Frugal — Page 22

{May 14} How I Got These Freebies!

Want to know how I got THESE freebies?

{I hope that this daily update is helping you to learn some new tips on how to get your own mailbox filled with free stuff every day!}

This is how I got THESE freebies in my mail on May 14th:

Purex Samples: Found this offer in my daily email from Women Freebies. Sign up for their daily email so you don’t miss out. Each day you get a quick update of new freebies, giveaways, and coupons, all targeted towards the ladies!
Clean & Clear Sample: I found this free offer in a daily email update from FreeFlys. I don’t know if this one is still available, but I know they have a great Victoria’s Secret sample today. Sign up for their daily email too to stay updated!
All You: I cannot use strong enough words to recommend this one!! This magazine is filled with what we all love… Frugal, healthy, and fast recipes, easy DIY projects, fun tips, great articles, and COUPONS. This is one of the VERY few magazines I’ll pay for! {as you may know, I use TradePub to get most of my mag’s free. Mostly business types, but sign up to get notified when they have good ones like Cosmo or Family Circle!} Anyway, there are loads of deals to be found to get All You ALMOST free, which is what I watch for, although this time I had to buy it because my subscription ran out and I couldn’t wait!! But it is so full of free coupons you have to get it! There are always deals too on Amazon if you want to get it now: All You Subscription.
Stashbusting box: This is such an amazingly fun idea! If you love crafts, and you love funny, you have to check out Aunt Peaches!! {Plus, her tagline is “Making Sunshine on a Shoestring” which I love!} She decided to thin out some of her overflow of supplies, and give away a few, “Stashbusting Boxes O’ Fun” to her readers. Check out the rest of what was in mine…

So awesome and random! I love it. I felt like a little kid opening birthday presents, as I pulled each new item out of the box. My 4 year old nephew was there, saying, “Oooooohhhhh. That was in rweaaaaly cool.” and “That is soooo pretty.” That’s why him and I get along.

Here are some of the fun items, and some ideas for them:

Garland: This is that foil garland, on a wire strand. The colors are great. I’m doing a Hawaiian Luau themed party for my little girls first birthday in late July. We’ll have it outside with the pool and bbq, and I’m super excited to start putting together decorations… This stuff will be added to my supplies for that!
Rhinestones: I use to have a ring with a giant stone on it, when people asked if it was real, I told them it was a real rhinestone, and came from a real rhinoceros. Not relevant, but I wanted to tell the story. Anyway, there are several boxes of these, and I think I’ll use them in a new scrapbook I’ve been working on, with lotsa bling in it.
Paper Flowers Kit: I was super exicted for this! For centerpieces at little ones bday, I want to use branches painted white or silver, and make tropical colored paper flowers to wire on to them. {cooler looking than it sounds, promise!} So I’m loving this.
Candy Tins: These could make super fun little gifts for the nephews! I’ll paint and decorate the outside, really fun, and add little toys, candy, stickers, etc inside. Then, these can be a “bribe” supply, to pull out when needed. Yep, I do that.

And there is so darn much more! Taper candles, vellum envelopes I just adore, bag of random ribbon, baggie of adorable foam valentine hearts, giant strand of heart beaded garland, and more!

I’m going to attempt to come up with at least one amazing project featuring some of these goodies to share with you this week. I mean, if I took some of my supplies, and sent them out into the world, I’d want to see a picture of what they grew up to become. So I feel it’s only right to share a picture so the super amazing Aunt Peaches can see it!

I hope you guys all had a great weekend, and had some sunshine! I’ll be back later today with some new freebie posts for ya!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on May 16, 2011 Filed Under: Freebies | No Comments

White Cake Mix Makeover!

I’m a big fan of the “Semi-Homemade” type of cooking and baking. You know, where you use ready made products like cake mix, boxed dinners, frozen or canned goods, and then fancy ’em up, and make them better.

So I really liked this little post today, with some ways to jazz up a boxed white cake mix into some pretty awesome cupcakes. The kind of cupcake where you could put on an apron, and tell the family that you baked them from scratch, and they would believe you. Yes, sometimes it is ok to lie to your family.

To check out the easy peasy recipes, go on over to Home Made Simple. While you’re there, you can also request a big coupon book with over $35 bucks in savings. Better yet, join the site and get on their mailing list, so you get the coupon books automatically!

They have a lot of pretty helpful stuff on their site… It’s sponsored by P & G, so you get offers and coupons for their products sometimes too. But I do find the posts helpful and fun.

If you’ve taken my advice, and are signing up for more newsletters and mailing lists as a way to get high-value coupons and free samples, then here are a couple more for ya too that you might like:

Right @ Home: “Get money-saving offers and more in the free homecare e-newsletter from the makers of Pledge®.” Click Here.
Vocalpoint.com “Gets you free samples, coupons, recipes, DIY ideas, beauty tips—endless gifts of knowledge to make you smile every day! Sign up today.” Click Here.
Kraft Foods: “Rush me delicious easy-to-prepare recipes, money-saving coupons and tips for living well with diabetes in my weekly Kraft Foods Good Eating Good Living e-newsletter!” Click Here.

Have a great day!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on May 11, 2011 Filed Under: Freebies | 1 Comment

Is that deal Ebateable?

I read this new term today, and love it:

Ebateable [ee-bey-tuh-buhl] (adjective) – When an online deal is made even better with coupons and cash back from Ebates.com.

I check Ebates first EVERY time I shop online! I find coupon codes to give me a discount on what I was planning to buy anyway, PLUS get cash back on my purchase. Awesome, right? And you can see BIG FAT CHECK from Ebates in the picture above, to show you that yes, it’s legit!

