Deals & Giveaways

  • Organized Chaos: Organizing Our Stockpile

    I LOVE getting a great deal but over the last couple of years when I find a good deal the more I find myself asking “Do I really need this?”  Yes, using coupons are wonderful and getting a great deal is amazing only if you are going to use those items or plan on giving them away. A friend introduced me to the show “Extreme Couponing” and after a few episodes I could no longer watch it.  The amount that some people had stuffed in various places in their home was too much for me to even watch.  After some thought I decided to come up with a plan to organize my stockpile in a way that would give me a visual indication that our family’s stockpile is full plus keep the items organized in a way that anyone in my family can find an item, including the kids.

    Here is what I did:

    1. Reorganized our Linen Closet to make room for the stockpile bins.
    2. Purchased inexpensive containers from the Dollar Store.
    3. Used the Label Maker to put the description on the front of each container.
    4. Filled the containers with items from the stockpile.
    5. Once a bin is full then I know it is time to stop buying that item
    6. Any extras items that I get for free I put into a separate box to be given away.

    The new system had to be practical for our family.  I think it is wise to be good stewards of what we have been given and find opportunities to share what you have with others.  I decided that if I had enough of a certain item to last our family for 6 months to a year our stockpile is considered full and I didn’t need to purchase any more of those items.  If I did get a couple items for free they would be put in a special box to give to others (charities, school, church, people in need, friends, family, and anyone else that may need an item from it).

    I have been using this system for several months now and I am really pleased with how it works.  It is easy to know when the stockpile is full enough for your family and it is more efficient when someone needs  to locate an item.  The majority of the items in this closet are office supplies, school supplies and miscellaneous household items.  I love having the freedom to take a few weeks off from using coupons, shopping, or getting deals in general because I know exactly what I have on hand and when I have enough for my family.

  • Family Outings: Fall Festivals & Fun Activities

    A little behind in posting these pictures but I figure it’s better late than never, right!? Since a couple of our family members have requested these pictures here we go…..

    One happy and one scary pumpkin on the front porch

    In celebration of Fall Festivals, events, and activities we had the girls do a pumpkin this year.  Brina wanted a happy pumpkin and Karlie wanted a scary pumpkin.  They did the outlines for their pumpkins and Daddy cut out the pieces.  They were both quite pleased with their pumpkins.

    One Blue Crayon and One Violet Crayon

    The girls dressed up this year as crayons!  They were super excited to wear their crayon costumes that we picked up on clearance last year.

    Goody cups for the girls class at school.

    The girls helped pack the goody cups for their teacher and friends in their classroom!  Besides stickers, pencils, glow in the dark silly bands we included a toothbrush and toothpaste.

    Candy Corn Cupcakes for the girls class

    We made candy corn cupcakes for the girls class at school.  They were so excited to take them and share with their friends at lunch.

    Karlie and Brina carrying their goody basket into school

    They were thrilled to carry the goody basket into school.  Several other students stopped to express their delight in the cool basket on their way to class, I think that alone made the girls day!

    Two little crayons and Daddy getting into the teacup

    This was the first ride the girls went on at the Fall Festival.  So thankful Jake was willing to ride with them, last year I went on it and almost threw up from the spinning!

    Hold onto your hats little crayons!

    It made me dizzy just watching them spinning in circles but they had a blast!

    Fun fall festival rides

    Our two crayons are in the blue one.  They loved this ride last year too.

    Having fun

    They loved looking out of their “cage” as they called it over the rest of the Fall Festival.  When they got off they told us everything that they saw on the ride and what activities they wanted to do.

    Ready to fly on the bug

    Two little crayons going for another spinning ride on the little bug, too cute!

    Bug in flight

    It was hard getting a picture when both of them were looking at me.  The bug got cut off on this one but at least both girls are looking my direction! 🙂

    All buckled in...now ready to swing and spin

    Daddy was such a sport and went with the girls again on this spinning ride.  Everyone is all buckled in and ready to SWING!

    There they are swinging

    It looks pretty innocent doesn’t it but if your stomach does flip-flops while going in circles…..

