Some Gift Deals I Found While Shopping

I know I'm not your saving money blog, but when you do online shopping for 4 kids and 7 nieces and nephews, you have to be aware of the sales out there.  So, for the last 3 weeks or so, I have been doing a lot of sale shopping.  To be honest, I love to share the good deals I got, because I wish people would share them with me.  A lot of them are time sensitive (like 3 days or less), so if you see something you like, snag it!

Plasma Cars (or as Zulily is calling them 'swing cars') are on sale for just $27.99 plus shipping!  They have 12 different colors to choose from!  Sale ends Sunday night 11/24/13 (or while supplies last).

This Guidecraft doll sized kitchen is on sale on Zulily for just $12.99!  With shipping it came to just under $20.00!  I found the same one on Amazon for $100, so yes I snatched this one up!  It comes in light or dark wood and is also on sale till Sunday or while supplies last.

This last Zulily steal is $59.99 plus shipping.  We LOVE these Preschool Prep Co. DVD's.  We already own the first 4 (Letters, Numbers, Shapes, and Colors).  The little ones 'loved' them so much that they have scratches on them *sigh*.  But, we have also checked out some of the others from the library and everyone enjoys them.  Grandma heard that we would like them and picked them up as a gift.  I'm looking forward to it!  But this BIG set is selling for $95.00 on Amazon, so this price is a great deal! This one ends TONIGHT!

American Girl has a small, but nice, selection of stocking stuffer sized books and paper dolls staring at just $2.00!  I picked up this one for Mustang, and it is just $3.00.  

And, another place that I check daily is the Amazon lightening deals.  They do have some cute stuff at good prices.  I often miss them, though!  

I will try to do a few more posts like these in the future, if you all enjoy them.  I am not an Amazon affiliate, and I only get a referral for Zulily if you haven't yet signed up (but, I think everyone has lol).  I'm just doing this to help you out, and to share some good deals I found.

Thanks for stopping by!

God Bless, 

Lisa

FREE Summer Digital Issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine!!

Take a look at the brand new Summer digital edition of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine. TOS is offering this digital issue of the magazine totally free with no strings attached. Enjoy this free gift from TOS—no registration or email address required to view the magazine! Take a peek here: http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine-digital.com/thehomeschoolmagazine/freegift#pg2

Enjoy and God Bless!!

Garage Sale Treasures

I LOVE yard sales. When we lived in the city I would go to them every single weekend. They are the best place to buy adorable, great quality, and cheap clothes, toys, etc. for my kids. Now that I live a ways away from town, we dont got near as often {gas is expensive!}, but last weekend we went to a subdivision sale and found some great deals.




First up, a bike for Mustang. We have been searching high and low for a good deal on a bike for her. This one was $10.00!! Seriously looks brand new, and the sellers aired up the tires for me before we left.



I paid $5.00 for everything in this picture!! I really wished that I hadnt found this yard sale on the very last stop after I had already dipped farther into the grocery envelope then I should have. Entire Gymboree outfits, for a dollar each. I could have paid about 100.00-bought everything the lady had and dressed Mini Cooper for the next four years in nothing but Gymboree, Talbots and Old Navy.

I should add that the nearest Gymboree is almost 3 HOURS away. To find Gymboree at a sale was a holiday for me. To find it this cheap, was nothing short of a miracle :). {And yes I am a recovering Gymboree addict}



And YES that is a Gymboree Home on the Range SMOCKED dress set. I wanted this dress SO BADLY for Mustang and couldnt ever find it for less then about $25.00 on eBay. I about passed out when I found it for a 1.00. How fitting that we now live 'on the range?'



This was another great find. 6 pair of jammies for Mustang for 6.00. I have been getting desperate for jammies around here. I WONT buy them at stores because they are just too much money!! Even Walmart wants 5.00 a pair. I actually prayed for these and found them on the very first stop! I am still praying for jammies for Charger.



Some random items. Books were anywhere from 10 cents to 50 cents. The train was $1.00. Puzzles 25 cents and 50 cents. The best deal was this Catch Phrase {complete with batteries} for 50 cents!!



And last but not least, you know you are a country girl when you are excited to find rubber boots for $1.00. These are for ME!!

