Bargain Becky

Saving Money Challenge: Prepare (as best you can) for Kids' Sports

2012-01-28T15:24:00.000-08:00

Call my a horrible mother, but I only let my kids do one sport or activity at a time. Why? I am not a taxi driver. I am not some sort of "kid entertainer". I am a homemaker who needs to clean, cook, raise the kids and keep my man happy. I don't have time to be going to 3 or 4 different scheduled activities for my kids all the time.

So what are my kids into: Soccer. This makes me happy. It's a relatively easy game for the young lads. It requires very little equipment compared to most sports. The fee is pretty darn cheap ($55 for the season - can't beat that).

The Spring season will be approaching here at the end of March/beginning of April. So I redeemed some of my credit card rewards for a $50 gift card to Sports Authority. I know I'm going to have the buy the little bugger cleats and probably new shinguards since he keeps growing.

But what if you don't have credit card rewards to redeem for store gift cards? There's other ways to find discounted sports equipment:

- Check out Craig's List now.

- Check Freecycle.

- Find a local sports or traditional consignment shop. Play It Again Sports is a popular one in the Boston area.

- Ask neighbors/friends for hand-me-downs.

- If you go to a sports store, check Retail Me Not for any printable coupons before heading out.

This post is partially inspired by the group challenge Precious started at Frugal Makes Cents.

"What The Heck Do I have in my Cabinets" Recipe: Lasagna!

2012-01-28T14:22:00.000-08:00

I'm still happily eating out of my cabinets! Just been a slacker about reporting it.

Last night, I found a box of lasagna noodles (the self cook kind). I had all the ingredients on hand, except ricotta - so that was good. Purchased ricotta at the store when I went the other night and made one mean lasagna last night. Will be eating the leftovers tonight. In fact, if you ever see Prince Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles on sale - they are wonderful. Have made lasagna with them a few times and it always comes out great.

I think up this week will be some Homemade Lo-Mein with some chinese noodles I have floating around. Yeah - I went crazy once at the Kam-Man in Quincy. Bought like it was "my grocery" store. Used up most of the stuff except this one pack of noodles. I think I'm actually yearning for a Kam-Man run here soon.

Occupy My Wallet: Day 27

2012-01-28T06:17:00.000-08:00

Can't believe the month is almost already over. Yesterday I dropped a few bucks at Lowe's. Had to buy a can of paint and some wood filler. Cost out of pocket was $31. But that was it.

In case you don't know (and care - which you probably don't) - our upstairs toilet is leaking so we're replacing it. In fact, it's a 6 gallon toilet - which apparently nowadays is huge. Toilets come in about 1 1/4- 1 1/2 gallon sizes. The parts we would need to fix our toilet would be about $40. The new toilet I have my eyes on is $118 ($106 after the husband's discount). Sure, it's more than twice the amount than fixing it - but my friendly DPW guy said we'll see a dramatic difference on our water bill. I understand this concept and didn't even blink at the thought of fixing the old toilet.

So we are "re-doing" our bath - painting and replacing fixtures. The gold trim look left style in the early 90s so we're keeping up with the times. In fact, the husband already replaced the main light fixture and faucet months ago because they drove him crazy. So now I'm replacing the cabinet pulls and bathroom hardware.

For whatever reason, my husband wants everything to "match" in our house. Virtually everything is "oil polished bronze" in our house. Every light fixture, door knob, curtain rod in the main space, etc. I threw up wooden hardware in our downstairs bathroom really cheap a few years back and he's disgusted by it. I'm actually kind of surprised he hasn't changed it out yet. Our kitchen faucet is also chrome - which "doesn't match". Yeah - because kitchen faucets are suppose to match light fixtures and door knobs, I guess.

Anyways - so a lot of "oil finished bronze" or whatever is actually on the pricer side of things. So when I was at Lowe's yesterday, I looked at cabinet pulls and bath hardware. Had I bought what I wanted there - it would have been about $85-$90. Really? $4 for a little knob to pull my cabinets open? Well I didn't buy it. I came home to Amazon and found virtually the same thing I wanted to buy for $1.79 a pull. Then I found some bath hardware for $48 - toilet paper holder, 24" towel rack & a circular towel holder. Not "cheap" by any means - but it's what I wanted. And BONUS! If you're a Discover Card user, you can apply your rewards balance to Amazon purchases. So I did that - so my cabinet pulls & hardware are essentially "free".

