Free Shipping Friday

More than 1,700 stores offering free shipping today with arrival for Christmas. List is here! And while some have a minimum order for deal, more than 1000 are doing it regardless. Happy Savings!

Starbucks giveaway

A little late in the game but for first 12 days of December, Starbucks is doing a promotion daily.


12/3 (Today, Friday): BOGO 12 pack of VIA instant coffee.

I will try to check back daily, but here is the link so you can check for yourself. They dont update in advance though :(

New website --or new to me -- for deals.

Bluepatcher Carolyn posted The Foundary on Facebook, and I checked it out. If you are looking for the items they are showcasing on that specific day, you can get some fantastic deals!

For more information on the site, click here. You won't be disappointed.

Sock Monkey -- $10.99

I just love Amazon's daily deals! And sometimes they last longer than just the day.

Click here for details on the popular sock monkey!

Just Dance for Wii -- $25.99

New version of popular game. Click here for info.

Pottery Barn diaper bag nearly half off!

As diaper bags go, I always thought this was a nice one. Still a bit pricey, but better than full price.

First Christmas Feeding set from PB -- $9.99 SHIPPPED

My Monkey will be celebrating his third Christmas this year, but I like this set so may buy for him too!

Click here.

Victoria's Secret FREE slippers

They are having a pj sale right now (and who doesn't love pj's!). Click the link here for more details, but you can get a free pair of slippers with select purchases. And if your total is more than $100, you get free shipping.

Photomug for $1.99

More great deals from Vistaprint!

Click here.

Thanks BeCentsAble for the h/t!

Free gift from Origins and Free shipping

Spend $35, and get something for you...and its all delievered free.

Click here.

Cigars starting at $1

I know my mother-in-law will hate this, but my brothers will love!

I admit I do love the smell of cigar smoke :)

Anyway, click here for some great deals on cigars. Obviously you don't want to smoke these bad boys daily or even weekly, but perhaps for that special occassion or family get together they could be nice.

Free music from Amazon

Holiday music for your iPod or other MP3. Click here.

New mailing time

For loyal subscribers to The Blue Patched Couch, I have changed the time you will receive these deals in your inbox. Now you will get them in the early evening -- between 5-7 pm. Makes more sense since I can only do this during the day while The Monkey sleeps and many deals will expire that night at Midnight.

Hope this makes life easier (and cheaper) for you...especially during this holiday season.

NBC fans savings

For fans of Friday Night Lights (we are big time), or The Office (almost as much as FNL), check out NBCs cyber sale...great deals of show items, including Dwight Booblehead and East Dillon T-shirt.

Origins FREE shipping and $10 off

Spend $25 and get $10 off. Here is the info. Also, get free shipping. Enter code: MONDAY

Why I heart Vistaprint!

First a happy birthday shoutout to the wife of my favorite Vistaprint employee :)

Ok, am attaching the link here, but just look at this list of deals below!!! These are all good through Wednesday, so you have some time.

Good luck!

Invitations & Announcements 10 Start at $7.99 Now FREE
Photo Holiday Cards 10 Start at $7.99 Now FREE
Wall Calendars 1 Starts at $15.99 Now FREE
Small Magnets 25 Start at $12.99 Now FREE
FREE Photo Flip Books Great Value Get 1 Now
Note Cards 10 Start at $7.99 Now FREE
FREE T-Shirt Great Value Get 1 Now
Holiday Cards 10 Start at $7.99 Now FREE
Postcards 100 Start at $24.99 Now FREE
Return Address Labels 140 Start at $7.99 Now FREE
XL Photo Magnets 1 Start at $9.99 Now FREE
Custom Envelopes 100 Start at $44.99 Now $33.74
Small Stamps 1 Starts at $12.99 Now FREE
50% OFF Mugs 1 Starts at $9.99 Now $4.99
Holiday Gift Tags 25 Start at $7.99 Now FREE
50% OFF Photo Books 1 Starts at $33.99 Now $16.99
Notebooks 1 Starts at $9.99 Now FREE
Mouse Pads 1 Starts at $7.99 Now FREE
Premium Business Cards 250 Start at $19.99 Now FREE
Desk Calendars 1 Starts at $6.99 Now FREE
Note Pads 1 Starts at $8.99 Now FREE
Pens 1 Starts at $4.99 Now FREE
Uploads 1 Starts at $4.99 Now FREE
Checks 25 Start at $4.99 Now FREE
Tote Bags 1 Starts at $12.99 Now FREE
Banners 1 Starts at $13.99 Now FREE
Posters 1 Starts at $6.99 Now FREE
Hats 1 Starts at $14.99 Now FREE
FREE Sticky Note Great Value Get 1 Now
Keychains 1 Starts at $4.99 Now FREE

Act now! These limited-time offers expire Wednesday, December 01, 2010.

Lands End deals -- through Monday

Wow, just looking at their site I may have to do some of my shopping here.

First, spend $75, and take $20 off OR spend $150 and take $50 off. Either way the code is NOV29 and the pin is 7410.

Second, look at some of the sale items listed! Down vests for $20, and cashmere sweaters for $75!

Happy shopping!

Pottery Barn for kids -- free ship and/or monogramming TODAY ONLY

Here is a link to a bunch of free shipping and/or free mongramming for a bunch of kiddie items.

Kohl's Cyber Monday treats

15% off today on all orders. Code: CYBER15

15% off today AND free shipping on all orders greater than $75. Code: CYBER15

20% off today AND free shipping on all orders greater than $100. Code: CYBER20

More coupon codes

These come courtesy of Coupon Cabin!

Included in this lot are Home Depot, Dell, Walgreens, White House/Black Market and Radio Shack.

For the wine lover in all of us

Too bad my tolerance plummeted after The Monkey was born!

Today's DC Groupon is for $75 worth of wine, for $25! Make sure to read all the details and fine print, found here.

Monday Only -- For the man who travels

Check this out from Red Envelope! Its a Leather excusion carrying case for all his essentials. Regular price $124.99, sale price $59.99. Monday only.

A slew of Cyber Monday Coupon Codes

Many thanks to Brads Deals for sharing!

Click here for the complete list...which includes Ann Taylor, Crate and Barrel, Modell's and many more!

Coupons galore for free and cheap stuff!

As I have mentioned before I get a slew of emails from many of the other money savers across the county.

For the Momma's compiled this great list of coupons for free food and discounts, many expiring this weekend. Coupons include a free pie at Bob Evans and a free appetizer at Chili's.

Enjoy!

And thanks For the Momma's!

Amazon magazine deals

Now through Nov. 30, you can get some silly magazine deals, some as low as $5/year. Click here for more info.

BOGO at Starbucks!

I know some Bluepatchers who will like this (thinking Tricia in VA and Sophie in MD). Get one of your favorite yummy coffee drinks free at Starbucks, deal runs from Nov. 18-21, from 2 pm to 5 pm.

Starbucks is apparently running a 12 Days of Sharing special promotion. You can sign up to receive text alerts about the deals.

Info on both promos can be found here.

FREE Everything

Thanks to our good friends at Vistaprint, look at all these FREE items! You just pay shipping.

I learned last year that its better to shop early than cram everything at the last minute. If grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, old roommates, whoever is on your list...this is a great deal! Also a good idea if you want fun address labels for the holidays instead of writing out.

Click here for the details.!

365 Prints FREE with $10 Purchase

Snapfish has an incredible deal running from now through Nov 20! Buy anything for $10 on their site and get 365...no that is not a type 365 FREE 4x6 pictures! Enter code 2010MY365 at checkout!

150+ deals for veterans

The Monkey kept me busy all day so just now getting to post this list. Thanks to Brads Deals, which is a great site to keep track of as you start your shopping, it always has deals!!!

And if you haven't already, make sure to thank a veteran! If it wasn't for him/her/them you wouldn't be reading this at all! I thank my Dad. A brave WW2 vet who fought in the Pacific. He passed away this summer, and not a day goes by that I don't think of him....love ya and miss ya Dad!

Thank a veteran!

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day! Instead of promoting sales, which in themselves are a good thing, there are a ton of places that are offering specials to Vets and their families as a small THANK YOU for all they have sacrificed.

Here's the list I have so far, but if I get others will update in new posts.

Applebee's: is offering free food for Veterans. I can't link to their site though because it keeps freezing my computer :( I recommend calling your local Applebees beforehand if you want more information.

BJ's Brewhouse: free lunch entree or free pizza with one topping for dinner, click here for information.

Build-A-Bear Workshop: 20 percent off on one transaction. Online enter code 95516 at checkout. Check stores for details. Promotion runs from Nov 10-14.

Cheeseburger in Paradise: free entree, click here for details.

Chili's: is offering a free entree from a special menu, see here for details.

Famous Dave's: Free entree, click here

Hooters: Veterans Eat FREE - Thursday, 11/11 with a drink purchase All Day! Choose from one of Hooters specialty menu items - Nacho Ordinary Burger, BBQ Sandwich, Baja Burger, or a Speedway Chicken Sandwich. Must present Military ID or proof of military service. Valid for All active or retired military personnel. Dine in only. Not valid with any other offer or discount.. Click here

O'Charleys: 20 percent off your bill. Coupon is here.