There are a few things that didnt make the pictures a car seat for 1.00, toy lawn mower that Charger would sleep with if he could bring it inside {they are inseparable!} for 50 cents and a pack of Huggies for 3.00! Have I mentioned I love yard sales :)?.

I love sharing about my finds almost as much as the actual find, and was thrilled to find out that Mrs. Taffy at My Life on a Taffy Pull does too. So I'm linked up there! If you found some great yard sale treasures, come link up with us. Happy shopping & God Bless!

El Cheapo Letter Tiles

I have seen a number of mommies in the blog world using these letter tiles with their children. Many have said they picked them up at Walmart years ago and that Walmart no longer carries them. I have been trying to get my hands on some and DID come across a box at Staples for about 10.00 and put it on my list of things to buy when I had a little extra cash. Or, to figure out how to make them.




Then I came across this game at a yard sale. Upwards. 50 cents! It even comes with little Scrabble type trays for arranging the letters in. To be fair, Upwards only comes with 64 letter tiles instead of 176, and they are all uppercase. But, for a fraction of the price, they will be a nice test product to see if we really like them and use them in our classroom.

If you arent a big yardsaler, check your thrift. I saw the same game at ours for 2.00 the other day. God Bless!

My Mother's Day Gifts

I had an excellent Mother's Day. I got to sleep in late, had dinner with my MIL and family, and spent time with my children. I also got a back rub from the hubby :). But it didnt stop there...


Remember how I said one of my favorite things is a good deal? Well, I found a great deal on this bookshelf at Walmart. It was $15.00 marked down from $28.00! The totes were 1.00 for 2, marked down from 2.00 for 2 {except for the teal and green ones, I had those before}. You cant see them all, but I got a total of 20 bins for 10.00. Which means, I now have all my bins and shelves for our new workbox system!!






My husband gave me $20.00 to take with me to the used curriculum sale in our homeschool group, and let me go without children {except Mini Cooper}. Shopping a sale for good deals without kids-yes that was a gift in itself!


I came home with everything in this box:

There was a HUGE freebie table, so some of the things in my box came from it. I also scored some fantastic deals, some of which I will be highlighting in the coming weeks as I tell you what's in there.

I came home from deal shopping to find my new bookshelf all put together and ready for use! There were even FRESH CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES courtesy of Mustang {with my hubby's help}. I got to sit in front of my new bookshelf, eating cookies, getting a 2nd back rub, while my children enjoyed some of the goodies from my shopping. The perfect Mother's Day :).

A Great Week at CVS

It's weeks like these that I am reminded why it is that I play the CVS game! This week, I made a haul!! I get all my tips from Money Saving Mom. She has all the coupon links and the match-ups and such. I check out her site the night before {or morning of today} I head to town. She is a pro at the match-ups and such, so I wont try to imitate her here.

For those of you who are following me in this game...I didnt go to CVS 2 weeks ago-the sales weren't that good and I didnt have the extra time. I went last week and picked up the Dial body wash that I had a rain check for {that made them free} and some toothpaste that cost me .99. I spent 4.48 out of pocket and left with 5.00 in ECB.

This weeks run down:

Transaction #1 {you can do as many transactions as you want to!}:

2 ThermaCare, 2.49 each, earned 3.00 ECB for each. Evidently, the computer can not write ECB ending in 50 cents on a rain check. It rounds up to the nearest dollar. I had this happen with the Dial Body wash, too. I like this computer! Used 5.00 ECB from last week, OOP: $0.00

Transaction #2:

1 Crest Prohealth toothpaste 3.50 earned 3.50 in ECB
1 Crest Prohealth mouthwash 3.50, earned 3.50 in ECB

Used 6.00 ECB from Transaction #1, OOP: $1.00

Transaction #3:

Pantene Shampoo & Pantene Conditioner, 6.97, earned 3.00 in ECB. At a little less then 2.00/bottle, I can live with this. I dont have a stash and needed shampoo today.

