The Best Toddler Shoe Ever!!!

I just thought I would share with you how awesome Vans shoes are for kids. I personally have never owned a pair of Vans for myself but my son is on his second pair. He didn't wear out the first pair he grew out of them. My Poopoo is a rough, Tricycle toe dragging, sandboxing, puddle jumping boy. He is extremely hard on his shoes. The pair we had before we bought his first Vans he destroyed before he grew out of them. What I love about Vans besides the fact that they are extremely durable the ones with the velcro are super easy to get on and off, they are great for a wider foot and they wash well. The cost is reasonable at about $25 a pair, visit Vans.com and check out all the fun colors and patterns.

Here are Poopoos old Vans, they can totally be used for the next baby!

Small Family Save Money on Meat

Meat is the most expensive thing on our grocery list. We are only a family of 3, one of those three is only 20 months old. Before I was frugal I would make large portions and throw away what we didn't eat. We are not a leftover family we have tried but neither me nor my husband are fans of leftover food. Now that I am a super frugal chick I have been coming up with all kinds of ways to save money.

When I purchase my meat I always break it down in small portions before I freeze it. I bag everything in twos, when I purchase a 1lb. ground beef I cut it in half. The best way to freeze is by using vacuum bag, this helps prevent freezer burn. I use Ziploc Vacuum bags they are cheap and easy to use, Ziploc always has great coupons as well!

Pickens Plan

Please take 2 minutes to email congress and demand they fix our dependence of foreign oil.

Go to PickensPlan.com and fill out the email form under Contact Congress.

This is important we can make a difference for the future of or country.

Going Green!!!!!

We have made several steps in our house to be more energy efficient. This is a process that takes a little time and investing.Our house is only 4 years old so it is already pretty efficient but there are several things that anyone can to to help cut back on the amount of energy you use.

We have slowly been replacing old appliances, our refrigerator and other kitchen appliances are fairly new so thank goodness those do not have to be replaced (although a quieter dishwasher would be nice).
Awhile back the state of Texas was offering no sales tax on energy star appliances, we saw this as a perfect opportunity to replace a big ticket item, the washer and dryer. Our old washer and dryer was over 20 years old, we bought it from my husbands sister. The washer still worked but it only had one load size LARGE, so it wasted tons of water. The Dryer also worked but it took 3 times as long to dry a load of clothes. We bought an new Washer and Dryer from Sears it was TAX FREE so we saved several hundred dollars, we also bought the floor model because they were no longer going to carry that model. They gave us a huge discount for purchasing the floor model WOOHOO. We payed for both the washer and dryer what the Dryer would have originally cost us. We also recently replaced our deep Freezer. If your freezer is more than 10 years old you should probably replace it to help cut energy cost.

The Next Step we have taken was replacing all our light bulb with Energy Efficient ones, Now it is kinda costly to do this all at once, so just replacing a few at a time helps.
In our attic we have seven vents, although that seems like allot they don't help lower temperature in the attic. My handy husband replaced two of the vents with circular fans. There are all kinds of Attic ventilation system to use, we just needed something to suck the hot air out.

These two circular vent immediately droped to temp in our attic 20 degrees WOW! We, I mean my husband is also currently working on installing a radiant bearer in our attic. Radiant Bearers can block up to 95% of the suns heat.

Al these steps not only will overtime help our pocket book, but they will also help the environment.

Feezing foods

Coupon Moms buy stuff by when its on sale and stock up, this cuts down on the cost of there weekly grocery bill. Allot of foods can be frozen but the question is which ones are safe to freeze and which ones are not. I did my research abd this is what I found. You can freeze almost any food. Some exceptions are canned food or eggs in shells. However, once the food (such as a ham) is out of the can, you may freeze it.While pasteurized milk can be frozen; it may separate or be slightly grainy when thawed. You can freeze milk altough it is not suggested, frozen milk works best for cooking, but you may find it's still okay for drinking.

Being able to freeze food and being pleased with the quality after defrosting are two different things. Foods that do not freeze well are mayonnaise, cream sauce and lettuce. Raw meat and poultry freeze well and maintain their quality longer than their cooked meat because it loses mosture during cooking.