Outback Steakhouse: Free Bloomin Onion and beverage. Click here for 411

Regular readers of the Blue Patch know I am not a fan, but its more because of customer service than quality. With that said, Sears is offering an additional 10 percent off purchases, including sales and clearances. Click here.

TGI Fridays: Vets eat free for FOUR DAYS! They celebrate from Nov 11-14. Click here for the coupon information.

Uno's Chicago Grill: Free Pizza with purchase of entree. More info here.

Free wedding gowns! Yes, you read that correct! Brides Across America is doing a promotion for qualifying military brides. Lots of locations nationwide, but make sure to click here for details.



The Military Wallet blog has a great list of restaurants and attractions offering deals for military vets and families. Check here for complete list!



Many thanks to these bloggers Coupon Divas, the Military Wallet, and For the Mommas for helping me find many of these deals!

Good deal on Amazon shipping

Get FREE Amazon Prime shipping for up to year! It doesn't cost anything (other than a minimum purchase requirement) and no, despite the name, you don't have to be a Mom to join. This is great timing, especially when you consider the holidays are right around the corner.

Click here for more info. Thanks Carolyn!

New Month...

Well October definitely ended on a good note!

After dropping our son off at my Mom's so we could head northward for a family wedding, we spent the night in Delaware. We went to Delaware Park Casino and I am very happy to report we left there with TRIPLE the money we came in with! My husband did so well at Black Jack that his winnings paid for our hotel both nights and also for the wedding gift!

The key to this was quitting while we were ahead. I honestly had more fun watching him play than I did anything else. When it was my turn I originally intended to just play my small amount and when it was gone, so were we. BUT, I had some luck and some fun, so 30 mins later when I had the same amount I started with, I walked away.

November is shaping up to be a good month, I think. Although with a few trips and Thanksgiving our gas budget is going to be completely obliderated.

Yesterday by going to the outlets and using a gift card, I paid $40 for a $150 Pottery Barn quilt. I am quite proud of myself because this quilt will last our monkey until he is in grade school!

As for food, last night we made the Guiness Stew I mentioned last week. All told I figure this meal cost us about $8, not bad.

Tonight, nothing is more American than Hot Dogs, which we have, so thats how we are celebrating Election Day!

Tomorrow night, we are having Chicken Korma in the CrockPot! Here is the recipe. I have everything it calls for except the stewed tomtoes. Total cost, ballpark but am estimating about $5.

Thursday, leftovers.

Friday, its pizza night. Total cost, $5

Saturday, burgers. Have everything, but total cost is $5.

Have a great week everyone...and be sure to vote!!!!

Crazy Snapfish Deals

There are bunch, so be sure to check out their website today! Deals include 100 Free Prints, when you buy 2 8x10 and BOGO photobooks.

A great one for holiday shopping though, especially if you are shopping for grandparents or godparents, is buy one caledar, get two FREE! Enter 1CAL2FREE by Oct 31. Deal is for 12x12 wall calendars.

Red Envelope 70% off today birthstone necklace

Check this out! Regularly $79.95, today its $23.99!

What a great Christmas present or even birthday present...no matter what time of year the bday is!

Saving more this week

The Monkey got sick with either food poisoning from bad fruit or just a quick virus. Either way Tuesday was lost completely and today we have watched more Barney than I care to remember.

The bright side (always have to look for it) is that I didn't cook today because, in part, we had so much left over from last night. So the crockpot meal I was going to make will be bumped to next week.

As for last night's version, which I mentioned here, it turned out pretty well. Next time I will add less broth (even at half the rec'd amount it was still too soupy) and a bit more than a TB of flour. My hubby loved it though, so thats always a good sign.

Stay dry and safe, the weather outside today is insane!

Send me your deals...

...and spread throughout the Blue Patch Couch universe :) Email me or FB me deals you find and I will share as soon as The Monkey lets me!

Today's deal comes from Erin in Alabama. Get a head start on holiday shopping! Get this pink razor scooter from Amazon shipped for $24.

(thanks to couponing for disney for the original post)

Our food diet this week

In my efforts to eat what we already have, this is our menu for this week.

Tonight: hamburgers (we had the meat), paid $1.17 for buns at Harris Teeter. Total out of pocket cost: $1.17

Tuesday: crock pot recipe found online. Have never tried. Its called Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup.
The ingredients: 1 lb chicken (check); 2 cans of black beans (we have one that I have been dying to figure out a way to use so check); 4 cups chix broth (we have this, but I am only using 2 so as not to make so runny); 1 cup mushrooms (we didn't have so bought a package of slicked for $1.79, using half on Wednesday-see below); 1 cup frozen corn (check); 1 jar of salsa (we have almost a complete jar, so check); cumin 1 1/4 tsp cumin(check, will probably use more, I love cumin!); 1/2 cup sour cream (check); shredded Cheddar cheese to sprinkle at end (check). Total out of pocket cost, $1.79/2 = 89 cents.

Wednesday: Guinness Beef Stew in the crock pot. I have had this recipe for years. I thought it was a version of Rachael Ray's but can't find online. So here goes.
2 1/2 lbs stew meat (I have 1 lb, so am halving everything, check); 5 TBSP of flour (check); 1 tsp salt (check); 1/4 cup olive oil (check); 2 medium yellow onions (didn't have so bought for 79 cents at Trader Joes); 1 can of Guinness (check..hey we are Irish, of course we have Guinness on hand); 1 lb baby carrots (check); 1/2 eggplant (didn't have so bought for $1.49 at Trader Joes and will cook the rest shortly); 1 cup of mushrooms (see above, check); 2 cloves garlic (sorta check, I have minced garlic in the fridge so will sub this); zest of an orange (didn't have, so bought one for 69 cents); fresh parsley (subbing dried); fresh thyme (subbing dried); bay leaf (check); one stalk celery (check). If you want how to put together, email me. Total out of pocket cost: 79 cents (times 2) + $1.49 + 89 cents + 69 cents = $4.65

Thursday: leftovers from either Tues, Wed or the pizza from last week.

Friday: on the road for family wedding

Saturday: wedding dinner

Total cost (clearly not including our dinner from Sunday night): $6.71!

Planning this out helped me a lot. As I have said before I am going to try to do this more often.

Night!

October was a bust

The best part about October is that it is almost over. We blew past all our budgets! But hopefully by getting in the swing of things now this will help us come the holidays.

Last night we had an awkward moment, so to speak. We went out to dinner to celebrate a family birthday. Our meals (the 3 of us) came to about $40 with tax and tip. But since it was a celebration originally there was talk of splitting the bill 3 ways. This would have made our portion $95. I couldn't do it. I was embarrassed, yes, but I couldn't do this. I felt a bit like Phoebe (or was it Rachel) and Joey in an old Friends episode where one had a salad and was going to pay $50.

I honestly told my brother and SIL we couldnt do this. They didn't seem upset and just said pay what you could. So we chipped in for the birthday boy dinner and added extra for tax and tip. Our total was considerably less than $95, and while it was momentary embarrassment, I can deal. Having an extra $40 on Amex when we can't afford it is not a good idea. I think/hope my bros understood.

Hopefully November will be better. We have a freezer full of food so we should be able to make most meals at home. And my husband and I came to an agreement about his lunches. It understandably gets boring have a deli sandwich every day. So he can go out once a week. But if he chooses to go out twice (ala last week) then the following week he can't go out at all.

We are making headway and I firmly believe all our struggles and money saving lessons are going to help us when (and not IF) we become more financially sound.

Happy Monday!

Half off Body Shop with Groupon Today

This will go a long way at Christmas Time!

Groupon is giving away $40 worth of Body Shop products for $20! Click here for the details!

Some hard choices

I don't even remember her name. She said she was calling to collect a debt! She called from Wells Fargo, the owner of our first mortgage.

Let's establish some facts:
1. We have never missed a payment
2. We have an above 800 credit score
3. WF has repeatedly refused to refinance or modify us for reasons that escape me.
4. WF has tried to put us in short sale but we don't want this - see #1.
5. There is no amount of stupid juice we can ever drink to make up for the utterly stupid decision we made to buy our condo in 2005 with two loans. This is far and away the stupidist decision we ever made. Makes my idea of cutting my own bangs in grade school look genius!

Apparently we have been assessed a $75 fee for our attempts to modify or refinance! They have some nerve. We earn significantly less than we did when we were both employed, childless and applied for our mortgage. They won't help us, refuse to, but they will charge us $75 for exploring our options. And the only option they can come up with is offering us a short sale.

The poor woman who made the call experienced my full wrath. Its not her fault her company sucks! She definitely made her salary today, and then some.

Its increasingly clear I will have to go back to work and this makes me very sad. I really don't want to. I enjoy playing with our monkey. Today he realized I wasnt wearing shoes when I ran out to put out the garbage as the truck came in our court. Don't go out with no shoes Mommy! That made my day.

