For All My Deal-hunters!

I'm obsessed with getting good deals. Freaking obsessed. And I know my addiction has not gone unnoticed because people ask me all the time how and where I get all these good deals. So, in light of me having much more free time without school while awaiting our baby boy (yeah, he still doesn't have a name), I figured I'd make a ginormous blog post about everything-and I mean everything-I do to make extra cash, get free gift cards, and just save money. I'll start off easy.

Actually, before I start, I recommendation to keep in mind: set up a "junk" email. Use it for all the couponing sites, newsletters, etc. Don't kill the email account you actually trust and get emails from your family on...because with a lot of freebies, comes spam.

Basic couponing. 

I always recommend people read The Krazy Coupon Lady's "beginners" info here. It's a good idea to get an idea of how it's done and the lingo that goes with it all. Another feature from her site that I LOVE is the "print coupons" tab. This is a list of hundreds of printable coupons available listed alphabetically-if I know there are certain brands of products on my list, I always check the database to see if there's a coupon for it. She will also post match-ups every week for lots of stores-matching sales with available coupons.

There are also printable coupon sites:

• Coupons.com
• Smartsource.com
• Redplum.com
• Couponnetwork.com

Another piece of advice: If you like a brand - follow them on Facebook, sign up for their newsletters, get on their website and see if they offer coupons-if they don't, try emailing them to ask for coupons.

Inserts come in a lot of newspapers; if you can get a good deal, subscribe to a paper, or find someone who already does and doesn't use their inserts!

Savings & Deals

My favorite has been twitter. Whenever my favorite deal bloggers (Penny Pinchin Mom, KCL, Totally Target, Must Love Coupons) post a new blog post, it immediately hits my twitter feed and I can see the latest deals, ASAP. My computer is open pretty much all day and a tab for twitter is always up; I can check it as little or as much as I want and it only takes a few seconds. I am going to start using my twitter for this same purpose, just mostly "retweeting" the deals I think are really good. If you want to follow me, my account is @KaliRollins.

Heyitsfree.net is a pretty good site for freebies.

The love of my life: my target card. If you shop at Target as much as I do, it's totally worth it. I still only buy things I would normally buy with cash and keep it paid off, but I get an extra 5% and free online shipping. 

Point-Earning Websites

Swagbucks: You can invest a lot or a little time in this site. I mainly stick with the daily poll, NOSO, using the search & win bar, shop & earn, and coupons (this is the same database as coupons.com, except you'll earn 10 points for every coupon you redeem!) Points can be redeemed for giftcards, etc. A huge favorite is the $5 Amazon.com gift card-it's the best deal for the points and you can rack up a nice gift card balance on your amazon account. If you're interested, check out Swagging 101 and you can click as many or as few subjects on the left as you want. If you want to sign up: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/kalirollins

Recyclebank.com can be a hit or miss depending on the rewards available. You do "tasks" that teach you how to be more eco-friendly in return for points. These points can be redeemed for gift cards, coupons, or other goodies.

Rewardtv.com: You can take quizzes on shows you watched the previous day or take random surveys (surveys are usually worth more). Twice a week they do a "shopping spree"- at a specific time, 3 gift cards go "live" and you can redeem your points for these. The only catch is that there are only a certain number of each-I've only found success in the $5 gift cards; I open up the page on Google Chrome about 5-10 minutes before and once it goes live, I hit the redeem button as fast as I can.

Bing: Yup, the search engine. It can vary by month how many points/day you can get for searching, but it's usually between 10-20. I just type in a search with big words and backspace one letter at a time until I've reached my point limit. It takes less than a minute a day. You can redeem your points for gift cards, redbox rentals, etc. If you do 150 searches/month, you'll hit "gold" status and get rewards for even less points. I really like the Tango dollars because it's cheap and I can redeem them on the Tango site for various gift cards. If you want to sign up: click here.

Mypoints.com: I sign up for their emails; there are a lot that will give you 5 points for "clicking through" to the advertised site. I literally click through to get my points and close that tab without even looking at it. I also use this site when I shop online as it will give you a certain amount of points/dollar spent. If you're already shopping online, why not get paid for it?? If you're interested in signing up, you can give me your email and I can set you up as a referral-that way we can both get extra points ;)

And if you have a baby in pampers or huggies....ENTER YOUR POINT CODES IN THEIR SITES!! For real, though, if you have to spend a ton on diapers and wipes, at least get something free out of it.

Survey Sites

If you have a lot of free time on your hands or are a stay-at-home mom like me, these are great. If you have a paying job...you might not find them worth it. You'll never get rich of these, but you can definitely make some extra cash.

Synnovate.com
Surveyspot.com
Pinecone Research (I believe this is invitation by members only; they send me an email when they have openings and I can pass it along)

I'm sure there's more. Once you've been doing it for this long, you get the hang of it so much that you actually forget all the stuff you do! If you have any questions, feel free to email or facebook me. I'm off to start tweeting!

