A Cross Blog Conversation With The Frugal Homeschooling Mom: An Update

Earlier in the week, I started a cross blog conversation with a fellow mommy blogger, Deana from The Frugal Homeschooling Mom.   If you didn’t get a chance to read this post, you can catch up now plus learn what a cross blog conversation is.

Deanna was so excited to participate in the cross blog conversation that she immediately responded to my question.  I asked Deana “how do you instill independence and confidence in your 3-year old?”  You can see Deana’s response here.

Deana asked me “what are the top 3 things you try to teach your children?”  Here’s my response to her:

 

Hi, Deana.  The cross blog conversation is a cool thing, isn’t it?  Now we’re officially hip bloggin’ mommas! 

I love how involved you are in your daughter’s life and how important the aspects of independence and self-confidence in a child is important to you as a parent.  I was curious if you treated it any different since you were an educator also but it so nice to see how hands-on you are with Laynie.   I love the fact that you let Laynie pick learning activities to end the school day.  What a great idea and I’m sure she gets much enjoyment out of this!  Read more

Got Coupons? Get The Couponizer!

Coupons – either you use them or you don’t.  With the economy in such poor shape, more people are using coupons than ever! 

If you’re a coupon clipper, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of great coupons that are available.   You can find coupons in the local Sunday paper, magazines, online printable coupons, store coupon booklets, etc.  A typical family can easily clip over 100 great coupons a week!

How do you keep all those coupons organized so that you can find them when you need to?

The answer is easy!  Get your coupons organized by getting The Couponizer.  

 

What exactly is The Couponizer?  This revolutionary coupon organizer is more than just a coupon holder or book, but a whole system of tools designed for consistent savings you can take to the bank!  It is designed to make saving money easy.   The Couponizer is made up of 18 category pockets for grocery coupons and other coupon and discount category pockets.

Here’s what you get when you buy The Couponizer:

• The Couponizer binder with 18 category pockets
• Loyalty sleeves to hold your favorite customer loyalty cards
• Shopping list
• Scissors
• Coup tracker to track your savings
• Coup stacker to help you sort your coupons to make it easier to file
• Carrying bag

Read more

Gotta Love Sweeps!

Have you entered a sweepstakes lately?

There are so many great sweepstakes going on right now from name brand companies and retailers.  I try to stay up to date on the hottest new sweepstakes and I have found that Heather at Freebies4Mom offers a great recap of sweeps known as “Sweeps4Mom“.  She updates the sweepstakes regularly and even tells readers how many daily winners there will be.  I’ve noticed that many of the Freebies4Mom readers have commented with what they’ve won – they must be a very lucky group because they’ve won some pretty cool stuff!

If you’re a sweepstakes addict, like I am, you should definitely check out Sweeps4Mom by Freebies4Mom.

The hot sweepstakes going on now:

• Best Buy ”Pitch In Card” – Instant Win Sweepstakes with 120 Daily Winners
• Coca Cola “Give The Gift of Gaming” – Instant Sweepstakes with 50 Daily Winners

Do you have a sweepstakes story?  Have you entered something recently and won?  Tell us about it!

A Cross Blog Conversation With The Frugal Homeschooling Mom

What is a “cross blog conversation”? 

If you’re a blogger, you may have heard this term before.  I admit that even though I am a blogger, this is a new concept for me.  I was first introduced to the idea from Kelly McCausey at Profitable Mommy Blogging. 

Basically, it’s a conversation between two people that takes place on their respective blogs.  The conversation starts when one blogger posts a letter to the other and finishes up by asking the other side a question. The other participant answers the question on their blog and adds on a new question for the other and so it goes – back and forth.

Readers will want to keep an eye on both blogs to catch the responses and new questions – and, since the conversation is being carried out in public, they can comment and share their own perspectives about the questions and answers. 

As Kelly McCausey says “the idea is to create a voyeuristic situation where others are observing.”  Read more

What Have You Won Lately?

Ahh, giveaways….. you either love them or hate them.

Personally, I love to enter giveaways.   Last week, I kept track of how many giveaways I entered - just for fun.  Wow, I entered alot more than I thought!  I entered over 60 giveaways (65 to be exact). 

Guess how many prizes I won? 

Zero.  Oh well, I guess I am just not that lucky.  It’s still fun to enter them and it’s still fun to learn about the products.

