Calendars.com is having a HUGE sale on their 2010 calendars!  Right now through 9/14/10, all 2010 calendars are only $2.00!  I know we are mostly through the year but many times they go a little past the end of the year so we have several good months left.  You can also use them for teaching purposes or use them for the pictures they have in them.  Frame them for some inexpensive art.

The one to the left is included and is a super organizer for mom.  This would be great to get you through the first half of the school year and the holidays!  It includes:

• extra-large grids
• 196 stickers
• handy storage pocket,
• sections to note weekly plans.

Check them out HERE and see what other cute ones you can find to help you get organized!

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1.  Now is a good time to go through all your coupons and pull out all the ones that are expired or will expire soon.  Many expire at the end of the month.

2.  The next few days are great for printing coupons. The ones from August might be gone soon, so print all you want today. The first of the month is when many sites release new coupons, so you will want to check them all at the beginning of September to see what new ones they roll out or refresh from last month. 

3.  Make sure all your Single Check Rebate receipts for Rite Aid are entered so you can request your check.

4.  Get all your receipts in order so that you can add up all your spending and saving for month and tweak your budget for next month if need be. 

5.  Make sure you have ordered all the Swagbucks prizes you wanted.  They have limits on how many of each one that you can order in a day or month so if you are stocking up, make sure you ordered all you could for July and then order your limits for August. 

.

Where can I find printable coupons you ask? Here are some of the best places to look:

Coupons.com 

RedPlum

SmartSource.com 
Coolsavings.com

You might want to double check and make sure that you have loaded all of the cellfire.com and shortcuts.com coupons that you might want to your shopping card as well.

For more coupon resources, check out the Get Coupons tab in the menu bar.  You will find many manufacturer’s sites that carry printable coupons that are often refreshed at the beginning of the month.

Hide Sites

1.  Now is a good time to go through all your coupons and pull out all the ones that are expired or will expire soon.  Many expire at the end of the month.

2.  The next few days are great for printing coupons. The ones from June might be gone soon, so print all you want today. The first of the month is when many sites release new coupons, so you will want to check them all at the beginning of July to see what new ones they roll out or refresh from last month. 

3.  Make sure all your Single Check Rebate receipts for Rite Aid are entered so you can request your check.

4.  Get all your receipts in order so that you can add up all your spending and saving for month and tweak your budget for next month if need be. 

5.  Make sure you have ordered all the Swagbucks prizes you wanted.  They have limits on how many of each one that you can order in a day or month so if you are stocking up, make sure you ordered all you could for March and then order your limits for April. 

.

Where can I find printable coupons you ask? Here are some of the best places to look:

Coupons.com

RedPlum

SmartSource.com 
Coolsavings.com

You might want to double check and make sure that you have loaded all of the cellfire.com and shortcuts.com coupons that you might want to your shopping card as well.

For more coupon resources, check out the Get Coupons tab in the menu bar.  You will find many manufacturer’s sites that carry printable coupons that are often refreshed at the beginning of the month.

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Springpad is a FREE personal organizer to keep favorite web pages in one place: recipes, notes, restaurants, books, movies, music, tasks & more. You can share their favorite items with friends via email, Facebook, or Twitter and even get your stuff when you need it by accessing everything on your mobile phone.  You can even check out the YouTube video to see more of how it works to keep all your things in one place and at your fingertips!

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1.  Now is a good time to go through all your coupons and pull out all the ones that are expired or will expire soon.  Many expire at the end of the month.

2.  The next few days are great for printing coupons. The ones from May might be gone soon, so print all you want today. The first of the month is when many sites release new coupons, so you will want to check them all at the beginning of June to see what new ones they roll out or refresh from last month. 

3.  Make sure all your Single Check Rebate receipts for Rite Aid are entered so you can request your check.

4.  Get all your receipts in order so that you can add up all your spending and saving for month and tweak your budget for next month if need be. 

5.  Make sure you have ordered all the Swagbucks prizes you wanted.  They have limits on how many of each one that you can order in a day or month so if you are stocking up, make sure you ordered all you could for March and then order your limits for April. 

.

Where can I find printable coupons you ask? Here are some of the best places to look:

Coupons.com

RedPlum

SmartSource.com 
Coolsavings.com

You might want to double check and make sure that you have loaded all of the cellfire.com and shortcuts.com coupons that you might want to your shopping card as well.

For more coupon resources, check out the Get Coupons tab in the menu bar.  You will find many manufacturer’s sites that carry printable coupons that are often refreshed at the beginning of the month.

Hide Sites

1.  Now is a good time to go through all your coupons and pull out all the ones that are expired or will expire soon.  Many expire at the end of the month.

