Amoora's Frugal Life

Gloomy Saturday

2020-03-28T12:03:00.002-04:00

Today's choosing me treats include: -no cooking -dying my hair -reorganizing my makeup Today I sit at home looking out the window at the gloomy sky. Suprisingly a lot of cars are going by. I am dressed to go to for a run, but I cannot bring myself to go outside with the clouds crying. This is the kids weekend with their day. The results: no cooking! I will munch probably make a sandwich for lunch and munch on salad for dinner. I love cooking but having to spend half the day in the kitchen during this break has been exhausting. Today, the kitchen is closed! Normally, this would be a great day to go out to eat, but now we sit at home keep busy. A a few months ago I bought some boxes of hair dye to out. Today while I am home alone, not chasing after my little ones I choose to focus on myself. I have spent the last year two years learning new make-up technics and I am really enjoying trying them out. With this small window I have I would like to reorgranize my make up while no little girls are here to keep stealing all my makeup. School work: I am working on a 3 building comparative essay. I haven't started yet because I have no clue what to compare. There are so many buildings to choose, I have no clue where to begin. Feel free to add your suggestions. I hope by today to finish my rough draft, 1400 words shouldn't be too hard to tackle, haha!

Girl's room redesign

2020-03-17T17:19:00.000-04:00

Today's mission: The girls room. This was a big challenge. I took everything out. I decided my youngest is old enough to give up the crib and the matching changing table/dresser. Once all the furinture was removed we began to work. I decided my youngest is old enough to give up the crib and the matching changing table/dresser. This resulted in a lot more free space for the girls. We repurposed the dresser from my sons room into the girls room. The tall dresser takes up less space. Both girls has mostly dresses so alot of their clothes are hanging. Upon taking on the girls room, I realized this is going to be a two day project. As we near the end of today, we still haven't completed sorting through all the clothes. A massive giveaway pile is waiting for me in the other room from the three kids. Overwhelmed, I decide to call it quits. We are going to end our day with a movie night and popcorn. I will update you tomorrow on the progress

Son's room redesign

2020-03-16T12:14:00.000-04:00

Today's mission: My son's room. No better time to start spring cleaning!! The kiddos are back from their dad's house. My son is 8 and half. I asked him to give his ideas on how he would like his room set up. The we took everything out of the room. The bed, the desk, and bookshelf were all rearranged. I decided to remove the doors from the closet. He does a great of job of keeping his closet organzied. I guess boys are better with only taking out what they need, and not touching anything else. We have a system: we hang sets together so he just pulls out the set he wants to wear in the morning. This makes his life easier and mine. By removing the doors, I feel his room looks much bigger. I also decided he no longer needed the tall dresser he had. We ordered a little dresser that fit into the closet, it won't arrive for a few days. My OCD confessions: I hate when hangers are mismatched. It brothers me so much. I also hate when someone hangs hangers backwards. It stresses me out until everything is back to normal. I also have to orgranzie clothes by color with patterns at the end of each color section. This makes it rather difficult to delegate certain tasks as I have to reorgranize once it is complete. In his redesign project we upgraded his closet with adult hangers. He was excited to change his hangers. I let him hang his stuff then went through and organized it. I want to paint his room, but in efforts to stay home, we will avoid going out to buy paint. Once the qurantine is lifted and the semester is over I will start this project.

2020-03-14T22:00:00.000-04:00

Today marks the first day of Spring break for me, yay! Starting a day early to the Covid-19 issues. I have decided to take advantage of this quartine time, although I had plans to travel this break. I took this opportunity to compile all my to-do lists into a grand Quartine Survival bucket list. I am using this time to catch up on everything that I wanted to do but just haven't had a minute to get around to. I will share my journey with you. Confession: I cannot sit still. I don't know how and I don't want to know how either. I feel there are too many things to do in life.I am using this downtime as an opportunity to reorganize my life to include fun. Mission one: learn Adobe Indesign! This semester I have to submit assignments on InDesign, a software I have never used. Lucky for students, Adobe is offering free Adobe cloud usage at home for the next 90 days(#frugaltip). University students: this is a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of software access. I have always been interested in writing. After submitting a mid-term dossier, I am enjoying the idea of using InDesign and learning all its capabilities. Today I spent the day following youtube videos and learning my way around this platform. I created a portfolio. I procrastinated portfolio completion due to a lack of time. After a whole day of working on Indesign, I can tell you, I am not sure what I was scared of.

