Boys + Jeans = Holes Quick

Boys will be boys! Mine is no exception he plays dirty and crawls around on his knees.

Blue jeans are his choice most days. So after about a month this is what I'm seeing when I do laundry..... Holes in his knees!

Here's a quick fix that helps prolong their life...
Iron the patches on to the inside of the jeans and make sure you put a piece of paper or wax paper between the legs.



Then iron them on and viola the jeans can go maybe another month.

Blue Jeans to buy and not to buy:

These brands seem to last longer without holes (in my experience)

• Gymboree
• Gap
• Levi's
• Crazy 8 (a Gymboree company)

These brands have never lasted me more than a month..... maybe even 2 weeks:

• Target in store brand
• Wal-mart in store brand
• Khol's in store brand
• Carters

The top brand will run you more money upfront but if they last for at least 3 months then you save money because if you bought the cheaper thinner one's you would have bought 3 pairs.

Gymboree and Gap run great sales. At the end of season I usually stock up on a size up for the next season.

To make the jeans last even longer... iron on the patch to the inside of the jeans when you first purchase them.

Menu Monday and Cute Clothes

I've recently discovered a great website for cute kids clothing.

This online shop is fabulous!!
It's hard to see these small photos, I couldn't copy and paste them any larger. Click to see. I got one for $19 and another one for $24.

I see these type's of outfits at boutiques for $60 + even the same brands.

I'm buying stuff almost every day! You could say I'm hooked.

This eliminates me venturing out the mall with 4 kids. Right now I'm loading up on the girls summer wardrobe.

Check out Zulily, I promise you'll be hooked too!

Now on to food... Menu Monday!!!

Monday: Fish Tacos (left over fried fish from Sunday dinner) and homemade salsa

Tuesday: Ashlee's Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad.

I'm going to do a post on this when I make it.

Wednesday: Stir Fry with Panda Express Spicy Chicken Sauce and veggies

Thursday: Grilled Burritos an all time favorite creation in our home.

Friday: Make Your Own Pizza

This week we've got some yummy meals. They are also healthy and eliminate our need to go out to eat. Honestly, when you go out to eat we eat a ton more calories.

I'm hoping to be back at the gym for a solid week of exercise. Last week I only made it out once.

Free Clothes at Khols

Sign up for Kohl's emails and get $10 gift codes by email. The more you use the coupons the more they send them to you.

Plus they will start mailing you additional coupons and $10 cards. If you have a Khol's credit card you save even more.

This is what I got for my $10 last week. I only paid $4.86 for these 2 cute outfits! Here's the proof:

Gotta love it!

Love.... Little Girl Shoes

I don't consider myself a shoe girl. But, when it comes to little girl shoe's it's a whole different story. I LOVE fancy little girl shoes!!! My Little Miss loves shoes. So I do what most parents do... indulge. Hey, fancy shoes spruce up any little inexpensive dress or outfit.

Aren't these the cutest little girl shoes! I was browsing Ella Bella yesterday and came across their large sale section and found these beautiful shoes for only $15. They are normally $30. We love the wee squeak brands. However these do not squeak which is what I wanted. I am over the squeaks, Madeline's a bit big for that.

$15 is a great price for this quality. I just spent the same price for some sandal's at Target for my little miss.

Check them out if you live near Southlake.

Little Preview: I found the BEST garage sale find this morning! I got an outdoor wicker patio set for $30. WOW! It just needs a coat of spray paint and some new cushions. I can't wait to show it off next week.

Tuesdays Tip - Bed Sheets

Satin sheets for a toddler are NOT a good idea! Little Miss slipped all around and fell off the bed at night and during nap time.

I headed out to find her some new sheets last night. I hit TJ Max and Ross. Too bad they have a very limited stock of twin sizes. I ended up at Bed Bath & Beyond. Did you know you can spend over $100 for twin sheets? That's crazy.

The cheapest sheets were 200 thread count. They felt very rough. Even a step up to 300 felt rough. Plus they were $35. After reviewing the thread count I decided to go with jersey sheets for her room. They were affordable and very soft. The sheet set was $19. I've seen them at target for the same price.

The verdict.... love them! She slept great last night. Most of all no falls!!!

Back to Programming and Cute Dress

I want to thank all of you for your comments about my last post. It's a very sensitive subject and people on both sides feel passionate about it. Now back to regular frugal programming.

Remember this dress last year? I bought it at Wally world for $6 and sewed on some ribbon. Wow, my girl has grown since this picture... especially her hair.