I won't get the stuff until for a few days - but that's okay. I'm in no real rush to hang up towels anyways. The floor will do just fine.

BOGO Free Hallmark Card!

2012-01-27T17:48:00.000-08:00

I just got an email with a coupon for a free Hallmark Card when you buy a Hallmark card (up to $2.50). So if that interests you, you might want to check your email. If you don't get emails from Hallmark and want to, well go to their site and sign up! Duh!

I have a little hint for you though: Cards are only .50 cents each at the Dollar Tree. Holla For the Dolla!

Saving Money Challenge: Freeze Leftover Cake (easily)

2012-01-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

Do you ever make cake or have a cake that there is no way your family will all eat up before it gets gross? Well here's a quick way to freeze cake easily, in single servings.

First, cut pieces into the size you want. I promise not to judge you. Lay them flat on a cookie sheet and freeze for about an hour.

After an hour, the pieces will be pretty hard. Throw them in sandwich bags and put back in freezer. This way, the frosting doesn't all mush to the bag and stuff. When you want cake, just take out about an hour before you want to eat it and put cake on plate. It will be as good as fresh baked after it defrosts.

Who Needs a Brest (like Breast, without the a) Friend? 29% Off!

2012-01-27T09:10:00.000-08:00

So yeah. I have two kids. I tried to nurse them both. Let me just tell you, nursing was not my strong suit. I'm pretty much a poster child for why formula should be the #1 choice for babies - my kids are probably traumatized from their nursing experiences. Some of my wonderful nursing memories include:

- The baby would pop off, and my boob would just keep squirting him in the eye.

- I'd nurse laying in bed (which didn't result in suffocation of my child) - well we'd both fall asleep and both wake up in a pool of leaked out milk.

- I've been known to sport a few leak spots in public. I usually always had a coffee with me, so I'd just spill some coffee on my shirt and try to make my milk leakage blend in with coffee spillage.

- My son would make really weird noises while eating and quite frankly, it kind of grossed me out. I probably gave him a lot of odd looks when I should have been smiling down all nicely to him like most mothers.

- Then I thought that freezing breast milk in ice cube trays was really cool. I don't think my husband can ever look at ice cubes the same way now. At one point, I was tempted to stick popsicle sticks in them, but apparently 4 month-olds can't really handle popsicles. That put a kibosh on that idea.

I actually admire people who breastfeed in public because I could never be that coordinated (nor could my babies). Maybe because my boobs are so small? Even at home - I pretty much just had to whip my boobs out and chant "go, baby, go!" But I think the real reason for my inability to be graceful at nursing was that I didn't have a Brest Friend.

You can nab this great nursing pillow for 29% off on Amazon. It's normally $42, but on sale for $29.65 and qualifies for free shipping. Yeah, that's right. Move on over Boppy - the Brest Friend is in town now!

I personally like the water bottle pouch on the side. If I had a Brest Friend, I think I would have been better. I mean, who doesn't want a nursing pillow with a water bottle holder? I think that was the downfall of my nursing. I didn't have that luxury.

Occupy My Wallet: Day 26

2012-01-27T06:10:00.000-08:00

Spent a lot of money yesterday:

$53 on gas.
$73 on groceries.
$8 at Lowe's for paint (had a merchandise credit that covered a good portion).

I foresee some spending this weekend as we're painting our bathroom and replacing the toilet. The only saving grace is that we'll score 10% off at Lowe's since my husband is a gung-ho Army guy.

A good chunk of my grocery spending was produce and "essentials" - milk, eggs, bread. I'm up to spending $302 for the month of January which isn't all that bad. I can probably hang tight until February without doing another grocery trip.

Lowe's Build & Grow: Tomorrow!

2012-01-27T04:25:00.000-08:00

GRRRRR!!!

Reminder: The Lowe's Build & Grow event will be tomorrow!

Sign up is optional - but preferred as your kit will be saved for you at the store. If they have too many signed up, you'll get a previous week's kit. Sign up at LOWE'S BUILD & GROW BY CLICKING THIS LINK.