2020-03-13T11:25:00.000-04:00

During this force "vacation" I feel I found a moment to revive my blog. Oh, how I have missed blogging about frugality and life. This probably will be essential these days as we have nowhere to go. I will not claim that I have it together, but I will share how I am navigating through this scary time. I am a single mom of three. Due to varying ages, each child has their own needs. My son, for example, needs help with school work. He needs to attend online classes daily. He is independent in comparison to my daughter. She is in first grade. She needs undivided attention in every single assignment. Not to criticize the school in any way but either my first grader gets way more work then my 4th grader or my 4th grader isn't getting enough work. Either way, my first grader is a full-time job. Then there is my little angel who has started her terrible two. No words to explain the adventures I am facing with her adorable, challenging, and sassy self. One amazing blessing is I am not forced into quartine another adult, LOL! It is amazingly stressful dealing with three perfect little angels. But adding a grown child into the mix, I can't! There is freedom in cooking whatever I want with worrying about someone else's opinion, dietary needs, etc... With kids; eat it or starve. I have my picky eaters but they know the rules. Being a full-time student is a challenge with three kids. I have not decided if it easier now or before. I will say I live off no sleep and tons of caffeine. Join me in my adventures of frugal fun and sanity over these trying times. Feel free to post your vents, questions, and comments.

Unselfishly Selfish

2020-03-05T11:56:00.000-05:00

On my birthday in 2018 and I decided that daily I will do something for me. I came to this realization that everyone is consumed in their own happiness and mothers, we tend to forget ourselves because we are focused on everyone else. My ex used to always have "his time" something that I could never carved out because I always felt my responsibilites to took priority. Then over the years I felt it was ok to be "unselfishly, selfish". Continuing to work myself to exhaustion with no break. This is not how I want to live anymore. These activities don't have to cost a lot of money. Part of this is just enjoying the simple things and adding a positive persepective to things you may be already doing. I will let you in on my daily activities during this quarantine.

My kitchen scale

2018-11-06T19:32:00.000-05:00

Tell me I am not the only person in the world obsessed with kitchen scales. I always eye them at every decorating store. Love the rustic vibe. I do have a plain white kitchen scale that I do use when I buy bulk meat, but not one I would ever display in my kitchen. I even purchased the above scale from target, part of the Magnolia heart and hand collection. I just didn't feel it was the right fit for my kitchen. I have purchased quite a few of them but never found the perfect one, until today!!! I walked into Michael's to hit up the after Halloween sales, to my surprise I found a ton of clearance items 80% off that weren't Halloween items. Most looked like fall items, which works out great for my thanksgiving decorating prep. I didn't expect to find any fall decor until Christmas time.

Meet my new kitchen addition. Ignore the crumbs... For some reason no matter how many times I clean the kitchen my kids always manage to leave crumbs everywhere. I love this scale! The lemons were a thrift store find a few years ago. They are so heavy and look real, every single person that cooks in my kitchen always picks them up and tries to cut them open. Every time I try to add to the collection, I can never find any that look as real or even similar.... so it remains 2 lemons. I think I will add different fruits and veggies in there whenever I have them. For those who entered my house and asked, yes the scale really works!! Please upload pics of your own scale. I love seeing how everyone stages their own items.

Guess who's back?

2018-11-05T19:10:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I have been on here, for many reasons. As the ending to a 12 year marriage comes near, I feel the return to blogging is a necessity. Frugality and couponing has been apart of my life for as long as I can remember. In 12 years being married and for most of that being a 1 income family, we managed to a build a great life. Now that this household will be 1 less person with a lot less income, it will be interesting! There will be budgeting, decorating and so much more going on with minimal pennies. I look forward to sharing my journey with everyone. I am optimistic to see what lies ahead. I am sure many of you hit up the after halloween sales. I went to Target my usually after holiday shopping. I will add a picture another day of the many items I found. All the halloween candy was 70% off around $1.07 per bag, I stocked up since there are many upcoming events. My favorite find tho was mini suede pumpkins at 90% off. I bought every single one I found .... at only $0.10 each. Initially, I thought these would make great favors for thanksgiving or at least table decoration for thanksgiving day. But when I got home I found the perfect use for them.

Aren't these just the cutest??? The running I had purchased from Target last year 70% off. I had it put away for the spring but love how the pumpkins match perfectly. The basket was a michael's halloween clearance... a post for another day :-P

Would love to hear what after halloween deals you found.