Well this year, look what Wally world has for $6! I bought the striped one for Madeline. I am going to add a flower in the middle and some ribbon on the bottom.

I think I will get several different one's. For $6 even without embellishments it's super cute!

I could use one for me too. What a cute summer maternity dress! Too bad the largest size is 4T.

Serious Mall Sales!

I usually don't hit the mall for clothing. Target is my good friend. Yesterday we ventured to the mall for Christmas attire for the kids.

I was SHOCKED to see cute children's dresses at Nordstrom for $15. Real designer stuff normally priced at $50. They had great deals in all areas. Lelli Kelli shoes for $39 normally $70 (although they were out of Madeline's size).

Then we headed to Gymboree, another big sale. Almost everything was 40% plus they take an additional 20% off. I had another 15% coupon. That made the stuff the same price as Target, bonus it's higher quality and holds up better over time.

Another stop Macy's. I got Will a nice heavy Nike jacket for $15 originally priced $85. (it snowed here today) WOW! Then we found a great shirt for Kate for $4 then we used the extra 25% off coupon.

Head out to the mall.... tomorrow! Check out the incredible deals. I plan to go back without the kids for some Christmas gifts.

Office Supplies vs. Clothing Sale

Yesterday I was finally sitting down to catch up on my blogs..... then I got a phone call from the office. They were out of toner so I tried to order toner online... that was a headache. The system kept giving me errors.

So I hit Office Depot, wow I didn't realize how expensive all the office supplies were. So $200 later I was out the door delivering supplies.

Seriously it depressed me spending that much on supplies for the office.

Especially after I got an email and saw my favorite store White House/ Black Market is having a huge sale!

I hate missing a great sale. Especially when I passed these amazing white jeans up this summer (they were $88) Now they are on sale for $29!!

Free Food & Target Blow out!

I love free food! Especially spicy stuff. Check it out, free Sweet Fire Chicken from Panda Express today.

I was at Target today shopping for Will's birthday. Looking for a transformer he HAS to have. They have like 100 different one's. Of course he wants the hard to find cement mixer. Luckily they had 1 left!

Plus, I found all school supplies 75% off! I picked up a nice backpack for $3. I am saving it for next year.

More deals:

• 30% off college bedding (twin beds) most sets were $16


• 90% off summer outdoor


• 50% off most children's summer clothing


• 70% off some great summer shoes

Wally World Steppin It Up!

Growing kids = never ending clothing supply! My little miss is almost always in need of more clothing.

Target is my store of choice. Inexpensive cute clothes.. most of the time. Not quite sure what their buyers are doing right now but I am not digging the fall clothing. However they do have FABULOUS kids shoe's for the fall.

This lead me to check out the clothing at Wally World, yes good ole Wal-mart. I found several really cute top and legging sets for $8.

This is an outfit I would expect to see at Target, love it! Wal-mart is stepping it up in their kids clothing section. Remember this cute dress I bought and embellished from Wal-mart?

Tuesdays Tip - Sell That House!

Several years ago we put our house on the market. We had a contract in 10 days, wow! Well, the housing market has changed but here are some tips that helped us.

1. Negotiate your realtor fee's. Some Realtors will do 5%.
2. Put your listing on Craigs List for additional coverage... it's free.
3. Have your realtor set up an open house for other Realtors.
4. Get rid of clutter and box up junk. Check out HGTV shows on this topic, there are tons!
5. Send an email out to your neighbor friends that you are selling. Who knows they might have a friend who is looking in your neighborhood.
6. Listen to your realtor when they want to price your house. Price it to sell!

This brings me to a good friend of mine. They have a great home and they have followed all the rules of staging. Sadly it's the housing market. So the last shot is here on my blog. If you are looking for a home in the Arlington, TX area check out her listing.

Tuesday Tip - Purses!!!

I am a purse freak, before my frugal days I had quite the expensive purse stash. I still have them all in a plastic storage tote hoping that one day they will be called "vintage" and they will once again grace my shoulder in style... I won't hold my breathe! These are my favorites:But until those old expensive purses are back in style I will stick with my bargain bags. I found this FABULOUS bag at Target on sale for $13, normally it was $29. Yeah I love bargain bags, especially in animal print!!!

Thrifty Thursday - Get Carded

I love to get carded when I get rewarded!

FREE Frequent Shopper Program with Saver Cards- save some money by signing up for these programs. I simply took a look in my wallet to find lots of savings.... yes my wallet is fat!!

