Homeschool Cash

You've probably noticed the "Homeschool Cash" banner on my blog above my top post. Some readers have emailed me to inquire exactly what Homeschool Cash is and if I know much about it. As I've said before, I only advertise items that I have purchased myself or would purchase because I know they are good and/or beneficial products.

Homeschool Cash is a new members-only program that has been developed by stay-at-home mom, Amy Bass. I "know" Amy in the sense that many of you "know" me. I've followed her story and her other blog for about one year. I "met" her at the Dave Ramsey plan site, "Living Like No One Else" where she posts as "Vegangoddess". Her username is a tribute to her vegan lifestyle. She has had health problems in the past that the vegan lifestyle seems to correct. Anyway, she was $72,000 in debt with her 4th child on the way when her husband was honorably discharged from military service due to developing a debilating health issue himself. She knew she had to do something to make money and get them out of debt. She had recently converted to being a Dave follower.

She began a blog, My Debt Free Goal. She chronicled her attempts to learn everything she could about blogging for money, Internet affiliate marketing, article writing, and creating niche websites. She has consistently brought in over $3,000 per month for the past 6 months just from Internet projects. You can see her earnings on her blog. She doesn't want to hide anything and wants to share how others can do what she has done to make money from home.

I know of one friend who has purchased her program. He has bought other similar products on the Internet for much more money. He has been studying and trying to break into the Internet money making business for a few months before the Homeschool Cash program came out. Some of the programs others advertise start at $500! And my friend says they lead you through the program with lots of "holes" for you to figure out for yourself. So, in the end with the other programs you are left even more frustrated because you see that making money is possible but they don't give you all the information to get started yourself.

Homeschool Cash is different. It costs $17 for the first month, and then $25 after that for a few months, totaling $150. Amy is available as your personal Internet coach and wants you to succeed. She shows you everything and it comes with a moneyback guarantee. She was burned herself by programs that offered to teach her how to do the Internet stuff and that offered a moneyback gaurantee that didn't repay her the money. She has disclosed that her gaurantee is truly a gaurantee and that no one will be denied the refund if she truly can't help them.

I haven't ordered it myself yet because I'm at a crazy time of year with school. I have no time to devote to it but I plan to order it in June and spend the summer learning her system.

I would recommend you take a look at her blog and view her You Tube video for more information if you are interested in making money from home. Oh, and its not just for moms. Dads are welcome too!

Make It Yourself Mondays

Welcome to Make It Yourself Monday!

With the economy tight and my budget seemingly smaller, I thought it would be nice for all of us to share our recipes and tips for making food from home. Fast food and packaged foods can be a budget busters and they are full of ingredients that takes a dictionary to pronounce. By making more foods at home we can save money and know what we are eating. There's no carageum or hydrogenated whey in my list of ingredients!

When deciding to cut my grocery budget, I have to listen to my family's needs (read: wants). They like their easy to prepare, pop it into the microwave and pop it into the mouth foods, especially my husband. So, in order to keep them all happy and not begging for fast food or packaged food, I like to keep a supply of my own creations on hand to satisfy their wants.

My kids love Hot Pockets. Did you just hear that familiar "Hot Pockets" commercial in your head?! I did. Weird! There it is again, la la la la "Hot Pockets"! Here are two ways to start making your own Hot Pockets. The first way involves buying some pre-made stuff and the second is entirely from scratch. The normal cost of a package of Hot Pockets is $2.50 around here. That gets you 2 stuffed-crust sandwiches. Both of these recipes gives you the same product for a lot less.

First Way:

1. You need some pre-made bread. I buy either pre-made pizza crusts or packages of crescent rolls, whichever is cheaper at the time.

2. You need some meat and cheese fillings. Some combos include sliced ham/cheddar, pepperoni/mozzarella, cooked chicken/cheddar, etc. I buy combos that are on sale.

3. You can add in some cooked veggies like broccoli, chopped onions, peppers, etc.

Just roll the crusts out and cut into a bread pocket size. Put your meat and fillings in the middle and bring the sides of the dough up and pinch closed. Place seam side down on a baking sheet and bake at 350 until lightly brown. Cool and place into Ziplock freezer bags.

If I use 2 pizza crusts, 1 bag of cheese, and 1 type of meat I usually spend about $8 and get a total of 15-20 sandwiches depending on size. This equals about $.50 for each sandwich instead of $1.25.

Second Way:

Make your own bread dough by either making a yeast roll mix or homemade pizza dough. Add to this leftover bits of cheese, meats, and veggies that you have stored up or found on sale at a low, low price. (I currently have a ton of cheese!). Cost of this method equal about $.10 per sandwich.

Either way I'm saving money and my kids and husband are happy. Another great idea is to getyour kids involved in making these so they can create their own combos of flavor. Then you have a cooking lesson, convenience food, and happy family all in one. Your turn! Add a link or post a comment on a way you "Make It Yourself" and save money.

Congratulations Letroy!

Good Luck Letroy! Show them what you're made of!

