Charity begins wherever you start it
As I’ve mentioned before, it is my belief that everyone should contribute time and money to charity. It’s good karma. It’s a learning experience. It will encourage you to manage your finances appropriately. It will (if you have children) model good values for your kids. And—argue with me if you like—it’s your social responsibility.
Don’t tell me you have no time. Make time.
Don’t tell me you have no money. You have internet access (and possibly a computer). You have enough money to do something.
I don’t care how you do it, but I promise you that if you think you can’t—because time is too tight, because there isn’t a spare cent to be had—that you can find a way, and the results will be worth it. read more…
I can see you’re feeling it
Wow, I had no idea that my crayon wisdom would strike such a chord with all of you. But really, why is this surprising? You are My People. You Get It. And of course, y’all are pretty. Naturally we agree about the superiority of Crayolas.
As long as you’re all feeling the love with me, let me throw something else out there for you: I’ve mentioned that I stock extra toys in the gift closet and each Christmas I grab up a carload to take to Toys For Tots. But they are not my favorite holiday charity. My very favorite Yuletide activity is putting together shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Check it out if you haven’t; it’s a wonderful outreach to bring school supplies, hygiene items and the holiday spirit (translation: some toys) to kids who might not otherwise have them.
I love it because it’s very varied yet doable; you fill a shoebox with as much as you can cram in there. The kids each do a box (with my help) and I do a box (or two) and it’s always a lot of fun. I like to play “how many tiny toys can I cram in here and then fill all the holes with lollipops,” myself, but you know how I am.
So. Why am I telling you this now? See those $.20 crayons, $.10 notebooks, etc.? Pick up extras. You’ll need them in December, and at pennies on the dollar, you can afford to be generous.
Precious Moments; good baby gift
Know someone who just had a little girl? Don’t think Precious Moments figurines are creepy? (I do think they’re a little creepy, but I’m also sort of afraid of clowns, so make of that what you will.)
Check out these flower bell figurines, one for each month, all marked down from $16.99 to $4.99. Supposedly coupon code 568/0300 will work for free shipping, as well, but I haven’t tested it because looking into those big round eyes fills me with such panic and dread, I had to look away before I had a chance to test it.
(But, seriously: Does no one else hear them whispering, “You will be assimilated!”? It’s just me?)
Today’s bold statement
All of the stores near me are starting their back-to-school crazy specials, like spiral notebooks for a dime and such. While shopping yesterday for some other items, I took the kids to browse through school stuff and picked up a few things they’ll be needing.
I was feeling very good about myself, showing my daughter how to compare prices. (For example; she wanted the larger glue sticks which are twice the size of the others. But because the normal ones were on special and the large ones were not, I was able to make her understand that it was twice as much product for five times the price—not an acceptable ratio!)
We noticed that the Crayola crayons came in at a whopping twice the price of the generics. The generics were a dime a box, while the Crayolas run $.20. My daughter dutifully (and sadly) said that she supposed they would have to get the least expensive ones.
I thought about this for a moment, then grandly announced that she and her brother were certainly worth an extra dime apiece, because there really isn’t anything better than genuine Crayola crayons.
Moral of the story: Crayolas are the best, and my kids are worth at least $.20 apiece. Feel the love.
Tup, Tup, Tupperware
With the advent of cheap, disposable plastic food storage, I have gratefully switched over to mostly using the sorts of containers that you can buy at the grocery store in multi-packs. Then when I find myself growing science experiments in the back of the fridge, I can just chuck the entire thing without too much guilt.
But I must confess—I do pink puffy heart the few pieces of genuine Tupperware that I own.
Also? I surf the Tupperware deals for teacher gifts, because who doesn’t like Tupperware? Aliens and robots, that’s who. Real people (and especially real teachers) love and appreciate genuine Tupperware.
And that’s why I want to tell you that the CrystalWave soup mugs are on sale right now. Think teacher gifts! There are a million things you can reheat in a 16-ounce handled mug with that awesome, microwave-safe, vented lid. It’s a far cry from a “My Teacher Gets An A+” mug.
Everything has a season. . . right?
My darlings, I have been neglecting you. I am sorrowful over it. It is not that I don’t love you or that you’re not pretty (because I do, and you really are), but sadly, my love of The Bargain has been slightly overshadowed of late with other things. Like travelling. And getting ready to travel again. And peeling the velcro children off of me while they beg me not to go away a second time.
Please forgive me for not living up to my usual responsibilities in finding you fabulous and quirky freebies and deals, and for neglecting my advice pile. Here! I will make it up to you! I’ll answer a question right now!
Mir, you are indeed pretty and smart!
We will need some new kitchen appliances in the next year or so. It’s not going to be an emergency purchase (hopefully), like when the freezer dies and you must get a new one before everything thaws.
How can we make sure we find good prices on appliances? Specifically, I’m wondering if there is an “off season” of the year when we might be more likely to find good deals on a fridge, stove, microwave, or dishwasher.
We bought our car in the fall (a model that was not being continued the next year) and it was thrilling to save literally thousands of dollars compared to… oh, compared to some other car we could have bought but didn’t. Now I’m loving the whole “off season” concept even more than before, and trying to save money this way on as many purchases as possible.
Thanks!
Mayhem Mama
I’ll confess; this one took some deep thought. read more…
Sesame Street for military families
Leave it to Sesame Street to come up with resources for military families.
Go here to get a free kit on helping families through deployment.
Seriously, is there anything Big Bird can’t help us with? I think not.
More shoes?
Now remember: Just because there’s a deal, doesn’t mean you have to go out and use it. I don’t want to hear of anyone ending up destitute in a house crammed full of Manolos. But if you need shoes (or maybe the kids are needing some for back-to-school), this might be a good deal for you.
Take $10 off of any order at Shoebuy with coupon code ICE7463. Like Zappos, Shoebuy always has free shipping and free returns. Coupon expires October 31st, so you have plenty of time to use it.
So, you know, if you don’t need shoes right now, don’t fret. Surely we can find something you need before Halloween.
(Oops! Did I say that in my out-loud voice? My bad.)
Because you can never have too much soap
How about a free container of hand soap? I don’t know about your kids, but mine seem to use about half a bottle of the stuff every time they’re told to wash up.
As an aside, remember how we’ve talked about giving your dollars to companies you admire? I am a proud supporter of Dove products both because they are affordable and because I just love this. Love it. I’m always happy to give Dove my money. They’re doing more than just selling shampoo. The only way I could love them more would be if they actually came over here and cleaned my house.
Contest time (and it’s not about me)
Wow. Um. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the shameless sucking up and all, but that wasn’t really what I had in mind when I mentioned having a contest.
Ahem.
No, I was talking about your chance to will some of the hottest merchandise around, something that will make small children shriek with glee and parents have extremely mixed feelings about whether or not even Mozart would’ve been considered genius if a toddler had forced his mother to listen to the same piece over and over and over again…. read more…
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