Living on a Budget

So exciting!!

2014-01-27T19:05:00.002-05:00

What better way to start off the year than with a #DisneySide @Home party!!!

I received the following fantastic package from he good people at Disney and MomSelect free of charge however as always all opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

The party pack contained everything I need to get started planning our disney side party in our favorite theme, Mickey Mouse! Cups, plates, napkins and other great decorations all with Mickey on them plus Mickey cookie cutters, several boxes of Craisins, and lots of HP Photo Card paper. The special hostess gift is that fantastic black with red accents suitcase in the background, it has great wheels and weighs very little I just love it.

Also included was this adorable print, each of my guests will be taking home one of these.

I'll admit I peaked to see what everyone else has been getting since my box was in the second or third round to get shipped out. These shirts weren't included in many of the other kits so I was still very surprised when I found them in my box. I can't wait to have everyone use the fabric markers included and decorate their own disney side shirt. I think I'll be picking up some in adult sizes so everyone can get in on the fun.

I'll be posting lots of ideas and pictures leading up to the party and of course of the party itself. Again I'd like to think all those involved in sending these fantastic kits out and remind you all that Disney and MomSelect were so kind to send me these items free of charge for me to host a party and share with my friends, family and readers.

In a funk

2014-01-19T11:05:00.001-05:00

Have you ever just been in a funk? Well I have been lately it's because I seem to become a master of spreading myself to thin and being no good anywhere. I took on a new responsibility this past summer at the same time that we signed my son up for baseball. I went from being home almost all the time to seemingly never being home and constantly playing catch up. Everything suffered from my business to my housekeeping so this year I've pledged to focus on what's important and making the best use of my time.

I will be keeping my new gig as long as they'll have me because it makes me feel productive and useful. There's something I've missed as a stay at home mom and this is helping that. However I'm not going to continue to devote so much of my time to it, I've worked hard to develop a well oiled machine and have spent the past month working on ways to simplify my job so it should no longer take so much of my time.

My son is once again signed up for little league. Instead of playing games on my phone during practices I will be taking yarn or simple beading projects with me to work on. Using that idle time to create pieces for me to sell in my business will be much more useful than playing candy crush.

I've also done something that is very unlike me and asked for help around the house. We are currently working on de cluttering and simplifying life at home, that should help me save time and money and stress. Everyone will have responsibilities around the house and will be held to those keeping things clean and tidy will help us to stay home more often and resist the urge to go out to get away from the mess.

So this year is a clean slate for my family. We are refocusing on what's important, this blog is important to my family blogging keeps me looking for deals and helps me to stay accountable for my shopping. It also allows me to run fabulous giveaways, test products and generate a small amount of income from my amazon and coupons.com links. Today we are working some more on catching up, I find when everyone helps it's not as bad as the one woman show that usually works around here. I can't wait till everything is done!! What are you doing to kick start your year?

Happy New Year

2014-01-01T17:36:00.001-05:00

The new year gives us a chance to write a new story, wipe the slate clean and start over. This year I have set goals, I really don't like resolutions so I'm going with goals for the year.

1. Blog more
This blog helps me save money and I hope it helps you save as well. I'll be searching for free samples and the best deals out there and posting them here. I will be continuing my partnership with a few companies to help maximize my earning potential and giveaway potential here as well. I don't have many ads on here but you can be sure that everyone is hand selected by me, making money off this blog has never been a driving force for me but the little bit I do really helps. Please think of stopping by here when you are printing coupons off coupons.com or placing an order with Amazon.

2. Get my home organized
I've never claimed to be the most organized and it makes me crazy. This year I hope to put a stop to the crazy by organizing and de cluttering our lives.

3. Craft smarter
I am a crafter by trade, I set up a craft shows, farmers market and well my handmade creations online so I have a lot of stuff. I've decided that I have too much stuff so this year I'm going to work on reducing my stash of items and organizing my items. Hopefully this will help me make more money without spending as much.

4. Get myself and my family healthier
I know everyone says I'm going to lose weight this year, I'm not going to say that this year. I just want to work at eating healthier and getting healthier losing weight will be a welcome side effect I hope.

This is the start of my goals. I'll probably be posting about all of them at different times throughout the year feel free to comment on what you are doing to make your new year brighter!!

