A Lot Of Savings

We’re live people! Welcome to The Sensible Mom.com

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:20:00 +0000

Finally! Sorry for the delay, but The Sensible Mom.com is finally ready for your eyes to see. I’m very excited about this new blog, and I’m looking forward to hearing what you think! It’s going to be more about helping and encouraging moms, passing along practical tips and advice, and I’m going to have some weekly features as well.

I still love the deals and I’m still going to share tips on living a frugal life, but I won’t be posting individual deals (unless it’s something really good!) like I was for A Lot of Savings.

The main reason for the switch from A Lot of Savings to The Sensible Mom is that I simply can not keep up with the other deal bloggers out there (and there are LOTS! many of whom I will still be following). The other reason is that in this season of life that I am in right now, I need to keep my thoughts focused on God, my family, and school. I need wisdom, help, and encouragement to make it through my day, and The Sensible Mom.com is going to be a place that directs my thoughts towards those very things in the posts that I share.

Up until now, I have done the bulk of the design work on The Sensible Mom with the help of my husband. After today, however, he is going to be taking the reigns as far as the design of the site goes. There is still a lot of work to do, but it’s in good enough shape to begin posting and invite you all along for the ride! Come see!

I need one more day.

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:09:00 +0000

Well….I know I said I would not be posting here anymore after today, but it will actually be after tomorrow since we had such a busy weekend. We were out of town on Saturday, and I spent A LOT of time on homework both Saturday and the rest of the weekend.

My husband and I are both taking an Intro to Programming class that is being taught by a wonderful teacher who knows her stuff. The only problem is the material is being taught at a VERY FAST PACE and last week I turned in an assignment that I got an A on because the teacher helped me, but I was completely clueless as to why my program actually worked and there was no way I could replicate it on my own. I had no idea what I was doing.

My husband takes the same class on a different day/time and was equally as lost. So, we had two options. We could go to the teacher for additional help or we could open the book and read it. Have you ever looked inside a computer programming book? If not, be happy. Very, very, happy.

Anyway, we did look inside and read and read and discussed and learned. And….now…understand. The bits and pieces started coming together and by the end of Sunday night (around midnight), I could understand the homework that I had turned in.

I’m a LONG way from the end, though. It looks like this class is going to require a lot of outside work on our part. :( Oh well. I’d much rather understand what I am doing than struggle through a class because I don’t want to spend the extra time learning on my own. (Plus I want to get an A for the class! I'm trying to keep a 4.0 here.)

And then there’s HTML. Okaaaayyyyy. My husband and I are also taking an html class taught by two different teachers with VERY different teaching styles. Mine is into going through the book and teaching us step by step. Very refreshing.

My husband’s teacher is an awesome web design instructor and once again, she knows her stuff, therefore, she isn’t teaching her class in baby steps as my instructor is. She thinks her students should do a good portion of the learning on their OWN. Oh, how I feel sorry for them! HTML? On your own? Isn’t very pleasant. Needless to say, we also spent quite a bit of time in the html book this weekend as well--somewhere around 3 hours. The same two assignments that I was able to do in around 45 minutes took that long to get through for Ruben because of all the additional learning that had to be done.

And all this with the kids! It’s hard doing homework with the kids around, so, we try to get it done after they go to bed which means late nights for us, but since we had so much to accomplish this weekend….it was pretty crazy here Monday morning and afternoon!

Today, I’ll be spending the needed time getting the new blog ready.

Happy Monday!

Exciting Changes are on the Horizon….

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:12:00 +0000

Well, guys, things are going to be changing soon for this blog. Starting Sept. 7th, 2010, I will no longer be posting on A Lot of Savings. I going to start posting on my NEW BLOG! And you are ALL invited! I don’t want to give you the name and link just yet because it isn’t quite finished getting all dressed up. As many of you know, I’m a beginning web designer, so, I’ll appreciate your patience as I move things around even after I announce it to you all. But, that said, it looks pretty good thus far, for a beginner. And I didn’t design it from scratch (I’m learning how, though!), I used a template and worked from there. Much easier!

