Next Week is Coupon Week

Next week, we will be starting a new feature called the Coupon Grab Bag. If your thrifty, then you know that coupons are an essential way of life. I clip hundreds of coupons a week. I clip every single coupon from my Sunday paper and All You magazine subscription. Hey, I don't pay for them to just throw valuable money away! Well, I have many, many coupons for dog food, dog treats, cat food, and cat treats. I don't own a dog or a cat and don't plan on getting one anytime soon, so I have no use for these coupons. In addition, I have many almond, peanut, and pistachio coupons. I am highly allergic to nuts, therefore I'll never use these coupons....

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Making $ doing surveys

If you're looking for a good company to do paid surveys for, Opinion Outpost is a good one. I cashed in my first Amazon gift card with them and I got the code for it immediately. All surveys pay at least $1. Some survey companies are kind of shady but this one is worth it in my opinion. Sign up here! There are lots of other survey companies out there, who do you use?...

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A Simple Way to Store Your Breast Milk

Don't you hate when you bag up breast milk and put it in the freezer? Next thing you know, you have clumpy, awkward bags taking over your freezer. Well, I stumbled upon a great tutorial last week, for breast milk storage. This is an awesome idea. You can watch the full version, or click on the top right corner after pressing play, to watch the shorter version. The materials needed are listed after the video. Materials Needed:Breast milk storage bags  A standard sized gift bag A pair of scissors Scotch tape Thanks to the greenlitebites's Channel for sharing this awesome video! ...

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Summer Escapes 15 Foot Pool Review

Luke's 3rd birthday party was last weekend, and we're still trying to recuperate from it. It's been in the high 80's to low 90's all this week, so Delvin has been taking Luke swimming a lot. Last year we bought a 12 foot Intex pool from Wal-Mart towards the end of the season on clearance. We got to use it for about a month before we had to pack it away. Well, this year we have an extra family member, so we decided to sell our 12 foot pool and get a bigger one. We decided on the Summer Escapes 15 foot round pool. It is great quality, and it came with a ground cloth, cover, and accessories kit (vacuum, skimmer, and an extra filter). The one we...

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Last Week's Poll Results

Last week, Amy asked "Do you use cloth diapers?". The poll is closed and the results are in. Here they are... Do you use cloth diapers? A) Yes, only cloth. B) Yes, both cloth and disposables. C) No, but I would consider it. D) No, never! E) I don't have kids. According to our readers, 66% answered B) Yes, both cloth and disposables. The rest of our readers answered A) Yes, only cloth. We also posted this poll on our Facebook page this week, and we got a good amount of votes. Five people chose B) Yes, both cloth and disposables, and unfortunately seven people chose D) No, never! :-( Amy just wrote a post on Eight Weeks to a Cloth Diapering...

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Eight Weeks to a Cloth Diapering Stash at $20 Per Week - Week One

When I was pregnant with my son I was interested in cloth diapering. I asked around on a message board where I knew that a few moms used cloth diapers. I remember someone mentioning bumGenius and I checked out the diapers. I remember thinking that there was no way I could buy 12 or more diapers like that up front. I knew that cloth diapering would save money in the long run, but I didn't have money like that to start. "cute" diaper: Fuzzibunz onesize There are essentially two kinds of people who cloth diaper. Those who have money and those who don't. In case you're wondering, I fall more into the second group. Some moms cloth diaper to save...

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"A Day in the Life" Sign-Ups Still Open

We are still searching for great women all around the world to star in our (coming soon) "A Day in the Life" feature of the week! If you don't know what it is, you can read all about it here. We've gotten a good amount of readers that have already signed up, but we're looking for more. If you're interested or you know someone that may be, you can email us or send us a message through our Facebook Page. We can't wait to post our first ever A Day in the Life feature...

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Copco Sierra Tumbler Review

I mentioned a while back that I was going to buy some of these tumblers on Amazon whenever I got my gift card from Swag Bucks. The prices on Amazon vary but I managed to get two (pink and blue) for about $5 each. Now that I have used them I have to say I really like them! I love the built in stirrer and they're pretty hard to spill. I also like that the straw can't fall out because of the stirrer, so it's harder to lose. I think that these are great because you can take them with you without wasting money on drinks. I've used them for water and tea so far. It also saves on plastic bottles and cans. They are reasonably priced and it seems like...

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Happy 3rd Birthday Luke!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Luke!! Meagan's cute little boy, Luke, is turning 3 today. Make sure to wish him a happy birthday! It seems like just yesterday Meagan and I were both pregnant with Luke and Kainan. They are growing up so fa...

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My experience with making laundry soap

Since Meagan posted about making laundry soap I had been wanting to try it. I was just waiting to run out of my regular laundry detergent (All Free&Clear) so that I could use the container for storing my homemade soap. Although the original "recipe" calls for using Fels-Naptha soap I heard that it can be harsh on babies skin. My babies do have sensitive skin so I wanted to be careful. I read that a lot of people use a bar of Dr. Bronners soap so I decided to try that. I used a $5 gift card purchased with Swagbucks and bought the bar of soap (it was about $4.) The washing soda and borax were things that I already had, I bought them at a local...

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Wal-Mart deals

If you live near a Wal-Mart (and it's pretty safe to say that most people do) you should definitely check your Wal-Mart to see if they have any baby deals going on right now. The Wal-Mart closest to me rarely has super cheap sales (the kind outside the store) but I found one in Springfield last week. We were in Springfield for my husbands doctor appointment and happened to run by Wal-Mart, outside the store there were racks of baby clothes for $1! They also had a few other items but mostly smaller (girly!) baby clothes. Here is what I got:  Most of these were for Mikaela, although there are some boy onesies there for our pregnant cousin...

