Cash Eggstravaganza Giveaway!

March 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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Super Frugal Stephanie’s Cash Eggstravaganza Giveaway!

March 31st- April 7th 2012


Super Frugal Stephanie has once again teamed up with several fabulous bloggers (including us here at Moms Living Thrifty!) to bring you a cash giveaway but this time to celebrate Easter and Spring! We hope that the winner of the giveaway will be able to use this cash to do something special for themselves or their family.

The prize is $100 Paypal Cash!

Please follow the Rafflecopter entries. Facebook is mandatory, but Twitter is optional. Of course, the more entries you have the better!

Thank you to all the bloggers for joining us and helping make this giveaway possible!

Good luck!!



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This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

How to Save on Your Little One’s Birthday Party

March 29, 2012 By 1 Comment

Host an Awesome Birthday Party on a Dime-store Budget

Like any good mother, you probably want to treat your child to a fun-filled and exciting birthday party. Unfortunately, birthday parties can be very expensive, especially if you go all out and pay for the party to be held at a children’s party venue like Chuck E. Cheese’s. The good news is that there are ways to save money on your child’s birthday party without having to sacrifice any of the fun. Here are five ideas to help you save some cash and still throw an amazing, memorable party for your little one’s birthday this year:

1. Get your house ready.

As previously mentioned, you can save money by not throwing your child’s party at a party venue. So, throw the party at your house. Spend some time cleaning, and be sure to set up some activities and games for the kids to play in the backyard. They can have just as much fun, if not more fun, at your house than they could anywhere else, as long as you keep them occupied.

2. Find deals online.

Party favors, supplies, and decorations aren’t necessarily cheap, especially if you buy them from a party store, or if your child wants a themed party. Fortunately, you can find a lot of good deals on party supplies online. Just make sure you order them a few weeks before the party to make sure that they arrive on time. Sometimes saving money on the Internet means you have to wait a little longer to get what you purchased.

3. Bake the cake and make the food yourself.

Party food trays and birthday cakes bought from bakeries are unnecessarily expensive, especially when you consider that you can prepare, cook, and bake all the party food yourself. So, look up the recipe to your child’s favorite cake, and cut up some turkey and cheese sandwiches for the kids to snack on at the party. Birthday party food doesn’t have to be extravagant or expensive. It just has to tide the kids over so they can focus on having fun!


4. Ditch the favors.

It’s unlikely that children will start crying at the end of the party because you didn’t give them any party favors. Party favors aren’t mandatory, and they’re an unnecessary expense. If you want the kids to be able to take something home with them from the party, consider letting them spend some time crafting as a part of the party. They can draw, paint, or make friendship bracelets, for instance, and then take what they make home with them.

5. Set a budget for the party, and stick to it.

All the tips above will save you some money on the overall birthday party expenses, but it’s probably a good idea for you to try to stick to some kind of budget as well. If you’re a thrifty mom, you already know that budgets are the key to financial success. So, setting a budget for your child’s party will help you evaluate all your expenses and guide your purchasing decisions.

 

[box_light]This is a guest post written by Lisa. Lisa is a mom and guest blogger who writes about child behavior, early childhood education, and even fun things like Super Mario party supplies.[/box_light]

 

Image courtesy of Joe Mud.

 

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Filed Under: Family Fun, Fun at Home, Holidays, Home & Family, Saving Money Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

7 Easy Ways to Save Money on Credit Cards

March 29, 2012 By 14 Comments

Saving Money Requires More Than Coupons and Sales

During financial troubles, many people rely on credit cards to make purchases. However, the interest rate on credit cards is high. Therefore, it could cost you a significant amount of money down the road. Here are the top 7 ways to save money on credit card interest, so that you’re not strapped for cash forever!

1. Obtain Your Credit Report

The higher your credit score, the easier it will be to get better interest rates. Contact a credit bureau and ask for a copy of yours. You should look over your report and correct any inaccuracies. If the report contains a mistake, it could lower your credit score, so you need to do it ASAP before some bank or credit card sees that.

2. Contact Creditors

Contact each of your creditors to ask them what you can do to lower your interest rate. If you have paid your bills on time, you might have some negotiating power. Credit card companies are very competitive, so they want to try to keep your business. If the credit card company is not willing to lower your rate, you might want to consider switching companies – you can likely find a great introductory deal.

