Tips & Treasures

FREE Sample Milk-Bone Trail Mix Treats

2012-05-16T09:03:00.001-04:00

Here's a freebie offer for your furry friends!

Sign up for a free sample pack of Milk-Bone's new Trail Mix dog treats. They are described as "crunchy, chewy, wholesome, delicious" and made with rolled oats, real beef and sweet potato.

Allow 4-6 weeks for your sample pack to arrive.

March-April Credit Card Debt Recap

2012-05-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

We started 2011 with $13,402.24 on our credit cards, worked super hard all year at paying them off and started 2012 with just $3,600.00 left to pay off. We're trying to pay that off by November when the 0% interest promotion ends. Follow along to see if we make it!

So how did we do these past two months with paying off our credit card balances? Here's my latest recap of March and April, and you'll see we're chugging right along.

At the beginning of March, our credit card totals looked like this:

CitiCard1 - $0
CitiCard2 (0%) - $3,400.00
_____________________
Total - $3,400.00

And then at the end of April, our totals looked like this:

CitiCard1 - $0
CitiCard2 (0%) - $2,800.00
_____________________
Total - $2,100.00

Yay, we paid off a total of $1,300.... $600 in March and $700 in April!!!

If we could keep this up, we could certainly pay this off by November. But with this impending drop of income looming over us like a dark cloud, we're really unsure how things are going to play out. I guess we'll see. But yay for great progress!

To see my previous posts about our debt payoff journey, go here.

Kindle ebook Freebie: Pushed Too Far

2012-05-10T10:50:00.003-04:00

Looking for some free reading material for your Kindle?

Download a copy of the book, Pushed Too Far, by Ann Voss Peterson. It's a police procedural thriller and has great reviews! But best of all, it's FREE!

Remember, if you don't have a Kindle, you can still enjoy these ebook freebies! Simply download a free Kindle reading app for your computer, smartphone, iPod or iPad.

Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link. If you make a purchase through my link, I'll receive a few cents. This is at no cost to you and helps support this blog. Thanks!

Car Accidents, Vacation, Surgery, Court and more...

2012-05-08T15:15:00.002-04:00

So I've been absent from my blog for quite some time now. Life has sure been a roller coaster for our family this year. And not in the Weeee! fun type of way, but in the OMG I'm so scared of every turn, sort of way.

We started the year off by getting a letter from our neighbor's attorney stating that they were taking us to court. Fun! This has been the neighbor from hell, btw. More on that at a later date!

Then we got notice in February that the Hubby's job would be ending in May. Ughh. No fun. He's got a week and a half left. We've cut expenses as much as we could, but considering we already live a pretty frugal life, there isn't much to cut.

In March we took our first ever family vacation, which was also the only vacation Hubby and I have been on since our honeymoon almost 7 years ago. It'll be 7 years on the 21st of May!!!

Of course, it's weird to go on vacation right after you find out you are losing your only source of income. But, the trip had been planned since the middle of last year and had been paid for last year as well.

Also, the trip was to Disney and we had the free meal plan, so we ended up not spending any money on food. At all. We even came home with extra food... snacks and bottled drinks that were all free with our plan, but were well beyond what we normally eat in a day. Oh, and we had our spending money already saved up from selling stuff on craigslist, etc. Then we opted to spend a little less and brought some of the money home with us.

We drove to Disney World from New Jersey... which was awesome. Except for the part when we were almost there... like 2 exits away and we were in an accident. We had our kids (ages 4 and 6) all excited and looking for our exit number. Then BAM this lady ahead of us FELL ASLEEP while driving about 65mph on the highway.

She lost control of her car, went off the road, hit a street light, spun around and came speeding straight at us. The Hubby immediately hit the breaks and was trying to figure out how to avoid this collision, without hitting anyone else on the crowded 4-lane highway. But then the woman swerved her car, spun around, went across the other lanes and came to rest on the other side of the highway in a bit of a ditch. Somehow she managed to not hit a single solitary car on that highway. Amazing.

All good, right? Well not exactly. As we were watching this woman's car come straight at us, then spin around and go across the highway, the light post that she had hit, was crashing down.... from above us.

