O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Christmas Giveaways~~WooHoo!!

My friend Brynna at Joy Filled Frugality has an awesome giveaway going on right now!  CSN Stores has offered her readers a $35 gift code to use on their site!  They have some awesome deals and some of the coolest items you can find!  It is taking me forever to look through their site but I am loving it!!  I know I will be doing some shopping here!

Please go check out and enter Brynna's giveaway...great Christmas presents!!

I'm checking my list and checking it twice...

gonna find out who's naughty or nice!  Seriously, though, this is the time of year when I break out with list after list after list...I even have a list for all the lists I need to make..LOL!  But one of my most important lists is my Christmas Card List.   I try to narrow it down each year, but it just seems almost impossible.   But even more important than the list is the Christmas Cards themselves!  I spend a lot of time taking pictures for Christmas Cards (just ask my kids!!), so I always want to find the perfect card to "showcase" my picture(s) on.  The perfect card can make a simple picture "pop", and you know that's what you want when your friends/faraway family haven't seen your children/family in a while!

So this year, I got an free holiday card blog promotion through Shutterfly.  FREE----woohoo!!  Those of you that know me well, know that I LOVE FREE!!  So very quickly I began searching through their beautiful Christmas/Holiday photo cards and man was I impressed!  There were so many beautiful styles, I wondered how I could possibly pick just one!  I began "trying all the cards out" (kind of like trying on clothes to see what fits), but in this circumstance it is to see which one made my pictures "POP"!  I had 4 pictures that I wanted to place on the card (you can even filter your search by how many pictures you have), so after looking at the styles that were available with that many pictures, I finally chose the Family Roster.  I had a very hard time choosing because they all look so good!  But I wanted a card that would let me showcase each child, then have one picture of the three of them that "popped" out...and this one just did it for me.  Shutterfly is offering 20% off their holiday cards, that's a great deal, especially for the quality you will receive!

Are you looking for Christmas gifts??  What about a calendar for the upcoming year?  Grandparents always love having a calendar with the grandkids pictures on it throughout the year.  Shutterfly has many calendars to choose from.  While you are making your cards and already have pictures uploaded, why don't you go ahead a make a calendar or two (they offer some great deals on additional purchases!)

And while I was there, I also checked out the Baby Birthday Invitations...cause a certain baby boy I know has a birthday coming up shortly after Christmas!  And as much as I don't like to think about two "special occasions" at once, I must begin to get my mind in order regarding a birthday party very quickly once the Christmas tree is down!

Go check out Shutterfly, they have so much to offer, great deals, and super quality on their products!!  I can't wait to see what you choose!!

Christmas Cards....already??? OF COURSE!!

Yep, I am getting a head start on Christmas cards....but really it is only 2 months away from Christmas (I know that cause my birthday is Oct. 25th , so it is easy to start counting down from that point!)

So anyway, I wanted to share a couple of great deals I have found on photo cards...you know me I have to do the photo card thing...drag the kids out make a few pictures...yada yada yada.  So this past week while we were camping at Fall Creek Falls I took the opportunity to get a few pics (a few...hahaha) of the kids.  I will share some of the with you, but I have to save my faves for the Christmas cards of course.

So on Vistaprint, they are offering 20 Holiday Cards (4x8 or 5x7 or 5x7 folded!) for $1.99!!!  There is an upload fee for the pictures (mine was $3.74)  With shipping my total was under $12.00 and that was for a 3 picture 5x7 folded card...not just the postcard type.  Here is the link:  www.vistaprint.com/santa7.  I am not sure how long this deal is good for.

Then Snapfish is offering 20 4x8 photo cards for FREE, you pay shipping only, which is $5.99, using the discount code BABYMAIL.  This is offer is good through Oct. 31st...so hurry!!  You can also get another set 20 for FREE, plus shipping of $5.99 with the discount code BABIES.  You can use both of these codes, but they must be done in different transactions.  Thanks FREEBIES4MOM, for alerting me of these great deals!!

Coupons...Part 2

Well, on this post I just wanted to share some of my favorite sites to check out for coupons and deals.  I know that TONS of people have blog posts on couponing, so I am not going to share the bit of knowledge I have on HOW it's done, rather just bits of knowledge on WHERE to go.

One of the best places to start when looking for coupons is your local Sunday newspaper.  Here is a link to the schedules for Red Plum, Smart Source, and P&G inserts thanks to Southern Savers.  You can purchase your paper at Dollar Tree for only $1.00!!  That is generally savings enough for most people to get 2 papers for what 1 normally cost.  And speaking of buying 2 papers..."experts" say you should purchase 1 paper for every member of your family to get the most out of couponing.  I must admit that most of the time I only purchase 2 though.

Now, there are many places on the internet to look for coupons, and I am assuming if you are reading this then you have access to the internet...LOL!  Here are just a few of my favorites:

Coupons.com
AllYou.com  (You can also purchase All You Magazine at Walmart and gets LOTS of coupons inside!)
RedPlum.com  (This is also one of the inserts that comes in the Sunday Paper, but you can get additional coupons online)
SmartSource.com  (This is also one of the inserts that comes in the Sunday Paper, but again you can get additional coupons online)
Grocery Stores (You can go to your local grocery chains website, such as Bi-Lo, Publix, Food Lion, and they have "printables" on their sites.)

Some of my other favorite websites to check offer FREEBIES and coupon match-ups (to help you maximize your savings with the coupons matching them up to the sales of the week).  A few of these sites are:

Southern Savers
Time 2 Save
Sunday Coupon Preview
Money Saving Mom

These are just a few of the MANY coupon sites out there on the internet.  Just do a search for "coupons" and you find page after page!!  And speaking of searches...be sure to sign up for SWAGBUCKS, where you can earn "bucks" just for searching online!!  These bucks can be used to purchase items in the Swag Store...items that include Amazon.com gift cards, Starbucks gift cards, Restaurant.com gift cards, Video Gaming equipment, Books, and MANY, MANY other items!!  Signing up is FREE and all you have to is SEARCH...anything and everything and it will randomly give you "bucks" throughout the day.  Use my link to sign up and get started earning!  I recently used mine to purchase a pair of $50 Red Box Shoes and got shipping and all FREE!!  How bout them apples???  Go try it!!



HAPPY COUPONING (AND MOST OF ALL HAPPY SAVING MONEY!!)

The Simple Life of a 2 Year Old

Enjoy the Colors of Fall