Swagbucks and a Giveaway

Okay, I've talked about Swagbucks a couple of times now and the last time I mentioned my sister was having a little issue. Well, it ended up being a small misunderstanding (on her part) and the Swag guy was very helpful and speedy in helping her resolve her issue.

Before she got her problem worked out, I decided to trade in some of my swagbucks for a gift card. Just to see if I would have as smooth a transaction as my first time. And then I got the brilliant idea that I should get something that I could give to one of you. And since it's been a time of scaling back on budgets these days, it should be something fun.

I had another great transaction with Swagbucks. So...


I'm giving away a $5 gift card to Starbucks.

Since I'm all about convenience and ease in my life and I'm feeling so excited about someone smiling and enjoying some wonderful concoction, all you have to do is leave a comment. Yep, any plain, old comment. Just be sure to leave me some way to get in contact with you if you win. If not, the prize will go to someone else and it will ruin my fun. *grin*

You know what, I'm feeling reckless and wild, so if you decide to sign up for Swagbucks through my link, I'll enter you another two times. Just leave a comment letting me know so I can verify it. Then you can start searching your own way to more gift cards or other prizes! Updated: And that's the problem with going reckless and wild, you do not have a chance to think. This looks shady, so since this is my blog, I'm changing it up. Everyone gets three chances to win. Period.

So there you have it. You get three entries for leaving any random comment. (Please leave me an e-mail address if it's not in your profile. I wasn't kidding when I said it would ruin my fun if I have to pick someone else.)

I'll pick the winner on Tuesday, February 24th.

Oh, and both companies might like me to state that they have absolutely nothing to do with this giveaway or my blog. Just a feeling...



P.S. If the thought of leaving a random comment makes you nervous and your hands sweaty, please feel free to share your favorite money saving tip. I wouldn't want you to leave here uncomfortable.

Swagbucks Follow-Up

Update 2/6 - I'm doing an experiment and ordered a gift card to see if it would be as easy to redeem as my first experience...because my sister is having an issue with one she ordered. So, stay tuned because I'm going to give it away when/if it gets here...

Back in November, I did a post talking about Swagbucks. Just in case anyone was wondering what I thought about it...



My original goal in using Swagbucks was to be able to get a rookie Cal Ripken baseball card for Richie for Christmas. He was pleasantly surprised by this small gift and I felt extra good that I got it for free. *grin* I did think it was pretty cool.

Since then, I have continued to earn swagbucks and I am half way to a gift card that I want. I don't use it very often, so I'm slow in earning them. It helps that I had two people sign up under me, so I benefit from earning some while they do their searching and winning. Who knows, I might change my mind if they add some new, cool prize that I can turn into a gift again. *wink*

The only issue that I've had is that my searches don't seem quite as extensive as if I was using another search engine. Most of the time this is not a problem for me because I'm still finding what I need, but it could be a problem for some types of searches.

So, I'm slowly searching my way to some nifty prizes. You can sign up here through my link if you're interested in trying it out. If you've been using it, I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Frugal Christmas Decorating

I truly want my kids to have fond memories of holidays and traditions, whether we are celebrating Christmas or just turning an ordinary day into something special. That being said, I do not have very many Christmas decorations and am unwilling to spend a lot of money on them.

There are so many great ideas out there (or should I say here?) on the web. And for some of them, all it will take is some paper, scissors, and ribbon. My favorite so far this year is a name of Jesus garland I found from Monica at The Homespun Heart. I plan on making it this weekend and I'll try to post a picture because I can't link to it from her blog.

I've been talking with my sister, Jaclyn, about it and I asked her to share a couple easy and cheap ideas on Christmas decorating. So, without further ado, I introduce Jaclyn: my youngest sister, chef extraordinaire, and first guest poster.

There’s something magical to me about driving around in December and seeing all the houses lit up with thousands of Christmas lights. It brings back childhood memories of being jammed in a van with 5 siblings and my parents and everyone saying, “Oooooooohhhhhhh...aaaaahhhhh,” in unison as we drove down the rode. And I’ll never forget the ever so sweet memory I have from almost 14 years ago of my brother, Jordan, coming home one evening so excited after Jo Ann had picked him up from basketball practice. The thrill? She took a different way home so they could see the different houses lit up. You could tell by his face it meant so much to him.