2.  The next few days are great for printing coupons. The ones from April might be gone soon, so print all you want today. The first of the month is when many sites release new coupons, so you will want to check them all at the beginning of May to see what new ones they roll out or refresh from last month. 

3.  Make sure all your Single Check Rebate receipts for Rite Aid are entered so you can request your check.

4.  Get all your receipts in order so that you can add up all your spending and saving for month and tweak your budget for next month if need be. 

5.  Make sure you have ordered all the Swagbucks prizes you wanted.  They have limits on how many of each one that you can order in a day or month so if you are stocking up, make sure you ordered all you could for March and then order your limits for April. 

.

Where can I find printable coupons you ask? Here are some of the best places to look:

Coupons.com

RedPlum

SmartSource.com 

You might want to double check and make sure that you have loaded all of the cellfire.com and shortcuts.com coupons that you might want to your shopping card as well.

For more coupon resources, check out the Get Coupons tab in the menu bar.  You will find many manufacturer’s sites that carry printable coupons that are often refreshed at the beginning of the month.

Hide Sites

Talk To Me Tuesday!

I have recently found that the times I feel the most stressed are the times that my house and life is in total disarray and any sense of organization has gone down the drain.  A few weeks ago this is where I was.  Everything seemed out of control and there was no real plan for each day.  We were eating out way too much because we had no plan, were always in a hurry and it was too easy to just go somewhere.

Finally, I cracked and realized that if I would just get myself in gear and get organized again, things would go much more smoothly and everyone would be more happy.  My husband and I sat down and looked at our budget and changed some things around.  I made myself a schedule for work time, play time, family time and household duties time.  While I haven’t stuck to every single second, I have done pretty well.  I have learned that by doing one thing at a time and doing it the best I can, I can get much more done and done better than before.  Keeping things balanced and not letting the scale tip too far in any one direction is key.  While volunteering, making money, keeping my house, my kids, my husband and many other things are all wonderful and important things, spending all my time on one of them throws the others out of whack.

One major factor is keeping my house clean.  When the house is clean, we all feel more at peace and happy.  That is just what we are used to.  It helps things not seem so scattered and chaotic and provides a safe and happy place for our family.  I have made several efforts along the way to clean more organically and safely by using rags instead of paper towels and as few cleaners as possible.  Now there are so many great options available out there for “green cleaners” it is much easier.  Seventh Generation has a great line of cleaning products that you can feel great about using in your home and on the things your loved ones eat on.

THE GIVEAWAY:  To help one lucky reader get their house in tip top shape again, Seventh Generation through My Blog Spark is offering a Seventh Generation “Disinfecting Cleaning Kit” that includes a disinfecting multi-surface cleaner, bathroom cleaner, wipes , a copy of The Conscious Kitchen, a cleaning caddy made from recycled plastic, and two rolls of 100% recycled, unbleached paper towels.  They provided me with the same thing and it is great!  I love being able to use paper towels and not feel as bad about it and not worrying that my cleaners will be bad for my girls or us.

HOW TO ENTER: This giveaway is now closed.

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If you need help getting and staying organized, Springpad might be just the right thing for you.  You can keep all your favorite recipes, restaurants, books, movies and more all in one convenient place for your reference.  Check them out and see what you think.

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I have been thinking a lot lately about child safety!  I made the mistake of watching Criminal Minds two weeks ago that was all about child abduction.  If you saw it, I am sure it shook you up too.  Basically, the wife pretended, in a crowded place, to have lost her child and when another mother turned to help her, her accomplice grabbed that lady’s child.  Scary but I am sure things like that happen.

This past weekend, we took our kids to Disney with some friends.  We were walking  along and all of the sudden, this woman starts screaming that she had lost her daughter.  You better believe my hands flew one to each one of my girl’s arms and I held on for dear life until my husband had them and I knew I could go and help.  I also have been helping my husband lately, who is a Children’s Pastor, implement their new child safety system so this has been on my mind. 

I was talking to some friends yesterday at church and had a great idea that I am sure is not original!  With all these free or super cheap offers out there for business cards, why not make a card that has all your child’s info on it.  You could either:

1.  Put a current picture of your child with their name, age, weight, height and so on to keep with you if anything were to ever happen.  That way you could hand them out for people to help you look or

2.  Put your name and phone numbers on it, as well as your children’s names.  This way, you could use them to give out to friends to give them all your info but your kids could keep them in their pocket to use if they ever got lost.

Just a thought:)

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1.  It is a good time to go through all your coupons and pull out all the

ones that will expire soon since many of them expire at the end of the month.

