$1 for a box of kids' clothes, shipped free!

With only a few hours to spare, I just happened to check out the Daily Deal over at DealPulp. 

They are offering new members of thredUP a chance to try out the service and get a box of pre-loved kids' clothing for only six bucks.  Shipped for free, of course!  This is a $15.95 value for only $6!

So how do you get this deal for only $1.00???  Simple.  If you're a new DealPulp member, you'll get a $5 sign-up credit for joining through my referral link.  (I'll get a $5 credit too, thanks!)  So you use your $5 credit towards your first purchase and voila!  A box of kids' clothes for $1.00, shipped for free!

I've never used thredUP before, but I figure it's worth the $6 to take a shot and get a box of clothes.  There's generally 10-15 items per box, many of which are brand names! 

Now I'm all excited to get my box of clothes in the mail and see what's inside! 

If you want to take advantage of this deal too, hurry because it only goes through 12pm EST tomorrow 2/1/11.

$1 for a box of kids' clothes, shipped free!

Weekly Recap 1/23 - 1/29

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 in the mail.

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, 1/23/11 - 1/29/11. 

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received

$10.00..... Amazon.com gift card from Swagbucks (Search engine that pays!)
$0.09....... YouData (Paid to view advertisements)
$10.00..... Target gift cards from their diaper and tax program promotions
$18.47..... Diapers.com (30% Cash back on diapers, new customers only. Use coupon code: 30SER.)

Total: $38.56

Coupon Savings

$13.78.... Friendly's (BOGO free entree and BOGO free sundae coupons)
$13.88.... Walmart
$12.00.... Target
$11.00.... Soap.com ($10 Email coupon credit and $1 manuf. coupon)

Total: $50.66

Freebies

Coupon for free Coke 12-pack - redeemed My Coke Rewards points
Shape magazine
Free 1-year subscription to Parents magazine


Total 2011 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $154.91
Total 2011 Coupon Savings: $208.14

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

Weekly Recap 1/23 - 1/29

Free Scented Candle at Bath & Body Works (No purchase required!)

Bath & Body Works is offering a coupon for a free 1.6 oz. Scented Candle!  No purchase necessary!

Choose from Pink Sangria or Island Colada. A $3.50 value.

To print your coupon, head on over to Bath & Body Works on Facebook.  You'll find the link to the coupon on their wall.

Coupon is valid through today 1/30/11 only.

Thanks goes to The Coupon Sista for sharing this freebie!

Free Scented Candle at Bath & Body Works (No purchase required!)

New Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards code

If you buy Huggies diapers, I hope you're taking advantage of their rewards program.  If you are going to be buying diapers, you might as well get rewarded for it!

You simply collect codes from product packages and occasionally from other places as well.  You enter the codes on the site and earn points for sweepstakes entries, gift cards, coupons for free diapers (my fav!) and other goodies! 

Here's the latest code I found:  BKJZH TRKCN DPPGB.  It's worth 5 points.

New to the program?  Sign up, it's free!

Thanks so much to Cents Saved for sharing this code!

New Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards code

Fashion Bug $10 off $30 Printable Coupon

Through tomorrow, you can take $10 off your purchase of $30 or more at Fashion Bug.

To get your coupon, "Like" Fashion Bug on Facebook and then click on the Promo tab.  Print and use in-store.

Coupon only valid through 1/30/11.

Fashion Bug $10 off $30 Printable Coupon

How to maximize an increase in salary

All of 2010, Hubby was searching for a new job.  He was unhappy at his current workplace and because of the economy, conditions were only made worse.  And of course, the darn economy made it difficult to find a new job, or atleast a good new job.

Although he was lucky to still have his job, he missed out on raises due to a salary freeze and even faced pay-cuts.  Oh, and our health insurance premiums and co-pays increased dramatically.  All while the cost of living increased.  So it's been difficult, just like for most people these days.

Anyway, he finally found a position at another company!  He starts this coming Monday.  We're super excited for the new job since he was unhappy at the old one, but the icing on the cake is that the salary will be higher.