Now as an adult, I want to be one of those houses. I want to make little kids smile. I want to have someone drive by my house really slowly enjoying my holiday spirit and hard work. I want to pull in my driveway after a hard day of work and be smiling so hard at my decorations that my cheeks hurt.

So, after asking my husband if we could decorate the outside of the house for the Christmas season this year and getting, “As long as no money is being spent and the electric bill doesn’t go up any” answer, I began brainstorming…trying to make Clark Griswald proud.

I decided to ask older family members if they might have anything extra or might be donating any of their decorations this year and if I could have them instead. I received two very nice wreaths and wreath hangers for my two upstairs windows and also the offer to rummage through a passed away family member’s Chirstmas stuff. They would rather see it used than keep collecting dust. So lesson learned? It never hurts to ask.

Picture taken before completion. It is now topped with a bow that has long, curly ends hanging down.

Want to guess what the frame of this tree is? Time to pull the tomato cages back out from storage. We anchored down a tomato cage (upside down of course) to one of our patio pots whose flowers have died for the season. Utilizing ribbon that I had bought last year on clearance from Goodwill, I started wrapping. First the red ribbon, followed by the gold ribbon. I found some garland that I didn’t use and presto! A pretty cool, abstract tree.

If you have a lot of garland and only a little ribbon try it out. We have no outside power, so adding lights was not an option for us, but might be for you. You can also hang small ornaments from it if you want. Get creative with it. Utilize what you have.

This idea is my favorite. I’ve been saving the “right” boxes for weeks. Brian even came back from the recycling center with two trying to help me out. I wrapped 5 different shaped boxes in festive, loud paper and threw ribbon and bows on them. The wrapping paper was bought last year after our Goodwill clearanced all their Christmas items, as was the ribbon. I made all the bows myself after seeing that the large ones at Walmart would cost $5 a piece.

A few hints: Only wrap the sides of the box you will see. Don’t waste the paper. Same with the ribbon. Don’t wrap it all the way around, it just needs the illusion that it is. We put very heavy rocks in the top boxes before wrapping, so the wind doesn’t take them away. It would be sad to see one of your pretty boxes tumbling down the street.

If you don’t want to wrap the boxes, you could paint them. We have a lot of extra paint from moving into our house. Painting will last longer through the years and you can probably turn around and use those painted boxes to put other decorations in for storage.

Last year, I stopped at a small tree lot and asked if they had any scraps. The man said they normally charge for them, but he let me have them for free. I was able to use the small branches around the house to decorate with. You could make a wreath, use some on your table as part of a centerpiece, or on your mantel. Add pinecones or other pieces of nature that you can find for free. I also recommend checking at your local Goodwill. You never know what you'll find there! Merry Christmas and happy decorating!

I hope this encourages you and that you can celebrate and decorate without feeling like your busting your budget this year. Merry Christmas!

For more frugal ideas, check out Frugal Fridays at Biblical Womanhood.

BigCrumbs - Updated 12/9

I just had to share some information about a company called BigCrumbs with you! I really wish I had known about it sooner.

BigCrumbs is very similar to Ebates in that you earn cash back for your online purchases when you use their retailer links. Their percentages vary with each store, so you would want to check each one and see which offers the highest rebate return.

The most fabulous thing (in my opinion) about BigCrumbs is Ebay. If you follow their link for Ebay before placing your bid or choosing the buy it now option, you can earn 20% cash back on your purchases. Yeah, you read that right, 20% back! Updated: It states "on the seller's fees" on the BigCrumbs site. So, I'm not sure what would amount that would equal out to be (based on price of item purchased?), but I'll still be using it at this point because no one else offers cash back on Ebay purchases as far as I know. It's not a great deal, but I guess it's something. A CrumbSaver receives 36% of fee and a CrumbEarner receives the 20% of fee. Sorry it took me a while to update this portion. I did not mean to mislead anyone! Forgive me?

You also have the option of choosing between being a CrumbSaver or a CrumbEarner. A CrumbSaver earns the maximum rebates from retailers and also receives referral commissions from the shopping of the friends they refer. A CrumbEarner earns a lower rebate on their shopping, but they not only earn referral commissions on their direct referrals, they also earn off of the referrals of their referrals - up to five generations away. So you can see how this could multiply like crazy.

I am currently set up as a CrumbSaver, but am considering the CrumbEarner thing. Their payment comes to you through PayPal, so you will need to have an account set up for that. So if you shop on Ebay, this is a great opportunity. As far as I'm concerned, BigCrumbs rocks! :)

Updated: Yes, the irony of this post about shopping after the previous post makes me shake my head. No, I don't understand it myself...