Lowe's are conveintly located in Weymouth, Quincy, Dedham, Brockton, Abington, Pembroke, West Bridgewater, Kingston, Plainville, Raynham, & North Attleboro.

Saving Money Challenge: Make a Valentine's Day Gift for "Free"

2012-01-26T15:07:00.000-08:00

Want a cheap and heartfelt gift? Make a Love Jar! So I got this idea from someone I know who posted it on Facebook - his daughters made him one. It seemed simple enough for even me to do. So the kids and I set out to make a "Love Jar" for their father this Valentine's Day. This "free" project assumes that you have construction paper, a pen, scissors, ruler, glue & a clean old jar (I used a Spaghetti Sauce jar).

So I took 9 pieces of construction paper (way too many) and traced a heart cookie cutter on one page. If you don't have a heart cookie cutter, you can print off a heart template by Google searching "heart" and click on "images".

Then you have a bunch of hearts. You can have your child write things they love/like about who ever you are giving this to. If they are a little young or a little uninterested, you can just ask them things they like about so & so and you can write them. So essentially, every heart is "something you love about whoever". WARNING: If you have boys, they probably won't be very interested in this. At least mine weren't.

Then you take your clean jar, another piece of construction paper, a ruler and a pen. Measure how wide you'd like a band of paper around it. I did 3 1/4".

I cut my strip of paper, wrote some fruity words on it, put glue on my jar and before long...

Ta-Da! I put all of our hearts that had "love" things on them in there. Ours aren't very sentimental - they run along the course of "I love when Dad buys me donuts." and "I love when Dad plays video games with me." This is fine. It's the sons' feelings - I'm not going to try to force them to say all thought provoking crap like "I love that Daddy is a great provider for our family" and "I love the nurturing ways Daddy takes care of me when I fall." That's just not us. If it's you - great. We're sticking to donuts and Angry Bird purchases.

I dolled ours up with a little ribbon - but let your creative juices flow. Throw on some glitter - use fancy writing, have the kids decorate it, etc. etc. You could throw on the number of hearts on it (i.e. "50 Things I Love About You!"). I also threw on a little round piece of construction paper on top to cover the Prego logo. You could also make this really look nice by using fabric. The possibilities are endless!

This post is partially inspired by the group challenge Precious started at Frugal Makes Cents.

What Is The "Occupy My Wallet" Movement?

2012-01-26T09:11:00.000-08:00

I set about 88 resolutions for myself this New Year. I always kind of do. I like setting up myself for failure. I'm okay with it.

So one of my resolutions, was to not spend any money on material possessions for the month of January. I'm allowed to spend money on gas, groceries and restaurant/take-out food. I am not holding my husband to my strict communism like regiment. So why am I doing this:

1. We're poor and I'd like to not be poor again someday.
b. I have way too much crap in my house as is and I want to stop adding to it.
III. I might also be on some anti-consumerism/green kick. Probably not, but maybe I am subconsciously.

The point too is that even "great" deals cost money. You know the whole "Ooh! Some Wii game that is regularly $49.99 is on sale for $9.99!" Yeah, well that's still $10 spent on crap I don't need. I have some exceptions to my "rule":

- I'm allowed to use gift cards, store rewards and whatnot to buy stuff.

- If I need to (and that's a BIG need to) - I can replace items if I throw away or give away the item I'm replacing. I might have to take advantage of this rule with snow pants for my children here soon - so I actually just made up this rule so I can buy snow pants without breaking my resolution. Only 5 more days of the month - I can't fail this close to the end.

- I'll shop for gifts for other people. I'm not going to deny my children birthday parties and/or family gatherings because "Mommy's so cheap, she won't let you buy a present for said recipient." I'm cheap, but I'm not that cheap. Seriously - I'm not.

So in summary, "Occupy My Wallet": My own personal movement where I want to actually save money and protest buying crap that I don't need. I should start taking joy in the stuff that I actually have and not stuff that I want (no matter how "cheap" it is).

So far this month I have made the following material purchases:

- Items at Old Navy as a gift. Used all Old Navy rewards and spent 0 out of pocket.

- Scored 96 k-cups at Staples for .20 cents using Staples Rewards. This is more "grocery" anyways and I NEED k-cups.