But I have won products before.  The best thing I won recently was a month’s supply of milk from a local milk distributor.  I simply entered in the online contest when I signed up to join their e-newsletter.  When they contacted me telling me I won, I was so excited! 

Winning a month’s supply of milk from this local dairy distributor came at a great time because my husband had just lost his job, the kids were  home from school (it was summer) and our grocery budget was very little.   The value of the month’s supply of milk was $28 – this was such a huge help to our family and I was so excited to have won this! 

What’s the best thing that you’ve ever won?

 

photo credit: Search Engine People Blog

Link Love: Fantastic Freebies

This week was a busy week for freebies!  Whew, I could hardly keep up with them all!  Many of the freebie offers come and go very quickly so you have to act fast if you want to get it!   It seemed like there were more of those than normal this week.   But don’t despair, there are still many freebie offers that you can still take advantage of.

Here is a list of freebie offers that are still available: 

• Briana at Bargain Briana tells readers how to make the most of Halloween by getting lots of freebies!  Hurry, these are offered for October 31st only – or as noted.  There are some great freebies including free meals, free toys, and craft activities!
• Carrie at Money Saving Methods tells us about how to score free movie screening tickets to Disney’s Princess and a Frog movie.  The offer is for select cities including: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York.
• Sarah at Fiddledeedee told us about 2 new rental codes from Blockbuster Express for free movies.  Our family loves free movies!
• Kayley at ChaChing on a Shoestring tells us about some great free music you can download.
• Jaycie at Coupon Geek announced a Victoria Secret freebie where you can get free Beauty Rush lipgloss when you get a bra fitting.  That sounds like a good deal – you should get stuff for free when you have to get measured for a bra!  While you’re at Victoria’s Secret, get your free pink panty that Melissa from Saving Cents With Sense told us about.
• Tiffany at Living as Mom tells us about free samples from John Freida for the Brillian Brunnette Liquid Shine Illuminating shampoo and conditioner.  This sounds like a great freebie to keep packed in my travel bag!
• Brandie at Free Sample Freak told us how to get a free sample of Tropical Breee fragrance for him.  I hope it smells good but hey, it’s free!
• Heather at Freebies 4 Mom tells us how to get free Breathe Right Extra samples.  These are 50% stronger than the regular kind.
• Meagan at Frugal Fun and Fortune tells us how to get a free 3 oz bottle of Downy Wrinkle Releaser.  I hope I get mine soon because I hate to iron!
• For the Mamas told readers how they could get a free sample of Sun Crystals all-natural sweetner.  You can print a $1/1 coupon on the site, too.
• Jennifer at Saving and Giving told raders about free single serve packets available from Taster’s Choice.  Yummy, these will be great stocking stuffers!
• Tara at Deal Seeking Mom announced a free burger and fries with a purchase at Denny’s in their “better burgers” campaign.  This offer expires November 23rd.

Hurry, these offers may not last long so don’t delay!

Did you find some great freebies this week?  Share with us here.

Frugal Friday: Saving Money on Groceries

I love talking about saving money!  Saving money excites me and I find myself really getting passionate when I talk to people and share ways they can save money. 

I especially love saving money when shopping for groceries.  It’s like second nature to me to save $40 or $50 at the grocery store when I shop.  People behind me in line are always amazed at how much money I save on my groceries!  Of course there’s an occasional person behind me at the grocery store who wishes they chose a different lane because I have so many coupons!

There are so many easy ways you can save money when buying groceries.  If you’re new at this, don’t be overwhelmed.  It’s really not that difficult or time consuming. 

Tips To Save Money On Groceries:

 

1. Clip coupons.  Clipping coupons is the single biggest way to save money on groceries.  Combine a coupon with a store sale and you have big savings!  Be sure to clip all of the coupons, even if you know you won’t use the items.  You can share coupons with neighbors or even trade.  This is successful if you find someone that likes different coupons than you.  For example, I trade with my mom sometimes because she doesn’t need coupons for snack foods or kid’s foods like I do.  If you’re interested in serious trading of coupons, join a coupon train on various websites including A Full Cup or Hot Coupon World.
2. Print coupons.  You can print so many coupons online these days that you almost don’t even need to buy the newspaper!  Check out these sites for printable coupons:  Smartsource, Redplum and Coupons.com.
3. Know the prices of staple items.  These are items you buy every week (i.e. bread, milk, cheese, etc).  Write down the prices of the top items you buy every week and carry that list with you when you’re shopping. When there is a sale or promotion, you’ll know if it’s a good deal or not.  If you shop for beef, pork or poultry every week, check out this article from For the Mamas with great information about good “stock-up” pricing on meat. Read more

Blog Spotlight: The Frugal Homeschooling Mom

I spend alot of time reading blogs.  It’s a great way to get information and to be honest, I just love to see what others are writing about.  I love it when I discover a new blog!  It’s like adding a new family member!