And by the way, if you were wondering about my Swagbucks progress, I was able to order the Christmas present I had my eye on! Let's just hope the receiver likes it...

Search Much? Have I Got A Deal For You!

So, have you heard about Swagbucks yet? I read about it a couple of weeks ago and just now got around to checking it out. Wishin' I had done it a whole lot sooner! Swagbucks is an internet search engine, like Google, but you earn points for searching. If you're searching the internet, you might as well be getting something for it in return, right?

The actual swagbucks are points based on your internet searching, purchasing, and referral of friends. The last being how you can really maximize your earnings. Swagbucks can then be turned into various gift cards and an assortment of quite a few other things. I already know the first thing I'm going to get. Can't tell because it's going to be a Christmas present if I can get it in time. :)

So, if you're interested, I would really appreciate it if you would sign up here , it's linked to my Swagbucks account. Plus, right now you can earn 3 points just for signing up.

And if you want a more detailed post about how it works from someone who has been doing it for awhile, visit this post from Lavonne at Economic Endeavors.

Happy searching!

Homemade Baby Food

Toward the end of my pregnancy with Abigail, I became very interested in making my own baby food. This way I could know what was going into her little body and I hoped that it would be cheaper.

Hands down, it is ridiculously cheaper. Not only that, it is soooooo easy! I can't believe I didn't do it with the boys.

A month or two before she was born, I bought a cookbook called La Petit Appetit by Lisa Barnes from a local discount bookfair. Can I just tell you how much our family has enjoyed this cookbook! We have not made a recipe that we didn't like so far. I never thought I would see a two year old scarf down eggplant, but I have now and he is one of mine. :)

That being said, this book is not necessary for making baby food. I had a severe "duh" moment when I read the portions regarding baby food. Basically, take what you are serving for dinner and either puree it or you can even mash it with a fork if it's soft. (You may have to add a small amount of water to make it a thinner consistency.)

It doesn't get much easier than that. And Abigail will now be exposed to so many more types of food that is not readily available in the store bought brands. Not only that, it's fresh and not processed. Nutritious, cheap, and easy - that's what I'm talking about! ;)

Even though Abigail is solely nursing right now, I still took advantage of the summer's garden offerings to make homemade (which happens to also mean organic in our house) baby food to store. I pureed a small variety of fruits and froze them to use when she is ready.

I have also been keeping my eye out at the grocery store for super cheap veggies and fruits. I recently got organic pears and sweet potatoes for a great price.

As far as storing it, you can take whatever you have made that won't be eaten in a timely manner and put it into ice cube trays to freeze. Then take the cubes, put them in a bag together and back in the freezer. Now you have baby sized portions ready to be thawed and eaten. I did run across these special cubes yesterday specifically for baby food storage in the freezer and think they're pretty cool.

Another way to make and store baby food is through dehydration. Dehydrate your fruits or veggies and store in airtight containers. Then when it's time to feed baby, pulverize the dehydrated food into a powder. Rehydrate the food with water to your desired consistency and serve.

I plan to follow our doctor's recommendations regarding foods (such as introducing one new food at a time), but there are so many more foods she can enjoy now than if we were using the jars and I know what is in the food she is eating. As she gets older, she can enjoy our whole meals and not just sides. I am so excited to be doing this with her!

Want more frugal ideas? Check out Frugal Friday at Biblical Womanhood.

Two Good Frugal Finds

These two deals I'm about to share were too much for me to keep to myself.

First, I was blog surfing the other day and read about some crazy Rite-Aid deals here. Basically, they have a bunch of stuff for free after rebates. Although money is tight, I decided it would be a good idea to pick up a few things.

We typically don't have colds that lost a long time in our house, but something to get through the symptoms while we're being healed is nice. I also hesitated because I am hoping to make my own all natural cold syrup this year.

Anyway, I went and scored! Big time. They had almost everything in stock that I had on my list (throat lozenges, chapstick, etc.). I got $82 worth of stuff for $52 and after I complete the online rebates, it will all be for free. Actually, I had 2 coupons, so I'll come out ahead about $3 or $4.

The current sales/rebates end on Saturday, Oct. 18th. I did talk to a girl who worked there and she said she thinks they're going to start doing it more often. Ah, I finally had success with "couponing".