He is 2 and a total joy. He tells me all kinds of stories and remembers that Connor gave him a tractor and he thanked him. Tonight he remembered that he saw Otters with Grandma and PopPop. I don't want to miss this time. But the reality is living in DC area is prohibitively expensive. We simply can't make ends meet on one salary, especially if we are going to have to pay Wells Fargo (who despite what all their ads say, is not WITH US all the way) $75, not to mention pay my doctor $120 for having to go see her after the monkey gave me strep in May. Lucky us, that bill arrived today.

I don't know what I will do. I know I don't want to do anything and that will be hard to cover. I have the best job and I hate losing it.

Making some progress

This week has been challenging. Some unexpected things came up (I guess they always do), and we are headed to Baltimore for the weekend, so this will clearly eat into our gas money.

First, the good. Its Friday, and we have spent $70 on food. With one day left, I am fairly confident that while we will be over our $85 total for food and gas, it won't be insane like it has the last week.

Second, I wrote that I signed up for Mint.com last week. Well so far I am loving it. It shows you everything in real time. So I know exactly how much we have in savings, expenses everything. It is tracking all of our deposits, way to save transfers and food. Its annoying that when I budgeted $41 for home insurance it sends me a big red flag alert that I went over when it was actually $41.26. I will fix that.

This month with daycare now out of the picture we should save $400. That will be a nice chunk of change. I found out yesterday by talking to Verizon if we dump my husband's cell phone we can save up to $65/month. Apparently his company can take over the number since they give him a cell anyway so he can keep it, but we are not paying double. If this works out, I will be esctatic for a number of reasons. We'll see.

I haven't written our menu for this week. Here goes.

Sunday: we ate out at a friends house -- Thanks Brownies for yummy pasta!
Monday: steak (we had frozen)
Tuesday: Chicken Hamburger Helper (we had frozen and had HH)
Wednesday: I went to Bmore to visit my Mom. It was my Dad's bday, and the first since his passing. I went to Wegmans there (my favorite) and got us something for dinner. My husband ordered Chinesse from the place I told him we didn't like. He remembered later why we didn't like it.
Thursday: Scallops, Sausage, Bacon and Spinich stirfry. Had everything frozen except lats two. Total was $5 at Trader Joes. I tweaked the recipe found here on Cooking Light so both of us could eat it, YUM!
Friday: pizza
Saturday: we will eat at my Mom's house.

More later. Sorry I have been MIA, as I said this week has been a little nuts.

An even BETTER photo book deal

Look at this, Vistaprint has slashed all their photobooks by 50% and if you want the 4x6 variety, its FREE! More info, click here!

I have always been pleased with what we've ordered from Vistaprint, and when I found out my friend JC worked for them, it made them even better.

Now I am not sure where I will make photobooks. But its pretty clear my favorite Ladies on Lorian will need some books, the pictures of E, J and MFK are incredible!!!

Ok, now I really am signing off.

Winkflash photo deal -- 60% off photo books

Photobooks are 60 percent off, use code BOOKSALE60 for discount.
For more information, click here

End of the week tally...and some new insight

Thanks to Facebook (and a friend from high school who through the powers of Facebook I reconnected) I learned about a site called Mint.com Several friends of friends recommended it and it seemed like an easy way to balance our finances with the help of someone (a computer) who is more mathematically estute than I am.

So far, I am liking what I see. Once I have used the site for awhile and have seen how it works will give more information, but wanted to throw this out there for anyone looking for helpful financial information.

As for our weekly totals, well again we went overboard, but hopefully since I bought a lot in bulk, the food should last us. Here goes.

Food: $140
Gas: $20

I am happy with that gas total!! I made a more conscious effort to not waste gas on meaningless double trips or taking the scenic route for our little monkey.

In an unrelated note, our daycare center for reasons too complicated to explain but needless to say a complete tragedy for all involved was closed this week by the county. As a result we are likely going to be saving $400 a month because we are not going to send our son to a place for funsies just to get him acclaimated and then yank him for preschool next year. Having him all day means less time for planning but thats about the only downside...also means more playdates for him and me too.

Happy Saturday night...hope you are having a great weekend!

Shutterfly sale

Take $10 off orders of $30 or more, enter code N5Y4-DT69-1FBW-TXPCZ3
Also, get free shipping, enter code Ship30

Great way to save money before the holidays!

Where I buy my staples -- updated 10/4/10

Coffee: Wegman's, 39 oz cannister for $5.79
Cereal Bars: Costco, 48 bars for $11 (if you don't belong to Costco, Harris Teeter sells their generic version for $1.97/8 bars)
Chicken, Perdue boneless/skinless: Costco, 10 lb bag for $19.99 = less than $2 per pound...huge deal!

The week ahead...

I planned out our menu for the week, here goes.

Sunday (last night): we had burgers
Monday: Chicken tacos, recipe courtesy of IrishErin, easy...1 lb chix, Package of taco seasoning. Put chicken in crockpot, with seasoning and water recipe on package calls for. Place on low for 7 hours or so (I am cheating, 3 hours low, 3 hours high). Chicken can even be frozen when you stick in. You fix it and forget it...SO EASY!
Tuesday: Shepards pie. I make my own version of Rachel Rays, which can be found here.
Wednesday: steaks
Thursday: Pasta and sausage
Friday: pizza
Saturday: burgers

Most of these ingredients I already had. I was low on boneless skinless chicken, so we headed to Costco this morning and I bought the big 10 lb bag for $20.

We did a lot of shopping this am for food, food for the month. We spent $52 at Costco, including the chicken, red peppers ($5), fruit snacks ($11) cereal bars ($11)and diced tomoatoes ($3.50).

The cereal bars reminded me to update the list of where I get my staples cheapest. It can be found here. For $11 I got 48 cereal bars. My son loves them! We were buying them at Harris Teeter, 8 in a box for $1.98. But 48 from HT would cost close to $16, so this is a $5 savings.

I didn't need the fruit snacks, but we ran into a friend who had her son with her. He is just 6 weeks older than my monkey. They had the fruit snacks, and my friend opened hers mid-store for the boys to try. The Monkey loved them! I checked the label and they were good for him, so I figured what the heck. He eats so little as it is, I will take whatever nutrition for him I can get!

Finally, I usually buy the Contina (sp?) tomato sauce or diced tomatoes. They are $2.99. But when I was reading the label, the Centro was actually better by a long shot with more vitamins and protein, so I spent the extra 50 cents.

After Costco we went to Trader Joes. We spent $13 on salad stuff and vegetables for the shepards pie, minus the potatos.

So its Monday...and I have spent a whopping $65! That leaves us with $20. Lucky for me most of the food was for the long haul so hopefully it will last.

We didnt do so well

We began the day yesterday with -$1 for the week. Then we bought gas for two cars, that brings us to (gasp!) -$45 for the week! Then we went to Oktoberfest in our neighborhood and spent about $10 on food. So its safe to say in week one, ending with a negative balance of $45 we blew it.

Totals:
$70 on gas alone....yikes!
$55 on food
$5 misc
*feel free to check my math.

So should I start this week in the hole with only $40 to spare? Or should I start over and see where we are at the end of the week? I think I am going to start fresh. It's easier on my brain that way.

Will post our menu for the week again later...that I found to be very helpful this past week.

This is certainly challenging

So we were down to $15 as of yesterday morning. Since then $3 for a coffee and muffin for me. So that's $12.

But tell me, how do we figure these items. Do the $7 I spent at Target for shoes for my son count? What about the $6 I also spent there for Vitamin C since we are out? I am not trying to do fuzzy math, I just don't know. I think until I get a better handle on things, I am going to just put them in their own separate pile, not from the $85 for food/gas, but something as yet unnamed. Clearly we will have budget for these things, but how? Who knows.

This morning I went to Trader Joe's. Got cheese and dough for pizza night, bananas, yogart and a $1.99 pumpkin my son saw and liked. Total $13. So we are now -$1 for the week, and we still have time to go. Ugh.

Now if I were looking at this objectively I would say that I didn't need the coffee and muffin yesterday nor did my son need the pumpkin today. You are right. Without these purchases I would still be at $4. But in the monsoon that was yesterday I needed the coffee/muffin and well, I just couldnt say no to my son...it was the first pumpkin of the season. We say no plenty, but today was just not one of those days.

Happy Friday....tomorrow will certainly present some fuzzy math.

A (small) thank you for vets!

B&Bs across the country are giving a free nights stay to Vets over Veterans Day weekend. Wanted to make sure you all saw. Please pass along!

And then there was $15

We treated ourselves to ice cream last night at Baskin Robbins (yum!). We had a bogo coupon, so for $5, we both got double dips. I know, not very frugal of me, but I was in the mood for some Mint Chocolate Chip!

Also, I think I mentioned I was having dinner with my brother last night. Anyway, at first I was going to include that in the weekly budget. In the future I will, but there was no way I could feed the two of us for $19. A little fuzzy math, I know, but just being honest.

So now, $15 to get to Saturday night...we'll see!