Luckily we were paying attention and noticed this huge thing coming down and Hubby hit the breaks and we were able to stop without it crushing down on our roof. Instead, it landed just in front of us as we came to a screeching stop and our car went up and over it with our front end.

We were so incredibly lucky to not have been crushed by this thing, especially with our children in the car. If the Hubby had been just a fraction of a second slower in hitting the breaks, we'd be in a far different situation. So thankful for my smart, quick-thinking, focused Hubby. Our car was drivable, but definitely damaged underneath and on the front end. Repairs came to about $1300.

Anyway, what a start to our first family vacation! We had to sit in the hotel room making a zillion phone calls to the insurance company and getting that all reported and straightened out. Then off to the car dealership to get the car looked at to be sure it was safe to drive back to NJ after our vacation. So we lost a bunch of Disney park time handling all of that. Which sucked, but at least we had a fabulous time the rest of the trip! And hey, we were all extremely grateful to be alive and well. The kiddos definitely got lots of extra hugs.

So then we swing along to April.... and I'm in ANOTHER car accident. This time it was just my 4 year old son and I in the car.

There's about $7000 in repairs this time around. Plus new booster seats for the kiddos... you know carseats and booster seats always have to be replaced after an accident, right? Yup and the insurance company should cover them as well.

I'm too angry at this point to go into those details, but we'll leave it at that I wasn't at fault and another woman was speeding and not watching the road when she slammed into my car. My air bag was deployed, which hit my arm and caused my arm to slam into my chest at a great force. And I broke my wrist. My son was completely unharmed once again, which I'm so incredibly thankful for. And he was so brave through it all... never even shed a tear, as I was hysterical. All he did was reach out and calmly said "Whoa" after we were hit, lol.

My wrist fracture was severe enough that it warranted surgery. Ughh, of course. Because that's just part of my luck lately. So I had surgery 2 weeks ago to repair it with a metal plate in my arm held in with 6 screws. I'll spare you those photos, lol.

Well this one isn't so bad...

So, here we are in May, I'm recovering, my wrist is splinted and unusable. I'm starting physical therapy tomorrow. I have to retrain my wrist to move, bend, turn and twist. Because it does none of those things now. Bummer.

In less than 2 weeks the Hubby will be unemployed. Our income will be dramatically reduced and I don't know how we'll afford to keep our house, not that we really want to (remember the neighbors I mentioned above?? ughh.). And now with my arm in this condition, I can't even try to get a job to supplement his unemployment. I can't do much with one arm and I can't even drive for awhile. Oh and I still don't even have my car back anyway.

Quite a long sob story, I know. It's been incredibly hard not to wallow in self pity. I try to remind myself, on a daily basis, how lucky we are to be alive, together and to be pretty darn healthy. I try to be happy for all that we have and to be humbled that there are so many others with much more severe problems. But still. I'm bummed. I never saw any of this coming... not that anyone does.

Everyday, I make sure to enjoy my Hubby and my kids and our extended family and friends. I am trying hard to focus on those things and not on our unfortunate circumstances. People tell me to keep my head up, but it's so hard when it's been one thing after another every month so far this year. I actually cringe to think what June might bring, or any of the months that follow.

So anyway, I'm back to blogging. Trying to type as best I can, even if it takes me all day, lol. But I need this outlet to vent my frustrations, my worries, my joys. I enjoy the bloggy interactions with my readers. I enjoy the sense of community. But also, I miss being held accountable for all my savings, earnings and debt repayments that I normally share here.

It's good to be back :)

Savings & Earnings Recap 3/25 - 5/5

2012-05-08T12:03:00.003-04:00

How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly recap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received.

It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. I've gotten pretty behind in my recaps, so here's my recap for the past month or so, 3/25/12 - 5/5/12.

