Forgive me, I am in China! + I need a little help!

May 14, 2013 by

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For the past week or so I have been in Beijing China visiting my parents who live here. It is beautiful in the spring time and we are having a blast!

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My son, who is a little blondie, is a ROCK STAR! We can’t go more than 10 feet without getting mobbed by people wanting his picture.

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This is my Mom and I at one of the MANY temples in Beijing. I will post better pictures later on, these are all with a call phone!

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This is my little one “shopping” in a market. They have the coolest markets you can ever imagine!

Ok enough about me… What does this have to do with YOU? I need some help! I thought I would be able to post more, but my sister warned me the internet was spotty at best and she was right! Plus a lot of sites (such as Google) are blocked.

If you have a great deal, or found a great deal at a dollar store, please help me by sharing it with other readers! I will be paying a $5 Amazon Gift card OR FREE Product Coupons for those deals that I post.

This is what they need to have: 

  • Good, clear picture of shopping trip or in-store picture
  • List of coupons used and little write up of the trip – The amount and if you know where you got the coupons, that helps.
  • Your name and location – Like “Houston, TX.”  Just so readers can get an idea

Thats it! Easy! Just either post them on Facebook HERE and I will pull them off and post over here on the blog. OR you can email them to my sister at mylitter@mac.com and she will help me get them posted! Just put “Dollar Store” in the subject so she knows they are for us!

Readers find the BEST deals and other people like to see what others find! This is a win, win!

 

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Cheap and Easy Teacher Gifts – Part 1

May 3, 2013 by

:: Each Friday in May, I am posting a Teacher’s gift for $1! Make sure to check back and see what I make! :: 

School is almost out, and it’s time to start thinking about teacher gifts.  I know not everyone does them because of time and cost, but these 4 gifts are really, really easy and cheap to do and I think teacher’s need a little appreciation.  I substitute taught for 2 years and wow, I will tell you, that is a demanding job. I polled all of my teacher friends and asked them what they recieved most often, and the answer was candles and lotions.

My own Mother in law has an entire cupboard at home and school full of candles and lotions.  She sends me shopping there every time I visit and I love it.  But going beyond the normal gifts, my teacher friends suggested things that can be used, don’t take up much room, or are edible.  The first homemade teacher gift is this cute pencil vase!

I saw a similar one on Pinterest, but decided to put my own spin.  I have a TON of pencils from last year’s CVS deal where they were practically giving them away. I got five packages for free.  I purchased the skinny vase at Dollar Tree for $1.  You could cut the cost and be extra frugal by using a recycled veggie can.  Or use a glass cup that your kids broke all the matching ones to.  You choose.  I went with the skinny vase cause I thought it was cute.

Now, you can hot glue the pencils to the vase if you wanted, but doing it this way means the teacher can reuse these pencils!  I grabbed half the pencils and secured the pencils to the vase with a rubber band.

Then I did the same thing with the other half of the pencils.  Super easy.  You can add more or take away pencils as needed.   And that’s pretty much it!  It’s really that simple.  Crazy, huh?

Pencil Vase

To finish it off I grabbed a big, fat ribbon from the bag of ribbons I’ve been collecting over the years and tied it to the vase to cover the rubber bands.  Since I won’t be giving this away just yet, I used a fake flower that I had on hand.

So what is the final cost?The ribbon, pencils, rubber bands and flower are all things I already had on hand so my total cost was $1 for this pencil vase.  I could have even cut that cost by using a can, but I liked the vase.  If you had to buy all of these things new, it would still only cost around $2-$3 dollars.  You can pick flowers from your own garden, buy a small boquet fr om the Dollar Tree, or buy fresh flowers for as low as $4.  You have the option to make the flowers as expensive or inexpensive as you want.   If you don’t have pencils but have tons of markers, you could use those instead!  Get creative :)

Happy crafting!

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What Kind of Coupon is This???

May 2, 2013 by


Sometimes when you see a coupon it will say, “Available at..” and it makes you question whether or not you can use the coupon at a different store.  I have had cashiers question some coupons if they had the Wal Mart logo on them.  Tiffany over at OneDealataTime just posted the best tutorial on what coupons go where!

As you can see from the picture, the first coupon doesn’t have any kind of store logo.  Very simple.  That one you could take to any store, anywhere.

The second coupon says, “Available at HEB.”  They are hoping that when you see that, you will go to HEB and use it, but you can use it anywhere as well because it is still a manafacturer coupon.

The last coupon has a Target logo.  It is a store coupon, you will have to use it at the store listed.

Her tutorial is great, I suggest heading over there to read more!  Visit One Deal at a Time for the full post.

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Happy Easter!

