Eclectic Musings from ArtsySpice!

My love for JCP knows no bounds!!!

2012-12-07T18:39:00.001-06:00

This Christmas JC Penneys is making me incredibly happy! First I got some great gifts at amazingly low prices! Now, I am raking in the savings like crazy!
JCP is giving away buttons at every store. They are free and the stores I have been to have a ton! All you need to do is ask for one. The employees have been so nice and a few have let me pick out the ones I want! My favorites are one that says "Santa I can explain" and a turkey leg. They have all kinds of cute ones with santa, reindeer, elves, candy, even a fruitcake. Each button has a code on the back and you can win great prizes.
So far I have won $5 and $10 off coupons. That means the t-shirt I bought as a gift that was regularly $10 was $8 on sale and after the $5 coupon only cost me $3! Yup, $3 for a fun Grinch t-shirt! I also bought myself a great sweater for $7! It was originally $32 and on sale for $17. So of course I used my $10 coupon! I saved $26 for a cashmere blend cardigan. Now I just need to win another $10 coupon so I can buy the orange skinny jeans they have on sale for $20 (original price of $30).
The sweater and jeans are both from the JCP line. Their line has a range of clothes and colors. So far I have a t-shirt, long sleeve tee, and the sweater. They also have a cute navy oxford with big green dots. I really want one of the cowl neck sweaters that they have. They have blues, greens, pinks, and oranges that are mix and match. Prices range from $9 to $34. Those are regular prices but you can go in and find all kinds of sales and score some great clothes!
Finally, one of my favorite things about JCP is that Ellen DeGeneres is their spokesperson. The commercial with the elves is too funny! I hope to see more of her in the future!

Happy shopping and saving!

My Black Friday plans!

2012-11-21T09:06:00.002-06:00

Black Friday is upon us and it is easy to go crazy with shopping fever! The main store I will be hitting this Friday is: JC Penney! I went into a store in the spring and was blown away by their great selections and amazing prices! I have signed up for their texts and emails and received the Black Friday ad this morning! Stores open at 6am Friday morning so I can sleep later than most and still make it to work on time!
Some things I am looking at:
$25 women's boots! I would love to get a pair of black knee-high flats for me and a cute pair of sparkly uggs for my niece!
$15 JCP sweaters for women! Sis in law gets a cute blue shaker sweater!
$10 Worthington sweates! For work for me? Yes please!
$20 liz claiborne robe! Mom is taken care of!
$10 Arizona guys' jeans! My kid can stop wearing the jeans that don't fit! Yay!
$8 Belgian Waffle Maker? For someone that is gluten free- now I can make my own waffles? Yes!

The list goes on but you get the idea! I am very excited about Black Friday at JCP! Extra perks? Why yes, they have those too! Sign up for emails and you can register your debit card so that when you use it you earn rewards! Also, for Black Friday they are giving away buttons. Register your button and you may win some cool prizes!

If you can't find the info online leave a comment and I will send you a link!

Happy shopping!

No savings today...but a few good stories!

2012-10-29T19:02:00.004-06:00

With Halloween a few days away I thought I would share my real life ghost stories! All of these happened when I worked at a living history museum. Most were not scary, but a few were. Today I'll tell you about the not scary!

One of the houses was built in the early 1800's and has at least 3 spirits. I say at least because I had heard the stories of the main woman, her son, and a gentleman but apparently others had seen a little girl. I only had contact with the son and gentleman.

My relationship with the house and the inhabitants began when I worked at the museum and started givin tours. I had to learn about the family that built and lived in the house and it's place in history. The family and house always facinated me and I loved being in the house and talking about it. I became very comfortable in the house and talked with fondness of the family. When I started I did not know the house was haunted. I think because I always talked so warmly about the family I was welcomed by the spirits and they did not do anything to scare me.

The first time I had anything happen in the house was after some conflict when I was not feeling my best. I was giving a tour of the house and we made our way to the dining room. The dining room was always emaculately set for a family of wealth. However, on this day the room was in disaray. One of the candelabras that was usually on the mantle was upside-down in a punch bowl and the other was on the floor and the table was very messy. I tried to play it off and say that maintanance didn't have a chance to finish cleaning but a little girl said she thought it was the ghosts! I talked about it with my mother after work and she said she thought it was the ghosts, too. She thought they were showing their support of me by being upset themselves. The next day as I walked by the house I thanked them.

The next big thing that happened was after the conflict was resolved and I was promoted to a full time job. I had to walk by the house to get to my new office and for the first week the door was open every day! I called security and of course was told the last time they checked the house the door was shut and locked. I felt like the spirits were telling me good morning every day!

The favorite thing I had happen involved the gentleman! A co-worker, her friend and I all went into the house after work one day. The friend stayed downstairs. Nothing happened while my co-worker and I were upstairs but on our way down the stairs they both saw a mist pass them and in front of my eyes. They asked if I saw it but I didn't because I had a bright light hit my eyes and I had to stop for a second and close my eyes. I took a step down and the brightness was out of my eyes. When I made it down the stairs both asked me why I stopped. I said the light from the lamp blinded me for a second. I realized the light was off so said it must have been a reflection from the setting sun. They both pointed out the sun was not setting on the house. Then my co-worker and her friend told me about the mist! We were all in awe!

Tomorrow...the scary!

Still working out the kinks!

