Ripley's Believe it or not download the weird-good gift for boys

]When you are a mom to 3 boys who  love all things gross and weird, you  know  Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! will be a hit  for them.   I remember watching the tv show back when I was young teen age girl and seeing the amazing strange  things.   It will be really cool to share this book with them.
 This book would be perfect for my boys especially my oldest son. He is all things weird and crazy. He loves reading and find out new crazy things in life.  He  will love reading the latest book Ripley's Believe It or Not! Download the Weird , with it's all-new collection of unbelievable  but true  stories from around the world.  He will love seeing all of the crazy pictures that go along with  them as well 

Some of the weird  “facts:
For instance, Joshua Carter is pictured with both shoulders touching each other. He was born with no collarbones.
Ziona Chana is shown with his 39 wives and 94 children.

A man is pictured holding a 10 pound  mushroom.

The best part is that there is a new twist to Ripley's Believe It or Not! Download the Weird—readers can actually download the weird
The brand-new Ripley’s Believe It or Not! has a downloadable App available that allows hidden content in the book to COME ALIVE!  (Download the app from  iTunes to a smart phone or advanced ipod touch or iphone and then simply point the phone/ipod at the special oddSCAN™ logos in the book and see that story come to life with exclusive bonus content, including videos and images.)  

This book will be under the Christmas tree for my boys to enjoy

Win a KitchenAid mixer

I got a kitchen aid mixer in my house years ago and has been one of my  most used kitchen appliances.   Here is why I love mine 

 1. Power: You can buy KitchenAid stand mixers with power levels ranging from 250 watts in the Classic Series up to 575 watts in their Professional 600 Series. For most cooks  like me  the 250 watt Classic Series KitchenAid stand mixer will do just fine, saving you about $200.

2. Power Levels: Now with all the power that Kitchen Aid stand mixers have it's important to be able to easily control that power. KitchenAid stand mixers have 10 power levels, allowing you to easily mix in dry ingredients without giving your kitchen a coating of powdered sugar.  

3. Stiff Dough:  I had some cheap mixers in the past but it never seemed to really do the work.   Most mixers, even stand mixers have a problem with things like bread, pizza  and cookie dough, especially when it comes to kneading the bread dough and mixing in ingredients such as chocolate chips, but not a KitchenAid stand mixer. KitchenAid stand mixers have enough power to easily knead your bread dough and incorporate those chocolate chips.

4. Attachments: KitchenAid stand mixers have a power hub that allows you to attach a variety of kitchen gadgets. KitchenAid makes several attachments for their stand mixers, ranging from meat grinders to ice cream makers.

5. Quality: Are you worried about the price of a KitchenAid mixer? Most people really do change their minds after seeing the price, but there are several things to remember when you see that price. First of all, you pay for quality  As my husband says  buy right, buy once. .

If you don't have a Kitchen aid mixer make sure you enter to win one 

Thrifty Thursday Rewind November 28th

Welcome to this week's Thrifty Thursday.  I honestly don't feel too thirfty this week.  All the hustle and bustle of the beginnings of the holiday.  I feel guilty when I spend moneys sometimes. I have budgeted for Christmas so it is not like I am spending money I don't have.


Christmas Money savings tips  is something I wrote a few years back and it really helps keep me in check.


Also stop by our co host for  A Life in Balance blog! 

HOW DO YOU SAVE MONEY?

Please remember to follow the Thrifty  Thursday Rewind  linkup  

1. Link up an old  money saving  idea post (we want to give love to some of your older posts)
2. No giveaways or deals posts.
3. Recipes are allowed, but share how it is thrifty! 
4.  A link back is nice but not required 
5. Visit the other links and share a comment 

Printable coupons for board games

Printable coupons for boards games. There is nothing like playing a game of Monopoly and drinking hot coca. Since we dropped cable over a year ago, our board games are coming out more and more. We have Wednesday night as our regular board game or puzzle night .


Monolopy Millionaire Game
 
Jenga or Yahtzee



Scrabble



Battleship

Frugal Meal Planning week of November 25th

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving with family and friends.  I did a little shopping plus got to attend a great parade yesterday to kick off the Christmas season.   We will be using leftover turkey to stretch out our meal planning this week.   We also made a batch of turkey vegetable  soup from the bones of the turkey that I will be eating for lunch all week.  

Sunday  Homemade pizza 

Monday Turkey gobblers -basically turkey wraps with all the fillings 

Tuesday Chicken bruschetta  bake  but with turkey meat instead.