Second, I was blog surfing again (because apparently I have no other commitments or demands in my life) and found My Penny Pile here talking about a new company called Inkubook. They are offering anyone who signs up by October 24th free printing of a photo book. All you pay is $6.99 for shipping for up to a 120 page photo book. I'm just trying to decide what to put in mine. What a great Christmas gift idea! Get the details here.

Homemade Baby Wipes

I finally did it. After putting it off for a month or two, I finally did it. I made homemade baby wipes. It was an unplanned thing really. Necessity was my motivation. It's amazing how stink can drive you like that.

Stink aside, it was super easy. I plan on adding an ingredient or two (like tea tree oil) in the future, but I just used water and baby wash since I had those on hand and really needed some wipes.

Here's how I made them:

1. Cut a roll of paper towels in half. This will almost make them look like toilet paper rolls.

2. Mix 2 cups of water and 1 Tbsp. baby wash (I used 2 Tbsp. and thought it was too sudsy)

3. Place the cut paper towel roll into the liquid mixture. Let it sit until the roll is completely soaked (approx. 2 minutes).

4. Carefully pull the inner cardboard core from the roll.

5. Start the roll by pulling a towel from the inside of the roll.

6. Store in tight container. I personally did not have a round container that would work for storing these and just used my old plastic baby wipe container. It seems to be working just fine.

There are tons of recipes online, so you can find one that works for you. Thanks to Cheryl for giving me the inspiration to give it a try. And of course, you can always use washcloths or soft cloth scraps for a more frugal and green approach. I'm considering it, but would probably be more motivated if I was using cloth diapers right now.

So, in honor of all things stinky and because you know I enjoy a good laugh...

Pumpkin Passdown

One thing I hope to do this fall is to collect pumpkins from friends and neighbors as they finish using theirs for decorating purposes. Of course, before the whole let 'em rot on your porch thing starts happening. :)

So what will I do with all that pumpkin. I plan to roast the seeds for yummy snacks and then cook and puree the meat, which I will then can or freeze. Here are some of the things I will use the puree for/in:

• baby food
• pumpkin bread
• pumpkin pie
• pumpkin dip we enjoy with graham crackers
• pumpkin soup (we'll at least try it)

We'll see how creative we can actually get through the winter. :)

For more Frugal Friday tips, head on over to Biblical Womanhood.

Genius Workbook Idea

I saw something at The Happy Housewife a week or two ago that I just had to share. You can use a sheet protector to extend the life of your workbooks.

Sound confusing? It's not. Cut a slit in the side of a sheet protector and fit it over the page you want to use. Use a dry erase marker to "write" in the book and when you are finished with the lesson, you can erase it and move the sheet protector to the next one. This way you can reuse the workbooks.

For the original entry, click here. She gives a photo pictorial in case you need to visualize it.

This is great for homeschooling, but I think it would be awesome for of all types of other "books". Mazes, word searches, crosswords, bible study guides, etc. I haven't tried it yet because we don't do too many workbooks except handwriting and art and Caleb needs to continue those in pencil, but I can't wait to give it a whirl. I love an idea that stretches my dollars and is easy to implement! :)

Frugal Friday - Water Tips

Okay, so my sister, Jaclyn, and I were talking today and our conversation has pushed me into the realm of my next blog step. Participating in my first ___________ ... I don't know, what is this called anyway?

Side Note: I was not kidding when I admitted my techno unsavviness and my desire to remain there to some degree. The whole blog button, carnival, and various other terms I cannot even remember right now from bloggy world overwhelm my already overloaded brain. Who knew such a vast and confusing land existed in cyber world? :) Now I can at least say I tried it once. And by the way, do we think we could start any more of these?! There's only like 500 for each day. Ah, I digress...

Anyway, here's a couple tips for conserving water, saving on your water bill, and things that might help in a time of drought:

1. When you need to get warm or hot water from your faucet, catch the cold water in a container as you wait for it to heat up and use it to water plants. In further thinking, I guess you could always use it to "flush" the toilet, fill up a humidifier, or anything like that.

2. Save the water that you have used to boil pasta, veggies, etc. in and let it sit. Once it is cool, use this to water plants. This is important where Jaclyn lives because the city charges her for the water that goes down her drain. An added bonus if its "veggie" water, it could add nutrients to your soil.

These may not make a huge difference, but every little bit helps, right?