Food stored constantly at 0 °F will always be safe. Only the quality suffers with lengthy freezer storage. Freezing keeps food safe by slowing the movement of molecules, causing microbes to enter a dormant stage. Freezing preserves food for extended periods because it prevents the growth of microorganisms that cause both food spoilage and foodborne illness.The freezing process itself does not destroy nutrients. In meat and poultry products, there is little change in nutrient value during freezer storage.

Proper packaging helps maintain quality and prevent "freezer burn." It is safe to freeze meat or poultry directly in its supermarket wrapping but this type of wrap is permeable to air. Unless you will be using the food in a month or two, overwrap these packages as you would any food for long-term storage using airtight heavy-duty foil, (freezer) plastic wrap or freezer paper, or place the package inside a (freezer) plastic bag. Use these materials or airtight freezer containers to repackage family packs into smaller amounts. It is not necessary to rinse meat and poultry before freezing.

This information is just some helpfull tips and should not be used as health advice,You should futher research what items you plan to freeze.

Happy Labor Day Weekend Yall!!!

Store sales Online with just a click of your mouse....

I am soooo excited about this even if that does make me a big dork!!!! You can now see all you local store circulars on one website just by typing in your zip code. Smart Source.com has listed all your local grocery adds in an easy to read format, you can sort it by What type of item you are looking for or by store. It tells you the sale price, what it is originally priced and when the sale ends. No more waiting for the post man on Wednesday. Thanks Comical Coupon Cents for originally posting this :)

Tax Free Weekend!

Its Tax Free weekend in Texas.There is no Sales Tax for a long list of items under $100 including DIAPERS! Go HERE if you would like more info. I decided for the first time ever to take advantage of the Tax Free Holiday and head to the Mall. I spent $70.00 and saved around $7.00 in sales tax. This does not seem like allot but we all know $7.00 can by a year supply of toothpaste at CVS lol! They also had lots of awesome sales going on, I got 2 pair of shorts, 2 shirts, Poopoo a pair of shorts and 3 shirts all for only $70 that is only $8 per article of clothing, not bad. Still with all the big sales and zero Tax I will not be returning to the mall during next years Tax Free Holiday. The lines where terrible, people were rude and it is impossible to push a stroller threw hundreds of people.

Happy Tax Free Shopping Y'all!

Warning to all CVSers

DO NOT LEAVE YOUR EXTRA BUCKS IN THE CAR!!!!!!!

I am so stupid I never even thought about how leaving my ECBs printed on thermal paper would ruin if let in a hot car. These bucks were not in direct sun they were in my coupon holder sitting in the passenger set. I haven't tried to use these yet but I am sure I saved them just in time. Just some friendly advice!

How to Make Your Own Cow Costume

How to make a cow costume for Cow Apreciation Day tommorrow at Chick-fil-a

Supplies:

White Shirt

White, Light Kacki, or Light Grey Pants

Black Fabric( if you don't have black fabric you can also use felt or construction paper)

scissors

double sided tape ( I used wig tape that I used to hold my Wedding Dress in place at my wedding)

Head Band

-Cut Fabric in to different size rounded shapes

-Using double sided tape stick the rounded shapes on the shirt and pants

-Cut two floppy shaped ears out of black fabric

-Again using double sided tape apply them to each side of the headband

Now you have a Quick easy Cow Costume that will score you some FREE FOOD!!!!

Helping Pets

Don't Throw away all those empty Ink Cartridges they could save some sweet animal life!!

If I haven't already mentioned it before I love animals! Between my sweet little Chihuahua Lilly and our new fishy friends we are frequent shoppers at Petsmart. The other day at Petsmart I noticed these Mailer bags on my way out the door and stopped to check them out. The prepaid mailer bags are for old Ink jet cartridges. $2.00 for every empty inkjet is directly donated to Petsmart charities to support there lifesaving work. I go threw lots and lots of ink printing pictures and coupons, now I feel great knowing that it will help make a difference in a homeless pets life! You can pick up you prepaid mailer bags at Petsmart the are located near the front entrance.

Simple Solutions!

The Diaper Genie

I was given a Diaper Genie at my baby shower when I was pregnant with my son. As far as keeping the smell out it doesn't really work but it does help cut back on the smell allot! I don't know how someone so sweet can make such a stink but he can!!!