Since our budget has been tight for the past year, in all of 2010, we hardly made any progress in paying off our credit card debt.  We were paying the minimums or just slightly more than the minimums.  This year I want to do much better... so most of this salary increase will go to paying down debts.  I'll post more on our credit card debts in an upcoming post.

Another way we're maximizing this extra income, will be to start saving more. And we're going to make it automatic.  Before we can even get used to a higher paycheck, we'll set up direct deposit of a portion of Hubby's paycheck to go right into a separate savings account.  This way we won't even see that money and won't miss it.

So basically we'll still live on the same frugal budget we have been living on.  Instead of wasting away the increased cash, we'll be making our money work for us. 

The portion going to pay off our credit cards will decrease our debts, decrease the amount of interest we pay, increase our credit scores, and eventually we'll be able to pay off our credit cards and have more money to save. 

The portion of Hubby's check that goes to automatic savings will build our savings alittle at a time so we can eventually have an emergency fund.  Oh and we'll also collect the interest earned on that saved money.

All around we'll be maximizing this raise and making our money work harder for us.  Buckling down now, so we can live better tomorrow :)

How to maximize an increase in salary

TGI Fridays $5 off $15 coupon

Mmmm Fridays! Grab this printable coupon for $5 off your purchase of $15 or more at TGI Fridays.

Coupon good through 2/21/11.

Thanks so much to Frugal Reality for sharing this!

TGI Fridays $5 off $15 coupon

Smuckers Sugar Free Jelly $1/1 Printable Coupon

Here's a great printable coupon!

Take $1.00 off one Smuckers Sugar Free Jelly, Jam or Preserves.

Also, if you're interested in some new jelly and/or peanut butter recipes, head over here to get your free Smuckers recipe booklets.

Smuckers Sugar Free Jelly $1/1 Printable Coupon

Shape Magazine - Subscribe for just $3.76

Snag a subscription to Shape magazine for just $3.76 - for an entire year!

Simply go here and add Shape magazine to your cart.  It will show up as $4.69. Then apply coupon code:  WKLYSPEC to take an additional 20% off, bringing it down to $3.76!

Offer is good through 1/30/11.

Interested in another magazine?  Through 1/30/11, you can also use coupon code:  PXSS130 for an extra 15% off most other magazines.

Shape Magazine - Subscribe for just $3.76

How many Swagbucks do you get daily?

A little while back I wrote about how I made $265 with Swagbucks last year.  All in Amazon.com gift cards.  All from using the Swagbucks search engine.  Easy money and I love it.

Anyway, I had earned over $300 the previous year and I've been hoping to get back up to atleast $300 this year, and hopefully earn even more.  So I decided to put some extra effort into it and use more of their features to earn more Swagbucks.

To see if my extra efforts are going to mean extra Swagbucks and in turn, extra gifts card earnings, I wanted to keep track of how many Swagbucks I was getting on a daily basis.  Oh, and how often I earn enough to cash out (450 swags for the $5 Amazon gift card)!

Did you know that your Swagbucks account has a ledger?  This ledger keeps track of each time you earn Swagbucks with the date, the method used to earn them, and how many Swagbucks you earned.  Just go to the Swagbucks homepage, click on View Account, click on My Swagbucks, and then Ledger.

So before my extra efforts, in a typical day I'd get approximately 30 Swagbucks.  Give or take a few depending on how many searches I did, how many referral bonuses I got, or if I happened to get any Swagcodes. 

So on December 15th, the Swagbucks I received were....

Having the Swagbucks Toolbar - 1
Searching the Web - 11
Answering the Daily Poll - 1
Viewing the NOSOs (No Obligation Special Offers) - 1
Searching the Web - 8
Searching the Web - 9

For a total of 31 Swagbucks.

And now that I've put in extra efforts, I'm receiving more daily Swagbucks.  So on January 22nd, the Swagbucks I received were....

Having the Swagbucks Toolbar - 1
Answering the Daily Poll - 1
Viewing the NOSOs (No Obligation Special Offers) - 1
Watching Swagbucks TV - 5
Searching the Web - 9
Referral Match - 8
Referral Match - 9
Referral Match - 9
Watching Swagbucks TV - 5
Searching the Web - 7

For a total of 55 Swagbucks. 

