Another Great Deal Site!!

There is another deal site that I wanted to let you all know about. The name of the site Become.com, and it is not only a site for shopping, but you can also research products on it as well.

There is a search box at the top of the page where you enter the product that you are interested in, you can then choose to shop or research. You can narrow your search results by searching in a certain price range, by color, brand, store, or category.  So, say for instance you needed to purchase a 1 gallon gas can (you never know, it is always good to be prepared for emergencies), you would type that in the box.  If you were looking for a 1 gallon gas tank, you would type that in and get search results for that.

If you are looking for something a little more detailed, say 05 galant projector headlamps, or 04 lancer ralliart fenders, you would type that in and several sources that have those headlamps would pop up.  Those searches would take you to the automotive section of the site.

What makes Become.com different from the other site, in my opinion, is the ability to research items on the same site.  IF you are big online shopper, this is definitely worth checking into.


disclosure:  This is a sponsored post.

Great GoodWill Finds!!

You guys know how I love a good thrift store!! Well, I happened to stop by the GoodWill today, and this is what I found. My total today was $14.00, not too bad!!

Two pairs of skinny jeans for my oldest daughter, as well as a shirt for her.  One belt for me, and three shirts and a sweater.  I also found three books, one small wooden box (upcoming project) and a purple trash can.  I do have to say, I love GoodWill, they always have really great deals!!

More Great Finds at GW!!

Okay, so I posted here, about the great things that I found the other day at Good Will. Well, I went back today, and they were having a sale, 50% off of everything in the store. They still had the $1.00 racks up and they were included in the sale. I found so many great things!!

I love finding little treasures that I can "re-do"!!  There are several projects coming up soon!!

So, in total I spent $10.00!!  I LOVE IT!!  Several of the clothes that I bought are going to be refashioned, and I will post them once they are finished.

Decorating on a budget!!

So, how do you redecorate a home on a really small budget?? Well, that is the question that I am currently seeking the answer to. I am looking at the experience as my "great big" DIY project. If I can pull this off, then I really am good at being frugal.

The first problem, ugly wall paper and nasty paint. What do you do to fix it, repaint it. I have found that a simple coat of paint can completely change the look of a room, and even the entire house.

When you are choosing your paint, don't be afraid to go for it. Many times we like a color but think it is too bold. I say, just go for it. I did, in my kitchen. I was a little scared at first, but I LOVE the way my "Green" kitchen turned out.

If you do decide to paint, make sure you do it properly. In other words, if you are painting over wall paper use primer.

Pay attention to the details. Just by changing the knobs on your kitchen cabinets you can make a huge difference in the appearance of your room.

Take a look at your flooring as well. If you have carpet down now, but have hardwood floors underneath the carpet. You may want to consider pulling up the carpet and going with the hardwood floors.

Those are my tips for today, but stay tuned. As I mentioned earlier, this is a large project for me and I will be sharing all of my discoveries with you as I go along.

Do you have any tips for decorating on a SMALL budget? If you do, share them please!! I would love to hear them.

photo source: chris campbell

Is buying in bulk always a great idea??

So, is buying in bulk at stores like Sams and Costco always better? That depends on what you are buying. I have found that there are certain things that are better to buy in bulk, for instance I buy cake flour in the 25 pound bag. It costs roughly $7.00 at the Sams I shop at for the 25 pound bag. I have found this to be a really good deal, because a 4 lb. bag usually costs between two and three dollars. I bake most of our breads and biscuits from scratch, along with cookies, cakes and other treats. Needless to say we use a lot of flour.

I have also found that buying sugar in the 25 pound bag is also a good deal. However if you are going to buy a quantity this large, you need to have somewhere to store it. We went to our local grocery store and asked them if they had any buckets from the bakery that they would sell us. They ended up giving us one 5 gallon bucket and a couple of smaller buckets that they no longer needed. This works perfectly to store our flour and sugar.

There are, however, things that are not really that great of a deal when buying in bulk. Depending on how brand loyal you are, and we are not brand loyal at all, things like laundry detergent I would not consider to be a good deal. Many times at grocery stores you can find laundry detergent on sale, and when combined with a coupon you can get a bottle for around $1.00 to $2.00 dollars. Shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, and other personal items I would not consider a smart buy either. If you are a CVS shopper, it has probably been a long time since you actually paid for toothpaste. It seems to be on sale every week, with coupons and Extra Care Bucks.

So, in my opinion, shopping in bulk is a good idea if you price things by the unit or pound, and find that you will not find a lower price on the item elsewhere.

photo source: alaskaval

Decorating Part II !!

As promised, here are the pictures of my daughters room that we recently decorated. You will have to excuse the one armed baby doll, I am not sure what happened to the other arm. I think it was probably taken off by one of the boys and used as a weapon, but there is no way to know for sure, haha.

I already told you about the bedding and the wall stickers. I was also able to find some other cute things. We found the butterfly nightlight at Target as well. The little pink balls hanging from the ceiling are paper lanterns from the dollar store. The pink baskets pictured below were found at Target in the dollar section. I think they are out for Easter, but they work perfectly for holding all of the little things that girls collect; hairbows, finger nail polish, and tons of lip gloss.

