Couponing for the Rest of Us

Cheap Valentine’s Ideas: 5 Frugal Ideas for Your Honey or Your Kids!

Valentine-Coupon-Booklet

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to involve spending lots of money (or any at all) – but if you need some cheap Valentine’s ideas, we’re here to help!  Find more Valentine’s Day Ideas HERE.

Sometimes we need to be reminded to pause and give our loved ones a little extra attention – whether it be your “honey”, your kids, a family member, or someone you know who just needs a special reminder that they are loved.   Here are 5 Frugal Ideas…

For Your Honey:

  1. Have a Date Night “In” and plan some special touches.  After the kids are in bed, make a late supper together, eat by candlelight, listen to grown-up music (No “Kids Bop allowed!), and watch a romantic movie together.  Room for desert?  Try chocolate-covered strawberries or something decadent and delish.
    [Read more...]

Filed Under: thoughful thursday, Valentines Tagged With:
January 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Target Black Friday Ad 2011

Here’s the full list of sale itemsfor Target’s Black Friday Ad – including Doorbusters and regular deals.

See other stores in our Black Friday Page HERE!

DoorBusters begin at MIDNIGHT on Thursday night (Technically 12am Friday Morning)

Videogames/Electronics:

  • Element 40” 60Hz 1080p LCD HDTV $265.00 *
  • Samsung 32″ Class 720p 60hz LCD HDTV $277.99*
  • Westinghouse 46” 60Hz 1080p LCD HDTV $298.00*
  • Apple iPod Nano 8GB MP3 Player (6th Gen.) (W/ FREE $15 Target Giftcard) $129.00*
  • Apple iPod touch 8GB MP3 Player – Black (w/ Free $40 Target Gift Card) $195.00*
  • Xbox 360 Wireless Controller – $39.00 *
  • Xbox Kinect Sensor w/Wipeout 2 Game – $99.00 *
  • Sony Play Station 3 160GB Bundle w/2 Games, 30Day Playstation Plus Membership – $199.00 *
  • Sony PlayStation 3 DualShock 3 Controller – $39.00 *
  • Nintendo Wii Plau Motion w/Wii Remote And Controller – $39.00 *

Toys:

  • Sportcraft X 5000 Table Tennis Table – $88.00 *
  • Select Preschool Games – $3.99 *
  • Razor Barbie Folding Scooter – $20.00 *
  • Razor Hot Wheels Folding Scooters – $20.00 *
  • My First Disney Princess Doll w/Toddler Dress – $19.99 *
  • Lego Atlantis Portal Of Atlantis – $64.99 *
  • Lego Pharaoh’s Quest Scorpion Pyramid – $64.99 *
  • Fisher-Price Laugh And Learn Learning Table – $26.99 *
  • Entire Selection Of Disney Color Your Own Giant Activity Sets – $14.00 *
  • Barbie Glamour Jet – $39.99 *
  • 1:14 Radio Control Harley Davidwson F150 – $18.99 *
  • DVD’s for $3.99: The Twilight Saga: New Moon, The Blind Side, The Hangover, Pulp Fiction, It’s Complicate, Pulp Fiction (Blu-ray)

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Black Friday Deals, thoughful thursday
November 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Chattanooga Area Food Bank: “Hunger Wipeout” Obstacle Challenge

Time 2 Give
I was shocked when I read that 21% of Tennessee children live in poverty.   Yes, we have faced financial difficulty in our families, like most Americans however I can’t imagine not having any food to feed my children at home.  That kind of poverty I can’t wrap my mind around.  All I can think about is my little ones, and how often they tell me they are hungry during the day.  We might be out of milk, or their favorite snack but I’ve never had to look in their little eyes and tell them there is no food.

.

“Hunger Wipeout” – East Tennesse / North Georgia Area”

What is Hunger Wipeout?

Both Children and adults will have loads of fun.

  • Lupi’s Pizza will be onsite if you want to picnic in our beautiful garden area
  • We have some great prizes to give away
  • Hippie Radio will be broadcasting – so music will be plenty
  • 12 obstacle challenges
  • Plus:  face painting, seed bomb making, paper plate art, & shaving cream art

How can I participate?
To participate, please fill out a registration form, either the Family Registration Form, or the Individual Registration Form.  Then have everyone sign a separate Participant Waiver.
$15 per family/ $8 per individual Registration will be from 9:30 – 10:30 am.  As soon as you get checked in, you can start the obstacle challenge! Don’t miss this great event to help fight childhood hunger.  All proceeds go to our sack pack program.

You can register in advance or the day of the event.  For details about the event please visit our FAQ page!   Children as young as 5 can participate in most, if not all of the event.

