REAL Ways I Save: Part Two!

I am so super excited tonight to share a place that I get some GREAT deals from.. actually TWO places I get some great deals from.

The first is a more upscale online boutique that runs somewhat like a close out store. The second is the same concept, selling great designer toys, books, and apparel for some amazingly low prices. I am such a frugal person (I know we just talked about everything my son got but honestly, we personally spent next to nothing and when I saw what everyone gave us I was constantly thinking, "There was a coupon for this!" or "That was on sale on I hope they bought it then!!".) that I only scout these places for the cheap cheap stuff and admit that even if its 75% off I am probably NOT going to spend $50 on a designer diaper bag anytime soon! That is just me.

The first site I would like to introduce you guys to is:

Rue La La.

To quote the site, "Rue La La, the destination for limited-time Boutiques filled with brands we love at private sale prices." Intrigued? Those with little ones should be! At Christmas time I ordered some really cute WOODEN toys for my son for under $10 a set! Little Rue is by far the reason I visit this site. It isnt one of their main Boutiques but when they partner with Toys 'R Us and bring it online it makes for some cheap cheap deals!

This year, I plan on buying his toys all year long and stashing them away. He will only be 20 mos old so I am hopeful I can still hide presents from him! ;) So everytime I get an email from them (optional feature) letting me know that Little Rue is open, I am there!

Also, one MAJOR perk? You do pay for shipping, but its just 9.95 for your order then you get it free for the next 30 days. After those 30 days, you will have to pay for shipping again but it continues for the following 30 days thereafter! I know 9.95 might be steep the first time but there are so many deals daily for Women, Men, Kids and also, Boutiques for Travel and Living! I am often surprised by what they bring to us members!

Second site, and a lot like Rue La La is:

Zulily

Zulily is an online Boutique that offers limited-time sales on gear and apparel for moms, kids and babies! That is why I might favor this one a tad bit more. I am always looking for cute outfits for my son and while I was pregnant I bought my maternity clothes through here to save on clothes I would only be wearing a few short months!

They offer toys, clothes (lots of GREAT deals on clothes I cant even find in stores! Remember, they have a whole staff dedicated to searching and finding brand name items to sale to us at member exclusive discounts!) and housewares.

All deals last just 72-hours so they are constantly changing it up and bring us the freshest in-style goodies!

My favorite deal has got to be the Dr. Seuss onesies I scored for just 5.99 each! My son is only 8 months but I read Dr. Seuss to him every day!

Both these sites are places I "scout" for good deals and I very often buy the gifts in advance, finding myself ready for the next family birthday, anniversary, birth, ect. months in ahead of time while saving a LOT of money. Priceless!!

Mason's First Christmas!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday!

Mason took in a large haul of toys. Its funny, when we first started talking about Christmas MONTHS ago we agreed that since he wouldnt remember it we'd just buy practical things. New car seat since he is ready to switch out of his infant one, diapers, wipes, and just a couple little toys. Nothing expensive, no excessive giving. Well, we caved a little, no diapers or wipes under the tree, but our families didnt receive the memo and went ALL out!

Little Tikes Cozy Coupe car w/trailer, Thomas the train set, Little People tractor, Megabloks, bath toys, Cars foam puzzle play mat, ring stacker, Lincoln logs, Laugh & Learn Puppy (two!), Fisher Price pop up ball toys (two different dino ones and the train), sport balls, clothes, Vanilla smelling Mickey Mouse, Crawl-along snail, Apptivity case, vtech tambourine, Discover tent w/tube, and believe it or not I know there is more, I just cant even THINK of them!

Ugh, my apartment looks like Santa's Workshop exploded in here!! I took down the tree already just to feel like there is room to walk in here and mentioned to my fiance that should for some reason we decide its best to stay here when #2 arrives we will be moving the kiddos into the master because there is too much stuff!!!

I really loved seeing my son enjoy his first Christmas and there were moments that will stay in my memory forever. He was in such a great mood and didnt fuss too much considering all the running around here and there to see all our family. I know those our memories they will forever cherish as well watching him crawl and seeing his first teeth!

But...I couldnt help feel sad thinking I should be pregnant already! Crazy, right? I am pee'ing on sticks (pregnancy tests!) every morning hoping for some sign that I am. I am not drinking or planning on drinking this holiday season, taking prenatals, eating right and drinking plenty of water! I am ready for this. I read stories of women who spend years trying to conceive and I can not help myself from worrying that maybe since Mason was "easy" (I was on BC, he was conceived during a two day lapse *we think* in switching from one to another because of the strong effects the pills have on my body) this one is going to take more work.

Just going to try to stay optimistic and know that we are good parents and our next one will come to us when the time is right...

Happy Holidays! :)

I just wanted to wish everyone and their families a Merry Christmas!
I am a little early, I realize, but am expecting to be a busy bee the next few days! The choas of Christmas, I am not afraid to face and conquer it because I love this time of year!!
Mason has quiet the load of gifts under the tree for his First!! He is just shy of 8 months so I think this may very well be the best Christmas he will never remember! My little family is soo blessed to have such great friends and family members. This year has been so hectic! I cant wait for the new one to come rolling in, we will be taking a certain test at the beginning of the year and hopefully we will be announcing another bundle of joy soon enough around Valentines Day....
Ahh!! There I go getting ahead of myself. I am trying to just enjoy my first Christmas with our son, in our home, together.
Once again, Merry Christmas!
(Or whatever it may be that you are celebrating this month, I hope its a GREAT one!!!)

