DIY MakeUp Remover Wipes

STOP PAYING for make up remover wipes.  You are throwing your money in the garbage.  Seriously.  You can make your own SO SIMPLY and the ingredients will go so much further than that last package of makeup remover wipes that you just paid $3.50 or more for. 

Personally, although I like makeup remover wipes, I've never been able to bring myself to pay for them, so I've been using Baby Oil ever since I started wearing mascara.  Baby Oil because its the only thing besides that tiny little expensive bottle of waterproof makeup remover or the expensive wipes that will take my waterproof mascara off.  You see....I MUST wear waterproof mascara.  I'm an emotional person, enough said. 

I've heard it rumored before that babyoil was not a good choice for removing makeup, but I never really knew why.  Well, until recently I had never done any research on it either.  Until I came across this recipe that I absolutely LOVE! 

This isn't MY recipe, I'm a bit of a copycat.  And once I learned how GOOD for you coconut oil is, I decided this was something worth checking out.  The recipe I was following called for papertowels and rubbermade containers.  I think paper towels are expensive.  And I really don't have any room under my bathroom sink for a rubbermade container. 

So, here ya go, my version of this recipe:

You will need: 

Coconut oil- 1 Tblsp      (found mine @ Wal-Mart for $5.98 for a 14 oz jar)

             Baby Shampoo- a squirt                                                            

Water- 2 cups                                                                

A squirt bottle or jar or some other container (for storing)    

  (I used an empty shampoo container that I rinsed out very well)

Directions

Dump 1 tblsp of the coconut oil in the 2 cups water

nuke it for 30 seconds to melt the coconut oil.

Stir till coconut oil has liquified

 squirt a squirt of baby shampoo into the mixture

Stir again and VOILA!

Pour your makeup remover into your squirt bottle and you are ready to go take off your make up! 

The most expensive item on the ingredient list is the coconut oil, but

it will last FOREVER! And you can cook with it too. 

Google the health benefits of Coconut Oil...you'll be rushing out to make this too!

Save Money, Use your Crock Pot

Feeding a family on a tight budget can feel so restrictive sometimes.  And then other times, it can be so rewarding.  Like those times when you discover how EASY it is to cook a delicous meal in your crockpot that feeds the whole family.  I'm becoming more and more in love with that cooking utensil every time I use it. This time I'm stealing a recipe from a blogger friend of mine and making lasagna in the crockpot!  It is smelling so delicious and I can hardly wait for it to be done.  Oh, lemme guess, you want the recipe?  I suppose I can share her link with you instead of hoarding it myself.  I frequent her site often because she has a bunch of easy budget recipes that so far have been DELICIOUS! 

Check her out and the recipes HERE

I'm anxious for the crock pot lasagna to be done cuz I have a bunch of apples that I"m going to turn into applesauce, or maybe apple butter...hmmm....haven't decided yet.  Maybe I have enough to do BOTH!  And guess what?  I'll be using my handy dandy crockpot.  :)  Of course, I'm also considering apple crisp. 
Mmmm....decisions, decisions.

Free Movie Codes for Blockbuster Kiosk

Friday movie night at home?  FREE makes it even better, right?  Visit a Blockbuster Kiosk near you and rent some movies for freeeeeee.....

The following codes are valid for TODAY (9/9) only: 

28RMAQ3
35TPLD8
45PGAR3
44KRVF8
59TTDR7
79JEAH3

These codes valid through 9/12:

75TTDR3
34PGAR2
72KRVF5
38RMAQ4
89AGSF7
83TPLD4
76DMNP2
29SPNF9
68MMKC2

These codes are typically only valid on the $1 movie rentals and can only be used one time per card.  But HEY, a dollar is a dollar and a dollar saved is another dollar in the pocket book!  Remember though that the movies have to be returned by 9pm the following day or you will be charged for an extra night.

Sunday Coupon Preview

Here is what to expect in the coupon inserts for Sunday 9-11-11. Three inserts total, (1) RedPlum (2) SmartSource.  Remember, the inserts vary by region so there may be some variations.

