Mariannes Motifs

Children's Place Boys Cargo Shorts on sale $3.99

This is a good deal - get next year's size and be ready when the hot weather rolls around again.  They also have the boys short sleeve polo (orange color) on sale for the same price.

Children's Place are good quality cloths.  They also run a big bigger than the comparable size at Target or Walmart.   More like a GAP kids fit and wear.

Amazon "Manager's Special" Tea K-Cups 44% Off

If you love tea, or just want to have a variety of types of K-Cups for your guests, or business break room, this is a great deal.  Amazon is having a "manager's special" on a variety of grocery products, one of which is Timothy's World Cranberry Green Twist.  It's a light green tea with a slight cranberry flavor.

At 44% off these K-Cups Tea come out to 27 cents a cup!  Order some of the delicious and popular Coffee People Medium Extra Bold Donut Shop (which is also on sale) and you can get the order with free shipping for orders over 25 bucks.  Or get the subscribe and save to get an extra 15% off.  For the Donut Shop coffee that is .33 cents a cup.  Great deal.  You can cancel the subscribe and save any time and they have a lot of choices in the frequency.  I got mine on a 6 month frequency so I can rotate and try different ones.

Ideas for Leftover Bread Machine Bread.

I read an online forum post today where someone was saying that she loves making bread in the bread machine but seems to end up throwing away leftover bread that goes stale before they can finish eating it.  I could think of a lot of ways to avoid this problem, so I wrote up a list.

Ideas for your extra bread machine bread:

1. Slice and freeze half the loaf right away. Then you always have homemade bread and are not worrying about it going stale or moldy.  Bread is very easy to thaw - I like to toast frozen bread to thaw it.  The toastyness avoids you having to worrying about any change in texture from the freezing process.
2. Bread crumbs. Toast slices, food processor it. Freeze these also to always have on hand.
3. Croutons. Cut into cubed, let dry out, then toast up with olive oil or butter, garlic, and italian spices. Or add Parmesan or Romano cheese. Also freeze these. One large crouton can be used in delicious French onion soup.

Things to make with cubes of stale bread - cheese egg strata, stuffing, bread pudding

Keurig Sigle Cup Brewers Seen at Costco

We did a Costco trip on Tuesday, and hubby pointed at a big display of Keurig Brewers and said, "Hey, isn't that your coffee maker?"

I believe that the Costco model is about the same as the B-60, but its packaged for them as the B66 and sells for $129.  Amazon sells it for $129 also - see pic at bottom of post.  And yes, this will ship free.

The best deal I have seen on K-Cups is on Amazon with the subscribe and save.  You can get Donut Shop K-Cups .32 cents a Piece. Also a lot of other types of coffee as well, but I can tell the Donut shop cups are popular because they sell the most from my affiliate reports.  (Yep, I get a teeny commission from Amazon when people buy from my link, which I use to get my own K-Cups.  Thank you so much! ♥ )

Or pay .38 cents a piece if you don't want to do the subscribe and save.  But really, why not, since you can cancel as well as have delivery scheduled for as far off as 6 months.

For the spelling impaired amongst us:  Kurig, Keurig, kcups

Thrifty Finds

Here's what I found in my customary skulking around Goodwill.

Pyrex Butterfly Gold 2 1/2 Quart Cinderella casserole - with lid.  (Don't even ask - ever since I couldn't sell the first one on ebay its gotten worse.  Now I have 4 pieces.  But hey - 2 match.

The casserole had some funky black marks on the outside but they came off perfectly with Barkeepers friend.  And it didn't effect the design at all.  (I was worried as some of the black marks were on the design.)  I didn't leave it on long.

 

The other thing I am excited about is a knitting book.  It retails for $22.99 and has some beautiful photos and patterns I would consider making.  It's called YarnPlay by Lisa Shobhana Mason.

It has the famous  "poppy" sweater on the cover.  I also like the looks of the Sloane vest.

I am always amazed at the wonderful things you can find at the thrift store.  Everything from wheelchairs to motorcycle jacks.  I swear I saw a snow globe of Jesus and the disciples at he Last Supper.  With glitter snow.

Money Saving Tips of the Week

Here are some more Money Saving Tips. 

Clean your house and organize your stuff.  You will find things you didn't remember you had, and have room to use them.  What's in your basement?  Garage?  Do your kids have toys that need to be sorted out?  Once we cleaned our living room and sorted toys, the boys have been having a fun time playing with things they forgot they had.  Same goes for grownups.  When was the last time you used your sewing machine, scrapbook materials, or fancy cooking implements.  If you go through and organize, you just may feel inspired.

