Thrifty Florida Mama

A good day full of good things!

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:46:00 +0000

I love days like this!

Day seven of no heat/ no AC. So far, so good. There's a nice breeze blowing and the fresh air feels wonderful.

My kids are busying themselves on the carport with a 700 piece K-nex roller coaster. They've been at it all day. I picked up this huge set about 5 years ago at a yard sale for $20. About twice a year they get it out, build it over a weekend, play with it for a week, and then into the closet it goes. This is the first year they've gone it alone without daddy's help.

I hit a few yard sales this morning. I found lots of Hollister, Aero, GAP, and American Eagle shirts and jeans for the two older girls. Many of them still had the tags on.

My favorite NFL player is in town while his team has the day off. Go Vikings! We were invited to come by his parents' house for a visit and he surprised me with a football signed by Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Simeon Rice, and of course himself. Tears rolled down my face as I thought about how far he has come and how very proud I am of him!

And it's officially out. We're adding two more kiddos to the family! We're adopting two sweet and sassy sisters who just happen to be my girls' best friends. We are so excited and I can't wait to share more about what God is doing in our lives in through this situation.

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Walmart Holiday Grocery Deals

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:50:00 +0000

Walmart is lowering the prices of "holiday staple items" beginning today. I don't have a list of items yet but I do know that 12lb turkeys will be $5 each! Time to stock the freezer!

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November Personal Challenge: No heat or AC!

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:57:00 +0000

I'm declaring that November will be a month of using no Central Heat or Air Conditioning at the Thrifty Florida Mama house. Hopefully Mother Nature will cooperate!

Ways I'm gearing up for the challenge:
1. Checking the weather report.
2. Opening all the windows early in the morning to let the cool air in on days predicted to be warm.
3. On cooler days I plan to open the blinds to let in the sunlight, keep cozy blankets and socks within a hand's reach, and use the oven for baking and heating up the house.
4. Using candles on cooler nights to create an atmosphere of warmth.
5. Going to bed early!

Any other Floridians/Southerners want to try this challenge? Please join in!

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Printable Coupon: The Childrens Place

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:09:00 +0000

I love The Children's Place for buying clothes for my kids on clearance with a coupon! They have really cute stuff at reasonable prices.

Last night I was cleaning out my son's dresser, making room for some more winter stuff, and I found a pair of pajamas that we bought there back in 2005. Each of my 3 kids (at the time) bought a pair of striped winter pajamas. This pair which is red will now be passed down to Ciarra, after Christin and Caleb have each worn them for 2 years each. They still look great!

Here's a printable coupon for 15% your Children's Place purchase. Print it soon, because the coupons won't last long. You can also use it online. Check their site for their newest line of holiday clothes, so cute!

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Upcoming Deal at Publix: $4 off 4 General Mills Products

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:59:00 +0000

In this week's Publix flyer there will be a coupon that states "$4 off the purchase of 4 or more General Mills or Nature Valley Products, Assorted Varieties, 5-oz pkg or larger

The good news is that there are tons of these products. I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind is cereal and granola bars. But check out this list of brands which belong to General Mills:

* Betty Crocker
* Green Giant
* Yoplait
* Cascadian Farms
* Nature Valley
* Progresso
* Hamburger Helper
* Muir Glen
* Old El Paso
* Pillsbury
* Bisquick
* Totino's
* Gold Medal
* Haagen-Dazs

This is a Publix coupon and can be combined with manufacturer's coupons!

I plan to stock up on Green Giant Canned Vegetables, taco seasonings, totino's pizzas, Muir Glen tomato sauce, cake frosting, flour, bisquick, Grands, and cereal. I'm hoping to find the cereal boxes with the movie certificate promo. If I can I will score 4 boxes of cereal plus 2 movie tickets for less than $3.00!

As some scenarios surface I will post them!

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Amazon Deal: Video Games for Wii, XBox 360, PS3

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:44:00 +0000

Amazon is running a promotion through the 31st for video games for Wii, Xbox 360, or PS3. Buy $80 worth (of at least 2 titles) and receive a $40 credit towards another video game purchase.