CVS Extra Care- 2% rebate on in store and online purchases. Get extra bucks. Many other frugal blogs do lots of CVS shopping. I am just learning about this. My blog friend Lindsay has this down, check out her frugal blog. (yes our blog names are similar... what can I say great minds think a like)

Office Depot- 1% back on most purchases. 10% back on ink, toner and printing services. We use this card for my husband's business expenses. We get a gift card every quarter for at least $15

Staples Rewards- get rebates similar to Office Depot. Earn 10% back in rebates for ink, paper and toner. (I don't have this one after seeing my OD card I thought I would check for you Staple customers)

AMC Theaters- The movie watcher program you can earn points for movie ticket purchases and get points for snacks or tickets.

Restaurant Cards- one of our favorite local restaurants (La Hacienda) has a punch card you get a punch each time you visit. Then after so many punches you get a free entree up to $20. Check around at some of your local favorites and see if they have frequent diner programs. Our local Cici's pizza also has punch cards.

Kid to Kid- this franchised resale shop has punch cards for purchases. When you reach the end of the card you get $5 or a certain percentage off of your next purchase.

Starbucks - they have a reward program you can sign up for with a gift card. They give you special rewards when you make a purchase with a gift card. (Many other local coffee shops have reward punch cards for frequent customers, ask next time you are in)

Grocery Store Cards- almost every grocery store has a frequent shopper card. I have at least 3 in my wallet. I always use, if you don't have a card expect to pay more.

Best Buy - I forgot about this one until last night... my wonderful husband came home with a Wii for the family. Photos coming soon.... Total splurge but it was worth it. The kids were up at 6:30 am ready to play. Join this program for rebates on dollars spent.

Did I miss a reward program? Leave a comment and tell me your favorite reward card program!

PS.... one of my bloggy friends April is having a giveaway on her blog for a custom wooden sign. Take a look and enter.

Thrifty Thursday

So Spring time is almost here.. that means spring dresses and new clothes. Somehow I need to get new clothes every year for myself and the kids. We've been out browsing and buying here are some of my faves.

Starting with Little Girls... because they are the most fun to shop for. We got these 2 dresses at Wallyworld (Wal-mart) for $5 each. Super cute, Little Miss modeling her new clothes!

For the Pre-teen... look at this cute sun dress from Aeropostale, only $16. This is my oldest daughters favorite store right now. We are able to find good deals. Sign up for their email club for special online only sales.For the Little Dude.... Children's Place is one of my favorite stores for kids. I love the clean look of little polo style shirts. This shirt is only $12.50 . Join the birthday club and get a special coupon for your child on their birthday.

Stuff for Mommy... I don't know about you but I despise trying on clothes especially with the kids. Shopping for myself entails a babysitter (dad) for the kids. Since Dad is watching the kids... Target 1 mile away is my shopping destination. This dress I have in black, it goes perfect with some cute sandles and a long chunky necklace. Only $19

Thrifty Thursday - Boxed Wine

I am a mom of 3 kids. I stay at home with them and I've been happily married for 8 years. Yes..... I like to drink red wine at night. I say it is for my heart but honestly it is my reward for a hard days work.

Let me see... I am a vintage reserve type of girl on a Boone's Farm budget! Well, we have found a wonderful happy medium. We discovered Boxed wine, yes really we did! You get 3 bottles worth in one sealed box no waste. Some nights you need more than others :)

Here are my favorite boxed wines:

Black Box Wine - My favorite is the Cabernet, but we've also tried and enjoyed the Shiraz and Merlot. I purchase mine at Wal-mart it is about $20.

Turning Leaf Merlot- this isn't quite as good as Black Box but it is cheaper. I can get this for $16 for a box. I've only tried the Merlot.

Least Favorite:

I want to give a thumbs down to: Wine Cube Cabernet Sauvignon. This is the box you can buy at Super Target. They even have some cute box covers honestly is bad! I threw the box out not even finishing it. But then again that is just my taste. Cost $14

Wasteless Wednesday- My Grocery Confession

Background: I've had many people email me about my grocery shopping and how much I spend. Grocery shopping is usually a high budgeted amount for families. We have been in many phases during our marriage. We've been on the $50 a week budget when that was all we could afford but luckily we are in the stage where we can spend more and I am not as stressed out about staying under the budget. So.... yes I spend more than I should ......