We are down to less than $20

So we began yesterday with $60. Since then we have spent $25 on gas for both cars, $1 for metered parking and $15 at Target for some food essentials. So its Tuesday night and we have (drumroll)...$19 to get us to Saturday night. I admit I am not optimistic, but this exercize is good in that it has made me think long and hard about what we need and what we need now. Target is a very dangerous place you know.

The other thing I realized is when I made this decision on Sunday, I forgot to factor in some yearly expenses that, ironically, are coming due now. So not included in our budget is the nearly $500 the good state of Virginia charges us for the privledge to drive here...yippy.

Saturday can't come soon enough.

Down to $60

Spent just over $24 at Harris Teeter tonight. Bought 2.5 lbs of various deli meat which will last my husband likely two weeks for his lunches, for $10; half and half, milk, tater tots and a tomato.

Tomorrow our only real expenses will be gas related. I think this might be my biggest challenge. I have a playdate about 30 miles away. I like to go on playdates with my son, A LOT! I like for him to be around other kids and I enjoy seeing my friends.

Sweet dreams.

Back to being honest

I have gotten out of habit of writing here, and it has shown on our monthly budget. So today after I decided to redo everything and see where things stand (and not liking what I saw), I decided I am coming back and STAYING! And if its only interseting to me and helps keep me honest, so be it.

I read somewhere recently that its easier to budget for a week than a month, this sounds right. So starting this week, we will have $85 to spend out of pocket on all items not regularly billed, this includes food and gas. This is $85 total for both of us. And once the $85 is gone, its gone. Not included in this $85 are things we previously committed to as of TODAY, or say big items like mortgage and car payment. It also doesn't include the money we are saving each month, currently $100.

Each day I pack a lunch for my husband, so that helps us save considerably. Beginning today though I have planned out our meals for the week. For the most part I am pleased to say we have nearly all the ingredients in the house. This weeks menu:

Sunday: burgers (ground beef here), need to buy buns.
Monday: Steak (have here frozen). Using this recipe from Ree Drummond, and we have all the ingredients sans the cream. I am going to substitute half and half to save money, will let you know how it goes.
Tuesday: Chicken Friend Rice Hamburger Helper (have)
Wednesday: I am doing my monthly ethnic dinner with my brother, so my husband will be home. He will have pasta and sausage (which we already have).
Thursday: Crock Pot meal TBD
Friday: Homemade pizza. Need to buy dough, but have toppings and fixins already.
Saturday: Crab feast, previously committed to.

Each night I will come on and let you know what we spent/bought and how we are doing.

Anything left over from the $85 will go back into the monthly pot, and at the end of the month if there is anything, will be put into savings. I guess the first update will be on Oct. 24, since I am starting this on Sept. 26.

Happy Sunday everyone and go Ravens!!!

Reusing ziploc baggies only gets me so far...

Lately I have been thinking a lot about whether or not I should try to re-enter the workforce. Since my second lay off due to the craptastic economy in May 2009 I have been home full time. I have looked for jobs, and am currently interviewing for two part time jobs, but nothing has excited me.

My most important job, I feel, is taking car of my family. That means cooking, cleaning, feeding, making sure my boys are healthy, keeping the house (relatively) neat, keeping myself healthy, shopping, banking, making sure our finances are in check...the list goes on and on.

Its this last point that has me on edge though lately. While we have enough to get by, or stay afloat and tread water as I have been expressing to friends lately, we are not moving forward AT ALL. I couldn't tell you the last time we put money in savings and for the first time in years we are carrying a credit card balance -- this is in large part because of the emergency bathroom work we had to in July. We can easily pay in full, but it makes me nervous to not have funds immediately available so I am taking my time with this for peace of mind.

The thing is, I really have zero desire to go do something else. I genuinely love being home three days with our son. We have him in daycare two days so he can get socialization and its payoffs have been huge! But I love that we can sleep in until 8:15(as we did yesterday) and I will be greeted by a very happy rested little monkey "Good Morning Mammeee" when I go in his room. I love that he shows me triangles when he sees them and that we can have playdates where he dances and grooves with his friends, as we did on Monday.

He is only going to be 2 once. We have food on our plates, a roof over our heads and are not completely deprieved. In the grand scheme of things, living in 800 sf is not the worst of all equations.

But we are still not moving forward. If anything I feel like I am in a permenant holding pattern waiting for something to happen.

I am very torn. The only job that seems the slightest bit appealing to me is that of a high school teacher. Its what I always wanted to do. I am a few credits short and I figure it would be two years before I realisticially can get in the classroom.

This is not a SAHM vs. WAHM debate. Everyone woman and family needs to decide whats right for them. There are no easy answers or solutions. The person who said you can have it all lied. I don't need to win the lotto (although we did buy tickets last night, alas we didn't win), but I do need figure out what is best for us in the long-term.

Do I stay doing the job I love that pays nothing but is rewarding beyond words, or is staying selfish? Should I go and find a part-time or full-time job and then be able to pay for things for my son, but then also be torn between doing things with him and doing all the other things I feel need being done (the aforementioned jobs) on the weekend and spend even less time with him? I simply don't know or have the answers....

Organic v. savings?

We are trying to eat healthier. For a host of reasons I have been reading labels, tracking vitamin content and making choices. An example, on vacation last month, my father-in-law told me my fat-free half-and-half was really just high fructose corn syrup. I had no idea. I will read labels up and down for my son, but never had before this for us.

Until now.

This week I spent $10 on two boxes of cereal bars for my husband for work. Expensive, but at $2 per meal over a two week period, I could stomach it. THen I compared against the cereal bars I buy for the monkey, and his bars are just as good at $1.69 a box! I can buy three boxes of his for the price of one for my husband. Since they are just as good, my husband and son will now have the same ones...that is once my hubby has finished his 24k gold-filled cereal bars. Ugh.

I read this article in Time yesterday with interest. It was the first one in awhile I had sat down and read. Now I am wondering if I should buy organic all the time? I have been hearing from friends organic milk is the way to go, and I am nearly convinced. With the egg recalls, I am wondering if we should get organic eggs too. The health content makes it a no brainer, but the price is insane. I am at a loss. And then meat, fruits and veggies too?

So I don't know. What I do know is I want my family to eat healthy. I don't want us in debt to the high ceilings. And I definitely want us all to live long healthy lives. I don't have any solutions....what are yours?

Way to Save

Loyal Readers know that hate and loathe are not strong enough words to describe how I feel about the good people at Wells Fargo. If you want a refresher course, feel free to click here or here.

BUT....I will say that the Wachovia program Way to Save has been a BIG helper to us. July was no exception. I tie these two companies together since they are now one and the same.

The way it works is everytime we use our debit card, $1 is transferred into a savings account. This money earns precious little interest, but since its an immediate transfer, we never feel the pinch. In July we had to dip into our regular savings for major home improvements but when the end of the month rolled around we still were dangerously close to the $0 balance line.

I transferred $50 from this account and we should be in the clear until the next pay day. Its not a huge amount I will grant you, but the breathing room this gives us is huge. Overdraft fees are a big problem, so its nice to not have to worry about them.

New blog listing found for NoVA area shoppers

I just stumbled across a great list of regional blogs for moneysavers, like me (ha!) in the Northern Virginia area. I know I have readers elsewhere and will keep my eye out for other regional blogs, but wanted to pass this along.

Hope you find this helpful, enjoy!

Click here for great NoVA/DC area blogs...

Tax Free Weekends coming up

I follow a bunch of different blogs with a bunch money saving tips. I am going to try to post more of these (I know I always say this!). Got this one today from Becentsable and wanted to pass along!!! :)

Happy saving and shopping!

July was a challenging month

It seems the last few months have been hard for me to get online, talk about money saving tips, and get ideas. I hope and pray August is different.

My father passed away last month. Anyone who knew JJ knew he liked to save a buck better than anyone. He was a leftie, but it was cheaper to buy rightie golf clubs, so he did. He sacrificed an incredible amount to make sure my brothers and I received a Catholic education (because in Baltimore you just don't send your kids to public school). He always wanted what was best for us. I take comfort in knowing he is upstairs watching out for all of us. I will try to be better about posting here as a way to honor him.

We also went on vacation in July. While we drove 10 hours each way, it didn't cost us that much because we had already budgeted for it. All our spending money came from our Pennies in Jar and the money we would normally spend during a week. And the cost of rent on the most beautiful lake anywhere was covered by a freelance job I had several months ago. I put the money aside immediately so we never felt the pinch.

I have decided I need to be doing more freelance work if we are ever going to escape our 800 sf of love, so I have a few ideas I may be bouncing around in the coming months.

Sorry this is rambly. More later.

PS to the spammers who keep trying to post. I am deleting all your posts, so please stop. Thank you.

Pennies in a jar

Lots of them! And nickels, dimes, quarters and even a few of the new gold dollar coins...not to mention spare dollars we have here and there. And what was the total...$142 and change!

Every year about this time I dump the big water bottle I have and count the money inside. A few years back I had $131 and thought that was good. I even joked with my husband tonight that I didn't think we would come close to the previous high. I was wrong.

