Friday, March 25

Freebie of the Week: Kiddie Stuff

Alright, it's SPRING!! Yay!! My kids want to play outside, what about yours? So, with no further ado, my freebies for the kiddies!!

Homemade bubbles: Nearly every recipe I have encountered has called for glycerine. Here are several. Some do some don't. One calls for Ajax, I personally wouldn't want my children playing with something made out of Ajax.

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk: Really gotta love Martha Stewart. I saw this watching her talk show last year. The chalk has lasted for an entire year. May not need to make any until NEXT summer.

Homemade Finger Paints: Not really JUST for summer, but fun anyways. This has a list of 5 recipes. For an all natural approach, click here.

These aren't really "free" in that they will be mailed to you, but they are "free" in that MOST are made with stuff already around the house.






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Tuesday, March 22

Coupons!!

Did you know that there are mega-couponers? These are the people who can go to the store and purchase hundreds of dollars worth of stuff for under half off. I don't really advocate that, but it's amazing. The reason I don't advocate it is that some of them stockpile these goods to the point that it could be considered hoarding (by me). Now, if you harness your couponing powers and then donate to the local food bank, church, or that needy family down the street, I am all for that.

So, where can you get your coupons? Short answer: alot of places. Do I recommend any? Of course: Swagbucks has coupons, Inbox Dollars has coupons, and most other sites like them. The added bonus here: they PAY you to use the coupons you print. That's right. Swagbucks pays 10 swagbucks and Inbox Dollars pays $0.10 per coupon used.

I also searched for a free coupon binder. I found this site. It has the information for how to set up the binder, which is free, and offers several options for buying form them. Of course, you don't have to buy from them. With patience, you can probably find all of these items at the local thrift store. I found a binder in almost new shape for $0.50. You may even be able to find them on sale at the local office store. If you do want it now, go ahead, and make that purchase.

Ok, so you have your binder set up and you're learning how you want to use it. So, how do you organize those coupons? Well, a coupon sorting mat of course!! You can of course find these commercially, or you can make one yourself. Here's how. She used a piece of blank newsprint, but I am sure other sources of paper would work. I am making one of these myself.

And a note for your own protection: Beware of fraudulent coupons.