I’m using WordPress for my new blog because WordPress rules when compared to Blogger. At least that is what I’m reading and what I’ve been experiencing for myself lately.

The design for the blog is almost complete, but I need to get some more of the pages ready with content for you to read.

I just wanted to give you a heads up to let you know that next week is THE week!

Works for Me Wednesday: Praying in the Car

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:04:00 +0000

Since I’ve started going back to school, I have once again picked up a useful habit I got into when I was working outside of the home. Simply….praying in the car. And why not? I have a million excuses of why it’s difficult for me to carve out 30 minutes of time each day to pray at home. I can read my Bible at home nearly every day with no problem, but getting quiet time to pray is another thing. So, I use the quiet time I have going to and from school to pray and worship the Lord.

And it’s a beautiful thing.

I am reminded of my dependence on God and my need for Him. I am able to pray for the people and relationships that matter most to me in this life and for the salvation of those who do not know Christ. I am also reminded to pray for things that I might otherwise neglect to pray about.

When I worship God, I am reminded of His holiness, awesomeness, power, might, and love for me. I am simply taken to a place it’s hard for me to get to at home because there I have so many distractions here.

And that works for me!

Do you pray in the car?

For more WFMW tips and ideas, please visit We Are THAT Family!

Tackle It Tuesday: Bathroom Closet

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:00:00 +0000

One area of our home that can get disorganized in no time at all is the bathroom closet. With two adults, three kids, and a baby with grabby hands going in and out of it on a regular basis, things get knocked over, spilled, and cluttered up very quickly. So, I decided to tidy up the bathroom closet for this week’s Tackle It Tuesday.

Here is the BEFORE:

And here is the AFTER:

It’s hard to see the difference from the above pictures, so, here is a close up of the oral hygiene area:

Think I have enough dental floss? :0) (And I gave a bunch away at Christmas time!) Our toothpaste stock pile is dangerously low so I’ll be looking for deals on the toothpaste. Those deals are usually never far away.

Have a great day!

To find out what everyone else is tackling, please visit 5 Minutes for Mom!

If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to A Lot of Savings for free via email or feed to get regular updates. You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook!

Free Money for School: Check it Out!

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:09:00 +0000

I just want to start this post off by saying, aaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!! I had almost completed writing the first draft of this post and my computer decided to RESTART before it was saved! Why????

Okay, I’m over it. Not really, but I need to move on. (Save, save, save….)

Anyway, how does $6,000 in free money to go back to school sound? Hmm….? Any takers?

That’s exactly the amount you could get to go back to school if you are currently unemployed, in school already, a homemaker looking to go back to school, or even working but in a field that isn’t going anywhere, or maybe you are in a dead-end job, or maybe you’d like to work for the company you are at but need additional training to move up. There are many different ways to qualify for the Workforce Investment Act program and I don’t know them all, but there is a good chance that you will qualify.

My husband and I found out about this program being offered through a Money Talks website that he visits every so often. We visited our local unemployment agency which is where our One-Stop Training Center is located in our area and attended a one-hour or so informational session. At that session, we were given a packet to fill out and return at a later date. Basically, you need to fill out your contact info., employment info., and answer some questions on what you are interested in and why you want to go back to school.

After that we had to attend a second session where we got more information on the program and got another packet to fill out and return. This time we had to contact contact schools, visit them if they were close, and also contact employers in the field we are looking to go into. This isn’t a program that you can just qualify for and automatically get money to go back to school if you meet the qualifications. YOU HAVE TO BE SERIOUS. You have to be able to do college level course work. They don’t want to waste their time and money on people who aren’t serious or are going to drop out. Because if you do drop out, there are no second chances with this program.

Now that we’ve completed step one and two, I have an appointment with a case worker (whom I have met and is wonderful). These case workers want to help you and be your cheerleaders! They have to see if you qualify (and I guess there are many different ways to qualify) and ensure that you have the ability to go back to school both mentally and financially. You simply need to prove that you can still support yourself while in school. And going back to school for you could mean an Associates degree, a certificate, or some other training course that’s going to help you get a job.