Wednesday Continuing our soup Wednesday!   Pumpkin sausage soup 

Thursday  leftover chicken brushcetta bake adding pasta to stretch it out 

Friday  Sloppy joes, green beans, french fries 


Are you looking for even more menu ideas check out  Monday meal plans at organizing junky  And if you a frugal blogger please join thrifty thursday linkup!

Cyber Monday online store sales

Cyber Monday Online Store Sales:

Banana Republic - 30% off your entire purchase using the coupon code: CYBER

Best Buy Cyber Monday Sale -  Get a $25 Savings code if you choose in-store pickup on purchases of $250 or more.

Dell Home - Up to 50% off with 4 new doorbusters every 3 hours; Free Shipping

Disney Store – Use the coupon code: CYBER to get 25% off your purchases of $100 or more, 20% off purchases of $75 or more, or 15% off purchases of $50 or more. You’ll also get FREE shipping when you spend $75 or more.

Gap.com - 30% off your entire purchase using the coupon code: CYBER

Kohls BIG Cyber Monday Sale - Over 300 early-bird deals, FREE shipping (no minimum), 20% off Entire Purchase coupon code, 

Old Navy - 30% off your entire purchase using the coupon code: CYBER

Reebok - 40% off your order + FREE shipping when you use the coupon code: CYBER40 at checkout. {This does exclude CrossFit gear, custom shoes & items with $.98 price endings}

Staples - Up to 70% off items for Cyber Monday sales Free shipping on all orders 

Cyber Monday Kindle Fire Deal for $129

Amazon is back with their HOT deal on the  Kindle Fire 7″, LCD Display, 8GB with Special Offers, which is currently $159 – use the coupon code: FIREDEAL  at checkout & it will drop the price $129 + FREE Shipping. I’m sure this offer will go FAST so make sure to head on over right away & buy it if you’re interested in this!

This is the lowest out of pocket price you’ll find – all of the other deals involved a gift card deal. This deal is for the Kindle Fire with Special Offers; however, a number of readers shared that they were not bothered at all by the Special Offers screen. If you prefer, you can pay $15 to get the special offers turned off, though, & it’s still a better deal even after paying that small fee.

• Perfect portability - thin, light, and durable
• Over 22 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, books, audiobooks, and popular apps and games such as Facebook, Netflix, Twitter, HBO GO, Pandora, and Angry Birds Space
• Ultra-fast web browsing over built-in Wi-Fi
• Integrated support for Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! and more, as well as Exchange calendar, contacts, and email
• Free unlimited cloud storage for all your Amazon content

*Remember that Amazon prices are subject to change at any time. Make sure the price is current before you purchase the item. 

Free personalized Santa video for your kids

 Create a FREE personalized video to your child from Santa! We did this last year for the boys  and I have to say, it was really cool.   My younger  boys  were totally mesmerized and REALLY thought Santa had come down to the  computer with a message just for them.  

It’s helpful if you have about four photos of your child ready to insert into the video or you can upload few through facebook. . There’s a profile picture, and then you can add up to three special photos. You can add what they would like for a special gift and if they were naughty or nice! 

What does a fully funded emergency fund mean?

What does a fully funded emergency fund mean to you? 


There is a lot of banter among personal finance blogs, writers, experts, and even everyday people about the fully funded emergency fund.  The general wisdom is that a fully funded emergency fund is 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings or another easily liquidated account. David Ramsey recommends 3-6 months and Suze Orman after years of recommending 3 months has bumped it up to 8 months.   Besides 3 to 6 months being a wide range for even the average person, it begs the question - what does the “fully funded” emergency fund mean to you?  Is 3 to 6 months enough?  Is it too much?  Do you trend towards the 3 or the 6 or something else entirely?  What do you do if you have debt?

I personally am pushing towards almost double that amount. I always had the 3-6 months for many years while working the Dave Ramsey plan after we got out of debt.  However in the fall of 2009, my husband got laid off from work.  We had 6 months of living expenses at that time. We went into super super frugal mode. No eating out, no school fundraisers  saying no to some social obligations. I picked up some extra freelance work and we had unemployment pay plus a small severance pay. Eight months later my husband was able to get a new job-at a 25% pay cut.  We spent about 1/2 of the emergency fund. I  really  hated that feeling and stress that came with it.    My security gland has been triggered and we are slowly building up to 12 months of living expenses. 

What if you have credit card debt-what should your emergency fund be?

