Frugal Living

Aug 6, 2012

Where Are The Best Deals On School Uniforms?

Aug

2012

Monday

I asked you guys on Facebook earlier today where the best deals for school uniforms were and I got lots of great answers!!

I thought I’d put the top answers in a post here so that the information can help out others who are looking for answers to this same question…

“Where can you find the best deals for school uniforms? I would like to find items that will last all year, and possibly even long enough for me to resell, but that don’t cost an arm and a leg. Any suggestions on where to shop?”

1. Old Navy. Old Navy is actually having an AWESOME back to school sale this week (both in-stores and online) with their children’s jeans for just $10 (reg. $19.97) and school uniform polo short sleeve tops for just $5 (long-sleeve for $8!) I think if we had kids that needed uniforms that Old Navy is where we would be shopping right now for anything we didn’t get at the thrift store during the year. Free shipping on orders of $50 or more (and if you have a GAP/Banana Republic/Old Navy credit card, then you might want to shop on Tuesday when you can get an extra 10% off with the code TUESDAYS). Also, now through 8/8 you can use the coupon code ONBIG20 to get 20% off any size order!

2. The Children’s Place. This week The Children’s Place is having a great back to school sale with uniforms at 25% off, jeans at $10, AND FREE SHIPPING on any size order if you shop TODAY (Monday August 6th).

3. Target. Many readers are reporting great deals in-store and I’m seeing lots of great deals on school uniforms online too. Shipping is free if you spend over $50… OR if you have a Target Red Card (which is definitely one card I recommend having if you do any amount of shopping at Target.com) then you’ll get an additional 5% off your purchase and free shipping on any size order!! If you are shopping in-store then be sure to take the $3 off any Cherokee kids item of $12.99 or more coupon with you!

4. Kohls. While I’m not super impressed with the Kohls prices online right now (let me know if you see anything worth mentioning!) they are having a Kohls Cash promotion right now where you can get $10 back in Kohls Cash for every $50 you spend. PLUS, you can get an extra 20% off on kid’s clothing through TOMORROW (Tuesday August 7th) with the coupon code LIBRARY20.

5. JCPenney. I know lots of you guys are upset by them not offering coupons any longer, BUT their prices on uniforms are pretty good right now. And if you shop in store, be sure to grab a free kid’s haircut while you’re there! Shipping is free to the store, so if you have a JCP near you, I’d definitely recommend doing that (just use the coupon code JCPSHIP).

6. Lands End and Sears. The prices at Sears and Land’s End are pretty good, and I’ve been consistenly impressed with the quality of clothing at Lands End. They also have a great rewards program where you can get points for all of your purchases! If you’re planning on buying Dockers from Sears, definitely print the $10 off $75 Dockers Coupon that they have right now! Shipping is also free to any Sears store so that’s really nice if you have a Sears store near you! If you’re shopping online at LandsEnd.com, make sure you use the coupon code KIDCOLOR with the Pin: 4103 to get FREE SHIPPING on any size order!!

7. Shopping at consignment stores, thrift stores, & Goodwill. Lots of readers have found GREAT deals on gently-used school uniforms at resell shops. A couple of my tips to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck if you’re buying used are to (1) check all of the seams for any tears and (2) if you have a smart phone, search for that brand online to make sure that what you are getting at the consignment store really is a great deal (sometimes it’s just as inexpensive, or even less online).

8. Army Supply Stores. Apparently the army supply stores have solid color polo shirts at great prices! Let us know what if you find if you shop here!

Let us know if you see any other great uniform deals!!

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Leave a Comment | Author: Rachel Holland
Filed Under: Articles, Clothing Deals, Front Page, Frugal Living, Great Deals

Apr 30, 2012

How To Have A LEGO Birthday Party For Under $100!

Apr

2012

Monday

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Those of you who are following us on Facebook know that a couple of weekends ago we had a LEGO Birthday party for our 7 year old boy! We typically don’t do the themed parties… in the past, birthday parties have just been an excuse to have a bunch of families we know over and hang out together! But he REALLY wanted a LEGO party this year with just a handful of his friends.

And you know, I really think they would’ve been happy with just cupcakes and Lego Star Wars on the Wii. I had to DRAG the boys away from Lego Star Wars to play the games that I had planned for them, lol!! So, if you do have a LEGO party, and you have a Wii… that game of LEGO Star Wars just might be worth buying because it will entertain them for at least half of the party time!

So here’s what we did from start to finish, along with the price breakdown for each item:

1. Invitations

I had everyone’s email address that we were going to invite, so I just sent out email invitations instead of mailing them! It’s easy to make an invitation that you can email out to friends with a free photo editing program like Pixlr.com! You can make your own LEGO letters for the invitation from this LEGO letters website (use the color changer in your photo editing software to make it match your invitations.) Feel free to download the blank template here and then you can use the photo editing program to add in your information!