Call the companies you do business with and ask them if they have a cheaper deal.  Get a new auto insurance quote.  Call the Cable company and ask what it would take to reduce your bill.  Call your credit card company and ask if they have a lower rate available.  Take advantage of deals to refinance your mortgage if your rate is high.

Are there any repeating bills you can cancel?  Are you really going to the gym?  Do you really need a home phone?  Repeating bills are the scourge of the budget.

Don't neglect your deals and freebies.  Check slickdeals.net and fatwallet.com.  Find a local thrift store.  Check out local consignment sales for kids stuff.  Check out local book sales and used book stores. 

Read your weekly grocery store flyer and see what's on sale this week - then plan your menu around what's fresh, in season, and on sale.  Bonus - your will be a lot more likely to be eating local, in season, fresh fruits and veggies.  Yum.  Suddenly you've become a hip and trendy locavore and foodie.  ;-)

Deal of The Day - Leapfrog Toys from Goodwill

Oh my gosh - my mother in law and I went to Goodwill this morning and I saw a cool Leapfrog toy I decided to pick up for Ben for $2.54.  Its  Leapfrog Turbo Extreme and it had a "First Grade" cartridge in it.  I wanted to get something for Adam too, so I looked around and saw a Leapfrog Phonics Writing Desk for $2.14 so I grabbed that too.

Out of curiousity I googled the Turbo Extreme when I got home and I just realized it sells for about $200 bucks.  Holy crap.  I guess I got a good deal for two bucks and change. The cartidge itself sells for $20.00  Plus Adam's Phonics Writing Desk retails for over 60 dollars.

The Real Way to get your Free Credit Report Each Year

Here are some tips for checking your credit report:

You can check each of the three major credit reports for free at http://www.ftc.gov/freereports (that’s the US government’s site which will send you to annualcreditreport.com the FREE site). If you check each agency every 4 months, you will space out the 3 free versions you are entitled to each year.

Thrifting Finds

I just came back from Goodwill where I picked up 2 sweaters. The black one’s tag says Brooks Bros 346 100% Merino Wool, and the red says Scottish Spun 2 ply cashmere. They were 4.59 each. I have never frogged sweaters before so I am about to learn how.  Frogging sweaters is to rip out the knitting to recycle the wool.  Basically you can get balls and balls of wool out of a sweater for much cheaper than to buy skeins of 100% cashmere.  I would love to be able to knit a cashmere scarf.

I also picked up the 1989 version of “Vouge Knitting” (hardcover.) That was 2.50.

Also picked up 2 t-shirts for the boys, as well as a nice windbreaker.  They keep losing jackets so a 2.50 Goodwill one is just what I needed.  All in all 21 bucks or so.  And I used my Paypal debit card and money from my blogging and Freelance writing.

I also am adding a picture of a gorgeous crochet afghan I bought a week or two ago for 4.50. It is wool, and had a tag on it that said handmade by Inez Moll. I liberated it from a dusty thrift store and have adopted Inez as a granny in spirit.

In the mail on Saturday I got the Target gift card that was my reward from MyPoints.  I love gift cards.  It's nice to know that they actually do send out their rewards as promised - it was pretty fast too.  I am going to use the Target card at Super Target to get some groceries.  That will help round out the budget a bit.  My mom sent me a bit of money to help out this month and boy do I appreciate it.  Somebody offer me a job - mkay?  Pretty please with sugar on top?  I iz a good email administrator, I promise.

Save Money with the International Student Identity Card

Did you know that for only $22 you can get an International Student Identity Card (ISIC) that allows you to receive discounts at retailers and travel partners all over the world?   Today I learned that at www.myisic.com they offer a discount program for students (and teachers) that provides discounts to more that 33,000 locations in 103 countries, and also includes some insurance and an emergency help line for travelers.

The International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC) is a non-profit organization founded way back in 1949 to "promote international understanding through international travel and educational exchange opportunities." 

Here are some highlights of the discounts currently available with the cards:

* 11 % off at Macy's aand 10% off at Target.com
* Discount airfare such as 11% off Jetblue
*50%t discount for Park 'n Fly
* 15%  off Amtrak train tickets

These cards are actually not just for students, they have three versions of the card.  There is one for currently enrolled students, one for any youth 26 and younger, and one for teachers and professors.

This card is a must for any student traveler and a good buy for others as well.  With the 10% Target.com discount alone you could make up the price of the card pretty quickly.   It's one of those things where you have to remember to show the card and ask if they offer a student discount.