I was given the Diaper Genie 2, It is a newer supposedly better version of the original Diaper Genie. I have never used the original Diaper Genie so I personally cant confirm that. But one thing that I think is better about the design of the Diaper Genie 2 is that you do not have to twist the bags after each diaper, you simply push the diaper down in to the pail and it has a spring trap door that closes and helps keep some of the smell out. I purchased the refills for the first year at around $6.00 each. I would typically go threw about 1 refill every 2 weeks or less. WOW that is allot of money to get rid of the stink. Now I use regular trash bags, thast right just plain Tall Kitchen trash bags. All I do is take the top lid off the Diaper Genie and push the bottom of the trash bag threw the trap door leaving enough of the trash bag out so that when I put the top lid back on it holds the trash bag in place. This saves me a ton of money, the average cost of a single trash bag is about $.20. I change my Diaper Genie trash bag twice a week to help keep the smell down :( costing me $.80 every 2 week appose to $6.00. That is a savings of $5.20 WOW!!! I don't know if this will work with the original Diaper Genie but with that kind of saving I think I would give it a try if I were you:)

If you have any other great simple solution ideas I would love for you to share them with me....

Helping Military Families

Don't throw away those coupons! Thanks to Memories at Home I came across this program. This awesome program take all your coupons including expired ones and ships them to military families overseas.
Here are a few details from their website:
"Our program serves military families by assisting you to forward "manufacturer's coupons" to overseas military bases. These bundles of coupons are placed on tables, at the PX and Commissary, or handed out for use by military members and families on base. This helps the family save valuable dollars and stretch their budget. The service pay rates are no longer below the poverty level, but they are in no way great. They appreciate your assistance.There is no minimum. You'll find that those pesky little pieces of paper add up fast! The average Sunday newspaper contains approximately $125 worth of coupons. Even the smallest donation, when combined with the donations of other individuals, will make a difference in the lives of many military families serving our country overseas.
Expired Coupons?2 Months Max! Yes expired coupons are accepted.
If you are interested in adopting a base, visit the Overseas Coupon Program here for more information.

Thanks again Memories at Home for posting this wonderful program I know that all military families will appreciate any type of support:)
Please pass the word and re post this, I know all of us thrifty moms have a ton of coupons to donate!

Netflix

If you have not yet sign up for Netflix you should! For as little as $4.99 a month you can see tons of great movies. Movie rentals at local rental stores cost around $5.00 per movie WOW! We are homebodies at our house so we watch allot of movies. Before we got Neflix we would spend $10-$15 a weekend just on renting movies. Not to mention what we wasted in liquid gold (gas) getting to Blockbuster. We have saved some serious money by switching to Netflix, it pays for it self with on trip to Blockbuster. Visit Netflix.com for a two week FREE TRIAL.

Make your vacuum smell good!

Want to make your vacuum and whole house smell yummy every time you vacuum? All you have to do is next time you change out your vacuum bag take a pouch of scented popurri and pour a little of it into your vacuum bag. Now every time you vacuum it will smell like the popurri in your whole house. I like Apple Cinnamon, spicy scents smell like home to me yummy!!!

Recycle Your Makeup

M.A.C
I have been saving these old M.A.C makeup containers forever!!! M.A.C cosmetics will let you bring back your old make-up containers and trade them for new makeup. All you have to do is take your old containers to any M.A.C counter they will trade 6 of them for one lipstick or if you take them to the M.A.C store you can trade your six containers for your choice of a lipstick, lip gloss, or eyeshadow yea!!!! I had 24 old make-up containers (wow that is allot of make-up) that I traded for 2 eyeshadows, 1 lipstick, and 1 lip gloss that is $56.00 worth of makeup for FREE!!!! I asked the sales clerk at the M.A.C store what happens to all the old containers. M.A.C takes all the plastic used in the old makeup containers grinds them down and uses them to make children's playground equipment, AHHHH isn't that sweet!!! Here is a picture of my awesome reward for recycling...........

The new iphone

My iphone is probably one of my most favorite things, not at all frugal but worth every penny.

There is nothing like standing in line at the grocery store and being able to view web pages, blog, check your banking account or check your email with just the touch of a finger. No matter where I am at I can get on the Internet, its the greatest thing ever. I am normally not a gadget girl but I love love love this phone!!!

I originally waited awhile before I purchased my iphone, but of coarse as with everything they are coming out with a newer faster model and the kicker is that it is half the price. My husband jokes that he is going to buy a new one but that's not happening, when we bought our phones I felt sick walking out of the AT&T store knowing we spent that much money on two cell phones.

