Author: Abby H.

Freebies & Amazing Deals at Vons!

Abby H.

Vons has really been stepping up their game recently. Log on to your Vons account (either on vons.com or the Vons app), click the Just4U button, and search FREE in the search bar.

What you’ll get varies, but my free offers this week are:

A free Pizza and free yogurt! In addition to these great freebies I’ve also got a $5/$25!

Screen Shot 2018-01-18 at 9.46.43 AM.pngThis week Smart Ones Frozen Entrees are .99 when you buy four or more. I have a few buy 7, get 2 free peelie coupons from the last time I bought Smart Ones- I tend to buy the ones that have coupons on them, so I can save the extra coupons for future purchases.

We’ve been eating a lot at home lately, so we’ve pretty much emptied the freezer. I re-arranged some stuff, so I’ve got tons of room for an onslaught of entrees!

Here is my plan:

Buy 27 Smart Ones Entrees @ .99/each= $26.73

Redeem $5/$25 Coupon on Vons Club

Use 3 Buy 7, get 2 free Peelie coupons

Total OOP= $15.79

And as a double dip, I’ll submit my receipt to Fetch Rewards where I’ll earn points for my purchase.

 

 

 

Why I Love…. My Smartphone

Abby H.

purple crocus

I am not what is referred to as an early adopter of technology. I held onto my flip phone until about 2 1/2 years ago. Seriously. My Flip Phone didn’t even have a camera.

Now that I have  smartphone, I don’t know what the hell was wrong with me. My phone does everything! My purse is a lot lighter now that I no longer carry a planner, memo pad, and a few dozen pens with me. I also carry a lot fewer coupons too.

That is mostly because of all of the amazing apps out there. Check it out:

This is just the first page of the Money Saving screens. I have one other that’s mostly grocery store apps (Ralphs, Food4Less,), and also apps like Shopkick.

What I love is that a lot of these apps can be used together, and with paper coupons in some cases.

I recently posted about Dosh. I love that I was able to take advantage of a 10% cash back offer from Denny’s through Dosh, after I had used a $5 off coupon in the restaurant. Then I uploaded the receipt to Receipt Hog to earn points (that I redeem for cash sent to my paypal account), and there was a Cash Dash offer of 2% back.

My full list of Smartphone apps can be found here. 

In addition I use my talk to text multiple times a day. I also have “Hey Siri” enabled, so she can send texts, take notes (frequently ideas for posts or articles), and answer stupid questions while my hands are occupied. I do a lot of work while I’m driving. Siri is like the secretary I’ve always wanted.

I’d like to think that I am more productive with my phone- and my hands free phone holder.

 

Earn Cash back with Dosh!

Abby H.3 Comments

Screen Shot 2018-01-17 at 1.42.28 PM.pngI love a good cash back app.  Dosh is the latest, and it’s a little different than the others out there right now. Dosh is primarily for restaurants (including Denny’s, which is the kid’s favorite), but there are retailers like Hallmark, Forever 21, Cost Plus World Market, and Sam’s Club.

Signing up is easy, and there are no receipts to scan, or photos to take.  Sign up here, then link your credit and debit cards.  Once you use one of the cards at a participating retailer, you’ll get a push notification from Dosh, and in just a few days, you’ll have cash back!  The Cash Out threshold is $15.00 which is pretty easy to get.

Right now when you sign up and link at least two cards, you’ll get a $10 bonus!  Refer friends and receive $5 per referral that signs up and receives their first cash back!

Thanks to my kids and their love of Denny’s, plus all of the other great extra ways to earn money with the app, I’ve already cashed out $20!

Here is my pro-saving tip for the day: Double or triple dip on this by using coupons (There were Denny’s coupons in the mail recently, and many of the retailers that participate also have coupons out there) to lower your Out of Pocket (OOP), and then scan your receipt into Receipt Hog, and check apps like Cash Dash to see if there are any cash back opportunities. And if you shop at Sam’s Club, check out Ibotta, Fetch Rewards, and Checkout51 for more rebate/cash back opportunities! You’ll be earning in NO TIME!!

(The Dosh Link is my personal link, if you sign up and complete an offer, I may earn $5. This money helps me run the site and offer contests and giveaways. You can see my Disclosure  info here.)

100 Business Cards from Vistaprint- Just $5!

Abby H.