I like this offer better than their buy two, get one free for two reasons. First, there seems to be more selection to choose from. Second, I don't have to pick the third game now. I can wait to see what is coming out in the next few weeks.

If this seems like a good deal to you check it out!

Amazon Video Game Deal

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Walgreens Frees!

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:32:00 +0000

Amy from "Who Says Nothing in Life is Free?" has the scoop on the latest good deals at Walgreens.

Deal on Dove Shampoo/Conditioner

All the deals here.

Money Saving Mom shows us how to make money on Quaker Oatmeal at Walgreens here.

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Email Companies to get coupons: Tips from Couponing to Disney Blog

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:27:00 +0000

Kristen from Couponing to Disney (love the blog and the concept!) has been emailing 5 companies a day over the past few months and has received a ton of coupons in response, many for completely free products.

She's heard from Campbells, Lysol, Skintimate, and Simply Asia to name just a few.

Check out here complete list here.

Thanks Kristen!

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Debt Update: 2 months remains in 2009

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:05:00 +0000

When this year, 2009, began my husband and I set a goal to be debt-free by December 31st, well thanks to a down-economy, much illness, and other Murphy-type incidences will we not make our goal of debt-free this year.

I am upset? Nope. Not Really.

Why? Because we are still closer to being debt-free than we began 2009.

So for my many new readers and some of my long time buddies I thought I would take us all on a trip down memory lane as to where we were 5 years ago. I cleaned out our filing cabinet this weekend and finally found all the old credit reports that hold the debt information. This is actually the first time I have sat and wrote in all down from the beginning. Scary stuff coming up!

Let's begin in January of 2004.
Our debt was:
Furniture Loan: $1,734
MBNS MC: $4,983
MBNA VISA: $6,608
Target CC: $410
Penneys CC: $110
Amazon CC: $345
Discover CC: $2,910
Chase: $217
Childrens Place: $201
Ford Credit: $2500
Campus Credit Van Loan: $2200
Sallie Mae: $2700
Bank of America: $11000
Sears: $3487
Care Credit: $821
Total: $40,226

It was this year that we began to search for a house to buy. Yep, with all that debt we thought we needed a mortgage to go with it. Well, we couldn't qualify for a mortgage because of our debt-to-income was way too high. Even in the time of easy credit and anyone with a pulse could qualify we could not. Not to mention our credit rating was lousy because with all those monthly payments many were paid late.

I began reading Mary Hunt and creditboards.com. I knew we needed to get our credit ratings up and paying off the debt was key so we began to dump some of it. We paid off all the little loans quickly but those larger ones were doing us in.

Then came the "year of the Hurricanes in Florida" and we found out we could get an SBA loan for damages, living expenses, etc. We applied for a loan and got it. With this we paid off some of the larger payments. But we still had to pay for this loan! Duh!

Our credit rating started improving as our debt-to-income ratio went down. We then began switching cards to 0% interest to save some money on the interest we were accruing.

By the time February of 2005 came around we had paid off $15,000 on our own and consolidated another $10,000 into the federal emergency loan. Yippee skippy we now qualified for a mortgage! With no down payment. With no closing costs. With no idea what we were doing!!!!

We walked into our new house with the keys in hand on March 15, 2005. But we weren't done with debt yet. Oh no ladies and gentlemen, we were about to get neck deep into it over the course of 2005.

Tune in next Monday for more of our debt remaining report!

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Kraft Recipes for Free

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:17:00 +0000

I'm on a recipe kick tonight!

Here's another way to get tried and true recipes delivered straight to your email. This one's free too!

If you've ever used the recipe search at Kraft.com, you know that most of their meals are easy to make and very family-friendly. Yeah!

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The Pioneer Woman Cookbook: Yippee, we can order it now!

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:48:00 +0000

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl

I'm not lying when I tell you that I jumped up and down when I saw that this cookbook is now available at Amazon.com. I hardly ever use an actual cookbook because there is such a wealth of amazing recipes available online these days. But I've ordered this one.

I adore Ree, the Pioneer Woman, and ever single recipe I've made from her site has been a hit, hands down. My husband thanks me, begs me, pleads with me to make Pioneer Woman recipes because they are impossible to screw up and they are soooo good.

The Cookbook
is available for pre-order now and will ship on October 27th.
Retail price will be $27.50 but is available now for $14.85.

Please get it, stock your freezer with butter, and your family will thank you but your hips will not!

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After you eat the cheap cereal: Reuse the bag

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:28:00 +0000

Rule #1487 of living the thrifty, frugal lifestyle is to reuse and repurpose items that would otherwise end up in the landfill.

My target price for cold cereal is $1 per box and even here in Florida where there are no double coupons I'm usually able to keep the cabinet full of cereal.

Here are a few ways I recycle the liner bags and the box.

Bags:
1. I keep a plastic shoebox with a lid in my kitchen cabinet right next to the plastic bags. Whenever we empty the cereal, I shake out the crumbs, fold the bag, and store them in the plastic shoebox.

2. I use the bags for rolling out cookies, pie crusts, and biscuits instead of using wax paper. I cut them down the side and they are a good size for baking purposes.

3. I stuff a few of the bags into our diaper bag. They are great for dirty, wet clothes or to dispose of diapers.

4. When I need to coat my pork chops for frying, or anything else, I put the flour and seasonings into the bag, shake, and then throw away. No extra dirty dishes.

5. I pull out a cereal bag when I'm cooking. I lay the cooking utensils on the bag between stirs. Throw it away when done cooking. No need to use up paper towels and makes cleaning up so much easier.

6. Rachel Ray uses a garbage bowl in the kitchen, I use a cereal bag for my potato peelings, egg shells, etc. If you have a compost pile or a garden it is simple to go shake out the bag for these areas.

The hardest part about reusing the cereal bags is not finding purposes for them, it's remembering to save them in the first place. Since I put that plastic shoebox in my cabinet, remembering has been a piece of cake!

Do you have more uses for cereal bags? Leave a comment!

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Amazon Deal: Find It Toy

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:52:00 +0000

If your kids are fans of the "I Spy" books and games they would probably love this neat toy. Find It Games Kids Version - Red Ends

Product Details from Amazon:
Spin it, twist it, shake it, it's so much fun! Kids and adults will become addicted to this colorful, fun game for the kid in all of us. This contained adventure will have you looking at it for hours trying to find the objects inside. Play it with the whole family. Pass it around and see how fast you can find the hidden items. Be the first to find the hidden penny! Play it in the home or in the car. The object of the game is to find each item in the contained adventure. Play alone or with a crowd. Includes Find It game score card. Container measures 10.5"H.

Normally $25.99 Now $9.62
Next best price at any online store is $17.99!

I'm in for 1 for my kids!

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Free $15 gift code to the New Kodak Gallery (Hurry!)

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:38:00 +0000

Kodak is introducing a new and improved Kodak Gallery to uploading photos and ordering prints. The first 300,000 to register will get a gift code for $15! Sign up here.

Thanks Common Sense with Money!

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My quick trip to Winn-Dixie

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:02:00 +0000

I intended to make Corn and Ham Chowder for dinner tonight but realized the kids ate the remaining tater tots yesterday! So I ran down to Winn-Dixie for them and picked up the following:

2 Ronzoni Heart Healthy Pastas BOGO @ $2.00
2 Ronzoni Smart Taste Pastas BOGO @ $1.49
2 Super Pretzels BOGO @ $2.99
2 Hormel Compleats BOGO @ 2.79
1 winn-dixie brand hashbrowns $2.00
1 No Yolks egg noodles $1.39

Used:
$1 off 2 Heart Healthy Pastas
$1 off 2 Smart Taste Pastas
2 $.55 off Super Pretzel 09/27/09
1 $2 off Hormel Compleats All You September 2009

Total after coupons: $7.56
Rebate earned for No Yolks $1.39
Percent Saved: 72%

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The Children's Place Rewards Program

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:55:00 +0000

Thanks to Couponing to Disney for alerting us that The Childrens Place has began a new rewards program. Sign up for the rewards program here and earn 1 point per $1 spent. After you accumulate 75 points you will receive a $10 reward in the mail.

Sign up now and earn an initial 20 points for free!

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I'm in a rut how about you?

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:17:00 +0000

Have you seen that commercial where people are talking and one of the people just starts rambling on and on with lists of stuff they've seen in their web searches and everything triggers a streaming response. So funny! But it seems like that is my life. No so funny!

1 full-time teaching job. 2 tutoring jobs. 4 kids. birthday parties. bills. flag football games. cheerleading practices. budgets. fast-food. laundry. laundry. laundry. coupon clipping. pink eye. flu. swine flu. more bills. oh, and a blog!

Well, you get the picture! And your list probably matches mine, doesn't it? Please say yes, I can't be the only one!

But a girl can dream, right? So here's what I wish were on my list.

Full time blogging and coupon class teaching.
ACT/ FCAT tutor for high school kids.
Homeschooling my own kids.
Homemade laundry soap.
Line-drying clothes.
Meals from scratch.
Healthy immune systems.
Moms support group.
Church activities that actually focus on Christian values.
Being available to be my husband and kids' number one fan.

So I'm stuck in a rut and don't know how to get out. All of the jobs and activities that consume my life aren't bad things. They are just not the best things. But I don't know how to let go of them in order to bring in the best things. I depend on these to make it financially from month to month. I don't hate them I just don't loooove them right now.

And if you have read all of this, bless you and thanks for listening. I love you all!

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Good Deal At Winn-Dixie

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:02:00 +0000

Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta is BOGO @ $1.49
Use the $1 off 2 coupons here and here and pay just $.25 per box.

Kellogg's Cereals at still BOGO
and there are $1 off Froot Loops and Apple Jacks coupons in the store blinkie machine.
Makes them $1 per box.

Did you find anything great at Winn-Dixie this week?

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Flu is Here

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:01:00 +0000

Our house is undergoing the flu right now so please forgive me for a lack of postings. Hoping and praying that "this too shall pass"!

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Easy Get Togethers

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:35:00 +0000

When asked what matters to them most, the majority of people will answer, "family and friends". But does our life truly demonstrate that we care most about our family and friends?

If you are like me, you absolutely intend on inviting others over but then you just don't because in your mind the "to-do-list" is long, the planning overwelming, the time too short. Sigh :(

And if your life revolves around paying off debt, staying under budget, or saving up for harder times, then your thoughts might become like mine and wonder what in the world you could serve with items you already have on hand.

Then you look into the cabinet and realize that you don't having matching glasses anymore because as they break you replace them with finds from yard sales and Goodwill. Oh my, can we really have people over and use these?

And the carpet needs cleaning, and the baseboards need paint, and I meant to put up new curtains, and my goodness my kids' rooms look like they exploded, and on and on and on!

PUT IT ALL OUT OF YOUR MIND!

Don't waste another week, month, or year not showing love to those that you do truly love and are grateful for in your life.

Last night we had friends over to watch a football game. It was totally impromptu. Our kids play flag football together on Saturday mornings and I just blurted out, "Hey why don't y'all come over tonight for the game." No planning, no menu, no professional cleaning crew were on their way to my house, it just felt like the right thing to do.

And did I go home and clean like a mad woman? NOPE. I actually went to my school classroom to get caught up on papers.

The menu? Root beer floats and chips. Served in non-matching glasses with different sized spoons.

Entertainment? Football game (Go Gators!) and Nerf gun shootouts against the kids.

Billy, Nancy, Briel, and Brent, you mean the world to our family! Thank you for your friendship, fellowship, and family fun!

So who can you invite over this month? Just do it!