You'll notice that my referrals happened to be more active that day, so I got my extra Swagbucks for that but I've also advertised my referral link a bit more and actually got a few new referrals in the past two weeks.  I'm up to 99 referrals!  Who wants to be lucky number 100??? lol

Anyway, I also started watching Swagbucks TV, which is just videos on a variety of topics mixed in with commercials for various products and such.  And you receive 5 Swags each time you watch enough videos to fill up the meter on the site.

To earn Swagbucks, I also occasionally participate in a code hunt, where a code is hidden and they give out clues where to find it.  Sometimes I find a code on the Swagbucks blog, on Facebook or on Twitter.  That's about it.

I don't complete any of their special offers or trials to earn Swags, except I may do the Netflix trial one to earn 744 Swagbucks.  I also don't shop through their site to earn Swagbucks.  I usually shop through Ebates, Shop At Home or Mr. Rebates for cash cash back instead.  I haven't played any of their games to earn Swagbucks, but maybe I'll do that in the future. 

I'm now averaging 50-60 Swagbucks per day! So I anticipate being able to cash in much sooner, and more often, for my gift cards... I'm aiming for one per week!  We'll see if I can manage that!

I know there are Swagbucks users who don't use the site as often or don't have as many referrals to earn quite as much... but on the flip side, there are also many Swagbucks users that earn much more than I do because they do some of the other Swagbucks activities that I don't participate in or they have many more referrals than I do. 

That's what makes it such a great site, you decide how much you want to use it and exactly what you want to do or don't do.  Earn slowly or quickly.  Earn alittle or alot. Either way, you can earn. And that's what's important!

Do you use Swagbucks?  What ways do you use to earn Swagbucks?

How many Swagbucks do you get daily?

Shout Color Catcher Freebie & Coupon

Have you tried the Shout Color Catcher yet?  I haven't, but have been wondering how effective they are at actually catching the loose dyes in the laundry.

Anyway, you can sign up for a free sample of the Shout Color Catcher and find out for yourself if it's a product worth purchasing.

Allow up to 6 weeks for delivery of your freebie.  Also head on over here for a coupon for $1.00/1 Shout Color Catcher!

Shout Color Catcher Freebie & Coupon

4 Years

So I've been writing this little old blog for four years now.  Wow, four years!

In that four years alot has changed...

~I went from mostly writing about sales and coupon codes to mostly writing about freebies.

~I changed the blog design several times and finally found one I'll stick with for awhile more.

~I started keeping track of my savings and earnings and posting totals weekly and yearly.

~I moved over from dot blogspot to my own domain.

~I opened a Facebook page for Tips & Treasures.

~I started using Twitter for Tips & Treasures.

~I learned alot about tweaking HTML for my blog.

~I joined Entrecard as a means for free blog advertising.

~And on a more personal note... my daughter was almost 10 months old when I started blogging... and now she'll be 5 years old in March.  And my son came along after my first year of blogging, and he turned 3 a week ago!

I've completely enjoyed blogging and being a part of the blogging community.  I've found so many blogs that I love reading daily.  They keep me in check, focused on my goals, and give me something to strive for.

For the year going forward, I have a few goals for this blog.  I discussed some of these before, so sorry if it sounds like a repeat for some of you. 

~I want to make this blog more about my personal frugal adventure through life.  I've started doing this a bit, and will continue. 

~In the near future I'll be posting my debt totals and our goals to pay it off.  As well as updates on how we're doing with it.

~This is more for me, but check it out if it interests you.  I put a link list on my sidebar (towards the bottom) of the books I've read so far this year.  Just want to keep track.

~I'm back to doing my Weekly Recaps of savings & earnings.  These numbers are fun to watch add up!

~I want to increase my readers.  Who doesn't? lol  I've lost alot of my daily readers from taking a blog break at the end of last year.  Got to make up for that, get back where I was and move forward.

~Increase Followers... through Google, Twitter and Facebook.  Find the links on the sidebar if you're interested!  Thanks :)

~Get around and comment on other blogs more often.  So many times I read great posts and I don't think to comment, but I know how much it means to the writer, so I'll work on that.

