Filed under: Good Karma | Tags: breastfeeding, Couponing, generosity, haiti, salma hayak, swammamas
www.swapmamas.com —>I just happened to fall upon this site via google, and let me just say that this is a great website. I wish I would have known about it when Arianna was younger and racking up the formula. This site is all about good karma and giving away stuff that people don’t use or need anymore. There’s a lot of mamas on here that swap coupons too. Last night I posted a comment that I was looking for a particular coupon and I already have another mama who is sending me one!
In this day-in-age, it’s encouraging to know that there are still people out there that value the idea of giving stuff away or swapping it. We all know how this economy is doing at the present moment, so I think we all should start helping others out a little bit more. I think that the dynamic of individuals, giving away things that other people need, can be one of the strongest characteristics of mankind. It can change lives. It can change present circumstances. Why are we all so greedy? Why don’t we look out for the better good of mankind?
One of the most touching and selfless acts I think I have ever seen is this…
Salma Hayek breastfeeding a newborn, baby boy from Sierra Leone. One reporter calls Salma cool “because her left breast has now done more for humanity in a few minutes than I’ve done in roughly my life.” How true! Salma had something to give…and she gave. I’m sure she thought of the ratifications that might come because of it. She got reamed by bloggers, reporters, comedians worldwide. Why is nourishing a starving baby funny or awkward? One of the natural impulses of a mother is to feed a hungry child. I guarantee you this…if I was on a mission trip to Haiti or Africa and was holding a starving baby and I was lactating…I wouldn’t even think twice about nursing that child. I’d give that baby the best meal he/she has had in awhile.
I think what led me down this path was I saw a picture of one of my best friends, Erin, holding a Haitian baby. I couldn’t help but wonder when the last time that baby has eaten. I’m sure this is the natural mother in me coming out because before I became a mother, I probably wouldn’t have thought that. As I was looking at the picture I remembered Salma Hayak and her selfless act to nourish a life. And if I was there with my friend Erin…I guarantee you I would have pulled out a boob and given that baby a good meal! 
Filed under: Couponing | Tags: Couponing, free stuff, GE light bulbs, Target
I guess once you start getting free stuff from couponing…you are addicted. I becomes a game. A hunt for the best deal. Well, I am no pro…yet…but I am learning and am loving the deals I’m finding. This deal today is from Target. All of Target’s GE Smart light bulbs are on sale. It’s for Earth Day. So, the single pack is $2.69 right now. Target has a coupon for $2 off any GE Smart bulb. You can find it on my post from yesterday. You can print out as many coupons as you want, I think. I’ve printed off 4 so far and it hasn’t called in the coupon police . GE also has a coupon out for $2 off any Smart light bulb. Bingo…you just made $1.31 in your pocket. Ok, here’s the catch…Target won’t pay you any money they owe you, so you gotta get something else worth the overage. Also, if you already printed out the GE Smart coupon for $2 twice, then you are done. You can’t print more than 2. But, GE also has another $1 off coupon so you can use that instead (http://budgethelpers.blogspot.com/2009/01/ge-energy-smart-bulb-100-coupon.html). This is what I had to do because yesterday I used the $2 GE coupons at Publix. I might have to get some more tomorrow but I promise not to blog about light bulbs anymore!
Filed under: Couponing | Tags: Couponing, energy saving, frugal, GE battery, Publix
I had to go back to Publix today for this deal. I grabbed one pack yesterday but thought it was such a good deal…hello, it’s free…so I printed my coupons to get 2 more boxes. These are the GE Energy Smart bulbs. So, this is a double, frugal wammy! Not only are they free but they will save me money in energy in the long run…oh, and you get a free Publix bag as well!
They are on sale at Publix right now for $4.99. FYI, Publix accepts competitor coupons. So here’s how I did it:
2) Print out GE manufactor coupon for $2 off as well http://www.gelighting.com/na/home_lighting/coupons_offers/
3) Then print out target coupon for .99 off + a free Publix bag! http://sustainability.publix.com/get_into_a_green_routine/brighten_your_earth_day.php
Filed under: Couponing, Publix | Tags: Couponing, frugal, Publix, savings, shopping
I am so excited about this trip because I saved a lot for what little groceries I had. I would have saved even more if I would have been keeping up with the Sunday coupons, but ever since I went home for the holidays I got out of my coupon groove. But, I’m getting back into it now. Here’s a picture of $74.66 worth of groceries that I got for only $28.52!!!!!! That’s $46.14 in savings! Wooohooo! Check it out:
6 months ago I would have never thought that buying NAME brands could save me so much money. I used to always buy store brands and thought I was doing good. I am very proud of myself for this trip…it, honestly, was just a last minute trip because I needed coffee but I couldn’t pass up some of the deals and coupons I matched. I LOVE www.southernsavers.com and if you want to learn more about couponing, you should go there. She is great! She even does coupon workshops. Ok, I’m elated so I’m gonna go play with my daughter!
