How I Shop AND Save

Now that our family has grown to 6 people I find myself clipping more coupons, shopping online and doing whatever I can to save a buck! By shopping online, I am able to to find different Coupon Codes and get a certain percentage or amount off or even get free shipping. I will be honest, I do prefer to buy from sites that offer free shipping when order a certain amount or more.

For my friends Down Under!, Deal Direct coupon codes offers some great steals….what I wouldn’t give to be able to use some of these deals in the US! (Until then, I will keep sharing my discoveries).

Another way I save these days is by heading out to our local thrift stores and rummage sales to help curb the costs on items such as clothing, home decor, and sometimes even furniture. I have also participated in online rummage sales through Facebook, bought and sold items on Craigslist.

I have also been looking into setting up a local trade program between families to trade clothing, household goods and anything else that people may want to get rid of or are on the hunt for.  This is something else that you can look into in your neighborhood.

Once we move into our new home, we will be living on a tighter budget.  To help save more money, we have decided to cut our current cable package down to the basics, plan out our weekly menus ahead of time and only purchase the items needed for the meals that week.  We will also be saving money by shopping for more store brand items (which we are discovering taste better in some cases), purchasing items such as meats in bulk and separating into one meal servings and freezing and spending more time at the local farmers market.  In addition to all of these items, we have also made the decision to limit our dining out to special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.

When it comes to finding ways to shop and save, you may need to dig and do some research but there are lots of ways for it to be done!

Just do what I do and REFUSE to pay full price!

Moving Announcements from Paper Culture

You may have heard in previous posts that we are moving to a new home (less than 2 weeks to go). Since we are finally moving into a house that we can call home, I figured this time we would send out official moving announcements AND eventually throw a housewarming party! So, after searching the internet I finally chose the announcement that made me happy, personalized it and clicked order! I will give you a little sneak peek of the announcements I ordered from Paper Culture. Obviously, these are NOT personalized for us and I also went with a different color.

Not only do I LOVE the design of these announcements but I also love what the website says about them being 100% eco friendly and that Paper Culture will plant a tree with every order to make sure that Owen (the owl) and his owl friends will have a home for many years to come!

When the announcements arrived, I was even more pleased with how great they looked in person and I cannot wait to move and send them out to our friends and family. It looks like we will definitely be looking at Paper Culture when I order birthday invitations  and other party invites in the future!

Disclaimer: I received a free product in exchange for my complete and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour with Global Influence.

I’m a Verizon Wireless Midwest Savvy Mom

As you know, this past weekend I was in Chicago for the Verizon Wireless Midwest Savvy Mom Kickoff Event.
I shared my last post that I received a new Samsung Galaxy SIII on the Verizon network that I get to use and review over the next 6 months!
I also mentioned that I already own this phone with another service provider so I am going to compare and contrast in a few posts the difference between the phones on each network.
When I got my Samsung Galaxy from Verizon I had already had 3 weeks to get to know the phone with my current provider however I was A-M-A-Z-E-D at how much better the phone functioned on the Verizon network and how much I LOVE 4G LTE! (My current provider does not offer 4G in our market currently).

I look forward to sharing more about the phone with you over the next few months in addition to the other **TOP SECRET** device I will be receiving somewhere down the road. Be sure to follow me and the other Verizon Wireless Midwest Savvy Moms on Twitter by searching for hashtag #VZWSM and make sure to come by the blog for updates too!

Gentle Reminders

In light of recent events, I wanted to take a moment and get up on my soapbox and have a chat with all of you.

As you know, a woman who is very near and dear to my heart and family, was recently diagnosed with cancer.  We don’t have all of the facts yet but what we do know if that it started as ovarian cancer.  As you may know, ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer among women and it causes more deaths that any other type of female reproductive cancer.

I now have 2 friends in my life who have been diagnosed with this horrible disease after having skipped over their annual exam time and time and time again.  One of my friends was lucky enough to have caught it before it spread any further, the other has not been so lucky.

I CANNOT stress enough the importance of an annual physical and exam.  Also, for those of you who are older, be sure to get a mammogram and know your breast cancer facts as well.

So, check your calender and find out when your last exam was.  If it has been more than 1 year, pick up the phone and make an appointment today!

Okay, I’m done yelling at you.

Thanks for listening!

 

 

Reconnecting

The summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I went away for 4 weeks to a Youth Conservation Camp in the Northwest region of Wisconsin, in a teeny tiny little town called Minong. Before I went, I was terrified that I wouldn’t make any friends or that I would hate it and all I would want to do is come back home.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Those 4 weeks were some of the best times ever. I made life long friends and when it came time to come home at the end, I didn’t want to leave.

Over the years, I have tried to keep in touch with friends that I made at camp and unfortunately, it hasn’t been that easy. If I didn’t remain in constant contact with someone from my camp days, it has become much harder to track them down over 15 years later.

I recently began searching for a few of the old campers using MyLife.com and it has provided me with a few leads. I am hoping that eventually, it will lead me to enough people that we can organize a little reunion.

Fingers crossed that as I continue to search the internet I am able to locate some fellow campers!

Do you use the internet or another web service to help you reconnect?

Exit mobile version