3. Compare Companies

If your current credit card company is charging you a high rate of interest, compare offers to see if you can find a lower rate. You might be receiving enticing offers in the mail but have just chucked these aside? It might be worth it to take look at what the company is offering. You could find a great deal!


4. Claim a Hardship

If you are to a point where you are really struggling to pay your bills, you need to call the credit card company and explain your situation. Credit card companies want to be paid, so they might be willing to work with you, so they can get their money in the long run (a few months or even years is nothing to them). If you file for bankruptcy, they will not get any money from you, so it’s in their best interest to negotiate.

5. Pay Off Credit Cards

The main way to save money on credit card interest is to not have a high balance in the first place! Collect all of your credit card bills and compare interest rates. Pay off the high interest rate cards first, and quit charging on those. It might help to create a budget and make a plan too.

6. Transfer Balances

Many credit card companies offer deals to entice you to apply for their cards. One of the deals that might be offered is a 0 percent interest rate for a certain amount of time. If the balance transfer fee is low consider transferring your balances on a high interest card to a new card. However, keep in mind that the introductory period will expire at some point, so you need to try to have the card paid off before the introductory period is complete.

7. Get a Home Equity Loan

If you have several different credit cards with high balances, you might consider getting a home equity loan. After receiving it, you can pay off all of your credit cards. These loans offer much lower interest rates than credit cards, so shop around to find the best one. Then, cut those cards up!!

Have another trick to save money on credit cards? Let us know!

[box_light]This is a guest post written by Jill Ramone. Jill  likes to save her family money with Life Insurance Quotes. [/box_light]

Image courtesy of marsmet543.

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Filed Under: Guest Posts, Household Budgeting, Keeping Control, Other Ways to Save, Saving Money Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Fun Easter Activities for Kids

March 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Need Something Fun to Keep Kids Occupied as Easter Nears?

When it comes to Easter, there are plenty of fun and cheap ideas that you can do with your kids besides the simple tradition of coloring eggs. Here are a few cheap, easy and fun crafts that you can create with your children for Easter.

1. Easter Egg Cards Painted with Shaving Cream

Supplies: Construction paper, toothpicks, paintbrush, a tray and shaving cream, acrylic or washable paints

Cut egg shapes out of the construction paper and set aside. Next, on a tray or your table, spray a large amount of shaving cream. You can then squirt as many colors of paint onto the shaving cream as you would like. You will then want to swirl the paint to create a marble effect. You can use the toothpicks, your fingers, a spoon, or whatever else you have on hand. Finally, press the egg shaped paper into the shaving cream and then lift. Scrape off the excess paint (a squeegee works well for this) and let dry. You will have a beautifully decorated paper egg that you can decorate your windows with or send out as cards.

2. Easter Shaped Sun Catchers

Supplies: Contact paper, tissue paper, yarn, glue

These wonderful sun catchers are easy to make. Take some contact paper and cut it into different Easter shapes. Eggs are the easiest, but if you are more creative perhaps bunnies, chicks, or baskets. Next peel the cover from the contact paper and cover with different colors of tissue paper. You can use construction paper around the edge to create a border. Once finished place an additional piece of contact paper on top and then punch a hole in the top and tie with string. You can hang these in the window and watch the sun shine through!


3. Paper Easter Egg Candy Holders 

Supplies: Patterned paper (or eggs from the shaving cream project above), markers or crayons, glitter, stapler, scissors, and candy.

This project is easy and fun and offers an alternative to purchasing plastic Easter eggs to hide. First, cut out the patterned paper or any paper that your kids have decorated into matching egg shapes. One of the eggs will be used for the front and one is used for the back. Place the blank sides back to back and staple the edges. Make sure to leave an opening and fill with candy. Then staple closed.

These are just a few crafts that you can create with the kids for a fairly low cost. Of course, the standard coloring Easter eggs and a fun egg hunt are also the perfect fun Easter activities for kids as well.

Have a fun craft idea that you’d like to share? Leave us a comment!