(If you’re looking to purchase invitations to mail out in the mail, check out these super cute LEGO Birthday Party Invitations that you can buy! Plus Expressions Paperie offers some great coupon codes from time to time so be sure to sign up for their email list too if you plan on buying something in the near future!)

Price: FREE

2. Food

Pizza from Target for 8 little boys? It was only $4! I did splurge on the Honest Kids Organic Juice at around $3.50 for the package.

Price: $7.50

3. Plates & Decorations

We didn’t need cups because we had the juice pouches so we only had to get the plates which were $1.99 at Party City for the 8-pack.

Price: $1.99

We bought 12 balloons (only 11 made it to the party though) and tied them to yellow cones that we had in the garage. I also got the big HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEGO Star Wars sign to hang up in the room.

Oh, and a big bowl of LEGOs in the middle of the table for them to build with (FREE!) :)

Price – $12 for balloons, $5.99 for the sign

(Yes, we mixed regular LEGOS and LEGO Star Wars stuff and none of the boys seemed to mind!)

4. Cake

OH MY GOODNESS the cupcakes were amazing!!! And yes, those are fondant LEGOS, and yes, they are AWESOME (it’s marshmallow fondant, not typical nasty fondant and it is DIVINE!)

The cupcakes were made from this White Cake Recipe, this Buttercream Frosting Recipe (except with all butter since I’m not a shortening fan), and this Marshmallow Fondant Recipe!

One more picture? Yes, those are charger plates from our Christmas collection and one of them is on top of an upside down bowl! Do you think the boys noticed? NOPE!

Price: around $13.00 for everything you need for the cake! (A friend of mine had the candy mold, but if you don’t have it then it’s $12.99 for the lego ice cube tray/candy mold that you need to make the fondant legos.)

5. Entertainment

Well, like I said earlier, the boys would’ve been more than happy to play LEGO Star Wars the entire time, but I had planned games for them so I forced them away from the Wii!

Game #1: Guess The # Of LEGOs

This was a super easy one and they loved it! I got one of my small jar containers from the pantry, emptied it into a ziploc (it was storing baking powder) and filled it up with LEGOs. Then I had the boys guess how many were in there! No one got close (there were 237 and the highest they guessed was 110), but they still had fun!

Game #2: Pin the shark in the water!

This was an impulse buy at Party City, but I’m glad we got it. The boys had fun playing it and I just didn’t have the time to cut out a full lego figure from construction paper to play pin the head on the LEGO guy. (Price of this one was $4.99).

Game #3: LEGO Relay Game!

The boys had a blast with this one! I divided them up into two teams (they had to pick either a red lego or a blue lego from a bag to determine which team they were on) and lined them up. There were two bowls at each end of the yard… an empty bowl by the team, and a bowl full of legos in their color on the other side. They had to run across the yard and put one lego at a time on a spoon and run back and put it in their bowl and then pass the spoon on to the next player. Once the last person was finished then the first person ran again. They did this until one of the teams got all of the LEGOs in their bowl! They probably could’ve played this a couple more times, but we were running short on time since they had played LEGO Star Wars for so long earlier!

Game #4: Team Build!

I wasn’t quite sure how this one would work out. I had seen it on Pinterest and thought it was a great idea so I decided to try it and the boys loved it!! You get a bunch of random LEGO pieces and put them into a bag. Pass the bag around the group and each kid takes out one of the LEGOs and puts it on the flat LEGO board. It’s kind of like the game where you start a story and each person has to build onto the story as you go along… except with LEGOs! The boys were very proud of their creation (and all of them enjoyed it… from the 4 year old up through the 10 year old!)

6. Party Favors

I wanted each boy to be able to take home his own LEGO figure from the party, and I was worried this was going to be one of the most expensive items of all. Each LEGO person at the LEGO store is $3.33, so times 9 boys (because even though there were only 8 boys, you have to buy them in groups of 3 at the LEGO store) is $29.97 plus tax. So instead I got two of the LEGO City Police Minifigure Collections at Target for $8.99 each. Each of the boxes came with 4 guys, so it was perfect! And the boys really enjoyed putting them together too (I’m sure the pieces didn’t end up going with the right characters, but everyone was happy with what they made!)

I also got them LEGO Star Wars pencils, pencil sharpeners, and notepads – around $9 total.

Plus the party bags (the treat sacks) which were $2.99 for an 8 pack.

Total for party favors: $29.97 (for EVERYTHING… which was as much as the 9 LEGO men would’ve started to begin with!)

7. The Piñata

The Piñata was another impulse buy but it was such a hit with the boys! The only problem was that it didn’t hold together very well and ended up busting after only a few kids had had their swing at it (anyone know how to reinforce a Piñata?). That was okay though because the candy falling from it more than made up for the breakage! And there really is no reason to stuff a Piñata FULL of candy if you’re not having a big party. We only got about $6 worth of candy and it was plenty for all 8 boys.