- Bought a set of hand weights at Sears using a Merchandise Credit. I'm doing the 30-Day Shred, so watch out! Soon I'll be cheap and hot.

- Allowed my husband to buy a few light fixtures. Again - I'm not going to make him not buy stuff if he wants it - but he knows my game plan and is pretty easy going with my cheapness. I think this is the only thing he's bought besides food this month. Unless he's hoarding away newly purchased possessions in his car - I haven't seen anything come in these doors. Well - and light bulbs. The guy bought light bulbs.

- Returned to Old Navy to use a $20 Groupon I bought in 2011. Got 5 shirts, and Angry Bird and a soda for .55 cents out of pocket. I'll call the .55 cents as the soda purchase (grocery/food) so it was no money spent on material crap.

And I think that's it. Which is really good for me. I was in a "buying a lot of crap" mode for a few months there. Besides the Angry Bird at Old Navy, the kids haven't gotten anything new. I haven't gotten anything new besides my hand weights. It feels oddly good.

So the question remains - Are you Occupying Your Wallet?

Lowe's Build & Grow: Saturday the 28th (Sign Up!)

2012-01-26T05:30:00.000-08:00

Lowe's Free Build & Grow Event is this Saturday!

If you haven't done so, SIGN UP HERE to ensure your child gets this week's kit. If you don't sign up, they might run out of designated kits and they'll give you an old one. Oh yeah - this is for the Lowe's Build & Grow event at most Lowe's this Saturday at 10am.

Lowe's are conveintly located in Weymouth, Quincy, Dedham, Brockton, Abington, Pembroke, West Bridgewater, Kingston, Plainville, Raynham, & North Attleboro.

This week's creation: GRRRRRRRRR!!! Dinosaur!

Occupy My Wallet: Day 25

2012-01-26T02:58:00.000-08:00

Had to do a retail purchase yesterday. I just had to. I had an Old Navy Groupon that I bought last year that expired on 1/28/12. I couldn't just throw away money!

What did I get?

- 4 thermal shirts for my sons
- 1 Fleece jacket for my sons
- 1 small Angry Bird toy
- 1 Jones' Soda

Total Out of Pocket: .55 cents HOLLA! I can live with .55 cents. Now granted, I bought the $20 Groupon in 2011 for $10. So overall, it was $10.55, but spending in 2012 was only .55. That's a pretty good deal.

They are having a killer Clearance sale - with an extra 30% off women's and men's clearance. I went to the Hingham Old Navy. I'm classy like that.

Besides that, and a quick trip through the DDs drive-thru (I still have some gift card left) - I didn't spend any money. I hung out at the library for an hour and a half. That was good, free fun.

Saving Money Challenge: Go to the BCM on Friday Nights

2012-01-25T16:00:00.000-08:00

Want to do fun things with your kids but can't stomach the price? Well you can!

The Boston Children's Museum offers $1 admission every Friday night from 5pm-9pm. If you don't believe me, you can CLICK HERE for proof.

So a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) on Friday night costs: $4

A family of 4 any other time: $48 ($12 per person - kid & adult)

Without the math, you can see a phenomenal difference in the price.

Want to go during the day but not pay an arm and a leg? Check your local library for discounted passes.

50% off at Fore River Grille in North Weymouth

2012-01-25T12:55:00.000-08:00

There is this little pizza place, right by the bridge. It's actually more of a restaurant. The food is phenomenal and they do really great things like give back to the community and schools. Awe schucks - I'm getting too sappy. Fore River Grille in North Weymouth is awesome.

Anyways - this is a GROUPON worth buying. Click HERE to buy your own. I personally opted for the take out option because we are take out junkies.

For $20, you get $40 worth of burgers, seafood, and pub fare.
For $35, you get $80 worth of burgers, seafood, and pub fare for a party of four or more.
For $15, you get $30 worth of lunch or dinner takeout.

"What the Heck Do I have in my Cabinets" Recipe: Chili Dog Tacos!

2012-01-25T09:23:00.000-08:00

I have a few cans of pinto beans lurking at me in the cabinet. It's not very hard to find something to make with pinto beans - but it is hard to find something to make with pinto beans that kids will eat.

So tonight? CHILI DOG TACOS!

My kids love tacos these days. They also really love hot dogs. If this isn't a hit, I don't know what will be.

