I Love a Freebie!

Just thought I would share with you some of my latest freebies. Every day I get an email newsletter from www.shop4freebies.com, with links for nationwide offers. It definitely pays to sign up quickly, usually the manufacturers have a limited quantity and when they run out, that's that. Sometimes you print off your own coupon for an item, I have gotten free fast food items many times that way.  Many are regional offers that won't work in your area, but there are still a LOT of great freebies on that site.

Many of the offers listed in that newsletter can also be found directly at www.walmart.com.  Lots of great freebies on the Walmart website. Another good one is Start Sampling (http://www.startsampling.com/).  But what I really like about the shop4freebies daily email is that it reminds me to check out their deals of the day each and every day as I read my email, I don't have to remember to go to the walmart site or other favorite sites.

I think my mail carrier might have just saved all these up to deliver in one day, but this is what I got Friday in the mail--Aveeno coupons, a sample of Eucerin lotion, Zantac and a sample of instant Via coffee from Starbucks.

Then yesterday I had another stack of boxes from Walmart.com on my mailbox.  I got a sample of Purina One dog food, Purina One cat food (both with coupons), a package of dog treats from Three Dog Bakery and a sample of Caress body wash.

I also get a lot of my freebies from Facebook, including this DaVinci pasta that arrived today. I had to "like" them on Facebook, then sent an email asking for the free sample and providing my address. It is a full sized box with some recipe cards (unfortunately there were no coupons, too).

Another great resource is the Penny Pinchin' Mom on Facebook (or her website is http://www.pennypinchinmom.com/) and she posts many deals every single day.  She also does coupon matchups for various stores, where she lists the sale items and links to available coupons so that you get the item for the lowest possible price.  I use her every week when I go grocery shopping and save a bundle.

Playing the coupon game is another great way to get free or almost free items, but what I like about these items above is that they were totally free, delivered to my door, and I didn't even have to use a stamp or any gas to go get them myself.  Yay!

Backyard Fun

We have been enjoying some free activities in the backyard--sidewalk chalk, bug catching, baby pool swimming, sandbox digging and of course...WATER TOYS! Since Nathan has a June birthday he has been fortunate to get gifts that can be used all summer long--Super Soakers, water guns, slip 'n' slide and several assorted sprinklers. Here are some pictures from our backyard adventures.









And our faithful companion enjoys a little extra attention while we are all outside together.

My Victory Garden

Last year I finally got my husband to make me a small raised bed for vegetable gardening. We already have a bed for the strawberry plants and we usually do a tomato plant or two, along with some perennial herbs. Last year we had a pretty good crop of tomatoes, cucumbers and yellow squash. The peppers did not do so well, but that was okay since my kids won't eat them. We had more than enough of the other items, I had to give them away! But this year I wanted to expand.

This spring we were given 4 different tomato plants from relatives and several squash plants from a neighbor. The rain kept delaying my planting, but I finally got my tomatoes in the ground, along with a pepper plant and a zucchini plant (and a cucumber that has since died, so a squash is in it's place), all in my raised bed. I also had some old seeds that I never planted (actually, some are from 2007) and so I planted carrots from seed. Surprisingly, they came up!



Since my "viney" plants took up so much room and we have a large backyard, I got my husband to till a piece of the yard so that I could plant more. Rain delayed my planting several more times, but I finally got the remainder of my squash plants in the ground, along with a couple other varieties of store bought squash, peppers and a cherry tomato plant. I also found a 75% off sale on spring bulbs, so I picked up some yellow onions and garlic bulbs and planted a row of each. I figure if they don't come up I am only out 49 cents! I also used some of my old seeds and planted a row of broccoli, too late in the season but again, I am not out much if they fail.

Looks like the plants that are doing the best are the ones in the raised bed, the ones in the ground have had too much rain, I think. And the dog has walked through there a few times, before I got my "fence" up. I recycled some black metal poles that had been part of a portable clothes "wardrobe" that broke, with twine. It won't keep out the critters but hopefully it will keep out the dog.




The zucchini is doing great, I have a few flowers on my squash, and there are small tomatoes and flowers on my tomato plants in the raised bed. I hope for a bumper crop!

Happy Birthday, Nathan!

Sorry I have neglected you, blog, but we have been super busy the last few weeks, especially since we had a big party for our now *6* year old son last Saturday. Today is his real birthday, how well I remember going to the hospital bright and early 6 years ago today to have him (it was a planned c-section). I remember thinking that he was so perfect, 7 lbs 11 oz of sweetness. And a good baby, too.

In keeping with my theme of frugality I will share with you how I threw a party for about 30 kids (plus parents) without breaking the bank. Nathan wanted a backyard party, but I honestly didn't want the stress of a lot of people in my too-small house, plus if it rains you are in trouble. We can have water-fun in the backyard another time. I rented some classrooms in my parish's now empty school (closed last year), so I consider that a charitable contribution to a worthier cause than say, Chuck E. Cheese. I was also able to borrow carnival games from the church--bean bag toss, bowling, ducks for a duck pond, fishing game, ring toss--although we did buy a lollipop tree also. I also considered some sort of cake walk and maybe an obstacle course but we ended up not doing those, I had to draw the line somewhere, I was worried about running out of time to decorate and set up. I was glad that we had enough space to invite the whole kindergarten class (I believe 8 came) plus other friends from playgroups and preschool and family, of course.

I shopped around for a couple of months leading up to the party, looking for deals. I found carnival game prizes and craft kits at party supply stores on the clearance racks, plus shopped the clearance category at http://www.orientaltradingco.com/ (with free shipping code, of course). For food I got great deals on hotdogs (coupons!), chips, pop (79 cent 2-liters), juice boxes, buns (bakery outlet), etc. so I did not spend a lot on them. I did buy some things at the dollar store like colorful buckets, tablecloths, condiment dispensers, just to make it more festive. I already had a hot dog rotisserie and my mother came with a popcorn popper to make fresh popcorn. My mother in law did a great job making cupcakes that looked like popcorn in cups, see pic at the top. I bought a roll of tickets so that the kids could pretend to "spend" their tickets on the games and food.

I was surprised at how well it turned out, the kids really enjoyed the crafts and went around and around to the games, getting prize after prize. I had over 400 prizes, plus stickers and lollipops, so they made out pretty well!

Since most of the parents stayed, I had a lot of helpers to man the carnival games, which made it go much more smoothly. And I think they liked hanging out and chatting, too. The older children loved being "carnies", especially for the fishing game, which was the most popular game.

Best of all were the memories made that day. I will never forget the look on Nathan's face as he stood behind the table with cupcakes while we sang "Happy Birthday" to him. Priceless.