    Checking out all the equipment in the medical helicopter

    They had a emergency helicopter there so you could show your kids.  Pretty neat seeing on the devices they put into it.

    Two little crayons coming down the slide

    They had a blast jumping on bouncy castles, racing through bounce house mazes, and zipping down the slides.

    Two cute crayons next to a giant black cat

    The cat was having problems staying up but I snapped a quick picture with them in front of it.  They thought it was so funny seeing a giant black cat.

  • Family Outings: All Star Greenville Drive Baseball Game

    Karlie and Brina in their Greenville Drive All Stars Shirts

    Karlie and Brina received their Greenville Drive All Star TShirts for completing the reading program through the library.  They were super excited to get the free Tshirts, to walk in the parade, and to get free tickets to a Greenville Drive baseball game!

    Brina and Karlie walking in the "All Star" parade before the Greenville Drive game

    The girls were loving the “parade” around the field before the Greenville Drive game.  They were amazed at all the dents in the scoreboard from all the baseballs hitting it.  I think it surprised them that the balls would hit it so hard.  The shirts were really big (one size fits all) so they had a hard time figuring out how to wear them without them being a dress, in this picture Brina is just holding hers up and Karlie has her tied up.

    Watching the Greenville Drive play baseball!

    The girls loved watching the Greenville Drive baseball games.  They really started getting into the games, really cute.  It was a great activity with the family and we had extended family join us for this game (Luke, Kristen, and Hudson) as well making it even more fun!

    Hanging out at the game with Daddy

      Thanks Daddy for getting us great seats!  The girls got free tickets for finishing the reading program and Daddy was able to get the rest of us seats through work!  We had a blast even though the Greenville Drive didn’t win that night!

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    Last week was packed full of a lot of extra activities, appointments, refinance closing, and travel some of the events were on the calendar and others we squeezed in because it was necessary.  The biggest blessing was being able to cross off our Refinance Closing.  The paperwork was submitted back in September and several of the documents re-submitted over the last couple of months because the lender couldn’t find the paperwork we gave them or one person didn’t give the next person the right information and so forth.  Now we can breathe a little sigh of relief to get that completed.

    Even though I didn’t get everything done the good news is I am at least taking small steps in the right direction.  This week will not be a huge goal driven week because of the Thanksgiving Holiday.  My biggest “goal” is to spend quality time with my family.  Hopefully, as we spend time together I will get some necessary items accomplished but if not that is okay too because life needs to be fun every once in awhile, right!?  Jake and I have several joint projects that we are hoping to work on over the next few weeks and the girls want to put up the tree.  Some of my goals will be on “hold” during this week, you’ll see it pick back up again after Thanksgiving! 🙂

    Here is the update on last weeks goals:

    Family Goals

    1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
    2. Read a book to the girls everyday
    3. Have the girls read 1 book to me 5 days this week
    4. Do devotions with the girls every night (sometimes it gets late and we rush to get them into bed) – really need to do better on this one, we spent extra time before bed one night talking on the phone to Daddy since he was traveling this week instead.
    5. Get the girls passport pictures taken – did not get their pictures done
    6. Finish filing the last several weeks of coupons in my File Folder and Binder – didn’t get this done, other priorities popped up

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week – did much better (4 days) but missed one day so can’t cross this one off
    2. Finish reading  The Money Saving Mom’s Budget: Slash Your Spending, Pay Down Your Debt, Streamline Your Life, and Save Thousands a Year by Crystal Paine who has a blog called Money Saving Mom (VERY excited about the opportunity to preview this book by a blogger I have been following for years and thankful to be featured on her blog weekly with the Save A Lot Deals!) – still reading other activities took priority this week
    3. Listen to the next section of  Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (I am going through this book with my Community Group)
    4. Go to bed by 10:30 or earlier on Monday through Thursday – I was really bad at the beginning of the week getting to bed on time because I was trying to finish a project but I paid for it the next day.

