House Party Green Works

It has been a while since I have posted... life gets so in the way...

I signed up and was accepted for the House Party for Green Works! I am so excited! I love Green Works and was so happy I got selected. I just got my party pack in the mail and it is loaded with great stuff! The actual date scheduled for the event was this weekend, but I was able to select an alternative date. We are going to do a book swap this week at my mom's group. It is so neat. Everyone gets free samples of Green Works as well as TLC bars and other coupons and materials.

I have signed up for a few more... just waiting to hear. What a great opportunity to spread the word on great products!

Should You Throw It Out?

A friend of mine just sent me this site for Still Tasty.com. If you are concerned over the shelf life of an item, you just type it in the search box, selected the most appropriate selection, and get the shelf life. I typed in shelf life of coke, unopened. It is good for 3 months after the shelf life. How handy! A great tip for moms wanting to know if the ketchup is a keeper!

Holiday Shopping Cash Back

If you want to earn some cash back on your holiday shopping, start with Ebates. Ebates has tons of stores listed and when you click from their site, you get cash back. They even have a daily double site (yesterday was Barnes and Nobel with 8% cash back on your purchases) they double the percentage back. And they list tons of online coupons to help you save more. It just makes sense! Ebay is even one of the stores you can click too! And it is for real! I got a check back for purchases right from the company in a reasonable amount of time. Refer your friends and when they sign up and make a $20 purchase in 90 days, you get $5. Tons of way to make some extra cash all year round.

Shutterfly for Christmas Photo Cards

We took our Christmas card photos on Thanksgiving day so I could get the photo cards started ASAP. I do not like to take pictures too early for Christmas because they look so different in one month when they are young. But if you wait too long, then you can not get them delivered soon enough with some companies (although Walgreens and Walmart do photo cards in one hour). I first checked Walgreens and did not like any of the cards (they had a $10 off coupon). I am a stickler for having "Merry Christmas" on the card, no snowman, and no "Happy Holidays". If I can find a card with some type of Jesus message on it, that is even better.

Thanksgiving night I looked at Shutterfly. I found a REALLY cute card (5 x 7) and got it all set up. I even got 25 free cards but the total was still $163! So I revamped, looked a ton of cute cards on other sites for as much money and went back to Shutterfly. This time I picked a normal 4 x 8 card, with Christmas Blessings and a cross and I was able to add in a Bible verse that I was not able to do on the super cute card AND got 25 free cards for $55 (for 100 cards). That is a deal! AND I got a free 12 month calendar for ordering over $50. Now those are regular deals (and I am not an affliate anymore so I do not even get a percentage for a click) but it is something to look into if you are getting a photo Christmas card. I love sending pictures of the kids at Christmas and this time we even added a family picture since my uncle kept saying he got Christmas cards with orphan children! :) And I forgot- it was even free shipping. So overall, I saved $56.00 for 100 Christmas cards and a great calendar for next year with tons of pictures from this year. What a deal! Needless to say, it took me a few hours on the computer doing the cards and the calendar. And after I had all the pictures for the calendar, I started a photo book I will finish after Christmas for our "Year in Photos." It is a great option since I hardly ever print pictures- I will be so sad if they disappear some day!

Chess- It is Easier Than You Think!

My six year old asked for a chess game. He said he played at summer camp. It was at the dollar store, so we bought it. He begged to play. I have never played chess and have always been intimidated by the idea of chess. The rules were not all that complicated for the basic moves. You have to remember what is what and how they are allowed to move, but other than that, playing with a six year old was easy. But I was not sure if we were playing correctly so I went online to an online chess site and read the rules and learned we were not playing right. The site had lots of nice graphics of what pieces could do. Then I went played the computer and got a few more ideas. There are parts I do not get exactly, but I think I have a basic understanding. That is until I play someone other than the computer or a six year old.

By the way, my four year old memorized the set up after one game. Maybe chess does make them smarter. I definitely see a strategist in my son and that is great! It is truly a thinking game, except for the four year old! She just wants to capture the pieces and put them in the jail so they cannot talk to each other! :)

Take Time To Go To The Park

We went to the park this morning in the 90 degree heat... and the kids loved it! They could care less about the heat- I sat in the shade. They loved running and playing. You should always take time to just play- even if it is 90 degrees!

Money Saving Meals

I recently found two well know Food Network shows with money saving meals--- it seems to be a trend, doesn't it. Instead of showing fabulous or fast meals, they also need to include recipes that an average family can afford to fix.

The first is Rachel Ray's budget meals. I did not even know Rachel Ray had her own site off the Food network, but she has so much else going on, how could she not. You can see a great list of some budget friendly meals like this spinach greek pizza. After getting through the advertisements that pop up all over, sign up for her newsletter and get a list of weekly meals on Mondays.

Sandra Lee also has a money saving meals section on the food network. With some video instructions, she list some family friendly meals like the Hawaiian Pulled Pork Sandwiches. Sandra also has a list of money saving tips for your grocery shopping. My favorite, use a slower cooker at $.02 an hour. Plus it is done and you do not have to think of cooking when you get home from work!

I am sure there are many money saving meal sites available. Let me know your favorites!