March 31, 2013 by

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Happy Easter! I hope this finds you with loved ones, Cadbury Eggs, jelly beans and a ham :)

I am so grateful for the blessing of the Lord in my life and the chance to celebrate His resurrection.  It’s because of His sacrifice and love for us that we can live again.

At church today we had a beautiful lesson.  Our teacher told the story about a woman who had fallen into a deep pit.  Try as she might she was unable to climb out of the pit on her own.  She cried out for help, and a kind stranger answered her plea.  He lowered a ladder into the pit and she was able to climb out to freedom.  We are like the woman, in that the pit represents sin.  By ourselves, we would not be able to rid ourselves of sin.  The atonement of Christ is the ladder that allows us to repent of things we have done wrong and live again.  Even though God provides a ladder for us to get out of the pit, we must still make the choice to climb the ladder.

I hope you have a blessed Easter!

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Fix the Broken Lid on your Crockpot

March 28, 2013 by

fix your crockpot
A few months ago the lid just snapped off my Crockpot. Since then, I have had to wrestle my salad tongs away from the 2 year old every time I need the scalding hot lid to go on and off. It was driving me nuts. Then of course, Pinterest came to the rescue. But of course, I kept forgetting to grab a knob when I was at Hobby Lobby. Finally the other day I remembered… and fixed the lid on my Crockpot!

It was a VERY easy fix:

  • I picked a ceramic knob instead of plastic. No one wants melted knob in their food.
  • Then I made my husband remove the old screw/knob. We couldn’t find the right size screw driver, so we just used a hack saw and sawed it off. I thought it would take all night, but it was aluminum so it took 3 seconds.
  • Then we screwed the new knob on. Then I made him use the hack saw again to saw the extra length off the knob. Not necessary, but it made me feel better.

And that was it.

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Dollar Tree Easter Decor

March 14, 2013 by

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Target and Hobby Lobby are my favorite places (besides Dollar Tree) to pick up seasonal decorations. Of course, I wait until they’re about 75-90% off before I buy. Last year when Hobby Lobby had their Easter decorations on clearance, I ran in and spent about $15. I was able to score some of the CUTEST stuff. Some stuff I stole from my sister when she moved a few years ago :) and some stuff is new.  I got the teal ight holder (now an egg holder) from Dollar Tree, and the wreath.  The wreath took about ten seconds and $2 to make.
easter wreath 1
First I grabbed one of those small vine wreaths. I grabbed 2 bunches of flowers just in case I needed more. I think you could actually get away with just using one bunch, but I was nervous about being short.
Easter Wreath 2
I took the flowers off the branch, but left some stem so I could tuck it into the wreath. Then I hot glued it so they would stay secure. And that was it. It was so easy. I even grabbed some easter eggs I might add on. Or, leave the eggs off and have a spring wreath.
Easter Wreath from Dollar Tree
Canvas: Daily Deal Site// Easel: Gift // Eggs and Bunnies: Hobby Lobby // Wreath: Dollar Tree Handmade // Banner and Egg Sign: Stole from sister years ago // Tall Tea Light: Dollar Tree

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*HoT* Dole Pineapple Coupon (Teriyaki Crock Pot Chicken time!)

March 7, 2013 by

Dole Pineapple FDDole Pineapple DG

75¢ off when you buy any THREE (3) 20 oz. Dole® Canned Pineapple

Grab this new Dole Coupon and score some pineapple for almost $1 a can! Then you can use it to make Crock Pot Terriyaki Chicken! So easy, so good!

At Family Dollar $1.35
At Dollar General $1.50
75¢ off when you buy any THREE (3) 20 oz. Dole® Canned Pineapple
Final Price as low as $1.10

Terriyaki Chicken words Crockpot (Medium)
I have tried several freezer crock pot dinners (meals you make ahead and then pull out of the freezer and toss in a crockpot when you need them) and some of them were a bust. This one was DELICIOUS. I loved it. And, it needs pineapple so that’s where you can put this stuff to use!
Terriyaki Chicken words (Medium)
Teriyaki Chicken (2 Bags) for 2-4 people, depending on how hungry they are

Split a large bag of Baby Carrots between the 2 bags (I cut up my own large carrots-it’s much cheaper that way and I prefer small slices)
Cut Red Onion into Large Chunks and split between the 2 bags
1 20oz can pineapple in each bag with the juice
2 Garlic Cloves chopped per bag
2 Chicken Breasts in each bag
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce in each bag
*Add 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce to mixture when you put it in the crock pot.

Cook on HIGH for 3 hours or LOW for 6 hours. I shredded the chicken with a fork and then served over rice.