RedPlum 9/11
$1 off Aquafresh Extreme Clean Breath Action or Iso-Active product (exp 11/30)
.75/1 Aquafresh toothpaste, 5.6 oz + (exp 11/30)
$2 off Bayer Advanced Aspirin product (exp 12/31)
$1 off Bayer Aspirin product (exp 12/31)
$3 off Body Fortress powder (exp 10/28)
.50/1 Carolina rice products or River white or brown rice (exp 12/31)
$1 off DiGiorno large pizza (exp 10/31)
$1 off Emerald nuts or Breakfast on the Go, 7.5 oz + (exp 10/23)
$2 off Garnier moisturizer (exp 10/22)
$1 off Johnsonville smoked chicken sausage (exp 1/31)
$1/2 Kellogg’s Raisin Bran Reg, Crunch or Extra cerela, 15 oz + (exp 10/23)
$1/3 Kellogg’s Special K cereal, 11.4 oz + (exp 10/23)
$1.50/2 Kellogg’s Special K protein products, excl drink mix under 4 ct. (exp 11/6)
$2 off Knorr Homestyle stock (exp 10/23)
$1 off L’Oreal Studio Line stylant (exp 11/6)
$2 off L’Oreal Sublime mousse (exp 11/6)
.75/1 L’Oreal Vive Pro shampoo or conditioner (exp 11/6)
$1 off Mars M&M’s pretzel candy, 9.9 oz + (exp 10/23)
$1 off Maybelline NY foundation (exp 11/11)
$2 off Maybelline NY lip product (exp 11/11)
$1 off Maybelline NY mascara (exp 11/11)
$1 off Maybelline NY powder (exp 11/11)
.50/1 Minute Ready to Serve rice (exp 12/3)
$1 off Nature’s Bounty vitamin or supplement (exp 10/25)
$2 off Nature’s Bounty Your Life multivitamin (exp 10/25)
$1 off Nestle Toll House peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie dough (exp 11/11)
$1/2 Pop Secret product (exp 10/23)
$2 off Purex laundry detergent, 128 oz + bottle (exp 9/23)
$2 off Purina Alpo cans, 8 ct. + or 12 singles (exp 11/21)
$1.50/10 Purina Alpo cans (exp 10/24)
$1/2 Purina Beggin’ product (exp 12/11)1 off Pu
$1 off Purina Dog Chow or Little Bites, 3.5 lb + (exp 10/9)
$1 off Purina Kit & Kaboodle, 3.5 lb + (exp 12/31)
$2.50/2 Purina T Bonz or Tiny T Bonz (exp 12/11)
$1 off Purina Tidy Cat litter (exp 12/11)
.75/2 Purina Whisker Lickin’s (exp 12/11)
.75/2 Ragu pasta sauce (exp 10/9)
$5 off SlimShots liquid portion control, excl 2 ct. (exp 10/31)
$1 off Truvia natural sweetener (exp 12/4)
SmartSource 9/11
.50/2 Betty Crocker boxed potatoes, excl Buds and pouch (exp 11/5)
.50/2 Betty Crocker fruit shapes, by the foot, gushers or roll-ups (exp 11/5)
.75/3 Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper (exp 11/5)
.75/1 Fun da-middles cupcake mix (exp 11/5)
.75/1 General Mills Chex mix Muddy Buddies, 10.5 oz + (exp 11/5)
.40/1 General Mills Fiber One bars (reg or 90 cal) or 90 cal brownies (exp 11/5)
.60/3 Green Giant frozen boxed vegetables (exp 11/5)
.40/1 Green Giant Just for One product (exp 11/5)
.50/2 Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers frozen vegetables, 11 or 12 oz (exp 11/5)
.50/1 Lucky Charms, Golden Grahams, Chex Mix or Milk ‘n Cereal bars (exp 11/5)
.75/2 Nature Valley granola bars, 6 ct. + (exp 11/5)
.75/1 Nature Valley Granola Thins (exp 11/5)
.40/2 Pillsbury crescent dinner rolls (exp 12/3)
$1 off Pillsbury Frozen Egg Scrambles or Biscuit Sandwich (exp 12/3)
.40/2 Pillsbury Italian meal breads (exp 12/3)
.75/2 Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough (exp 12/3)
.30/2 Pillsbury Refrigerated Reg or Jr Grands biscuits (exp 12/3)
.30/1 Pillsbury Reg or Grands sweet rolls (exp 12/3)
$1 off Pillsbury Sweet Moments refrigerated desserts (exp 12/3)
.50/2 Pillsbury Toaster Strudel or Scrambles, or Pancakes (exp 12/3)
$1/4 Progresso canned soup (exp 11/5)
.50/2 Totino’s Crisp Crust Party Pizza (exp 12/3)
.75/1 Totino’s Pizza Stuffers (exp 12/3)
.35/1 Totino’s rolls (exp 12/3)
.50/1 Yoplait select multipk yogurts (exp 11/5)
.75/1 Yoplait frozen smoothie (exp 11/5)
.75/2 Yoplait Go-Gurt, Kids Cup, Trix or Splitz yogurt (exp 11/5)
.50/2 Yoplait Greek cups (exp 11/5)
.75/1 Yoplait light parfait (exp 11/5)
.50/1 Yoplait Original or Light yogurt, 4 pk. (exp 11/5)
$1/10 Yoplait yogurt cups (exp 11/5)