Screen Shot 2018-01-17 at 12.34.57 PM.pngI’ve talked to quite a few people over the past week who have started a new business or endeavor this year.

Screen Shot 2018-01-17 at 12.46.10 PM.pngNew businesses mean time for new business cards! And if you aren’t in need of business cards, they have some really great mom/parent cards that list your contact info, kids names, and any allergies. Great for handing out when you meet moms and kids you “click” with at parks and playdates!

Vistaprint has a great sale right now- 100 Business Cards for $5.00 (plus shipping, which starts at $6.99). There are Pearl business cards and Square business cards available. And if you need anything else, you can click here and get 40-50% off your purchase on many other items!

I took advantage of this deal to re-order my cards. I’ve been giving a lot of them out lately!

New Freebies!

Abby H.


Let’s start the week with some freebies! I’m ordering freebies that we can use around the house, and also to put into blessing bags to help out some local homeless outreach groups.

Free Samples

 

Free Magazine Subscriptions

1/15/18 Meal Plan Monday

Abby H.

dsc07997

I hope everyone enjoys their Martin Luther King Jr. Day Holiday! The kids and I are going to be spending the day getting out into nature, after we pick up some school supplies for his teacher (I like to buy new supplies mid-year). Rehearsals for the play Husband is directing starts tonight, so a lot of our meals will be stuff that tastes good reheated, or makes good leftovers. He will be home later than usual for the next few weeks.

I’m just posting dinners for our meal plan. The kiddos lately have been having protein pancakes (I like Kodiak Cakes mix- it’s yummy and very versatile) with butter and Peanut butter. Hubs likes Oatmeal (my recipe for an easy almost instant oatmeal mix can be found here) if he’s got time, otherwise he and I have protein shakes. We mix it up, and have different flavors and mix in all kinds of stuff into our shakes, so as not to get bored. Here area few of our favorite recipes.

Lunches for Lil’ Man are usually Peanut butter and crackers, fruit, milk, a protein muffin (aka a kid cupcake), and applesauce cup. He takes his lunch every day! Hubs usually has a protein shake or I pack him leftovers or a frozen entree.

Bitty Bird and I usually have leftovers from the night before, or soup, sandwiches, quesadillas. She eats almost anything!

Monday:

  • D: Cheese and veggie enchiladas

Tuesday:

  • D: Roast Pork & Roasted veggies

Weds:

  • D: Chef Salad

Thursday:

  • D: Soup and Salad (Probably a fruit salad)

Friday:

  • D:  Date Night (dinner out)

Saturday:

  • D:   Stir Fry with cauliflower rice

Sunday:

  • D:  Home Made Pizza

The menu may change, as  I pull stuff out of the pantry to rotate what we’ve got (I am trying to cut down on waste, and put the older stuff up front to get eaten first).  It’s cold and rainy here in San Diego right now, so we may end up having more soup and salads if I don’t feel like cooking or get busy doing other stuff.

New Birthday Freebies!

Abby H.2 Comments

file3141334714768.jpg

Ya’ll know I love a good birthday freebie (you can see my previous posts on the subject here and here).  I discovered a new site with tons of great offers:I Birthday Club. They have offers in San Diego, Orange, LA, San Bernadino, Riverside, and Santa Clara Counties.

There are so many great restaurants and other businesses (free car wash, heck yes) offering birthday freebies.

Just a few that sparked my interest:

If you know of other cool Birthday Freebies, please share in the comments!

Shopper Army: Contests, Rebates, and more!

Abby H.

Screen Shot 2018-01-09 at 3.42.59 PM.pngI recently learned about Shopper Army: A website that offers great rebates on products people actually buy.  They also have really cool contests.

You can sign up here.  Here are just a few of the rebates they are offering right now:

20171110222411_head.pngFree Friendly Farms Organic Lowfat Chocolate Milk

Free Premier Protein Dark Chocolate Mint High Protein Bars

Free Elevation by Millville Protein Powder

Free The Greek Gods Seriously Indulgent Marionberry Yogurt

Free Nature’s Path Dark Chocolate & Red Berries Granola Bars

Free Runik Red Blend Wine

 

Many of the rebates are for 100% of the cost, but a few are 75% or so. Either way, if these are items you buy or use, this is a great opportunity to stock up and save!

If you like rebates- This is a great website. They have tons of rebates available now!

The Annual Toy Purge: Clean up & Help Others!