This is how I do it. In July I start collecting all the spare change left in pockets for laundry, on tables, the couch, wherever I find it. I start putting in the water bottle. I also ad spare dollars that we have at the end of weeks floating around, as well as FIP money we receive from aunts, parents, etc. If something is sold on Craigslist, the money goes in the bottle too.

I know $142 isn't a lot. But its nice to have that money NOW and its money we wouldnt otherwise have if we didn't collect and place in the bottle. Even our son has gotten in the habit. He sees spare pennies or dimes on the floor and he runs to place in the big water bottle.

Happy 4th!

The joys of home ownership

We have to have our bathroom redone.

We knew when we bought this place we would have to redo the bathroom before we sold. I was just hoping that when the time came it would be because we chose to do so, and not because we were forced.

As you may remember from last fall, we spent a healthy chunk of change getting the pipes fixed. It appears we will have to spend at least that much again to fix the bathroom. The problem is there is a leak that is slowly spreading water into the base of our son's room. The mold is not bad, so say the experts, but now that we know about the problem both my husband and I want to get fixed. ASAP.

The remodel is not completely huge. We are keeping the sink, toilet, vanity, and mirror (which I hate). We have to have all new shower tile and new floors. And we have to keep our fingers crossed that fixing this will stop the leak in his room AND that when they tear down the walls to get to the leak, that they won't find anything worse.

I haven't been blogging as much as I did before. It seems the thing that is most on my mind is getting out of these 800 sf and what I can do about it. Since there doesn't appear to be an immediate solution, I don't want to sound like a broken record. And since I haven't seen any good deals lately, I haven't been posting those. I hope I can get back to this more, I know now that is a broken record.

What I will say is this though, a friend recently asked me two questions. First, was living here making me miserable? Yes, I quickly replied. I told him that I would do X to get out of this condo and have the banks refinance us so we could rent someplace larger while still paying our obligations here. I said that he could make X just about anything he could think of and the answer would still be the same. I desperately want more space.

His second question was more telling though, for him and for me. He asked if my misery was affecting my life. I said no. Aside from stepping on what seems to be my son's endless supply of blocks and cars (and he is only 2!!!), I am relatively happy. I love my husband, even if he leaves his clothes everywhere. I love my son more everyday. I have great friends and an amazing family. I am grateful for what I have. I know that I am lucky.

But...I am still miserable, something he said was not possible if it was not affecting my life, but I beg to differ, in my 800 sf of love. Hopefully this bathroom renovation will get us one teeny tiny step closer to my goal of getting out of here. At least I am getting my black and white diamond flooring, that's a silver lining for ya!

My book

Like every writer I often fancy myself that I will write the Great American Novel. Those who know me know I already wrote a book, but its more like a reference book and while I am proud of the accomplishment, its not the NYT bestseller I often envision I could write.

I have so many ideas, but the one that is in my head most often is to write a letter to my fresh-out-of-college self. Among tips on dating, girlfriends, boyfriends, roommates, jobs, etc. I would have several chapters on money. This is on my mind now because I am paying my student loan, perhaps THE BIGGEST money mistake of my life!!

No, not going to college or grad school, that was not the mistake. And not putting the majority of my grad school on student loan. No, the mistake was listening to others who swore I had to refinance and consolidate my grad and undergrad loans. As a result of this stupid move, when I locked myself into a 7.35% loan, when all is said and done I will have nearly paid DOUBLE what the original loan was for. DOUBLE!

I had always complained to my husband that my loan was a money pit. But it wasn't until we went and bought a car last fall that he saw in detail how BAD it was. He now wonders how the good people at Citibank sleep at night knowing how bad they are and did take it to the people. It makes me so sick to think about it.

So my biggest piece of money advice for anyone, but especially new college grads or anyone trying to refinance, make sure YOU understand the terms and what you are signing up for. Sure, no one could forsee how low the rates would go so that 7.35% would be sky high, but I had government loans, there was NO NEED to refiniance. NONE.

Now, if only the good people at Citibank (or anywhere else) would allow me to refinance our mortgage....

The mortgage crisis

We pay our mortgage every month. On time. Some months it even arrives early. We pay in full. We bought this condo when we were both employed bringing home about 30percent more than we are now. Our mortgage payment now takes up more than half of our take home pay, which everyone says is a big no-no.

We have tried for more than a year to get Wells Fargo, who I HATE, to refinance or modify our loan. Each time we get rejected for reasons that escape me. We are not asking to pay less than is owed (although we would certainly take it). All I want is to get locked into a 30 year fixed, and if that means we are paying more than we are paying now, than so be it. We can't rent this place out until we refinance, and as I have noted many times, these 800 sf are driving me bonkers!

Each time they reject us they immediately ask us to start short sale proceedings! They called at 8 pm on New Years Eve to do this and I nearly lost it. We do not want to do short sale!!! And why would they? They would lose money. Why won't they help us to pay what is owed? We want to be fair. We are not asking for special treatment.

We have excellent credit, well north of 700 for both of us on all three credit tables. But when I read articles like this, I wonder, should we just stop paying? Would that finally get their attention?

This is what gauls me the most about this crisis. People who don't pay, who are falling behind and over extended and taking advantage of the system, they are the one's who get help. But us, the honest people, get nothing. A very good friend named Pat told us that in order to get the bank to pay attention, Pat stopped paying. Eventually the bank did pay attention, the loan was modified and while Pat still owes the same amount overall, the payments have actually gone down!!

I actually hate Wells Fargo. I am sure they are not alone in their inability or lack of a desire to help. While I don't want to do anything to hurt our credit, something I have to believe will help us in the long run to keep high, I also sometimes wonder if not paying is the way to go?

Wow! I can't believe its been a month

May just flew by!

As many of you know we had a rough month, sickness wise. The Monkey began the month recovering from his tick bite. Then as soon as that was over, he came down with strep..which infected me with a severe case of conjestion. THEN, as soon as his strep was over he got the stomach flu...the apparently 7 day variety, which in turn infected us AND every member of our family who cared for him while we couldn't!!

I am sorry I missed so many deals, and I know I did. Furthermore it gauls me how much we spent taking care of our sicknesses, Mucinex ain't cheap, neither is Pedialyte!

Hopefully June will be better and I will be back to daily postings. If you are still reading, thanks for sticking by...I promise to try to be better.

-Mary

Why I love Harris Teeter

This is going to be shorter than I originally envisioned, but my son's naptime is surely coming to an end soon.

First, as I noted on the Facebook group page (not a fan, join here), Harris Teeter is offering triple coupons through Tuesday, May 4. What this means is, if you have a coupon worth .98 cents, it becomes $2.97. More likely you have a 75 cents coupon, so that becomes $2.25! They are tripling coupons up to 99 cents, so that $1 off is just a $1, but the others are worth big bucks!

Second, I love HT because the customer service really does seem to be better than other stores. A friend told me he once mentioned to the fish department he wished they had more of XX fish (sorry J, can't remember what it was exactly). A week or two later, sure enough they had XX fish.

On Tuesday, during my second trip of the day (needed to get in before the sales changed the next day), they were out of the eVic special, an email alert I get giving me even more savings. Fitzgerald, the very nice meat manager, searched for me throughout the store to tell me he checked in the back and no dice they were out. BUT, I could get a comparable item for the same price. So I got a $9 piece of pork loin for $4. And the one I got, was NICER than the one they had on sale!

Third, I love HT because the prices are generally as cheap or cheaper than other stores. I have noted before I shop specific stores for specific items (ground beef and coffee come to mind), but for general shopping when you combine their coupon policy with their general prices, its just a better deal (time and gas money wise) to shop there. When I did my shopping on Tuesday, I only noticed ONE ITEM of my regular staples at Giant (Special K Fiber Bar) that was cheaper there than at HT.

So with great coupons, good selection, good customer service, etc. I have decided I going to do most of my general shopping at HT. My time is money too!

What kids really need...

My son has a birtday coming up. He will be 2.

A lot of people have asked about what to get him for his bday. With our 800 sf of love, he really doesn't need anything (or I should probably say not sure I can handle him getting more since there is only so much my very generous brothers and sister-in-law can store in their basements). I tell them trucks, books and cars are always safe bets. He absolutely doesn't need clothes though since we are on the gravy train of hand me downs between my husband's cousin (whose sone is 6 months older than ours) and our godson, who just turned five.

I told Marie, my faithful-blog reading Mother-in-law, and my own Mom, that what my son really needs is either more space or more money for college. This article in today's New York Times scared the bejesus out of me!

I went to Providence College. I graduated 13 years ago. There is no chance I would have gone there had the tuition been anything close to $53k! I worked as an RA, in the library and took out student loans(that we will still be paying off when my son goes to college) to go there. I say proudly going there was the single best decision of my life, without it I never would have met my husband or had my son, and these two people mean more to me than anything in the world.

Many people feel this way about their college educations. It scares me though to think about how on earth we are going to pay for our son's education, and thats 16 years off. We do have a 529, but its got a paultry amount in it. The article has definitely encouraged me to start putting more in, even if its just $20/month.