Back to School sales

2013-08-04T12:21:00.001-04:00

This time of year is one of my favorites to stock up during. Many of the goodies on sale make great gifts in the form of craft/art baskets. In addition gifts if you have a school aged child their teacher is likely to need more supplies about half way through the year when they are full price so having a few extras never hurts and there is an ever growing need for supplies because so many aren't savvy shoppers like us and can't afford the lists. So whenever there are really cheap items I get the max and find a school supply drive, in fact the farmers market I attend at Cagan Crossings is hosting a supply drive on Sept. 6th

So here are some cant miss supply sales I saw in the paper today.

Walgreens is one of my favorite spots for sales on the small stuff.
Backpacks. 3.99. These aren't top quality but are great containers for artsy gifts
Folders and Memo books. 6/$1
Papermate pens or pencils .29 in my experience one can never have too many of either of these and with my sons supply list asking for 6 dozen I guess they are a hot commodity at school too.
You'll need your card and the coupon in the paper for these deals
Wexford erasers (cap and pink) 4/$1 both types are always on the list here
Wexford dry erase markers .99 this is a good price if you need

Staples my favorite place for cheap deals
Filler paper .01 this requires a $5 purchase but that's easy enough to get to
Hammermill copy paper $1 after rebate
4pk dry erase markers $1
Pentel RSVP pens. Free after rebate

Target
Crayola 10pk markers $1
Index cards 3x5 .50
Colored pencils .50
Pencil Box .50

Walmart
Notebooks .17
10pk pens .97
Composition books .50

ToysRUs is still running its free lunchbox (up to $9.99) with the purchase of a backpack priced $12.99 or higher. This is one of my favorite deals and I recommend doing it twice per child we usually do one with characters and one plain that way when he rips his backpack apart due to dragging around school and the bus for 5 months and lunchbox is abused beyond belief I've got replacements that didnt cost me an arm and a leg.

There are lots of other good deals in the ads, but these are the ones that jumped out at me based on the needs of a third grader. Please leave me a comment with any great deals you've found this week.

Summer Dash

2013-07-31T10:45:00.001-04:00

I always have high hopes for blogging in the summer and always fall short and this year was possibly the worst yet. But have no fear, I've managed to make posting on here a bit easier and hopefully it'll fit into my constantly on the go life. Lol.

I'll be making a big push to start up saving again. The fall is always hard on my family with birthdays and school expenses so I'm going to get on the horse and start squirreling away that money now.

I'll also be looking to maximize my ways to earn some extra cash and of course I'll be sharing my ideas here with you guys. So hang in there I'll be back at it soon.

Totino's Pizzeria Rolls Review and Giveaway

2013-05-20T20:18:00.001-04:00

Totino's pizza rolls has always been a quick, easy treat in my house. Growing up they were a treat and now for my son they are a treat. I was happy to see that there are new flavors out and was quick to grab them up! The new flavors are Chicken Parmesan, Meatball Marinara, and Cheesy Garlic which sounded to me like grown up flavors of my childhood treat and I was right. These are yummy!!

Our family favorite is the Meatball Marinara which is nice and full and has decent sized meatballs in it. We are a meatball kind of household I guess LOL!!

Now on to the giveaway Totinos and MyBlogSpark have been kind enough to provide me with an adorable tile tray and matching salt and pepper shakers and of course coupons to try out these great rolls and they are going to give one of you a set as well!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway and review was sponsored by Totinos and MyBlogSpark. I received items free to try out but all reviews and opinions are my own!

Purex with crystals giveaway winners are

2013-05-10T07:49:00.001-04:00

I'd like to congratulate

38 Sandy Klocinski

And

70 Teresa Dye Dale

You will each receive a coupon for a FREE bottle of Purex with Crystals! Please send your mailing info to belle Mitchell 702 @ gmail.com. (Without all the spaces)

Thank you all so much for entering. I've got a few more giveaways coming up this week.

The winners of the Dial Kids giveaway are...

2013-05-09T07:28:00.001-04:00

I'd like to congratulate

2 Sarah Diehl
And
21 Goldie Gsgs

You will each be receiving a coupon for a free bottle of Dial Kids hair and body wash

Please send me your mailing info at bellemitchell 702 @ gmail.com.