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Lesson 2: Plan Ahead to Save Money

March 6, 2013 by

plan ahead
I mentioned I was going to do a series that you can share with your friends on how to save money without overwhelming yourself.   Couponing takes a little bit to learn, but you don’t always have to coupon to save money. There are tons of little ways you can cut back and I want to point them out.  You never know when a tornado will hit, the house will catch fire or you might lose a job.  It’s best to be prepared and have a little saved for a rainy day.  Last week we talked about having a price point and a budget! This week I wanted to talk about planning ahead.  How many times do you forget to grab something at the store, forget a gift for a birthday party, etc?  Then you end up having to pay full price for something when you wait til the last minute.  When you plan ahead you can get things on sale, get them on clearance or find a coupon.

Most of the time I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl. Someone recently wanted to set up a play date a week in advance-and I was hesitant to say yes. I have no idea what my life will be like next week. But, even someone like me can plan ahead to save money. Here are few ways I plan ahead:

Meal Planning:

Planning your meals at least a week in advance will save time and money. How? You only have to go to the grocery store once, not several times because you didn’t know what you were going to get. The less trips to the store, the less you spend on things you don’t need. How many times was your husband supposed to just stop for cheese or one small thing and he came in with Coke, ice cream and a bag of chips? If you know ahead of time what you are having, you can do things like prepare all the chicken in advance, freeze it, and pull it out for individual meals. Instead of spending 20 minutes every meal cooking chicken, you did it all at once. You avoid the stress of “what are we having for dinner” when 4 o’clock rolls around. There are so many benefits to having a meal plan!

Kids Clothes:

If I am at a garage sale and I see a table full of little boys clothing that’s $.25 a piece, I will spend the time and dig through the clothing. I’ve bought Gap, Janie and Jack, Gymboree and Texas Tech clothing for $.25! My son is almost 2 now and I will buy up to a full year ahead. He has 2 boxes of clothing in his closet in sizes 2T and 3T waiting til he fits them.  It’s like Christmas when I open a box and see a jacket right as cold weather hits!  Score! I just saved myself at least $15 bucks by picking one up at a garage sale last summer! Sometimes it’s hard to guage where he will be in the fall when I see a lot of summer clothes, but at $.25 a piece I am willing to risk it a little.  The other thing I do is check the clearance racks. All. The. Time.  I bought him a $35 snow jacket last season for $6.88.  I also bought him a swim shirt and trunks on clearance at Old Navy for $4 total.  Booyah.

Christmas Gifts:

November is a killer time to buy Christmas gifts. Stores have GREAT sales (Black Friday). Take some time in October to sit down and really think about what you want to get people for Christmas, and stick to your budget.  Sometimes if you buy too early and forget what you have you might end up buying twice.  Just keep the receipts and keep that budget!  I usually am finished Christmas shopping in October/November and have time to sit around and bake cookies when December rolls around.  When I was in college and didn’t have a curious 2 year old I had a box that stayed under my bed. As I found a gift for someone I would put it in the box with my Christmas list. Buying things a here and there saved me time and money and I wasn’t overwhelmed the week of Christmas searching for a perfect gift.

Birthday Gifts:

For the rest of the year I pay attention to sales. I found an insane sale in April and bought a ton of toys, more than I normally would have. I held on to the toys until my boys birthday came and then I pulled some out. The other toys I hid til Christmas. Yes, I spent more in April than the budget would normally allow, but when Christmas came my shopping was done and I wasn’t spending money in December :) Toys go on clearance right after Christmas.  They go on sale right before Easter.  Online stores have blow outs.  If you can, set aside a budget for buying gifts and then hang on to them throughout the year when you can just pull them out of the closet as needed. Try to be a step ahead.

Gas:

There are TONS of resources about when to fill your car up, what gives you the best mileage, etc. What I personally do is try to pay some attention to the price of gas, either by the radio or just a news article. I am usually able to fill my vehicle up the night before it jumps $.15 a gallon. In the end, I only save about $1-$2 per tank, but hey, that’s a Coke!

Do you have anything that you shop ahead for? What else can you add to this list?