I came across an interesting blog called  The Frugal Homeschooling Mom, written by a North Carolina mom, Deana.  The blog offers inspiring stories, money-saving tips, homeschooling resorces plus a whole lot more!  I had a chance to interview Deana for the Blog Spotlight and I am sure you’ll enjoy learning more about  The Frugal Homeschooling Mom.

 

Hi, Deana.  Welcome to Mom Giveaways!  Tell us about your blog.  How did you get started, how long have you been blogging, what do you hope to accomplish?

I started The Frugal Homeschooling Mom blog after I had been reading and enjoying other people’s blogs about couponing and saving money.  I found it so helpful what others were writing about so I thought, “Hey – I could do that too!” 

I had already begun teaching my friends and family about couponing and living frugally.  Also, my husband and I had just decided that I would homeschool my daughter Laynie, who was age 2 1/2 at the time … thus, that’s where the name comes from. 

I’ve been blogging since March of this year – so only about 7 months.  My goal in blogging is to support others in making the decision to homeschool while providing information and resources that will help them on their journey.  I also know that many homeschoolers out there are living on one income so I hope to provide them the knowledge they need about living frugally and being wise with their money.  This includes shopping with coupons and getting things free or really cheap.

Read more

Mom Worries

 

Mom’s worry.  That is a fact.  I am just like any other mom and I worry.  I especially worry about my children.  I guess you would call me a “worry wart” because sometimes I worry if I don’t have anything to worry about.

 

 If you’re a mom, I bet you are worried about something related to your kids right now.  Chances are that you will worry about your kids the rest of your life- even when your kids are grown up!  My mom tells me that it doesn’t get easier when the kids grow up and move away.  She still worries about me and my brother and now she worries about much more complex issues.

 

As a mom of 2 young boys, I thought I’d share my worries with you.  I am sure you can relate to many of these.

What do I worry about?

• The swine flu.  I am worried that my kids or a family member will get the swine flu.  The media talks about it everyday, how can I not worry about it?
• Are my kids safe?  Ever since last week’s abduction and murder of little Somer Thompson (the 7-year old in Florida), safety is a constant on my mind.  Sommer lived less than 5 miles from my family, which makes my safety concern and worry more valid!
• Are my kids smart?  I worry that I am not doing enough to challenge my kids to be as smart as they can be.
• Do my kids eat well enough?  I admit that sometimes I just give them whatever they want for dinner, especially if we’re in a hurry to get out the door for soccer practice. 
• How am I ever going to get my Christmas shopping done?!  I am a planner and usually by this time each year, I have most of my Christmas shopping done.  This year, I have nothing!  With my husband losing his job and now we are moving 350 miles away in the next 60 days, I am worried that I won’t be able to do it all!

Now that I’ve shared my worries, it’s your turn.  What do you worry about as a mom?

 

photo credit: AJoelle_xo

Shopping Calendar: The Best Time To Buy

 

 

Have you ever wondered when is the best time to buy certain products?  Is it January when retailers have tons of markdowns?  Or is it in the fall when the stores are busting at the seams with merchandise? 

All manufacturers promote their products certain times during the year to increase sales.  Each month, different items are being “pushed” on consumers through promotions and sales. 

Want to get the best deal on everything that you buy? It all starts with knowing when to shop. Here’s a month-by-month guide to the biggest bargains.   Use this as your shopping calendar so you can take advantage of the promotions and get the best deal!

 

January

Food:
Chocolate (Christmas clearance)
Soda
Diet foods
Frozen finger foods

Non-food:
Linens
Electronics
Computers
Small appliances
Air conditioners
Carpeting and flooring
Furniture
Winter clothes
Toys (on clearance after the holidays)
Bicycles
Christmas gift wrap
Christmas decorations
Athletic shoes
Exercise equipment
Motorcycles
Houses
Boats Read more

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