The winners of the Purex tropical splash giveaway

2013-05-07T14:03:00.001-04:00

I'd like to congratulate

Joanne Cunha Willey
And
Madonna Fridley Dolin

For each winning a coupon for a free bottle if Purex Natural Tropical Splash

Please email me at bellemitchell702 @ gmail.com with your mailing address and I'll send your coupon out.

Purex with Crystals Giveaway

2013-05-02T17:00:00.000-04:00

Purex has done it again, they've released another fantastic detergent!! The new Purex with Crystals Fragrance contains the fabric softener crystals you've come to love with the Purex you've always loved in their most popular fragrance.

All of Purex's detergents now have the DirtLife Action power which works deep into clothes to get out the dirt. Having an 8 yr old who loves to get dirty all the time the dirtlift action really helps keep his clothes clean or get them clean. Purex with Crystals is a great time saver, it's affordable, removes stains and is available at your local Walmart, Target and other major retailers.

And now for the giveaway, Purex has given me a couple coupons to give to you guys for Free detergent. Just fill out the super easy rafflecopter entry form below and be sure to come back when the giveaway is over to see if you've won.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Purex provided me with a sample of Purex detergent plus Fabric Softener with Crystals Fragrance in exchange for a product review. However, as always all the opinion expressed are my own.

Dial Kids Body and Hair Wash Giveaway

2013-05-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

Dial has a great new line of Kids Body Wash that is specially formulated for your kids. They have 2 new age apprpriate variants developed to address kids specific skin needs, Peachy Clean for ages 2+ and Watery Melon/Berry Cool for ages 6+.

We received the Watery Melon to test out and I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of it before Shawn had yanked it out of my hands and decided it was time to take a shower. I should know better then to ask him to smell something and then tell him it's for him. LOL The Watery Melon variety offers mild cleansing power without drying out delicate skin and it smells sooooo good. One of my favorite things about this is that it's a two in one, I hate having a bunch of containers in the shower and honestly unless I'm watching him my 8 yr old will use whatever kid stuff he finds everywhere so the fact that it's meant as both a body wash and a shampoo makes me very happy.

Now on to the giveaway, just fill out the super simple rafflecopter entry form below and be sure to come back when the giveaway is over to see if you were one of the lucky winners. I will be giving 2 winners 1 coupon each for a FREE bottle of Dial Kids Body & Hair Wash.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RideMakerz Xtreme Customz Review

2013-05-01T19:54:00.000-04:00

My little one and his buddies are lucky little boys. Thanks to MommyParties they got to have a fantastic playdate!!

I will add a pic as soon as I can (sorry it's not working)

He got to show off his new RideMakerz Xtreme Customz special edition Batmobile. They have released several new models including Spiderman and IronMan as well as non super hero cars. The boys favorite part was all the pieces and how they can be mix and matched so they each got to build their own custom cars and had pieces leftover so that when they change their minds (we all know they will) they can change their car. The moms were leary see we have a RideMakerz store nearby and they all know how much you can spend building a car there but when I told them how inexpensive these cars were they were ready to go pick up a new one or two as end of the school year gifts. Another plus to all of the moms were that these are smaller than the original RideMakerz and therefor easier to store in the house.

The boys spent about 20 minutes customizing their cars (I recommend having a baggy handy for the extra pieces) and then spent about an hour crashing them into each other and racing them all over the house. You can pick up your own RideMakerz Xtreme Customz car at Target, Toys R Us or Amazon starting at $9.99

I'd like to thank MommyParties for providing my son and his friends with a fantastic playdate.

Mommyparties provided myself and my guests with toys in return for my blogpost and review. All opinions as always are my own.

Purex Natural Elements Tropical Splash

2013-05-01T19:12:00.001-04:00

I was very excited when Purex offered me the chance to try out this detergent. Laundry is a never ending chore in my house as I'm sure it is in yours and with a little monster that insists upon living in the dirt the Dirt Lift Action had me intrigued.

Not only does this detergent offer a lovely tropical scent but it's hypoallergenic and dye-free for those with sensitive skin. The DirtLift Action really seems to help get playground out of my son's school clothes too!! And for those of you with high efficiency machines this detergent works well with your machine and with regular machines with the added bonus of not costing a small fortune!!

The folks at Purex were kind enough to provide me with coupons to give to my readers. Just fill out the super easy rafflecopter form below and be sure to come back when the giveaway is over to see if you were the lucky winner!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Purex provided me with a sample of Purex Natural Elements Tropical Splash detergent in exchange for a product review. However, as always all the opinions expressed are my own.