Of all the things that we found for her room, this is her favorite. The pink Princess Piggy Bank, complete with a crown and tutu.

We both had so much fun with this project.  My budget to begin with was $200.  We actually spent $153.  The cost breakdown is below:
Bedding set: $20.00
Sheet Set: $10.00
Wall Stickers:  $18.00 (we bought two of these for a total of $36.00)
Night Light: $12.00
Princess Piggy Bank: $12.00
Paper Lanterns: $3.00 (we bought three of these @ $1.00 each)
Little Pink Baskets: $3.00 (we bought three of these @ $1.00 each)
Rug: $17.00
Curtains: $24.00
Pillows: $16.00

Total = $153.00

So, it is possible to decorate and come in under budget, you just have to be creative!!

Decorating on a budget!!

I am used to working on a budget, in all aspects of my life. On our budget certain things take lower priority, for instance decorating. However, this week we decided to decorate my oldest daughters room, but of course I wanted to stay strictly within our budget. So, how did we do it?

Well, first I checked all of the sales. I have been looking for bedding to go on sale for the past few weeks, and finally Target put their cute bedding sets on sale. I took my daughter with me so that she could pick out what she wanted (this was a good lesson on money for her). At first she loved everything that we saw (she is only 5 years old), but after much debate on colors and price she finally decided on a cute set with polk a dots. The great thing about Target this week was they also had their sheet sets on sale, so we were able to find a cute one to match the comforter set.

Next we turned our attention to the walls. They were plain white, so we wanted to add color without painting. We decided to go with Wall Decals. We found dots that matched the colors in her bedding set, so we grabbed those. I must say that I love these wall stickers. They are so easy to apply, all you do is peel them off and stick them where you want them. You can even peel them off of the wall and reposition them if you want to. We bought two packages of them, and they added just enough color for her room.

Stay tuned tomorrow for pictures and details on the rest of the room.

Old Navy Coupon and Sale!!

Today only, you can save an additional 15% at Old Navy by using the code SAVE15 at checkout. You can also get free shipping on orders over $50 by using the code ONGIVE50.

Kohl's Specials!!

If you are planning on doing any shopping at Kohl's, you may want to do it tomorrow. They will have 100 Early Bird specials. You can save an additional 15% online by using the code LUV15OFF at checkout. The in-store event runs from 7am to 1pm. The online early bird specials run from 1am to 4pm.

New York and Company Coupon!!

You can save $20 off of a $60 purchase at New York and Company by printing the coupon here, or using the code 2087 online.  If you are planning to make a larger purchase you can also save $50 off of a $125 purchase by printing the coupon here, or using the code 2088 online.

Happy Shopping!!

Publix Trip!!

While I was out today, I decided to take advantage of some of the deals at Publix. I was able to get:

2 packages of Dole Peach Parfaits (4 packs)
2 packages of Gold Fish
2 boxes of Krustize Muffin Mix
1 Buddy Soap

My total was $5.48!!

I had a Publix coupon for (1) free Buddy Soap, and a buy one get one free coupon for the Gold Fish.  I also used the $0.50 Krustize muffin mix coupon (they were on sale for BOGO), and a $0.75 off of two Dole Parfaits coupon.

If you have a Publix near you, you should visit their website and sign up for the clubs that they offer.  They will send you coupons in the mail, that is where I got the free Buddy Soap and Gold Fish coupon from.

Best Kroger Trip so Far!!

Okay, so I went to Kroger today to take advantage of the Mega Sale, and all of the coupon Match-ups. I was able to get all of this for only $16.96, that is a savings of 77%. This is what I got:

6 bags of Kraft cheese
3 boxes of Texas Toast
2 boxes of Fiber One Bars
2 boxes of Quaker Granola Bars
3 boxes of Wheat Thin crackers
1 container of Sara Lee Cheese Cake Bites
2 bottles of Franks hot sauce
6 containers of baby food
1 large box of cereal
1 Digiorno 200 Calorie pizza
1 package of tuna
1 bag of Quaker Snacks

That is a total of 29 items!!

I love it when the cashier is in shock!!

Tip: at my Kroger the Beech-Nut sale from last week is still going, so if you did not get to use your coupons, you can still get FREE Beech-nut.

I also noticed that the Ronzoni pasta is on sale for $1.59, so if you still have any of the $0.75 coupons, it would be a good time to stock up on noodles as well!

Christmas Clearance Reminder!!

I just wanted to post a little reminder about all of the After Christmas Sales, that will be starting the day after Christmas. This is the perfect time to stock up on decorations and gifts for next year. If you missed my post last year on all of the great stuff I found, you can see it here. I was able to pick up a ton of stuff on Clearance. I always try to save a little money at Christmas time to use on the clearance sales. Not only can you find gifts for next year, but you can pick up gifts that can be used throughout the year for birthdays or other occasions.


photo source: djayo

Back to School on a Budget: DIY Back-To-School Supplies

School supplies cost less with these fun projects.

Back-To-School doesn’t have to break the bank. Kim Danger offers fun tips that will help you make the most of your budget when the kids head back to school. Tips include money-saving craft projects and shopping advice.




Disclosure: This is a sponsored Post.