Wandering Wednesday Blog Hop!

Join us Wandering to new Blogs to check out!

What does Frugality Mean?

I follow several blogs about saving money, crafting, coupons, and get people pick on me, in a light-hearted way, about being cheap- my husband included. We used to spend our money without thinking about it. Without budgeting, without couponing, just buy whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. Well we see where that has gotten our whole country and economy right now. We are grateful that we changed our way of thinking before the recession hit really bad. We did Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, and before that started following his principles from the book Total Money Makeover. I totally recommend at least purchasing this book if you don't feel you have the money to do FPU as the back of the book has the forms and budgeting information and it goes through the basics. This was a lifesaver for us, and turned our lives around from drowning to having a savings account and being happier with less income. Sometimes we can't believe how simple it all was.

We are also grateful that by following these principles early on in our family- our child, soon to be children, will not ever know any different. We love Christmas, but don't feel the need to go overboard. We recognize they get so much from the family and throughout the year that they don't need much at Christmas. So we explain that Santa brings 1 gift, and we give 3 gifts- to represent the gifts the Magi brought Christ. We try instead to focus on the traditions, the crafts, the baking, the stories, the family togetherness. She has been just as happy and doesn't know anything is missing- because nothing is missing. It is all perspective.

Anyway- to get to the post below......The blog I read was a great read on what Frugality is all about. I hope it gains others a new perspective on frugality. We have been able to do more- on vacations, at home, eating, enjoying family time, by watching where we were throwing our money, and by planning how our money would be spent at the beginning of the month. I haven't lost anything, I have gained so much more.


Family Friendly Frugality: Frugality?: "Frugality What is Frugality? Frugality by the simplest definition implies that you are smart about your money. You aren't wasteful and ..."

Will be down for a bit........

I will be delivering my son at the end of this week, so will be out of commission for a little while. As you can tell, my updates have slowed since November as we have been making last minute preps for the new baby. I will post as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience and continued support.

Deal Alert: Lego

Free Shipping on $99 or more
Valid Now through December 14th

In addition to making the shopping experience as easy as possible, we will be offering Free Shipping on all orders of $99 or more now until December 14th, the final day of standard shipping.  No code required charges will be deducted at checkout for qualifying offers. TOP THEMES
LEGO Exclusives – LEGO Star Wars – LEGO Universe – LEGO City – LEGO Games
ULTIMATE GIFTS
Winter Village Bakery (10216) EXCLUSIVE – Tower Bridge (10214) EXCLUSIVE – Death Star (10188) EXCLUSIVE- Imperial Shuttle (10213) EXCLUSIVE – Medieval Market Village (10193) EXCLUSIVE
STOCKING STUFFERS
LEGO Santa with Sleigh (40010) EXCLUSIVE – LEGO Snowman (40008) EXCLUSIVE – LEGO Holiday Set (40009) EXCLUSIVE – Magnet Set Chewbacca (852554) EXCLUSIVE – Magnet Set Anakin (853037) EXCLUSIVE
LAST SHIPPING DATES
Ground – 12/14/2010
Express – 12/23/2010

Breepy Blog Crawl!!!

Join us in a Creepy Blog Crawl!

To Participate:

-Creep to each of your host's haunted blogs & follow them.

-Leave a creepy comment & we will follow you back.

-Crawl to as many blogs as you like, follow & comment

-Follow back anyone that follows you!

-Run if you see dark shadows lurking about

Every Friday is Mega Swagbucks Day! Visit Swagbucks.com today to do your searches and you could win 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 or 500! Swagbucks is similar to Google.  But instead, you get points (aka Swagbucks) for searches and you can exchange the points for gift cards, prizes, and more! If you haven't signed up for Swagbucks go here so you can search and win today!