Make it Yourself- May's frugal challenge and a new meme

I've been reading many people's posts around the blogosphere about their budget busters and grocery spending habits. It seems that fast food habits and the rising cost of groceries is hurting most of us right now. My usual $40-$50 grocery trips have recently become $60-$70 grocery trips. I've read that with every 1 cent that diesel fuel increases, 10,000 self-employed truckers come off the road. The bottom line is that we all are feeling the pinch in the pocket when it comes to food. How can we combat this? Make more stuff ourselves and skip the fast food and higher-priced convenience foods.

My suggestion is to start slowly. Think of 1 or 2 items that you find yourself buying either in a fast food drive-thru or from a box in your own kitchen. Then find a way to make it yourself or find a cheaper alternative.

If you are addicted to fast food fries or take-out pizza, then buy those things in the frozen food section of the grocery store. Buy store brand if the name-brand isn't on sale. It is much better to buy a huge bag of frozen french fries to cook yourself than a few high-priced trips thru McDonald's drive-thru.

Don't feel guilty for having frozen chicken nuggets or corn dogs in your freezer. We all need those quick, easy meals for hectic days or days when we just don't feel like we can prepare an entire meal for our family. If you are like me, in the past, I would totally avoid buying those items thinking they weren't frugal and not healthy enough for my family. Then I would find myself eating Burger King Whoppers and KFC chicken. Those items are worse health wise and hard on the wallet. I learned that a few easy items in the freezer are much better than the guilt I felt after eating fast food.

If you already have kicked the fast food habit (I'm bowing to you now) then move to making more items from scratch instead of buying pre-packaged food. Not too long ago, I made an afternoon of peeling, slicing, and freezing potatoes to make my own pre-packaged french fries. My family loves homemade fries but I don't always have time on weekdays to make them after a long day at school. With these packages, I just toss them in either the frying pan with oil or the oven and we have fries for dinner. Throw some hamburger patties in a pan that you patted out and froze in individual pieces of plastic wrap and you have quick hamburger and fries for supper without having spent money on fast food. You also know all of the ingredients in this meal- potatoes, beef, and seasonings. Nothing artificial and no preservatives. Now doesn't that feel good!

You can do the same thing for nicer style restaurant meals. I love the "smashed" potatoes from our local steakhouse but I can easily recreate them in my own home for a fraction of the price. Same thing for "Alice Springs Chicken" from Outback. Search for "copycat" recipes and you will probably find versions of your favorite restaurant foods that you can well, copy.

I'm going to make a list of the fast food items I eat the most and the pre-packaged foods that I rely on from week to week. Then I will search the Internet for homemade versions that I can try. This will be my new challenge for May. Won't you join me?

Each Monday I will host "Make it Yourself Monday" with a Mr. Linky. (My first Mr. Linky project! Yeah!) You can post either a specific food you make yourself instead of buying prepared or a recipe for making something from scratch that some people might buy prepackaged. Maybe you have a great copycat recipe that you can share. Together we can stare down the higher food prices and win the war on rising food costs!

Check back Monday for our first "Make it Yourself Monday". I'm looking forward to the great links.

How to Freeze Cheese

Freezing Cheese is a great way to take advantage of cheap cheese purchased on sale with coupons. Hard cheeses such as cheddar and colby and soft cheese like mozzarella can be frozen for up to 3 months.

For bags of individually wrapped cheese sticks I throw the whole bag into the freezer. For sliced cheese packs I put the entire pack into a freezer bag and then into the freezer. Cheese cubes in bags are a little more work. I take them out of the original bag, lay them in layers on top of plastic wrap, wrap them tightly, then put them back into the original bag if it zips up.

I've never had any problem with frozen cheese. Just don't freeze cream cheese. It doesn't work. I found that out after buying a bunch philly cream cheeses once for $.15 each. They almost all ended up in the garbage.

A Great Way to Earn Your $25 gift card from Kraft at Winn-Dixie

Winn-Dixie has had some really terrible sales lately, in my opinion but I found deal that makes earning the $25 reward from Kraft relatively easy. Here's the deal:

From now until May 2nd, every time you buy a Kraft Live Active product you get a Catalina machine coupon for $2 off your next grocery order. The Live Active cheese cubes and sticks are on sale for $3 a bag. Here is a printable coupon for $2 off Live Active cheese.

Yesterday Ciarra and I bought 13 packs of cheese at the brand new self-checkout. We made each purchase seperately using the $2 off coupon for each order. My first order I used the printable coupons. I paid $13 out of pocket and still have a $2 off coupon for next time. But each cheese counts as a $3 purchase. So I got credit for $39 toward the Kraft deal. I only needed $35 to cash out for my gift card.

So, if you bought 25 packs of cheese in seperate transactions you would get credit for $75 and earn your gift card of $25. That's a really great deal.

There are other Live Active products that will work as well but they are not on sale. The Breakstone's live active cottage cheese is $2.99 per pack, the Live Active Cereal is $3.99, and the Crystal Light Live Active drink mixes are $3.99.