If you don't have a 529, get one! If you do, make sure you are putting away what ever you can. And if people ask what to give your child, be honest. Sure they want to give fun gifts, who doesn't, but if you want to be honest, tell them what Katie and Jimmy really need...and its not a new truck or Barbie doll.

When I write a book...

..its either going to be titled 'Wonder Woman doesn't exist,' or have some play on words with the whole Carol Brady thing, since my last name is Brady (Mary Bluepatches is not my real name, in case you didn't know that), and I am no Carol.

Many of you have written me and told me that you really appreciated my earlier post. That means a lot. I am glad you could relate. It shows that we are not alone in the journey of motherhood and being, for the most part, the cfo of our families, as well as the cruise director in our own lives.

The fact of the matter is Wonder Woman DOESN'T exist. We can try to be perfect but its not going to happen, because if it did, we wouldn't be human, and ergo we wouldn't be here.

One reader said she finds herself constantly comparing herself to other moms. I do too. I had an instance recently where I went to visit a friend in her immaculate home with her very well behaved child and my son was running around like a headless chicken! I wanted to scream and wished the floor would swallow me up. I had another friend who told me she went shopping recently with her two small children and could just feel daggers in her from onlookers when her toddler was running around the store and her newborn was screaming his head off.

The one lesson motherhood has taught me more than anything is that there is no one right way to do things. My son watches television and eats a lot of what I consider junk. But he also knows how to say "Please" (sounds more like "Peas") and loves to have us read books all the time. He would be outside watching the trucks and playing in our car if I would let him, ALL DAY LONG!

Some parents don't let their kids watch TV. Others only feed organic. Some do cloth only diapers, others think bottles are the best. Some let kids eat in front of the tv, while others have a strict regiment for eating at the table. At the end of the day, these are all ok. As mom's (and dad's too) we have to remember that old expression our mom's taught us: If Janie is jumping off a bridge, are you going to too? It's ok to be different.

If your children are happy and healthy, especially if they are super young (I am saying 3 and under) than you are doing an amazing job as a Mom! That's all we can ask for, everything else is gravy. Don't ever forget that.

I know this post is again not typical money saving, but this blog isn't just about the latest sales, trust me there are plenty of those kinds out there already. I write about mostly money and being the cfo of our little family, and how we stay sane and out of debt. Reminding myself constantly that its ok not be perfect, goes a long way to ensuring that sanity.

Have a great weekend!

Free Burritos in DC today!

Click here, but apparently all DC area Moe's Southwest Grill locations are giving away free burritos today to help raise funds for Juvinille Diabetes. Yum!

Change in commenting policy

As a result of spam, I have now changed the way comments can be posted. They will go through me (boo!) first, so there may be a delay.

Chances are you are not some chinesse sex therapist trying to sell me things, but unfornately said person is out there and I prefer his comments not to be posted on my blog.

You scream, I Scream....

...we all scream for Ice Cream!

It's Ice Cream Week, or so it seems.

Tomorrow, Wed. April 25, Baskin Robbins is having 31 cent scoop day! Click here for all the info.

And then on Thursday, Carvel is giving out free cups of its new Low Fat Ice Cream with flavor shots. Click here....

Rebate honored!

Yippee! If you remember from an earlier post I wondered if I would still get my rebate, even though I had lost the receipt and was technically applying for it after the deadline.

Well, today in the mail, my $100 rebate debit card arrived! I plan on using it for the bill associated with the item. This goes to show, that even though something has an expiration date, it doesn't always mean it will be strictly enforced. It never hurts to try (if they say no rebate/refund you are no worse off than you are now).

I am really excited about this! So thanks D.A. for encouraging me to get the receipt copied from the vendor, we are now $100 richer...what a great day!

Free Full Size Origins Cleanser

In honor of Earth Day, when you spend more than $30 online you get either a free bottle of A Perfect World, an antioxident cleanser OR Checks and Balances, a face wash. For A Perfect World, enter code APW at check out. For Checks and Balances, enter CHECKS.

Also, if you spend more than $50, shipping is free.

Click here for all the info.

Lands End bathing suit sale

Today only, 30% off regular priced bathing suits. I may have to check this out myself. Lands End is the only place I have found that has good quality bathing suits for regular sized women.

Click here for details.

Free Samples Galore

Thanks to FreeSampleFreak for this extensive list of freebies today in honor of Earth Day!

Before going online, check here

Thanks to loyal Blue Patcher Nicole in Georgia for this tip!

She says if you go to Retailmenot.com you are bound to find savings of some sort. She said 90% of the time she gets a discount or at least Free Shipping which she otherwise would not have.

I will definitely check out. And when you all do, assuming you do, please let me know how it goes.

Happy Earth Day!

FREE Photo Book FRIDAY!

Thanks to KC Penny Pinchin Mom for this tip!

Snapfish is giving away 10,000 free 5x7 photobooks beginning on Friday, April 23. Enter Code ALLYOUMOM at check out.

Click here for all the info

Cloth diapers 50% off

Babysteals has GroBaby Hybrid Cloth Diapering package for 50% off today only.
Click here for details.

These go FAST so make sure to hurry over soon if interested.

Grocery store round up

Lots of bloggers keep track of grocery store deals. Here's a list (and its partial since its only what I can find at the moment), of whats out there.

Thanks to the Bloggers linked!

Food Lion, For the Momma's

Safeway, For the Momma's

Harris Teeter, Mrs. Moneysaver

Wegman's, Mrs. Moneysaver

Search for your own state's deals or other specific stores by clicking BeCentsAble's Grocery Gathering.

KC Penny Pinchin' Mom also has a great database of grocery store deals, make sure to check it out here.

Thoughts from someone (else) who has been there

It dawned on me the other day that I am approaching my one year anniversary. In some ways it feels like yesterday, and in others it feels like ages ago. When my anniversary date comes, I am certain to reflect.

But tonight stumbling across different websites I came across this article by the Recession Columnist who got canned from the Chicago Tribune. He offers some good advice and reflections on his year out.

I hope you don't find yourself out of a job, or in a challenging financial situation, but should you, he offers some good pointers.

Dairy Queen Blizzard 25 cents!

Don't forget, this week until April 25 (Sunday), DQ is having a deal on the Blizzard, buy one at regular price, get a second one for 25 cents!

Click here for the information...we may have to go one night this week, yum!

Lowe's kid program this weekend...and next

I always liked Lowe's. Not sure if its because of the Gene Hackman voice overs (I know very odd, but I love his voice). Anyway, I have heard about these clinics for awhile and can't wait until The Monkey is big enough to take part.

This Saturday, Lowe's is offering a FREE clinic for kids to learn how to build a birdfeeder. Next Saturday they can make a school house. In addition to keeping what they make, kids also get a FREE pair of googles, an apron and a certificate of completion.

Click here for more info. And if you, be sure to check back and tell me how it went.

NoVa consignment sale -- THIS SATURDAY!

Thanks to regular contributor Kristen for this heads-up!

The Early Learning Center and Weekday Preschool of Annandale United Methodist Church has scheduled our 2010 Spring Kids' Stuff Consignment Sale for Saturday, April 24.

Our sale features gently used children's and maternity clothing and equipment:

- Clothing from Infant to Teen Size 14
- Children's Sports Equipment and Uniforms
- The New Baby Room has Everything a New Mother Needs
- Strollers, Bikes, Cribs, Car Seats, Toys, Games, Puzzles, Art Supplies, Infant Slings, High Chairs, and Much, Much More at Incredible Prices!

WHEN: Saturday, April 24
WHERE: Annandale United Methodist Church
6935 Columbia Pike (@ Gallows Road)
WHEN: 9:00 AM -- 1:00 PM

This is a cash only sale. Most items are 1/2 price the last hour of the sale.
New Consignors and Volunteers are welcome. Remember -- you can volunteer without consigning if you simply wish to shop before the general public.
We also offer a safe and comfortable environment for all Fairfax County 8th Graders who need to earn public service hours! Please spread the word to your friends with older children.
We will also be accepting non-children (grown-up) books, CDs and DVDs for sale.

Coupons galore

As I said on my main coupons page, as a result of this article, for the time being I am not going to post coupons that I found or were sent to me because I don't like the idea of my personal information somehow being online.

But, there are a ton of blogs that I follow that post them all the time, so I am going to share some of those with you. I may change my policy in the future, but for the time being this works for me.

BeCentsAble Cellfire Coupons

BeeCentsAble Red Plum Coupons

Baby Cheapskate, $3 off Huggies

Mega discount at Pottery Barn

...if you are looking for a Hutch.

Check this out, regularly $1099.99, reduced to $299.99, and shipping is only $10.

(Found this at Brads Deals).

Victoria's Secret Sale

I am convinced Vicki's is only good for models and Barbie dolls because NOTHING there fits me (I stopped trying years ago). I do love their lotions and sprays though, so not all is lost.