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received
$0.50...... FGI Research survey
$5.00...... Amazon gift card ($5 for a $10 gc - AmazonLocal deal)
$10.00.... Amazon gift card earned with Swagbucks search engine
$12.00.... American Consumer Opinions surveys
$25.00.... Target gift cards for in-store promotions
$30.00.... Amazon gift card from Connected Advisors Survey Community
$26.35.... Cash back with credit card rewards (as statement credit!)
$0.05...... PayPal Debit Card cash back
$27.83.... Mr. Rebates (cash back for shopping)
$30.00.... Amazon.com gift card from ClearVoice Surveys
Total: $166.73

Coupon Savings
$55.46..... Target (coupons + discounts for using Target card & reusable bags)
$30.00..... Fashion Bug (coupon + $10 cash back rebate redeemed)
$5.00....... CVS
$22.55..... Acme (grocery coupons)
$2.00....... Walmart
$56.27..... Kohl's (20% off coupon code + Kohl's cash redeemed )
$27.55..... The Children's Place (25% off coupon code)
$10.00..... Pat's Pizzeria (cash back redeemed)
$6.92....... Drugstore.com (cash back redeemed + $5 off coupon)

Total: $215.75

Freebies Received
Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal sample box (Still available!)
Shampoo & Conditioner samples
Martha Stewart Living magazines (free year subscription!)

Total 2012 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $701.12
Total 2012 Coupon Savings: $682.50

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

Savings & Earnings Recap 3/18 - 3/24

2012-03-27T11:06:00.002-04:00

How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly recap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received.

It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. Here's my recap for the past week, 3/18/12 - 3/24/12.

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received
$26.55..... Cash back with credit card rewards (as statement credit!)
$25.00..... Amazon gift card earned from SuperPoints (LOVE this site!)
$5.00....... Amazon gift card earned through Swagbucks search engine
Total: $56.55

Coupon Savings
$6.99....... Friendly's (B1G1 free entree coupon!)
$9.89....... Snapfish (100 prints for $5, shipped)
$24.40..... Acme (grocery coupons)

Total: $41.28

Freebies Received
Address labels
Disney stickers
Tide Pods sample

Total 2012 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $534.39
Total 2012 Coupon Savings: $466.75

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

Another NEW Pampers Gifts to Grow code!!!

2012-03-23T13:33:00.000-04:00

Here we go with yet another Pampers Gifts to Grow code! I hope you're getting all these!

Be sure to "Like" the Tips & Treasures facebook page and/or follow me on Twitter. Those links are right over there at the top of my sidebar! Sometimes I share those codes there, when I don't get a chance to post them here.

This latest code is: FB3PD23GXDAYS12 -and is worth 10 points!

If you're not familiar with the Pampers Gifts to Grow program, here's a quick idea of how it works...

Pampers has unique codes on each of their diaper and wipes products. You can also get other codes on Facebook and elsewhere around the net. So even if you're not diapering any children, you can still participate!

Codes are worth a various amount of points and points can be redeemed for great prizes (gift cards, sweepstakes entries, coupons, toys, etc.)!

Sign up for the Gifts to Grow program - it's free and you'll get 100 free bonus points just for registering!

February Credit Card Debt Recap

2012-03-21T08:36:00.001-04:00

Welcome to my monthly recap of the progress we make on paying off our credit card debt! It's an exciting adventure, really :)

At the beginning of February, our credit card totals looked like this:

CitiCard1 - $0
CitiCard2 (0%) - $3,500.00
_____________________
Total - $3,500.00

And then at the end of February, our totals looked like this:

CitiCard1 - $0
CitiCard2 (0%) - $3,400.00
_____________________
Total - $3,400.00

We paid off another $100 of our credit card debt. That may not look too exciting, compared to us paying off over $10,000 last year, but I have other exciting news! Last month we were able to pay off the last $2,700 on our car loan!! I am so super excited about that.

But we didn't get to celebrate for long. Unfortunately, right around the same time, we learned that we will have a significant drop in income in the very near future. (I'm unable to discuss the details quite yet.) Considering we are a one income family, it'll be a pretty big hit to our finances.

Right now, the plan is to keep paying as much as we can to this credit card. The 0% interest is up in November, so ideally, we'd have it paid off by then. But now we also have to stick some extra money into savings, to prepare for a loss of income as much as we can. So we'll be splitting up our payments to the credit card and to savings.

If we were somehow able to pay off this card before November, that would be great. It'd be one less bill to have to worry about paying on a reduced income. And we'd be avoiding any interest! I'm really not sure we can make that happen now, but it's surely a goal.

To see my previous posts about our debt payoff journey, go here.