Abby H.

toys (4).JPG

Each year after Christmas and when the big kiddo is back to school, we go through the house and get rid of the toys that are no longer played with (Duplos), or are broken (So many things), or were taken away and never asked for back (I’m looking at you Nerf Gun). We also weed out the multiples. That way we only have 1 of each kind of train (no one needs 5 Thomas trains!), one of each kind of toy dino/animal in each size, and enough accessories for each Potato Head (but not tons).

IMG_7862We call this the Great Annual Toy Purge.  I enlist the help of my mom (who lives less than a mile away) to come and help me sort through all the toys.  We have toys in bins that are labeled, but sometimes, the toys migrate.

At the same time, we go through the toys. There are three piles:

  • Broken or missing pieces (discard/recycle)
  • In ok/good shape (donate to local thrift store)
  • Great/like new shape (There isn’t a lot in this category- Donate to some places in our local area that needs toys, or give to friends)

Then there is the Big Ol’ Black Trash bag- The trash goes straight in there.

I didn’t get a before picture, but, it was awful. Toys everywhere, junk, empty boxes… You know, kid stuff.

Here is a photo of the after:

IMG_7849IMG_7848 There are still a few more boxes of toys that need to go down to the garage (Stuff that we are saving for the when the Littler One gets bigger), and I vacuumed and we made his bed.

Unwanted toys were moved out of the house yesterday before school pick up. It’s raining right now, so our project is on hold until the rain stops. Next up is Bitty Bird’s room. It’s much smaller and she has less toys, but there are son many small pieces (doll clothes, toy food)- I’ll be stocking up on more 20 quart Sterilite tubs with lids.

Now, there are some toys that live in the living room because they get a lot more play. Mean Animals/Toy Dinos, Guy Men (action figures), and a small tub of Legos. We have them in a 2×2 Kallax Bookshelf from Ikea.

I’m participating in #declutterlikeamother, which is something fellow blogger Allie Casazzara does. A few of my friends are doing it too. While I wouldn’t jump off a cliff if others were doing it, I will definitely get rid of so much clutter and confusion with my friends!

I’ve already cleaned out the hall closet, the kitchen and hall junk drawers, and cleaned out my desk (which was basically just two junk drawers).

We’ve also cleaned out our wardrobes. We donated, recycled, shared hand-me-downs, and prepped bags to take to an upcoming clothing swap.

I encourage everyone to #declutterlikeamother. It’s incredibly liberating not to not feel suffocated by so.much.stuff. It feels so good to let go.

1/8/18: Meal Plan Monday!

Abby H.

dsc07997

Ok, so I’m a day late. Yesterday I was deep into the Annual Toy Purge, and I didn’t stop going until I collapsed last night about 9:30!

I’m just posting dinners for our meal plan. The kiddos lately have been having protein pancakes (I like Kodiak Cakes mix- it’s yummy and very versatile) with butter and Peanut butter. Hubs likes Oatmeal (my recipe for an easy almost instant oatmeal mix can be found here) if he’s got time, otherwise he and I have protein shakes. We mix it up, and have different flavors and mix in all kinds of stuff into our shakes, so as not to get bored. Here area few of our favorite recipes.

Lunches for Lil’ Man are usually Peanut butter and crackers, fruit, milk, a protein muffin (aka a kid cupcake), and applesauce cup. He takes his lunch every day! Hubs usually has a protein shake or I pack him leftovers or a frozen entree.

Bitty Bird and I usually have leftovers from the night before, or soup, sandwiches, quesadillas. She eats almost anything!

Monday:

  • D: BBQ Pulled chicken, brown rice, and steamed veg

Tuesday:

  • D: Lentil Soup and Cheese toast

Weds:

  • D: Bacon, eggs, and fruit salad

Thursday:

  • D: Lasagna ( I have some in the freezer from the last huge batch I made)

Friday:

  • D:  Date Night (dinner out)

Saturday:

  • D:   Pancake bar (I set out all kinds of mix-ins and topping and we just go wild) and Fruit Salad

Sunday:

  • D:  Leftovers!

The menu may change, as  I pull stuff out of the pantry to rotate what we’ve got (I am trying to cut down on waste, and put the older stuff up front to get eaten first).  It’s cold and rainy here in San Diego right now, so we may end up having more soup and salads if I don’t feel like cooking or get busy doing other stuff.