$10 Godiva Birthday Money

2016-01-25T13:49:00.000-05:00

Besides a free piece of chocolate every month at Godiva they also give you $10 to spend on anything in the store on your birthday. There is a so much to choose for $10. My birthday gift this year was 3 large bars of chocolate. Best part, 3 for $10 and no tax, compeletely free!!! Also, don't forget if you spend $20 in 1 month the following month you get a special suprise and if you go in on a weekday there are always free chocolate samples. Rewards Sign up

2016-01-24T13:58:00.000-05:00

With all the snow we got during this crazy snow storm, I had a lot of free time to mess around with online shopping. I know Target is a great place to shop online but I love walking in Target and catching the sales. Target offers free shipping on any order $25 or more to your house. Now everyone knows it is too too too easy to spend at least $25. I ordered big items, I didn't think they actually would deliver these items but I tried anyways. To my door I received laundry detergent, paper towels, dishwasher detergent, a few other clothing items I had to sneak in. So excited, not sure why I never take advantage of this feature. In the past I have used the pick up in store option, which items are usually ready in 1 hour at the front desk. It does help if you don't want to run around the store and buy the millions of things you remember you need once you arrived. I ordered an item which the store didn't end up having in stock even though it said on the website that they did. Because of the mistake they shipped it to my house with no additional charge. They also have curbside pick up which seems to be new. I haven't tried it yet but I can't wait to report back. I love Target!

2016-01-22T09:44:00.000-05:00

I don't usually walk down the toy aisles after christmas sales, I didn't know they clearanced so many items. This year after my friend who has mastered the art of target shopping had mentioned the toy section, I decided to check it out. I found paw patrol mini figurines form $2.99 down to $0.88. These work great for car rides for my children, I love storing little toys in their backpacks for them to find and play with on road trips. Also, spongebob lego figurines also down to $0.88. My son loved building them. It says for ages 5 and up but my 4 year old was able to follow the instructions and build the kits. I found a guess who knock off game for $1.50. I haven't opened it yet but I do believe my toddlers will enjoy playing this game. Would love to hear what great items you found this year at target.

Burt's Bees deals and review

2016-01-21T09:37:00.001-05:00

I love shopping the sales right after christmas. This year I found a burt's bees mani/pedi set for $3 from target, yay! I am using a mac for a change, not sure how to post the picture. So instead I'll attach a link at the bottom for you to see. I've never purchased anything from burt's bees. I've been using the set for a week, and I love it. I am a big fan of peppermint which is what the set smells like. It comes with a pedi brush, and cuticle cream, hand cream and foot cream. The cuticle cream makes nails look amazing!! I used them both on hand and feet. I loved the stone on the brush. I used it yesterday on my foot, it really gets rid of rough spots. And the lotion did wonders on my super dry hands. Even my feet felt amazing! I do recommend this set. Luckily for Burt's bees since I tried this set I will now purchase these products! http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/burts-bees-mani-pedi-set?ID=2479459&pla_country=US&CAGPSPN=pla&CAWELAID=120156340004132637&catargetid=120156340000910546&cadevice=c&cm_mmc=Google_Beauty_PLA_PLA-_-Beauty_Bath+%26+Body+-+GS_Burt%27s+Bees-_-79841945066_-_-_mkwid_ybhmkYaA|dc_79841945066%7C-%7CybhmkYaA Also, I did try the burt's bees mint cocoa lip balm. That smells bad and tastes bad. I thought that would be a nice combination, but I don't like it. It was clearanced to $0.89. My daughter actually likes using it so it won't totally go to waste. http://www.burtsbees.com/Mint-Cocoa-Lip-Balm/792850894549,default,pd.html

target

2014-10-11T13:40:00.000-04:00

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I've been going to target these last few weeks and trying to understand the clearance markdowns. I love shopping at target after the holidays. But the toys were a little harder to predict. So seemingly things usually sale at the 50% markdown in my area.I did manage to find a few deals. I bought a baby doll for $2.57 with a walker. Also I bought a kids pillow for $1.50, loot party bags for $0.48, And a Erin blanket for $4ish. I'm looking forward to future deals at target.

2014-09-07T22:00:00.000-04:00

So here's the millionth attempt to get back into posting back on my blog. It's been tricky with life but here we go. In the last few months I have opted to GWR the Sunday paper and figure out couponing. It hasn't been as easy as extreme couponers made it seem. Attached is a picture of my free items from couponing.

Godiva rewards

2013-01-26T19:50:00.000-05:00

Have you checked out the Godiva chocolate reward programs. It is great! Every month you get a free piece of chocolate of your choice. On your birthday you get a $10 reward to use in the store. Plus on holidays they send you more deals. It is free to sign up. Here is info on it and a way to sign up

recycled gift bag

2012-10-11T18:46:00.002-04:00

Here is a cool youtube video of how to make your own gift bag out of newspaper. How cool would it be if you got a paper in a different language. I would love to see a bag made our of Arabic, Korean or something like that. It would be even cooler if you could find aged newspaper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSfusvAP1vw

Cinderella Craft Event

2012-09-27T12:43:00.000-04:00

Cinderella Craft Event All Princesses and Princes are cordially invited to an enchanting celebration of crafts and imagination. Join us for a Cinderella Craft Event Saturday, September 29 10:30am, 11:30am, & 12:30pm Plus Daily Events September 28 - October 4 See a Cast Member for event times *Minimum age for participation is 3 years. Event limited per session based on store capacity. No lineups prior to 30 minutes before event begins. Event subject to change or cancellation without notice. Call store for more information.

