Our Trip Today......

Well, we got in on the FREE Artisan Pizza from Domino's today and then from there we stopped by Yoke's to pick up our cheap potatoes........

Now, the pizza is not big enough to feed a family, but JUST perfect enough to feed some hugary kiddos for lunch! Both Domino's and Yoke's were so friendly today too!

You can find out more about the Domino's deal here.
You can find out more about Yoke's potatoes deal here.

Thanks Domino's and Yoke's!

Cheryl

Zumba

I have shared with you lately of my new love, Zumba. I LOVE IT!!! I AM addicted, but trying VERY hard to ration myself. I don't want to wear out a good thing now. For those of you who have not experienced Zumba, but have wondered what it is. Well.......I'm not really sure either. :) To me, really, it feels like a big dance party. The class that I go to is ALL women. Yes, it is a women's only class. I LOVE that! Nothing against men, but, for me, I feel less self-conscious. There are women of all ages, shapes, sizes, and capabilities. I LOVE THAT!! One of the best things......NO MIRRORS! Oh, I feel so sorry for the people that have to see me do Zumba; now, I really don't want to have to see myself do it. ;)

Seriously, it is soooo fun! If you have been thinking about, give it a try. Once you get a taste, you will want more. :)

Anyway, here is a website that I use EVERYDAY to learn about Zumba in our area. Just go on over here and you can punch in your zip to see where and when classes are taught in your area. Some of them too you can get prices for the classes. Scope out the churches and community centers. Those, I found, are the cheapest that I have discovered.

You can get a lot of information from the Zumba website. Go check it out. There is a lot of info on there about Zumba. I feel it is very very informative.

Anyway, good luck and I would really love to hear what you think!

Good luck!

Cheryl

PS~I just learned that Zumba is Latin inspired.

I'm tryin.....

Well, as most of you know school is now back in session. It just started yesterday for my kiddos and boy I am havin' a hard time. My little Blakey, you know my assistant, is now in school! :)/:( Yes, I am happy but sad. I found myself today getting ready to call his name only to realize that he was not with me, but off at school on a new journey in this thing called "life." Yesterday it was nice because my husband took the day off to help with the first day of school and to help me cope with Blakey being in school. I do have to admit that I did cry a bit, but it was as I was walking away and leaving him to his very very wonderful teacher. I know he's in good hands, but still. Then, today I was left on my own to handle things. Thankfully I was really busy with work and had a lot on my desk that I didn't have time to think about it too much. I barely got to the school in time to pick him up. I was running a little late.

Faith and Trent are really liking their new journey's too. It is just great to see how they grow. It's sad (just 'cause they don't need me as much like they used to), but it is AWESOME at the same time to see their growth. They both REALLY like their teachers, which is GREAT! Blakey really likes his teacher too! So, we scored with all of that. Now, let's see how they fair with homework?

Check this out.....I have to tell you I am sooooo proud to call this lady my friend! This here is my friend and "old" teacher of my son, Trent. Looky.....she is Teacher of The Month (nominated by one of her student's from last year)!



Photo Credit

Well, congrats Mrs. Murray! You truly are so AWESOME and I am sooooo very proud to call you my friend! Truly, we, as parents, are soooo lucky to have you in our school system and in our childrens' corners. Thank you for everything you do!

Well, here's to another GREAT school year!

Cheryl

Local-Jennifer's Auto Sales

I wanted to let you in on a deal from one of THE best auto sales places in Spokane, Jennifer's Auto Sales & Service. I say that because we have personal experience with them and go back EVERYTIME we are in need of a new vehicle. Seriously, THE BEST customer service and BEST staff!

Are you in the market for a new vehicle? I highly suggest Jennifer's Auto Sales & Service in the valley. They will help you out. Go in and ask for Jeff Franks and tell him/them that Ryan and Cheryl sent you. We deal with him all the time and he is ONE of THE BEST, although I am a bit partial as he has always treated us soooo well. We have been back a good three or four times. LOVE THEM!!

Anyway, I have a GREAT deal to share with you..... Today, and today ONLY, you can go on over to Jennifer's here and wish her a Happy Birthday and receive a FREE oil and filter change! How's that for a deal?

I love it!

Thanks Jennifer's!

Cheryl

P.S. - I don't know how you go about actually getting this, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. :O

Rambling.....

Okay, so I just am amazed. I was just checking out myhabit.com this morning. Don't know why I even bother, 'cause every time I try to go get a deal I'm too slow and what I want is out. :( It's a challenge, I guess, and I kinda like challenges. :) I laugh every time. One of these days I will score a deal!!! ☺

Anyway, I never ever look at the women's stuff as it is WAAAAAYYYYY OVER BUDGET for me! Yep, as you all know I'm cheap frugal. Right? Well, I just thought I would check out the women's stuff today just for some entertainment. I must have bad taste because this stuff is expensive and......well....to put it nicely....not something that I would find myself wearing (not to mention that none of it would probably fit my "curvy" physique, ☺if you get my drift).