    Home Management Goals

    1. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
    2. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
    3. Dinner on the table by 5:30 PM (Monday through Thursday)
    4. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day – Jake was traveling this week so I had to move my laundry day up 2 days to help with packing and since we were only home for a couple hours that day I wasn’t able to get it done in 1 day, it took me 2 days this week.
    5. File the receipts for the last couple of months and organize the table in the office. – still waiting to be done

    Business Goals

    1. Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk – it was a wild week with Jake being gone, long doctor appointments, phone calls, refinance, and I didn’t do this really important task and now feel the side effects of it
    2. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week
    3. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    4. Research ways to create more residual income – didn’t get to it
    5. Review my 2011 Business Goals and start planning ones for 2012 – I did write down a couple thoughts but didn’t get really in depth in this one so don’t feel right about crossing it off

    Ministry Goals

    1. Make at least $25 towards my Creative Cash goal this week so I can give more to others. – wasn’t able to do this one.
    2. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
    3. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch – I got to have lunch with Jake and his co-workers while supporting a local charity!

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Close on our Refinance – Our plan is to go from the 30 year mortgage that we have been paying off to a 10 year mortgage with a lower interest rate. Sooooo THRILLED to have this one done!   🙂  We knocked 11 years off what we were currently paying by switching to a 10 year and the best part is we are now paying about $20 less every month with the new mortgage!
    3. Pay off remaining debt – almost there
    4. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses – on hold until the debt is paid off

    Here are my goals for the upcoming week:

    Family Goals

    1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
    2. Read a book to the girls everyday
    3. Have the girls read 1 book to me 5 days this week
    4. Do devotions with the girls every night (sometimes it gets late and we rush to get them into bed)
    5. Spend extra time with my family over the Thanksgiving Holiday

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
    2. Go to bed by 10:30 or earlier on Monday and Tuesday

    Home Management Goals

    1. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
    2. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
    3. Dinner on the table by 5:30 PM (Monday through Wednesday)
    4. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    5. Put up the Christmas Tree

    Business Goals

    1. Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk
    2. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week

    Ministry Goals

    1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
    2. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Pay off remaining debt
    3. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results

  • Book: “The Five Love Languages of Children” by Gary Chapman

    When Jake and I went to marriage counseling over 11 years ago we were encouraged to read “The Five Love Languages” for married couples by Gary Chapman.  Several years ago I read The Five Love Languages of Children and decided to read it again recently.  I tend to read several books at once so I started this one again a couple weeks ago as a refresher.  As the girls get older I want to continue finding ways to both encourage them and show them that I love them.  The Five Love Languages are the same ones that are discussed in Chapman’s other book but he applies it to raising children.   The following are the five languages with examples (some examples are from the book, others are ones I came up with).

    1. Quality Time – Spend one on one time with each child, go on Mother Daughter Date Night, work together on a project
    2. Words of Affirmation – encourage them through words, praise them for a job well done, put a “love you” note in their lunch box
    3. Gifts – give gifts as an act of love, cherish the gifts or pieces of artwork they give you, buy a box of their favorite cereal and give it to them as a “I was thinking of you” gift
    4. Acts of Service – doing something for them, making them lunch, picking up their room
    5. Physical Touch – a hug, pat on the back, walking and holding their hands

    One thing that I like about the book is it encourages parents to not only focus on their child’s primary love language (which can change throughout life) but to make sure to show love through all five love languages so their emotional love tank is full.  After reading through most of the book again I went to a parent event at the girls school and the speaker talked about the principles taught in this book.  I was thrilled to hear such an amazing message was being presented to the parents of students in the public school.  I hope and pray the girls know how much a truly love them.  I am willing to go the extra mile to find ways to be a better Mom to them.  If you are looking for a book to read on raising children this one would be a great one to check out.