Sack Program
According to USDA statistics, 21% of Tennessee children live in poverty
On school days these children receive a nutricious meal through the free or reduced lunch program.  However, there are some children who have no food at home to eat during the weekends.  To help eliminate this problem, the Food Bank created the Sack Pack program.  Sack Packs are bags of food that children take home from school on Friday.  These bags contain child-friendly products – easy to open, easy to feed themselves.

During the 2010 – 2011 school year, the Food Bank delivered 144,000 Sack Packs to 32 schools.

Filed Under: thoughful thursday, Time 2 Give
September 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

*New Series* | Starting Your Very Own Garden!

Today begins a fun new Thursday night series – written by our dear friend Elizabeth over at Green Urban Farmers. She has a passion for growing healthy food for her family – and she’ll be showing us step-by-step how to start our own gardens.  Come back each Thursday for more tips and new weekly gardening “assignments” from Elizabeth!

 

Kasey & Kelly, thanks so much for inviting us to join Time2Save!

Sandy & I are the Green Urban Farmers and we’re excited about this opportunity to share some of our knowledge with you to help you continue to SAVE money, create memories, and learn something in your own backyard!  Visit our website, greenurbanfarmers.com, to read more about us and follow our gardening blog!

Having a garden can be one of the most rewarding adventures.  There’s so much to do and learn about when you’ve got a garden, not to mention all the great stuff you eat without paying for it!

If you’ve got kids, your garden can become an outdoor science classroom, home economics classroom, and even a classroom that teaches your youngsters about life and responsibility at an even deeper level.

Since the gardening season is upon us for Summer planting, we’re going to spend the next couple of weeks talking about getting started with your garden and how to keep it going.  Now is the perfect time to get your gear together and dig in!

Today we’re just going to talk about getting started.

So, you want to start a garden…

You may not be interested in anything huge, because maybe it’s just you or you two, or maybe you just want to piddle in some dirt without a lot of work–it can be done!

Maybe you’ve got grand ideas (like my husband had) and you want to till a big space so you can can green beans or feed your family of 6, like ours–it can be done!

A few things to think about before you dig:

  1. Think about the size of your garden.  Remember that you want to enjoy this endeavor and not begrudge it once you get started.  We recommend for all you first-timers that you start off small.  You can always expand!  You have everything to gain from starting off small!  To give an example of what “small” means, consider something like a 4′ x 4′ area.
  2. Can you or do you want to dig in your yard? Or would you rather do an above ground bed?  Or maybe even some container gardens with cute pots here and there!  Green Urban Farmers can help you with your selection!  We’ve done a blog about container gardening to help you out!  Visit us to find out more: greenurbanfarmers.com

Here are a  couple of  containers we found ideal!:

Now the pot with all the holes in it is called a Strawberry Planter and it is used specifically for Strawberries.  We’ll talk about fruit in your garden later but it’s such a cool pot to work with!

  1. Where does your yard get at least 6 hours of full sun? This is a very important requirement for your garden spot.  All vegetables that grow require lots of sunshine to grow and produce!  (At least most of them do).
  2. What do you want to grow? Think about what vegetables your family eats on a regular basis and consider growing some of these vegetables that you know your family will eat and won’t waste.

Take some time to be thinking about these things.  Next week, we’ll give you some “how-to’s” about putting your garden together.

**GREAT IDEA**
Start a gardening notebook where you can keep these important facts we just listed.  Write down the answers to the 4 questions above so you’ll be ready to start digging!

**Green Urban Farmers locally sells raised beds in different sizes and shapes!**

Visit our website:

GreenUrbanFarmers

Filed Under: Gardening, organic, thoughful thursday
April 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Thoughtful Thursday: Skeleton Key Art Project!

Spring is in the air and we’ve been spending Thoughtful Thursdays lately learning how to spiff up our homes on the cheap!  This week is no exception, as Allison from House of Hepworths.drops by to teach us how to make some cool new wall art using skeleton keys! (Isn’t this cute?!)

Materials Needed:

* small skeleton keys
* shadowbox frame
* brown paper lunch sacks
* white school glue

(There are lots of fab helpful pictures with this tutorial, so click “READ MORE” to see the full post!)

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Family Fun / Kid's Crafts, thoughful thursday
March 24, 2011 by 2 Comments

Thoughtful Thursday: Spring Projects on a Budget! {Part 2- Chair Makeover}

Thoughtful Thursdays is a weekly segment geared toward helping you be frugal in areas outside your grocery list.   Today I’d like to introduce you guys to Brittany from Pretty Handy Girl -  a girl we SO admire for her crafty DIY spirit.  She’s totally amazing at creating magical makeovers without spending much!  I now leave you in her capable hands….

Hi, it’s me, Pretty Handy Girl again…

…and I’m back to share with you how to re-upholster a chair seat. Time to give your tushie a new cushy! I hope you enjoyed my post last week on giving dark bookcases a facelift.

