete the gift but I wanted to wait until I found a good deal and I did last week as they were only 1.00 each so I ordered seven to go with the cute melter things I already have, those came in the mail today. I also ordered 5 movies from Target and I got all of those in. I forgot that I sent in a few rebates and those came back, one for 6.99 and one for 3.50 the 6.99 one was for shampoo which made it free and the 3.50 one was for febreeze noticables (the plug not the refill) I had coupons for 3.00 off each one and walmart had them on sale for 2.99=free now that I have the rebate it means I just made 3.50 to buy them! I still have at least one more rebate out for a Brita water pitcher that I bought for 8.00 I had a 5.00 off coupon so I paid 3.00 and found a rebate for 10.00 that will be another money maker when I get that back! Today I also got some fun samples in the mail I got a few post cards of samples of men's cologne usually they come as little tubes full of liquid but these were just little wipes with smell goods still a free day of smell goods so who cares. I got a Playtex sport sample with a coupon from Walmart.com (this may still be available they often have free samples to sign up for so does Target.com) I got free aquafresh toothpaste (it is like a travel size tube also from walmart.com I think) and a free pack of crest 3d white goodies which include white strips, and toothpaste and coupons. I got travel size head and shoulders too! I think my mail lady knows I like all these goodies so she holds them until I get a bunch and brings them all at the same time!!

I shopped at CVS for soooo little!!!

Yesterday I stopped after school at CVS for a box of cereal and I needed a large box of cheerios for a craft at school that I said I would be responsible for. Last week I think I forgot to post that I went into Walgreen's for razors, for those of you who do not frequent pharmacies you should consider it and let me tell you why. At the front of the store there is a "special coupon machine" where you scan your reward card and coupons print out for your shopping! I have scored some free deodorant and conditioner from this machine. They were on sale or clearance and the coupon would have said something like "2.00 off hair care product" or something like that well find one on clearance for 1.00 and BOOM you pay taxes on 2 shampoo or conditioner etc.

Free perfume sample

Click here to request your free sample of Oscar de la Renta perfume (I dont know how it smells yet but I thought I'd share) I have a thing on my Google home page that is called "Totally free crap" lol that is where I got this one from. I am also happy to announce I have made it to 450 swagbucks and will be requesting my first free 5.00 amazon gift card! You can still sign up its never too late! Click on the swagbuck gadget at the bottom of my page and you can install the toolbar and start earning today!

Stock up prices

Today I am researching stock up prices as I know when some items are a good deal but others I sometimes look and say hmmm I think this is a good deal but I am not always sure. I can never remember what I pay for certain things either. This week my grocery bill will be much higher than I like as I only have 2 weeks until Rylan's birthday party and I need to start getting all the nonperishable items to prepare for that. It also seems like I can not even remember when I last shopped so we are running low on lots of items that we need. I last shopped for under 100.00 nearly one month ago! Think about that..... I am pretty proud of myself right now lol I knew it felt like a long time I guess I got more stuff than I realized and no wonder my freezer is getting empty! I started looking up stock up prices from other bloggers because I was looking at my weekly flyer's from albertsons and Winn Dixie and saw boneless skinless chicken breasts for 1.88/lb and I thought to myself that is a great price I think... I can never remember prices produce or meat for some reason so I looked and saw that many other couponers think that 1.99/lb is a great price for boneless skinless chicken breasts so I think I will grab a LOT of chicken this week maybe 10 pounds! I will try and make a stock up price page for you all if you are like me and can never remember then you can print it and keep it in your binders so you won't have to question if you are getting a good deal or not.

blinkie coupon?

I just heard a new term I haven't come across before. A "blinkie coupon" I had to google it I was thinking what is that?! It is a coupon from a smart source machine in stores usually found in the aisles with little red blinking lights lol the name makes sense now.

Get ready for the holidays now

So I've been talking about doing Christmas gift shopping and getting ready for the holidays so today I want to remind you all who will be making pies or dinners for friends and family to get your coupons ready now! Today I just found a great coupon request for a Ham. Meat coupons are hard to come by so when I see one I grab it! click here to request yours too if you want to save a 1.00 on a great Thanksgiving or Christmas meat. I'm sure I will be posting lots of this kind of coupon so turn your printers on :)

savemore.com

I've talked about savemore.com before but I want to come back and tell you about some deals they have right now that I just scored. I picked up two gift cards, one to subway and one to CVS both worth 10.00 for 5.00. These will make for a fun Christmas basket for a college student I like :) or maybe a good gift for me :) I like both of those places and the way I see it I will get a free gallon of milk at CVS this way and free dinner one night at subway with this deal. This is a link click here that will take you directly to the site. There is only one day left on both of these deals so if you think you want this one then head over and score some 50% off cards! You will have until midnight on 11/2 I think.

More freebies at JCPENNY!

So on one of my first posts I talked about saving over 75% off of retail. Well last week I got in a 10.00 off 10.00 purchase coupon for JCpenny so yesterday I went after Rylan's class Halloween party and before pick up since there was only about an hour. I found the cutest sandals on clearance for 4.97! I picked up two different pair for next summer I can't wait to wear them! I also found cute play clothes or school clothes for Rylan I needed .03 to be able to use my coupon so I grabbed a shirt for him 1.97 and went to the register. I paid 2.08! Now the blue pair of sandals were originally 65.00 I paid .80! The brown strappy pair were originally 50.00 I paid .80! The shirt I grabbed for Rylan was 11.99 I paid .31! So clearance prices plus a coupon equals nearly 100% off people! This is my favorite way to shop! I have another 10.00 coupon to there that doesn't expire until the end of the year so I may wait until closer to christmas in case there is a last minute gift I want to grab. So originally  the cost would have been 126.99 plus tax and I paid 1.91 (plus tax 2.08 total).... you do the math!

Thankfully I'm learning to hold my tongue

I am not really sure if I should be offended or not.... This morning I met with some other moms from Rylan's school. We were there to talk about school functions put on by the parents. We were all talking about getting together again for a day of crafts to get ready for these events. Someone offered their house as a craft spot (she basically lives next door to school) but directly after the offer she said that we would all have to ignore her messy house. I know that some people say that when it is really very clean. Some people say that and mean it you just have to wait and see. Another mom immediately started in on how messy her house was too and how she wouldn't judge. I had already been to this said craft house and it is neither messy or shining without a spec of dust. I don't care what peoples houses look like, I don't judge you because you live in your house however you want it, as do I. Where I got offended is