Makeover!

This is a quick and rare blog post...15 credit hours of school+full time mom+full time wife=full time crazy me. This week, Lexi's room got a much needed makeover (thanks to my pinterest addiction).

First pinterest idea: stripes

Second pinterest idea: this quote, printed and framed (it's on the wall to the left of the window)
Third pinterest idea: these pictures with ribbons on the top..by far my favorite "pin"

Cake pops. AKA...a learning process.

I've been dying to make cake pops since I saw them for the first time and I figured since we were having people over for our Zumba House Party, why not test them out? Let me tell ya...they are a pain! I used candy melts, which was too thick and resulted in me adding vegetable oil to thin it out. After that, it wasn't as awful, but it was still time consuming. Would I make them again? yes. (only for a special occasion!) They're cute, they just take practice!


The finished products:


And, to no surprise, there was a little girl tugging on my pant-leg seeing if mommy would share a treat. I gave her one without the coating..she wasn't so sure at first and carried it around for a while. Finally, after me constantly telling her to eat it, she took the first bite. It was gone in no time and she was begging for more! (and no, this mean mom didn't give her another one!)

Red Velvet Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

I found this recipe through Pinterest and knew right away I had to make these for a friend to try. Now that I have a KitchenAid, I'll bake anything for anyone. Seriously.

I love swirling things.

They don't look as pretty, but I was told several times how good they were (I wasn't a big fan).

Yum-o!

Peanut butter blossoms are probably my all-time favorite cookie. I remember my mom making them weeks before Christmas and freezing them and I was always sneaking a few out and zapping them in the microwave. I could probably eat an entire batch by myself. My KitchenAid Christmas present already came in the mail, and I got to work right away baking any and everything. These were at the top of my list and I tried to make them a little more festive by coloring the dough. Maybe next time I'll just color the sugar.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas..

After growing up and having a real Christmas tree every year, I was bound and determined to do the same when I had my own family. I was shocked when my mom bought a fake Christmas tree and vowed to never buy a fake tree without that yummy pine smell. Then I thought of Alexis and her fascination of poking everything...sap getting on the floor...poky little needles pricking our hands and shedding everywhere...and I caved. We found a decent priced tree at Walmart that had almost 5 star reviews and I went for it. It was a long process (I think the stand it came with was too small; after Zack took a hammer to the pole to "make it fit", we ended up having to buy a different stand), but it looks good! We set it up after Lexi went to bed, so the next day she got to ooo and ahh over all the sparkly lights and glittery ornaments.

Her special ornament she made with Summer-this is the cutest idea!! Another productive and successful Pinterest find!

I let her hang an ornament..which she just dropped into the tree, picked it back up and then insisted on carrying it around the house.

Playing with an ornament-she quickly realized that the top part came off. Later I noticed her trying to put it back in, which just scratched the ornament up. She ended up breaking it anyway...I guess it was already a goner!
I love her in this dress...I could just squeeze her all day! It's too bad cuddling with mommy is not cool anymore.

Thanksgiving

We finally got the keys to our new house the day after the Marine Corps Ball and spent that entire weekend moving. My parents came down on Sunday to spend Thanksgiving with us (and help!)-it was a much needed and much appreciated visit! Lexi was quick to warm up to Grandpa & Grandma-especially after they gave her what was supposed to be her Christmas present! Luckily we had some nice weather to enjoy from the new patio area, which was also used for bubbles! Lexi loves bubbles and was happy to have someone just sit and blow a steady stream.
She makes the most hilarious faces!
My mom and I cooked our first Thanksgiving in our new house and made it complete by inviting friends!
This little cheeser was overjoyed to have more play buddies at her dispense and I think it's safe to say it was a mutual feeling :) She is loved more than she will ever know!

Pudding Pals

Checking out the cute girl in the oven. (with her favorite Halloween "treat"-her pumpkin pencil)Cheese! She did have a really cute flower clip in her hair..which, to no surprise, she yanked out in no time.
WHAT?! WE'RE GOING TO MAKE PUDDING?!
She wasn't so sure at first...












Then she got stir happy! (and threw a fit when I finished stirring and put the pudding in the fridge)












Here's a video to re-cap her stirring (and dancing) "skills."


Yummy!!

ARRR!

Anyone notice a resemblance in a certain little girl's eating habits?

Pasta Freak

This kid is a pasta FREAK. I don't how many times a week she eats pasta-she could eat it every day and be perfectly content. She usually starts out nicely eating with a spoon, then realizes she can use her spoon AND her other hand..and it all goes downhill from there-touching everything around her, rubbing her eyes, playing with her hair...
How do I know this is her favorite? This is the end of her THIRD princess plate full of pasta.
Now I'm off to give her a much needed bath and wash a load of unexpected white laundry.