Filed under: Cloth Diapers, Frugal living | Tags: beach, frugal, green, iplay swim diapers, motherhood, pool
Summer is coming up and I have always been a beach/pool kind of gal. So, my daughter is also going to have to tag along, which I’m sure she won’t mind, but those disposable swim diapers are just so annoying. First off, the sizing doesn’t start till like 15lbs. Second, they sag when they get really wet. Third, they don’t contain the poop (if poop happens to happen). This is the reason why many public pools are mandating the use of non-disposable swim diapers. And, lastly, they are just ugly. Oh wait, and also they are ridiculously expensive on top of all that!
So, why not get adorable, reusable ones! I found these at our PX, but you can get them at a lot of baby stores right now. This brand is iPlay and I hear great things about them. At $6.99 each I will definitely get my moneys worth. I bought 2 so when we go somewhere I will bring the extra just in case she does poop. And, also, these have an absorbant layer for pee if you are out of the water. Alot of other ones don’t have this and the pee leaks everywhere. So, for the car ride to the beach or pool, you should be safe! When you are in the water you don’t have to worry about the pee cause it magically disappears! hehe
Ok, enough talk…here they are:
Filed under: Couponing, local harvest | Tags: coupon, CVS, local harvest, Publix, Rite Aid, savings
One word to sum it up…disappointed. My box costed $19.50 and inside it was: 1 cucumber, 2 bananas, half romaine head, 2 pears, about 1/2 lb green beans, 7-8 small potatoes, pint of strawberries, and a pint of cherry tomatoes. Granted, it is all organic…but, I still don’t think it was a bang for my buck. I guess I had to give it a try but I don’t think I’ll be doing it again. I do better shopping at Publix with my coupons…speaking of…
I was happy to save $23.34 with my coupons! Only spent $60…and had a $5 off Rite Aid coupon and a $5 off CVS coupon. I really love it when I have a $5 off Kroger coupon and a $5 Walgreens coupon. That happened to me once and it’s an immediate $20 worth off my total! Love Publix!
Filed under: Cloth Diapers | Tags: bumGenius, Bummis, cloth diapering, diapers, Flip, fluffy mail, green, motherhood, organic
My first fluffy mail has arrived!!! You may be wondering, “what the heck is fluffy mail?”, well, it is my cute, adorable cloth diaper order! Now, that I found the diaper that works with Arianna I made a small order. Here it is…
The orangey color diaper on the top is a bumGenius all-in-one (AIO). This was free with my order! These are great for when I’m out and about or when Arianna is with Ms. Robyn on Wednesday mornings! The white cloths to the left are my Flip organic prefolds that are super absorbant and soft. Ok, soft is an understatement…these are comparable to a baby’s butt. This is what Arianna will wear to bed or for naps. They absorb a ridiculous amount of fluid. And then the yellow and green covers are Flips. These go over the prefolds, as I have said before. The Bummis Fleece liners are great for bedtime and will lay against Arianna’s skin. Fleece makes you feel dry so she will be soft and dry all night.
I’m sticking with the neutral theme because of the possibility of having a boy in the future. I don’t want to have to order all new stuff. Trust me, it is tempting with all the cute fluff out there for girls. So, there it is! I ordered this all from www.kellyscloset.com and have also bought used diapers from www.diaperswappers.com . Both are great sites and if you want to learn more about CD you can get lost on those sites!