I chose to receive a $25 Winn-Dixie card and plan to keep doing the Live Active deal. I should be stocked on cheese sticks (which freeze beautifully), cereal, and cottage cheese. With my almost non-existent grocery budget for the next 5 weeks these will be great. I sent in two bags of cheese sticks to my daughter's classroom today for snack. They loved them!

We Interrupt this Debt Repayment Plan to pay the IRS

I.R.S.= I'm Really Stupid and It's Really Sucky

Yep, we owe the government. Not for last year, but for a few years back. We received the notice that items were misreported on our 2004 Tax Return and that we had 30 days to review the IRS findings and respond to their notice.

Well, indeed we do owe the money, with penalties and with interest. I'm not sure exactly how the mistakes came about but our federal withholding taxes were way wrong on our return. Now we owe $5,900. That's a huge amount from a one-line mistake!!!!

We don't want the IRS debt hanging around for long because the interest and penalties continue to accrue daily until paid plus they have real power to basically do anything they want to get their money. Here's our plan to get it paid off by May 31st.

1. They will keep our $2100 economic incentive check. New balance $3800.
2. Our entire $1300 debt snowball for April 30th will go to the balance. New balance $2500
3. On May 15th we will pay $500. New Balance $2000
4. Our entire $1300 debt snowball for May 31st will go to the balance. New balance $700

The remaining balance of $700 is the part that is the challenge. I've got to find $700 in snowflake money to make up this difference or we will have to wipe our most of the emergency fund. Snowflake money can come from not spending the entire budget in other areas such as the electric bill, gasoline for cars, and any misc. spending that usually goes on during the month. Snowflake money can also come from making extra money such as having a yard sale, selling on Craigslist, making money from this blog, rebate checks, etc.

So, if you had to raise an extra $700 in 5 weeks what would you do?

Happy Earth Day

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth.

Psalm 89:11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You have founded them.



Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.



Isaiah 42:5 Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it



Acts 17:24 "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;



Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse



Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.



Revelations 4:11 "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."

Let me Introduce You to Our Other "Son", Letroy Guion

This is our unofficial son, Letroy. He has been part of the family for just over 4 years. Oh, he's also an awesome football player who will be in the NFL draft this upcoming Saturday and is in the top 100 projected picks. Let me tell you his story.

Letroy was always a big kid. He had trouble being still in elementary school and his learning was affected. He was then "labeled" and placed in all special education classes. His mom, knowing that sports would be a good thing for him to become involved in was disappointed to find out that he was too big to play team sports in elementary and middle school. He didn't start playing football until 8th grade. He was a natural. Unfortunately, he wasn't a natural in the classroom and pretty much no one did anything about it. His mom, his biggest supporter and cheerleader, did not know how to get him the help he needed through public school and could not afford anything outside of school. She fought for him every year but nobody listened. Fast forward to the middle of his junior year in high school. My husband was the remedial high school math and reading teacher and I was the school's reading coach. My husband always remarked that Letroy had potential, a great attitude and wanted to learn and do better. This was highly unusual in these classes, as these kids had been "failures" at school for at least 10 years. Most of them were marking the days until they could quit school. But not Letroy.

Letroy first approached me in April of his junior year, which was 5 years ago this month. He came by my office and bluntly said, "I heard you can teach people to read. Can you teach me?" That's where it all began. I talked to his coach and found out that he could possibly be offered a Division I scholarship for football if he could get his grades up. I pulled his transcript and was horrified at what I saw! Bad grades and low level classes. I knew that couldn't add up to a scholarship.

I contacted the NCAA Clearinghouse to find out exactly what Letroy needed to do to be eligible for a scholarship. It was not good news so I sat down with him and his mom and discussed my findings. We figured every possible way he could get qualified but everyone of them seemed impossible. He basically needed to take 11 courses his senior year, be on the honor roll, and score a good number on the ACT/SAT. He told me he would do whatever it took. And I believed him.

Letroy worked day and night his senior year. He took 6 classes at school, 3 classes online, and 2 classes at our vocational school on a computer. His mom quit her job so that she could be involved with his schooling and footballing 24/7. They struggled very much financially. His dad worked 70 and 80 hour weeks to provide for his wife, Letroy, and the other 5 kids at home.

I wish I could say that it was easy. It was not. He didn't make honor roll and actually had to drop a few classes because it was all too much for him. He spent Saturdays and Sundays at our home with my husband helping him with math and science and me teaching him test-taking strategies and reading comprehension strategies. I don't regret one minute of it! Oh, and let me just say that Letroy didn't have the support of many of the people at our school, including some administrators. I have no idea why. Letroy has no enemies and has the biggest heart of anyone I know. (Like a few weeks ago when he came by my 5th grade classroom and signed 80+ autographs for all the 5th graders.) They just didn't want to see him succeed.

Fast forward again to the summer after he graduated (with a regular diploma, I might add). He was still enrolled in summer school online classes and was within a hair of qualifying for his scholarship which had been offered to him by Florida State University. They believed in him, too! He finished his summer classes on a Wednesday, signed his scholarship on Saturday, and left for Tallahassee on Sunday.