2.  The next few days are great times to print coupons. The ones from February might be gone soon, so print all you want today. The first of the month is when many sites release new coupons, so you will want to check them all the first few days of the week as well.

3.  Make sure all your Single Check Rebate receipts for Rite Aid are entered so you can request your check.

4.  Get all your receipts in order so that you can add up all your spending and saving for month and tweak your budget for next month if need be.

Where can I find printable coupons you ask? Here are some of the best places to look:

Coupons.com

RedPlum

RedPlum #2

Smart Source

You might want to double check and make sure that you have loaded all of the cellfire.com and shortcuts.com coupons to your shopping card as well.

For more coupon resources, check out the Get Coupons tab in the menu bar.  You will find many manufacturer’s sites that carry printable coupons that are often refreshed at the beginning of the month.

Hide Sites

This giveaway is now closed!

Our birthday bash marches on with yet another great giveaway!  One reader will win a Save At Home Mommy Coupon Binder in the color of their choice.  I will have to say that over the past few days, I have loved my binder even more!  I even dropped it in the store and not a single thing fell out.  I was scared to look at first but was so happy to just be able to pick it up and put it back in the cart with no casualties.  You can read more about my binders and order one for yourself or a friend HERE.

I am also going to put them on sale through this Saturday the 20th ONLY for only $20.00 for the standard binder!  This is a great savings so if you have been waiting to buy one, now is a great time!

(1) reader will win a Save At Home Mommy Coupon Binder in the color of their choice with the standard pages included.  Please fill out the form one time for each entry you complete so they will all count.

The winners will be drawn using random.org on Saturday the 20th and notified by email.  They will have 48 hours to email me to claim their prize before another winner is chosen.  Winners of all the birthday bash giveaways will be announced on Monday the 22nd.

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1. It is a good time to go through all your coupons and pull out all the

   ones that will expire soon since many of them expire at the end of the month.

2. The next few days are great times to print coupons. The ones from January might be gone soon, so print all you want today. The first of the month is when many sites release new coupons, so you will want to check them all then as well.

3. Make sure all your Single Check Rebate receipts for Rite Aid are entered so you can request your check.

My coupons and inserts are a mess right now!  We have been so busy, I have barely had a chance to shop and all my coupons have gotten thrown in the back of my binder.  At least there, they are contained and not falling everywhere.  Hopefully after the move is complete, I can get them back in order!

Where can I find printable coupons you ask? Here are some of the best places to look:

Coupons.com

RedPlum

RedPlum #2

Smart Source

I recommend loading all of the cellfire.com and shortcuts.com coupons to your shopping card as well.

For more, check out the Get Coupons tab in the menu bar.  You will find many sites that carry printable coupons that are often refreshed at the beginning of the month.

Hide Sites

“You need people to come to have a successful sale. People love block sales as they feel it is more likely worth their time to stop for 10 houses than one, so organize and pay for a block sale. On my old street, I would hand out fliers door to door telling people the date, time, and giving my phone number to let me know if they are participating. I also PROMINENTLY listed that I was paying for all advertising. People naturally participated more often when it didn’t cost them anything. I was more than willing to shell out the $20 in advertising to get hundreds of people to my sale when I knew I’d make a thousand dollars in a few hours. In my current area, my HOA runs a block sale yearly. In my area, a block sale is well attended on Friday or Saturday (with Saturday being optimal). Sunday was never a good yard sale day for me.

When you display signs that day go down to the end of each end of the street and place signage. Do this on every corner until you are at a major street. You want to leave a sign trail to your sale. I have homemade sandwich boards. They are wood strips held together with hinges on top and braces in the middle. Every yard sale, a new, neon, colored poster board with the date and time and “BLOCK SALE” is attached to each side of the sandwich board. On the major streets, a load of balloons are also attached. The idea is to catch the eye of a passing driver. Since the boards are not small, no one steals them. We gather up all the boards at the end of the sale so as not to violate any city codes for signage. It is a pet peeve of mine to see yard sale signs stapled to a light pole and see the sale was held three weeks ago.

When I first started doing yard sales I used a fanny pack to house the cash I made and the change I had. That lasted one sale. Afterward, I got a money apron from the local hardware store for a dollar. Best dollar I ever spent. I start with 100 singles, (10) $5 bills, (5) $10 bills and (2) rolls of quarters. Nothing is marked in increments that won’t work with a quarter. It is not worth the problems to mark it any other way.

