Craigslist is ANNOYING!!!

Lately we have had a few open listings on craigslist to try and get rid of some of the things in our house that we dont use/need. Among the things listed are the rug from our "dining room," which is now the school room. We never actually used it as a dining room so it wasnt much of a conversion. The coffee table from the living room, which we bought 4 years ago and has been sitting in the corner of the room for about the last 3 3/4 years. We barely ever used it, only pulling it out on rare occasions when we had people over. It was big, bulky, and just in the way, so it had to go. And the 3rd thing is an OLD TV. It is so old, it has been up in the playroom, for the past couple of years, but hasnt been used for probably 4 years.

We have finally sold 2 out of the 3 items! After days, maybe even weeks of frustration, broken appointments, and LOTS of emails! I had 2 people try to scam me out of the coffee table, about 16 people interested in the rug and 6 of those actually made appointments but never showed up (or had the decency to cancel the appointment). So i would sit around the house waiting for someone, when I couldve been doing something else, it was just plain annoying. Then I had about 7 people interested in the TV of which ALL of them either broke appointments, would give me their phone number to call them and meet them but then never answer to set up a time.....UGH! And the coffee table didnt have many lookers, but finally it ended up being the easiest sale. The couple literally walked in looked for about 45 seconds, asked us if we had $10 in change, handed us the money and began loading it in the car. They were here and gone in less than 8 minutes!

Even though craigslist is so annoying and loaded with frustration we are about to attempt to sell our pool table on there too. We have had this pool table for probably 7 years now. It sat in the garage for the first year or so, then made its way to the attic for the next 4 years, and when we finished the upstairs it had to be relocated to the garage again. It is an OLD Dixie table from the 1950's. We would love to keep it, and possibly set it up and actually USE it, but we have NO room for it, and it is just taking up space in the garage, so it has to go. If you know anyone who might be interested in a slate pool table (that needs new felt), please pretty pretty please let me know, so i can avoid the dreaded craigslist! I can send pictures of it if you are really interested, however I only have ones of it in pieces, not put together

Consignment Sale

I participated in the consignment sale, that I have been for the past 4 years, again this fall. I surveyed the girls fall/winter clothes and figured out what clothes were needed. Kaylee has out grown most of her size 5 jeans/pants, so it was on to the next size up for her. I cant believe that i shopped in that "big girl" section for my 4 year old! She has really grown a lot over the past couple of weeks.

I had a goal set in mind to spend about $100 on the sale, which included any toys/games/educational items I found. I was able to squeak out of there only $10 over my budget, I probably should have put some of the shirts back, but it was hard to pass up shirts that were $1 or $2. The best part of the sale came when I was given MY check for the items I entered into the sale. I put in about 120 items (didnt sell all of them) and was able to make $96.75!!! I was thrilled! The sale paid out a whopping 86% this time, which is considerably higher than other consignment sales. So total I got rid of clothes the girls don't/didnt wear AND bought clothes we needed all for $13.25! YIPPEE SKIPPEE!!! Oh and I got to socialize and have some nice time away from the girls during my shifts at the sale. It is always nice to get a break even if I was technically "working". The best item I think i scored was an Llbean parka for Kaylee that was in fantastic condition for 7 BUCKS! A jacket like that would be at least $80 if purchased new, and the Llbean brand cant be beat. If anything ever happens to it, i can send it back.
The only thing that i wish I would have been able to find more of was shoes. Her foot will not stop growing, she is wearing a 13 in some brands and up to a size 1 (big girls) in others. So I guess we will be buying shoes brand new this year, hopefully i can find some good sales somewhere.

Money and Updates

I am FINALLY better, by that I mean completely unsymptomatic except for my annoying cough. Buuuuuuuut the girls are now not feeling 100%. Ainslee has been nursing her runny nose (being controlled by twice a day sock treatments which she LOVES), and now she has developed a cough too. She might have a low grade fever, nothing high enough to test though. She is eat well and sleeping fabulous, so I am ok with her situation. Kaylee had some drainage from one of her ears this weekend as well as near complete blockage when I looked in the ear. I decided to go ahead and take her to the doctor yesterday even though she says it doesnt hurt, and it didnt seem to be affect her. The doc says she has swimmers ear, and she was given a clean bill of health besides that. And as luck would have it, her cough has decided to escalate since going to the doctor. She is running a low grade fever which the doctor wasnt at all concerned about. So with all that said I think we could use a little R&R around here, we are all ready to be well again!