To my longtime readers, thanks for sticking around and following my frugal, money-saving journey.  To my newer readers or those just stopping by, thanks for checking out my blog and I hope you find something interesting to bring you back again :)

4 Years

Weekly Recap 1/16 - 1/22

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 in the mail.

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 last week, 1/16/11 - 1/22/11. 

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received

$5.00..... Mindfield Online (Paid for completing surveys)
$5.00..... Amazon.com gift card from Swagbucks (Search engine that pays!)
$0.10..... YouData (Paid to view advertisements)
$30.00... Kohl's cash
$10.00... Old Navy Credit Card Rewards
$20.00... Amazon.com free gift card deal from Living Social  (Hubby & I each did the offer.)

Total: $70.10

Coupon Savings

$61.84..... Kohl's (20% off in-store coupon and 30% off + free shipping coupons online!)
$2.55....... Walmart (Various grocery coupons)
$76.09..... Lane Bryant (30% off code!)
$10.00..... Old Navy ($10 off $50 coupon from Facebook)

Total: $150.48

Freebies

Purina One SmartBlend Dog Food Sample
Jack Johnson MP3 Download


Total 2011 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $116.35
Total 2011 Coupon Savings: $157.48

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

Weekly Recap 1/16 - 1/22

Free sample of Cover Girl Nature Luxe Foundation

Try Cover Girl's newest foundation for free! 

It's the Nature Luxe Foundation:  "The luxurious, lightweight-feel silky formula goes on smooth for a polished finish."

Sign up for your free sample here.

Free sample of Cover Girl Nature Luxe Foundation

Buy a $20 Amazon gift card for just $10

I'm so excited about this deal.  It's truely fantastic!

Head on over to Living Social - their deal of the day is a $20 Amazon.com gift card for just $10!

I just ordered mine and I'm excited to add this to the Amazon gift cards I've earned through Swagbucks. I love Amazon since they pretty much have everything I could ever want or need :)

Oh, and once you order your gift card through the Daily Deal, you'll be given a referral code.  If you refer three people to purchase the same deal, your's will be free!  That's just icing on the cake!

Thanks so much to Marilyn's Money for sharing this super deal!

Buy a $20 Amazon gift card for just $10

Freebie Alert: John Frieda Hair Care Sample

Check out my latest freebie find!

Sign up for a free sample from the John Frieda Hair Care Collection.  You'll choose from five different samples...

~Luxorious Volume Root Booster Spray
~Frizz-Ease Dream Curls Curl Perfecting Spray
~Sheer Blonde Highlight Activating Shampoo/Conditioner
~Frizz Ease Straight Fixation Creme
~Root Awakening Strength Restoring Shampoo/Conditioner

Allow 8-10 weeks for delivery.

Freebie Alert: John Frieda Hair Care Sample

Jack Johnson MP3 Download Freebie

Yay, I love all freebies, but especially music ones!  Why?  Because there just isn't room in the budget for purchasing music right now... so any free music is a great little gift to myself :)

Download Jack Johnson's "Flake" for free from Amazon. I LOVE this song, so it's a perfect freebie for me! 

Not so perfect for you?  Did you know Amazon has an entire section devoted to free music downloads?  2,264 of em. Yea, I didn't know either. Check that out here.

Thanks to Swap Savers for sharing this freebie offer!

Jack Johnson MP3 Download Freebie

Weekly Recap 1/9 - 1/15

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 in the mail.

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 last week, 1/9/11 - 1/15/11. 

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received

$5.00...... Amazon.com gift card from Swagbucks (Search engine that pays!)
$0.28...... Debit Card Rewards
$30.04.... Inbox Dollars (Paid to read emails!)
$0.20...... YouData (Paid to view advertisements)

Total: $35.52

Coupon Savings

$2.00...... Target
$5.00...... Acme

Total: $7.00

Freebies

Three free Kindle cookbooks
Travel size box of Kleenex tissues


Total 2011 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $46.25
Total 2011 Coupon Savings: $7.00

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

Weekly Recap 1/9 - 1/15

I made $265 through Swagbucks last year

You know Swagbucks, right?  It's the search engine that pays you to use it.  And I earned a whopping $265 in Amazon.com gift cards just by using that search engine last year.  LOVE it!