PLUS, right now is Ebates 12th Birthday Bash, and they’re giving YOU the gifts! You can earn 12% cash back on tons of great stores right now…. Go to their site to check ’em all out. Many of these stores are usually 2-5% so this is a HUGE increase, and a great way to get some cash back built up fast!

AND, there’s more!

If you’re new to Ebates, you’ll get $5 cash just for signing up today! And, they’re doing a HUGE fan giveaway too. To celebrate their 12^th birthday, Ebates is giving one lucky Facebook fan $1200! They’ll choose the winner from their fan base on May 17^th. In addition to $1200, They’ll also be picking 4 other facebook fans to receive a $250 Philosophy Gift Bag. So Head over and Like Ebates on Facebook! Super duper awesome, right?

So get signed up for Ebates today! And then, when you shop online, ask yourself, is this deal Ebateable? (And start getting that cash back!)

Posted by Meagan Paullin on May 9, 2011 Filed Under: Deals and Coupon Codes, Shopping | No Comments

Get a FREE Personalized T-Shirt

You already know I’m a HUGE fan of Vistaprint, right?

{I think I’ll share a bunch of pictures later of some of the great freebies I’ve gotten from them lately}….

Right now, you can get another new FREE item, a free personalized T-Shirt!

There are so many fun ways you could use this:

Put your blog logo on it and give it away to a fan!
Or… Keep it for yourself, and walk around giving yourself free advertising. (Shameless promotion, yes. So what? Lol)
Put a picture of the kiddo’s on it to give to the grandparents.
Add a picture of Daddy, and have it say something like, “Worlds Bestest Super Duper Dad” or something, for Father’s Day.
Put a picture of a new graduate on it, with a congratulations message!

Lots of fun stuff you could do. I’ve used these for gifts a few times, and they always get a big smile! Here’s a bit of detail:

1 FREE Customized T-Shirt! Choose from a variety of designs and add your own text to make your design unique! The T-Shirts are made of 100% Pre-Shrunk cotton and are available in sizes from S to XXL The T-Shirt is FREE, just pay for Shipping and Processing! Click Here to get started!

And, I haven’t checked yet, but usually they have a deal where if you spend $30 or $40 bucks, you can get FREE shipping too. There are so many free deals right now, plus tons of 50% off prices, so you can stock up on a TON of cool stuff really cheap.

These really are great T-Shirts, and the image and letters wash up well too.

Leave a comment with what you’re going to put on YOUR free T-Shirt!! I’d love to hear your ideas. Since I’ve gotten these a few times, I’m looking for a new idea this time…

Posted by Meagan Paullin on May 9, 2011 Filed Under: Freebies | 1 Comment

3 Ways to Get in Shape on a Budget

I got these tips today from LearnVest, a daily newsletter filled with fun and frugal tips. It’s one of my favorites…

My New Goal Inspired by these Tips!

These are three {super easy} ways to get yourself in shape without wasting time or money. I’ve been working on getting our days on more of a schedule lately…. I’m a new stay at home mom, and also take care of my two nephews. Plus, we’re all living in this big new house, with lots of projects that need to be done. PLUS, I decided to take on a new project for myself and started this blog a couple months ago. PLUS, I’m an online student too! Woah. So not a lot of time to get everything done!

And, I’ve been wanting to lose that last big of baby weight, since our new home here has a really great in-ground pool. So, my new goal that I made today after reading these tips, is to combine my housework with my workout, and do it all in one hour each day!

That means, for one hour, I will clean this house so dang fast… Like, Batman fast. Just vacuuming the whole place once a day is a workout in itself! Plus, I’ll get the kids to help… We ‘ll put the music on loud, and wash windows, put away toys, dust, swiffer, and take out trash. Good times, right?

I really feel like doing this is going to be a great sanity-saver too. I won’t be always worrying about cleaning the house, because I know I’ll get it mostly done (and “good enough” is how we do it around here!) each day during that one hour. After that, I’ll stop worrying about it :)

So read on for the tips from LearnVest and see if they can help you make a new goal too!

Spring-Clean Year Round.

No reason to pay for a cleaning service when mopping and vacuuming could work off that extra serving of pasta from dinner. Turn up the volume on your iPod to get some pump-up favorites going as you choose a project to tackle, like reorganizing the junk closet or scrubbing down the bathroom. Take a few trips to the trash and recycling bins to maximize your movement, and remember that running up and down the stairs is actually a good thing.

Go Outside.

If you’re an avid gardener, you already know about the hard work involved in outdoor upkeep. Otherwise, try planting and maintaining a garden (think trundling around with flower pots and squatting to pluck weeds), which gives you the added benefits of fresh flowers or fresh food. Experts have already proved that spending time outside your four walls can improve your mood, lower stress, and boost energy. If you do have outdoor acreage to maintain try mowing, raking, shoveling, trimming, and pruning it yourself.

Do Just A Little Extra.

Instead of starting to do something you hate (your laundry), try adding exercise potential to things you already do. If you like being in the kitchen anyway, knead and roll your own dough instead of getting the pre-made quick fix. For the busy woman always fielding phone calls, walk or lunge as you talk instead of taking it easy. Make the bed instead of leaving it sloppy. And if you do love laundry, dance around as you hang up your fresh items.

Great stuff, right?

If you love this tip, and want to get more like it {you do, trust me!} sign up really quick for their daily newsletters right here: LearnVest Sign Up.

And if one of these tips helped YOU make a new goal today, share it in the comments to inspire everyone!