Now on to the main reason I started this post.........MONEY!

Marcus' mom has always said (about Marcus), "he could fall out of an airplane and land on his feet." Basically he is just lucky. But as Oprah says there is no such thing as luck, so call it what you want but he always seems to come out on the right side of every deal. Anyways, so with our recent bank change, we have had some minor problems with bills not getting paid. Some our fault, some the companies fault, but either way because of this and the fact that our garbage pick up was a few days late. Marcus decided to call the company to find out what the problem was. He was shocked to learn what he learned from the phone call. Basically we havent paid for trash service since (dont pass out here)..............................2004! Last time we switched banks apparently that was one bill that never got switched. The company had made a mistake and never stopped our service. So each week our trash has been picked up, all the while saving us around $2000 big ones!!! So now we are paying our trash bill, and I have to say we honestly did not know we werent paying it for 6 years. That is really sad to admit, but its true!

Remember a few months ago when we had all our car issues? We spent a pretty penny that month on car maintainence. Last week we learned we would be getting some of that money back. We got a letter in the mail from VW stating that the "air bag sensor issue" we had fixed is being covered by them. I had to copy some paperwork, scan some bank documents and put a packet in the mail, and once approved we should be getting about $320 back. YIPPEE SKIPPY!

Lastly, Marcus and I have been conteplating buying a playground for the girls. Actually I have a huge dream in mind for the back yard, and hopefully it can come true piece by piece. But the first and foremost is a playground. The girls need something to do outside. Right now the options are slim (read non-exsistent). So last weekend we went for a family walk, I however wasnt completely recovered and feared that I shouldnt have tried to walk, so we decided to cut the walk short. Kaylee knows that she has an open invitation at one of our neighbors house to jump on their trampoline. So we decided to let her jump for a few minutes. One thing led to the next and soon we were invited to dinner and the men were heading to the store for a few bits and pieces. That night these neighbors offered to GIVE the girls their playground set! AWESOME! Yes it isnt exactly what I had in mind but, hello, ITS FREE!!! We are thrilled, now we just need to figure out how to move it down the street.

Kitchen Makeover - part 2

A few days after I finished the microwave the dishwasher sitting in the dining room began making me antsy again. I read up on the installation process and it didn't seem too difficult, so I began prepping it for installation and uninstalling the old one. I cant remember what part i got stuck on, but i had to go wake Marcus up again! I really wanted to just have it all installed before he woke up, but I just couldn't juggle it all. So Marcus came out and helped me for about 45 minutes or so, and then after he left for work I completed the installation.

we haven't peeled off the protective plastic yet, and if you lived with 2 Tasmanian devils you wouldn't either. LOL We are just trying to protect it as long as we can.

The inside is so much bigger than our old one! The top shelf raises and lowers to accomodate different size dishes. It has the plain front, with the buttons hiden on the top, it has many more options than the old one too. I love it!

And here's the big one! We had to call in the "big guns" to help us get this one through the door. Long time family friend of Marcus's mom, who happens to be a retired GE employee, so he knows a thing or 2 about appliances. He graciously came and helped. He removed both the fridge doors, as well as the freezer drawer. This not only lightened the load, but also made it possible to get it through the door. And in a matter of 90 minutes we had this big ole beast resting snuggly in our kitchen.

I am more than thrilled with the new appliances. They are all MUCH bigger than the old ones. I cant believe all the space the new fridge has to offer. The only downside I have found so far, is the ice machine. It doesnt seem to be keeping up with our demand. Hopefully we can figure something out to remedy this.

The bottom drawer is yet to be filled. I just need to get off my butt and transfer all the food. Then we can get the old one out of the kitchen

I did a little research on the cost of these appliances. I went with the "middle of the road" pricing and found that we saved $1300 bucks! PLUS we have already sold our dishwasher and microwave, which has helped. We are currently trying to decide what we are going to do with our old fridge (which is in perfect working condition!). I have had one person already express an interest, but no concrete deal is in place as of yet.