Used 7.00 from last Trans #2 {lost 3 cents}, OOP: $0.00

Transaction #4:

2 Right Guard Deodorants, 2.99 each, earned 2.00 ECB each, used 2 1/1 coupons.

Used 3.00 ECB from Trans #3, OOP: .98

Transaction #5:

1 Package of cheese crackers for kids {last minute decision and not in picture because we ate them} $1.00
1 Package Huggies $8.49, earned 2.00 in ECB, Used 3.00 coupon

Used 4.00 in ECB from trans #4, OOP: 2.49

So my total for this week: I used my 5.00 ECB from last week and spent 4.47 OOP {before tax}, and have 2.00 in ECB for next week. Not too shabby seeing as the package of diapers alone usually costs $12.00 {yes the 'original price' at CVS is ridiculous}.


And my 2010 running totals are now:

Total Spent {OOP before tax}: 16.01 Total Saved: 65.58 Current ECB: 2.00

Do you CVS? Do you have a website you like to find your coupons at? I'd love to hear about it! God Bless & have a great Saturday!!

*PS, If you like saving money...check out my GIVEAWAY for a $25.00 shopping spree to CSNstores.com. It ends Monday, May 17, 2010.

Phonics Objects Score

It is an on going project of mine to fill our Phonics boxes with little objects. I have a box for each letter of the alphabet. I plan to do a whole post on them when I finally finish them. But, I found 2 packages of animals at Wal-mart yesterday and I am so excited I wanted to share them with you. Plus, I know some of you are trying to find objects for your boxes and I dont know if this is a product they will continue to carry or a one time thing.



These packages were 3.00 each. They are not the highest quality by any means, so I would not recommend them for general unsupervised play with little kids, this is a 3 and up toy for sure. And yes, the flimsy trees and bushes and fences and rocks you might even want to pitch. But, these little packages had such a mix of animals!



The Jungle set has a giraffe, elephant, tiger, lion, and zebra like you would expect. It also has a gorilla, alligator, 2 monkeys {one not pictured}, a warthog! who has a warthog? {he didnt make the picture either}, pelican, ostrich, various cats {not sure which one is which}, hippo, and rhino. There's even a gazelle and an antelope {already in the A box}! Sorry for all the missing ones, my son was playing with more of them then I realized when I took this picture.



This is the farm set. In addition to way too many trees and fence pieces, there were mom and baby sets of cows, rams {this was why I bought the set}, horse, and sheep. There are also 2 pigs and a goat. I guess the farm set isnt as exciting as the jungle set-which would explain why there were a number left on the rack. I got the last jungle set at our store.



Here's a close up of the package if you want to look for them. They were in the toy department by the 1.00 toys. God Bless!!

Saving Money at Gymboree

I have a soft spot for clothing from Gymboree. Their clothes are so cute and I love their classic styles and prints. What I dont like is their price tag! But, I have found that, with a little effort, you can get Gymboree clothing for cheaper then Walmart prices.

Parent's Magazine had a coupon for 20% off any purchase in their April 2010 issue. And, I had a gift card that Mini Cooper got for Christmas. We no longer live near a Gymboree, but my parents do. So, while we were visiting for Easter I went shopping!




My loot: 2 rompers for Mini Cooper for next fall, 1 shirt for Mini Cooper, a shirt for my nephew, 3 pair of socks for Mustang, a pair of pumpkin tights for Mini Cooper, and a pair of shoes for Charger. The shoes were my best find as they were on our needs-right-away! list. The tags were cut and the shoes were worn as soon as we got home from the store, hence the second picture.

My grand total before tax was $23.95. If I had paid full price my total would have been 141.45. In other words, 17% of the retail price!!! And, if you know me, this is my normal way of buying Gymboree.

So what's my secret? No secret really, but here are a few tips to help out:

1~Use a coupon when ever possible. You can stack coupons on top of any sale or clearance price. The only exception to this are Gymbucks. You cant stack a coupon with a Gymbuck, but you can earn Gymbucks while using a coupon.

2~Go straight to the clearance rack. Seriously. Gymboree spends only a few weeks on the full price rack, so unless you need it for tomorrow, wait.

3~Go with an open mind. Try not to have something specific in mind. Just look for the best deals.

