Two of my favorite FREE things.

Hi friends!  Remember me? :)   September is almost here so that means so is my big project that I've been working on-- ok-- it's not THAT big, but... it's kinda fun and I will be revealing it in "stages" through out September.  Here's your first preview:

Intrigued??? (maybe not-- as it's one of the first photos that I have uploaded  from this project and it's not all that exciting)   Well -- you'll have to wait a little longer to see more....

In the meantime, I have to tell you all about 2 FREE internet things that have changed my life-- seriously!  and no one is asking me to tell you about these things, I promise-- I'm just that kind :)

Have you heard of  these??!! Have you used these??!! They are life changers -- seriously!! (start a word count -- I might be saying "seriously" (2) A LOT in this post)

OK-- let's calm down and take a look at these  (oohhh... I'm so excited to introduce you to these guys if you don't already know about them....)

 

otherwise know as:

 

Here's the basic gist of Google Reader (taken directly from the Google Reader site)

Keep track of your favorite websites

Stay up to date
Google Reader constantly checks your favorite news sites and blogs for new content. Whether a site updates daily or monthly, you can be sure that you won't miss a thing. 

Simplify your reading experience
Google Reader shows you all of your favorite sites in one convenient place. It's like a personalized inbox for the entire web. 

Discover new content
Millions of sites publish feeds with their latest updates, and our integrated feed search makes it easy to find new content that interests you.

Basically-- you "subscribe" to your favorite websites through Google Reader.

Then you download a little icon to your bookmarks bar that looks a little something like this:  Next »

And when you want to start looking at the sites that you visit regularly, just click the Next button and it will take you to the next page that you've subscribed to that has new content on it!

It's genius because you don't waste time looking at all your bookmarked sites just to see if there is anything new-- this ONLY takes you to the sites with new content (and it takes you directly to the new stuff).  It's a total time saver and one of the best things ever invented!!

Only second to:
 

or:

OK-- I am SERIOUSLY (3) excited about this one!  Pinterest is the most amazing tool.  Here is the description from the Pinterest website:


Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

I'm still a novice at Pinterest, but it's pretty much (in my very simple words) like visual bookmarking.  Each picture that you "pin" on your virtual pinboard brings with it the original source of the photo so... say like me, you were looking for some party inspiration and saw one that you adored!  Of course you want to pin every picture, but ... if you just pin one -- for example one specific detail featured --  when you go to that pinned picture, it will take you right to the blog post with that pin in it (where all the other party details reside).  OR if you pin a project that you would like to try, the one photo will take you right to the directions on how to do it!   It's BRILLIANT!  Seriously! (4)

AND you can follow other people's pin boards as well to discover new and exciting things that you might not otherwise find on your own. 

I'm telling ya'.  I'd heard other bloggers sing Pinterest's praises, and was a little skeptical, but... this is the real deal -- prepare your self for hours trolling pin boards...

Now I just have to work on taking all those bookmarks that I'd been filling my bookmarks folders with and get them all on to Pinterest-- this could take a while folks.

Oh and if you want, you can follow my pinterest boards.  I installed a little "follow me on pinterest" button on the right hand side of my blog.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to hunker down for a little Hurricane Irene that's coming this way.  (and I thought by coming to Connecticut I was moving AWAY from bad weather in Syracuse)

 

See that little red line-- I'm right underneath it. :) East Coasters-- Stay Safe!!

Still holding on to summer...

My poor blog friends... I've been neglecting you.  Sorry-- just trying to enjoy the last few weeks of summer! (FYI: posting may be sparse for the next couple of weeks). Stay tuned though-- I have something exciting planned for September!

Since we're not quite brave enough to try REAL camping with a 4 year old yet, (although I love camping and can't wait to make it a summer-time family tradition), we decided to try the next best thing.....

Indoor camping!  It's convenient (bathroom is down the hall and to the right), it's fun (s'mores, popcorn and flashlights), it's something different (well since it's the first time we'd done it it was different) and it's FREE!

So we pushed back the furniture, set up Cole's indoor play tent (it's a monster and it's super cute!!), grabbed our sleeping bags and hunkered down for the night.

 

Cole lasted about 2 hours of sleeping on the floor before he was ready to get back in his bed.  Glad we weren't out in the wilderness. :)

I don't wanna let go of Summer just yet!

It's funny-- because I'm not much of a hot weather person.  In fact-- Fall is definitely my favorite season, but for some reason I'm not quite ready to let go of Summer yet this year.  Maybe it's the fact that there is still so much left to do on our "first Summer in Connecticut" list that we didn't get to this year.   I'm trying to hold on a little longer -- especially since this will be our last year without an official "back to school" time frame (Don't even get me started--I can't even think about it).  And yes.. I do realize that its only mid-August and that summer is not over yet, but sometimes it just feels like summer ends earlier and earlier each year.