I am still in awe of how this deal landed in our lap, and I am so thankful! I cant believe Christmas is just around the corner

Kitchen Makeover - part 1

You gotta listen to this......................

remember this post? My parents were in the market for a new oven after theirs blew up on Turkey Day. I was at their house one day when mom called and told me that they had picked a new oven. She also informed me that the place they were purchasing the oven from was offering a deal "Buy 2 Get 2". So Buy 2 appliances and get 2 appliances. I immediately got curious about this, especially since our dishwasher has been acting up lately. Mom wasnt sure about the details of the deal. So after a few more phone calls, I finally learned that if you bought a refrigerator and cooking appliance (ie oven, cooktop) you get a dishwasher and microwave for "free". So i figured if we could go in on the deal with my parents, I mean they were already buying the oven so all we needed to buy was the fridge and we would get 2 for free. I was getting more and more excited, mom asked me to come up to the store and check out the appliances for myself. I loaded the girls up and headed on over there.

When I first saw them I could imagine them in our kitchen. I read the "fine print" of the B2G2 offer. Then the bomb was dropped on me. The worker told us that the deal ended the day before. He said he couldnt honor the B2G2 anymore. I was angry, the paperwork said the deal would be on for another WEEK! All I could think was false advertisement! So I told the man about the date on the paperwork, and in his very poor English he said that there was nothing he could do and I needed to take up my concerns with his boss, and he kindly gave us her number. My dad called her immediately. She explained the reason behind the misprint and told him that she would do all that she could to try and honor the advertisement. I took my dad inside to show him the paperwork I was reading with the dates of the offer, and they were gone. The worker (who was really getting on my nerves at this point!) had thrown them away!

We decided to just leave and I settled into the idea that we missed out on the deal. About an hour later, my dad hears back from the "boss lady". She explained that the misprint on the paperwork was because of the Frigidaire Rep. He sent out the advertisement with the wrong date, and instead of reprinting them, he just sent an email stating the correct dates for the offer. So the last day of the B2G2 deal was THE DAY BEFORE! We missed it by one day! So my dad, being the salesman he is encouraged her to contact her sales rep and asked for an extension of the deal since it was his mistake to begin with. She was more than happy to do so, and about 20 minutes later we got the call saying that if we bought the fridge in the next hour she could honor the deal. YIPPEE Skippy!

I woke Marcus up to tell him what was going on, actually I had already woken him up earlier to go and measure all current appliances, to make sure these would fit. And after measuring I found that they all would be a perfect fit!

So we paid for the appliances, and the worker, who was quickly becoming more irritated with me, started loading them up in my dads truck. We decided to take the dishwasher and microwave, and leave the fridge there to pick up a different day. As he was checking the receipt printout, he noticed the numbers didnt match up on the microwave I thought we had purchased (the one that he told us was included in the deal). When I asked to see the micro that was, in fact, part of the deal, I was led back to a completely different area and shown a micro that was 1/2 the size and did not have nearly as many options. Once again we complained! We had to get BACK on the phone with the boss lady, whom at this point just wanted to seal the deal, so she agreed to let us have the bigger microwave instead of the other one. YIPPEE Skippy again! So off we went with 2 of the appliances.

We got the 2 appliances home and they just sat there. In case you all don't know this time of year is the BUSIEST time for FedEx which means we basically don't get to see Marcus......EVER! So I got antsy, as I do when I want something done. So i decided to just do it myself. And here's how I did it......

Marcus and I got a date night at one of our favorite restaurants, Flemings. We went with a couple friend of ours Chris and Rachel. We met at their house for drinks and then loaded up and drove the 5 miles to the restaurant (what I wouldn't give to live CLOSE to civilization!). We had a marvelous time! We had a $50 GC that we purchased for $40 at Costco, and we had a $25 "dining credit". So we had $75 worth of food to eat before we had any out of pocket expense for the night. I was confident we would be able to keep our meal under or at least close to the $75 mark. But Chris and Rachel had a different idea. They immediately ordered a bottle of wine for the table and insisted on appetizers, actually TWO appetizers. I began to get a bit nervous, but decided to just enjoy the evening. We both decided to go with the surf and turf as the entree and each couple shared. We split three sides between the 4 of us and it was plenty of food. The bill totalled like $275 and Chris picked up the rest of our tab. So basically we got an fantastical meal and evening for 40 bucks.......cant beat that! So my mom babysat for us at our house while we were out, and she just spent the night. The next morning is when I got really antsy about the microwave. I decided to just start the installation process myself. I began unpacking said appliance and removing the old one. Then I realized I would need a few more hands (and muscles). Mom and i had the old microwave completely unattached, but we couldn't lift it enough to get it off of the mounting bracket. I quickly ran to wake up Marcus as mom held the micro in place, and he came out in his boxers to lift it out for us. He questioned what I was doing and then went back to bed. I finished prepping the rest of the area for the new, bigger micro, and when he really woke up he helped me install it. Basically he just did the heavy lifting. I did the measuring, drilling, figuring, planning, and basically everything else. Here is the finished product.....