4~The little sizes are the cheapest. Gymboree has 2 sizes of clothing 'Baby' covers size 0-3 through 18-24, and 'Little Kid' covers size 3-6 months-5T. Notice the overlap on 3-6 through 18-24 months? These sizes are more plentiful. They also make size 3, 3T, 4, 4T, 5 & 5T, so again a bit of overlap there. The other sizes that tend to be on the clearance rack are size 10 & 12. I know this is due to the fact that the Gymboree styles tend to be 'cutsie' and most 10-12 year olds are looking for grown up, but if you have a child that is tall for their age this might be a great place to look!

5~Ask the sales ladies. I have gotten some of the best deals this way. They had stuff in the back that hadnt made it to the floor for lack of time.

6~Dig through the bins. I have felt like I was at a yard sale and not a pricy kids store digging through plastic bins of stuff. But in there I have found 1.99 pants, 50 cent shoes, 19 cent socks, and other great goodies over the years.

7~Dont buy stuff just because its on sale. Do you like it? Will your child wear it? Do you have some thing that will match it? I have made the mistake of buying cheap items that never found an outfit to go with. I realize this is a risk one takes with clearance buying, but some things are just quite unlikely to find a match.

8~Draw the line. While I was in the store, it was Gymbucks earnings time. If I spent 50.00 I would receive a coupon for 25.00 off a purchase of 50.00 or more-good during the Gymbucks redemption period. The fact is, that I hadnt found 50.00 worth of stuff that I REALLY wanted. Fight the urge to hit the mark just to get the Gymbucks. Gymboree makes money for a reason, they know that by getting you to spend that extra 10, 15 or 20.00, you will end up buying something that is priced higher then you normally would have spent. THAT SAID, if you do have 50.00 worth of things to purchase, the Gymbucks are a great deal and I have gotten them often.

And one last tip...Many people think that an outlet means cheaper prices. With Gymboree, that's not always the case.

I hope you have found a few things to help you dress your kids in name brand clothes for a whole lot less. And if you have the Parent's Magazine coupon, it expires 4/30/10 so get shopping Momma! God Bless!!

Trying the CVS Game {Again}

About a year an a half ago, I really got into the couponing/CVS game. I would wake up every Sunday morning to be the first one in the door at 6 am, after I had stayed awake till about 1 am clipping coupons and figuring out my plan. I came home with a ton of stuff, some of which we still have. Eventually, though, I got a bit tired of it and stopped cold turkey.

I had a pretty large stock of things we used every day {I just opened the last of my toothpaste, and still have a ton of razors} and a large stash of stuff I would never use. We realized we were moving, and I didnt want to accumulate anything extra. I sold the stuff we wouldnt use and narrowed down the stuff we would use to things I thought we would use in a year.

Finally, we are settled and I would like to start again. I have many more challenges this time, though. 1-we go to church on Saturdays and we dont get the Sunday paper, so its hard to get coupons, 2-there is only one CVS in the area {as apposed to the 3 that had previously been just minutes from my house, 3-I am not going to be able to make a special trip to town just to do my CVSing, 4-I have all 3 kids in tow, and 5-not much storage room.

So I have decided to cut coupons from only the internet, and make CVS a stop on my weekly trip to town. If they have the products that I want, great, if not I will get a raincheck. I wont be able to get the loads of things I used to get I am sure, but every little bit really does help.

And after that rather lengthy intro {sorry about that!}, I'd like to share my few weekly deals.



~Dove Conditioner {which was already on my list of things to buy-score} 4.49 {earned 4.49 in ECB}
~2 rolls of CVS brand TP 2/1, used my 1.00 off a CVS paper product that printed from the Extra Care Card machine making them FREE {who cant use free tp??}

And I hit the clearance rack :)

~4 square bowls with apple print on the sides {this week is A for Apple} 25 cents each!
~Package of bendy straws, which you will also see in the school post soon, 25 cents
~Package of butterfly sequins that have little holes in them, which I think will be perfect for a beading exercize, 25 cents
~Package of 25 spools of thread, I am thinking of taking the thread off to let Mini Cooper play with the spools, 25 cents
~Package of foam lizards and frogs, yep school, 25 cents
~and a package of Easter Jelly Beans {not pictured because I had already eaten them}, 49 cents

I paid a total of 6.98 before tax. I also have 4.49 in ECB, which some would say is a net of 2.49 for everything in the picture. Not too bad for my first time back.