He was #93 for the Noles for three years, while earning the respect of his coaches, teammates, and fellow students. Letroy spent a couple hours in class, a couple of hours practicing and working out, and a couple of hours being tutored. He didn't skip classes and he didn't skip tutoring. He always knew he could do it. And so did we.

He decided to forgo his senior year at FSU and I don't blame him one bit. His family has struggled financially for a long time and his mom's health is not so good these days. He has the chance to make big money in the NFL and I told him he can always go back and finish his degree. I don't think badly of any talented athlete for jumping to the professional level. It is their choice to make. I know that Letroy is doing it for his family.

So next Saturday will be a life-changing day for Letroy. One that he always knew he would see. And we did too. Because anyone who really knows Troy knows that once he has a dream and a vision he won't stop until he makes it. Whatever team gets him next weekend is a lucky team indeed.

Best of Luck, Letroy. No matter what happens you can know that Mr. Hopkins, the kids, and I love you and are sooooo proud of you. Go gettem Big Guy!

You can read more about Letroy here.

My CVS Deals for the Week of 4/20

After many emails from readers, I realized that I had stopped posting the good deals at CVS each week like I had in the past. This is due to two reasons. First, I really haven't been shopping the deals for the past 3 months. With the new baby and adjusting to life with 4 kids I just haven't had the ability to go to CVS much. Second, there are so many wonderful blogs reporting the CVS deals now that it is kind of like overkill. I don't want anyone to think that I "took" their deal posting or anything silly like that. If I do get information from another blog I always give credit to the source.

But I will be posting what I am getting at CVS from now on. I need to do this for myself because I was actually a little scared this morning when I opened my next to last tube of toothpaste! I haven't been that low in toothpaste in five years. Also, Camryn is down to her last pack of diapers that I bought before she was born. It was great not to have to buy anything (nothing!) for this baby except a swing for the first 3 months!

I may not highlight all of the deals each week but you can find them at Money Saving Mom, The Centsible Sawyer, I heart CVS, and many other great blogs. I will show you the ways I am spending my money and Bucks and I hope that you may benefit.

So, here's what I'm getting this week:
First transaction:
15 Essence of Beauty Gift Bags @ $1.49 each (April Monthly deal)
Total: $22.35
Minus $4 off $20 from email
Minus $3 off $10 CVS brand
Minus $2 off $10 CVS brand (from pharmacy)
Minus $3 ECB earned previously
Total Due: $10.35
Earned $25 ECB

Second Transaction:
4 Maybelline Lip Color @ 2/$9.99= $19.98
1 Speed Stick 24/7 $3.99
1 VIVA pack of paper towels $6.49
1 Gallon Milk
Total: $30.46

Minus 4 $2 off Maybelline from 2/10 inserts
Minus $1 off Speed Stick printable here
Total Due: $25 which I will pay for with ECB from #1
Earned $12 from Maybelline, $3.99 SS, $1 Viva

Final Transaction:
1 Jumbo Huggies $13.99
1 Spa Radiant Bathwash $5.49
1 Gallon Milk
Minus $4 off $20
Minus $2 off Huggies
Total: $17 which I will pay for with ECB from #2
Earn: $5.49 to use next week

Total Out of Pocket: $10.35 with $5.49 still to use
Total Value of Merchandise: $70

Road Trip to Food Lion

My family and I are planning a road trip to hit up a Food Lion grocery store today. I say road trip because we have to drive 80 miles round trip to get there and back. But my grandparents live in that town so our real reason to go is to visit them and let them see and visit with baby Camryn. It just so happens that Food Lion has some great deals running right now!

Here's what I'm planning to do at Food Lion. These deals and links come from various sources including The Centsible Sawyer, A Garden of Blessings, Hot Coupon World, and A Full Cup. We will go twice , once on our way into town and once on the way out.

*French Bread is 2 for $2. I will use this coupon and get $1 overage.
*Food Lion Cornbread packages are 2/$4. I will use this coupon and get 4 for free.
*I will pick up the travel size Food Lion wipes for free with this coupon.
*Glad sandwich bags are on Clearance for $1.60. I will use this coupon.
*Then I'll pick up some Ore-Ida fries for $.50 with this coupon.
*And some Live Active Cheese (just when I ate my last package) for $.50 with this coupon.
*If Ivory Snow is on clearance I'll pick it up with this coupon.
*5 Cans of Food Lion Vegetables.
*I'll get some chicken too.
*and some Bertolli.
*and a cake. Cake is always good. But better with Blue Bunny Ice Cream.

Looks like it will be a good trip.

I've been tagged twice. Here are my top 5 Budget Busters

I was tagged by Marcy at Stretching A Buck to list my top 5 Budget Busters. Only five? There are sooo many temptations when trying to live on a "getting out of debt budget".