Okay guys – this post has LOTS of awesome pictures (which I love) – so click on READ MORE to continue with the glorious photo tutorial!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: thoughful thursday, Weekend Warriors
March 17, 2011 by 5 Comments

Thoughtful Thursdays: Springy Home Facelifts… on a Budget {Part 1 – Bookshelf Makeover!}

Thoughtful Thursdays is a weekly segment geared toward helping you be frugal in areas outside your grocery list.   Today I’d like to introduce you guys to Brittany from Pretty Handy Girl -  a girl we SO admire for her crafty DIY spirit.  She’s totally amazing at creating magical makeovers without spending much!  I now leave you in her capable hands….

Thank you so much for inviting me over to your blog today! I hope your reader’s will enjoy my tutorial for giving any bookshelf a facelift.

But, before we get to the tutorial, I think some introductions are in order. Hi, everyone, my name is Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl).

[Read more...]

Filed Under: thoughful thursday
March 10, 2011 by 3 Comments

Thoughtful Thursday: How can you save money on utilities?

Thursdays just got thoughtful around here!
Tonight kicks off a series of posts focused on ideas for being frugal in other areas of life (i.e. Not just groceries).
Thanks so much to Deal Detective Kim, for stepping outside of her box to kick off Thoughtful Thursdays with this “food for thought” on Energy Savings!

We’ve talked before about finding savings in areas OTHER than your grocery bill.  There are ways to save mega bucks on something most people think is a (mostly) fixed expense.


Programmable Thermostats:

This year, I had to replace my central heat and air unit, to the tune of $3,000.  (Ouch!)  Luckily, a friend does heating and air, so I initially saved quite a bit of what I would have paid.  Included in his price quote was a programmable thermostat.  He said they cost around $60 at Lowe’s, but they are well worth the price, because the amount you save on your energy bill pays for it in less than a year.  A couple months later, Chattanooga Gas announced they are GIVING those away to their customers.  So if you are a Chattanooga Gas customer, go HERE to get yours.  (You will need to have a copy of your bill handy.)
Even though I had just bought one, I ordered the free one anyway and gave it to a family member who needed it.  I set it for 62 degrees while I’m gone to work and 65 degrees while I’m asleep–painless savings!  It took only a couple of minutes to install–if you can put in a new light switch or ceiling fan, you can do this!

Efficient Appliances:

The new unit I bought is much more energy efficient, so it too will pay for itself eventually.  I also got a 30% federal income tax credit ($900) AND the state of Tennessee has a state resident rebate program you can find HERE.  I got a $250 rebate from them, again for doing something I already had to do.  If you live in a state other than Tennessee, search online; this program is funded by federal money, so it may be available in your state as well.
Now, I’m not saying go out and buy a new central heat & air unit if you don’t need one–that’s crazy.  What I am saying is it pays to find out what’s being offered and take advantage of it.  There are literally millions of dollars in that rebate fund; how many people do you think bought new units and didn’t know it was there?  Hint–over 75% of the funds are still available!  There’s even a $40 rebate for a window air conditioner.

Check Into “Utility Bill Averaging”:

Most utilities companies offer “Bill Averaging” – paying the same amount each month based on an average.  This may be something that will help you, if you don’t like being surprised with a $320 bill right after Christmas.  For instance, if you have very low bills in the spring/fall – but unmanageably high ones in the winter/summer – this would help even things out (for budgeting purposes).

Shop sales for energy-efficient lightbulbs:

I found a lot of compact flourescent bulbs on clearance at Rite Aid and combined them with coupons to get them nearly free.  Those, too, will save on my energy bills.  If you replace just one bulb at a time with a more energy-efficient one, eventually you will have them everywhere, and the savings from one will pay for the next one!

Weatherization Assistance:

Did you know that you can get your home re-insulated/weatherized for FREE?  WAP’s (Weatherization Assistance Programs) are funded by the government and exist in every state.  The Tennessee info is HERE - and it provides-income families with free weatherization for permanently lower utilities bills.
If you don’t qualify for government assistance in that area, many utility companies will offer a way to insulate your home for free, and pay them back in small payments.  This would pay for itself if you have an older/poorly built drafty home.   Contact your utility company to ask about this program!

More Savings Inspiration:

Yesterday, I read part of a blog by a woman who went on a “spending fast” for a year.  She paid off nearly $20,000 in debt by doing it, but a lot of the cuts were painful ones.  I don’t have anywhere near that much debt, so I don’t think that extreme would work for me, but I love painless cuts!  (Her blog, And Then She Saved,  is a good read!)
Hopefully, I’ve inspired you, just as others from this blog have inspired me!
- Deal Detective Kim
Would you be interested in being a Guest-Poster for a Thoughtful Thursday segment?  If so, email me at time2saveworkshops@gmail.com and pitch your idea!
*All those chosen will receive a Time2Save t-shirt or keychain fob (your choice).
Filed Under: thoughful thursday
January 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment