Despite my previous thoughts about travel agents, the rates I book for you are the same or better than what you can book yourself through the supplier! All suppliers, including Disney, build a commission into their prices. So if you book the trip yourself, you pay the same amount but don’t get the benefit of a specialist to help you with your planning (and in my case to be your free concierge to help you navigate the parks and get extra fast passes all day long). I’ll also automatically apply any new discounts that come available to your package!  Who else would cut their commission in order to save their clients money???

Using an agent helps a small business at no extra cost to you. It’s a win-win.

I’ve been working exclusively with friends and family and those referred to me. Now it’s time to expand my business.  I’m giving away a $50 Disney gift card through the end of Tuesday, so what a perfect time to follow my new business page! There’s also a current promotion for a $25 gift card for those who book a trip in the next couple of weeks.

You can expect to see my old series on planning and saving for Disney completed in the next few months, as well as some tips for navigating the parks. For those that are familiar with our family’s story, I’ve also become well versed in navigating the parks with special needs kids and wheelchairs.

Feel free to ask Disney questions any time! I can be reached at ThriftyPennyTravel@gmail.com or through a direct message on the Thrifty Penny Travel Facebook page.

The post Win a $50 Disney Gift Card appeared first on Thrifty Texas Penny.

$.10 each, except for the Hershey’s Kisses for $1.04.

$.25 – $.40

These were only 70% off, so $.30 for the Valentine’s items and $.90 for the Boo-Boo Buddy and Cars storage bin

$.10 each!

Besides the boxes of Valentines, very little that I bought was actually a designated Valentine’s item.  I picked up craft projects, food items, party favors, birthday gifts and completed purchases for the kids’ Easter baskets. Clearance percentages and stock will vary from store to store, but I’d guess that most stores moved to 90/70% today and will remove what’s left by Monday the latest.

Did you find anything good this year?  Anything I found that you’ll try to go find today?

The post Target Valentine’s Clearance appeared first on Thrifty Texas Penny.

2015 Lego Christmas Tree

Here are closeups of the ornaments.  Most of these were created or modified from designs by Chris McVeigh.  He has a wonderful site with instructions and parts lists, plus he posts lots of neat Lego designs on Facebook. It did take us a lot of time to corral all the right pieces, but since have them sorted by color already that helped.

This batch or ornaments were mostly ones that we put together ourselves.  You can see our creativity is far less brilliant than Chris’. We did use this reindeer design and this poinsettia design.

These Star Wars ornaments (excluding the minifigs in boats) were made from sets that we’d purchased for a fraction of retail price a few years ago. 

Since 40 or so ornaments weren’t enough to fill the tree, we also hung an additional 20 or so minifigs mixed in among the ornaments.  We’ve got Cinderella and Prince Charming, Indiana Jones, Batman, lego dinosaurs, horses, soldiers, Chima characters and many more up there. The kids are really loving it and I love that it was a tree built together.  It really reflects our family.

Has your family ever had a non traditional Christmas tree?  Would you ever consider a Lego themed tree, even if it wasn’t your main tree?

The post Lego Christmas Tree 2015 appeared first on Thrifty Texas Penny.

Here is the Super 1 coupon policy and the Super 1 internet printable coupon policy.

Don’t forget to carry your reusable bags for a $.05 credit per bag used!

Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Or Mushroom Soup 10.75 oz $.73
use $1/5 Campbell’s Condensed “Great for Cooking” Soup printable
use $0.40/4 Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Noodle, Tomato or Cream of Mushroom soups, exp. 12/31/14 (SS 10/12/14 R) or (11/9/14)
Price after Q = as low as $.53 each WYB 5

Fresh Cucumbers Or Extra Large Green Bell Peppers $.48 each

Grapefruit Or Sunburst Tangerines $.48 each

Jonagold Or Red Delicious Apples $.88/lb.

Navel Oranges $.88/lb.