You CAN get a good, high-paying job with an Associates degree IF you go into the right field. My mom is going to school to be a Registered Nurse with an Associates degree in nursing. You can also get a job as a computer programmer (my brother is doing this but he wants to be an engineer so he just transferred to a 4yr. college), but you can do this with an Associates. I’m doing web design, of course! You can get a good job as a web designer if you have a great portfolio and keep up with the ever changing environment. There is also graphic design and the list goes on. You just need to look into it. You could also use the $6,000 to go toward paying for a 4-year college.

Here is where to start. Find the training center in your area and go there. Find out where to start the process in your area and hopefully end up doing something more wonderful with your career or find a whole new one.

P.S. I would’ve liked to have talked more about how grants you get from the FAFSA go along with this program, but I don’t have time. School and children await me). If you have questions about that, please leave me a comment and I’ll answer you back later this afternoon.

Blast from the past

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:03:00 +0000

We got a Slip N’ Slide! Remember those? The kids used their money to get it for only $5.99 at Menards. It’s better than what I remember as a kid. It comes with a little blow-up raft that makes for easier sliding and some body protection. The kids had a blast playing with it a few days ago. We haven’t used it since, though. We are waiting for the aching to go away. Nathan and Breanna both ended up feeling sore the next day. At first, I could figure out what it was. Nathan kept complaining of pain in his side and we finally figured out that it was from slipping n’ sliding.

Good ole’ Slip N’ Slide. You are exactly as I remember you. Fun…yet painful.

First Day of School: Nowhere to park and late

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:13:00 +0000

I made it through day one…a little late to my first class and out of breath, but I made it! Seriously, I got to school with about 8 minutes to find a parking space and get inside the building. That sounds like plenty of time, right? I had figured that parking would be no problem because all of my classes are in the computer center and parking there abounded during the summer compared to the other parking lots on campus.

Boy, was I wrong! I could not find a space to park and ended up parking in a gravel lot faaarrrrr awaaaayyyy from the computer center. I then tried to walk as fast as I could and do a slight jog (for which my legs are actually sore for this morning—I feel like I worked out) to get to class in time. It didn’t happen. I was close to five minutes late, but since it was the first day…it was fine.

It then took me about 5 minutes as the teacher went through the roster to realize that there were only 2 girls in this full class. And I was one of them. Good thing the teacher is a woman! That makes three. It’s an Intro to Programming class so this was expected. Programming and web design are both male dominated fields. My husband had warned me that there was probably going to be a lot more guys than girls in these classes, and he was right. I like the teacher, though. She is very upbeat and excited about programming which will make this class a lot more fun! Can programming be fun?

Anyway, my second class had a lot more gals in it which is good! The teacher has two masters degrees in Art so he knows his stuff. I’m very confident that I will walk away from this class with a solid knowledge of Photoshop and even better graphic design skills. The only problem is that he is a wee bit hard to understand. He’s a little soft spoken and has a HEAVY accent! I’ll just have to pay extra close attention and have my ears on high alert when he speaks. I thought about sitting closer to the front of the class, but I don’t like people looking at my computer screen and copying my stuff. Just kidding! I really don’t like people looking at my screen, though. I want to keep things to myself until I’m ready to unveil them for critique and get ripped apart that way!

All in all, it was a good day and I’m looking forward to today’s classes. I have an 8am class called Graphic Design for the World Wide Web and after that I’m excited about going to a class on HTML, XHTML, and CSS. I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few weeks reading about HTML and CSS (stands for cascading style sheets), and I can’t wait to get more instruction in these areas.

Ruben did well with the kids while I was at school. They were waiting for me outside when I got home. How sweet. :0)

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Not Me! Monday!