SmartSource 9/11
$1.50 off Airwick Freshmatic refill (exp 10/23)
$1 off Airwick Scented Oil refill pk. (exp 10/23)
$4 off Airwick Ultra Freshmatic Reg or Compact kit (exp 10/23)
$3 off Allegra 24 hr 30 or 45 ct. or Allegra D (exp 12/31)
$2 off Allegra Childrens product (exp 12/31)
$2 off Benefiber product (exp 11/30)
.40/4 Campbell’s Chicken Noodle or Tomato soup (exp 11/15)
.40/3 Campbell’s soup, excl chicken noodle or tomato (exp 11/15)
.40/3 Campbell’s spaghetti’o's (exp 11/15)
.50/1 Carolina Pride cocktail smokies (exp 12/30)
.50/1 Carolina Pride smoked sausage (exp 12/30)
.75/1 Cottonelle product, 12 pk. or (2) 4 pk. (exp 10/23)
.55/1 Dreamfields pasta (exp 11/12)
.50/1 Easy Off Bar B Q cleaner (exp 11/6)
.50/1 Easy Off oven cleaner (exp 11/6)
.35/1 Farmhouse eggs (exp 12/31)
.50/1 French’s French Fried onion (exp 10/31)
$3 off Fresh Pet Roasted meals (exp 12/15)
$1.50 off Fresh Pet Roasted treats (exp 12/15)
$1 off Gas-X product (exp 11/30)
$1 off Grande chips, 10 oz + (exp 12/31)
$1/2 Hershey’s Drops or Minis stand up bags (exp 10/31)
.75/1 Jamba smoothie, 8 oz (exp 12/31)
.50/1 Kraft Stove Top stuffing (exp 10/11)
.75/1 Krunchers Kettle chips, 9 oz + (exp 12/31)
.75/1 Lime Away product (exp 11/6)
$1/2 Lipton natural iced tea bottles (exp 12/31)
$5 off Luster 1 Hr product (exp 10/31)
$1.50 off Luster White 7 product (exp 10/31)
$1/2 Mentos product, 45 pc + (exp 10/20)
$1/6 Mentos product, 15 pc + (exp 10/20)
$1 off MidNite PM product (exp 3/31)
.75/1 Mop & Glo product (exp 11/6)
$1 off Old English product (exp 11/6)
$1 off Pet ice cream, 56 oz (exp 11/30)
$1.50 off Poise hourglass shape product (exp 10/23)
$1 off Poise product (exp 10/23)
$3 off Prevacid 24 hr product (exp 11/30)
$2.50 off Rachael Ray Premium dog food, 6 lb + (exp 12/11)
$1 off Rachael Ray Premium dog treats (exp 12/11)
.75/1 Resolve carpet cleaner (exp 10/23)
$3 off Resolve Easy Clean carpet product (exp 10/23)
.50/1 Resolve pretreat product (exp 10/23)
$5 off Schiff Move Free product (exp 12/15)
$1 off Scott bath tissue, 8 rolls + (exp 10/23)
$1 off Scott paper towels, 4 rolls + (exp 10/23)
$1 off Scott shop towels, 2 pk. or (2) singles (exp 10/23)
$4 off Scrubbing Bubbles 1 Step cleaning kit (exp 10/22)
$1 off Scrubbing Bubbles 1 Step cleaning refill (exp 10/22)
B1G1 Speedstick Lady’s or Reg product, max $3.99 (exp 10/1)
$1 off St Joseph’s Aspirin product, 81 mg (exp 12/31)
.75/2 Swanson Premium poultry (exp 10/23)
$1/2 Up2u gum (exp 10/20)
$1 off Woolite or Bissel Stomp and Go (exp 10/31)
$1 off Woolite product (exp 10/31)
$1/3 Ziploc product (exp 10/22)

Coupons for Organics

So often people will say it is hard to find coupons for healthy foods.  Well, my beautiful sister in law found a website specifically for organic food coupons. How awesome is that?!! 
And here it is:  http://www.organicfoodcoupons.com/
Organic Food Coupons - For Organic Foods - Printable Food Coupons
A organic food coupons resource site that lists companies, farms, co-ops and grocery stores that provide online, printable and mailed organic food coupons. The organic food coupons are broken up into different categories to make searching for coupons easy.
 