Right now, if you shop online and spend more than $100, you can take $15 off; spend more than $150, take $30 off; and spend more than $250, take $75 off. Enter code SPRING10.

Shutterfly has free cards

What a great promotion for Mother's Day! You get three FREE 5x7 cards using the code CARDS4MOM at check out. Click here for more info.

Also, they have free shipping on orders greater than $30, enter code SHIP30, as well as a bunch of other Mother's Day centric gift ideas.

For the whole list of promotions, click here.

Money advice on the TODAY show

Some mornings I get to watch, some I don't. This morning while my son was debating between yogart, cereal, bananas, goldfishes and waffles, I caught this segment.

It runs about 6 minutes, but some of the tips they have sound useful. Many are common sense. But it often helps to hear/read/see them again and again to reinforce the obvious.

Enjoy!

Shop Around...

This likely seems obvious, but I am constantly surprised at how even the same store can charge different prices at different locations.

Yesterday The Monkey and I went to get some ice cream at Baskin Robbins. That's when I noticed they are having the 31 cent scoop promotion that I mentioned yesterday. I got him a kid scoop for $1.59.

Our neighbor, who is sadly moving, turned 4. He has been away as his parents try to coordinate their move so hadn't bought his bday present yet. Decided as we left BR that I would buy him a gift card for here, I remember as a kid it was always fun to have "my own money" for treats.

I went to the BR that is closer to our church, which is also equal distance from our home as the one I took The Monkey to earlier in the day. Here the kids scoops were well over $2! I was stunned. This pretty much guarantees we are never going to THAT BR again.

I am not sure of the logic here, but if you have a staple you like, make sure to check the prices at the various stores. It might be worth it for you to change where you go, for some extra change in your pocket!

Wal-Mart has free samples....

...who knew????

Thanks to Koupon Karen for the heads up!

I will regularly check back too to see what they have and if it changes. We don't go to Wal-Mart since we don't really have one, but know many of you do, so make sure to take advantage if you can!

Anyway, click here for info.

31 cent ice cream scoops at Baskin Robbins

This deal is a week away, but I am super excited about it since BR is my favorite ice cream.

To honor America's Fallen Firefighters, BR is giving away 31 cent ice cream scoops on Wed. April 28 from 5-10 pm.

More information here, but YUM!

25% off at Kodak

Kodak is promoting its Mother's Day sales. Spend at least $25 anywhere on the site and enter the code LOVE4MOM at check-out to receive the deal.

Click here for more details.

Free Target Tote Bag

This is especially important for all my DC friends who now have to pay 5 cents for their plastic grocery bags. Instead they can bring their own bag and not pay the tax.

This week Target, in conjunction with Earth Day, is giving away free reusable tote bags. Click here for more info.

Personally I think its hilarious that these stores charge for a reusable bag. Maybe if they gave a discount (even 5 cents) off the bill I might be able to stomach it, but seriously, charging me for a bag that says your name on it...you should be giving it away...maybe thats why Target is doing this.

Taking my own advice

This is definitely an off topic post, but I think its relevant to all mom's who are trying to keep their sanity and their wallets full. I have no idea how long it will be, so my apologies in advance.

Yesterday my friend "Kayla" and I were out with our kids. Without getting into specifics, Kayla found herself in a situation for which she had no control. She was understandably upset by it, and she was also upset over how she handled everything. I tried to reassure her that she was an excellent mother and that she handled the situation appropriately. Furthermore, in the future if something similar should occur, she could and likely would remember what happened now and use that knowledge to handle it differently.

Parenting is definitely a learning experience, and we can't change over night. Furthermore, none of us moms (and dads too, but I don't think they worry as much about it) are perfect. We are not superhuman, we are simply human. We try to be the best wives and mothers we can. If our family is healthy and happy, then the rest is all gravy. Eventually the clothes, dishes, chores, bills, notes, etc. will all get done. But no matter how hard we try, we will never be the "perfect" mother/wife/daughter/sister/friend/cousin/niece/granddaughter/employee/or whatever other title fits the bill.

Last night I found myself in a situation, vastly different from Kayla's but nonetheless one that caused me to question if I was doing the right thing, or somehow failing at my multiple responsibilities. I was, and still am, upset about it.

I have mentioned many times before that in the last year I have learned so much about how truly appreciative I am of my family, meaning my loving (even if he is messy) husband, and my very healthy, happy (and extremely active) son. I mean it when I say, I would rather live in a box with them, than in a mansion without.

But in keeping these two people healthy and happy, I have inevitably failed others. In my efforts to bring in extra money through freelance work, my time has evaporated. I know I forgot to send birthday cards/presents to my mother-in-law and two sisters-in-law. I have absolutely neglected to send thank you notes to countless family and friends for gifts and thoughtful tokens. And wedding presents, lets just say I am taking advanatage of the whole "year rule" in 2009 and 2010 way more than I used to. Its not that I don't appreciate them, or remember them, its that I simply have felt I don't have the time.

I have told myself that as long as I eventually acknowledge them, that its ok. They (whoever the they is) will understand. The head part of me agrees, while the heart part doesn't. I know I need to do better and that I was raised better. But also, listening back to what I told Kayla, I know I am not super woman. I am human, and can only do so much.

I am not justifying or defending my lapses. I would be angry or disappointed in me too. But I am offering a sincere apology and also hopefully an explanation. I wish I could do more, but right now my plate is full. That doesn't mean I won't go for dessert, I can assure you I will.

I will close with this. So last night was hard and I was sad. But just as I was going to bed, I got an email from my beautiful niece. She has had a harder week than most of us face in our lifetimes. She is so strong and has a long life ahead of her filled with endless possibilities. On facebook she sent me this:

i just wanted to let you know that i love you and i appreciate everything you do for me because it means the world to me

This little note quite literally made my day! She accepts me flaws and all, and knows how deeply I love her and loves me back. Thank you Lauren, you have no idea how much that note meant!

So please, if you are a wife/mom know its ok not to be perfect. And if you have a friend or family member who is a wife/mom, remember they have full plates and just because they don't always do what they should, doesn't mean they have forgotten you, it just means they are a slower eater than they used to be.

Send them a note, or pick up the phone. Chances are they are just busy with their own "life administration" duties and have fallen behind. And thats ok, because Wonder Woman doesn't exist, except in the comics.

Note of caution about online coupons

This article is a good read. I am not a "fan" of becoming Facebook fans for various companies for their promotions, and this article gives a good example as to why (for me it had more to do with cluttering up my feed, but now that I know this, all the more reason not to).

I like printable coupons. I admit I didn't share one recently because it had MY NAME on it and could not delete. Its scary the amount of info thats out there on all of us, so be careful.

-MB

Online Coupons Know a Lot About You, and They Tell
By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD
New York Times
April 16, 2010

For decades, shoppers have taken advantage of coupons. Now, the coupons are taking advantage of the shoppers.

A new breed of coupon, printed from the Internet or sent to mobile phones, is packed with information about the customer who uses it. While the coupons look standard, their bar codes can be loaded with a startling amount of data, including identification about the customer, Internet address, Facebook page information and even the search terms the customer used to find the coupon in the first place.

And all that information follows that customer into the mall. For example, if a man walks into a Filene’s Basement to buy a suit for his wedding and shows a coupon he retrieved online, the company’s marketing agency can figure out whether he used the search terms “Hugo Boss suit” or “discount wedding clothes” to research his purchase (just don’t tell his fiancée).

Coupons from the Internet are the fastest-growing part of the coupon world — their redemption increased 263 percent to about 50 million coupons in 2009, according to the coupon-processing company Inmar. Using coupons to link Internet behavior with in-store shopping lets retailers figure out which ad slogans or online product promotions work best, how long someone waits between searching and shopping, even what offers a shopper will respond to or ignore.

The coupons can, in some cases, be tracked not just to an anonymous shopper but to an identifiable person: a retailer could know that Amy Smith printed a 15 percent-off coupon after searching for appliance discounts at Ebates.com on Friday at 1:30 p.m. and redeemed it later that afternoon at the store.

“You can really key into who they are,” said Don Batsford Jr., who works on online advertising for the tax preparation company Jackson Hewitt, whose coupons include search information. “It’s almost like being able to read their mind, because they’re confessing to the search engine what they’re looking for.”

While companies once had a slim dossier on each consumer, they now have databases packed with information. And every time a person goes shopping, visits a Web site or buys something, the database gets another entry.

“There is a feeling that anonymity in this space is kind of dead,” said Chris Jay Hoofnagle, director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology’s information privacy programs.

None of the tracking is visible to consumers. The coupons, for companies as diverse as Ruby Tuesday and Lord & Taylor, are handled by a company called RevTrax, which displays them on the retailers’ sites or on coupon Web sites, not its own site.

Even if consumers could figure out that RevTrax was creating the coupons, it does not have a privacy policy on its site — RevTrax says that is because it handles data for the retailers and does not directly interact with consumers. RevTrax can also include retailers’ own client identification numbers (Amy Smith might be client No. 2458230), then the retailer can connect that with the actual person if it wants to, for example, to send a follow-up offer or a thank-you note.