 

Image courtesy of flowersnthings.
Filed Under: Cheap Family Activities, Family Fun, Fun at Home, Holidays Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Pink Slime: The Fast Food Ingredient You Didn’t Want to Know About

March 26, 2012 By 5 Comments

If You Eat Beef, You’ve Likely Eaten Pink Slime

I am sure by now you have all heard about something called pink slime. This ingredient has been used in our beef for a long time, but it was not until recently that many of us became aware of it. While the name alone stands to leave you a bit disgusted, here are a few things that you should know about pink slime, especially if you eat beef.

1. What is Pink Slime?

Pink slime is basically all of the left over animal parts that come from the animal carcass. These scraps originally were only used in pet foods.

2. Why is Pink Slime Harmful?

The most current hard data that is available to the public shows that in 2010, nearly 29% of all of the ground beef samples that were collected carried strains of Salmonella that were resistant to antibiotics. Studies have shown that the amount of drug resistant bacteria has been increasing. The main reason for this is because the companies that manufacture pink slime have been reducing the amount of ammonia that is used in the product. The reason for this reduction is because many consumers were complaining about how the ground beef tasted.

The reason that this is important is because at the time pink slime was introduced to the USDA, the company, Beef Products, Inc had presented a study showing how the ammonia process kills both Salmonella and E.coli. The study that was presented was convincing enough that the USDA, when testing meat for bacteria, chose to exclude products from Beef Products, Inc.

3. Why is Pink Slime Used?

It is quite obvious that the main reason that pink slime is used is because it provides cheap filler. Even though the product was introduced as a way to help sterilize meat, which it is failing to do, it all comes down to the bottom line. If you have eaten beef of any kind, you have likely eaten pink slime.


4. How do I Avoid Eating Pink Slime?

Avoiding pink slime is difficult as the USDA does not require the manufacturers to tell you that it is part of your ground beef. The reason is that the USDA labels this as a “process” and not an “ingredient.”

There are a few ways to avoid eating pink slime. The first is to buy a food processor and ground your own beef. The second is to purchase beef from a local butcher and watch the process of it being ground. You may also ask the butcher at your local grocery store to ground beef fresh for you, if they can and will. The final way to avoid eating pink slime is to simply stop eating beef, which is obviously not the answer for everyone. Just shop smarter and always make sure to cook your meat thoroughly to kill any bacteria.

5. Which Supermarkets Can I Purchase Pink Slime-free Beef From?

One supermarket chain with a large presence in the Illinois and Missouri area has addressed this issue recently. Schnucks Markets, which include Schnucks, Logli and Highlander supermarkets, announced that it will no longer purchase beef products from companies that use pink slime. (Click here to read the press release.) To find out which of your local stores offer fresh beef that is free of pink slime, click here.

Do you intend to purchase foods that are processed using Pink Slime?

 

Image courtesy of pennstatelive.
Filed Under: Breaking News, Family Safety, Food Safety, From the Kitchen Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
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Freebie Alert! Get a Free 7-Day Sample of Lancome Genifique Youth Serum!

March 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Here’s a great freebie for all of you fabulous moms!

For a limited time, Lancome is giving away free, 7-day samples of Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate.

This little bottle of magic (or at least that’s how the description reads) claims to turn back the hands of time and make your skin look and feel more youthful again. Personally, I could go for that!

If you think this is something you might be interested in and you have a Lancome near you, then click here to grab your voucher for a free, 7-day sample of Genifique now!

Enjoy, and be sure to come back to tell me what you thought of it!
Filed Under: Freebies Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Super Hot Ebates – Victoria’s Secret Deal – Only One More Day Left!

March 23, 2012 By 3 Comments

SUPER HOT Victoria’s Secret Deal!!!

Okay you savvy shoppers, there’s a fabulous deal going on right now at Victoria’s Secret, but you can make it even better if you use Ebates to get it. HURRY! This deal ends 3/24/2012!

What’s the deal?

Victoria’s Secret is running several sales right now. For instance, they have the Buy 7 panties for $26 using promo code SEVEN, but they also have a ton of great clearance stuff marked down super low! If you like the VS Pink Wear Everywhere Demi Bras, they have those marked down to $19.99 for a 2-pack and the 2-pack push-ups are marked down to $16.99! They also have a lot of swimwear marked down super low, too! Can you say WOW???