That $265 sure helped to supplement our income.  We used those gift cards towards buying household necessities as well as Birthday and Christmas gifts.

Back in 2009, I had earned well over $300 from Swagbucks.  I think I made less this year because alot of my referrals capped out (You get up to 1000 Swagbucks for each referral.) and because of changes to the site where I seem to be getting fewer Swagbucks.

Either way, I'm still happy to earn this extra loot in my pocket!  I'm going to try and earn more this year and bring my total back up to that $300 mark.

Not a member of Swagbucks yet?  Kindly consider signing up using my referral link! It's completely free.

Once you become a member, you'll automatically receive 30 free Swagbucks just for joining.  This is a great way to get started earning.  Then you simply use the Swagbucks search engine for any internet searches you'd normally do.  You'll randomly be awarded Swagbucks, in various amounts, for some of your searches.

You can also earn additional Swagbucks by downloading their toolbar, viewing videos on their site, printing & redeeming coupons, taking surveys, answering the daily poll, and more.  Also special codes, called Swagcodes, are sometimes available and can be found on Twitter, on the Swagbucks blog, the Swagbucks widget or on the toolbar. 

You can also shop through their links and earn Swagbucks based on your spending.  Oh and you earn Swagbucks for each person you refer!

So you can see, there's lots of ways to earn Swagbucks.  You can do as few or as many of them as you like.  I only do about half of those things and earn quite a bit.  So the potential to earn even more is there.

What do you do with all those Swagbucks?  You redeem them for anything you like.  They have all kinds of prizes and gift cards, as well as PayPal cash.  My favorite is obviously the Amazon.com gift card :)

I made $265 through Swagbucks last year

Lego Club Magazine - 2 years FREE!

Have a Lego fan in your family?  Sign up for the Lego Club (it's free!) and you'll automatically get a free 2-year subscription to Lego Club Magazine.

Sign up for Lego Club here.

Lego Club members that are under age 7, will automatically receive Lego Club Jr. Magazine instead.

Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery of your first magazine.

Don't miss upcoming freebies, coupons, or frugal tips!  Follow Tips & Treasures through Google Friend Connect, Twitter or Facebook.  Or subscribe by reader or email.

Lego Club Magazine - 2 years FREE!

Get your kids to pick up after themselves. Really.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a complete neat freak.  No, that doesn't mean I clean all day long or am obsessive about cleaning.  Cause I'm not.  Really, come look at my dirty bathroom, it's pure proof. 

(But then again, it's almost impossible to keep a bathroom clean when you only have one and five people, plus visitors, use it.)

Anyway, I'm a neat freak.  I can't stand clutter.  I can't stand piles of crap laying around or toys thrown all about.

I have come a long way since having two kids (ages almost 3 and 4.5).  I let them make messes and enjoy their toys throughout much of the house.  I let them keep their rooms in a less than perfect manner.  And their playroom in the basement is in a constant state of chaos. 

I let the kids have their fun and I try not to interrupt their playing too much.  Sometimes I suggest that they put something away before they get something else out.  But most times, they are playing with ten (or more) different sets of toys.  It gets to be a bit much.


Sometimes getting them to clean it all up is a real pain in the you know what.  But I have magic words.  Magic words that make it much easier to get it all cleaned up.  Really.

When I see that they have a big mess and I know that it needs to be cleaned up for lunch or school or whatever, I ask them to each pick up two things and put them away where they belong.  And they do it. 

They jump up and hurry to choose their two items (or 2 toy sets) to put away.  They willingly do this because it's such a short and easy task.  And it has a definite end in sight. And they know that they can get back to playing as soon as they are done.

Asking kids to clean up a huge mess is overwhelming to them.  Also, it signals the end of playtime and they are obviously not happy about that.  But giving them a small task, like picking up two things each makes it so much easier for them to accomplish.  And they feel good that they are listening to your instructions and that they can still play for a bit longer.