Savings & Earnings Recap 3/11 - 3/17

2012-03-19T09:05:00.000-04:00

How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly recap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received.

It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. Here's my recap for the past week, 3/11/12 - 3/17/12.

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received
$50.00..... Amazon gift card from Ipsos i-Say surveys
$15.00..... Amazon gift card from Connected Advisors Survey Community
$0.61....... Cash back for using PayPal debit card
$29.70..... Ebay sale
Total: $95.31

Coupon Savings
$14.34...... Kohl's (15% off mystery discount)
$16.00...... Acme (Grocery coupons)

Total: $30.34

Freebies Received
Martha Stewart Living... April issue (free 1 year subscription!)
Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal sample

Total 2012 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $477.84
Total 2012 Coupon Savings: $425.47

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

New Pampers Gifts to Grow Code - 10 Points!!

2012-03-17T12:44:00.003-04:00

Are you collecting Pampers Gifts to Grow codes to redeem for great rewards? If so, I've got a brand new code for you!

FBSTPPKKGA3M412

This code is worth 10 points and is valid through 3/19/2012.

If you're not familiar with the Pampers Gifts to Grow program, here's a quick idea of how it works. Pampers has unique codes on each of their diaper and wipes products. You can also get other codes on Facebook and elsewhere around the net. So even if you're not diapering any children, you can still participate!

Codes are worth a various amount of points and points can be redeemed for great prizes (gift cards, sweepstakes entries, coupons, toys, etc.)!

Sign up for the Gifts to Grow program - it's free and you'll get 100 free bonus points just for registering!

Free 1-year subscription to Good Housekeeping!

2012-03-16T10:40:00.000-04:00

This one will go fast! Jump over here and grab your free 1-year subscription to Good Housekeeping magazine!

No credit card needed and no strings attached!

Note that you'll need to sign up for the American Family website to claim your freebie. But - have no fear :) It's free and it has instant win opportunities to win gift cards and also has all kinds of coupons, recipes and other resources!

I love magazine freebies! Most of the magazines I receive are freebies from offers like these. A few others I've found at $4 or less for a year. I just can't justify the expense of paying for my magazine habit and why pay for what you can find for free!?!

Savings & Earnings Recap 2/26 - 3/10

2012-03-13T14:25:00.002-04:00

How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly recap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received.

Total: $29.99

Freebies Received
Martha Stewart Living... January thru March issues (free 1 year subscription!)

Total 2012 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $382.53
Total 2012 Coupon Savings: $395.13

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

Do It Yourself: Custom Wall Art

2012-03-05T07:53:00.000-05:00

Framed wall art can get pretty pricey, even when you catch it on sale. So when we moved my son into his new bedroom, we left the walls mostly empty for a little while.

I finally got tired of looking at the blank walls and decided to make my own custom wall art... super cheap!

I found some cheap frames at the dollar store so I grabbed four of those. So then I just needed some actual art to put in them.

I thought about printing a few of our photos from our frequent trips to the zoo because the theme of his room is safari animals. But then I remember this old book of animal pictures and facts that had been passed on to us ....

This book sat on our bookcase and we never used it for anything. So I picked out four pictures that would fit perfectly in my frames...

And volia! They turned out great! And cost me a measly $4.28! Wow, what a savings considering that if I bought framed art, I would have paid $10-$20, or more, for each one!

Notice that I ended up swapping two of the pictures out... and I'm not even sure why. I actually did this project quite awhile ago and just realized I never posted about it. My brain's getting fuzzy in it's old age. Ha.

Anyway, I'm definitely pleased with the results of my custom wall art and my little guy was super excited to get these up on his wall!

This was a super easy project that took just a few minutes and was super cheap as well - all around win!

Savings & Earnings Recap 2/19 - 2/25

2012-02-28T09:47:00.000-05:00

How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly recap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received.

It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. Here's my recap for the past week, 2/19/12 - 2/25/12.