Total cost: $15 for the Piñata + $6 for the candy = $21

If I had it to do over again I wouldn’t have bought the extra party favors which would’ve shaved $9 off the cost, and I would’ve prepared a little more beforehand and made our own Happy Birthday sign to shave off another $5.99.

GRAND TOTAL: $96.44!

Definitely under my ideal party price of $100, and if I wouldn’t have gotten the extra party favors and happy birthday sign it would’ve only been $81.45!

We’ve had parties at the park with just hot dogs, chips, drinks, and cake that cost more than this (because you have to feed EVERYONE, not just the kids) so I was very very happy with the final price of everything!

And ALL of the boys (from age 4 up to age 10) had a blast!

I would love to hear your LEGO party ideas too!! Where do you shave off extra costs on birthday parties?

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14 Comments | Author: Rachel Holland
Filed Under: Articles, Front Page, Frugal Living, How To/DIY, Survival Tip Tuesday

Apr 27, 2012

How To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies With Apple Cider Vinegar And Dish Soap

Apr

2012

Friday

38 Comments

How To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies

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Does anyone else out there hate fruit flies as much as I do?

I have tried a few different methods over the years to try to get rid of them, but this past weekend I heard about a new method (new to me) from some friends of ours using apple cider vinegar and dish soap!

Since the ACV/dish soap method is much easier than the paper funnel method that I had settled on in the past, I decided to try it. So last night before I went to bed I put out a bowl of apple cider vinegar and poured a decent amount of dish soap in with it.

When I woke up this morning, most of the fruit flies in the house were at the bottom (see picture at the top of the post)!! VICTORY!!

There are still a few left who are refusing to get in the apple cider vinegar, but hopefully they will get desperate enough and dive in soon.

I’d love to hear from you guys on this topic! What do you use to get rid of fruit flies?

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38 Comments | Author: Rachel Holland
Filed Under: Articles, Frugal Living, How To/DIY, Natural Living, Natural Remedies, Survival Tip Tuesday

Jan 5, 2012

Beating My Sugar Addiction & Meeting My Weight Loss Goals In 2012 {New Year, New You Series}

Jan

2012

Thursday

16 Comments

It’s 2012!

Have you made any new years resolutions/goals yet?

I’m not huge on making new years resolutions, but this year I do have several goals, and I want to share a few of them with you over the next few weeks because they all have to do with frugality!

My first goal for the new year that I want to share with you is a very personal one, but something that so many of us struggle with. Weight.

Well, actually I’m convinced that the struggle is not weight in and of itself, it’s a fight against sugar and carbs, which most of us (including me) are pretty addicted to.

Sure, I use whole wheat flour and sucanat, but an addiction is an addiction even if it’s a “healthified” addiction. And I have for sure been addicted to carbs and sugar since I got pregnant this last time.

And honestly, I do fairly okay with controlling my addictions when I’m not pregnant or nursing, but when either one of those is in the picture… I’m a goner.

Enter, The South Beach Diet.

If you have been following me on Facebook recently then you’ll know that on January 1st I started up Phase 1 of South Beach.

I have GOT to kick this carb/sugar habit, and really South Beach is what I have found in the past to be most effective.

Plus, I just really would like to lose my baby weight. And… okay, first couple of years of college weight too.

I have about 60 pounds to lose to be at my “oh my goodness it would be a dream to be at this weight” weight. But realistically I’m shooting for 35 – 40 pounds overall.

So what does this have to do with frugality?

Well, a lot actually. For one, being in phase 1 and phase 2 of South Beach means that I have to completely redo my shopping and meal planning. I don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on food, so I have to really be creative here to stay on the meal plan and not spend a ton extra. I’ll be sharing some of this journey with you all over the next several weeks here on the site and on the Facebook page!

Another reason is that I want my healthcare costs in my 40s, 50s, and beyond to be MINIMAL. I don’t want to end up with weight to lose in my 40s and 50s after my metabolism has slowed down even more than it already has. Extra weight is attributed to an increase in heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, all of which have major medical costs associated with them. I really want to think about the future, and do all I can NOW to keep any extra medical costs as low as possible.

So I will be sharing my journey with you all mostly on the Surviving The Stores Facebook page, even though I will likely post at least a few of the recipes that I’ve been making here on the site (like homemade Falafels… OH MY they were AMAZING!!)

What are your goals for 2012? Is weight loss one of them? What steps are you taking to achieve those goals?

And be sure to join us on Facebook so we can all encourage each other!

This post is part of the New Year, New You Series

I have teamed up with five other bloggers to share our plans, dreams, and goals for 2012. Hopefully they can encourage and inspire you to accomplish some of the goals that you have set for yourself this year!

