Everything's Coming Up Green

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It’s back to school time can you believe it. Whether you have kids heading off to school or not this time of year has an impact on all our lives. One of the great ways is awesome giveaways like The Back to School Bash! Eleven blogs have teamed up with some amazing sponsors to bring us awesome giveaways! Each of the eleven blogs is giving away one of each item including cash, and a laptop!

If you want to throw your name in the hat here is a list of all the blogs participating:

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Bargain Briana

Common Sense with Money

Coupon Cravings

Mommin it Up

Moms Need to Know

Mommy Snacks

Passion for Savings

Saving Cents with Sense

Southern Savers

Stretching a Buck

All the giveaways close on Monday, August 23 @3pm EST. The winning entries will be selected via Random.org.

If you win a prize come back and share with us. We would love to do the happy dance with you!

Have you ever felt uninspired?

Well that is me lately when it comes to this blog. Each day it seems like the elephant that follows me from room to room. When I started this blog I had grand ideas of it making money within a year or two. I knew it would take work but I thought I could manage it. I started writing posts for the blog back in April of ‘09 and went live in July. By the time we went live I had an eight month old and had just discovered that I was pregnant with baby #2. To say I felt a little over my head would be a serious understatement but I pressed forward doing as much writing as I could manage with a small child and morning sickness. Then Sammie came along and I realized just how good I had it with just one kid. Now I have a toddler and a nearly 5 month old (already?) and I am working hard to have a menu plan for the week and get the grocery shopping done let alone sort and organize my coupons so that they are ready at my becking call. Why do I tell you all this? Well it’s simple; I am sharing this with you because no one’s life is perfect including mine. There are times in life that one needs to scale back their expectations of themselves and those around them. The house won’t always be picked up, dinner may be late, I won’t score the best savings I could have and if I get a post up on this blog it may not have a picture but that is ok. I am choosing to be ok with that. The point of living the frugal life is to be able to have the freedom to enjoy special moments that cannot be manufactured and scheduled; the moments that just happen because you were there at the right place at the right time to experience them instead of working extra hours to keep up with the lifestyle you have created for yourself. I am choosing to be present with my daughters; to sit and snuggle with both of my precious daughters on my lap; to chase my little girl until I’ve cornered her and have an impromptu tickle fest. The toilets and the laundry will get done eventually and I will still blog in those windows of time that I can find, but my heart is with my girls right now and not with becoming a financially successful blogger. I hope and semi-plan for that to happen down the road when the girls can truly play with each other but for now I will share what I can and if there is a sweet urgent deal I will probably shoot it out via facebook.

I love you all. Thank you so much for continuing on this journey of life with me. It’s been fun so far and I expect it to only get better!

Last week my mom and I loaded the girls up, packed plenty of snacks and water and headed out with a list of potential garage and rummage sales to tackle. I will admit that I was not quite as prepared as I would have liked. I didn’t have our route mapped out; I didn’t get our lunch packed (I did pack Emma’s though), and I didn’t get up quite as early as I would have liked though we left only 15 minutes later than I had planned. If there is one thing about West Omaha that I reeeally dislike it’s that the housing areas are severely screwed up! It seems like every other street is a circle or a dead end. We did finally find the first house. And I walked away with a sack full of items. It was mostly filled with 4-five wick Citronelle candles that I scored for $.50 a piece! I found a few fun things for Emma as well.

Next stop was the rummage sale. It.was.the.jackpot! I scored tones of stuff. Unfortunately when I was taking pictures of my spoils I forgot to separate out the items by specific stops. Oh well I guess it doesn’t matter that much. It certainly isn’t life changing for you or me.

The next one was a bust. It was one of those that when you walk up you can smell everything and it is not good. It smells like nothing is ever cleaned and everything smells the same. The mother was very nice and her kids were very sweet, but, um no. Not going there. I hopped back in the car and we were off to the next one. There I got a box full of balls for $2.50 and a sweet frame that I am going to refinish. I laughed at the price of the frame because it was only the second day of the garage sale (it was going for four days) and it had already been reduce twice. Why you ask. Because they started the price at a whopping $15! It’s a cool frame don’t get me wrong but not in the best of shape. I paid $3 and that was good for me.