For set up, I beg and borrow (and own two) banquet tables. The picnic table from the backyard came out and items were stacked on top as well as on the bench. The backside bench I used to hold extra plastic bags and boxes of extra stock. I always set my tables up in a row advancing up the drive, the picnic table across the driveway and then another row going down the drive. Think of it as a U with the curved side of the U straight and towards the backyard. I have a checkout table that has a pad of paper, pens, calculator and bags underneath. I have never used baskets but if you have them you might consider allowing people use them.

When I run a yard sale it is never alone. I make sure at least one other person is with me to help handle the crowds, check-out and to be there to cover bathroom breaks and money-drop offs. When my money apron starts to bulge that is time to take some money into the house. I try and drop off every hour for the first 2-3 hours. I also keep the house locked if no one is inside when I am running a sale. It only takes one second for my back to be turned…

Pricing is key. I have learned to price my merchandise to move! After spending two days gathering, boxing and tagging everything, the last thing I ever want to do is haul it back in the house. People love, love, love multiple pricing. Suave shampoo marked 75¢? Make up a sign that says 75¢ or 3/$2. Watch it fly in multiples of three. Also, if I have 100 of something no way am I marking each and every one. That is what printed signs are for. I write up a sign on the computer:

Suave Products
75¢ each
or 3/$2

and tape the sign to the table. The items I do tag I use cut up paper and free tape to mark and attach. On my computer I’ll make up sheets of spaced 25¢, 50¢, 75¢, $1, etc price sheets that I can save for future sales. I print these off, cut them up and attach with (free) tape. Some people like to mark their items at 50% off retail. That would never, ever work in my area. And I mean never. If I put out a $6 bottle of Infusium 23 for $3, it would be picked up repeatedly and the cap removed as folks looked for floating gold dust. It is very important that you know your market and what it will bear price-wise. This is, unfortunately, a matter of trial and error. What sells well for half of retail in one area may be a slow mover that sells for 25% of retail in another area.

Because I price so aggressively, I do not bargain. Period. Ever. If someone has $50 worth of merchandise in their hands, they pay me $50. If someone buys 40 of something, they pay me marked price for all 40. I don’t sell “regular” yard-sale-type items precisely because I hate to dicker. Surprisingly I will go entire sales where no one even attempts to get a better deal. My prices are low to avoid the back and forth of bargaining.

I will advertise a block sale from 8-2 or 9–3 and always get early-birds regardless of how prominently “NO EARLYBIRDS” is stated in the ad. Since most of these earlybird-folks are professionals trying to get me to sell a pound of gold for $1 or Aunt Bessie’s signed copy of the Declaration of Independence for $12.57, they aren’t usually interested in what I have for sale.

People are unpredictable. I’ll never forget the Kellogg’s premiums I put out year after year after year at my garage sales. I was about ready to haul that box off to Goodwill when, low and behold, after three years the entire collection sold! I also notice that while I can be fairly sure well priced cleaning supplies will always sell, some sales the conditioner will not go regardless of how cheaply I price it. Some sales the band-aids are a dud. Some sales the cereals just will not move. Well, you get the idea. Usually the items you expect will sell well do, and do so quickly. Sometimes, items wouldn’t sell for a penny.

I am not someone to sit out until the last second of a yard sale hoping for an extra $1.50. If an hour goes by and I have not sold $20, or if my inventory has condensed to less than one banquet table, I close up. When I am packing the remaining boxes, it never fails that someone (or some-three) pull up and I make last minute sales. Non-perishable items are left in the box for the next sale. Perishable items are donated unless I plan another sale later in the season. If I do a second sale, I try for a different location: my mother’s house, my grandparent’s house, my sister’s house; somewhere in a different neighborhood. You’d be surprised how many people I get at both sales. There are a lot of yard sale regulars around here!”

Ann has been couponing for over 25 years.  She lives in New York State with her husband, son, and puppy Max.  You’ll find her avoiding both housework and cooking at http://couponsdealsandmore.com/ where she shares tips, deals and instructions on how you can get the most from your shopping dollar.

Hide Sites

1. It is a good time to go through all your coupons and pull out all the

   expired ones since many of them will expire soon.

2. The next few days are great times to print coupons. The ones from December might be gone soon, so print all you want today. The first of the month is when many sites release new coupons, so you will want to check them all then as well.

3. Make sure all your Single Check Rebate receipts for Rite Aid are entered so you can request your check.

I cleaned out my binder the other day when I had to sit in urgent care for 2 hours:)  At least it was productive!

Where can I find printable coupons you ask? Here are some of the best places to look:

Coupons.com

RedPlum

RedPlum #2

Smart Source

I recommend loading all of the cellfire.com and shortcuts.com coupons to your shopping card as well.

For more, check out the Get Coupons tab in the menu bar!

Hide Sites