Anyway, I ran across something that I wanted to share with you. Just look at this, would ya?!

THAT IS ON SALE FOR $1,149. IT WAS $3.599!!!!!! WHAT??!!!! SERIOUSLY, IT'S SOLD OUT!!!! Okay, it is not bad lookin', but REALLY $1,149?!!! ANNNNNND.........SOMEBODY (IES) BOUGHT AND PAID FOR IT AT $1,149!!!!

The things that I could do for $1,149!

Maybe that just makes me outright CHEAP! I dunno, but $1,000! Wow!

Anyway, just thought I would share with you what I saw this morning.

Thanks for listening/reading! ☺

Cheryl

Something a "little" exciting for The Frugal Life of a Mom....

So, I did not share with you all that Stephanie Clifford, a reporter, from the NY Times called and interviewed me last week as a result of my post about the Walmart gas rollback. She covers the retail industry for the New York Times. Anyway, very very nice lady and good interview. I seriously didn't even know if I gave her anything that she could use as we cannot take part in the promo here, but she said I did. Well, I didn't know if she "really" meant that or whether she simply was just trying to be nice. Well, guess what??!!! I can now add "featured in the NY Times" to my credentials! ☺

Here is her article. It is a long article, but you will see MY name and MY blog name towards the middle of the article.

Anyone know how I can get a printed version of July 4th NY Times?

Wow! Thanks Stephanie!

Cheryl

Look what came to my door today.....

Remember that Glidden paint giveaway that I told you about here? Well, I just wanted to show you what landed on my doorstep today.....

Yes, that there is my FREE quart of Glidden paint!

My goal here was to show you that it really does pay to put in for those freebies that we bloggers post about. Now, not all of them will make it to your doorstep for many different reasons, but there are some that do come through and it sure is nice when they do. We will be able to use this for different projects around the house and whatnot. It's not a lot of pain, but it's more paint than what I had of this color that I DON'T have to pay our hard earned money for it. I can use my money for something else. What does a quart of Glidden paint cost anyway? I'm thinking 10-bucks or so. That is a pretty good savings on my end.

**Oh, a tip for when you do sign up for freebies and samples, n' stuff like that is to setup a "free" email account just for these offers, so that your regular e-mail does not get clogged up with a ton of spam and unwanted emails.

Wow, thanks Glidden paint for this AWESOME freebie!

Cheryl

Sad sad day.....

Know what this is????.... Well, let me tell ya'.....IT'S $7 P*!SED in the wind!!! Sorry for the bad language, but when it comes to losing out on a high-dollar amount, I can't help it. ;) Yep, there were really no good deals at Rite Aid this week, so I wasn't even planning on going, but when I got up Sunday, I checked my +Ups and my watch (to check the date, which it lied and said it was THE 28th). So, I drug myself and my hubby into Rite Aid on the way to Weight Watchers so we could spend those $7. Thank goodness I saw the expiration date before they expired, right? Well, that is what I was thinking to myself. I will just go in there and get the Renpur, use my +Ups, and be good to do for a while. Well, I hop my Weight Watcher self up there, proudly give her my +Ups, to only hear the dreaded BEEEEEP! Oh, I can't stand that sound! In my opinion, it ALWAYS means something bad, right?! BEEEEEP!!! What, why is it beeping, I ask her? Oh, well it's expired. No way!!!! Today's the 28th right? That's what my watch said. ☺ I gotta blame it on the watch, right? ;) Ughh!! It was the 29th! So, that was 7 bucks just thrown to the wind. I can't stand it when I let something like that happen. We work so hard to get those Ups, roll them, and do whatever so we can have them. Darn it!

One thing that I did get out of it, was that she stated to me that they ALWAYS expire on Saturday. So, keep that in mind when you are keeping track of your +Ups.

She and my husband were actually was making fun of me because usually I am so organized when I get up to the cash register and now that I was caught in a bind, then I had to improvise and cut my +Ups there at the register, so I could use what I had. ☺ It was kinda funny.

To tell you the truth, I'm not as upset as I thought I would be. It's okay. Things happen, right? That is what I keep tellin' myself.

Have you ever done this? What's your take?