1. Doing Lunch. Everyday. We have so many great places near my school that can have a lunch ready for us in less than 15 minutes. My favorite right now is Laredo's. They have a great lunch special that is a fajita burrito with rice and refried beans for only $4.75. It is a huge portion too! We also order out from a local Steak House. House special is a Steerburger with potato and drink for $5.50 or something like that. You can see that these things can easily add up to a lot of money. I am trying to limit myself to only ordering out on Friday. I have this "I deserve it" mentality that I have survived second-semester, hormonal, pre-teen girls and boys for 5 days and I deserve a great lunch.

2. Buying stuff for my classroom. My measely $125 budget for the year ran out long ago. I still have to have white board markers, pens, pencils, folders, etc. Just basic supplies. I buy them out of my own pocket. I also like to occasionally buy something fun for my class like a giant foam finger or a comfy cushion. Oh, such splurges!

3. Gardening and Curb Appeal Projects. Oh how I want a beautiful garden and lots of lush vegetation everywhere. I want a nice outdoor dining table and chairs and some tiki torches and a chimnea and, and, and . . . You can see where I'm going with this. Once I start in one area I want to keep it going. I need to learn to be content and just add stuff little by little.

4. Clothes for my kids. They are growing and growing. My oldest daughter's foot is now bigger than mine! She's 10. I get her hand-me-down shoes. My boy is growing taller but not wider so clothes have to be specially purchased right now for him and my 2nd daughter just loves clothes.

5. Containers and Organizers. My husband jokes that parts of our house look like an elementary school classroom with everything labeled and organized in neat little containers. I love me some containers. I need more containers for all my stuff that I haven't containerized yet. And I want a fancy labeler too.

There are my 5 budget busters. I'm tagging these ladies to share their budget busters. Remember to link back to me, as those are the rules in tagging!

Southern @ Southern Seven
Jennifer @ Keepers of the Home
Donna @ Peanut Walker (one of the funniest mom blogs I've ever read!)

Two Give-Aways at Wal-Mart Stores tomorrow, April 19th

Free for Kids: Nickelodeon’s Wildflower Seed Cards on April 19

One way to start help in making a difference for the Earth, come to Wal-Mart on April 19 at 8AM local time* to pick up your free seed card from Wal-Mart and Nickelodeon.
Just by planting your card under 1/4" of soil and ensuring it receives plenty of sun and moisture, the wildflowers grown will help create great environments for honeybees and birds!

1 Million Reusable Bag Giveaway on April 19

As part of Earth Month 2008, Wal-Mart and Kellogg’s will be partnering to give away one million custom-made reusable shopping bags on Saturday, April 19th at 8AM local time*.

Are you a Certified Florida Teacher or Education Student?

If you answered "yes" then you can earn $50 for taking a pilot test to help develop new test questions for the Florida Teacher Certification Exams. You must be either certified in the area you sign up for or be a current education student at an accredited Florida school.

The areas they need piloted are:
Agriculture
Media Specialist
Middle Grades Social Science
PreK to 3rd Primary
Social Science 6-12
Biology 6-12
Chemistry 6-12
Elementary Ed K-6
Middle Grades General Science 5-9
Earth/Space Science 6-12
Exceptional Student Ed. 6-12
Middle Grades Integrated Curriculum 5-9
Physics 6-12

Click here for more information or to register.

The Sickest, Most Vile Thing I've ever heard of in my Life!

I am so outraged over this that I can hardly see straight! My heart is racing and I'm sick to my stomach. I don't usually use my blog for political or social discussion but this has me so angered that I cannot but help but write about this sick, horrible, injustice labeled "academic".

This Yale art student will display her senior "art" project for the world to see beginning April 22- May 3rd. What is the "art" she will be displaying? Her forced abortions! Multiple Abortions!!!!

From the Yale Daily News:
"Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself "as often as possible" while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood from the process."

So for 9 months this wicked, non-human woman made herself get pregnant many times, took abortion and herbal miscarriage drugs, video-taped herself having the forced miscarriages, and then collected the blood from it and will display it as art!

I cannot even express in words how sick this makes me. And you know someone had to approve this idea as art before she began the senior art project. All for the sake of calling something art!

I wish she would be charged with multiple murders. I wish she would go to prison. I wish the academic advisor would be charged with accessory to murder. But none of that will happen because what she did is not against our laws. Though this level of detestation of life should be criminal.

I don't know what else to say. There is no justice. There is no good. There is no academic value. There is only the loss of potential greatness in those lost lives.

I know that vengeance is the Lord's but I hope and pray that she has rendered herself unable to conceive anymore in the future and will live out her days wishing for the children she could have had.

Some news reports have said that this story is just a hoax but Fox News is reporting that the student involved is standing by her story and saying that she indeed did do these things. That story here.

$20 off a $20.01 purchase at Catherines Online

Editing to add that Catherine's is an ebates store. Go thru ebates for an additional 3% back. Sign up here if you are not a member of ebates. And even if you or someone you know is not a plus size they have some very cute purses on clearance and some bras that start at size 38B.

Thanks to DebbiePete at Frugal Families for sharing this:

Purchase any amount over $20 at Catherines.com and enter code 776923906 at checkout to take $20 off your purchase. Shipping starts at $4.95 and this code works on clearance items too!