Aaaaand there is a page for FREE organic samples!  You know I'm all over that!  I'm filling out my requests this morning while I drink my coffee.  YAY!  I love getting free stuff in the mail instead of bills.
 
Thanks Robyn! 

Why I love couponing and why you should too!

Number one reason?  I'm a stay at home mom.  Number 2 reason?  Money is tight.  (duh)  Number 3 reason?  I get SO MUCH MORE stuff couponing than I EVER did when I didn't coupon.  With coupons, I can buy 10 jars of spaghetti sauce and only pay $3.50 for ALL TEN of them instead of paying that much for just one jar.  Sooo...with a bunch of mouths to feed, I'm all over this! 

Today I decided I wanted to buy a box of haircolor.  I had a box in the closet, but it was the wrong color.  All of a sudden a lightbulb went off in my head.  Why am I holding onto this box if it is the wrong color?  Not sure why I bought that color in the first place.  But anyway, the light from the bulb in my head got brighter and gave me the idea to exchange it at the store.  duh....  So...that did give me a head start on my deal for today.  HOWEVER...the box I returned was  only worth $8.99 and the box I wanted to buy was $11.99.  Hmmm....I also wanted a few other things. 
Here is the breakdown of what I got:

John Frieda haircolor                                     11.99 (regular price)

4 Covergirl blush(es)    1.59(sale price) x 4  = 6.36
1/2 lb Deli Turkey breast                                            4.75 
       (actually it was a bit more than 1/2lb cuz deliboy was heavyhanded) 
      1/2lb Deli Muenster cheese                       2.30

Total before store credit & coupons:  $25.40

Breakdown of what I used:
had store credit of 8.99 for exchanged box of haircolor                              -8.99
Store coupon for $2 off John Frieda hair color                                           -2.00
Manufacturer coupon for $2 off John Frieda hair color                               -2.00
(2) Manufactuer coupon for $2.50 off purchase of 2 Covergirl items          -5.00 
(2) TARGET (competitor coupon) for $1 off purchase of 2 covergirl items -2.00 
Total Due before tax: $5.41

Thus the reason I love to coupon!  And you can do it tooooo!!!  Just watch the sales and combine your coupons with the sale items.  Its really easy once you get the hang of it.

Setting up a grocery budget

I wish I could take credit for this, but I"m really just going to redirect you to a favorite blog of mine.  I read this article and thought it was GREAT and so I  wanted to share it with you. 
Check it out HERE

Do NOT pay for coupon assistance

Quite honestly, I'm just floored. Ha ha and cracking myself up, because I stopped mopping my floor to come and blog about this. But, back to my point...This afternoon I did my big shopping trip at the grocery store.
58 coupons and $120 in savings!! Woo-Hoo!! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you very much! :) BUT....I couldn't stop thinking about something the cashier told me. She was scanning my coupons and wishing out loud that she herself had some extras of what I had and some that she didn't know existed. She told me she only gets 2 newspapers but she orders her extra coupons for a specific site. So...I hadn't heard about this specific site and told her about the one I frequently order extras from....
coupondede.com
But when I got home I looked up this other site...a little bit miffed that I hadn't heard about it. BUT MIFFED NO MORE! This site she told me about requires a monthly USER FEE!!!!! I couldn't believe it. I want to go back to the store and tell her about all the other blogs that are there to HELP her save money and not TAKE her money.
Sooo, just FYI...you should NOT be paying money for a coupon site!!! If you are, STOP RIGHT NOW!!!! There are way too many useful sites that will match the sales to the current available coupons to help you save and STREEEEETCH your HARD EARNED CASH!
Here are just a few of my favorites:
iheartpublix.com
southernsavers.com
couponingtodisney.com
iheartsavingmoney.com

I promise you I'm not earning any money by promoting these sites. Those are just my personal favorites. I frequent several different ones because they all have their own spin on things and I like getting different ideas for deals. But those are my favorites. And they are FREE for you to use.
I'm just in disbelief that those blogs that are charging money on a monthly basis are still in business. Its just gotta be out of pure and innocent ignorance from the users.
Those of us that are running a blog and sharing our deals with you, DO benefit slightly, but it isn't at a cost to you. And quite honestly, the traffic has to be large enough for the benefit to even be worthwhile.
(So, if ya'll wanna do ME a favor...you can spread the word about my site, if you want. I know it isn't as helpful as my favorites, but its still a work in progress. I hope you still find it a little beneficial. :)

But most important, NEVER, EVER, pay a monthly fee just to see the sales matched with coupons.