Cheryl

Recipe=Homemade Doggie Treats

Just a quick, little, funny update:  Well..... my husband was not too happy with me when I told him that he was eating a dog treat! LOL! I thought it was funny. He came in and said, "oh, what's this?" So, I said, "give it a try." Well, he knows me and hesitated a little and I told him "well, go ahead. Try it." He did. I told him to go ask the kids what he was eating. He did. They told him he was eating a dog treat. Needless to say.....he was not too happy with me. :) BUT, he did say they were good. :)

Well, I had stated this morning that I wanted to spend some quality time with the kiddos today. I really really like to bake, but I don't normally do that as I will eat it ALL. I fell like baking with your kiddos can really help bring you together. It helps them to be more comfortable in the kitchen and gets them to see what goes into their food, and it makes them proud. So, our little Sadie is an older pup and is missing quite a few teeth. They pulled a bunch of teeth when we got her from the shelter, instead of spaying her, 'cause she was already spayed. Anyway, we have to be careful on the type of food and treats that we get for her because she doesn't have any teeth. We usually get her Mighty Dog Food in a can, with cut up little pieces of meat. She refuses to eat the mush food. She will, but she does not like it very well. Anyway, when we buy her treats we have to buy the soft ones and break them up into smaller pieces so she does not choke. Yes, really we have had that happen before with her and it was REALLY scary. She refuses to believe that she is not a young pup anymore and that she cannot eat what she used to, so we do have to be careful as evidenced by the night of her "escapade on the table." I get so ticked at her when she gets in the garbage and gets a chicken bone or a pork chop bone. :( It just scares the heck out of me.

Anyway, I was doing some thinking and thought......well....why don't we try to bake some doggie treats? So, here is what we came up with and, of course, I cannot find my specific source, but when I google the name of this recipe soooo many pages come up. Anyway, many thanks to the creator of this recipe....

Banana Mutt Cookies
1 1/2 cups ripe mashed bananas
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups of oats
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto an ungreased sheet, and press flat with a fork. Bake for approximately 15 minutes. Then cool on a rack before serving. Store in an airtight container.

I did not have any applesauce and I did not feel like making it. So, I used peanut butter and a tad bit of water. I also did not add any nuts. (Remeber she has no teeth).

Anyway, I can't keep my kids out of these treats.  THEY ARE EATING THEM ALL!!!! I keep telling them that these are for Sadie. Anyway, she (Sadie) LOVES these treats!

I know, I cut Faith out of the picture, but I was just trying to hurry. Sadie was so excited about these treats!

Here is another picture of her begging me to give her some more treats....


I am sooo happy with this recipe. I think we will be doing this one again. Maybe next time we will try Tuna Brownies. ick.....

Thanks!

Cheryl

My AWESOME Deal Today.....

Look at my AWESOME deal that I got today......

Okay, so I'm thinkin' that you are probably saying to yourself....."Self, really is she out of her mind? Does she realize she just posted a picture of an ugly lookin' shrub? Where's the deal?" Well, I have answers for you....

1. No, I am not out of my mind, in my opinion (others may say different). :)
2. Yes, I do realize I posted a picture of my ugly lookin' shrub, which is not-so-ugly anymore.
3. Well, let me tell you this "ugly lookin' shrub," I think, helped to save me a lot of bucks!

Okay, so Blakey and I headed out today, before the storm. I needed to get some fresh fruit as we were running low. So, we were out and about doin' our thang. Today, in our neighborhood, it is garbage day. So, my cans were sitting out and whatnot. Anyway, we came home to try to pull into our driveway and our trash can is smack-dab, right in the middle of my driveway, on it's side, which it is not where it was this morning when we left. So, I get out and move it so I can pull in. Then, I look over and the recycle bin is lying in the middle of my front yard, on its side, which, again, is not where it was this morning when I left. So, I'm thinking to myself "boy, the Waste Management people were REALLY aggressive today," which still does not make sense. I'm all confused. The BIG doggies (German Shepards) next door are having a hay day. They are barking like they do not normally bark. Something is going on, but I can't figure it out as I am REALLY confused and THEY are being LOUD, which is quite unusual for them.

Anyway, I get out of my grocery getter (my AWESOME minivan) and start looking at my yard....THERE ARE TIRE TRACKS IN MY FRONT YARD, WITH DUG UP DIRT!!! So, I am standing there in disbelief, STILL trying to figure out what when on as now that I am looking, as you can see in the picture below, THESE TIRE TRACKS ARE ONLY INCHES FROM MY HOUSE!!!!

