Learning to Coupon? I am!

Yes, I am a newbie and this is my newest form (for myself and family) of being Thrifty!  This also allows me not to toss those coupons..but use them and recycle the rest.  Also, "every penny saved is a penny earned!"

I discovered this wonderful site to help me learn and it is 100% free information.  Some folks are shamelessly selling this exact information but I am here to let you know that it is FREE here at: We Use Coupons !   This is an excellent resource for a newbie or someone experienced....all can come together and share tips.  It is an online community forum!  All couponers can benefit!  They have free tips, virtual classes (all levels) and articles to get you started.  You can find them on Facebook also.

If you are interested in coupons...this is a superior starting point! Don't PAY for what you can get for FREE!  :-)

Savvy Shopper Mom: GREAT blog for Coupon Savings!

I just checked out this awesome blog! I plan to frequent it and so should anyone that wishes to save and grab up some great name brand coupons of items you use regularly!  I am soo excited about giving Couponing a serious try....and this blog is an excellent resource!

Share any couponing tips you have here in the "comment jar!"

Sincerely,
Melanie (new couponer...I have to try or I would be a hypocrite for calling myself "Thrifty!")  Can't believe it is just now something I am going to try...shame on me!  I have always cut coupons for supplies etc...but let it slip by me the potential of savings plus couponing for maximum NOT using cash out of my pocket!  Better late than never!

Spring time: Graduation/Housewarming/Weddings

I don't about you all out there; however, we have so many events to attend and buy gifts for over the next two to three months. I love personalized gifts that last a lifetime. Especially for that hard-to-buy-for person(s). I know two of my all time favorite gifts someone got for me was engraved and from Things Remembered! I got a marble apple with my name and year I started teaching. They got me that gift for Christmas the year I started teaching. I love that gift and it sits in my kitchen 8 years later and I have no intentions of moving it! :-)

I ran across the following deals with their site and am considering for gifts we need. We are also trying to figure out a gift for my doctor that delivered my beautiful little girl on March 15th (only a few weeks ago). I'm thinking a personalized frame of some kind for him with a drawing my husband is doing to put in it.

They have even more items...just check out a link above and see what you find for that special someone. By the way...I find their pricing to be fabulous for such great gifts!

Have a terrific beautiful week!

Christmas in July...check out this site and "Green" ornaments!

This morning I was just checking around for Christmas ideas and ran across this site and great ides for "green" "eco-friendly" ornaments! I love them! They look awesome! A great inspiration for the season (5 months away is it?).

From EcoSalon.com:
Cute Ornaments made from recycled or "green" materials!

Enjoy! I just couldn't resist sharing the site and ideas. I know it is early, but I will not remember several months from now. :-)

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

My apologies for my absense.

I have somehow taken a break from blogging for about a week now from here. My apologies to my regulars. I should get back on track soon.

It has been a busy past few weeks. The end of the school year is approaching rapidly and it is time to wrap things up and prepare for testing and closing down my room and such. Also, on the homefront...lots of cleaning up and practicing letters, numbers, colors and reading with my son whom will turn 4 years old in July! I just can't believe it! He no longer looks like a baby...but like a cute little boy!

I am working also on an Etsy store for my Mom for her sewing items. I am pretty excited about that. I love Etsy and have found it to be more relaxed, more visibly pleasing to the eye versus another venue I used to sell on.

I will keep you all posted when her store is full functioning as she will be making several items of interest to many. She is great and has 37 years of upholstery sewing experience. I have encouraged her to make items that are fun for her and get away from the upholstery stuff for a while as she is burned out on it...you can imagine. She is excited about the etsy shop and is looking forward to stocking it!

You can bookmark/favorite her store by going to www.sewnanny.etsy.com I am excited about her store title as well! My husband helped me come up with it. Her grandchildren....my son and niece call her Nanny! :-) My son named her when he started talking. :-)

My Etsy Shop...Helping me pay for my Hobbies.

I have had an Etsy account for some time now but not until the past few weeks have I really got into it. I love it!

I have recently listed, in addition to the custom pencil drawings by my husband, knotted jewelry , Crochet Cloths and wall hangings. I made my first sale of my knotted items yesterday! I sold a bracelet! With the exception of the custom pencil drawings, necklaces and wall hangings in our store...most of my items are $5.00 each. I do this, not to make a huge profit, but to pay for my hobby of the items I sell. I love to stay busy and it helps to sell my items to make room for me to make even more. Even better, this pays for my supplies. My husband has sold and made quite a few custom pencil drawings. He is awesome!

If you get the chance...check out my Etsy store! I will be adding items several times a week.

Happy Monday Everyone!

Thrifty Thursday Finds: Found 2 Great Sites that use/make their own Natural Cleaning Products!

Now, I realize many folks may do this, but I will be honest, this is something I have not tried myself. I now am convinced to do so, thanks to these two fine bloggers that make it exciting and something you really want to try!

These bloggers use Lemon Juice, Vinegar and other "natural" cleaning products (self-created)! I love Do-It-Yourself ideas, and am definitely going to give this a go. I like how these bloggers explain their reasoning for using natural items for cleaning...

Without further delay, here are the natural cleaning posts:
(The link on the blog title is their homepage):

Budget Hippies: "Cleaning My Kitchen with Food"

BeCentsAble: "Works for Me Wednesday: Cleaning Your Whole House Naturally and Frugally"

Enjoy! Happy Thrifty Thursday!

Got another natural cleaning supply idea? Drop it in the comment jar! :-)

ShopGoodWill has updated and has a sister site for BOOKS!