Anyway, I saw this fun (and easy) summer time activity at One Charming Party and knew it would be a big hit in our house.  And it was-- wet AND dry.

Sponge Balls!  

All you need are some sponges-- (3 for each ball) and some fishing wire (or dental floss-- whatever you have handy).  I had fishing wire and I got a 6 pack of sponges at Target for like $2.30 (or something like that).

Cut your sponges in half.

Then in half again 

So each sponge gives you 4 pieces.  Each ball uses 3 sponges so you should have a total of 12 pieces for each sponge.

They are so colorful-- they make me happy!

The next step is a two person step so I couldn't photograph it (although the OCP tutorial has photos).  You gather all the pieces in your hand, twist them and then have someone else tie the center very tightly. Cut off any exposed ends of your "string", fluff your balls (teehehe-- sorry the third grader in me couldn't resist-- classy I know...), and they are ready to go!

But you might want to do it at naptime, because no sooner will you have them done than little fingers will pick them up to play with!

eeewww...ugly built in apartment air conditioner in photo!!!  I'm horrified.

A great (cheap and easy) summer water toy for the pool, the beach, a bucket of water or even the bath tub.

Guess How Much?

It’s time to play every cheapskate’s favorite game…. ‘Guess How Much?’  Personally I love this game.  If you’re sick of it, please let me know and I’ll stop. 

Incidentally, this post will be a little bit about me bragging about my good deals but more about offering some little tips on how to get good deals at CVS.

So--- on with it!

Guess How Much?  FYI--all of these items were purchased at CVS (in case you didn't get that from the above reference)

OK—I’m going to make you wait a bit to actually find out because each item purchased needs a little explaining.

First on my list was the Herbal Essences Shampoo and Conditioner. 

It was on sale 2/$4.97 (regular retail price $4.79 ea.) PLUS purchasing this deal this week also got me $1 extra care bucks (I’ll explain those in a minute), AND I had a manufacturers coupon for $1.00 off any Herbal Essences shampoo or conditioner product.  So, if you’re playing along that means technically I got both of these for  $2.97 (or $1.49 ea)  Good deal!

I love the name of these—  Hilarious!

Next deal:

Skintimate Shave Gel on sale for $1.99 (original price $3.49).  You guessed it—I had a coupon for $1.00 off one.  Total:  $.99

And I must've been in quite the mood yesterday because not only did I buy matching shampoo/conditioner and shave gel, but this one also sounds a little sassy!

did you know mangos could be flirty?  This was news to me.

Now for the biggie.

Schick Hydro 5 Razor: 

On sale for $8.49 (from $9.99) AND receive $5 in extra care bucks (wait for it).  I had 2 coupons for this one—one that was $3.00 off and one that was $2.00 off.  I wasn’t sure which one would work so I handed the cashier both.  Usually when a coupon doesn’t work, when the cashier scans it, it gives him/her a message and they say—‘this coupon isn’t working’ and they’ll tell me why.  I kinda let them do the work for me—it only takes an extra second for them and I don’t have to think too hard.

TIP:  it’s ok to play be dumb sometimes—it may just work to your advantage!

Yep—they BOTH worked!!  So if you’re counting here’s where we’re at with the Schick razor purchase:

On sale $8.49-- Get $5 extra care bucks  = $3.49  + $3.00 off = $.49 + $2.00 off = +$1.51.  Yeah—I totally made money on this one!

In the end, I paid $8.98 at the register BUT I got $7.00 in extra care bucks back (almost time...) so TECHNICALLY, all of this loot only cost me $1.98.

One more thing before I reveal my CVS secrets- just so you don't think I spend every waking hour scouring stores for deals...  Every Sunday I quickly review the CVS circular to see if there are any AMAZING deals that stand out or anything that’s already on my list that I need where CVS might be the best price that week.  Then I kinda sit back and let my favorite couponing sites (mentioned here) let me know if there are any “harder to find” amazing deals—then I head to the store.  Not time consuming at all—I’m a lazy couponer if I’m nothing.

OK-- Let me explain a few CVS secrets:

First the Extra Care Card:

It’s the free store card (just like any other store rewards card)—you just sign up for it at the register.    I still haven’t learned all the tricks of the card, BUT I did learn that if you scan your extracare card at the ‘check your price here’ machine (often times referred to as the ‘magic coupon machine’) it will print out unadvertised CVS store coupons.