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:48:00 +0000

Not Me! Monday is a blog carnival hosted by MckMama at My Charming Kids.net. It's all about sharing things that we "didn't" do--but REALLY DID. Here goes:

I DO NOT want to start this Not Me! Monday! post off by saying, “Hi, Everybody!” I know I wasn’t around much last week (as far as posting goes), but it’s because I was praying and thinking about what I want to do with this blog. As you’ve probably noticed, I can not keep up with all the other frugal bloggers out there posting 10 or more posts per day! And I’m not going to try to anymore. I’m moving in a different direction and going toward posting one quality post per day. I’m starting this today here on A Lot of Savings, and will be keeping it up here until I can show you my NEW blog! It’s only in my head right now, but it will soon be moving to WordPress and you’ll all be invited! I’m hoping to get it rolled out and lookin’ pretty for your eyes to see in the next two weeks. Pray for me!

On a different note, I DO NOT start school today! I mean for me, not the kids. They’ve been homeschooling most of the summer and are continuing through December when we’ll all have a break. Today, I have an Intro to Programming class (sounds fun, huh?) and (this one is fun) my Digital Imaging class (think, PhotoShop).

This weekend was NOT the free Bug Fest at a local nature preserve in our area. And we have NOT been waiting for this day for months! It was marked on our calendar so that we wouldn’t forget to go and have fun learning about different bugs and participating in all the activities. Well….it did not turn out to be a one of those events where you wish you’d never gone to! Mosquitos everywhere! West Nile, anyone? I’m so glad I had some Cutter Mosquito wipes in the car to wipe my family down with and, to their credit, the Bug Fest people did have bug spray for people to use--which ended up in your mouth and choked the kids due to so much of it being sprayed in one small area with lots of people around!

I DID NOT hear one of the Bug Fest people say to another adult to be careful of the children around and try not to spray it in their EYES! Um…we were out of there…and thankfully, without getting hurt since we DIDN’T have to share the trail we had to walk on with BIKERS!! Hello??? Could you have closed the bike trail for just ONE Day (or for the 3 hours that Bug Fest was going on)? For the safety of families with small children? Or for anyone who wasn’t expecting to have to jump out of the way of a person on a bike? You could seriously NOT hear bikers making sharp braking noises right before almost running into someone.

The single activity we had the kids do before deciding to leave was NOT one where the Bug Fest crew gives your child a net and they are supposed to use it to catch bugs. What do you think most people were saying either under their breath? Uh, huh. "The only bugs you're going to catch out here are mosquitos...."

I DO NOT think we will skip to ole’ Bug Fest next year!

Happy Monday!

WFMW: Cooking with the Kids

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:15:00 +0000

I have long wanted to spend more time cooking with my daughter but just couldn’t get regular kitchen time with her for one reason or another. Then…I decided to pick a day of the week as her cooking day and write it down on the calendar. That worked. We have a dry erase board calendar in the kitchen that we use as our family calendar and when it’s there, it isn’t missed or forgotten.

My day with Breanna is Saturday. Anytime that works on THAT day. I don’t set a specific time to actually start cooking with Breanna on Saturday because it would probably be different every week, and I don’t want her to feel like we “missed” her time because we happened not to be home or busy during that certain timeframe. Therefore, for that reason, I keep it open.

I have Breanna choose a recipe she’d like to make and then I double check it to see if we are missing any ingredients. We are usually missing one or more ingredients so I’ll write a list and make sure to shop for those during the week (keeping a list in my purse also allows me to price-check at different stores—always looking for a deal!). And that way we don’t find ourselves in a pinch at the last minute!

By being prepared ahead of time, we are able to have a wonderful cooking experience without disappointment and hassle. Well, without SO much hassle because my boys often want to help Breanna on her cooking day. She isn’t too keen on that idea, so, I’ve decided to have a cooking day with my two older boys as well. Nathan has been cooking with me on Fridays and I’m going to start cooking with Isaac on Thursdays. Since Isaac is only 3 1/2 yrs. old, though, I’m thinking easy recipes. Kool-aid ice cubes, maybe something from a box, etc…

And that works for us!

How about you? Do you cook with your kids?

For more WFMW tips and ideas, please visit We Are THAT Family!

If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to A Lot of Savings for free via email or feed to get regular updates. You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook!