Exciting news that I must report to you! Well, maybe it isn't news to you if you frequent shopgoodwill.com !!! It has been a short while since I have surfed their site. I decided to continue my quest for inexpensive yet good DVDs for my son and remembered one of my fav sites: ShopGoodwill.com !!! When I visited, I see they have updated their site...looks better and is easier to navigate and understand for the shopgoodwill newbie! Also, I discovered on their site that they have a new sister site for just books (I also saw DVDs there as well) called: GoodwillBooks.com !! So everyone, if you are in need of books, DVDs, etc..give this new site a try! Also, if you just want to browse for nearly anything...check out ShopGoodwill.com !!!

Have a great Sunday!

Thrifty Tip Thursday! Coupon sites!

I wanted to find some interesting Coupon sites to direct you all to that I found to be interesting. I found two I had not seen before. One is a "mom" type of site that has an area in the top left devoted to tons and tons of coupons (of all kinds, stores, online, and not!):
This one is called Moms View

And then I found another for strictly online shopping but the entire site is loaded with coupons for nearly any store or item you can imagine! This site is called Only Coupons!

2/21/08: I would like to add another coupon site that is quite impressive from one of our visitors here to Thrifty and Creative:
Rather Be Shopping

Check them out...let me know if you know of another coupon site that I should let others know about!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Cool Creative Thrifty Craft Find!

This is truly "thrifty and creative!"

I found this great project on Thrifty Fun!

It is directions on how to make a necklace out of POTATOES! A Potato BEAD necklace! Very easy and sounds like great fun! I am going to try this with my students! They love to make jewelry....hey, handmade gift from students to their mommies for the Holidays! Yeah! I am going to do this! You can paint them and everything when they are dry!

Here is the link:

Potato Bead Necklace

In need of more Frugal Thrifty Blogs?

I just joined Frugal Hacker and have added their badge to my blog here. It will be located on the left bar at all times when you are in need of some Frugal Blogs! Need to take a Surf on the WWW, why not Surf Frugal?

The badge below and in the left sidebar will take you to a plethora of Frugal and Thrifty-like blogs! Wonderful Resources all! I will be checking them out daily, as new blogs are added daily!

Being Thrifty by Thrifting!

For us, I like to find children's books, and children's Large toys (like outdoor play pieces, table and chairs, etc...) at Thrift Stores! We are lucky to have one really huge awesome Thrift store near where we live! We donate there (receive a tax receipt) and all the money they make goes to Alzheimer's research! So it is a win win win! Also, some thrift stores have higher prices than others, these guys have low prices because it is largely voluntary based!

Here is my favorite Thrift Store, maybe someone convince them to expand to your area! They will even come and pick up large donations at your house (if you live in the area of course).

Guardian Angel Thrift

They have this link on there for "GoodSearch!" Apparently if you use this search engine to do your searching, somehow money goes to different charities. What is it going to hurt to search for a few things, if someone may get some help that they need? Give it a try, why not?

Save the Watts from my local Electric Company!

My local electric company has a fantastic website for "Saving the Watts!" It is a campaign to save energy and money! Great tax tips, big projects and info for saving money right now. Granted they are mainly referring to lowering your electric bill with them; however, I don't see why these same tips wouldn't work for everyone! We have all heard some of them like the Compact Flouresant Bulbs, but they have so much more! Check them out!

"Save The Watts"

"Save the Watts and Save the World!"

Sorry, Heroes fan here! :-)

Awesome Blog about Saving the "Green" way!

I have to highly recommend Green-Talk.com What an EXCELLENT blog! You can find so many great ideas about the environment and saving money by being green with this blog. Super nice folks as well. I found information that I didn't know about. I love blogs, you can truly learn a lot from each other!

Found another great blog on Thrifting!

Here is the blog I just found and subscribed to their feed! Excellent photos and information!

Tag Sale Tales

Cool Blog on Being Thrifty! 5 Gold Stars!

Simply Thrifty

I found this blog to be very interesting and full of great information! Try it out!

Re-cap of my FAVORITE $$ Saving Sites!

It's time to Re-cap my personal favorite, $$$ saving Shopping Sites! Just in case you need some "Shopping Therapy!"

HERE GOES A FEW OF MY FAVS THAT I USE:

ShopGoodWill: This site is an "Auction" style site. It is a "compilation" of the Goodwill Stores across the United States! Because it isn't as well known as sites like Ebay, you can really get a good deal! Also it is nice because you are NOT dealing with "random" people...you are sure to deal with an actual business! No feedback here, none needed!

CraigsList: This site deals with NO fees for you to sell or buy! You are dealing directly with locals (or you should be, if not, don't purchase!)! You email or call folks that have the items you are looking for. No bidding, flat fees, buy it or don't! You will have to drive to pick up products, take a buddy or meet in a business location (like walmart or somewhere with lots of people). Also, it is great to sell on because, no kidding, everytime I try to buy something, it is already spoken for!

Ebay: Now, do I really need to go into detail on this one? :-) Okay, well, Great to sell on, but you really need to have patience and knowledge of your product. It isn't quick to list or necessarily to get your first sale. It is WELL worth learning however! So many people go here!!! You need traffic, they have it! Also, you can always find a deal on Ebay; however, buyer beware: READ the Descriptions, ask questions, look at the Shipping Charges and don't assume you can lower it! Don't buy from someone with lots of negative feedback or very little feedback (if you are new especially!...first purchases should be from folks that has been selling a while, then work your way up to "risk-taking!"). Great place to find collectibles, something rare, something unique! I love to buy and sell on ebay! But it is work to sell! Don't assume it to be quick and easy!

Okay, I will stop here, I don't like really long posts, and don't intend to make you read a really long post either!