TIP—scan it twice because many times it will print out more than one coupon!

Sometimes the coupons are AWESOME—like for free chocolate bars (hello!—FREE chocolate!) and sometimes not so much.  I got 4 coupons on this trip—none of which I will use before they expire—you usually only have a week or so—but all it took was a few seconds of my time so…

(oh and p.s.—TIP  new coupons print out every day so if you have to go more to CVS more than once in a week—check the machine again!)

         

extrabucks:

A lot of times CVS offers deals that include extrabucks.  These “gift certificate coupons” (as I call them) print out on the end of the receipt.  They are good on your next purchase at CVS.  On ANYTHING.  Basically the next time I go in to CVS I have $7 free dollars to spend.

Most of the time, I don’t get sucked into these—because you still have to put more money out up front—and usually for me that’s a deal breaker.  BUT because I KNOW I’ll be back at CVS in the near future, I went ahead with these.  (FYI—RiteAid has a similar program, but there isn’t a RiteAid that is convenient to me, so I don’t ever make a special trip there for this type of deal)

Just be sure if you’re going to take advantage of a deal like this, that you’ll actually have the opportunity to use the “gift certificate coupons” before they expire—usually only a few weeks later-- otherwise you haven't saved much.

And the Green Bag Tag:

I only learned of this because one of the first coupons that printed for me on the ‘magic coupon machine’ was a ‘Get a Free Green Bag Tag’—so… I asked.  If it doesn’t print for you from the ‘magic coupon machine’, I THINK it’s like $1.99 to purchase.    (Usually it comes with a little toggle thingy on the end so that you can attach it to a reusable bag, but since I always use a different bag, I took it off of mine and keep in in my wallet with my CVS extracare card.)   Every time you bring your own bag—have them scan the card.  After 4 visits with the card, $1.00 extra care buck prints on the bottom of your receipt.  Apparently this was my 4th visit - thus making my total extra care bucks for this trip $7 (instead of the $6 I specifically laid out before)

So… there are a few secrets that I’ve learned over the past few months of shopping with coupons and the store cards at CVS.  I hope they might also help you. 

Holy wordy post—sorry.

I hate to waste.

And because of this, my career as a sculptor began.

If you've tried making these flip flop (or any-one-of-a-million-other-things) holders, then you already know that there is a long straight piece that is left once you cut your wire hanger.

Just out of boredom, I started twisting these extra pieces into different shapes.  I wound up creating a couple of shapes that I kinda liked so I took them out to spray paint with the hangers.

the house piece was kind of a joke after I looked at the other pieces together and they started to look like a sun, a tree and a (rather large) bee.

Not wanting to waste anything I kept twisting.  My favorite original wire hanger sculpture has taken up permanent residence at my workplace.

And thus my career as a sculptor ended.

Now--- because I'm kinda crazy about not wasting things, I have to pose a question to you all, to gauge just how crazy I may or may not be.  Please feel free to really answer the question in comments-- I'd actually like to know your answers.

Scenario.  You're at the end of a bottle of lotion (with a pump top).  Do you:

A.  Chuck it out-- you're not going to work that hard for another pump or two of lotion.

B.  Unscrew the top and bang out the rest of the lotion out into your palm for a few days until it's all 

      used up.

C.  Cut the bottle near the bottom so that you can scoop out any remaining lotion.

I'll tell you that I am a B -- and sometimes I use the long "straw part" of the pump to reach some of the hard to reach lotion in the corners.  Am I totally crazy?

One more bonus feature for today-- just because I found this to be really interesting.... 

I took the photos of my initials sculpture at work on my desk which is gray.  The pictures came out kinda dark so I put them in Photoshop to brighten them up a bit.  Since I only know the VERY BASICS when it comes to Photoshop, I always try 'Auto Tone' and 'Auto Color' first to see what happens.  Here's what happened with my 'Auto Tone' with this one.

Before 'Auto Tone':

 After 'Auto Tone':

Interesting. (well to me anyway)

I'm guest posting at Thrifty and Thriving!!

I cant' even stand it!  You know how I talk A LOT about one of my other favorite blogs  - other than my own of course ;)  Well, when Christy at Thrifty and Thriving asked me to guest post on her blog I jumped at the chance.  I am soo excited-- see... told ya' I was famous!

Check it out-- I'm sharing a cute way to use your old junk-- namely those wire hangers that add up a little too quickly for my liking.

Oh and while you're there-- say 'Hi' to Christy for me- and tell her you came from Confessions of a Serial Cheapskate!