REAL Ways I Save: Part One!

Whew! First post is said and done. Now, I can get down to what I want my blog to be more like. One of the things I really want to emphasize is that saving your family money doesnt have to be as extreme as what me and my family did. We dropped a cell phone, reduced his plan to very basic, got rid of my brand new car, coupon and no longer refuse help from others. We only did realistic things for our family and I encourage you to do the same.

Before I share some of my daily money saving activities let me tell you that I am the one who decided to be a "stay at home mom". My job is so willing to have me and work with my schedule that I do still work there two days a week, in the morning so I can always lay my son to sleep at night. I only do about ten hours a week but I love love love my job!! It is not the greatest but I love working with customers and its what I do to help bring in a little amount of income. My soon-to-be husband is the one who works 45-50 hrs a week to provide the wonderful life that we do enjoy! These are just little things I do for FUN MONEY! I don't make much and don't expect much but with the points or checks I do earn, we spend it on fun things!! Toys for our son, toys for him, bakeware and scrapbook supplies for me. What we enjoy to do, this little extra money gives us the chance to do! I always go into it with the mindset that whatever I can get doing a little at a time is good enough because its FREE! I never slave over these sites or spend hours trying to earn rewards. 

My FAVORITE program I am a part of, and totally thought was a fake or scam of some sort before trying it is Swagbucks!!

Swagbucks is an online search engine that rewards you in digital money, or "Swagbucks". When you join SB you will instantly start earning points for using their site as your portal into the online world. They offer Special Deals, Games, Offers, and polls to help you earn points that can be redeemed for merchandise.

HOW DO I PERSONALLY USE SWAGBUCKS?

I use their search engine. That is all. Instead if google I search through SB and will randomly throughout the day earn 'bucks. It is that simple. If you want more, you need to particapte more, of course, and that is easy, too. But for the most part, all I do is search through them. I earn approx. 500 points a month doing this. That is more than enough for a $5 AMAZON GIFT CARD (450 "bucks" to redeem) or a $5 PAYPAL GIFT CARD (500 bucks)!

Five bucks is five bucks, right? I did *most* my christmas shopping this way. No lie. No stretching of the truth here. I go through phases where I do NOT earn points, but that is because I kept forgetting to go to swagbucks.com to actually search. I recently decided to add the toolbar and I love it! I use it everytime I am looking for something, either in general or specific.

WITH SWAGBUCKS I HAVE...

Earned enough points for a 12 month membership to xbox live (he works hard and if COD: MW3 helps him relax afterwards and the baby isnt crying, he is allowed the living room television to play his games...). Earned $50 in Amazon gift cards spent on christmas merchandise. Earned $45 in Amazon GC that has gone directly to buying wipes and diapers!! Two Lowe's $5 gift cards, used for plants and seeds for my small garden. And a Starbucks gift card worth $5 for my favorite coffee blended treat!
This has all been earned since I first found out I was pregnant with my son in August of 2010... when, duh, I was freaking out about the cost of having a child! Now we use the points for, like I said before - FUN!, but the reason I started was to earn the Amazon cards to save on diapers!!

Fun Fact.... : My son was 7 months old before I ever needed to run out to buy diapers because I was out. I stocked up with sales and deals while pregnant! Risky, not knowing if he would be okay with each brand, but it worked out perfectly! With the next one I am hoping to be even MORE prepared!!!

I am now a blogger.

It is official: I am now a blogger.
Yep, just as soon as I hit "Publish Post" I will be one, right? I have always thought it was such a weird thing to go online and "air your dirty laundry" out to the world. But here I am. Of course, there are fantastic bloggers that talk about their interests rather than their lives, and that is kinda cool, too, huh? So I suppose that leaves me to make a decision, what KIND of blogger will I be? To be honest, probably a boring blogger. I will be, simply put, me!
Who exactly is me?
I am a 22 year old mom that lives in Central Florida. I met my husband-to-be six years ago and though we have had a very on and off again relationship from time to time...to time, to time...we have always loved each other. Love that only grow more in April of 2011 when we expanded our family to three with the addition of our son, Mason.
I could ramble on and on about our son, he is truly more important to us than life itself. I am so blessed to have an amazing, smart, healthy, funny little boy and I would not change a single thing!
We are currently trying to conceive our second. It is a frustrating, yet none the less fun process indeed! ;)
We've made a lot of sacrifices to say the least in order to provide a better future for our children and ourselves. I basically elimatinated all my expenses so I could be a stay-at-home mom who just so happens to work a couple days a week for insurance!
Cell phone? No, its a house phone for me! Car? Got rid of it! One that cost me $450+ a month in payments and insurance a month just wasnt fitting our lifestyle anymore. Coupons? No longer am I above couponing. I actually LOVE it now and its thrilling to catch a good deal. Movies and dinner? I get to cook all the time. I am always trying new recipes and baking- oh my, do I love to bake. Movies? We do Blockbuster Express and By Mail! We never feel like we are missing a thing.
Yes, this blog will be ME! I am just a young mother who wakes up every morning with a single goal: Make my son, my family, feel loved.