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Cheap, Easy Quiet Toy

February 25, 2013 by

Cheap, Easy Quiet Toy (Dollar Store Craft from Dollar Store Deals) (4)
It’s always rough taking an ambitious almost 2 year old to church. I have been trying to find ways that are not disruptive to keep him busy long enough that I can enjoy listening to at least SOME of the sermon. When he was just 11 months I saw my friend had taken a empty sour cream tub, punched holes in the top and was letting her son stick pom poms through it. He LOVED it and it kept him busy forEVER.
Cheap, Easy Quiet Toy (Dollar Store Craft from Dollar Store Deals) (1)
Honestly, I had no desire to wash out a sour cream tub, but I did have a nearly empty spice jar I had bought at Wal Mart for just $.50… so the next time I was at Dollar General I picked up a bag of pipe cleaners for just $1. Dollar Tree carries pipe cleaners, too.  I simply cut them in thirds and voila. I had a quiet toy that fit in my purse and could go just about anywhere.
Screen shot 2013-02-25 at 11.01.07 AMThe secret to a good quiet toy is to make it special.  He doesn’t ordinarily get to play with this at home.  It’s in the car or in my purse and I pull it out when I need him distracted for a few minutes.  I have had this now for almost a year and he still plays with it.  Now that he is older he enjoys unscrewing the lid and taking the top off by himself.  We also work on our colors-I say the color as he puts it in.  When he was little it was just as entertaining and really helped him develop his fine motor skills.
Cheap, Easy Quiet Toy (Dollar Store Craft from Dollar Store Deals) (3)
The entire craft only cost $1.50-and I still have an entire bag of pipe cleaners left over. If you already had this stuff on hand it would be free :) And you can tell, it was a good investment!

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Lesson One: A Budget and a Price Point

February 21, 2013 by

price is right

I mentioned last week I was starting a series on the basics of saving money.  It seems like our economy is getting into rougher shape than it is getting better, and more and more people are seeing a lot more taken out of their paychecks than this time last year.  It isn’t time to freak out, just spend a little wiser.  One of the things I have found that has helped me the most is to have a “price point” for items before I will buy them.

A price point will help you know if you are getting a good deal or not.  I don’t actually have a written out list of my price points, but it’s something I just “know.”  Here are a few examples:

  • Regular Price of cereals at Dollar General: $2.50 -$3 a box
    Price with coupons and sale: always less than $2 a box (when I had a store that doubled/tripled I never paid more than $.75)
  • Regular price of a shirt anywhere else $15-$25
    Average price of a shirt at Ross: $5-$10
  • Regular price of name brand diapers at Sam’s Club (make sure to check size, price goes up with size) $.16 each
    Sale price of name brand diapers with sales/coupons $.12 ish each
  • Regular price of milk at Wal Mart $4.96
    Sale price that I price match $3

Once you have an idea of the regular price, you can get an idea of the sale price, or a price point that you buy the item.   Sometimes there isn’t a sale on milk so you have to pay full price, or sometimes you HAVE to have something and you can’t wait for a sale.  It happens.  But I try to only buy items on sale or when the price has reached my price point.  Once you know what the lowest price you have seen an item is, you know that if it goes on sale for less (diapers on clearance at Walgreens for $.05 a diaper) you know that you need to stock up like crazy.  Also, knowing what Dollar Tree sells is helpful, too. I can grab a 14 oz Ajax dish soap there all day long for $1, it might be $1.19 at the grocery store regular price, and Wal Mart has them for $.97.  You know if Dollar Tree has that item then you should never pay more than a dollar for it.  Getting into the mentality of not paying full price will save you a TON of money.

To work with a price point it helps to know that grocery stores rotate their sales every few months.  Usually in the fall you see a ton of baking items on sale, produce here in Lubbock goes on sale every other week.  If you find the items on sale, use coupons and stock up, you can hold out until the next sale a few months down the road.  That is the key to the biggest savings and why so many people get more than one Sunday paper.  You might only eat 2 boxes of cereal a month, but if cereal only goes on sale every 4 months you will need a couple coupons to keep you stocked.

Now, having a budget is a no brainer.  Even if you don’t do a budget down to the very last penny, at the very least you should know what your monthly bills are costing you in comparison to what you are bringing in.  You should know what you can spend on diapers/food/clothes.  Sometimes when you find a great deal you might have to borrow from another part of your budget.  We spend about $8 on wipes a month, maybe a little more or less.  A month ago we found that CRAZY good deal on baby wipes on Amazon.  I spent $21 and got about $40 worth of wipes.  Did I go over my budget that month? Yes.  Will I be buying wipes in the next 3-4 months now? No, I won’t…. so now I have a little extra in the budget that I will move over for another stock up sale.  You gotta have a little flexibility with your budget.  Sometimes it’s not possible, but do your best.

That’s all this week.  I am sure I am preaching to the coupon choir, but we all know someone who is struggling a little with money.  Share this with them, help them get started on the right path. I had no idea 2 years ago that I would be living off our couponed stockpile.  We were couponing more out of hobby than necessity, and now that hobby has turned into necessity and saved us so much money.   So start helping your friends, we can’t predict the future but we can plan for it.

Tune in next week for part 2!

 

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