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received
$5.00..... Target gift card (Pampers Underjams promo)
$25.00... Amazon gift card from doing surveys at SurveyHead
Total: $30.00

Coupon Savings
$11.94...... Target (coupons + 5% off Target card discount + reusable bags credit)
$11.25...... Walmart (grocery coupons)
$5.00........ CVS ($3 off $15 + grocery coupons)

Total: $28.19

Freebies Received
Address labels, stickers & a note tablet

Total 2012 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $367.53
Total 2012 Coupon Savings: $365.14

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

Preparing For a Drop in Income

2012-02-23T21:06:00.000-05:00

What things would you do if you were notified that you'd be suffering a loss, or atleast a significant drop, in income in the next few months?

Would you cancel your cable? Lower your cell phone plan? Buy less stuff?

Do you have a plan? Savings?

Although I can't really discuss the details right now, our family has suddenly been thrown into this situation. We will be suffering a significant loss of income sometime within the next three months. And it sucks. Really.

But immediately we took action. We started to cut back in every area that we possibly could. It won't make a huge dent and it certainly won't supplement that lost income, but every bit helps. Every penny counts, as the saying goes.

Now there's alot of areas that we've already cut back on over the past year. We've eliminated and saved in so many areas in order to pay off our car loan and most of our credit card debt. We now had to look harder to find even more areas to cut spending.

So here's a quick list of some of the immediate changes we've made:

-Hardly any take out/going out to dinner
-Eliminated my morning cup of hot tea from Dunkin Donuts
-Replaced hot tea and iced tea with water throughout the day
-Limited use of lighting in the evenings (when watching tv or on the computer)
-Lowered the thermostat
-Being extra careful not to let food waste or expire
-Got more serious with couponing again (going to more than 1 store to snag the great deals)
-Swapped some hot breakfasts for cereal
-Not participating in some school fundraisers
-Buying only necessities - like groceries
-Going back to cutting our son's hair ourselves
-Less frequent professional dog grooming
-Took the internet access off our cell phones
-Cancelled our Netflix account
-Considering different brands if our favorites aren't on sale

Hopefully these things will help us save a decent amount of money each month. Obviously this will not make up for the drop in income, but it will help lessen the difference. We'll also be cutting back on paying off our last major credit card. It'll get done, just maybe not as soon as we'd hoped. But atleast it's still got the 0% interest through November.

Trying to keep optimistic in this situation. Also, trying to keep myself focused on this plan of action. Makes me feel a little more in control of things that are totally out of my control.

Have you ever gone through a loss in income? Or a significant reduction? What did you do?

Do It Yourself Pirate Themed Party Decor

2012-02-22T09:21:00.001-05:00

About a month ago our son turned 4 and had requested a pirate themed party. We don't usually go all out with decorations, since it's just us and a few extended family members. But we always let the birthday child pick a theme for plates, napkins and a few decorations.

So we were out at the party store looking for pirate decorations when I had a brilliant idea. We could decorate using some of the pirate toys that he already had instead of buying cheap (but pricey) decorations to use only once.

This is what we came up with.....

Pirate ships & Mickey pirate figures as centerpiece

Pirate booty in treasure chest

Eye patches and earrings

Pirate hat, sword & booty

So where did all this come from? The pirate ships, pirate Mickey Mouse figures and pirate hat are my son's toys that he already had. The tablecloth, gold coins, eye patches & earrings, and the sword were bought for the party. I sprang for the tablecloth because it was large enough to cut and cover both of our tables.... the main one and our kiddie one!

The 'treasure chest' is really a trinket type box that I've had around for years, and worked perfectly for this! Oh and the beaded necklaces in the pirate booty are toys that my kids have had.

Although we did make a few purchases for the party, many of them will be reused because my son has also decided that he wants to be a pirate for Halloween this year. So we didn't mind paying for the sword, eye patches and earrings since they'll be part of his (mostly homemade) costume! Way to stretch our dollars!

Have you done any do it yourself party decorating like this? Or have you made your own party decorations? Tell me about it!

New Pampers Gifts to Grow Code - 10 points!

2012-02-21T07:53:00.000-05:00

Are you collecting Pampers Gifts to Grow codes to redeem for great rewards? If so, I've got a new code for you!

FBFAMDBD99KAY12

This code is worth 10 points and is valid through 2/26/2012.

If you're not familiar with the Pampers Gifts to Grow program, here's a quick idea of how it works. Pampers has unique codes on each of their diaper and wipes products. You can also get other codes on Facebook and elsewhere around the net. So even if you're not diapering any children, you can still participate!