I really really believe that my "ugly" bush helped to stop a car from coming right into the middle of my front room! I can tell the bush is misplaced and uprooted a little. Anyway, I am STILL in disbelieve and now I'm shaking as this is just INCHES from the front of my house! I notice now that the nice lady from across the street is coming over. I asked her if she saw what happened. She says, "I just got off of the phone with the police and they are on their way. I did see some of what happened. I had heard a loud noise and came running out and this little blue Honda was in your yard. He came RIGHT up to your bushes! He reversed it and took off!" So, the police were on their way. In the meantime, I'm chattin' it up with her and just shaking and trying to hold my composure, because this could have been soooooooo much worse. Right? I AM irritated, but that's okay. The police come and grab a piece of something that fell off of this person's car. I asked him if there was something more I needed to do. He, of course, said no. I mean REALLY there are just tire tracks. Not much more could really or needed really to be done. Anyway, he did say that they were obviously going way too fast and that the de-icer that they laid down this morning made things a little slicker for him. Oh, and that it looks like a lot of damage was done to the car. :)

So, I look at it like this....I don't know about you, but I know that the grass, for me, is ALWAYS greener on the other side. Well, today I look at it as I'm on the other side. Things could have been soooooo much more worse. I could have a big hole in my front room. I could have had to put out lots of money, because of someone else being reckless, or somebody could have been hurt (people walk in front of my house all the time). You name it, it could have been A LOT worse. I mean I do have damage to my yard and my AWESOME ugly lookin' shrub, BUT it could have been sooooo much worse.

My shrub saved me lots of money today and therefore gave me an AWESOME deal!

I just wanted to take the time and share my "little" story with you and remind you, as I was reminded, that things could always be so much worse.

I know, for me, I have so much to be thankful for.

Anyway, I hope you all are having a GREAT day and I wanted you to know that I am thankful for you all (AND my "ugly" shrub)!

Cheryl

Not so frugal

Okay, I try REALLY hard to be as frugal (cheap) as I can be, so we have money for other things in our family. So, on our way out this morning to do the Rite Aid trip before Weight Watchers I was going to grab me an orange to have for breakfast at WW after weighing in. As you know I can't eat before facing Mr. Scale. He might just get mad at me and put on some extra numbers I don't want. Well, I forgot to grab my orange......

So, I actually made it to Rite Aid a couple of minutes before they opened, so I went over to Safeway to grab an orange for on-the-cheap. Well.......this little thing was not-so-frugal. It cost me $1! Seriously, this cost more than a couple of my Rite Aid transactions. It was good, but REALLY not worth $1. I guess that is what I get for forgetting my original orange. :(

Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

Cheryl

Rite Aid Trip Today

Yep, I can't seem to keep my butt out of Rite Aid this week! It's crazy! Okay, so I went back AGAIN today and here is what I got.....

Yeah, NO WONDER WHY I'M FAT!!! Lol, seriously this is really going to help with Christmas. I do have to admit with all the candy I have bought this week, I have managed to stay out of it. I am REALLY eyeing those candy cane ones though with a pretty close look at the mint truffle ones too. I didn't take a picture of it yesterday, but I was at Rite Aid yesterday too! And I bought four boxes of Pot of Gold. And, I only spent $0.96 OOP for that and go back $8 in +UP Rewards! I already gave one box away. Boy, that sure feels good.

Anyway, here is what I got today.

Hershey Kisses $2 each X6
-$1/2 printable X2
-B2G1 Free from this past week's insert
-$1/1 Hershey Kisses VV X3
-$1/2 Hershey Holiday Kisses VV X1
=$4, making them $0.67 each!

Airborne $4.99 X1
-$2/1 Rite Aid Wellness coupon
-$1.50/1 printable
=$1.50

Cellas Milk Chocolate Cherries $1.88 X2
no coupon :0, but you do get back a $1 +UP Reward

Kastins Old Fashion Candies $1.88 X1
no coupon :0, but you do get back a $1 +UP Reward


-$4/20
-$5 +UP Reward

TOOP was $2.13 before tax and $2.49 after tax. I'm feeling that that was an okay trip. I was able to get some stuff for school and to help Santa out a little. Plus, I DID get back $7 in +UP Rewards ($1 from Airborne, three $1s from the Hershey Kisses, two $1s from the cherries, and one $1 from Kastins)! This was a money maker!
Thanks!

Cheryl

I love my mailman today.......

Okay, so after having a morning of major chaos, my mailman came to my door today and MADE MY DAY! Maybe he didn't make my day, but really helped to perk me up.:) I opened everything up and could barely contain myself (yeah, I get excited really easy). Tried to take a picture with really shakey hands because I was so excited to share with you all of what I got in the mail today.......

Okay, so I got the coffee "sample" from Green Mountain Coffee from their Facebook page. Look at the mug I got too! The toothpaste sample, I got from Walmart as with the Playtex sample. The Vaseline lotion sample I got from Sam's Club. This one, you didn't have to be a member to get the sample, which is a good thing because we don't have a Sam's Club in our city. :( But, not only that, look at all those coupons I got too!

This is why I post samples and why I send for them. It really does add up and like I said before, I just put it in my little box. I will have to take a picture of that some day and show you what I mean. Then, we just have it for when we need something small. These samples sizes are REALLY nice to have on hand.

Just another thing I wanted to share with you all.....

Thanks!

Cheryl