Saving Money on Jewelry!!!

I went to a jewelry party at a friends house earlier this year and ended up making that obligatory purchase of this necklace for $68.00!!!  Wow, what was I thinking, so I went home kicking myself for stupid spending!!!

So the next thing I did was go to Michaels and get a kit to make my own Jewelry. For less than $10 after the forty percent off coupon, the kit made two necklaces, two bracelets and two pairs of earrings. The best bargain by far, but very time consuming to make!

My latest Solution?!?

These awesome designs from JGOOD.  Everything they sell is 70% off of retail price, ALL THE TIME!

JGOOD: Quality at Incredible Value…join today!

Get the hottest jewelry styles for spring at JGOOD

As a very special offer for all my readers, JGOOD is offering an additional 10% off their already reduced prices!  All you have to do is enter coupon code MYFRUGALFAMILY at checkout!

FREE Pain Relief!!!

First, I just want to say a quick thank you for all the well wishes.  I am having a little signs of promise for quickly finding a new job.  I even got a call back today for an interview ( on a holiday!)  So keep the prayers coming they are working!

On to the free pain relief...

I have not been couponing too much lately, but there some deals that are just to good to pass up!

This week at Walgreens, they have Tylenol Precise Pain Relief (cream and pads) on sale for $5. 

This past Sunday there was a coupon in the Red Plum insert for $5 off one.  That makes it FREE without the hassles of Register Rewards to deal with.  I love the pads for my lower back when I have had a rough day, they ease it right up so I can sleep easily at night.  And you can't beat the price, these normally run between $8-10.  So that is a savings worth shouting about.

Didn't get a Sunday Paper?  You can still get a great deal on these with the $2 Printable Coupon.

Thinking ahead for great gifts for a Mother or Daughter or....

I was cruising the internet and came across this awesome deal on Social Spark. 

You can create your own recipe book!  Save cherished family recipes in a beautiful color cookbook. 

What about all the recipes that you have posted to your blog, a wedding gift, there are so many great ideas this could be used for.

Here is what the website says!

02.28.12  Deal Expires

About Family CookBook Project

It’s easy, fun and affordable to create and print your own family cookbook. Family cookbooks are an important way to preserve our mealtime traditions for future generations. With the passing of our loved ones comes the loss of treasured food traditions. Once the recipes are preserved online, they can be shared with other family members by email, individual printed recipes or your own professionally printed cookbook.

highlights

• Create a full color family cookbook – it’s easy and fun!
• Invite family and friends to enter recipes and stories (you don’t have to do all the work!)
• It’s a family heirloom that will be treasured for generations
• Great for family reunions, wedding gifts and groups
• Works great on PCs, Macs and iPads
• Choose recipe layouts, covers, dividers and more (1000s of combinations)
• Upload your own photos for recipes, covers & dividers, too
• Print to your PC, a local printer like Kinko’s or have our professional team print for you
• Have a Kindle or iPad? You can put your cookbook on that, too!

---

the fine print

Promo Codes Expire 6 Months after Purchase
1 Promo code can be used per Family Cookbook account


Just thought of another cool idea, what about a great gift for a nursery school or kindergarten teacher, take all the recipes for the cool playdoughs, gaks, foams, etc that are floating around the web and pinterest.  Put them in a gorgeous color book and present it to them!  The possibilities are endless!

Hurry, this offer expires in just 16 days, to get the promo code...You will have 6 months after purchase to create your cookbook, so you could even get a headstart on Christmas!

Ode to my true Love!

We used to live in the land of Kripy Kreme.  warm coming around the rack, just dripped in glaze and ready to be boxed up.  Can't leave the parking lot until you eat one or one dozen...

But alas, I now live in the land of no Krispy Kreme.  But I heard about a great deal that I would share with you for Savings Saturday. 

Through Valentines, if you buy one dozen doughnuts.  They will give you 12 Valentines cards that are each good for a free doughnut.  So that makes your dozen BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!!  And the best part is that you don't have to have both dozen at the same time, you can spread out the love!!! ( Did I just hear your thighs breathe a great big sigh of relief LOL)

So hurry in and get yours before they are all gone and if you are feeling particularly generous, just let me know and I will give you my address so you can overnight me some...

Savings Saturday -The Coupons App

Before I get started on this Savings Saturday, I have one side note to make about last week’s.  Old Navy doesn’t love me right now, apparently if you use the app too much, it stops you. 

 I never got any of the really good prizes, but it cut me off…Says check back at a later date, you have gotten all of the available surprises.  So sad, I will start using it again in February and see if anything new  pops up.  If anyone from Old Navy happens to stumble across this post, I miss you!  Send me some Love!

Ok, this is the last app that I am going to share for awhile and get on with some other ways to save money!

As I have alluded to in previous posts, I am the world’s laziest couponer.  I do not like to clip and organize coupons.  When I do clip some out,  I spend more time trying to find them then I  will ever save.  So I found this app, it doesn’t do grocery coupons which is fine, this app gives me on the go coupons to restaurants and other retailers.  Some stores that I shop at regularly, but always seem to not have a coupon to…Kohl’s, Michaels, Ulta,  Best Buy and so many more retailers.  A lot of the local fast foods are there too and they even list the local gas prices so you can find which is cheapest ( though I have not found this to be the most accurate).  So just go into your app market  and install  The Coupons App and stop clipping and carrying.