Home décor and craft stuff

Kids stuff

Scarves

Pink necklace and earring set $2

2 mesh bed rails $2

All those tiles for $5!

The blue necklace I scored for $1

So I won’t list everything but I will hit the highlights.

Adjustable Booster seat $1

White stool $.50

Bag of scarves $1

Fall figurines $2 for pair

New bag of Raffia $.50

NWT Children’s Place Swimmer shoes $2 (for E for Vacation next year)

There was a ton more but it is late and my brain is fried. You can see it all in the pictures. It was good but it is definitely difficult garage sale shopping with two small children. The problem is in the Omaha area Thursday and Friday are the big days to garage sale (which means hubby is at work and can’t watch the kids) and you need to start early. My girls are not early risers (thank you Jesus!) so this poses a problem on that one. I love, love, love it though! And I will be doing it again.

Have you scored any hidden treasures at a garage or rummage sale recently? Join in and brag away!

::Update:: Checked it out today. No swimming pools on clearance yet. Most of what I found was only 30-50% off. One Target was completely wiped out in one isle so I am figuring that is where they did have some 75% off stuff. Still worth checking out though. You never know when they will mark down new stuff and every region is different, heck, every store is different!

Tagets in the Omaha area have their Summer toys, including pools, on clearance down to 75% off! I have been waiting for this for weeks now! This stuff is going to go fast so hurry out. Be sure and think ahead for birthdays, what you will need for next summer or out of the box ideas for uses out of season (I’m thinking ball pit in a baby pool!)

Thanks Abby for the heads up!

If you haven’t noticed yet there is a super awesome coupon in this weeks No Frills weekly ad. It is a manufacturers coupon for Our Family products. Buy any 5 Our Family products get $3 off instantly at check out (discount can not be mpre then the total). They have Our Family canned veggies on sale this week for $.60 which makes them free when you buy five participating items. Even if you don’t eat canned veggies this is a great time to buy and donate!

Also their 18ct eggs are a participating item making them only $.65 each with the purchase of 5 items. I think you can only use one coupon per person. I didn’t try to do multiple transaction but you can sure give it a try. I have already gone with my mom and my husband and my mom went with my dad today!

Happy shopping!

Last month I made my first batch of homemade powdered laundry detergent. I only made a half batch to check it out and see if I liked it. A friend of mine had started using it a year ago and swore by it. I finally got around to buying all the ingredients and mixed it together. I just have to say that I.love.it! The most time consuming thing about the whole process was grating the bars of soup but if you use ivory soaps it is super fast since it is a soft soap. My mother-in-law used her food processor for the harder soaps (she had the great idea to use the little bars of soaps she had collected from different hotel stays. Yes to free soap!) Other than that it was just measure, pour and stir. I think it cost me around $11 for all the items (I bought a big bag of baking soda at Sam’s for under $7. I have been using it for cleaning as well, but I think I could get two full batches out of it.) A half batch should last us about two months. Keep in mind though that A. I am washing diapers for two kids which is 4-5 loads right there and B. not only am I using it for the four of us, but my parents us it as well plus my brothers when they happen to bring their laundry out every once and a while. My grandma also used it the other day to see if she liked it, so I may be adding my grandparents to that list as well. So for a regular family of four who are not doing extra diaper loads I could see a half batch lasting at least 6 months. Eleven dollars for six months worth of laundry detergent is not too shabby!

Here is the recipe that I use (plus where I found everything)

*12 cups Borax (20 Mule Team-You can find this at Wal-Mart)
*8 cups Baking Soda (I got a big bag at Sam’s but you can pick up boxes as well)
*8 cups Washing Soda (You can get this at Baker’s and I think I saw it at Hy-Vee as well)
*8 cups Bar soap (grated) (If you are using Ivory soap you can regularly find it at Walgreens on sale around $1 for a pack of 3

Mix all ingredients well and store in a sealed tub. Instead of using one huge container I put it in two smaller ones so that it was a little more manageable. I only made a half batch last time but I will make a full batch for sure next time!