If you have credit card debt and no savings, its definitely worth putting some towards each. Perhaps half towards debt and half towards the savings. Maybe 1/4 towards one and 3/4 towards the other to build up the 3 to 6 months. 

It may also depend, realistically, on how bad off you would be if you lost your job (or needed to tap that fund for another reason). If you’re renting an apartment and could just as easily move in with family (even if that would only be a last resort), that’s different than if you either have a mortgage or don’t really have someone else’s couch to crash on.

Kohl's Cyber Monday Sales Starting early-Free Shipping

Kohl’s started their Black Friday sale 2 days early, so I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that they started their Cyber Monday sale two days early! There are some awesome sales to find at the Kohl’s Cyber Monday sale, especially with the 20% off coupon code you can use.

Here are the special promotions for Kohl’s Cyber Monday sales:

• Free Shipping with no minimum purchase and no promo codes needed – there will be FREE shipping from November 24th – 27th.
• 20% off your entire purchase – use the coupon code: CYBER20 at checkout to receive 20% off your purchase (ends November 27th)
• $15 Kohl’s Cash for every $50 you spend – you will earn $15 in Kohl’s cash for every $50 you spend thru 9pm pst on Sunday 11/25. You can then spend this Kohl’s cash at Kohl’s (either in-store or online) between Monday November 26th and December 3rd. (This means that you could use the Kohl’s cash for their Cyber Monday sale on Monday, when the 20% off  code & free shipping will still be in effect!!) . If you buy online,you will receive the Kohl’s cash by email (possibly up to a day or two later). You can then either print off your Kohl’s cash to use in the store, or you can use online by entering the coupon number and pin at checkout and it will deduct that amount from your total.

Some really great deals

Crockpot buffet cooker  marked down from $89.99 to $39.99  Awesome deal make sure you enter your cyber20 for an additional 20% off

Keurig elite 40 coffee maker  on sale for $119.99 and then make sure you enter in cyber20 for additional 20% off

Top 25 tool deals

Free Photo gifts from York Photo

I love giving photo gifts to my parents and my in laws of the kids!   I usually do one either a photo book with pictures of all the grandchildren for the past year or a calendar. So  I was super excited to see these FREE photo gifts from York.  You will need to pay shipping and handling though.  

This  Christmas Holiday season choose one free offer: 11x14 collage poster, desk calendar, or 4x6 book. Order quantity limited to one 11x14 collage poster, desk calendar, or 4x6 book.   Use the code SPECIALHOLIDAY and this deal expires on Sunday November 26th 

Target Deal: Buy 2 Video Games, Get 1 Free + FREE Shipping

Today only  Monday November 19, Target is offering Buy 2 Select Video Games, Get 1 FREE! Plus, they ship FREE! You’ll find a selection of video games for Wii, Xbox 360, Playstation and Nintendo.

some of the game choices include

Wipeout: In the Zone (XBOX 360)

SpongeBob Surf and Skate: Roadtrip (Xbox 360)

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Trilogy (PlayStation 3)

Super Street Fighter: 3D Edition (Nintendo 3DS)

Frugal meal planning week of November 18th

Thanksgiving week is here!  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the food and all the meaning of the day.  I will be responsible for making the sides and bringing them  to my sister in laws house   green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and carrots for dinner. I make a thanksgiving dinner for me and the boys the Friday after each Thanksgiving.   Make sure grab the Thanksgiving coupons

We had Thanksgiving in the Woods with cub scouts on Saturday. All the cooking is done outside  in the the reflector ovens . The reflector oven is made of chicken wire and aluminum foil. The chicken wire surrounds it and makes the charcoal holders. The turkeys  are in roasting bags so they don't get ash on the skin.  

After that the turkeys were all taken apart and the sides all put out buffet style for the 50 boy and cub scouts plus  parents that showed up to feast. . Each patrol made a side and a dessert.  Thanksgiving in the woods was served at 1pm.    Very good!    I didn't stay for dinner but my husband said that they served soups made up of leftovers.   My husband and the boys camped out overnight-they had leftover pie for breakfast.


Here is the menu plan 

Sunday  Homemade pizza  wanted an easy night!  Boys were kind of cranky and tired lol 

Monday Easy cabbage roll   using cole slaw again. It was so good and even easier to make.  I love making this because it does give me leftovers for my lunch for a few days 


Tuesday   Chicken tortilla soup   


Wednesday  Leftover soup and cabbage rolls 


Thursday   Thanksgiving 

Friday     My own Thanksgiving dinner 

Saturday   Open faced thanksgiving sandwiches 


Are you looking for even more menu ideas check out  Monday meal plans at organizing junky  And if you a frugal blogger please join thrifty thursday linkup!

