Happy New Year Goals

2009

Wow, what a year this will be.  We have just moved into a new and wonderful home, my daughter will turn 2 later this year and we will rise out of this recession finally with a democrat back  in office.  

My goal for 2009 is to create an organized home.  Between recently moving, having a baby, trying to work on a soap buisness and my husband working AND in college full time our home is not as organized as it used to be.  A few places are 'lined up and labeled' as I like it, but the rest is in a sort of chaos. 

To reach this goal I will dedicate Tuesday as my organizing day.  I will choose one item in the house (be it a drawer, cabinet, box or basket) and tackle it.  I feel that by the end of 2009 we will be back to running on a more orderly home.  Thus saving time, money and unneeded stress.

Have a wonderful new year!

Great Sale at Crazy 8

(this shirt is on sale for $2.99!!!)

This store is totally new to me. I live in a small town and don't get to keep up to date on all the wonderful brands available. Crazy 8 is a branch off Gymboree. They promise great Gymboree quality at cheaper prices.(this shirt is on sale for only $1.99)

I placed an order with them a few weeks ago and was more than impressed. For under $25 (after tax and shipping) I got;

5 shirts
1 sweater
2 pants

Thats cheaper than thrift store prices, folks!

They are offering $5 shipping right now and if you sign up for their emails you will get a coupon code for $10 off a $30 purchase. (that is an additional 33% off the clearance prices!!)

Now, quick, go shop!

Albertsons Ad is Here!!

Here it is;

albertsons ad preview

Boca Burgers are 1.95

Some Kellogs cereals $1.59 (use $1/1 here)

Coffee Mate $1.75 (when you buy 4 and use $1/1 here)

3lb bag of Cuties Clementines BOGO (2.99 I think??,use coupon for .55/1 from paper insert)

oh, pooh.  I didn't feel like going shopping again tomorrow, but I guess I have no choice now do I??

(check out the grocery gathering for more grocers)

Home Made Diaper

Well, I finally did it.

I have been so afraid to try to make a diaper, I mean, if I do a poor job I will end up with a really big mess! I have been researching cloth diapers for a long time now and just came across a really easy pattern by DiaperSewing.com. It really is just instructions and I traced my own cloth diaper for the size and pattern. I used the Fitted Side Snap pattern and I think it turned out wonderfully.
I used some flannel I already had, an ugly receiving blanket in my scrap pile and a cut up cotton pre-fold diaper for the soaker. As I now have a serger I was able to whip this out pretty quickly, between caring for the little one and all. The pretty snaps I purchased at JoAnns during a sale, as well as the awesome investment of the snap gun, maybe $7 for it on sale?? I am soo getting my moneys worth, I use it all the time.

I made this to fit the free diaper cover I won a while back from Andrea (Mamma in Flip Flops2). Woo Hoo, I think I'll make some more!!

Total Cost $1-2ish.
Worth it!


(thank you grandma Laurie, this picture would be nothing w/o the REI socks and the Pottery Barn table & chairs. we are so spoiled!)

Commissary Deals Pac NW

(check out the Grocery Gathering for your local stores)

I was lucky enough to be able to go to the grocery store by myself today (I think for the second time EVER).  This allowed me to use up all of my coupons expiring tomorrow.  That in mind, I made a killing at the Commissary.  Go quick and you, too, can get these deals!!

(all prices are before coupons, and sales run through the 7th)

Tree Top Apple Juice 1.59 (I used $1/2)

Mazola spray cooking oil 1.00 (I had $1/1)

Kashi Cereal Bars 2.72 (I had $2/1 printable)

Wonka christmas candy .50 for gummies (used $1/2)

Aunt Jemima pancakes and waffles $1.25 ($1/3 coupon on shelf)

Lenders frozen bagles .79 (.50/2 coupon on shelf)

Planters nuts .75 for big jar

Starbucks Coffee 1 lb ground only 3.99

Holiday theme Ziplock freezer bags .95 (used $1/2)

Buitoni fresh pasta 1.59 (used $1/1)

Red Star Yeast jar 2.79 (used .75/1)

Green beans .75lb

Apples, Pink Lady .67lb

Fresh Express Salad Kits $2.22 (used $1/1)