After my kiddos pick up their two things each, I let them go back to playing for alittle while.  Then I'll ask again that they stop and pick up two more things.  Or maybe three or four, depending on the size of the mess.  Then they go back to playing again and when it's close to the end of playtime, I'll announce that playtime is almost over and we'll have to clean up for lunch or whatever in a few minutes.

Giving them the warning that they only have a few minutes left helps alot.  It helps them transition from playtime into cleanup time without as much fuss.  My almost 3 year old still fusses, but it makes it sooo much easier.

Anyway, by this time most of their toys are picked up and put away, so cleanup is not much of an issue. 

I hope these tips help keep a wrangle on your kids' toys.  It certainly works for me.  Do you have any other toy clean up tips?  Please share!

For more Works For Me Wednesday tips, visit We are THAT Family.

Get your kids to pick up after themselves. Really.

My Starbucks Rewards

I'm not a coffee drinker, but for those of you that are, this program might interest you!  It's the My Starbucks Rewards program. 

The propram rewards you for making purchases at Starbucks. Some of the rewards are a free birthday beverage, free select syrups and milk, free refills, free drinks, coupons and more.

Definitely take advantage of this program if you're a coffee drinker.  Even if you don't go there often, you are bound to enjoy some of the perks, coupons and freebies!

My Starbucks Rewards

Three FREE Cookbook Downloads

Amazon is offering free downloads of three exclusive online cookbooks.  Yay for FREE!

These cookbooks can be loaded onto your Kindle, Kindle app, or free Kindle reader for your computer.  So anyone can get them, even if you don't have a Kindle.


The cookbooks being offered are:

Circle of Friends Cookbook - 25 Meatloaf Recipes: Exclusive on-line cookbook

Circle of Friends Cookbook - 25 Mac & Cheese Recipes: Exclusive on-line cookbook

Circle of Friends Cookbook - 25 Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes: Exclusive on-line cookbook

I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to those Chocolate Chip recipes!  Mmmm cookies.

Three FREE Cookbook Downloads

Weekly Recap 1/2 - 1/8

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 in the mail.

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 last week, 1/2/11 - 1/8/11. 

This was a very slow week because I've had a bad cold and didn't do any shopping. Also, my earnings are very low because I haven't been putting the time into surveys and blogging, etc.  Getting back into it now!

Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received

$9.25.... Survey Savvy
$1.48.... PayPal Debit Card Rewards

Total: $10.73

Coupon Savings

No coupons used this week.

Total: $

Freebies

No freebies received this week.

Total 2011 Cash/Checks/Gift Cards Received: $10.73
Total 2011 Coupon Savings: $0

Find my previous weekly recaps here.

Weekly Recap 1/2 - 1/8

Home Made Simple coupon book

Have you received the Home Made Simple coupon booklets before?  Well it's time to sign up for the latest one!

Gotta love these coupon booklets, especially if you're in the market for cleaners.  They are full of high value coupons for brands like Swiffer, Mr. Clean, Dawn & Cascade for a savings of $35!

Several times these coupon booklets even included coupons for free Cascade Rinse Aid.  Love that stuff!

Home Made Simple coupon book

Free pack of Kleenex Tissues

I don't know about you.  But over here, we're going through a box a day in tissues.  Atleast.  I've already had enough of winter and the drippy noses.

Anyway, Kleenex has a great promotion running called Share the Softness.  You can send a free pack of tissues to anyone you want! 

(I sent mine to myself, since I've been sick for 11 days and counting. I figured we needed them!)

Free pack of Kleenex Tissues

Cleaning: The Frugal AND Green Way

If you've been a reader here for any length of time, you know that I'm passionate about trying to live a greener lifestyle. As part of that, I've switched many of our cleaners over to the natural ones without all the pesky chemicals. 

I've tried so many and some I've liked and some I haven't.  It's a work in progress to find non-chemical cleaners that work just as well.  Another thing I would like to try out is using baking soda as a cleaner.  I know that many people rave that it works as a great cleaner, I just haven't actually used it yet.