If you are a full-figured woman Catherines has top quality and style clothes are reasonable prices. Check them out and get yourself a good deal!

Decorating on a Dime

I've got the decorating/redecorating bug. When I gave birth to Camryn on January 19th of this year we had barely gotten all of the Christmas decorations out of the house and into the attic. Because I was hugely pregnant, I did not feel like putting all the stuff back on the walls and fussing over decorations.

Now that she is 3 months old (in two days), it's Spring Time, it's yard sale time, etc. I have the decorating bug. I want things to be pretty again. I want new to me stuff because I'm tired of my old stuff. But that's not going to happen with my current budget.

Here are some ways to redecorate without breaking the bank.

1. Move your old stuff to a new location. I took some pictures and quilts from the living room and put them in the dining room. I took some containers and candles from the kitchen and put them in the bathroom. Now I like that old stuff again. It seems fresh in its new location.

2. Do things that are unconventional. Who says that a picture frame has to have a picture inside it? I have a frame that has great style. I love the edging but the glass for the frame broke. I had the frame sitting in my garage thinking that one day I would replace the glass. Yeah, right! So I took the frame and put in on the wall with nothing inside. I am now looking for some wonderful object around the house to mount to the wall inside the frame. But the frame itself looks good to me.

3. Paint the room. Paint is very inexpensive and can really change things up in a room. I always look at Home Depot or Lowe's for their "ooops" containers. These are containers of paint that they mixed up for a previous customer but then the customer didn't buy it for some reason. These are usually greatly discounted.

4. Don't have time to paint the whole room, paint one wall or give the trim a fresh coat. My project for the summer is going to be repainting my inside doors and trim. Because these areas are small they shouldn't cost too much to repaint.

5. Give up the idea of traditional window coverings which are very expensive. Do something creative with your windows. Inspired by the Nester, I decided to "mistreat" my windows in the dining room. These windows were so bare, only having faux wood blinds over them. I had bought some fabric, oh, two years ago to make curtains for that room. That fabric has remained in my closet for that long because I thought I would need to drag out the sewing machine, have a pattern, some expensive curtain rods, etc. Well, no more. I took that fabric, my hot gun glue, some ribbon, and upholstery tacks and made some window "mistreatments". I like them. Who cares that they aren't "real" curtains? (Pictures coming soon!)

6. Shop yard sales and thrift stores for unique stuff. Bargain for it.

7. I "took" some stuff from my grandparents' house. This may sound bad but it's not. I always tell my grandma about stuff she has that I like. She told me I could have some of it when she dies. Well, I told her I'd rather have it now if she's not going to be using it. I want her to see how it brings me joy now. She agreed and now I have a cool 1920's Singer Sewing machine, some 1940's milk bottles, some Blue Willow China, and lots and lots of quilted pieces. I love them!

8. Group lots of similar items together. If you collect something, show it off. I bunch of salt and pepper shakers lined up on a window sill can look very pretty. I put a bunch of plastic canvas paper dolls together in a long frame in my girls' room and it looks really neat. Bring out those things you've had hidden in the closet because you didn't know what to do with them. Use them.

9. Use Velcro. Okay, this may show my redneckish roots but I swear by Velcro. You don't need a fancy plate hanging system when Velcro will hold your dishes nicely to the wall! I kid you not. Do you have a plaque or cute sign that you want to hang up but don't want to make another hole in the wall? Use Velcro. And the best thing is when you get tired of that item on the wall just replace it with something else you can Velcro there.

10. Write on your walls. This all en vogue right now. You can do a Google search of vinyl lettering and you will find lots of companies that will sell you words to stick up on your wall. Like these. Or these. Or perhaps these. I'm not going to order any of those. I'm just going to type in great saying in Microsoft Word, choose a nice font, print it, and then use an overhead projector to make it big. Then I will paint the words. If you don't have access to an overhead projector you can use a copy machine to blow up your words and then cut them out as stencils. Trace around them and then fill in the middle. I'm going to write one of these in my foyer. I haven't decided which one.
"Having someone to love is family, having somewhere to go is home, having both is a blessing."
or
"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

What have you done to decorate on a dime?

Non-Frugal Confession Time

Inspired by Meredith, ahem, Marcy over at Stretching a Buck I am forced to reveal some of the most awful things about myself. I simply cannot live with myself anymore without telling you some of my most unfrugal habits.

Here they are: gasp

1. I don't drink bottom Coke. If I buy a 2 Liter of Diet Coke I will not drink the last, oh say, 6 ounces of it. It just really grosses me out to drink the Coke at the bottom of the bottle. I don't know why. So think how much Coke I've wasted! If I were truly frugal I would just drink water.

2. I don't line dry my clothes. My mom and granny used to hang my clothes on the line to dry. Now there is nothing like the smell of line dried clothes but there is nothing like there feel either. When I wore line dried jeans to school I could barely bend my knees. I could hear myself coming and going. Not cool. Not to mention the time there was a live bee in my underwear. Yeah, that was fun. Not! So I use my dryer all the time. But I do hang my sheets and blankets over my dining room chairs.