But the deal gets even better – let’s dish!

Here’s what you need to do – and keep in mind that this scenario is only going to work for those new to Ebates. Yes, current Ebates members will still get a great deal, but new members will get a fantastic one!

1. Sign up with Ebates here (completely free to sign up)

2. Once you’ve completed your sign up and selected which $10 gift card you’d like once you spend $25.00, search for Victoria’s Secret.

3. When you locate the Victoria’s Secret page on Ebates, click the button that says “Shop Now.”

4. You’ll be redirected to the Victoria’s Secret website.


5. Your needs may vary, but I chose to purchase 2 pair of panties at $2.99 and 5 pair at $3.99 from the clearance selection for a total of $25.98 before taxes and shipping. I used code SECRET12 to double my rewards bonus (making my total VS Rewards cards 2. Each will be worth a minimum of $10 per reward). My total after taxes and shipping was $34.98.

6. Be sure to check the promo box before you fill out all of your info. You don’t want to forget to add your promo code because that’s what makes this deal so spectacular!

7. Make payment for your order. If you managed to get your order to $25 or more, you will earn your $10 gift card from Ebates -PLUS- you’ll get 4% cash back on your purchase through Ebates -PLUS- you’ll get 2 Victoria’s Secret Rewards Cards worth anywhere from $10 to $500 each!

Add that up…the way I figured it, after it’s all said and done, the 7 pair of panties I bought cost me about $3.60 – and if I get lucky with my VS Rewards Cards, I might actually make money on this deal! Either way, 7 pair of panties for $0.51 each is way less than my stock up price, especially for this posh name brand! Then I’ll spend my VS Rewards on a bra next month in-store so that I don’t have to pay shipping!


Current Ebates Members – Here’s YOUR Deal!

If you are already a member of Ebates, you are still going to get a great deal, but you won’t get that additional $10 gift card through Ebates that new members will get. Of course, you will still earn your cash back and every penny adds up. Of course, if you want to make it a great deal for you, simply purchase less. For instance, just purchase 2 of the $3.99 clearance panties and 1 of the $2.99 clearance panties to get your total over $10. You can still use the same code: SECRET12 to get two reward cards instead of 1, meaning that you will actually make money on the deal after taxes and shipping! Hooray!

Don’t forget that this deal ends 3/24/2012, so shop now to earn your VS Rewards!!!

Okay, if anyone gets a VS Rewards Card that’s worth more than $10, I want to hear about it! Be sure to come back and leave me a comment to let me know!

 

Image courtesy of Steve Rhodes.

 

 

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Filed Under: Deals and Steals, Expiring Deals, Store Specific Deals, Victoria's Secret Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

New Crest Pro-Health Coupons – High Value!

March 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

High Value Coupons for Crest Pro-Health from VocalPoint

I just snagged some brand new coupons for Crest Pro-Health products from VocalPoint! However, because these are high value coupons, they won’t last long, so be sure to snag them now.

Seriously…RIGHT NOW.

These New Pro-Health Clinical products from Crest® and Oral-B® will help to greatly reduce plaque and help keep it from coming back! By using products like this, you have the opportunity to keep your teeth clean and healthy – like you just left the dentist!

The total value of these coupons is $7 and they will be mailed to your home, so do allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

Besides, I believe there are going to be some really great deals on these products over the course of the next few months, so don’t miss out! I’ll be sure to post them when I see them!

What’s VocalPoint?

VocalPoint is an online community of consumers just like you and me. They work hard to bring their visitors great coupons and “Try It First” opportunities just like the one I’m telling you about right now. I’ve been very happy with my membership, as I’ve been able to take advantage of a wide variety of products for free or almost free that I otherwise may not have tried.

Yes, I’m a cheapie, but living cheaply has its advantages. Trust me. I never thought it would be nice to live on a strict budget, but since I’ve learned to coupon, it’s actually so much more rewarding to spend the little bit of money I have than it ever was before!


If you have not yet joined VocalPoint, signup is a snap – and it’s totally free! Just fill in your information to sign up, be sure to locate and click on the confirmation email and you’re all set!

Know of a hot coupon that’s just been made available? Leave a comment to let us know!
Filed Under: Deals and Steals, Top Coupons Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page
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