and the inside, which is much bigger than the old one, it comes with a shelf, but it is recommended that you only put the shelf inside when you are using it

This post seems to be getting longer and longer, I will have to continue it another day........stay tuned

Christmas Card Time!

Can anyone believe that it is time to send out Christmas cards? I usually cant get mine out BEFORE Christmas.....but this year is going to be different! I have almost completed compiling the addresses, and I am planning on mailing them shortly after Thanksgiving (hopefully, wink wink)


Shutterfly is offering this fantabulous deal for bloggers.....bloggers get 50 free photo cards if you follow this link http://bit.ly/sfly2010

So if you want a sneak peak at the cards I will be sending out this year, check them out...

well i havent COMPLETELY made up my mind, but these 2 are pretty high up on the list! There are just too many to choose from!

Head on over here to check out all the awesome designs Shutterfly has this year http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/photo-christmas-cards

Oh and what I really like about photo cards and kids, is now that i have children I dont have to put my picture on the cards anymore (YAY)!

Shutterfly is the BEST photo site, their products are second to none! For Kaylee's 1st Christmas, her gift to everyone was a photo calendar that I made on Shutterfly, go here to check them out if you want to give one this Christmas http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars. You wont be disappointed!
Then one year for Christmas, Kaylee gave her godmother a photo mug, which Im sure she uses EVERYDAY! HA! check out how to make a photo mug for your loved ones

http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/photo-mugs

So fellow blogger buddies/readers/followers please check out how you can get 50 free

photo cards this year and dont forget to send me one!

Tunica

Back in July I received an offer from a casino in Tunica. At first glance I thought it was fake! Here is what the offer stated, you tell me if you would believe it......
3 FREE nights in the hotel (no restrictions on days of the week)
$600 Free Play ($200 in July, $200 in August, and $200 September)
$100 food voucher for any restaurant at the casino

Sounds awesome! Well let me just tell you IT IS! I didnt pay any attention to the offer until the end of July and we were running out of days to redeem my July Free Play before it expired. On July 31st, I left the girls with Marcus and my dad and I headed down south. I gambled my $200 and came home with $220. I was thrilled! Oh and my dad had free buffets, so we got to eat for free too. The next night my parents had already planned on going down there to meet some friends, so I gave my mom my players card and she gambled my $200 for August. I knew i wouldnt be able to get back down there so I figured whatever she won me was better than nothing. She was able to win me $180. So for the first 2 months of the deal I was able to walk out of there with $400. Today we are going down to redeem our food voucher and hotel stay. We are only going to use 1 of the nights though, we just cant justify staying longer, one night is enough at the casino. So I hope that I come home with at least my $200 again, if not more!

I'll let you know how I do......but I have a funny feeling that my husband being there will have a highly negative effect on the amount of money we bring home. (I love you bunches babe, but you cant say no when it comes to gambling. just say NO, its easy, let's practice! No! No! No!)

Swim diaper secret

I am a huge fan of the reusable swim diapers. But the ones we own, don't necessarily keep everything in, if you know what I mean. So i will put them on her when we are just splashing around in the water in our backyard, but if we go to a public place i like to have her in a disposable one, until I am very confident she wont do pee pees. And this is a new concept for me since Kaylee was completely trained by this time, and I have had to learn the hard way that those darn things are EXPENSIVE!!! But alas I have found a little secret and wanted to share it with you.

Disposable swim diapers are WASHABLE!!!

YES I SAID WASHABLE!!!