Menu Plan Monday

After a holiday away, we are ready for some good healthy cooking!  We will do low fat, vegan all week and hopefully purge some of those desserts and calorie laden yummies we enjoyed!

monday

stuffing (from freezer)

mashed potatoes (instant)

green beans

boca patty & gravy

tuesday

bean tacos

tons of chopped veggies

potatoes

tofu sour cream

wednesday

no hurry vegetable curry

brown rice

chutney

thursday

chili in the crock (this looks good)

bread machine corn bread 

friday

pizza night

veg tray and salad

saturday

pasta-any

bread in bread machine

salad

peas

sunday

baked potatoes 

top w/ chili and other goodies

broccoli

Yummy!

bumGenius $8.95!!!!

I just found this really wonderful website called Home Grown Baby and discovered a deal I cannot keep to myself.  They are offering bamboo fitted bumGenius diapers on sale for $8.95.  That is a screaming deal.

They are also having a sale on the Happy Heinys at $12.95 per diaper, a really great deal also.

While you are there be sure to pick up something else you need and support a Stay at Home Business Mom!

Super Sample Sunday

This will be two weeks worth, a fairly decent spread of useful items.  I had taken a picture before we left for the holiday but was actually to busy to even post it last Sunday!

Two weeks ago I got the BHG magazine, one I usually try to look at before my daughter destroys it!  A calendar and some Zevia coupons I requested.

This week I got two more magazines, popcorn and some dog treats I will save as we may get a dog next year.

What freebies did you get this week?

Coupons

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas! 

Oh, what an ordeal it was for us coming home to so much snow!!  All I will say is that it took us 16 hours to get home from Oklahoma.  We are so thankful to be home safely.  

.........and, time to stock up my coupons for a shopping trip again!!

Check out Start Making Choices for some really great coupons for Hunts, Pam, Orville, ect..

Buy the Entertainment Book now for $10 off AND free shipping.  (It will cost me only $15 shipped, and I will get my money back the first time I use it!!)

A coupon for Free Zout stain remover!!

Morning Star Farms $1/1!!  (I can never get enough of these!)

I always love Seventh Generation products, many coupons there as well.

Sign up for a $10 coupon booklet from Pillsbury.  (think I'll sign up my husband too!)

Merry Christmas!

After a long day of travel (um, 13 hours door to door to be exact) we safely reached our destination.   Our daughter was a wonderful flyer.  She was great the entire time, not really a surprise, I suppose.  

She fussed only twice; once after going through all the lines at SeaTac (get me the HECK out of this Ergo, Mom!!) and once on our 2nd flight, a session of nursing eased that frustration.  Oh, the magic powers of nursing.

We have been just so busy visiting family and friends.  What a joy to see such welcoming people, I just love getting to know my husbands background and where he 'came from'.  

I am so thankful for all I have in my life.  Remember all the wonderful things you have in yours.

Have a wonderful Christmas.

wish us luck...

We have spent what feels like the last two weeks preparing for our holiday trip. We will be flying half way across the country to visit my husbands family for Christmas. It will be the first plane trip for our daughter.


Oh, I hope it goes well.

We have lots of new (used!) books for the trip and a few small quiet toys. I am also planning to bring my nursing cover and nurse in public if need be, which will be a first for me. I have enough snacks to hopefully keep her happy and entertained. I am also planning on bringing the iPod so she can listen to music, really, she loves music so much I think if we hold a earphone up to her ear she might enjoy it, who knows. The laptop will come along as well. She really loves looking at the family pictures on it (especially ones of herself!!).

We will be leaving later tomorrow morning, assuming we can get my car unstuck out of the driveway by then....

(my husband wanted to go run an errand yesterday, he took my car as generally all wheel drive can concur anything, well, he got it stuck half way up our really, really long and steep gravel driveway. He tells me it is sideways...)

We haven't flown since I was pregnant and are disappointed at the new luggage rule, no longer can you check a bag for free anymore, NO, it costs $15 for the first bag for each seat paid for!! The price goes up if you want to bring another bag. We were expecting to pack light, but I did not know that you had to pay for just one bag now...

Wish us luck. We will be in the air for only 2 1/2 hours, then 1 1/2 hours tomorrow with a stop in Denver. Unfortunately there are no Non-Stop flights to Oklahoma City. Shocker :-)

Does anyone have any advice for flying with a one year old??