Super Savings Saturday: a little different

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 13:01:00 +0000

This week’s Super Savings Saturday is a little different. Instead of reporting on the usual places like Walgreens or Target, I’m going to share the savings we got at the MALL yesterday!

First up is The Limited. I rarely shop at the Mall and I NEVER shop at The Limited, but they sent me a $15/$15 or more coupon, so, how could I resist? Well, I quickly found out that this store is quite pricey and I was going to have to look away from the clothes in order to stretch our $15 coupon. I had my daughter with me so we decided to pick out a few things for her birthday next month. Shhhh……hopefully, she’ll forget by then.

We saw that the jewelry was on sale so we ended up getting a necklace, a pair of earrings, and some hair pins for only $2.77 after sale and coupon! Yes!

Take a look at the REGULAR price of these items. Yikes!

Kohl’s was generous to mail a couple coupons to our home recently, too. We had a $10/$10 purchase and a 30% off coupon that we could use if we put this on our Kohl’s charge card. And Kohl’s allows these coupons to be combined. :0) More happiness.

Isaac, our three year old, really needed a new pair of shoes so I headed inside with him to see what we could find. While I was looking for sales and clearance shoes, he found the shoes he wanted and was unable to be convinced otherwise (even though we have never seen the movie these shoes are based off). So…..we grabbed those shoes and headed for the check out where we still got a great deal.

Here’s the REGULAR price. They were on sale for $18.99.

We paid $6.49 after both coupons and the sale. That amounts to $81% savings!

And finally, my favorite trip. We went to Carson Pirie Scott because, once again, I had a coupon. This coupon wasn’t as good as the others since it was only save $10 off a $25 purchase (I got it at Jewel-Osco for spending $50 there on groceries and I think that promotion is running through today—in case you were wondering), but Carsons tends to have nice cookware and our last 13x9 metal baking pan bit the dust a while ago so I’ve been looking for sales on a new one as of late (actually, since I found out that I need one to make the cinnamon rolls and sticky buns with the kids out of ‘The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook’)

We found a Cuisinart one on clearance for only $9.99! It’s very nice and heavy duty and much better than the cheaper ones I had been seeing that were higher priced!

The other item we bought was the ‘Curious Chef Measure and Prep Kit’ for my daughter’s birthday. Once again, shhhhh. There was some confusion as to the actual price of this item. It was marked 75% off, but rang up at $14.99. I asked the cashier helping me twice if it was coming up at the right price and she said it was so I accepted that and used my coupon with no problems. As I was walking away with my receipt, though, I noticed that I was only getting it for 50% off (that’s the way it looked to me anyway). I took my receipt back to a different register in the house wares department and the person at the register there told me that it did ring up at the wrong price and fixed it by a few dollars, but that price still seemed wrong to me. Whatever! At least I was able to use my coupon, and I only ended up paying about $13.50 out of pocket for both items.

I’m looking forward to making sticky buns in my new pan, and I can’t wait to add the new Curious Chef measuring spoons into the kitchen as well. We really needed some new ones!

After shopping, I gathered the energy and brain power needed to make monkey bread with the kids FROM SCRATCH. :0) We had to start shortly after getting home because this bread takes over three hours to make from start to finish. I cook on Fridays with Nathan and on Saturdays with Breanna, Isaac helps along the way, but his day is coming soon (Thursdays). I let them pick the recipe each week with a little guidance (like it can’t always be a dessert).

Anyway, it turned out wonderfully, and all the hard work paid off! We used an America’s Test Kitchen recipe, of course. We pretty much followed the recipe exactly, although, next time I won’t add the pecans (which were optional) because I don’t think this bread needs them. You know how nuts can really make a recipe go from good to great? This isn’t one of them. The pecans weren’t necessary, but this was still a delicious bread and ALL the kids loved it—which it something that doesn’t normally happen in our family.

Free Sample of True Lemon

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:59:00 +0000

You can get a free sample of True Lemon, True Lime, or True Orange when you “Like” them on facebook. We’ve had True Lemon before and it’s good stuff!