2012-09-26T21:20:00.000-04:00

7-eleven free large size coffee, latte or cappuchino 6-10am 9/28/12 only national coffee day! last year it was medium, this year it's a large! find your nearest 7-eleven http://www.7-eleven.com/locator.aspx

2012-09-21T12:36:00.000-04:00

toysrus.com offers Free Baby Expo! Saturday, September 22nd, 12-3pm at your local Babies'R'Us Store Details Learn about top brands and hot products Get money-saving coupons Meet other moms and moms-to-be Play fun games

Jake and the never land pirates event

2012-09-20T12:42:00.000-04:00

Jake and the Never Land Pirates Events Come join the fun at Jake and the Never Land Pirates Jake Saves Bucky Great Never Sea Race Event Join Jake and his crew as you play a fun-filled board game and compete in a Great Race against Captain Hook Saturday, September 15 & 22 10:30am - 12:30pm Plus Daily Events September 14 - 23 See a Cast Member for event times *Minimum age for participation is 3 years. Event limited per session based on store capacity. No lineups prior to 30 minutes before event begins. Event subject to change or cancellation without notice. Call store for more information.

2012-09-19T12:39:00.001-04:00

Carvel - Free Jr. Bonnet Ice Cream Cone on 9/20 from 3-7pm http://www.carvel.com/ Carvel’s annual Customer Appreciation Day - from 3 to 7 pm, Thursday, September 20th, 2012 Take a dip with one of Carvel’s new Bonnet™ flavors! In celebration of Customer Appreciation Day, Guests are invited to enjoy the classic Carvel® treat featuring the best soft serve ice cream cone in the business dipped in Bonnet™ free! Now featuring a variety of new flavors, including caramel, cotton candy, peanut butter and cake mix, the Bonnet™ has never been better! Featuring one-day-only specials and other location specific celebrations, Carvel’s annual Customer Appreciation Day is not to be missed! This year’s event will take place from 3 to 7 pm, Thursday, September 20th at participating Carvel retail locations nationwide. *One junior Bonnet™per personText. Not valid with any other offer. Offer good while supplies last only on September 20, 2012 at participating Carvel retail locations. http://www.carvel.com/store-locator

2012-09-18T21:58:00.002-04:00

Free iced coffee anyone? Get your promo code for a free iced latte from wawa Check it out!

Free 7-Day Supply of Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus Serum In-Stores

2012-09-18T12:45:00.000-04:00

Free 7-Day Supply of Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus Serum In-Stores check it out Let us turn your end-of-summer glow into a more polished look. We're partnering with Nordstrom to bring you a special Fall for Colour event! Join us for a free consultation and take home a free 7-day supply of Repairwear Laser Focus serum for a second chance against sun damage. Find a store near you: http://www.clinique.com/locator/index.tmpl

TAX DAY TREATS

2012-04-16T12:34:00.000-04:00

Tax day is this Tuesday. Be sure to get all your free treats. Here is a website that has a list of all the goodies!

Free!

Grocery shopping

2012-02-29T14:59:00.002-05:00

In attempts to get back on the savings wagon, I have switched my grocery store to shop rite instead of Giant. Besides the larger selection, prices are so much better. I used to have a goal which was achieved prior to pregnancy of $50 a week. When cravings hit, my budget was never kept and here we are today. Also, sending your husband to the grocery store when you need something always equals OVERSPENDING. I am going to try to stay within my budget. Now just as a fyi, I don't usually go looking for coupons, nor do I have a printer. I would like to see how a family of 3 can stay at around $50 a week. Eventually I will implement the couponing but for now lets see how well we do..

Here is what I spent on 2/12 for groceries. I don't have all the extra recipts for my husbands trips but at least it is a starting point for me.

Shopping total: $46.41
On sale savings: $11.00
Manufactor Coupon: $ 0.78
Store Coupon: $ 0.47
Total Savings $12.25

Just to let you know the coupons where actually receieved when I swiped my shoprite savings card. I didn't have any coupons on hand. I really like shop rite because every ad has coupons, so that will help in the future. The only left is my reusable bag savings, this shopping trip I received $0.15.