Playing in the snow.

Power Outage Preparedness

We lost our power this morning at about 4 am and it didn't come back on till almost 5 pm.  A tree fell on some power lines on my road and 18 families (per the Power company) were out of power.

It hasn't been terribly windy, nor has it snowed more than an inch or two.  I think the big old tree was just ready to go.  It made a huge mess when it fell, taking out a ton of lines and creating grueling work in this bitterly cold weather for about 8 or more guys the whole day.  

We have gotten more than a few power outages during our lives and are generally prepared (ish).  I have a drawer in our entry way cabinet dedicated to flashlights, lanterns and candle lighting lighters.  

We are really lucky in our new house to have propane heat.  We were able to stay warm today and even fire up the stove-top to heat up some soup and easy foods.  When the power came back on this evening we had a sink-full of dishes to take care of, thankfully the outage was only so long!

And, lucky for me, I just purchased some disposable diapers and wipes yesterday for an upcoming trip.  Boy was I glad to put one on my daughter when we woke up this morning and knew her 'scheduled' 'number two' was coming.  Not having water would have made it tricky to deal with such dirty cloth diaper, I was thankful to be able to wrap up the offending package and not mess with it one bit.

I made a little mental list today on what I will keep in our Power Outage Drawer for the future.  Being as anti-disposable that I am, I will have to purchase, sign up for free, and, or, scrounge up many of the following items;

Flashlights (the battery/lightbulb drawer is above it)

Matches/ lighters (candles are in a separate closet)

Paper eating products (plates, cups, napkins, plastic utensils)

Disposable Diapers ( I have signed up for all different size freebies, this will be a perfect place for them!)

Baby Wipes (for everything!!)

Portable Radio/ CD player taking batteries

I will keep a gallon or two of water in the storage pantry as usual.

Anyone have any other suggestions??  Does anyone else do this??

Some Coups'

and how about some good coupons;

.75/1 Tribe Organic Hummus

Old Orchard Juice coupons via mail

Save $1/1 Eight OClock Coffee is back.  Anyone?  I still think it is worth $3.

$1/1 Fresh Express Complete Salad Kit

Galaxy Veggie Cheese (I love this stuff)

$1/1 Chex Mix

$1/1 Blue Bell Ice Cream (as if we need more dessert this month!!)

Zevia coupons by mail (sign up on the bottom of the page, they will email you).  (if you have not had Zevia you are missing out on something really great.  Zevia is soda made with Stevia.  I can get it at my local Central Market.  It is not cheap, but worth the splurge once in awhile) 

Happy Saving!

Albertsons Updated a little...

Ohhh, finally here it is;

I haven't even looked at it yet, so don't ruin any surprises for me....

albertsons Ad. preview

1) Kelloggs cereals will be .67 each after this $1/1 coupon!!

2) and a pretty good Arm and Hammer deal. Buy one detergent at I am guessing $6.69, get one free plus one of the Essential Cleaning Kits;

6.69 - $1/1 coupon
Free - $1/1 coupon
Free - $1/1 coupon
= 3.69 for 2 detergents and a window cleaner. Not bad.

get the coupons here from the Arm and Hammer site

3) medium size oranges are .38 lb

4) check out Coupons.com for some coupons making Lucky Charms 1.45 each

Check out The Grocery Gathering for your favorite local store.

Our first See Kai Runs for .25

My favorite Childrens Consignment shop had a $5 off any $5 purchase in the local Val Pac a few days ago. Free $5, I said??? I couldn't wait to get there.

Being the small local owned shop that it is, I could not bare to just go in for my free item. I wanted to support them in these tough economical times. So, I spent!

I found 1 pair of shoes, 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts and three board books. After my coupon I only spent $25!! I like to think the high-end See Kai Run shoes were only .25 after my coupon (as they were marked $5.25). What a deal either way.

I love Val Pac and I love my Consignment store.

Super Sample Sunday

I did pretty well for myself this week!  

A diaper is always useful and the 100% natural childrens cough syrup will be handy down the road. 

I also got a surprise freebie from Markers Mark alcohol (I signed up to become an 'ambassador' for free address labels a long time ago), they sent some wrapping paper, labels and ribbon.  The alcohol theme is on everything  and the snowflakes are made with bouborn bottles, its actually kind of cute.   They will be great on my brothers Christmas presents as I have not wrapped them yet!

