by Christy on July 13, 2011
Today, I am proud to share a guest post from my daughter Allie. She’s letting you know just what it’s like to shop with me.
After picking me up from ice skating lessons, my mom asked if I wanted to go to Kohl’s (ONLY because she had a $5 off coupon). Nevertheless, being one of my favorite stores, I agreed.
At Kohl’s, I found a pair of incredibly cute boots and begged my mom to buy them for me. I made sure to let her know they were 30% off because she won’t buy much unless it’s on SALE! Apparently, 30% off isn’t enough! She wouldn’t buy them…instead, she wandered off to the home decor section, leaving behind the amazing boots.
Exploring the store even more, I discovered an adorable blue denim vest! I again noted it was 30% off and asked if we could get it. I even tried it on so she could see how great I looked in it. Still…not enough, 30% off is just not enough!
So, in the end, we ended up at the checkout counter with 3 pairs of fun knee-high socks and some flip flops for next year. Just because she is seriously weird, my mom asked me to include the prices in my post. The socks, normally $10.00, were just $2.00, yes just $2.00! That’s 80% off! 80% off IS enough! The flip flops were originally $16.00, but we only paid $3.20. So, with our $5 coupon, it all cost just $0.20! Only $0.20!
That is shopping with my mom, according to me, Allie!
by Christy on July 12, 2011
by Christy on May 22, 2011
DisneyFamily.com has a very creative (and inexpensive) Father’s day gift. You can download a template, so you can print out a Daddyland Coupon Book, which would be perfect for your kids to give to their Dad. We are huge Disney fans, so we will definitely be making this!
Thanks Couponing to Disney!
by Christy on May 19, 2011
I am having so much fun playing with the Silhouette Machine. I created some sweet Princess Wands that you could use as party favors. I saw this idea, at my local scrapbook store, the Scrapbook Nook, and I knew I had to pick a couple of the empty tubes to make some of my own. The tubes were $ .99 each. The final cost was around $1.20 per wand, which is not a bad price as far as party favors go.
M&M’s fit in the tubes perfectly! I happen to have the super cheap M&M’s I picked up during the Easter clearance. The Easter M&M’s were wonderful, because they are pastel princess type colors.
I added all lavender M&M’s to one of the tubes.
I cut out a star and princess crown with the Silhouette machine to make the top of the wand. I added some “bling” to the crown. I cut different lengths of ribbon and taped them on the back side of the star.
Next I attached the plastic tube filled with M&M’s and I had myself a princess wand!
Unfortunately, my only daughter is out on a “Daddy/Daughter date” so I had to rely on my other children to be my princess models for me.
Um, do you think I need to be concerned that child #3 made a fairly decent princess?
Don’t forget! Silhouette is giving Thrifty & Thriving readers a great deal on a Silhouette machine. You can get a Silhouette SD machine and heat transfer package for only $219. That’s a savings of over $125!!! To get this special pricing, you will need to use the promo code THRIVING at checkout. This promo code is good from 5/17 -5/25 only! Here is what you get:
- Silhouette SD Machine
- 1 Roll of hot pink smooth heat transfer material
- 1 Roll of teal smooth heat transfer material
- 1 Roll of white flocked heat transfer material
If you already own a machine, you can get 25% off all heat transfer material.
Silhouette is also giving away a Silhouette Machine and heat transfer bundle to one super lucky Thrifty & Thriving reader. Make sure you head over here to enter the giveaway!
by Christy on April 25, 2011
With all the nail freebies and deals that have been available at Target lately, it got me to thinking I could put together a cute theme for my daughter’s birthday that is coming up. We could go with a “beauty” type theme and hand out fingernail polish and other items as the party favors. The best part – they won’t cost me hardly anything!!!
I have mentioned that every time I buy 2 Revlon beauty tools these 2 coupons print out. When ever I redeem them, I have had them redeemed for the full $5 value even thought the 2 items I purchase run around $3. If you are interested in doing the same thing, I would start by buying 2 small nail clippers at $1.59 and see if the coupons print out for you, if not, you can always return the clippers.
