giveaways
In Search of Financial Peace {5 Things I’ve Learned So Far}
When I started this blog 2 years ago, it was not because I was some slick money guru or finance major who wanted to pass on my certified wisdom to the world. Far from it, actually. I started this blog because my spending was out of control. I was unhappy and bored, and my husband and I were on the brink of both divorce and financial ruin. I started this blog to save my marriage, my family, myself. My goal was simply to figure out how to stretch my budget so that I could buy all the things I wanted. It was pretty simple math, actually: the less I spent ... read more
The Spring Cleaning Challenge: Conquering the Kids’ Room
Happy First Day of Spring–it’s time to start our Spring Cleaning Challenge! I don’t know about y’all but if it weren’t for my darling children, my house would be clean all the time. Okay, maybe not all the time, but almost all of the time. How can two such seemingly sweet and innocent girls be SUCH incredible mess makers? And my girls are prissy, play-dolls-and-kitchen-and-dress-up–but-can’t-stand-to-get-their-hands-dirty-girly-girl kinda girls. I can only imagine what kind of messes boys must make! In any case, when I started to think about Spring Cleaning, the first place I wanted to start is at the source of 90% of our messes: the kids’ room. My plan ... read more
The Spring Cleaning Challenge {#SpringCleaning12}
Are you ready for spring? I am so excited to announce today that I am joining forces with 10 other bloggers to bring you this super fun Spring Cleaning Challenge. Our goal is to motivate and encourage you all to jump into spring with a clean and organized home. And what better motivation than public accountability and some AMAZING prizes? Beginning Tuesday, March 20th (1 week from today) through April 5th, we are asking those of you with blogs to post about your own Spring Cleaning efforts, then come link up here. If you don’t have a blog, you can post pictures of your cleaning efforts on an online album ... read more
sunday shopping 9-11-11
First things first: The winner of last week’s E-Mealz giveaway is…. Brandi (No. 14) ”I usually start by seeing what I already have on hand. I have a mass of recipes from various websites plus websites like allrecipes.com will allow you search by ingredient so I use that to see what meals I could make from stuff I have on hand plus one or two more things. I love beans and cornbread for a quick thrifty meal. We almost always have beans and cornbread on hand. Still pretty new to couponing so I would like to build a more varied stock pile and try to find other uses for pasta ... read more
Qubie coupon organization system winners
The first winner of the Qubie giveway is…. Shelly Corson (#126) Since Shelly was not referred by anyone, I was able to pick one more winner! The second winner is… Becky Cubbage Dukes (#93) Congratulations to both winners! For those of you who didn’t win, take heart! I will be hosting another giveaway starting Monday, September 12th on the PrintHotCoupons.com Facebook Page! And of course, if you simply can’t wait, you can always order your Qubie right away. If you do win, Qubie will refund your purchase price! Use coupon code LWSL5OFF to save $5 on your purchase. (But hurry–this code is only valid through September 15th!)
the big qubie giveaway! {& sunday shopping 9-4-11}
Happy Labor Day! I hope you all are having a very fun & relaxing holiday weekend. I thought it would be fun to kick off the fall with a FUN giveaway to get you guys motivated to start using those coupons again. Summer can be kinda crazy with vacations and activities and kids at home, and it is easy to get behind on all that coupons stuff. I’m sure most of you have seen my Qubie coupon binder in many of my shopping videos, and I know lots of you have asked me about it. I LOVE my Qubie and use it to organize all my printable coupons. It is ... read more
happy birthday princess {& audry & ulric giveaway}
Princess turned 5 years old on Thursday. My kids’ birthdays freak me out a little because as much as I love any excuse to throw a party, it is very bittersweet to see them growing up so fast. Her party won’t be held for a few more weeks, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a fun day. It started with breakfast in bed, an inspired idea courtesy of my friend Jen. Princess is one of those kids who never wants to wake up and would probably stay in bed all day if we let her, so she was in heaven. The look on her face when we walked in with ... read more
Once-a-Month Cooking {30 Meals in One Day}
For me the hardest thing about extreme couponing is figuring out what to cook with all that food. In fact, I started posting stockpile meal recipes each week for that very reason. Because, really, what good is getting everything at rock-bottom prices if you have no idea what to make? I first heard about once-a-month (OAM) cooking here, on one of my favorite blogs, Under the Sycamore. The concept intrigued me, but I found it far too overwhelming to even seriously consider. I mean, really, how do you know what recipes are going to taste good after being in the freezer? How do you know how to best prepare them ... read more