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Amazon Deals: Dragon Books and Art Beads

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:30:00 +0000

As we approach Christmas in the next 11, 10? weeks, I'll continue to post good deals I spy at Amazon.com. Here are a few for today:

Dragon World: A Pop-Up Guide to These Scaled Beasts

Was $15.95, now $3.16 with great reviews! Save 80%

Manley Art-tastic Magic Beads Fantasy Fun Medium Playset

Just like Pixsos! Was $19.99, now $7.99, save 60%
There are 3 or 4 sets of these and each come with 1,000 beads. The reviews at Fishing for Deals are good. They seem to keep kids busy for a few hours at a time!

These prices would be great for gift closets for all the kids' birthday parties this school year, too!

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A few good Deals at Winn-Dixie

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:09:00 +0000

Not much to get excited about in the flyer this week but I did find these deals with the help of Amy in Orlando:

Froot Loops or Apple Jacks cereals BOGO @ $3.99.
There is a blinkie machine coupon in front of these at my store for $1 off any Froot Loops or Apple Jacks.
Makes them $1.00 a box (my target price for cereal!)

Sunny D is BOGO @ $2.99
Use this printable for $.55 off 1 and pay just $.45 each when you use 2 coupons.

Sunny D also has a wonderful book promotion for classroom teachers. Buy 20 Sunny D products (not individual drinks), send in the UPC and get 20 free books for your classroom. With the BOGO and coupons this is a sweet deal. And if you buy Sunny D and don't have a classroom to donate the labels to, I will gladly take them off your hand :)!!!

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Need Canned Pumpkin for recipes this Fall? Buy it now!

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:56:00 +0000

Just a little Public Service Announcement: There is a shortage of canned pumpkin this year! Egads, I know! I simply cannot have fall and Thanksgiving without pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin soup, pumpkin . . .

So, if you need some for recipes buy it now even if not on sale because I've learned that some states don't even have a single can on a shelf in any store! Oh, my!

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2 Great Amazon Deals: Think Christmas for Little Ones!

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:03:00 +0000

Amazon has two great specials going on right now. First, get the newly released "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" Blu-ray/DVD combon for only $10! This is a two-disc set which has the Blu-Ray on one and the regular DVD version on the other.

At checkout enter promo code: SNOWHITE and it will take $10 off the $19.99 price!

Next, a one-year subscription to Sports Illustrated for Kids is only $5 dollars!

The first issue will ship at the end of November. You could wrap up the first issue with a card to the recipient. My kids love to get mail and their very own magazine for only $5 for the year would be a great deal!

It's also perfect for middle grades classrooms for teacher gifts. I love to order magazine for my class because kids need lots of practice reading non-fiction!

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Things I noticed at my yard sale

thriftyfloridamama@gmail.com (Thrifty Florida Mama) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:04:00 +0000

On Saturday, my sister, her kid, and my kids hosted a yard sale on my front lawn. I wasn’t that prepared for it but decided to go for it when I noticed that my across-the-street neighbor had already advertised and set up directional signs for their own sale. Yep, I took advantage of their traffic!

Here are a few things I noticed during our sale:

My kids were much more willing to part with their stuff when they reaped the profit.

It is strange to rejoice at making $200 at my sale, when the stuff I sold probably cost me 10 times that much! Ouch!

Stuff we bought for Christmas last year was this summer’s yard sale favorites. (The items didn’t even interest us for a year!)

Mother’s bought practical items like perfectly suitable used clothing and backpacks while fathers and grandparents bought toys and DVD’s.

It’s still too hot in October in Florida!

I liked selling stuff at a really low price and watching people get excited about their bargains. It was a “cleaning out” sale, not necessarily a “make money” yard sale. Knowing this made it easier to part with our ~~junk,~~ stuff!

Since I wasn’t as prepared for this sale as I should have been, we plan to have another sale in a few weeks. Getting rid of clutter is so refreshing, so I’m going to go back through the house looking for more items to part with. If the weather ever cools down, I’m going to tackle the attic!