Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Sacred Self Care Tea Party

http://sacredearthhealingarts.com/p/sacred-self-tea-party.htmlLet us all take some time to give to ourselves. We can be more to others when we give a little to our selves. Check out Jennifer Seitzer's Sacred Earth Healing Arts site to learn more.
If you have a Sacred Self Care Tea Party- let me know, share your experiences, thoughts, and pictures

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Thanksgiving bracelet

Thanksgiving bracelet

Tips on Holiday Tipping

What to give those who make your life a bit easier:
Baby sitter: Tip the cost of one baby-sitting gig with a handwritten note from your child. Or go the DIY route and give hot cocoa mix in a mug and a card that your child made.
Day- Care Provide: Give $25 or less (cash or gift card). Or go the DIY route and prepare some fudge.
Your child's Teacher: Make sure you check the school's policy on giving gifts to teachers. You might chip in for a present from the class or get a bookstore gift certificate for $10.00 to $25.00. Or go the DIY route and organize a neighborhood drive for books to donate to the school library in the teacher's name.
Hairstylist: Tip the cost of one service, but if you tip throughout the year, you can skip this. Or go the DIY route by making them some homemade goodie or make Sun-Dried Tomato Olive Oil (go to allyou.com for recipe.)
Newspaper Carrier: Give approximately $15.00 in cash. Or go the DIY route and make some sweets to eat.
Mail Carrier: Choose a gift valued at less than $20.00. By law, postal workers may not accept cash. Or go the DIY route and make a fleece scarf (see crafts-for-all-seasons.com to learn how).

Great Deal on Emailing a meal: You can buy digital gift certificates to one of 18,000 eateries at restaurant.com. Score 4 worth $25 each for just $20 total at restaurant.com/allyou.


*Thanks to All You magazine, Issue 12, December 14, 2012 for these great tips and links











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Sunday, November 11, 2012

Sample and Coupon tips...

The craze around town now is Couponing. And many of us (I'm not included in that us) save tons of money and get many items for free. I try to coupon, I get the Sunday paper, I cut coupons, I try to use them once I'm at the store, but I usually only save 20 bucks if that. I often find expired coupons in my bag, I spend a lot of time searching for the product on the coupons and end up buying the generic brand because it seems cheaper. And many of the coupons say you have to buy 2 or more to get the savings, to me that doesn't always seem like savings.
I know a few people who coupon and do very well at it (I should have them teach me), but since I suck at it I look for other ways to save a buck or two. One way I do that is through freebies or samples.
Here are some of the latest samples and freebies that I have found:

Kleenex.com has a "promotion" going on right now. You buy Kleenex, get a code, enter your code on their site and you can send a care package to a friend or relative. The Kleenex® Brand Care Pack includes: lip balm, 1 oz. hand sanitizer, coupon booklet, Kleenex® Brand Share Pack, Kleenex® Brand Slim Pack, and card redeemable to download four songs from up and coming Universal Music Artists

To request free samples from Walmart go to InStoresNow.Walmart.com/In-Stores-Now-Free-Samples-and-Savings.aspx 

For samples from Poctor and Gamble go to PGEveryday.com/pgeds/pg-brandsaver-samples-coupons.jsp

For Target go to Samples.Target.com

For Kraft First Taste go to KraftFirstTaste.com

Look for coupons on convenience store refrigerator doors and  shelves.

Check out the Library for cheap or free weekly newspapers that will usually contain coupons.

Going to the Post Office? Pick up a Change of Address packet. It contains coupons for hardware stores, dry cleaners, furniture outlets and restaurants.

When you order something off line, make sure you check the packing slip and box carefully for any coupons or discounts the company may have sent you.

Do you have your own tips or tricks? Please share them with me, so I can share them with others!

Happy couponing!

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Black Friday Shopping tips

It is hard to believe that the time for Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping is right around the corner. I have a few tips that I have inquired from Women's World magazine that should help us all out a little bit.
1. Check sites such as BFAds.net and BlackFriday.GottaDeal.com for early copies of Black Friday circulars.
2. Compare prices on site such as: BlackFriday.com, Bizrate.com, or PriceSpider.com
3. Plan your route, make sure you read the small print in the ads. Some stores may have 1,000 items on sale and another may only have 20. You will need to decide which store to hit first. Having a bargain buddy could help with this (see item #5  )
4. Call ahead and see where things will be located. You can also check on line to see if the store has a posted a floor plan map. A lot of stores pass out the floor plans for deals while you are standing in line, others have them as you enter the store. It is always better to check online first to help plan your route ahead of time.
5.  Bring along buddies to help you. Divide and conquer in a couple of ways. One way to use the buddy system is to go to different stores to get different deals at the same time. Another way is to go in different directions in the same store to get deals.
6. Have a shopping cart guard. Between crowds and very narrow aisles it is almost impossible to navigate a store with a shopping cart on Black Friday. Your arms can only hold so much and if you leave your cart unattended everything you worked so hard to obtain will be gone in seconds. So have someone stay with the cart while you go and seek items. If you have someone waiting in a big ticket item line they are perfect for watching the cart and in exchange for them watching the cart you can go out and get other deals for them.
8. When waiting with a buddy for a great item to be reveled have a plan. Which one of you will get what, from which side, how, and where to meet once you are done. Please be careful not to beat up the person you are working with, we all know things can get crazy sometimes. (Sorry Nikki- I promise this year not to beat you up. Jillian is talking about Monster High Dolls this year so we may need up in that mess again!) 
7. When checking out head for the cash registers to the left of the store. We are programmed to go tot he right which leaves the registers to the left not as crowded.

Other tips and tricks:
1. Keep track of who you need to buy for and what you are getting them.  Print out a free Christmas gift organizer at: Household-Management-101.com/christmas-gift-list.html, iMom.com/tools/seasonal/christmas/money-saving-christmas-gift-planner, or Ellinee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/giftplanner.pdf.
2. Skip the sweet sugar snacks, pop, and candy while shopping. Instead get a burger, pepperoni pizza or other high- protein snack.
3. When possible sniff something lavender: lotion, candle, perfume. This will help you feel calm and serene in seconds.

Good luck and happy shopping.!
Do you have some tips or tricks you would like to share?
I will be posted my funny Black Friday Shopping stories soon and I would love to hear yours!!!!