November 2010
homemade gifts: star-shaped crayon craft
I love giving gifts. Much to my husband’s chagrin, my generous spirit has often outweighed my budget. A long time ago, long before I was married and had kids of my own, I started giving gifts to all the children in my life. It started with just my nieces and nephews, and then, as a few of my friends started having children, the tradition started to spread. Before I knew it, the list was very, very long. This year I finally had to face the hard truth: it is simply too expensive to buy and send gifts to 30+ kids each year. But I couldn’t bear the thought of doing ... read more
supporting lwsl
I have had several readers ask me recently whether I get paid to do this, and what they can do to help support Living Well, Spending Less. The simple answers are a.) not yet and b.) keep reading! I am so flattered that you like my little blog. I love writing it and my only hope is that it continues to get better & better. If there is something you would like to see me write about, or something you are sick of hearing about, please feel free to let me know. But, since you asked, there are a few other things you can do as well. All are completely ... read more
decking the halls (& kimono cards giveaway)
My favorite thing about Thanksgiving weekend is not the food, though I have to admit, the food is really good. But nothing tops the day after Thanksgiving, when box upon box of Christmas decorations comes down from the attic. We listen to Christmas music and feast on leftovers while decorate the tree, put up lights, and fill our house with holiday cheer. I don’t venture out of the house for Black Friday, but I always hit the day-after-Christmas sales for clearance decorations. Then I pack them away for the following year and forget about them. It makes unpacking the boxes each year a lot of fun! Pretty, isn’t it? I ... read more
cyber monday
I don’t know about you, but my email inbox has been flooded this morning with Cyber Monday offers from online retailers. If you are looking for a great deal and were, like me, far too lazy to venture out on Black Friday, you may want to check some of them out. By far my favorite deals are the Cyber Monday Deals from Amazon.com. There are some amazing lightning deals, but you have to act fast–the really good ones often sell out within minutes. Click this link to go to the Cyber Monday page, then keep the page open on your computer throughout the day to stay on top of the ... read more
sunday shopping 11-28-10
I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday weekend! Mine has been spent enjoying a lot of family time, putting up Christmas decorations, & fighting off a cold. Aside from that last one, it has been a very fun and relaxing few days spent almost entirely at home. Even so, I did manage to make it out for a little while today for a quick trip to Walgreens and Publix. For all you Southerners, there is an AWESOME deal on gas at Publix this week–with any $25 purchase (before coupons) you can get $10 off a $50 gas gift card of your choice. There is also a coupon for ... read more
the perfect gift (& TKI designs giveaway)
Black Friday, Schmack Friday. Who needs to wake up at 2am to fight the crowds when you can find the perfect gift at the perfect price while sitting cozily in your pajamas in the comfort of your own home? By now you know that this year I have been searching Etsy.com for handmade, unique, & reasonably priced gifts. I have already featured some pretty amazing items, and there is still much more to come, but for Black Friday I reserved what I believe is hands down the best deal around, Etsy.com or elsewhere. Behold, I bring you the Scrabble Tile Pendant by TKI Designs. It is stylish. It is ... read more
thankful
This week I have been working on teaching Princess what it means to be thankful. Trying to explain the concept of “thankfulness” to a four-year-old has made me think a lot about how much I have to be thankful for. I am thankful for my husband, who works hard every day to support his family, then comes home to be the best daddy in the whole world. I could write a whole post on all the reasons I am thankful for my guy, but suffice to say, I couldn’t ask for a better one. I am thankful for my two beautiful, funny, completely different, sometimes annoying but almost always entertaining ... read more
walgreens black friday shopping (& weekly shopping link-up)
I woke up this morning with a full-blown cold, but I couldn’t bear the thought of missing out on the Walgreens Black Friday sale. Thus, I bucked up, took a big dose of DayQuil, and headed on over. Unfortunately my head was in a bit of a fog from the medication and I ended up messing up my transactions, which resulted in a higher OOP cost than I had planned. Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all and I still ended up with a lot of great stuff, including some more much-needed toilet paper and diapers. Here is what I got: I spent $19.53 for $101.08 worth of drugstore merchandise, ... read more