(Well I did use it once, to clean my hair when the chlorine from a pool turned my hair green last summer.  It worked wonderfully, by the way!)

Anyway, I happened upon this super nifty (yes, I said nifty) way to make cleaning with baking soda sooo much easier.  Read this post over at Keeping the Kingdom First to see how to make your own baking soda shaker, for free!  I love that it repurposes an item from your recycling bucket!

Now we can buy a big bag of baking soda (cheaper and less packaging waste!) and we won't have to buy as many bottled cleaners (again, cheaper and less packaging!).

Cleaning: The Frugal AND Green Way

Bath & Body Works Freebie Coupon

Bath & Body Works is offering a fantastic coupon for a free Signature Collection Travel Size Item with any purchase.

Print your coupon here.  It's valid  for a 3 oz. item up to $5 through 1/26/11. If you're shopping online, you can still get your free item.  Simply add it to your cart and enter coupon code:  2725 at checkout.

Right now is a good time to stop in and check out their markdowns with the leftover Christmas gift baskets and such.  Some of them make great Birthday gifts too!

Thanks so much to The Coupon Sista for sharing this coupon.

Bath & Body Works Freebie Coupon

Remember that year when we cancelled Christmas?

Best Christmas of our lives.  I'm sure.

So, in an earlier post I had announced that we were cancelling Christmas this past year.  Well, not exactly cancelling Christmas, but cancelling the present exchanges (except for Santa's gifts to our two kiddos).  And you know what?  We actually followed through with our plan and it turned out okay.

It felt a little weird heading out the door to our usual Christmas get-togethers empty handed, but we got over it and enjoyed the great company we were in.  We kept in mind our ultimate goal of not increasing our credit card debt by buying a bunch of Christmas gifts for everyone that we couldn't afford. 

Luckily Santa still made a stop at our house so our kids (ages 4.5 and almost 3) had a nice Christmas.  Santa cut his budget in half this year, but the kids never noticed and thoroughly enjoyed the gifts they received.

In order to be able to have our Santa fund, we cashed in a huge load of change that we had been saving up all year and walked away with $100!!!  We also funded Santa through the Amazon gift cards I've earned through Swagbucks.

We managed to have a great Christmas without all the gifts.  And I'm super proud of us that we realized our situation and that we're taking actions to put ourselves in a much better place by this coming Christmas.

This year we'll be working kick-butt style to cut our debts down. I'd also like to start saving now, for this coming Christmas.  So hopefully, we can save up enough to buy gifts for our family without going further into debt.  One day we'll be debt free and budgeting for gifts will be much easier and then we'll be looking back and thinking about that one year when we cancelled Christmas and how it turned our lives around :)

How was your Christmas?  Were you able to keep within your budget?  Are you expecting large credit card bills or did you use cash?

Remember that year when we cancelled Christmas?

Freebie Alert: DenTek Comfort Clean Floss Picks

Score a free sample pack of DenTek Comfort Clean Floss Picks.  Sign for that here.

Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

Don't miss out on any upcoming freebie offers... follow me through Google, Twitter or Facebook. Or subscribe via email.

Freebie Alert: DenTek Comfort Clean Floss Picks

New Huggies Rewards Codes - Worth 11 points!

Yay, I happened upon a few new codes for the Huggies Enjoy The Ride Rewards program.  They are worth a total of 11 points. 

BGTCKMJMKHKBPGB - 1 point

BJKGWQMBTSRCPGB - 5 points

BJSGMLKKKQZKPGB - 5 points

You can also score 2 additional points by watching their latest video, if you haven't done so already.  Find that on their site under the Earn Points tab.  Those points will automatically credit to your account once you watch the short video.

Thanks so much to Freebies 4 Mom for sharing these codes.

*By the way, if you don't have kiddos in diapers or pullups, you can still benefit from this program.  You can redeem your points for music downloads and gift cards, as well as for instant-win and sweepstakes entries!

I usually use some points for the sweeps and save the rest for free packages of diapers.  We hope to potty train my almost 3 year old soon and then I'll save my points for gift cards :)

New Huggies Rewards Codes - Worth 11 points!