Oh, and a frugal sidenote: Arianna is 100% in cloth diapers now and I have spent around $130 for her stash. We haven’t used a disposable in awhile. It will take about 3 months for me to break even with the expenses of starting CD, but after that we will be saving money. BUT, with all of our next children, we will be saving money immediately because most of the supplies are already bought!
$$$cha-ching$$$
Filed under: Gardening | Tags: car wash, co-op, compost, container garden, frugal, green, local harvest
After nearly a month of chewing on whether or not to tear up my plot of land for making a vegetable garden, I have decided not to do it. My heart is sad (haha) but I, truly, do need to chose my battles and this is one that I will pass up for now. With my husband being deployed and it being just me and the little one, I don’t think it is worthwhile to do a raised bed veggie garden. So, until next year, I will settle for my little container garden corner.
I decided to just plant tomatoes, eggplants, and cucumbers. I cheated and bought them already sprouted. I went to our local compost pile today and, boy, was that stuff beautiful. It was the richest, darkest dirt I had ever seen! The best part about it…it was free! I forgot my gloves but that’s what bare hands are for, right?! I filled up my pots right there with my bare hands. I don’t even want to know what was in that compost. So, now I got my little corner on our deck that is dedicated to my vegetables. It costed me $20 for the pots, plants, and tomato wire. Not bad! We’ll see how much vegetables it actually gives me!
In the meantime (till I can make my own big garden), I am signed up for a local CSA group where you get fresh-off-the-farm ORGANIC vegetables and fruit delivered to a location near you! I’m so excited about this. I am so frustrated with the vegetables and fruit from the grocery store. Either they are way overpriced or they turn bad within a day. So, through a local farm I will have 3 different vegetables and 3 different fruits delivered twice a month for only…drumroll please…$18 a box! This is the petite box package because it’s only me and my 1 yr old I’m feeding, but when my husband gets back it will be $10 more. You can go to this website to find a place near you that has a co-op… http://www.localharvest.org/
Another thing I did today that slashed out a huge expense was I washed my own car! My husband would be very proud of me. I usually spend $25 to go to the local car wash but instead I drove into one of those do-it-yourselves one and it only costed me $7! Much better.
Filed under: canning | Tags: Bamboo Farms, canning, frugal cooking, green, strawberry jam, walmart, you pick farm
So, I did the unthinkable. Something our mothers used to do. I bought a canning set from Walmart to attempt to make some homemade strawberry jam. My expectations were low because I have heard that canning is truly an art. But, why not just dive in, right?
The huge canner was $18 at Walmart and the canning utensils were $8 (which turned out to be very useful). This morning me and Arianna went to the local U-Pick strawberry patch called Bamboo Farms and started loading up. I picked. Arianna ate strawberries! I got almost 4lbs of strawberries picked and it came out to $7. I couldn’t wait for nap time to attempt my canning.
I read up on how to can and I am so thankful that I did. I learned that you can only put a canner on a gas stove and not our flat electric stove. Thank God we have a gas grill that worked perfectly! So, once the little one was down for her nap I started prepping the strawberries. I had picked exactly enough! I used our potato smasher and started crushing them. There is only 3 ingredients to canning strawberry jam: strawberries, pectin, and sugar. I got the pectin at Walmart as well for like $2 a box. This is what makes the jam thicken. So, once I got all the ingredients cooking on our stove and ready to go in the mason jars I made sure that the water in the canner that was outside on the grill was hot and ready to do it’s magic. I thought I was only gonna have enough jam to make (4) 16oz jars but I had enough for 5! Yay! More money saved! The canner is what preserves the jars…so it is the key ingredient if you want to keep you jam for 12 months. So, I filled up the jars and put them in the boiling water inside the canner.
Once they boiled in the canner for 10 minutes, I was done! They just need to sit out for a day and they should set! I was really nervous if they were gonna preserve but I checked the lids a few hours later and none of them popped up when I pushed on the center! They look beautiful and I cannot wait to have them on my waffles in the morning!
I had to make the initial investment on supplies but now I have it for all my future canning projects! My mom used to can tomato sauce and I plan on doing that next. With my husband being deployed I haven’t made our homemade sauce in months, but this gives me the perfect opportunity to can the sauce in perfect portions. Then I could store them for up to 12 months and take it off the shelf when I want spaghetti. I am so excited about this new endeavor! This is truly a lost art that is going to be a huge money saver. If you grow your own vegetables then this is a must! This also gives me the opportunity to make some things for my husband and send them to Iraq without spoiling! I plan on sending him one of the jars I just made.
Here is the recipe and information I used: http://www.pickyourown.org/jam.htm
