Getting Thrifty and Saving Money

Hello friends!  Today, I interupt my normal crafty posts for a post about saving money.  I am a pretty thrifty mom...I try to shop the sales and not buy more than we need but recently my husband and I watched a few episodes of Extreme Couponing and I found myself thinking that I could do even more to save our family a little money. 

Have any of you seen Extreme Couponing?  Boy...it is extreme and I don't plan to get too crazy but I have found that taking a little extra time to match coupons with sales is worth it (like only paying 50 cents for name brand cereals or crackers and free deodorant) and I have found a few sites that are really helpful.  So, I thought I would share a few thoughts/sites with you all today since I figured a lot of you might be interested in saving some extra money, especially around the holidays.

First, if you shop online at all I recommend Ebates
 They offer cash back on your purchases from a huge list of great stores like Old Navy, Nordstrom, The Body Shop, Nike, The Land of Nod, Target, Osh Kosh, Magazines.com, Toys R Us etc.  And there are often special deals too (for example I recently got an email with a code for 50% off everything at the Body Shop online). Plus when you sign up initially you will receive a $10 gift card (after you make your first $25 purchase).  I personally don't shop a lot online but still thought it was worth signing up.  I figure after a year I should have a good amount of cash back to use for next year's Christmas gifts!  But if you shop online a lot, it will be even more rewarding.

If you like Kellogs products, their Rewards program is a great way to earn points to purchase coupons (like $1.50 off one item...this is how I got cereal for just 50 cents) or you can save up your points for bigger rewards.

Coupons.com is one of the best online printable coupon sites that I have found and did you know that Target has printable coupons too?

There are a lot of expert extreme couponers out there who blog every day about great deals too.  One site that I especially like is Mindfully Frugal Mom because she focuses a lot on all natural/organic products.

And finally if you have any sports fans in your family, I was very pleased with my recent purchase from Finish Line  They have some great sweatshirts priced at 2 for $35 plus free shipping and you can get a little cash back too if you go through Ebates 

I hope this is helpful to some of you!  Please know that I did not receive any $ or requests to mention these sites, I just have found them beneficial to me so I thought I would share with you all.  I'd love to hear about any great sites or ways that you save money so please let me know in the comments section!

Unique Crafters December Challenge - Christmas

Happy Holidays!  I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving...I hosted for the first time and it went pretty well.   Now, we are gearing up for Christmas.  I just love all the wonderful family time, traditions, and activities that surround the holiday.  So, this month over at the Unique Crafters Challenge blog the theme is Christmas.  Here is my project:

Any holiday or winter project will work as long as it represents Christmas to you. Remember, you can enter up to three different projects in our challenge each month.

This Christmas challenge is being sponsored by Cedar ChestDesigns so don’t forget to stop by and link your own project for a chance to win a free $10 gift certificate from their website. They also have several freebie images and tons of great new Christmas images so be sure to check them out.

Anybody who uses an image from Cedar Chest Designs will be entered into an additional random drawing for a whopping $35 gift certificate. As a special Christmas treat to all of our followers, you can download the “NaturesChristmas Tree Image” for FREE.  So, head on over to the Unique Crafters Challenge blog to get this great image and link up your Christmas projects for a chance to win!