Roxie's Deals This Week (good through Sunday 1/29)

2012-01-25T06:05:00.001-08:00

CLICK HERE for all of Roxie's outstanding deals for this week!

Occupy My Wallet: Day 24

2012-01-25T03:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a so-so day on the Occupy front. We hit up McDonald's and spent way too much money on really crappy food (the husband wolfed down 3 sandwiches and 2 small fries - he's like one of the most slender men around, so one would not think he's a McDonald's glutton).

Point being - we spent well over $20 there, if not close to $30. We've been able to eat at the 99 for $38 - so really, I don't see how McDonald's is really that much of a "bargain" or money saver for people. I'd rather just eat at a "real" place anyway and drop just a couple more bucks - but the kids did enjoy the play area for 3 hours. So I guess it all worked out.

Besides that, no money spent. No crap came in our house. 7 more days of the month!

Saving Money Challenge: Make Something With What You've Got

2012-01-24T17:28:00.000-08:00

As I was continuing to clean out my attic, I found some scrap military themed felt. Don't ask why. So I thought I would do something with it.

I made a little blanket really quick for the kids. I quilted the felt pieces together and then used a random fleece blanket that I just had laying my attic for years as a backing. My 4 year-old loves it and uses it to "put his stuffed animals to bed". Then my 5 year-old steals it and cuddles with it.

Regardless - I gave this stuff new life.

Is it perfect? No. Do the kids love it? Yes. So check your attic - you might have no idea what hidden treasures you have in there.

This post is partially inspired by the group challenge Precious started at Frugal Makes Cents.

"What the Heck Do I have in my Cabinets" Recipe: Potatoes!

2012-01-24T14:39:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I have this huge box of Potato Buds in my cabinets. I personally really like real mashed potatoes a whole lot better - and so does the family. But I'm determined to use up this cabinet crap. So I made some boxed potatoes. Paired it with some really delicious pork chops I scored from Roche Bros. and some vegetables.

Chippendales Calendar: 70% off!

2012-01-24T05:43:00.000-08:00

Did you get your 2012 calendar yet? It's okay if you say "no". I'm a slacker on this. I usually wait until January to buy mine (I usually scoop up a Warren Kimble one). But my son got a calendar in a Yankee Swap so we decided to just use that. Why spend money (no matter how little) on something that you already have? You know?

Well if you're looking for that perfect calendar for your kitchen, look no further. This Chippendales Calendar that is normally $30 is now on sale for only $8.98 on Amazon, but of course. Plus $3.99 for shipping and handling. But WAIT! It gets better! It comes with a BONUS DVD! Yahoo! Now this is a deal. I think this is worth every penny:

Occupy My Wallet: Day 23

2012-01-24T03:38:00.000-08:00

Hit today out of the water: Another new phone and 96 K-cups and only .20 cents spent! Yahoo!

I set a new record for myself - less than 4 days before I broke a phone. In my defense, I didn't do anything to that sucker. It was just possessed. A quick trip to my favorite Apple Store (Derby Street Shoppes in Hingham, of course) helped in that department. The geniuses there determined it was possessed and just gave me a new one. They are so nice at the Apple Store. The customers - not so much. As I was standing at "the bar", a man with a cracked iPod screen came up all distraught. He told his "genius" that his 11 year-old daughter broke it. I chimed in, "Yeah, I broke my screen last week and I'm 32 - you can't really use her age against her." He was not amused. Then some girl with hot pink nails, a hot pink MacBook and a hot pink iPhone chimed in on me and said one of her old iPhones used to freeze all the time. So I talked to her for a little bit and then said "Wow, you're all fancy with a 4." She corrected me all serious: "It's not a 4, it's a 4S." Yeah. Okay. I really have no idea what that means. If you're expecting to win "cool" points with me, it's not working because I have no idea what you are really even talking about. I told her that I don't even know what I'm doing half the time with my iPhone 3. My genius informed me I have a 3G. Okay. Again - you all lost me. Then back to guy with the iPod issue - his tech guy was saying it might be so bad that it might not be fixable. So the dad said "Well if I have to buy a new one, fine. My daughter was crying her eyes out." I really wanted to say "Well, why don't you just have her play with some Barbies - they probably won't shatter." I didn't though. I should have.