And the winners are

2013-04-12T10:33:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay in getting winners picked and the lack of the rest of the giveaways promised. My laptop is on the fritz and only decides to work on occasion it seems and I need it for the blog. Anyways I have the winners of the Soft Scrub giveaway and the Honey Bunches of Oats giveaways to announce.

The winners need to email me at Belle Mitchell 702 @ gmail. com (take out all the spaces) by Monday morning with their mailing address or I will be forced to pick new winners.

The Soft Scrub winners are:

Adella Gonzalez and Denise Sachs

The Honey Bunches of Oats winners are

Jenna Marie and Lori Edmonds

Congratulations guys please email me your info and your coupons will be out in the mail the beginning of the week. And just a note to all who enter please don't enter and then not do what you entered for, I do check and had to eliminate a couple winners on the Soft Scrub one because of this :(

Soft Scrub Total

2013-04-05T09:00:00.000-04:00

Soft Scrub Total All Purpose Bath and Kitchen Cleaner is a great new versatile item to have under your sink. Living in an apartment I need products that can multi task so I don't have to devote space to a one hit cleaner so when I heard about this all purpose cleanser that I could use in both the kitchen and bathroom I was so happy. Another great thing about the cleanser is that you are cleaning with lemon and it smells great! I love lemon cleaners because it just smells so clean when you are done. Plus as an added bonus they've redesigned the bottle and cap to help prevent spills and waste!!

So far I've scrubbed the sinks in the bathrooms and kitchen, the shower, the faucets and the stove and everything looks great and my house smells lemony fresh. Now on to the fun part for you, who wants to give Soft Scrub All Purpose Cleanser for themselves??? Fill out the super easy rafflecopter entry form below and you might be the lucky winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway Soft Scrub generously provided me with a free sample to review but all opions as always are my own!

Honey Bunches of Oats

2013-04-04T13:00:00.000-04:00

Honey Bunches of Oats has a great new flavor called Tropical Blends. My family was lucky enough to get to try it out and let me just say they just love it. I didn't tell my son or hubby that it was a different flavor I just poured them each a bowl and waited for their reactions. They both took a few bites looked at me and said what is this?? Ha if they had known off the bat that it was mango and coconut cereal they both would have said no thanks because it's a bit too different for them but not knowing let them taste it and really enjoy it.

The good folks at Purex and Post have sent me some coupons to giveaway to my faithful readers. Fill out the quick, easy rafflecopter entry form below for your chance to win. And for any more info on Tropical Blends check out Honey Bunches of Oats on Facebook

a Rafflecopter giveaway Post provided me with a free sample of their product to review. However, all opinions expressed here are as always my own.

Get Ready!!

2013-04-04T11:40:00.002-04:00

I'm back to blogging and to kick it off I'm going giveaway crazy!! Over the next week a new giveaway will pop up everyday so be sure to come back and check everyday.

Life has been in my way lately but I think I'm finally getting a handle on it and I have giveaways piling up around here I really need to get back on the horse. Here's to getting back on the horse come back later today for the first giveaway.

Dooney and Bourke Raffle

2013-03-05T14:03:00.000-05:00

Right now my Relay for Life team is hosting a raffle for a mystery purse. All I can tell you about the purse is it's a Dooney and Bourke purse that retails for about $225.

I'm selling tickets until 5pm on 3/6. They are $1 for 1 ticket and $5 for 6 tickets. If you donate $10 or more I'll pick up the shipping if you win. You can donate here http://main.acsevents.org/goto/TiffanyMitchell just leave a note telling me it's for the raffle and how to contact you it will not appear for public viewing.

I'd like to thank the fabulous manager at the Dooney and Bourke Factory store at Orlando Premium Outlets Vineland for donating the purse and the company for allowing her to do so. I contacted alot of companies and they were the only ones to say yes.

Thank you for reading and if you donated thanks for that too. If this isn't for you but you have a friend who may be interested please pass it along. All proceeds go to our local Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society.

Great Deal on Die Hard

2013-02-14T14:12:00.000-05:00

If you've got a Die Hard fan in your house this is a fantastic deal. Today only you can get Die Hard 25th Anniversary set (5 discs) for only $25 and you get a $10 movie money thing to go see the new Die Hard.