princess world (& disney’s tangled giveaway)
Okay, so I know technically I am still on my little LWSL vacation, but I’m starting to miss you all. So I thought today I would do something just for fun. I don’t know how it is where you are, but here in the girly world, I have one very excited Princess. If you know any little girls between the ages of 3 and 12, you may already know that today is the official release of Disney’s Tangled on DVD. We can’t wait to watch it. Doesn’t it look good? (Even Snow White is excited!) And now here’s the really good news. One lucky reader will win their very own ... read more
coupons 101: binder vs. filing (& qubie giveaway)
I really don’t like spending a lot of time messing with my coupons. There are too many other things to do! If you’ve read my Beginner’s Guide to Coupons or watched this video on quick & easy coupon organization, you know that I have always been a proponent of using a filing method for organizing your coupons. Instead of clipping and sorting all your coupons each week, you simply file the entire insert by date and only clip the ones you need after you make your shopping list. It is straightforward and easy to maintain, and it works great. But it’s not perfect. I often miss out on unadvertised deals ... read more
Giveaway Winners: Punk Rock Mama, Nursery Love, & Kid Biz
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I sincerely apologize for the lateness of these giveaway drawings, and for being MIA over the past week. My gift to my family was a few days away from the computer, and as I still have family in town for the next few days, my posting will continue to be on the light side. However, I do have a BIG announcement coming tomorrow, so be sure to check in for some very exciting news. So without further ado, here are today’s winners: The winner of the makeup clutch from Punk Rock Mama is…. Louis (Raven In a Blue Room)(#8), who said, “I ... read more
Princess, The Chatterbox (and Kid Biz I-Spy Bag Giveaway)
If you have, or have ever had a four-year-old, you will know what I’m talking about. I love Princess to death and she is, for the most part, pretty darn angelic (especially when compared to her demon-possessed high-spirited little sister.) But I’m not gonna lie. Sometimes she just drives me crazy. From the minute she wakes up until the moment she goes to bed, except maybe to eat, she never stops talking. And it’s not just mindless chatter that you can tune out, although I do try. Her chatter, for the most part, is highly imaginative pretend play that requires me, the listener, to engage with. “Mommy, you be the kid ... read more
Homemade Gifts: Embellished Picture Frame
When we lived in Seattle, one of our favorite family outings was feeding the giraffes at the Woodland Park Zoo. It began for Princess a serious love of all things giraffe. Books, toys, clothing, stuffed animals–if it is related to giraffes in any way, she is all over it. So when I came across an adorable giraffe alphabet print on an Etsy shop called Nursery Love, I knew it would be the perfect accent piece for her room (and a great Christmas gift!) Knowing I already had a matted frame that I had found on clearance a few months ago stashed away in the closet, I ordered the 4×6 print ... read more
Stocking Stuffers (& Punk Rock Momma Giveaway)
Most of my Christmas shopping these days consists of hunting for fabulous stocking stuffers. My girls each get one “big” gift from “Santa”, along with a gift from mommy & daddy (someday those two categories will be combined, but we are still deep within the midst of the “I believe in Santa Clause” phase. I love it. I hope it lasts forever.) Any adults who spend Christmas with us–aunts, uncles, grandparents–just get their own personalized stuffed stocking, also filled by “Santa.” When we first switched to this system, I thought I was doing myself a favor and making things simpler. And I guess in some ways it is simpler. But surprisingly ... read more
Holiday Baking Inspiration (& Nissa Lynn Apron Giveaway)
One of my very most favorite holiday traditions is baking. I know this is going to come as a shock, but I tend to go a little overboard. Last year I think I baked somewhere around 30 dozen cookies. It was insane. This year, I’m going to try to cut back just a little. But maybe not that much. There are just far too many beautiful, yummy-looking things to make! And home baked goods make lovely (yet economical) gifts, especially when packaged up with a little flair. I’ve been stocking up on baking staples for months and now I’m ready for some inspiration. Because holiday baking for me is not ... read more