Now to my K-cups. A Facebook friend of mine said on her timeline that she scored K-cups for $12.50 at Staples (box of 48). So I ran up to my Staples - and they had the same boxes for $12.50 (.26 a k-cup). I had $24.80 in Staples Rewards and I guess there isn't tax on k-cups - because after the cashier rang up the two boxes, my total due was 20 cents. I handed him 2 dimes and felt empowered. This was at the North Weymouth Staples on 3A. They also had lots of boxes of 16 count French Vanilla and some various teas for $3.50 a box (.21 cents a k-cup). So if you are near a Staples and need some cheap k-cups - check them out. Use the price scanner though - the 48 count-boxes were marked $22.50 but rang up at $12.50. No idea why or what the deal was.

So all and all - a good cheap day here in the Occupy My Wallet front. No material possessions (except the phone - but that replaced my other phone so it evens out).

Saving Money Challenge: Combine Games to Make New Ones!

2012-01-23T16:49:00.000-08:00

We don't have a "real" checker set. We have some random ghetto ones. Yesterday, the son wanted to play "Spongebob Checkers" - I guess he saw it somewhere or something. Anyways, I wasn't going to run out and buy an over priced checker game because of a character. But I made his wish a reality:

We have Sponge Bob Connect 4 and a Chess Set. So with a few adjustments....

Voila! Spongebob Checkers!

This post is partially inspired by the group challenge Precious started at Frugal Makes Cents.

"What the Heck Do I have in my Cabinets" Recipe: Taco Casserole!

2012-01-23T14:21:00.000-08:00

I took pictures of my cabinet findings for this one - but accidentally deleted them. This one was from the website:

I made this Taco Casserole and it was EPIC! Absolutely awesome. The kids, the husband and I both loved it. For the most part, I followed THIS RECIPE from Food.com. The only things I did differently was I added some frozen corn to the beef after it was browned and I didn't use a full 2 cups of cheese - probably about 1 1/2 cups (trying to watch the hips shrink and not expand). Oh - and I didn't cook it with the corn chips. Just sprayed the pan then did the bean mixture and topped with beef and cheese. I served it with soft tortillas and corn chips. Oh and I skipped the olives because I knew my family wouldn't eat it if it contained olives.

Definitely a keeper.

Mr. Meow Clock: 57% Off! Only $12.99!

2012-01-23T06:45:00.000-08:00

Hold your horses people! Or should I say cats. Do you have a cat lover in the family? Are you looking for that "one of a kind" Valentine's Day gift for your husband? Well look no further! For only $12.99 (Reg. $29.99 and free shipping if you spend $25 or more!), you can have your very own Meow Mix Mr. Meow Clock. This clock plays the Meow Mix Jingle EVERY HOUR ON THE HOUR! "Meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow meow!" Yes! That's just what you need!

Occupy My Wallet: Day 22

2012-01-23T04:41:00.000-08:00

First, I just want to say that I don't give a crap about the Patriots. Is that bad? It's the only thing people are talking about here. I don't get it. A bunch of dudes who aren't even from New England all teamed up and won a game. Actually - I think there's about 53 people on the Patriots lineup and only 5 have New England ties. All this football hoopla might be a little more interesting if the players actually came from the state/region they are playing for. That's just me. I hope I don't get beat up for admitting that.

Well regardless, I didn't spend any money yesterday. We did partake in some free fun - 2 hours of sledding. Can't be two hours of free entertainment. 9 more days of the month! I think I'm going to continue my cheap streak and keep going with trying to Occupy My Wallet past January. I like it. I've gone 22 days so far without buying any material objects - I did hit up Old Navy but paid in all rewards (so no money spent and the stuff went as a gift to someone). I do have an Old Navy Groupon I have to use by the 31st so I'll take advantage of that. I also have Staples Rewards to use, but they don't expire until February 29th.

In case you missed it - my whole "Occupy My Wallet" movement is my own personal one where I want to actually save money and protest buying crap that I don't need. I'm not blaming others for my own poorness - no, I just have to admit that I buy a lot of crap that I really don't need. Maybe if I stop that, then my life will be less chaotic and I should start taking joy in the stuff that I actually have and not stuff that I want.

That is all.