Use 1/8 cup of powder per full load. If you have an old formula scoop lying around I use two scoops with it.

This recipe is great if you have someone in your family that is allergic to perfumes or dyes. I love it because my clothes smell clean and not pretty.

I want to take a minute and share with you how my garden is doing. I will give you for warning that there are quite a few weeds. Since I was gone all last week and it rained every night while I was gone, all of the last minute weeding that I did before I left is no longer visible. It has rained every night since as well. Plus let’s be honest, laundry comes first. Anyway here are a few pictures of the garden.

These are my dad’s herbs- Basil, Cilantro and Thyme. The Rosemary didn’t make it.

The Tomato plants are starting to get blooms!

Heads are starting to grow on the Broccoli! I am so excited because this is my first time growing broccoli and it is looking so good even after the nasty storms we’ve been getting!

One of my many gorgeous Onions.

A potato plant.

My strawberries haven’t been much this year. It’s a developing year. I will say they are looking a ton better though.

My lone Pumpkin. I barely got this planted before a storm blew in. I planted 5 seeds on that mound and one came up. I didn’t get out there in time to start anymore mounds.

This is my Zucchini. I have two of these and as you can see they already have blossoms!

I think this is Acorn Squash.

I believe this is a cucumber. My other one died.

These are Straight Neck Yellow Squash.

Here is a view of all the vine plants. All those weeds to the right were not there when I left. Soon there will be mulch there instead.

One of my three pepper plants. I think that I am going to transplant them. The potatoes got a lot bigger than I thought they would!

There you have it. I will post more picks after I have had a chance to weed!

I will be on vacation all this week with limited to no internet access, so I will be taking the week off from blogging and enjoying spending time with my husband, kids and all of hubby’s family! Hope you all have a great week!

There are some awesome coupons coming out this week in Sunday’s news paper. There will be three inserts this week-Smart Source, Red Plum, and Proctor and Gamble. Here are some highlights courtesy of Sunday Coupon preview.

Red Baron Pizza by the Slice product Save $1.00/1 (these are $3 reg. price at walmart, so just $2. My mom likes them so every little bit helps)

Scotch-Brite Scrub Sponge, Scour Pads, Dishwand or Dishwand Refills Save $1.00/2 (these are $.88 at Wal-mart, so just $.38 each!)

Chex Cereal box, listed: rice, corn, wheat, honey nut, chocolate, multi-bran, cinnamon Save $.75/1

State Fair Corn Dogs or Mini Corn Dogs Save $1.00/1

$4 any Olay Total effects body wash

Buy Total Effects BW, get FREE ivory body wash, bar soap or hand soap, max $3.00

$10 rebate WYB $20 or more Febreze Home Collection products

25c any Ivory (The bars often go on sale at Walgreens for $1.00, and since I use them for my laundry detergent it will come in handy!)

$2 any Pampers wipes 60ct or larger (I am sooo excite about this one!)

$1.50 any Pampers diapers or pants

So needless to say this is a multiple news paper week. Call your parents, grandparents friend and neighbors, and ask pretty please to have their coupons, if they’re not using them themselves of course!

Woooo Hoooo! I can’t think of a better way to ring in my 100th post than to share with you a spectacular deal!

Bag ‘N’ Save has their Our Family shredded cheese on sale for just $.95 a bag which is a great deal in and of it self but wait, it gets better. On the front page of their weekly ad there is a coupon for $2.00 off any 3 or more Our Family dairy products. The best part is that the register allowed me to use multiple coupons in the same transaction ( I wasn’t sure since it said 3 or more). Match the sale price with the coupon and you get $.28 a bag!!! Can you tell I’m excited! I also picked up 6 pounds of butter at $2.30 each, which is their regular price, after the coupon they were just $1.62 a pound. Not the greatest price I have ever gotten but a really good non-baking holiday price.

If you want to see for yourself or check out their other weekly sales you can head over here to view their ad.