C&H Sugar 4 Lbs $1.58
use $0.40/1 C&H Sugar, exp. 1/3/15 (RP 11/02/14) [4-lb. or 5-lb.]
use $1/2 Domino® Sugar or C&H® Sugar products 2 lbs. or larger printable (page 5)
Price after Q = as low as $1.08 each WYB 2

Cook’s Shank Portion Ham $1.37/lb

Brookshire’s Ketchup 24 oz $.98

Brookshire’s Sour Cream 16 oz $1.88

Fast Fixin’ Chicken Selected 20-24 oz $2.97
use $1/1 Fast Fixin Product printable
Price after Q = $1.97

Fast Fixin’ Chicken 56 oz $4.97
use $1/1 Fast Fixin Product printable
Price after Q = $3.97

Flanders Beef Patties Family pack 4 lbs. $6.97

Totino’s Pizza Rolls Selected 17.4-19.8 oz $2.97

Tony Chachere’s Gulf Shrimp Peeled & Deveined 150-250 Ct – 16 oz $4.97

The post Super 1 Foods Deals and Coupon Matchups 12/10 – 12/16 appeared first on Thrifty Texas Penny.

This post was originally published on December 6, 2011. It is not meant to say that what anyone else does at Christmas is wrong, just to share how our family chooses to celebrate with the giving of gifts.

Several years ago was our first time to buy Christmas gifts for kids in our home.  It was our first year to be foster parents and we loved getting to know the kids and spoiling them with a life like they had never known before.  I spent lots of time trying to figure out what they would enjoy most for Christmas and then searching those items out.  It was exhausting, and when it first came up that Santa was coming I made the split second decision that Santa wouldn’t be responsible for the gifts the kids received.  It seemed to be all that they were focusing on. From what we’d been told I had already bought 3 or 4 times as much as they’d ever seen for Christmas before. Since they hadn’t had a Christian upbringing, it was understandable that their focus would be on the gifts, but I wanted to give them hope of something real to pin their Christmas hopes.  

Not wanting to negate their beliefs of Santa, nor ruin any future of Christmas at their own home with all the gifts they would receive that year, we simply told the kids that Santa would bring their gifts to their Mom’s house but that we would get them plenty of gifts to make up for it. That made sense to them and we had a great Christmas.  It was a good decision, because many of those kids had little or no Christmas gifts before and it would be horrible to ruin their notions of Santa and why he didn’t bring as many gifts to them when they returned home.

When our own son was born, Santa wasn’t an issue for the first two Christmases.  By the time he was 2 he was confused by questions of what Santa brought him for Christmas, and we had to make a decision.  We decided that we wanted Jesus to be the focus of our Christmas.  We don’t hide Santa or negate that he exists because he exists for many kids, and historically there were real “Saint Nicks” who brought gifts to children in other countries.  We choose to present Christmas as the season of Christ’s birth with a few gifts to celebrate that.  We don’t talk about Santa or take the kids to get their picture with him, but we don’t really hide Santa either.  We think that each family should celebrate Christmas in the way that is best for their family so we don’t want to ruin that by teaching that Santa doesn’t exist. An angel or star will always top our tree instead of a santa, because celebrating Christmas as the season of Christ’s birth instead of the season of gimme, gimme, gimme gifts from Santa, is what’s best for our family.

So how does this fit with the theme of tips to help you save money on Christmas?  Because we are focusing on a Savior and not gifts, the kids each get 3 gifts for Christmas from us and a stocking of candies snacks and trinkets.  We got the idea from a girl in our Sunday school class several years ago.  There were three wise men who brought gifts to baby Jesus.  They brought gold (something of value), frankincense (something used in worship that brought people closer together and to God), and myrrh (something useful and needed).  The kids’ Christmas gifts are patterned after these 3 gifts of the Magi:

Gold- the thing they have wanted most all year long
Frankincense- something the whole family can do together.  It could be a game, season passes to a theme park, a special vacation, a netflix subscription – anything goes as long as it’s a bringing the family together thing.

Myrrh – something useful for the kids.  It might be a set of clothing, an educational toy, or furniture.

So far with our two biological kids we’ve given all toys at Christmas.  Their gold item is unwrapped beside the tree and the frankincense and myrrh items are wrapped for them to open.  Because we don’t spend hours unwrapping tons of gifts, the focus can be on Christmas and family.  

Now before you think that we don’t give our kids much, I should tell you that we give more gifts to the kids on their birthday.  That day is all about them: showering them with love and gifts, and to have a party to celebrate the child that they have become.  So we may go overboard a little bit with our birthday gifts, but I’d rather go overboard for birthdays than to cause Christmas to become a season of gimmes.  In the future I hope that we’ll have the finances to be able to adopt an angel from the angel tree or participate in adopt a family at Christmas to help our kids see what Christ was all about.