Here are the items I purchased for the party favors:
Revlon Emery boards 1.54
Relvon compact nail clippers 1.59
Up & Up nail polish remover .99
Small metal bucket .50 ($1 section – 50% off)
NYC nail polish .97
Total = $5.59
Coupons used:
$5/2 Revlon tool coupon that prints out at register when you buy 2 Revlon tools
.50 Target printable coupon for nail polish remover
Total Coupons = $5.50
Final Price = $ .09 (before tax)
For more, I plan to repeat the exact same purchase in another transaction. If you are interested in picking up some, you will need more than one computer to print the Up & Up fingernail polish remover coupons (you can print 2 per computer). You should get a new $5/2 Revlon coupon with each transaction you do.
To make the party favors, I added a little Easter Grass that I picked up last year at 90% off. You should be able to find some in the Easter clearance right now.
This is what everything looks like added to to the cute metal bucket. I added a couple of cotton balls to use with the fingernail polish remover.
Finally, I wrapped it all up with cellophane and tied it with a ribbon. We tend to have our birthday parties with smaller numbers, because it makes it more manageable for Mom, and my daughter likes a smaller group of friends anyway. I shouldn’t have any problem picking up enough to make 4 of these party favors.
by Christy on March 29, 2011
We love spending time together as a family, it’s fun to enjoy some quality time together, but with a large family it’s not always cheap! Here are some of the things we do to enjoy MORE family fun that is also frugal too!
We Take Advantage of FREE Store Events – We have headed to Home Depot or Lowe’s to make their FREE projects they offer each month. We plan on heading to the Lego Store in April for their FREE build event. We even had the opportunity to meet some Star Wars characters at Pottery Barn Kids once! You can find so many fun free events put on by businesses around you, you just need to know where to look. Most of these events are not only free, but they are also fun and sometimes even educational.
We Enjoy Art Projects – I am a big fan of art supplies!! You can get so much enjoyment with simple art supplies. The great thing is that you can often pick up the supplies for super cheap. We always pick up extra supplies in July and August when they have the back to school sales. The watercolors that my son used cost me only $ .25. There were hours worth of enjoyment from that one small quarter I spent!
We go Geocaching – Our family loves to go out on a Saturday afternoon for some Geocaching. It’s fun for everyone involved from the youngest to the oldest, they all love it. There is no cost involved, because we were able to download a FREE Geo-Caching app to our iPhone.
We Bake Something – Making things in the kitchen is a super frugal way to spend some quality time together as a family. Plus, there’s a bonus! When you are done, you get to eat what you made! Food and fun, it doesn’t get much better than that!
Speaking of Food and Fun - Tony’s Pizza is giving you “99 Days of More“! When you go to www.Tonys99DaysOfMore.com you can enter to win a $500 Visa Gift Card – they are giving one away every day! You can also win and Apple iTunes Gift Card or Nintendo Wii! They are also giving away 99 FREE Tony’s Pizzas.
This is a sponsored post through a compensated Mom Bloggers Club member program.
by Christy on March 23, 2011
At participating bowling centers, your kids can bowl 2 games per day for FREE! Dates, and age requirements will vary by location. You can check here to see if you have a participating location near you.
For older children or parents that want to participate in this promotion it will be a one time fee of $24.95 to bowl all summer long. Please check out www.kidsbowlfree.com for all the details on this promotion.
Thanks The Coupon Project!
by Christy on February 28, 2011
The first Tuesday of every month Lego Stores offer a FREE Build Event. The project for March is a cute little Lego bird. Kids ages 6 – 14 get to build the Lego bird and then get to take it home with them. The event starts at 5:00 and is only available while supplies last.
You can find a link at the top of the page to find a Lego store near you.. There is only one location in both Washington (Bellevue) and Oregon (Tigard). You may want to call your store just to double check the details and make sure they are participating.