3. I don't rescue moldy cheese. I throw it in the garbage. I know that I can just cut the moldy part off and it will be fine but alas, I can't. Into the garbage it goes.

4. I use name brand laundry detergent. But I do buy it on sale with a coupon. Nothing but Tide or Gain will get my kids' clothes clean. I've tried everything on the market. I even made homemade laundry detergent once. It was gross. It looked like curdled milk.

5. I don't usually mark the stuff that's in my freezer. I like to play the game of pull it out, defrost it, and guess how old it is. Well, really, I don't like to play that game but I find myself doing it a lot. Why am I so lazy that I can't just buy a Sharpie and mark the stuff? Shameful.

6. I eat lunch out with my friends too much! Do you hear me girls? When I say I'm eating what I brought from home, please, for the love of Jesus, make me eat it!

7. Like Jessica, I have way too many clothes in my closet that don't fit. It is soooo unfrugal to keep gaining weight and buying new clothes. It is also unfrugal health wise. I need to lose the weight. (Refer to #6!)

8. I implusively buy too much stuff for my children. When given the choice of buying something with their own money or putting it back on the shelf they usually put it back. But not me. I just buy it. I am getting better though. Allowances have made a big dent in this area. But still the impulse is there.

9. I still throw out too many unused veggies from the refrigerator. Maybe when I start eating my own stuff that I grew with my own sweat and energy I won't let the stuff go to waste. Hey, maybe this will help with #7!

10. I procrastinate way too much. My motto has always been, "No matter how much time I have to do something, that is how long it will take." This causes late fees, stress, and worry. I need to just learn to do it right now. Imagine what frugal activities I could be doing if I weren't thinking about all the stuff I should be doing. Does that make sense to anyone besides me?

Well, there you have it! My unfrugal confessions. I'm not perfect. I'm not nearly perfect. I'm just a mom and wife who is in debt and who is trying, although not perfectly, to pay off the debt and live like no one else.

Spring Break: Frugal Style

This is our Spring Break but I don't want to break the budget by finding fun stuff to do. So here are things that are on our list to do.

Monday- Christin and Ciarra went to the county fair with cousins since mom and Caleb were sick with the stomach bug. It was buddy night so they each got an armband for $10 each. Armbands are usually $20 each so we saved money there. Ciarra had a free pass to get in so we paid the $5 entrance fee for Christin. They each ate dinner before they went and only spent money on a funnel cake which they shared. Caleb rented a video game from our local movie store which he can keep all week. Total entertainment for the day: $35

Tuesday- Our fun today will be helping daddy spread mulch in our new flower beds and planting the seedlings that we started a few weeks ago. The girls will go get a video from Redbox which we have a free code for so today's entertainment costs: $0

Wednesday- Nothing planned! I think we will use this day to pack up our winter clothes and flannel sheets, etc. Afterwards we will play board games.

Thursday- We will spend the afternoon at a local lake. The cost will be $5 for the car load. We are taking a picnic lunch packed from home. Total entertainment cost: $5

Friday- Another day at home.

Saturday- We are going back to the fair. Armbands will be $15 each kid (with a coupon from the paper) plus $5 each to get in plus food. Expensive day but it is Spring Break after all. Total for this day: $100

$10 off $25 Purchase at Lowe's with VISA

Here is a direct link to get a coupon for $10 off of a $25 purchase at Lowe's when you use your VISA card. We are using ours with our VISA Debit Card :)

This will come in nicely as we finish up buying stuff for our square foot garden and our trash container for our potatoes.

I will be posting instructions and pics of this garden project later this week when we finish up.

Enjoy!

Oh, and it can be used at Home Depot as well since they take competitors coupons!

Menu Plan Monday

Spring Break Edition!

Breakfasts for the week:

cereal, french toast, pancakes, scrambled eggs, grits, or oatmeal

Lunches for the week:

corn dogs and fries

hamburgers and corn on the cob

turkey sandwiches with chips

leftovers

chicken noodle soup with crackers

tuna salad on crackers

Dinner for the week (Mostly courtesy of Blissfully Domestic)

Monday- ??? Not many people eating today courtesy of the stomach bug

Tuesday- corn chowder with cheddar biscuits

Wednesday- Chili with cornbread

Thursday- Crock pot Chicken and Stuffing, green beans

Friday- Pasta with Ham, Peas and Cream, side salad, biscuits

Spring Break, Stomach Flu, Touching Story

It's our Spring Break this week! Yeah! But we're all sick with a stomach flu. Yuck! I'm praying that we're over it soon so that we can actually enjoy some of our time off. 3 of us have had it, 1 of us has it now and were not sure if or when the other 2 will get it.

I found this incredible blog about this incredible Christian family going through the toughest time of their life and yet the most incredibly blessed time. Get your tissue out before reading their story. You're going to need it! And thank you God for this family's testimony to your goodness, your mercy, and the sanctity of life. May all who read thier story find you and your grace.