Codes are worth a various amount of points and points can be redeemed for great prizes (gift cards, sweepstakes entries, coupons, toys, etc.) with free shipping!

Sign up for the Gifts to Grow program - it's free and you'll get 100 free bonus points just for registering!

Savings & Earnings Recap 2/5 - 2/18

2012-02-19T08:22:00.001-05:00

How much extra money did you earn this week? How much did you save? Here's my weekly recap of money/gift cards earned, cash saved by using coupons, and freebies received.

It's fun to see your savings/earnings amounts all added up. It clearly shows that it's time well spent when you cut coupons, hunt for sales, and make little bits of money here and there. Here's my recap for the past two weeks, 2/5/12 - 2/18/12.

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received
$5.00........ Amazon gift card won through the Swagbucks search engine
$85.09...... Commission Junction affiliate earnings
Total: $90.09

Coupon Savings
$2.80..... Walmart (grocery coupons)
$47.92... Kohl's ($40 Kohl's cash redeemed & 30% off coupon)
$9.99..... Friendly's (B1G1 free entree coupon)

Total: $60.71

Freebies Received

Total 2012 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $337.53
Total 2012 Coupon Savings: $336.95

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

January Credit Card Debt Recap

2012-02-17T08:51:00.002-05:00

It's time to start off a new year of paying off our credit card debt. This year I'll continue to recap this on a monthly basis to make sure we stay focused.

We had started 2011 with $13,402.24 of debt on two major credit cards, plus some more on store cards. The store cards were paid off and then we went to work on the two major cards.

Throughout last year we managed to pay off over $10,000 in credit card debt between the two major cards and the store cards. We were left with $3,600 on one card to start off 2012.

At the beginning of January, our credit card totals looked like this:

CitiCard1 - $0
CitiCard2 (0%) - $3,600.00
_____________________
Total - $3,600.00

And then at the end of January, our totals looked like this:

CitiCard1 - $0
Citicard2 (0%) - $3,500.00
_____________________
Total - $3,500.00

So in January we paid off $100 in credit card debt. We're getting there! This month, a minimal amount went to paying off this credit card, as we were more focused on paying off our car loan early, so about $440 extra went towards that as an extra payment. We hope to have the remaining $2700 or so on the car loan paid off between now and March!

We are lucky to have a 0% interest rate on this card until November. Our goal is to definitely have this card paid off in full before then.

To see my previous posts about our debt payoff journey, go here.

Giveaway Winners

2012-02-16T10:18:00.001-05:00

Yay, I'm finally getting around to announcing the two winners of the Coupon Inserts Giveaway!

Sorry for the delay. Life has gotten busy around here and the past week has been crazy.

So anyway,back to our two winners! My kiddos helped me randomly pick numbers 3 and 5, soooo... the winners are Kristen and Erinn. They have been emailed and their coupons will be sent right out to them!

To make up for the delay, I'll be throwing in a few extra inserts for each of the winners!

Thanks to all who stopped by and entered!

Last day to enter: Coupon Inserts Giveaway!

2012-02-10T11:01:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder that today is the last day to enter my giveaway for the coupon inserts. Two winners will be picked to each receive 8 SmartSource coupon inserts!

You have a great chance at winning, since there are a low number of entries!!! All you need to do is leave a comment on that post. Nothing else!

You have until tonight, 2/10/12 at midnight EST, to enter! The two winners will be picked at random and sent email notification on Saturday. I'll also post the winners on the blog.

Thanks so much for entering!

Paying our car loan off early

2012-02-09T10:39:00.002-05:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that right now we're focusing on paying off our car loan early. At the time, we owed approximately $3,600 on it, at 4.9%, and our payments were set to run through November 2012.

We had been working to pay off our credit card debt for all of last year and are super excited that we managed to pay off over $10,000 of it, which was mostly due to remodeling work that had to be done.

In January, we took another look at our finances, as we do very regularly. We had $3,600 left on our car loan and $3,600 left of credit card debt. And both needed to be paid by November. The difference was that our credit card is at 0% interest until then and the car is at 4.9% interest.