Pin It

Savings Saturday- Snap Appy

Old Navy, I still see you every day (almost) and now you have given me a new reason to love you!

Old Navy is giving away free money to spend in their stores...You can get 10 free entries every day!

How do you get to get your share?

Do you have an Android, Iphone, Ipad, or Itouch?

If so, you are gonna want to immediately get this App for  I products or App for android.

Once Downloaded, you can take pictures of the Old Navy logo on anything!  I have "snapped" reciepts bags, signs in the store, ads, displays, ags and even pics of the logo on their webpage.  It lets you snap 10 times a day. 

You can win in one of three categories:  Deals, Gametastic or Fashionspiration

I have recieved a few $10 off any purchase, a lot of $5 off $25 and $15 off $75 and lots of cute sayings ones. 

And for this of you who have Shopkick you can check it, at the store, every time you walk in for Kicks!

Maybe you will be lucky enough to get one of these...

Start saving now for next Christmas or Birthdays or just get some free money

I read an article in our local newspaper recently about shopping apps.  Many of them I had already heard of but one really intrigued me. 



December 9th I signed up for Shopkick and LOVE IT!!!  If you haven't tried this yet, you have got to check it out right now!  You get 50 kicks if you sign up here.  Start saving your kicks and with as little as 500 points you can get a Best Buy or Target gift card.  You could save up your kicks for a Coach purse, XBOX 360 or even a cruise, many rewards are available and they add new ones often.

So in the last month I have accumulated enough kicks to earn over $20 worth of gift cards.  I had to try it out and see how it worked so I was shopping in Target and opened the app and just downloaded my gift card and used it at the register, how cool is that!  Instant gratification. 

I know, you are saying well how do I earn Kicks and how much will it cost me?

      You can earn kicks by just walking in to certain stores and malls, you can scan product barcodes at the store, you can register your Visa and get kicks for certain purchases or you can simply open the app and look for the stars that signify instant rewards

How is this saving me money for next Christmas?

     So my thoughts are that if can earn at least a $25 gift card each month, that is at least an extra $300 into my Christmas budget.  All I have to do is play with my phone, like I am not doing that anyway.  The app is available for iphone and android.  So click here and get your 50 kicks to start saving today.

Is there anything else that this app can do? 

     There are also special sales, featured products and coupons within the stores in the app.  So if you are in the store, before you check out, all you have to do is click on the app and see what there is.  Target has coupons on theirs, and before Christmas I was shopping at RUE21 and checked and there was a 20% off your purchase that I was able to use immediately.  No more having to print emails and carry around coupons (then not remembering where you put them, or is that just me?) just in case you end up in that store.

Have you ever been in a strange city or even a different part of town and didn't know where to go for lunch or a store?  When I open this app, it pulls up all the businesses that are close to me ( wherever you may be).  I have learned so many new stores that are within a few miles of my house or work that I didn't even know were there.  You can then click on the store/restaraunt and see if they are running any specials or have coupons, then click on the map for directions or click call to call the store with any questions. 

What is more to say I absolutely LOVE this App, it is free, click here and try it for yourself...you have nothing to lose, just free money to gain.

Goal Setting for 2012

As I  look back at the last 12 months, I realize that my attempts at budgeting have failed miserably and we are now in worse financial shape.  I took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, set up a budget (didn't stick to it), set up my emergency fund (spent that too) and have turned my debt snowball into a debt boulder all while we lived in a relatively shopper friendly place.  Now I live in the land of no double coupons and sky high grocery prices with no stockpile (yup, wiped that out too).  So I am setting some goals for myself for the new year and sharing them with the world for accountability.

What went wrong in 2011 - Just a few highlights

1.  Eating out WAY TOO MUCH
2.  Poor planning made for very expensive shopping trips
3.  Not being organized in my life ( bills not paid on time - paying late fees etc.) 
4.  Not planning for expenses like car repairs, Christmas, birthdays, back to school and such.


New Goals for 2012

1.  Eat at home more!!!!
      Now I AM realistic!  I know we will not go from eating out 2-3 times a week to eating home all year,
      but I have been diligently working these last 12 days setting up a 12 month menu that includes at least
      350 meals.  We will see how it goes, I have the first few months planned and a lot of recipes selected. 
     Follow me each week and I will post our menus and some recipes, I will also try to add the shopping list
     if I get it completed.  I will also update on how we did the previous week.  One of the largest complaints
     that I hear from my family is that it seems like we eat the same foods over and over again.  So my goal is
     to have 350 different recipes to try.  To see some of the foods we will be trying, check out my
     Pinterest Board .
 
2.  Better planning for shopping to include buying in bulk, staples and myo mixes, shopping list and
      couponing.  Follow along to see my tips, hints and some cool ideas. 

3.  Work on my ORGANIZATION !!  I will share tips, ideas and hints.  I will also follow up with what
     worked and what challenges I faced. 

4.  Get back to budgeting and stick to it!

Meet me in the comments and let me know what your goals are.  I would love to share how we are doing together!