Beginning of the story here.

End?? of the story here.

A Round-up of Good Blogging Articles

If you have time, please check out the following articles I found very thought-provoking and helpful this week. The blog world is full of delicious stuff. Now if I just had enough time to read it all.

Savvy Military Mom responds to a blog entry she read on the web with the answer to the question, "If debt were a dark cloud hanging over your head, would you were it proudly?" Excellent question and her answer is right on!

Stretching a Buck dove head first into the world of selling on Craigslist. She is having great success. Read about it here.

Kacie at Sense to Save shows us her debt in Monopoly money in her post "This is what our debt looks like". Interesting way to look at it more concretely.

Being Frugal shows us some steps to getting back on track after having some spendy days. I definitely needed those after a spendy March.

And finally, Its More than Enough, shows us how she stood her ground when using coupons to get exactly what she wanted. I love it when we shoppers know more than the people at the stores.

Enjoy!

Competition Dance on a Shoe-String Budget

Both of my older girls are involved in competition dance at a local studio and it has been the one thing I have not been willing to sacrifice in order to become debt free. There are many reasons why I've decided (notice I didn't say we) that dance is not on the chopping block. And it is an expensive venture. Very expensive some months.

Here are a few reasons why we are sticking with dance:

1. Our public school system has very little fine arts programs. They are non-existant pretty much at our elementary school and once in middle school the offerings are slim too. Our dance studio teaches classical ballet style. My girls are hearing classical music, learning about professional ballet performances, and experiencing culture that is not available in school.

2. Dancing on a competitive team teaches hard work and team work. All members of the team rely on one another and all reap the rewards from team work. My husband and I were both in band in high school and remember those teamwork rewards. My girls are a part of something bigger than themselves. It is a wonderful lesson.

3. Dance is physical. My girls aren't really into team sports but they love exercise. With the girls taking five days of dance they are working on muscular strength, flexibility, and getting their heart rates up.

4. It might open doors for them later in life. Many of the older girls from our dance studio have been awarded college scholarships for dance and many teach one or two dance classes themselves as a part-time job.

Here's how we afford dance classes:

1. This year because both of my girls are on a competition team the studio owner gave us a major discount on monthly fees. The owner is a fellow Christian lady and she and her husband saw that they could give us this gift of reduced fees. They love our girls and didn't want to see them lack taking classes due to the finances of monthly fees. And while this was extremely generous, I don't feel comfortable asking for that kind of gift next dance year so we are working out a deal for my husband and I to run her studio website in exchange for monthly fees. She is extremely unhappy with her current website host and webmaster and her contract is up in June. This looks promising!

2. We participate in all fund-raising activities.

3. We buy leotards, etc. on clearance or sale through stores that support ebates.com.

4. We ask for grandparents to help pay for some things as part of birthdays and Christmas gifts.

5. I use my tutoring money to pay for dance stuff.

6. When we had to buy specific make-up items for competition, I used my CVS Extra Bucks know-how to pay only about 10% of the actual cost of the items.

7. When we travel to competitions we pack a cooler and bag of snacks so that we don't have to eat the expensive food at competitions or go out for fast-food.

This dance year (August to June) will have had a price tag of about $8,000 including everthing and by the goodness of God and his provision we will have only spent about $2500 out of pocket and most of that did not come from the monthly budget.

Free Bakery Items at Food Lion

Here is a great coupon for all of us Food Lion shoppers. It is for a free Italian bread or ANY bakery product up to $4.99 and it doesn't expire until April 22nd! That gives us two full weeks to stock up on free or nearly free bread, cakes and cookies. Don't forget that most of the bakery items are freezable!

And at A Full Cup you can print coupons with a May 27th expiration for the following:

$2 off kingsford charcoal 13.5 lb or larger

$1 off 2 KC Masterpiece marinades or BBQ sauce

$1 off Gladware

$1 off Glad press n seal

$1 off any glad sandwich bag

$1 off glad simply cooking bags

$1 off glad trash bags

$1 off 2 hidden valley dressings

$50 off 2 hidden valley dips

$.50 off any food lion shredded, sliced or chunk cheese

$.50 off food lion hamburger buns 8 ct.

$1 off food lion bacon 16-48 oz.

BOGO food lion salsa 16 oz.

$1 off food lion ice cream

$1 off food lion boneless chicken breasts

$1 off the purchase of $5 or more butcher's brand beef

The Cost of School Field Trips: When is it worth it?

It is finally the last grading period of our state's public school year and the field trip permission trips are arriving home with eager children "needing" to go on the annual excursion to XYZ. Field trips, surprisingly, are a source of incredible debate and source of contention in the school system.

Where should the children go? Should the trip extend beyond the school day? How many chaperones are allowed? Are students and parents allowed to drive seperately and meet up with the group? Can siblings attend at the same price? Can siblings attend at all? Should 2nd grade go where 2nd grade has always gone or can they go where 1st grade use to go but doesn't anymore? and of course: How much will this cost each family?

In our poor, rural area s