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Last Week's Poll Results

Last week, Amy asked "Would you consider yourself more 'natural' or more 'thrifty'?". The poll is closed and the results are in. Here they are... Would you consider yourself more "natural" or more "thrifty"? A) Natural B) Thrifty C) Both equally D) Neither According to our readers, 71% consider themselves C) Both equally natural and thrifty. The rest of our readers consider themselves B) Thrifty. We also posted this poll on our Facebook page this week, and we got quite a few voters. Three people said they were more natural but VERY thrifty, one person chose natural, four people chose thrifty, and unfortunately we got one vote for neither....

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Munchkin Snack Catcher Review

During the Amazon coupon promotions I happened to find these Munchkin snack catchers. Many of the reviews say they were used for younger toddlers (around one year) but I use them for my three year old. Kids can be pretty messy, especially in the car! These snack catchers are perfect because they don't spill but little hands can still get to the snacks easily. They are just over $6 for two. They certainly aren't the most natural thing and might not be great for families trying to cut back their plastic useage. That being said they are BPA free, reusable, and really nice to have around. :) Some of the reviewers on Amazon said that they didn't like...

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Redbox Summer Fun and Games

For people like me that don't have Netflix and live in a pretty built up city, Redbox is a great choice for movie rentals. We have at least four locations within 2 miles of our house, so it's very convenient for us. Even though the DVD one night rental fee is only $1 and the Blu-Ray one night rental fee is only $1.50, there are more ways to get free rentals. I'm signed up for Redbox Emails and The Redbox Text Club. At least once a week I get a promotional code emailed or text messaged to me. So, we normally get at least one free movie rental a week. Last week I rented Gnomeo & Juliet and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for the boys. I...

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Video: How to Make Homemade Facial Scrubs

I was watching some videos on Swagbucks today to try and get a few more SB's for Luke's birthday presents, and I found a great one! This is Jeannie Mai (host of Style Network's "How Do I Look?") showing us how to whip up three facial scrubs. Whether you have oily skin, sensitive skin, or dry skin; these are all super simple to make. I'm going to be trying one this weekend! How to Make Homemade Facial Scrub...

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Troopons™

My sister called me the other day and said she found a program called Troopons™. This is the official Support Our Troops® coupon program. She is what I would consider an almost extreme couponer. She normally gets around $200 worth of stuff for around $35-$40. Anyway, she told me how she was going through her coupons and she found a bunch that had expired recently. Being the crazy couponer that she is, she felt guilty just throwing them away, so she went online to see if there were any donation programs. That's when she found Troopons™! The unique Support Our Troops® coupon program enhances the welfare of overseas military families by sending...

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Summer = Natural Heat

How do you dry your clothes? Do you use a clothesline outside? Do you use a drying rack inside? Or do you think that it takes too long to hang dry clothes, so you give in and just use your dryer? Have you ever even thought about it? Now that it's starting to get warm outside, it's the perfect time of year to start using natural heat to dry your clothes (if you don't already). Not only does it work wonders on stains (check out Amy's post on Sunning Cloth Diapers), but it's also a great way to save some money on your electric bill each month by using the most natural "dryer" available... the sun! It doesn't matter where you live or what you live...

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Sunning Cloth Diapers

When I first heard people say that they "sunned" their diapers, I thought they were insane. What could the sun possibly do to get stains out of diapers?? Well a lot, as it turns out. I don't own or ever use bleach so the sun is really my only option. It saves energy and wear on your diapers to hang them out to dry. You will also avoid stains entirely by leaving them in the sun for a few hours. Just in case you don't believe me, here is a before and after picture of a diaper that was out in the sun.   Before After This is a bumGenius newborn AIO. The good thing about little baby poo is that it doesn't stink, the bad thing...

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What you can buy with Swagbucks

Meagan said that I should post some of the stuff that I've bought on Amazon. Now I went to my Amazon and had made 69 purchases in the past 6 months so I don't think I'll share ALL of them. Before you think that I am some crazy shopaholic I should mention that 63 of these were purchased with Amazon coupons and cost me little or nothing. In fact, since I am WEIRD I have a spreadsheet detailing all of my Amazon purchases and my total cost. In case you were wondering my total for those 63 purchases was $188.66. That sounds like a pretty good deal, but when you consider that $125 of that was a carseat for Kainan the total comes to $63.66. So basically...

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My Latest Swag from Swagbucks!

I snagged a bracelet from the Swag Store last week, and wanted to show off just how pretty it is. I'm a huge bracelet nut, and I never spend any Swagbucks on myself, so I figured I deserved it. My husband (of course) was thrilled that it was free! It's the Pearl Elastic Bracelet in the Jewelry section of the Swag Store. Mine isn't picture in the store, but I love it! It says it comes in assorted colors and shapes. I was kind of worried, since you can't choose the color you want, but I was very happy with their choice! Plus, it was only 379 SB, so it was totally worth it! It's very well made and can be dressed up or worn with a pair of jeans. I...

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Clean House Challenge Progress: Day 3 - 4

I finally got my kitchen cleaned. With a sick toddler, it's been a challenge, but I finally finished! Luke was even able to sit at the kitchen table for the first time. Though he didn't eat anything because he doesn't feel good. :-(  I wanted to post my progress pictures last night, but it was a very rough night for Luke, and we all ended up staying up half the night. I apologize ahead of time for the crappy "after" pictures. My batteries died in my camera, so I had to take the pictures with my phone. Here are the before and after pictures: These two pictures show the only free wall I have in my kitchen. As you can see, it's taken up by...

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