Using coupons also lets the retailers get around Google hurdles. Google allows its search advertisers to see reports on which keywords are working well as a whole but not on how each person is responding to each slogan.

“We’ve built privacy protections into all Google services and report Web site trends only in aggregate, without identifying individual users,” Sandra Heikkinen, a spokeswoman for Google, said in an e-mail message.

The retailers, however, can get to an individual level by sending different keyword searches to different Web addresses. The distinct Web addresses are invisible to the consumer, who usually sees just a Web page with a simple address at the top of it.

So clicking on an ad for Jackson Hewitt after searching for “new 2010 deductions” would send someone to a different behind-the-scenes URL than after searching for “Jackson Hewitt 2010,” though the Web pages and addresses might look identical. This data could be coded onto a coupon.

RevTrax works as closely with image-rich display ads, with coupons also signaling what ad a person saw and on what site.

“Wherever we provide a link, whether it’s on search or banner, that thing you click can include actual keywords,” said Rob O’Neil, director of online marketing at Tag New Media, which works with Filene’s. “There’s some trickery.”

The companies argue that the coupon strategy gives them direct feedback on how well their marketing is working.

Once the shopper prints an online coupon or sends it to his cellphone and then goes to a store, the clerk scans it. The bar code information is sent to RevTrax, which, with the ad agency, analyzes it.

“We break people up into teeny little cross sections of who we think they are, and we test that out against how they respond,” said Mr. Batsford, who is a partner at 31 Media, an online marketing company.

RevTrax can identify online shoppers when they are signed in to a coupon site like Ebates or FatWallet or the retailer’s own site. It says it avoids connecting that number with real people to steer clear of privacy issues, but clients can make that match.

The retailer can also make that connection when it is offering coupons to its Facebook fans, like Filene’s Basement is doing.

“When someone joins a fan club, the user’s Facebook ID becomes visible to the merchandiser,” Mr. Treiber said. “We take that and embed it in a bar code or promotion code.”

“When the consumer redeems the offer in store, we can track it back, in this case, not to the Google search term but to the actual Facebook user ID that was signing up,” he said. Although Facebook does not signal that Amy Smith responded to a given ad, Filene’s could look up the user ID connected to the coupon and “do some more manual-type research — you could easily see your sex, your location and what you’re interested in,” Mr. Treiber said. (Mr. O’Neil said Filene’s did not do this at the moment.)

The coupon efforts are nascent, but coupon companies say that when they get more data about how people are responding, they can make different offers to different consumers.

“Over time,” Mr. Treiber said, “we’ll be able to do much better profiling around certain I.P. addresses, to say, hey, this I.P. address is showing a proclivity for printing clothing apparel coupons and is really only responding to coupons greater than 20 percent off.”

That alarms some privacy advocates.

Companies can “offer you, perhaps, less desirable products than they offer me, or offer you the same product as they offer me but at a higher price,” said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the United States Public Interest Research Group, which has asked the Federal Trade Commission for tighter rules on online advertising. “There really have been no rules set up for this ecosystem.”

Advice from friends

I have found that many of my money saving ways started with my friends. This latest tip comes from D.A. (she knows who she is...hehe).

Anyway we were talking a few weeks ago and I was lamenting I couldn't take advantage of the Verizon rebate I had planned when I bought the Blackberry back in January because I somehow managed to lose the receipt. She suggested I go back to the store and see if they could print me a new one.

Sure enough, and I admit I was stunned. They could and they did! So the next day I sent the receipt with all the other barcodes and the like to Verizon and am keeping my fingers crossed that I will get the rebate (even though it was mailed a bit late.).

So...if you find yourself in a similar situation, before fretting, try getting an additional copy of the receipt from your retailer. If you have already done this before, post comments here and tell us your story, either good or bad.

$10 off at Staples

Printable coupon, click here. Good Friday and Saturday only!

Farmers Markets

I will admit up front they are not the cheapest. It might seem odd to even list on a money saving blog. But if you cook, which I have blogged about before (here, here and here for example), buying your food at a Farmer's Market is a healthy option. I try to hit the one in Falls Church every Saturday morning...it all depends on how cooperative The Monkey is, and how cold it is outside.

The Washington Post yesterday had a great listing of local farmer's markets in Maryland, DC and Virginia. Click here.

Free National Parks Week

We have some amazing National Parks! I wish I could travel to some of them next week, but will likely go to Great Falls since its closest, lets hope the weather cooperates.

Anyway, from Sat. April 17 through Sun. April 25, all National Parks are free!
Click here for more info.

Happy Travels.

Great baby site

This tip comes from Heather, who any day now (or perhaps already???) will be welcoming the newest Syracuse fan!!!

Heather says babysteals.com is a great site where everyday they offer a new bargain at huge savings. Deals are posted at 9 am MST, and go fast.

Good luck, and if you get a good bargain, let me know. (I will also try to monitor and let you know when I see good deals I like...hehe!)

DQ Blizzard for 25 cents!

Thanks Thrifty & Chic Mom for this tip!

Next week DQ is saying thanks for being a great customer. Printable coupon here, buy a Blizzard at regular price and get a second for 25 cents.

Kids Eat Free in April at IHOP

Thanks to KouponKaren for this tip! For all of April, IHOP is offering free dinner to kids with a paying adult. Click here for more info...yum! Can I get chocolate chip pancakes for dinner?

Gynormous Consignment Sale this weekend in NoVa

Thanks to Lauren for sending this info along. The sale lasts all day Sat and Sun. The website says $10 admission fee. I admit I don't like that, but I guess you have to decide in the end if saving a ton of money (likely well more than $10) on kids clothes is worth paying the admit fee.

Discovery Store Toys up to 75% off

Discovery Store has tons of good toys! Sometimes the toys for adults are as fun as the toys for kids. Use code TOYS at checkout. I would include the link but for whatever reason my computer is not liking the website right now, so won't download. But check out discoverystore.com and then click on the section that says Toy Clearance.

Also, according to the parts of the page that would download, if you use Discover Card, you get an additional 15% percent off to boot.

Winkflash photodeals, 5 and dime sale

Its back. Click here for more info, but bottom line: 4x6 pix are 5 cents each, and 5x7 pix are 10 cents each. And bonus, if you are a new customer, they will give you 50 FREE prints.

And we are back!

I was hoping to get this up and running on tax day, and it worked! First, many thanks to my old roommate Judy for recommending a great designer (Ashley) to make my blog look a little nicer. I am really happy with it, and since its still low tech, and not complicated hopefully it will be easier to navigate and use.

Some changes. You will notice tabs at the top which can take you directly to pages detailing specific sales and tips, whether they be photo deals, money saving tips or hot deals. You can still find them on the home page, and that's where they will originate from, but this way if you want to know what the latest photo deal is, instead of searching the blog you can go right there to begin with.

While I am in Northern Virginia, I know I have readers all over the country. Please do not hestitate to email me about deals you find or are seeking.

Thanks for reading!

Under construction

Hello readers!

I am sorry I have been MIA. Lots of things going on. But I am excited to tell you that in the coming weeks you will notice some small, but I think strong, improvements to this blog. It will be more user friendly and will definitely be updated more often.

Stay tuned!

30% off Gap et al

Printable coupon here

You can also use online. Open coupon and online code also appears.

FREE Rita's ice tomorrow -- March 20

Thanks to Penny Pinchin Momma for this deal!
Tomorrow, for the first day of spring, Rita's is giving away free ice treats, YUM!

Click here!

10% off at Michaels -- SUNDAY only

Printable coupon can be found here. Make sure to check the hours, its a tight window.

Restaurant.com 70% off

Enter code LUCKY at checkout. New Restaurants have been added, so check local listings.

Kodak photo deals...

20% off all photo gifts, enter code NEWGIFT20

Click here for more info

FREE Starbucks pastry -- March 23

I don't care much for their coffee. Everyone who knows me knows I am loyal to the taste of Dunkin' Donuts, and loyal to the dollar amount of Target. BUT, if they are going to give stuff away, its always worth a try,

On Tuesday, Starbucks is giving away a free pastry with the purchase of a coffee drink. Click here for more info.

Staples 15% off

Printable in-store coupon found here. Expires March 23, 2010.

Winkflash photodeals, 5 and dime sale

The sale is back! From now through the end of the month, pictures from Winkflash are super cheap. 4x6 pix are 5 cents each, and 5x7 are a dime each. For more info click here.

Never heard of winkflash? Yeah, neither had I. Until Christmas. I saw a deal they had, and was very pleasantly surprised with how fast they were. Definitely recommend.

Fun Easter treats, big savings!

My friend Amber is almost finished touring the globe. I am real happy she is coming home because I have missed her. A LOT!

Ironically though she found this blog for me while traveling in Southeast Asia, I think. The link I am sending you directly to is the from today where she talks about making fun expensive-looking cupcakes, which don't. Not sure I could do it over a few days, would likely need/want to do all at once. But it looks fun, and the cupcakes certainly look yummy!

Enjoy!