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You can earn Swag Bucks by:
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Swagbucks Tool Bar - You can score Swagbucks for just having the toolbar each time you open your browser. 
Referring - Refer your friends, you’ll earn every buck they earn up to 1,000 Swagbucks!
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Trade-Ins - Have any old electronics lying around?  See how many Swagbucks it’s worth.
Swag Codes -Swagbucks releases codes for more Swag Bucks.  
Daily Polls       - Swagbucks has a Daily Poll, by answering the poll  each day you can    win    more Swagbucks.  If you submit a poll and it is used,  you’ll  be   paid    100 Swagbucks!
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Deal Alert: The Children's Place!

www.thechildrensplace.com

They have such cute clothes for Boys and Girls. I especially love their Christmas and Holiday Line. Be sure to check them out and use the codes below to SAVE SAVE SAVE!

25% off purchase of $50 or more with code TREATValid 10/28 - 10/30

25% off The Children's Place Holiday Favorites
The new Dressy Collection at The Children's Place includes shirts, sweaters, skirts, jumpers & dresses, vests, shoes, matching accessories Valid: Now - 11/01

Kohls Deal Alert!

 There are several Deals going on at Kohls right now, be sure to check them out!

I get a lot of shopping done at Kohls and they always have some sort of sale going on. Here are a few to be sure to check out, They are ONE DAY SALES!

40-55% Off Entire Stock Apt. 9 & axcess Apparel

Click here to see the deals on these great mens clothing.

40-55% Off Entire Stock Apt. 9 & axcess Apparel

Check here for 50% off Selected First Moments Apparel for Baby!

50% Off Selected First Moments Apparel for Baby

FREE: Debt-Free Holiday Handbook!

Learn how to:

• Identify Your Holiday Budget
• Give Yourself A Holiday Bonus (Free Up 10%-15% Of Your Income)
• Identify Gift Ideas
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• Stay Within Your Holiday Budget

This Free 18 page booklet can help you to stay debt free for the holidays.
Simply fill out the form below (limit one booklet per address).
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Go here to get your free manual.

Deal Alert: It's Gymbucks Time!

I got an email yesterday reminding me that Gymboree is currently rewarding Gymbucks for your purchases to be redeemed later. I have found myself loving many of the products at Gymboree, especially the boys line.


They are also currently offering an additional Reward of 25% off even sale items until Oct 31st.


This is a great rewards program! Be sure to check it out!

Deal Alert: Great Free Sewing Patterns

Stumbled upon some free sewing patterns on a site I love for fabric. I just had to share with you as these are some pretty cute patterns. I hope some of you can make good use of them as well. I am looking forward to using the "Bubbie" Apron for a couple Christmas gifts. There is also a cute dress on there also.



So check out free sewing patterns here at Fabric.com

"Win 10 Pairs of Baby Socks @InspiringU2Save.

Check out this giveaway on Inspiring you 2 save's blog to win 10 pairs of Baby socks. Lots of chances to win. She also makes fabulous blog designs, in fact, she designed mine. 

 Check out this great deal at Kmart

• Inventory Blowout on TVs! Save EXTRA $100 off Clearance TVs with code 100OFFTV at cart 10/10-10/31

Check out Kmart and Sear's New Club:

Christmas Club Card
The Christmas Club card is a reloadable gift card that gives Kmart and Sears customers a way to plan ahead and save for holiday purchases. When activated between now and October 31, the Christmas Club card users will earn a 3% Reward- up to a maximum of $100.  The card can be used across all Kmart/Sears platforms.  The reward will be added to customers' Christmas Club card by November 24, 2010. To activate cards or add additional value at any time, customers can visit any Kmart or Sears store location, or online at www.kmart.com/christmasclub or www.sears.com/christmasclub.

And yes I do plan to make use of the Layaway this year! 

Lovin' Me Some SWAG!

Swagbucks is an awesome way to search the internet like google, but earns points or SWAGBUCKS to redeem for lots of different things. I have been doing it just about 2 months now and have $20 worth of GC at Amazon.com- which I think is the best deal. Click the link below to sign up for it now. You will be surprised how easy it is to do for what you already use google for, no extra effort is needed, it will just "pop up" your winnings every so often. There is no spam that goes to your email!

Deal Alert: Lego

Great deal from Lego! Thought I would share with you all.