What did you get this week?

Hip Jeans: $2

Being naturally frugal at heart, and now living on one income, I have found other ways to update my wardrobe. I have discovered the art of making over your own clothing.

I have this wonderful pair of very flattering jeans. Though I did not spend much on them, a TJ Maxx special, the Buffalo brand still makes me feel special, and makes my rear end look smaller!!

I have not been wearing them lately because the flare leg on these is a little out-dated. Oh, what to do? I decided to give them a total makeover.

After a little research I learned how simple it would be to just take in the legs and make 'skinny jeans'. But, if they were to be skinny jeans they would need to be a darker color, right? So, I went the dye route again. RIT dye, big bottle, liquid, in the color Denim, $2.67. Perfect.

I ripped open the inner seam up past the knees, tried them on and safety pinned where I wanted them sewn in. After lots of pinning, measuring, and taking my pants carefully on and off for a bit, I was satisfied and sewed and serged up the whole leg.

After I had them to a perfect fit I threw them in the wash for good measure while preparing my dye solution. I decided not to use my big soap pot this time as I thought it would not be enough room for these jeans to 'move around freely'. I have a front load washer so that was out as well.

I was left only with the sink method. I boiled two big pots and one kettle of water and dumped them into my sink with the dye and salt mixture. I swished around and added my jeans. I let them sit for the full hour as I wanted them as dark as possible. After rinsing for a ridiculous amount of time, I was finally able to was them 'as directed'.

The suspense was taking hold of me until I finally got to try them on. I really love them and am so happy I decided to take this plunge. I will certainly be doing this again if I get the chance!!

For other Fantastic Frugal Ideas, visit one of Crystals many sites!

My Free Diaper!

If you have not noticed Andreas Button on my blog them I am very sorry, I should move it up. You, too need to check out her site. Momma In Flip Flops2 is one of my favorite blogs. The creator, Andrea, reviews all types of wonderful mom and baby oriented products, shares her knowledge, tells us of special sales and deals and even gives away lots of really great prizes.

Last month I put my name in for an organic cloth diaper and I won. I am still excited!!

The super cute Sandys diaper I got is so wonderfully soft I actually rubbed it on my face. (clean, of course!) I could not wait to put it on my daughter. I love the organic factor, I really wish I could always put her in organic. The snaps are really cool, this is my first snap diaper and she just could not figure out how to rip it off!! They sure have that over bumGenius!

My favorite feature of this diaper is probably the elastic sides and waist. While being very stretchy and holding in anything I would not want leaking out, it is still soft enough to not leave marks on her skin. That makes me very happy.

Oh, and the super cute Mother Ease cover and organic diaper liner aren't bad either!! I also discovered that the covers come in a variety of cute Eco Prints, adorable animal prints from around the world. Now I want the Wetlands print!

Oh, and the price is really good for organic. The diapers that fit my little one are about $12 each!! The covers are about the same price, and one would generally last a whole day. A really good buy for such high quality organic diapers.

Thank you Andrea, and thank you Mother Ease!

Albertsons Ad is Here!!

Check out the Grocery Gathering for your favorite stores!

Well, we did not get lucky enough for an early sneak peak this week.  I had to wait till my mail came at 4pm to get mine!!  Oh, well.

When you spend $10...

Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers will be .75  (have any old $1/1 ???)

Betty Crocker Cakes .75

Betty Crocker Mashed potatoes $1

Betty Crocker Brownies $1 (.40/1 here)

Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes $1

Grands Biscuits $1

Betty Crocker Cookie pouches $1

Kix, Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast, Reeses Puffs, each $1.50 ( .55 off Cinnamon Toast here)

Curves, Caribou Coffee, Nature Valley Granola Bars. each $1.50 (use Rite Aid Ad from Sundays paper for $1/1 = .50 each!)

Progresso soups $1.50

Yoplait Yo+, Fiber One, Kids, GoGurt; $1.50

Spices will be 50% off, including Albertsons brand, Spice Island and McCormick

Chex Cereals are 3 for $7; buy 3 get 4 two liters of Coke Products

save $1/2 Chex

Thats what I see for now!