I didn't believe it at first, but it is true! I have successfully washed one 3 times, then it started falling apart so I threw it out. Here is the trick: immediately after getting out of the pool either hand wash it or throw it in the washing machine, and then hang it to dry. It is that simple! That is unless your baby gave you the gift of poo, then throw it out immediately! Never dry the diaper in the dryer! Just hang and then reuse next time you go to the pool. There have also been times that Ainslee doesn't even pee in them, and for those occasions I just ring it out and hang it to dry, just as if it were a reusable one. This secret, along with some great coupons and sales, should get you through the summer without breaking the bank.

Happy swimming!

Saving $$$

Coupons

Rebates

Sales

These are my new best friends! I decided to quit being so "lazy" with our money. I decided to taking my shopping seriously. I mean I'm not exactly bringing IN any money, so i figured the way I can help out financially was to help stretch our dollars as faaaarrrrrrrrr as possible. And I figure as a rookie with no real training, Ive done pretty darn good. These past couple of months I have saved over $300 all using my 3 new friends I listed above. That's right THREE HUNDRED BUCKaROOS. For all you non-coupon clipping/bargain hunters it is NOT THAT DIFFICULT! I'm serious! I mean I still do splurge on purchases every now and then, especially when it comes to buying organic or locally grown food, but I have found ways to help our budget, and it is SO MUCH FUN! I sort of compete with myself to see how much I can save.

The above picture shows 2 packs of diapers, toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, and a prescription...........and it was all FREE! I transferred a prescription to earn a $25 GC and then used coupons, sales, and rebates to make it all work.

One day I saved 56% when buying various groceries, diapers, and beer! Now let me tell you that 2 of those categories are REALLY expensive categories, and many of the groceries were fresh AND organic. So it might not sound like much but it was an amazing accomplishment for me! I just love coupons so much now! And rebates, oh rebates you are AMAZING!

The other day I was picking up a few sale items at Walgreen's (with coupons) and I noticed that beer was on sale AND a rebate offer. Marcus drinks Miller Lite, they had 12 packs (cans or bottles) on sale for $8.99, which isn't that great of a price, but if you purchased 2 AND $20 worth of other items in the store you could submit a $15 MIR. Basically I was going to spend that much on diapers and other items anyways so I bought my diapers with coupons (and received register rewards too) and submitted my MIR so I will basically got 24 bottles of beer for 3 bucks plus tax! That to me is a steal! I am making a point not to purchase things that we don't/wont use or need. I mean I might stock up on things if there is a sale, but only things like bathroom items. The other day I matched coupons for Right Guard deodorant with a sale at Schnucks and got them for $1 each. They are regularly $4 each.

Yesterday, I went to Kroger just to pick up a few necessities (bananas, yogurt, etc) and I had a Kroger store diaper coupon that was about to expire. They had diapers on sale (not a fabulous sale, but a little off the original price) when I got to the checkout I handed her my coupons, I thought I would try using 2 diaper coupons (the store coupon and one I had printed) when only buying one box of diapers. She scanned them both and they worked! As I was about to pay the lady said "hold on a second, I forgot to scan your diapers." (I had them under the cart because our stupid Kroger does not have 2 seater carts so Kaylee has to ride in the basket, which i absolutely HATE! anyways so some of my things have to go under the cart, and she must have missed the diapers, I don't see how seeing how they were a HUGE box, but whatever back to my story. So she scans the diapers and the computer automatically adds the coupon AGAIN! So I ended up getting $9 off ONE BOX of diapers! I do have to say that our Kroger has been really great with coupons!

Now I'm not going to lie, this new hobby isn't always easy, there is lots of prep work and research to do. More stops to make because you have to go to the store where the sales are, and in my case when I don't live near most stores that means a lot more driving. But all of the extra time and work are totally worth the money savings, especially to single income families!

Right now I am looking forward to the 3 $25 GC's I have for transferring prescriptions. THAT, my friends, is the easiest way to make a few extra bucks! And I have already gotten and used 2 other $25 GC's for transferring prescriptions. So that is $125 just for the few extra minutes it takes to transfer a prescription.

If any of you have any tips/ideas/advise for me, I am totally interested. I have been thinking of ways to organize my coupons that will work for me. And I really need to look into getting the paper too, I was using my parents, but they cancelled their subscription. Boohoo!