Friday, February 11, 2011

About Frugal Living:: Save on Heating Costs 1/26/11

Save on Heating Costs

Wednesday January 26, 2011

Dreading your next heating bill? Fight back with these tips:

About Frugal Living:: Stop Making Excuses 1/24/11

Stop Making Excuses

Monday January 24, 2011

Saving is an important part of the frugal lifestyle, but it's easy to put off. You don't have enough money; you have too much debt; you don't know where to start. There are lots of excuses that you could make, but none of them will put more money in the bank. So why not make this the year that you stop making excuses, and start saving?
Photo © Erin Huffstetler

About Frugal Living:: What's in Your Freezer? 1/21/11





If you read the forum, you know my freezer is currently stuffed with pumpkin puree and greens (enough to feed all of you). There's also freezer jam, homemade tomato sauce, blackberries, peaches, cranberries, beans, dill, nuts (foraged or bought on sale), onions, peppers and flour. I wish I could say there was some ice cream, but sadly I finished that off last night (Must find another sale and soon!).
So, now that you know what's in my freezer, I want to hear what's in yours. Wow me with your frozen assets.
Not sure what's in there?
Print out a copy of the freezer inventory list, and find out.
Related Reading:
Photo © Erin Huffstetler

About Frugal Living:: Get Free eBooks 1/19/11


Did you get an eReader for Christmas? Here's where to go to get more free eBooks than you could ever read:

About Frugal Living:: New Household Notebook Printables 1/17/11

New Household Notebook Printables

Monday January 17, 2011

Fire up those printers! I've got another batch of printables ready for your household notebook:
Photo © Erin Huffstetler

About Frugal Living:: New Rebate Offers 1/13/11

New Rebate Offers

Thursday January 13, 2011
Trying to cut your grocery spending this year? Use these rebates to put some free food in your pantry:
Related Reading:
Photo © Irish_Typepad

About Frugal Living:: Birthday Freebies 1/14/11



Birthday Freebies

Friday January 14, 2011

Vow to make 2011 the year of free. Here are a bunch of birthday freebies to help you kick off your efforts:
Related Reading:

About Frugal Living:: How to Save Money at Walgreens 1/28/11

How to Save Money at Walgreens

By , About.com Guide
Master all the ways to save at Walgreens, and walk away with tons of free and cheap loot. Here's what you need to know to start saving today:

Take Advantage of Register Rewards

Register Rewards are coupons that print at the register when you purchase certain products. They can be used like cash on your next purchase (but there are rules1 about how they can be used). Check the weekly sales ad to find out which products are eligible for rewards this week.

Important Things to Know About Register Rewards:

  • Register Rewards (RRs) have expiration dates, so you don't want to hang on to them for too long
  • If you want to buy multiples of an item that qualifies for RRs, you'll have to do multiple transactions – ringing everything up in one transaction will cause you to only get one reward
  • If you buy a qualifying item in one transaction, and then buy the same item in a second transaction, using the RRs from the first transaction will cause you to forfeit your rewards from the second transaction (they simply won't print out)
  • The number of coupons and RRs that you're using cannot exceed the number of items that you're purchasing. So, if you're buying five items, you can only use five coupons
Sound confusing? Once you give it a try, it won't be.

Use Instant Value Coupons

Check the weekly sales circular for Instant Value Coupons that you can cut out and use on your next trip. If you don't get a Sunday paper, you can find them online:

Become a Newsletter Subscriber

Sign up for the Walgreens e-newsletter4 to receive special coupons and promotional offers that you can't get anywhere else.

Match Coupons to Sales

Buying on sale is good, but buying on sale with coupons is better. Use a coupon matching site like couponmom.com5, and someone else will even do the legwork for you.
Combine store coupons with manufacturer coupons and Register Rewards to maximize your savings.

Print Manufacturers Coupons

Before you head to the store, check to see if there are any manufacturer coupons on the Walgreen's website that you could use. You'll find plenty of store brand coupons on there too:

Pick Up the Monthly Coupon Book

Walgreens puts out a monthly coupon book with all sorts of coupons and rebate offers. Look for it at the front of the store, near the sales circulars.

Look for Free After Rebate Offers

Walk up and down the aisles in search of products with "Try Me Free" peelies. Pay special attention to the hair care aisle, where shampoo and conditioner rebate offers abound.
See Also:

Buy Discounted Gift Cards

Save even more by buying discounted Walgreens gift cards through Plastic Jungle8.