Another advantage to the 3 gifts of the Magi?  It sure takes a lot of pressure off at Christmas time so that I am better able to focus on the true meaning of Christmas as well. Remember “Turn you eyes upon Jesus.  Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace” Although not a traditional Christmas song, I’ve sung this as a Christmas time solo because it’s so fitting as we all get busy during the Christmas season.

This is what’s right for our family.  I’d love to hear how your family celebrates Christmas.

This post is being linked up to Works for Me Wednesday over at We Are That Family.

The post 3 Gifts for Christmas and a Stocking – The Season of Christ’s Birth appeared first on Thrifty Texas Penny.

Here is the Super 1 coupon policy and the Super 1 internet printable coupon policy.

Don’t forget to carry your reusable bags for a $.05 credit per bag used!

Grade A Frozen Turkey $.50/lb.
8-24 lbs Average limit 2 with $25 additional purchase, all others $1.29/lb.

Brookshire’s Cream Soup 10.5-10.75 oz Or Broth – 14 oz $.58

Brookshire’s Vegetables 14.25-15.25 oz  $.48 Limit Ten Total At Sale Price

Food Club Pineapple Or Mandarin Oranges 11-20 oz $.88

Brookshire’s Half & Half – 16 oz Or Whipping Cream – 8 oz $1.19

C&H Sugar 4 Lbs $1.48 Limit Two At Sale Price
use $0.40/1 C&H Sugar, exp. 1/3/15 (RP 11/02/14) [4-lb. or 5-lb.]
use $1/2 Domino® Sugar or C&H® Sugar products 2 lbs. or larger printable (page 5)
Price after Q = as low as $.98 each WYB 2

Food Club Flour 5 Lbs $1.48 Limit Two Total At Sale Price

Cook’s Shank Portion Ham Whole Or Butt Half – $1.59/ Lb Limit One Whole Or Two Halves Total At Sale Price

Harvest Club 10 Lb Bag Russet Potatoes $2.48

Frito Lay Chips – 7-10 oz Or Nabisco Crackers – 3.5-13.7 oz $1.98

The post Super 1 Foods Deals and Coupon Matchups 11/19 – 11/27 appeared first on Thrifty Texas Penny.

Here is the Super 1 coupon policy and the Super 1 internet printable coupon policy.

Don’t forget to carry your reusable bags for a $.05 credit per bag used!

Grade A Frozen Turkey $.50/lb.
8-24 lbs Average limit 2 with $25 additional purchase

Gala Apples $0.98/lb.

Campbell’s Cream Soups: Chicken Or Mushroom 10.75 oz $.73
use $0.40/4 Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Noodle, Tomato or Cream of Mushroom soups, exp. 12/31/14 (SS 10/12/14 R)
use $1/5 Campbell’s Condensed “Great for Cooking” Soup printable
Price after Q = as low as $.53 each WYB 5

John Morrell Thick Bacon Hardwood Smoked 3 Lbs 3 Lb pkg $8.98

4 Lb Bag California Oranges $2.98

The post Super 1 Foods Deals and Coupon Matchups 11/12 – 11/18 appeared first on Thrifty Texas Penny.

Here is the Super 1 coupon policy and the Super 1 internet printable coupon policy.

Don’t forget to carry your reusable bags for a $.05 credit per bag used!

Grade A Frozen Turkey $.50/lb.
8-24 lbs Average limit 2 with $25 additional purchase

5 Lb Bag Red Delicious Apples $3.98

Gold Medal Flour 4.25-5 Lbs $1.68

Imperial Pure Cane Sugar 4 Lbs $1.68

use $0.40/1 Imperial Granulated Sugar printable

Price after Q = $1.28 each

The post Super 1 Foods Deals and Coupon Matchups 11/5 – 11/11 appeared first on Thrifty Texas Penny.

Here is the Super 1 coupon policy and the Super 1 internet printable coupon policy.

Don’t forget to carry your reusable bags for a $.05 credit per bag used!

The post Super 1 Foods Deals and Coupon Matchups 10/29 – 11/4 appeared first on Thrifty Texas Penny.

Here is the Super 1 coupon policy and the Super 1 internet printable coupon policy.

Don’t forget to carry your reusable bags for a $.05 credit per bag used!

The post Super 1 Foods Deals and Coupon Matchups 10/22 – 10/28 appeared first on Thrifty Texas Penny.