cvs black friday shopping
If you like free stuff, you will love the Black Friday deals happening at CVS! The ad was active as of 9pm this evening, so I couldn’t resist my chance to hot deals ahead of the crowds. I could’ve easily walked out of there spending less than $5 for over $100 worth of stuff, but there were a few extra things I added that bumped up my total. I also found a few random items–fall decorations & socks–on 90% clearance. Here is what I got: All in all, I spent $16.96 for $140.31 worth of drugstore merchandise, a savings of 88%. However without the popcorn maker (a gift) & toilet ... read more
healthy teeth are happy teeth (& radius toothbrush giveaway)
I was cursed with bad teeth. Despite daily brushing, every time I go to the dentist, without fail, I have at least one cavity, and usually two or three. My last visit, three weeks ago, I had seven. Seven cavities. I didn’t even know I had that many teeth left to get cavities in. Evidently you can get cavities in teeth that already have them. Who knew? Dentists, I guess. I hate dentists. After this last visit, during which I was subjected to a “gum exam” and given a 20 minute lecture on the importance of flossing to prevent gum disease, I arrived home determined to do more to ... read more
holiday shopping deals & black friday preview
This may come as a surprise (or maybe a disappointment) to some of you, but I’m not a huge fan of Black Friday. I absolutely loathe large crowds of people, and eight years of working in retail was enough to make me avoid the mall at all costs at any time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The one year I did decide to fight the crowds and score a great deal on a new digital camera, the camera ended up being a complete piece of garbage and I returned it a month later and vowed to never put myself through that ordeal again. If you are one of those crazy enthusiastic ... read more
christmas card making (& craftin’ crystal giveaway)
About a year ago, when I finally got fed up with paying 5 dollars apiece every time I went to Hallmark, I started making my own cards. Unfortunately for everyone who receives them, my homemade cards really aren’t pretty–an awkward combination of scrapbook paper & some sort of greeting card appropriate vellum sticker sentiment. Passable, (if it’s the thought that counts), but certainly not impressive. I have always wanted to learn how to stamp. Every time I go to the craft store I spend way too much time drooling over all the pretty stamps & imagining how nice my cards could be if only I could figure it all out. But ... read more
sunday shopping 11-21-10
I plan to hit both CVS and Walgreens later this week to take advantage of their awesome Black Friday sales, but I did make a quick trip to CVS today to grab a few gift items (and milk!). Here is what I got: At CVS I spent $35.37 for $178.57 worth of groceries and merchandise, a savings of 80%. Transaction #1: Bought: (1) Oral B Vitality Toothbrush Coupons Used: (1) $10 off Oral B Vitality (Red Plum insert, 11/14) (1) Raincheck (Oral B Vitality for $23, get back $13 ECBs) $10.99 ECBs (random leftovers from previous weeks) Total OOP: $3.62 Received: $13 ECBs Transaction #2: Bought: (4) Duracell Batteries, (1) ... read more
feeling lucky (& wired whimsey giveaway)
I have to be honest, I am feeling a little stressed about Christmas shopping this year. We have a lot of extra people spending the holidays with us, and my role as “Santa” means I have a lot of stocking to fill. I normally love finding special and unique gifts for each person on my list. However, the sheer quantity this year is stretching both my creativity (of which I have little) and my budget. I am pretty good at stretching my money through coupon shopping, which means that Santa will be bringing everyone a variety of toothbrushes, lotions, & body wash this year. Unconventional, perhaps, but those low-cost (or ... read more
beginner’s guide to coupons (week 8)
Congratulations! If you have made it this far and followed along each week of this Beginner’s Guide to Coupons series, then I have great news: You are officially no longer a beginner! All this crazy couponing stuff that seemed so complicated and overwhelming at the beginning should be starting to come a lot easier and more naturally now. You are probably starting to get pretty good at finding deals all on your own, and you may even be offering tips to your own friends and family who are wondering how it’s done. (If you are new to my blog or new to couponing, I strongly recommend that you start with Part ... read more