Check the Clearance Endcaps

Endcaps are those shelves that "cap off" the ends of aisles. Some of them hold sales items, some of them are used to showcase new items, but the very best ones hold clearance merchandise. Take a lap around the outer perimeter of the store to figure out where your Walgreens puts its clearance goodies. Then, check back regularly.
This About.com page has been optimized for print. To view this page in its original form, please visit: http://frugalliving.about.com/od/storespecificsavings/tp/How-To-Save-Money-At-Walgreens.htm
©2011 About.com, Inc., a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.

About Freebies:: Allure Free Stuff Today: Free Lip Balm For the First 500 2/10/11

Allure Free Stuff Today: Free Lip Balm For the First 500

Thursday February 10, 2011
Today's freebie from Allure Free Stuff is free tubes of Pixi Succulent Lip Twin in Peony Pink which is a lip balm and lipstick all in one.
You can get a free tube of this lip balm by being one of the first 500 to enter at 12:00 p.m. EST today.
Set an online alarm clock and read my Allure Free Stuff tips and tricks so you're all ready to go.
Photo: Robyn Neild / Getty Images

About Freebies:: Last Allure Freebies of the Week: Free L'Oreal Hair Color 2/11/11

Last Allure Freebies of the Week: Free L'Oreal Hair Color

Friday February 11, 2011
It's your last chance this week to get an Allure freebie! Today's freebie is 500 boxes of L'Oreal Paris Sublime Mousse Permanent Conditioning Haircolor.
If you'd like to get a free box of the L'Oreal hair color, just fill out the freebie form at 12:00 p.m. EST. There are only 500 to be given away, so you'll need to be quick to enter.

About Housekeeping:: How to Clean and Organize Bookshelves and Bookcases 1/23/11

There are many bookshelves in my home with a lot of books on each one. I'm grateful that my family enjoys books as much as I do, but occasionally our collections get out of control and need to be pruned. If you have some chaos on your bookshelves, it doesn't take much to get them looking great.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: 30 minutes

Here's How:

  1. Take everything off of the shelves. Taking everything off of the shelves accomplishes two main purposes. With everything off of the shelf, you'll be able to clean and dust more efficiently. More importantly, you will have a clean slate to begin replacing the items you really want to keep.
  2. Dust down the inside and outsides of the shelf.Using a clean dry dusting cloth, wipe down the entire shelf. Begin at the top and work your way down the inside and the outside of the shelf. If there are any sticky and dirty spots on the shelf, lightly clean with mild dish soap and water, before drying the area completely.
  3. Choose what to keep. This might be the part that is hardest to do. Make sure that all the items you keep are ones that you love, plan to use, or cannot replace. Anything that doesn't fit that criteria, needs to go. These items can be donated or given away. Box them up and make plans on where you'll be taking them. The sooner you can get them out of your house, the less tempted you'll be to re-clutter your shelves.
  4. Rearrange items on the shelves. Decide on how the arrangement will best fit and look visually appealing on each shelf. Are you going to organize books by topic, by author, by size, or by color? Play around with having books placed vertically and horizontally. Vertically stacked books can double as bookends and add interest to your bookshelves. Use decorative boxes to store items like the USB cables to your camera, the chargers for your MP3 players, etc. Don't be afraid to add non-book items to your bookshelves to break up the space and add additional interest.

What You Need:

  • Dusting cloth
  • Box for items being donated
  • Decorative items

About Latter-day Saints:: Debt-Elimination Calendar 2/11/11

Debt-Elimination Calendar

Friday February 11, 2011
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has wonderfulfinancial resources to help individuals and families eliminate debt. One great resource is the Debt-Elimination Calendarwhich can help you reduce or eliminate unnecessary debt.

I have personally used this debt-elimination calendar, which helped my family eliminate several $1,000's in debt. See the sample chart in this article and follow the instructions for making your own debt-elimination calendar to help you more quickly and easily pay off your creditors.

Also see the Budget Worksheets and Family Life Category for additional family financial resources.

About Latter-day Saints:: The Lord Will Plead Your Cause 2/9/11

The Lord Will Plead Your Cause

Wednesday February 9, 2011

There's a powerful scripture in The Book of Mormon that gives great hope to those who are suffering affliction and injustice from others- as long as they are pure in heart:

"But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction. 

"O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever." (Jacob 3:1-2).
The pure in heart are those who are clean and free of sin, meaning they continually repent of their sins and are sanctified through the cleansing power of the Spirit. This is only possible because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, but itis possible.

Having a pure heart is to be like Jesus Christ and to achieve Zion:

"And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them. 

"And Enoch continued his preaching in righteousness unto the people of God. And it came to pass in his days, that he built a city that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion." (Moses 7:18-19)
The Lord is aware of our trials and temptations. He asks that we have faith and keep His commandments.

As you become pure in heart, trust Him, and "pray unto him with exceeding faith" He will "console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction."

Followers