The winners are.....

2013-02-14T08:21:00.001-05:00

The winners of the Borax coupon giveaway are

Barb Adams for following along on Twitter

and

Claudia Ellis for retweeting

Congratulations ladies!! You need to email me at bellemitchell702 @ gmail.com with your mailing address so I can get your coupons out to you!!

Everyone else thanks for entering and stick around I have two more giveaways to get up in the next few days!!

20 Mule Team Borax

2013-02-07T16:29:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you've all heard of Borax, I know my mother or grandmother someone talked about it when I was younger but in my adult life I never realized I had a need for it. I always thought of it as one of those old fashioned things which isn't surprising given the fact that Borax has been around for nearly ever. The great folks at Purex Insiders sent me a box to try out and I couldn't be more grateful. It turns out it's all natural and should be very in right now given the movement towards green items and it does EVERYTHING. Well ok not everything you have to help it clean your house but there isn't much it won't clean.

After first hearing of the opportunity through Purex I thought it was a detergent booster (that's what the picture says) and when I opened the box I was amazed to see all the other uses. It does in fact help remove stains on your clothes and helps your detergent do it's job better and it removes soap scum and hard water stains in your shower, tile and toilets as well as cuts through grease and gunk on your appliances in the kitchen and even makes your dishes cleaner by removing the hard water minerals and residue in the dishwasher.

How did I miss this little miracle worker and why wasn't I told about it sooner?? You know I probably was and thought well they have stuff now that does that better. HA!! After receiving it to try out I was amazed how often I heard someone talk about how great it was (maybe I was just not paying attention before?!) and have heard of lots of new uses like sprinkling it on the rug to freshen and kill unwanted pests without hurting the wanted pests...I mean pets and children.

Now on to the fun part!! I'm giving away a coupon for a FREE Box of 20 Mule Team Borax to 2 lucky readers. Simply fill out the super easy Rafflecopter entry below and make sure you come back to see if you win. Please don't click that you've done something without doing it, I verify all the entries and will remove you if you don't meet the requirement, thanks.

a Rafflecopter giveaway I received products and coupons from the Purex Insiders in exchange for my review but all opinions are my own.

Lots of crafting not much saving

2013-01-31T16:34:00.001-05:00

I've been working on lots of crafts lately to raise money for Relay for Life but we've gotten off track with savings.

However I did get in on the Digorno's pizza deal this week, I got 6 pizzas and 3 2 liters for just over $12 using the b2g1 coupons I printed. What deals have you guys been getting. My only other shopping success this week is due to a store closing and selling its stock 50% including alcohol which got me a big bottle of Stoli vanilla for $18.

Here's some necklaces I've been working on, they are for sale for a $5 donation.

Reaching out

2013-01-16T12:04:00.001-05:00

I’ll be back soon with the 2013 Money Saving Challenge and another great giveaway but right now I’m reaching out to my readers.

I am a team captain for my local Relay for Life and we are planning on doing chance drawings as our fundraiser at the event. My son who’s 8 has even signed up to be on our team and is so excited about raising money and earning his t-shirt from Relay. Anyways I’m looking for items to raffle off, so if you see a deal I miss, have a giftpack laying around that you will never use, or own a company that would like to donate something please email me at bellemitchell702 @ gmail.com our goal is to have many baskets and to have something for everyone.

I’ll also be selling items to raise money and will be posting about those items from time to time. Please if these posts aren’t your thing just skip them, there will be plenty of money savings going on to keep you entertained but for at least the next few months there are going to be some posts trying to raise funds for Relay.

The Winners are...

2013-01-16T08:15:00.000-05:00

I'm pleased to announce the winners of the Purex Baby Coupon Giveaway.

Rachel Garner for tweeting about the giveaway

and

Lori Edmonds for following me on Twitter

You both have 24 hours from the time of this post to contact me at bellemitchell702 @ gmail.com with your mailing address and I will get your coupons out to you. Congrats Ladies, I'd like to thank you all for entering and be sure to follow along I have another giveaway in the works that should be live very soon.

Pyrex for only $19.99

2013-01-12T08:55:00.003-05:00

Right now you can pick up this 11 piece Pyrex Easy Grab set with lids for only $19.99. Prices on Amazon tend to change quickly so order quickly.