I love to checkout the deals for the week at Money Saving Mom and this week I found out about the free toilet paper from couponcookin.com. Thanks you both!

Scholastic's $1.00 Sale is on!

I was so excited when I read my email this morning! Scholastic has a sale about once a year where they offer a ton of books for 1.00. Last year was teacher's books, this year it is paper backs. The best part is that shipping is calculated using the total of your purchase, so it is very low! I just ordered 21 books and paid 23.27 shipped!! They will ship to Homeschooler's, but they will verify your school before they ship. The sale ends 2/28/10 or while supplies last. Check it out here. Happy shopping!!

Free Ivory Soap!

Do you have a CVS near you? Did you get the Sunday paper December 27th? Then you can get a free pack of soap. Now, its not worth going to CVS over 1 package of soap, so I got my deal at Walmart.

The deal is, CVS has a 3 pack of Ivory soap on sale for $.99 through Saturday the 2nd. Sunday's paper had coupons from P&G that included a coupon for $1.00 off a pack of Ivory or Dove soap. So, if you use the coupon to buy the 99 cent soap, it's free. So, I took my CVS ad to Walmart, got my price match to 99 cents (normally 1.07 at Walmart) and then used my coupon and got free soap :). If you got the coupon, but dont have a CVS nearby (like my Iowa friends), it still makes the soap only 7 cents. Not bad!

Fill a Bag Book Sale!

I went to my first ever bag sale at our local library today. I have been missing out! It wasnt a skimply little plastic sack. It was a huge department store bag with handles, and if it was over flowing that was okay too. $3.00 a bag. All this fit into one bag:




65 books plus a Bob the Builder video. About 10 of the books were cheap board books that I could have done without, but it entertained Mustang to be able to find books and put whatever she wanted in the bad without me saying no ;). Yes, a few of them might end up in our next donate/yard sale pile, but that's okay!

Some of my favorites include a text book from our local Catholic School (many of the books were donations). It is called This Is Our Heritage copywrite date is 1967. It is a Faith and Freedom Basic Reader. A quick skim looks very interesting. We also picked up an Usborne sticker book that had only a few of the stickers used (albeight in the wrong places).

I skimmed through the piles and picked up books I remembered from my childhood. Anne of Green Gables, The Best Christmas Pagent Ever, A Summer to Die, Lisa's War, Sing Down the Moon, The Family Under the Bridge, and a ton more.

I was thrilled with our purchases. I will be looking for these kind of sales in our new area as we wont have a local library and the 'big city' library charges over 100 a year for a library card. At that rate I could probably open my own :).

I have Tot Trays!

If you have read the Tot School blog at all, you know that Carissa suggests having Tot Trays for Tot School. The concept is similar to Montessori classrooms. The teacher puts out multiple trays with different activities on each one. The student then takes a tray, completes the activity, and then returns the tray for another one.

Well, yesterday I was at the Goodwill and came across these:




I found four oval divided 'trays' that I think will work well for our learning. I also found this cool plate with 6 divided spots. Not sure what it was for originally. The trays were 30 cents a piece and the round divided piece was 50 cents. So, a total of 1.70 :) Keeping Tot School affordable.

Party on a Budget

Mustang's 4th birthday party is Saturday and we will be having 4 little girls join us for a celebration. With a new baby, a job change, moving, and well life in general, we are on a limited budget (who isnt?). So, I was thrilled to find our party favors for very little money at the Dollar Tree (my 2nd favorite store after the thrift).

I found these fun fairy wings for (of course) 1.00 each, and found enough colors that each girl will get their own color. I hope it wouldnt have been better to buy them all the same, hmm. I also got the last 2 packages of foam wands. There are 3 in each pack. When the girls arrive at the party I will let them decorate the wands with stickers, gems, and glitter. I also found a tiara that my DD will wear as the birthday girl.

So for 10.00 plus tax I have the vast majority of what I will need for the party. :) I promise pics of the fun next week.