Not Me! Monday

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 11:05:00 +0000

Not Me! Monday is a blog carnival hosted by MckMama at My Charming Kids.net. It's all about sharing things that we "didn't" do--but REALLY DID. Here goes:

I did not spend a good portion of my weekend setting up a new website for our future business in web design. We’ve got the domain, hosting, and name chosen. I also did not spend a lot of time researching Wordpress themes. Apparently, Wordpress rules for blogs and just about any other type of website. It’s very versatile and goes beyond just blogs. There are also lots of talented people out there selling amazing themes that designers can use as a starting point for a project—for a price, of course.

And since I was spending so much time on Wordpress stuff, I do not have a stack of library books that barely got read and also didn’t get to updating my current blog much, ahem. Sorry!

But, we are not SUPER excited to get started soon on trying our hand at building websites. We are going to start with our own for the business and them move to my blog. After that I would like to do some giveaways here on A Lot of Savings for some website makeovers! We’ll hopefully be deciding soon (after praying) about which themes we want to purchase as a starting point to get the ball rolling.

Oops, my 1yr. old did not just walk out of the bedroom looking for his mother. Got to go!

Happy Monday!

IKEA: Kids Eat FREE

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 20:33:00 +0000

Kids eat FREE at IKEA from now until Sunday, August 15th. We've taken advantage of this promotion in the past and it was pretty good. All four kids got to eat free and we didn't have to purchase any adult meals in order to take advantage of this offer. Nice!

Free Sample of Post-It Notes

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:22:00 +0000

Go here to request a free sample of Post-It Super Sticky Notes.

Thanks, Free Snatcher!

Free Stix at Quick Chek

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:15:00 +0000

Become a fan of Quick Chek on facebook and print a coupon for a free 2-pack of Pizza or Taco Stix. This coupon is good until August 9th.

Get 10 FREE Pampers Gifts to Grow Points

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:49:00 +0000

You can use the code: AUG2010FACEBOOK to add 10 points to your Pampers Gifts to Grow account.

Thanks, Free Stuff 4 Free!

Works for Me Wednesday: Door Wedge

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:29:00 +0000

Child-proof door wedges help us to keep little fingers from being smashed in doors.

Here’s a closer look. It fits nicely in the door jamb and prevents the door from being shut all the way.

Basically, it helps us to keeps these guys safe:

Don’t be fooled by the picture. This child is wild. The other day when he was jumping on me and I said I needed a break, he replied that he also needed a break, “A KARATE Break!”

Anyway, those child-proof door wedges work for us!

For more WFMW tips and ideas, please visit We Are THAT Family!

If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to A Lot of Savings for free via email or feed to get regular updates. You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook!

Meijer: Possible Free Coffee?

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:05:00 +0000

I bought a pack of this Nescafe Coffee at Meijer a couple weeks ago for about $1. It’s the Nescafe Sticks (6 pack). Anyway, inside was a $1.00 off coupon for ANY size, so, I was able to use that to get more for close to FREE!

I found these at my local Meijer in the coffee/tea aisle. Last time I went though, they were gone! That may just be my Meijer or maybe they just moved them somewhere else in the store. Hopefully, they’ve still got these at a Meijer near you.

And I’m not sure if it’s just the decaf that the coupon comes in because I bought a pack of the regular at Walgreens a couple weeks ago and there was no coupon to be found. Each time I’ve gotten the decaf at Meijer though, they’re winners!

Free Sample of Tiger Balm

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:28:00 +0000

You can enter your email address for a free sample of Tiger Balm Neck & Shoulder Rub when you “Like” Tiger Balm on facebook. Tiger Balm is for relief from neck and shoulder pain.

Tackle It Tuesday: Kitchen Pantry

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:13:00 +0000

Even though we haven’t been in our new home a very long time, the kitchen pantry already needs some straightening up. With six people going in and out of it on a daily basis, it can become pretty unorganized in a hurry, as you can imagine.