Stay tuned for more and be sure to check out the other AWESOME blogs participating to see what’s inspiring them as we begin 2012:

Amy at Mom’s Toolbox
Erin at $5 Dinners
Lynn at Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures
Sarah at Give Me Neither
Stephanie at Couponing 101

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16 Comments | Author: Rachel Holland
Filed Under: Articles, Front Page, Frugal Living, Menu Planning

Dec 11, 2011

Saving Money By Making Homemade Coupon Books To Give!

Dec

2011

Sunday

1 Comment

It seems like every time I turn around in the house I’m tripping on a toy, or clothes left on the floor, or a book, or a game, or a video game… I’m truly thankful for the things that we have, but at the same time I just want to shout “NO MORE STUFF!!”

And buying more “stuff” to end up on the floor just seems like a ton of money completely wasted. And you guys know how much I REALLY don’t like wasting money!

So what are some other creative things we could give?

One of the neat things I’ve run across this year is the idea (I think maybe I saw some buzz about this on Pinterest recently) of giving experiences instead of physical gifts. Things like a family membership to a local zoo, or a day at a ropes course doing zip lines and high ropes.

And my FAVORITE way to give experiences as gifts for just about any holiday (this same idea works great for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, & Father’s Day too!) is to give homemade “coupon books”.

These “coupon books” are completely your own creation and you can have a ton of fun coming up with different ideas…

“This Coupon Is Good For… Movie Night With Dad”
”This Coupon Is Good For… Sweeping & Mopping The Kitchen Anytime”
”This Coupon Is Good For… A Back Rub”
”This Coupon Is Good For… One Night Out To Eat At Your Favorite Restaurant”
”This Coupon Is Good For… 20 Tokens At Chuck E Cheese”

No idea is too crazy, and the possibilities are endless!

And here’s the best part… the work has pretty much been done FOR YOU!!

My friend Jen, over at Balancing Beauty And Bedlam, has created these AWESOME customizable Coupon Books that you can type in and print right from your home computer. No design experience necessary at all!

Just head over to Jen’s site to print your Homemade Coupon Books!

Have you ever tried this idea? Have you ever RECEIVED a coupon book from a loved one?

Be sure to check out all of the other AWESOME blogs that are participating in the 12 Days Of Christmas series:

Christmas Homeschool Fun: 1+1+1=1
Christmas Decorations: Songbird
Tips for a Healthy Holiday: The Thrifty Mama
Travel Tips: Mom’s Travel Tales
Christmas Recipes: Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures
Christmas Family Fun: Life as Mom
Homemade Christmas Gifts: The Happy Housewife

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1 Comment | Author: Rachel Holland
Filed Under: 12 Days Of Christmas, Articles, Christmas, Front Page, Frugal Living, Surviving The Holidays Tagged With: 12 Days Of Christmas

Dec 9, 2011

Saving Money By Shopping Garage Sales

Dec

2011

Friday

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The other week I stopped into the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace class at our church. I’m not part of the class right now, but I sat down in the back and watched a little bit of the video with everyone (oh my goodness, it was AWESOME… you guys have got to watch his video series if you haven’t!)

Well, one of the things Dave was talking about in the video was the different between buying from a company and buying from an individual. When you buy from a company, they are only looking at their bottom line. If the company paid $90 for an item, there is pretty much no way that they are going to sell it to you for less than that. You might be able to haggle them down a little, but not lower than $90.

Now let’s say that someone bought that same thing (Dave uses the example of a bike so that’s what I’ll go with) for $100. They never ride that bike and it just sits in their garage for a year or so. They bump into it every time they pull the car into the garage and find that it’s always in their way and since they never use it, they decide to put it in their yearly garage sale.

It’s still in perfectly great condition, but this person is now just concerned with getting that bicycle OUT OF THE WAY. For the most part, they don’t care that they paid $100 for it. It’s in their way, and they want it gone.

So how much do you think you can get that bike for now? Maybe they’ll price it high at $40? Maybe they REALLY just want to get rid of it and so they are willing to go down to $10 or $15. You never know!

But FOR SURE you will be getting a much better deal than you would by buying it new.

And if it still looks like it’s in new condition, then there’s no way the child (or adult) you’re giving it to will know that it was from a garage sale!

You can check your local newspaper for garage sale locations, but don’t forget about checking Craigslist too! Many people list their garage sale there each week.

What have you found at garage sales that make great gifts? Any tips for finding the best bargains?

Be sure to check out all of the other AWESOME blogs that are participating in the 12 Days Of Christmas series:

Christmas Homeschool Fun: 1+1+1=1
Christmas Decorations: Songbird
Tips for a Healthy Holiday: The Thrifty Mama
Travel Tips: Mom’s Travel Tales
Christmas Recipes: Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures
Christmas Family Fun: Life as Mom
Homemade Christmas Gifts: The Happy Housewife