Weekly thrifty finds

I love thrifting and yard sailing. I also love sharing my finds with others, so here are my finds for last week. Not as great as some weeks, but still a bit fun.

Thrift #1

Old Navy dress for Mini, 50 cents.


Gymboree Giraffe Club Coat for Mustang, 4.00.

Thrift #2

Gymboree vintage Flower Power romper for Mini, 1.00


Embelished jeans for Mini, 1.00.


Christmas top and dress for Mini, 2.00.

Yard Sale haul...


Gymboree Sweet Cherries Set for Mini, 5.00


Gymboree Sweet Tooth Set for Mini, 5.00


Top for Charger 25 cents


Old Navy jeans for Mini 25 cents


Dress for Mustang 1.50


Water wings-you can never have too many of these! 25 cents


Bob the Builder hat for Charger, but Mustang fights with him for it. 50 cents.


Cute top for Mini 1.00

Total for the haul...

22.25. Buy used save the difference :) (I'm stealing your motto, Duggars)

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash

I loved this book as a child and was thrilled to find it on the for sale table at our local library. 25 cents for the hardback edition :) I know we will be doing a lesson on this soon.

We also picked up

Who's Counting, by Nancy Tafuri


and Spots Feathers & Curly Tails, also by Nancy Tafuri


75 cents well spent. Make sure to check out your library's sale table, or go to their used book sales. Its a wonderful way to fill your library whether you homeschool or just love to read.

My best day ever at the Goodwill

I love the Goodwill. As most of you know I get my kids' clothes from 1)the blessing of hand-me downs, 2) yard sales, 3) Gymboree clearance rack, 4) gifts, and 5)the thrift store. As you can see, its not a high dollar operation. So when I can find something awesome at the Goodwill it is a VERY good day.

I headed over there to drop off 6 large bags and a few boxes left over from the successful yardsale we had a few weeks ago. Of course you cant just drop off the stuff and leave, you have to go in and spend some of the money you made at the yardsale. So in I went.

I found a decent amount of cute name brand stuff for Mini, including a little dress from the Tea collection which I love but generally cant afford. I had my little cart loaded up and I was in line to pay when I turned around and saw them bringing out the new racks. If you go to the Goodwill always check out the new rolling racks, you will get the best stuff there. At the end of it I saw a sea of little pink clothes so I got out of line and ran over to have the first dibs :)

I was pleased to find a few cute sleepers, but I was THRILLED to find what was hanging after. 2 entire 3 piece Gymboree outfits perfect for Charger!! It was all from a yardsale-some still had the tags-that apparently wasnt well attended. I felt a little bad for whomever had the sale (and really wished I had known about it and whatever items I missed), but was very thankful to find my new outfits for Charger.

Everything in the following 2 pictures cost a grand total of 24.94.

They came they came!!

About 3 weeks ago we ordered some homeschooling books from Scholastic. They were on clearance for 1.00 a book and shipping was 2.25!! So for 12.25 (all the money in my Paypal account) we ordered everything in the picture. It took forever to get them, but I now feel like a kid in a candy store. And, of course I had to share lol!

A Thrifting We Go

What girl doesnt love to share when she finds a good deal? Maybe not you but I certainly do :). I will generally always post my good finds here.

Today we went to the Goodwill. I have been having withdrawals. I dont really like Goodwill that much, but they closed down our Salvation Army nearly a year ago and I havent tried to take the kids to the one in the next town. So, this is where I go. I always find a few things worth buying though!



For Mustang I got a white crochet flower tank by Amy Byer-I think this will look really nice with jeans I'm jealous :). I also found a pink butterfly skirt and a new green velour skirt from American Girl. These were all 2.00 each.



For Charger I got a grey and red sweater vest from Gymboree, a pair of navy windpants from Children's Place, and a one piece shorts outfit from Gymboree. They were 1.00 each.



For Mini I got (still hoping for a girl lol). A brand new polka dot velour dress. 1.00.



And last but not least-arent these adorable? 4.99 brand-new in the package. I took them out to take this picture. I havent decided if I am keeping them or selling them yet. The baby will be in our room and I may hang these above their bed. Will see, but it was a fantastic deal IMO!

Hope you all have a great Friday!!