Here’s the Before:

And now the After:

It only took about 15 minutes in between being interrupted by my three year old requesting chocolate milk.

To find out what everyone else is tackling, please visit 5 Minutes for Mom!

If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to A Lot of Savings for free via email or feed to get regular updates. You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook!

Free Home Made Simple Coupon Booklet

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:31:00 +0000

You can sign up to request the Home Made Simple Organize in Style booklet with over $35 in coupons!

Birthday Freebies

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:58:00 +0000

Happy Birthday to all of you with birthdays in August! Here is a list of places offering free food and more for your B-day:

For Adults:

Subway: Free 6-inch Fresh Value Meal when you buy one
IHOP: Free meal
Orange Julius: Free 16oz. fruit drink
Boston Market: Free dessert with any meal purchase
Waffle House: One free waffle
Dunkin Donuts: free medium drink
The Tea Set-New York: free tea samples
Denny's: free dessert with entree purchase
Disney Movie Rewards: 25 free points and free blue ray dvd (just pay $2.95 s&h)
Taco John's: free order of Cini-Sopapilla Bites
Bruegger's: free cookie w/salad or sandwich purchase
Texas Roadhouse: free appetizer w/entree purchase
Spicy Pickle: free entree
Lone Star Steakhouse: free appetizer
Ruby Tuesday: free handcraftedburger
Culvers: free one scoop sundae
Red Hot & Blue: free BBQ sandwich
Farm Rich: $2.00 coupon off one of their products
Mimi's Cafe: $10 off a $20 purchase
Buffalo Wild Wings (click on Be Here, then Buffalo Circle: free dessert)
Disney Movie Rewards: 25 free points
Red Lobster: coupon for $5 off any two adult dinner entrées
Aveda: free product
Atlanta Braves: free admission to a baseball game (kids and adults)
Famous Daves: free dessert to a free meal (you find out when you print the email sent to you and you visit their restaurant)
Chili's: free dessert w/purchase of an entree
Arby's Thank You Club: free shake
Arby's: free shake w/purchase
Noodles & Company: free meal
Mongolian BBQ: free stir fry meal
Tropical Smoothie Cafe: free smoothie
Firehouse Subs: Free Sub
Aveda Birthday Club: free product worth up to $25, postcard sent to you before your birthday for you to redeem
Cold Stone Creamery: Free ice cream creation
Red Robin--Free burger
Qdoba--free chips and salsa
Baskin Robbins--Free ice cream (adults & kids)
Sonic--free shake
Smoothie King--free smoothie when you buy one
Disney World or Disneyland: free admission on your birthday

For Kids:
Steak 'n Shake: free Junior Steakburger and fries (coupon is mailed to your child)
California Pizza Kitchen: free kid's meal
Olan Mills: Free Portrait package until age three
Marble Slab: free kids cone
Toys R Us (Geoffrey's Birthday Club): card and $3 off $3 or more coupon by mail
Sonic--free wacky pack kids meal
Chuck e Cheese--child gets 20 free tokens
Red Robin--free kid's meal
Burger King--free kid's meal
Famous Dave's--free kid's meal
Culvers: free one scoop sundae

Wendy’s Coupon: $1 off any New Salad

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:33:00 +0000

Go here to print a coupon to save $1.00 off any of Wendy’s four new salads.

IHOP: Kid's Eat Free

noreply@blogger.com (sandra) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 11:46:00 +0000

For the month of August kid's eat free with each adult entree purchase at IHOP. This offer is valid daily from 4:00pm-10:00pm for kids 12 and under. Dine-in only.

Don't forget to sign up for their email club, too. You'll get a free meal just for signing up, on your b-day, and on your 1-yr. anniversary with them. Only you can't combine these coupons with the "kids eat free" offer. :(

You might also want to check if they are still doing the promotion where if buy a $25 gift card, you get an extra $5 bonus. You should be able to use that with the "kids eat free" offer if they are still doing that--only they are pretty strict in that you can't purchase the $25 giftcard on THAT visit to use right then and there. They want you to buy it ahead of time like and use it on your NEXT visit.