With all that said this is sad news for me but good news for all you more frugal people who held out. If you have $200 extra dollars put away I would seriously suggest purchasing one of these phones. I don't at all regret my purchase cause like I said in the beginning it was worth every penny. Check it out at apple.com.

Hello my name is Mommy and I will be your Hairstylist today!

Some Mommas are so blessed to get to stay at home with there babes everyday but for allot of us we have no choice but to continuing working. After I had my son I took three months off to stay at home with him but unfortunately that time went by way to quick! I returned to my Job and was working full time everyday when I got home I was so tired I didn't have much left to give. After being back at work for a month we decided something had to change so I left the Salon I had been working at since I graduated beauty school and went to work for myself. Being my own boss is wonderful it has given me the opportunity to work part time and be with my son most of the time. I felt it was very important that I am with him more days than I was at work. Even though I only work a few days a week I still struggle sometimes with balancing my work life and my home life. I think any mother who works wishes they had just a few more hours each day to get everything done. Here are a 10 tips that help keep me from getting overwhelmed.

1. Don't sweat the small stuff- I don't think I need to explain this as mothers we all know what that saying means.

2. Don't overbook your self or your children- It is ok to have them in a few planned activities each week but not everyday, children as well as you need time to chill.

3. Pick up as you go- My mother always says if you don't let you house get dirty you wont have to clean it, well that is easy to say if you don't have a 17 month old lol!

4. When your kids are napping relax- When my son sleeps its my time to sit on the sofa catch up on my Tivo and Blog, Don't use this time for cleaning just enjoy the interrupted quiet.

5. Make a list- When I actually do take the time to make a list it is really helpful to me. Since I was a child I have struggled with ADD so list making is a helpful tool for me but most the time I end up losing my list hahaha!

6. Rotisserie Chicken- Wal-mart sells these for $5.00 and they are a life saver, you can make yummy meals from them and you don't have to cook. This is a regular on our shopping list and if I have a really full week sometimes I will by two of them.

7. Treat your self- Being a mom is a very selfless thing, we want are kids to have it all and we don't do anything for ourselves. It doesn't take much just a cute shirt from Target once and awhile does the trick for me.

8. Snuggle with your husband- Remember before you had kids and yall were the only people each other had to cuddle up next to :) Don't lose that snuggle time it will keep a smile on your face, it does mine!

9. Most of the time it can Wait till tomorrow- AKA Laundry, Dishes.........I am not saying live in filth but don't make cleaning your number one priority, we already know what that should be.

10. Don't worry about what other people think- You don't have to keep up with Joneses be happy and grateful with all the wonderful blessing you have in your life.

Best Deals on gas!

Ever wondered what gas stations in you area have the cheapest gas? Thanks to mommysecrets I came across Gasbuddy.

Gasbuddy is a great website that gives the cheapest prices on gas in your area found by local spotters!

I love free magazines!!!

Do you ever wonder what happens to all those magazines people leave on the plane!

One off my clients is a flight attendant takes the magazine she finds to 1/2 price Books and sells them, that is very smart way to turn another persons trash into cash :). But my sweet momma who is also a flight attendant gives all the magazines she finds to me for my Little Shop of Hair so all my beautiful clients can enjoy them! This saves me tons of money and I love getting caught up on all the latest celebrity gossip for FREE........

Thanks mom!!!!!

ONLY SIX MONTHS LEFT TILL CHRISTMAS!!!!

I know what you are thinking, why are you already thinking about Christmas?

Christmas is a joyous time of year when we get together with friends and families, eat, sing, and celebrate the birth of Christ. But unfortunately for most people it means empty pockets, long lines at the mall and new credit card debit. There are some really great deals you can take advantage of year round and stock up for Christmas........

*CVS of course is a great place to stock up on lots of fun stiff for gift baskets for really cheap!

*Hobby Lobby runs half price sales every week on lots of great gift ideas such as home decorations, picture frames, and lots lots more fun stuff (sign up for there email and they will send you weekly adds on whats 50% of and a occasionally a 50%coupon )



*Bath and Body Works is one of my favorite and the are having a great summer sale right now $3.00 creamy body wash or shower gel.

*Oldnavy.com always has great sale items and they have there $7.00 no matter how much you spend, there is also great deals in the store if you don't mind digging.

Remember if you by gift here and there it doesn't put a huge dent in your pocket book:) Enjoy Christmas shopping!!!