Printable Coupons for your Thanksgiving Dinner

Here are the coupons I can find to help you get ready for Thanksgiving!

$3.00 off Butterball Whole Turkey


$0.40 off THREE Pillsbury Crescent Dinner Rolls

$0.50 off TWO Rolled Refrigerated Pie Crusts

 $0.60 off THREE Pillsbury Sweet Rolls

 $1.00 off any TWO Kashi Crackers or Pita Crisps

 $0.55 off Bridgford Frozen Rolls or Bread

$1.00 off HORMEL™ COUNTRY CROCK Side dish

$0.55 off any Martha White Coffee Cake Mix

$1.00 off 2 Immaculate Baking Refrigerated Doughs

$1.00 off ONE Kashi Soft Baked Squares

$1.00 off package of Campbell's Go™ Soup

$1.00 off 2 HORMEL Pepperoni packages

 $3.00 off 1 HORMEL Party Tray

$0.55 off (1) Bob Evans Refrigerated Side Dish

$0.50 off TWO Betty Crocker boxed Potatoes

 $0.40 off 3 Grands! or Grands! Jr. Biscuits

AARP Ultimate Retirement planning game

Empower yourself with Retirement planning  facts, and you could win - big!

AARP is making it fun to get the facts about Social Security and retirement planning . Explore how different proposals to fill the long-term funding gap could affect you and your family.

Enter now for your chance to be the $50,000 Grand Prize winner. Plus, you'll also have the chance to instantly win a $50 gift card!  Enter the game here 

You must be 40 years old to play and enter the game. 

Free ebook 7 Easy Christmas Crafts

Christmas is the perfect time of year to test your crafting skills. There are so many opportunities to be creative and, during the holiday season, it’s easy to find craft ideas. Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, so why not celebrate with homemade Christmas craft ideas. From kids Christmas crafts to paper crafts, Christmas is filled with creative project ideas. 

This year, why not make your own easy Christmas ornament crafts or easy Christmas sewing crafts? How about easy Christmas tree crafts? The possibilities for fun and inspiration are endless! Open up your mind, use your imagination and most of all, have fun. 

Some people don’t look forward to the holiday season because they worry about the cost of craft supplies and various materials needed to create fun Christmas crafts. Have no fear! This book is filled with cheap, easy Christmas crafts for kids and inexpensive craft ideas. Christmas shouldn't be a time for stress; it should be a time for celebration. Don’t be self-conscious about your lack of artistic skill or, for that matter, money. This eBook is filled with ideas for people that are short of time, money and creative skills.

Let your imagination and creativity shine this season with help from this free eBook. Try each of these 7 Easy Christmas Crafts and decorate your home for the holiday season. This eBook is free and comes in the form of a PDF file, so it can be saved forever. Come back to it whenever you want – once you download a copy of this eBook, it’s yours forever! 

Famous Footwear Black Friday discount coupon

 

 I am excited to see this great coupon for Famous Footwear for Black Friday. BLACK FRIDAY SAVINGS - Buy One, Get One 1/2 Off* + Extra 20% Off Your Entire Purchase

 Famous Footwear has famous brands that are famously easy to shop. So the whole family wins. Victory is Yours. Share your shoe victories using #myvictory Use GIVTHX12 or print your coupon to shop in-store, 11/22/12 through 11/25/12.

Thrifty Thursday rewind November 15

Welcome to the Thrifty Thursday rewind.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. I just love the meaning of it.   I am thankful for my friends and family. I am thankful for my strong marriage. I am thankful for my family's health.  

I also love Thanksgiving dinner and leftovers!!   We head over to my sister in laws for dinner. My sister in law and  I split up everything these days .We try to make it easy for my mother in law.  I am making green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and carrots for dinner that I will bring over her house. My other sister in law is in charge of drinks, appetizers and  deserts and  the host house does the turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing.  It works out fairly easy this way!   


Check out Frugal thanksgiving tips and what to do with leftovers 


Also stop by our co host for  A Life in Balance blog! 

HOW DO YOU SAVE MONEY?

Please remember to follow the Thrifty  Thursday Rewind  linkup  

1. Link up an old  money saving  idea post (we want to give love to some of your older posts)
2. No giveaways or deals posts.
3. Recipes are allowed, but share how it is thrifty! 
4.  A link back is nice but not required 
5. Visit the other links and share a comment 

Household products printable coupons November 2012