So we took the focus off the credit cards and decided to tackle the car loan first. So any extra money we have each month will go towards this.

I had been paying $400 per month, but then added in an extra $20 just to give it a little jump start. Then when we cancelled our cable, I added in the $40 savings each month to also go towards our car payment, bringing it to $460 a month minimum payment.

Luckily enough we had more extra cash last month and managed to pay off $900 instead of the $460!! So our loan balance is now at about $2,700.

Later this month, we should have a nice sized tax refund and about $2,000 will be going towards paying off our car loan.

Our tax refund, combined with our regular payment this month, will knock our balance down to about $225 or so! I would LOVE to come up with that money this month and get it completely paid off, but I don't really see that happening. So we will just have to wait until next month to pay it off.

Once the car loan is gone, we'll use the amount we had been paying on it, to go towards our credit card payment. And then we'll see how fast we can pay that off! It's so exciting to be freeing ourselves from all of this debt and I can't wait to see our future once we're unburdened by it all!

I can hardly believe that a year and a half ago, I was miserable over the state of our finances. We never had late payments or anything like that. We just had debt piled up and we thought it would take us forever to pay it off. But we took the plunge and worked so hard to get where we are today. We did it. You can too.

Organizing Project: Before & After

2012-02-08T09:23:00.001-05:00

So in 2012, I want to try and get more organized. I'm already pretty darn organized around here, but there are a few areas that I want to tackle.

One area is my paper clutter. My day to day paper clutter is under control, it's all the saved papers that I need to file away that are in a chaotic pile on my desk. Anyway, that project is for another day.

For now, I wanted to tackle my son's bedroom closet. Specifically a 3-drawer cart that contained (or didn't really contain) my kiddos' coloring books, scrap drawing paper and Play-Doh.

Notice the chaos in the drawers and all over the floor

And more clutter on top

And even more clutter off to the side

The main problem with this 3-drawer cart is that it eventually got too small for the amount of storage we needed. So stuff got piled up on top and then it would fall off and cover the floor all around it. Also, the drawers did not slide easily, so it was a pain to open and close. So, I think many times, it was easier for my kiddos to just toss their stuff anywhere, instead of in the drawers.

So we found an awesome new 5-drawer organizer. This one not only has more drawers, but is much wider and allows for all of their stuff to actually fit in! We love it and so far it has been kept pretty much the way I organized it. Yay!

Lovely!

No more clutter on the side

Coloring books & crayons

Play-Doh tubs & tools

Notice my use of shoe boxes in several areas. Sometimes you just need an organizer inside another organizer to contain smaller items or to separate some things. I love repurposing shoe boxes when I organize... they are free, convenient and of course, it's great for the planet too :)

Don't you just love when you finish a big organizing project? Sure makes me want to do a happy dance!

New Pampers Gifts to Grow Code - 5 points

2012-02-07T16:47:00.000-05:00

Are you collecting Pampers Gifts to Grow codes to redeem for great rewards? If so, here's a new code for you!

TWITL9E8XAGTG12

This code is worth 5 points and is valid through 2/9/2012.

If you're not familiar with the Pampers Gifts to Grow program, here's a quick idea of how it works. Pampers has unique codes on each of their diaper and wipes products. You can also get other codes on Facebook and elsewhere around the net. So even if you're not diapering any children, you can still participate!

Codes are worth a various amount of points and points can be redeemed for great prizes (gift cards, sweepstakes entries, coupons, toys, etc.) with free shipping!

Sign up for the Gifts to Grow program - it's free and you'll get 100 free bonus points just for registering!

Coupon Inserts Giveaway

2012-02-06T09:16:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be given a big handful of coupon inserts. I saved a bunch for myself and wanted to give another bunch away.

So how about a coupon insert giveaway! Yay! Ok, so it's not the most exciting giveaway, but I certainly don't want these coupons to go to waste.

I'll pick two random commenters to each receive 7 SmartSource inserts from 1/8/12 and 1 other SmartSource insert from 1/12/12.

To enter, simply leave me a comment!

Entries will be accepted until Friday 2/10/12 at 12pm EST. Saturday, 2/11/12, I will pick two winners who will be notified by email.

Good luck!