2011-11-10T16:07:00.001-06:00

If you know anything about me you know I always go off on tangents. I wanted this blog to help others find creative ways to make and save money. I am still going to post helpful hints and some of my favorite places to shop and save but I will also throw in some of my other favorite things.
So, coming up I am just going to blog about whatever comes to mind- today is going to be CVS. I love shopping for hair color and make-up at CVS. I have their extracare card so I always get good deals. I have also signed up on their website and for their Beauty Club. That equals coupons and savings galore!!!!!
CVS already has good buy one get one off beauty products almost every week. Those savings can be increased by manufacturer coupons. The other day I bought Revlon lipstick and eyeshadow. The lipstick was $9 and the eyeshadow $5. It was buy one get one 50% off Revlon products. The original price before my discounts was $14.00. CVS also had a special $2 extrabucks when you spend $10 on Revlon. After the 50% off the eye shadow was $2.5. I also had a coupon for $2 off the lipstick so that was down to $7. I ended up paying $9.50 plus I got the extra $2 off coupon that I can use for whatever I want!
I have also ended up paying $3 for Clairol haircolor that was originally $10 and receive $5 extrabucks whenever I accumulate $50 in beauty purchases! Don't forget that CVS also rewards people who use their extracare card when the pick up prescriptions. I pick up my name brand prescriptions here and get about $40 a year in extrabucks!
Another thing I love at CVS is the Slama Hayek line of hair, skin, and beauty care. Those products are always on sale for by one get one 50% off. I have the shampoo and conditioner doe color treated hair and the eye cream. My hair is always silky soft and smells fantastic. I also love that at 40 I barely have crows feet!
I totally recommend CVS for beauty care! Plus, they have a great line of environmentally friendly bath tissue and paper towels!

Survey smurvey!

2011-11-09T10:08:00.000-06:00

    After a week of trying to make riches by answering surveys I am giving up! The frustration level associated with a lot of online surveys is just not worth the $.50 you might or might not earn. Not all online surveys are bad mind you. There is one that is actually a lot of fun!
    If you watch a lot of tv try RewardTV.com. You earn points by answering questions about the shows you watch. You can then use those points for gift cards and other goodies. You won't make a lot off of this site but it is entertaining and earning a $10 Target giftcard for watching endless amounts of NCIS and the Big Bang Theory is not too bad! You do need to earn quite a few points before you can redeem them. There are other surveys on the site so you have plenty of chances to earn! In one hour I earned 30,000 points!
    If you have a smartphone another good survey is Surveys on the Go. It is free to download the app just do a search for surveys. You need to earn $10 before you can cash out. It may take a while but you can do the sutveys anywhere! The surveys are quick and easy. I have done 2 on the bus ride to work! I will probably let this one continue to add up before I cash out.
    One site that I am not very happy with is InboxDollars.com. They say it is easy to earn money, but I am really not seeing it. I do not get a lot of surveys from them. They also want you to sign up for things like a diabetes cook book to earn cash. They also give you a chance to earn money by performing tasks. You can select from a list of tasks that have you looking up answersing on the web. I have done this 3 times and have not been paid for 1! After I have almost reached the end they will tell me my answers are not what they wanted so my task does not count. This site really grinds my gears!
   All is not lost however! I have been going through my closets and will start selling old baseball cards and hockey action figures on ebay! I am also going to see about selling special candles. I will keep you updated on those!

Cheers!

Online survey's...good way to make money?

2011-11-03T11:07:00.000-06:00

On my way to getting myself out of debt I have been looking for ways to make some extra cash. Old Navy has not called to offer me a seasonal job yet so I went a totally different way- online surveys. I read a story about it on yahoo and thought, "What the heck! I can do that!" So, I found a site with websites galore and signed up on a few. The survey companies I signed up with offer either cash ot points you can redeem for cash or gift cards. Some let you cash out with as little as $10 in your account. Getting to that $10 ia another story.
If you are going to do surveys make sure you have a lot of spare time. Right now I have all kinds of spare time! On each site the first few surveys are profiles so they know what kind of surveys to send you. I was so excited when I started filling in my info! I was thinking that not only do I get to give my opinion to someone- they are going to pay me for it!
The first few days were fun. I had earned points and a few dollars and was on my way to the big bucks! After I had filled out most of my profile surveys I waited patiently for others to follow. And I waited. And I waited. Turns out there are a lot of 40 year old women looking to make a few extra $$s! I am not giving up hope though. I have told myself to keep checking and answer the surveys that come my way. The money will add up, just not overnight.

I am probably going to blog every other day. That way I have time to do my crazy scheems to make some extra cash. My next blog topic will be: They survey companies and things I have been asked!

See you then!

Out of the Gates!

2011-11-01T11:14:00.000-06:00

These days seems like everyone is having money issues. I am no different. I spend way more than I should and find myself scrambling at the end of the month trying to pay all of my bills. Sometimes I have to decide who I won't pay this month. It is embarrassing and depressing. I have spent way to long blaming others- if I had a raise at work, if my ex paid more child support, if I had an inheritance, etc. I realize the way to make things better is for me to change. I should be grateful I have a job and that I received child support!
So, I am starting this blog to help keep me positive about changing not only my finances but my outlook on life. I am good at finding deals and how to save money so I will throw those tips in as well as ways to make a little cash here and there!
A few topics I will cover are fashion (of course) and the best places to find bargains and coupons! I am also a fan of make-up! And, the more mundane things like dog and kid food! Hopefully, I can help someone else as I help myself! I am open for suggestions and love a good challange so if you need help finding a bargain I am here!
If all goes as planned I will be taking a uper cool vacation next summer!

Cheers!