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    The week packed full to the point of over flowing on most days.  I was trying to mainly just keep my head above water most days this week.  Thankfully I was able to find some deals early in the week and was able to stock up on some items for upcoming Holiday celebrations.  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from Ingles

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $32.88 at Ingles for 1 bag Laura Lynn Bread, 3 bags Laura Lynn Shredded Cheese, 4 blocks Laura Lynn Sharp Cheddar, 1 box Go Gurt Yogurt Tubes (8 count), 1 bag Laura Lynn Splenda Sweetener, 1 can Canola Cooking Spray, 1 bag Laura Lynn Mini Marshmallows, 4 boxes Blue Bonnet Margarine, 2 bags Idahoan Bake Potatoes, 1 can Heavy Whip Cream, 2 containers Planters Creamy Peanut Butter, 2 boxes Laura Lynn Cream Cheese, 1 bag Celery, 1 can Laura Lynn Pumpkin, 1 bag All Purpose Flour, 1 bag Dixie Granulated Sugar, 1 box Powdered Sugar, 1 box Brown Sugar, 1 box Pilsbury Funfetti Cake Mix, 1 container Cool Whip, 2 cans Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Chili Peppers, 1 bag Red Delicious Apples, and 1 Yellow Sweet Onion. (Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down, or on clearance including the diary and produce!  I used several coupons to help bring down the total on this shopping trip and it was still a little higher than I like it to be, but with all the Holiday Celebrations we needed to stock up on some items.)
    Groceries from Walgreens

    Walgreens Groceries:

    • $3.93 at Wlagreens for 2 packs Austin Peanut Butter Crackers (8 count), 1 pack Austin Cheddar Cheese Crackers (8 count), 1 jar Lindsey Green Olives, 2 gallons Milk, 1 can Wasabi Almonds, 1 can Butter Toffee Peanuts, and 1 can Peanuts. (I used a $3 off 10 coupon since it was a new location, a couple Register Rewards, and coupons to help pay for these items).

    This week I spent $36.81 on groceries.  Even though I only a little under on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on several items.  The items at the new Walgreens new us were pretty good it was worth it to stock up the pantry at those prices.  I hope that next week is better week and we can come under budget!

    It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks!  As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me.  I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too.  The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.

  • Amazon.com: 4-for-3 Book Promotion includes Adventures in Odyssey Imagination Station Books

    Amazon is running a 4-for-3 Promotion!  This is a great sale to stock up on some items for your family or purchase a few gifts for the Holidays!   Buy Three Books, Get the Fourth Free on any four eligible books under $10 in our 4-for-3 Books Store and we’ll give you the lowest-price book free at checkout. Stock up and save on the titles you love.

    Amazon has the Adventures in Odyssey Imagination Station Books are included in their 4-for-3 Promotion!  When you buy four different books, you only pay for the price of three.  They have a lot of books included in this deal so not all of them need to be the Imagination Station books.  If you do buy 4 Imagination Station books the total will be $14.97 (or $3.74 each).  Shipping is free with an Amazon Mom account or when you spend $25 on qualified items.   To bring your total down even more use your Swagbucks Amazon Gift Cards to get gifts for the kids on your list for the upcoming Holidays!

    Our family loves reading.  Anyone that has been to our house knows we enjoy books from the kids on up.  One of the girls favorite activities is to have Dad or Mom read them a story.  A lot of times during the day we will read picture or smaller books and at night we read from a chapter book.  These books are great and it gives us an opportunity to get a couple for Christmas at a great price especially once you apply those Swagbuck Amazon Gift Cards if you haven’t already done so you can sign up today and start earning, for more information on how to get started go to Swagbucks: Earning a Little Extra!

    Thanks Money Saving Mom!

  • CONGRATULATIONS to Our Winners of the Torani Flavored Syrups!

    I decided to have the girls each draw a name for this giveaway so there are TWO Winners of the Torani Flavored Syrup Giveaway!

    CONGRATULATIONS to Lynette

    and

    CONGRATULATIONS to Renelle

    for winning a

    FREE Bottle of Torani Flavored Syrup!

    Thanks for making a comment in honor of our Giveaway

    Enjoy Your Next Cup of Coffee!

    An email will been sent to the winners with more information on how to claim your prize.*  A special thanks to SheSpeaks and Torani for teaming up with Blessings Multiplied to do this giveaway!  Don’t forget to enter our CVS Gift Card Giveaway this month as well!

    *Giveaway must be claimed within 5 business days of the prize being announced.  Failure to claim the prize within the allotted time frame means you forfeit the prize.