My confession: I go to wal-mart and sometimes I don't even have coupons. If I won the lottery I would shop at Central Market every week .... no coupons ... oh and their personal chefs would cook my meals.

• Spend $120 - $150 a week ($150 is my budgeted amount) Yes I can do better and I hope to. I am not the perfect frugal grocery shopper but some other bloggers have inspired me.... keep reading.
• I shop at Wal-mart every Friday morning ( This is a nice swanky new one always super clean and the same lady checks us out) but.... I am thinking about switching to Kroger because of all the online bloggers showing their savings.
  
• I do clip coupons out of the Sunday paper ...well most of the time unless I am lazy
  
• Wal-mart will price match other stores ad's so I browse and circle the items in a purple marker for the cashier with the item .... if I remember
  
• Meal plan and itemize the grocery list ... we pick the meals based on what the family wants not what is on sale. I do this every week never go to the store without a list!
  

So .... I enjoy reading the blogs where they spend so little and get a ton of stuff at the grocery store! Here are a couple of my favorite super savers! Hat's off to these ladies.... you have inspired me

• Frugal and Fabulous - Yes our blogs have similar names we have laughed about that. Lindsey is a master of bargain shopping and finding great deals
• Jane and 4 Girls - This lady has an annual budget of $800 for her grocery's. I am always amazed at her finds. Fun reading!
• The Grocery Cart Challenge- she spends $60 a week for a family of 6.
• The New Frugal Mom - she has a great feature Let's go Krogering. Check it out! This lady makes me want to shop at Kroger again. I think I will give it a try next week.

Yes these bloggers make me think.... I could save more. I sometimes wish if only they could come help me shop maybe just maybe I could save a little more. You can see I do splurge on my groceries. I admit I am not the perfect frugal person but, this is my weak area and I hope to improve and share my improvements. Any tips ????

One more thing... one of my blog readers Say It On a Sign is giving away a free custom sign. Go enter to win!

Tuesday's Tip

Who put all the clothes on my son's bed??? It was me of course... showing off my latest frugal purchase. It is basically a complete wardrobe for only ..... $20!!! How did I do it? Craig's List! This batch of clothes consists of name brand clothes... Old Navy, Polo, Levi's etc. I got some size 5 clothing and size 6 for next year. Will was very excited to get all his new clothes out he especially liked the Old Navy one with a dinosaur on it.

Here is a link to Craig's List for my Dallas/ Ft. Worth or find your local Craig's List.

Do you use Craig's List? If so what is the best thing you have sold our bought. My answer we sold my Lexus RX 300 in 1 day

Wasteless Wednesday

It is not always wasteful to splurge, if it is important to you then ask yourself "Is it Splurge Worthy?" Here are some of my favorite splurges. I save in some areas so I can still have my splurges that is how frugal is fabulous!

Vacuum- Dyson yes it does work better than my old Hoover. I don't spend money on filters and I vacuum almost everyday (3 kids).

Gym Membership- around here even the YMCA gyms are pricey. Shop around find the rates and don't get caught in the trap "This deal is only today" SO NOT TRUE. In college I worked at a health club. Also bring up the other rates they will price match.

Hair Cuts - absolutely for women! I had a horrible experience at a local hair school. Went in for a trim ended up with 7 inches gone. I don't highlight my hair because that is maintenance and is expensive. Gave that up when I had kids.

Diet Coke- no store brand can ever compare to this genius chemistry combination!

Vacations- just do it, plan and save for it. Even if you stay at a hotel a few hours away with a indoor pool for the kids. Time away from home and from the distractions is priceless and will form many memories! Of course search for a great deal!

Krispy Kreme Donuts- once a month we take the kids after church for "Hot Donuts Now". Of course we go all out, 2 dozen donuts and drinks for all of us (not water)

Babysitting for a date night with hubby- Enough said!!!

What do you like to splurge on?

Black Friday Shopping

Yes you know I am frugal, but I do not brave the crowds to shop on Black Friday. In my experience I have found great deals anyway. For those brave shoppers here is the ultimate shopping site it shows all the deals and flyer's.

http://www.theblackfriday.com/index.shtml

In the next couple weeks I will be discussing some frugal gifts... stay tuned.

Wasteless Wednesdays

As a mother of 3 children I love hand me downs or clothes swap especially for my younger kids. I love to shop at kids resale shops. A few in the DFW area are:

• Finders Keepers for Kids (sign up for discount coupons) http://www.finderskeepersforkids.com/
• Kid to Kid http://www.kidtokid.com/
• Plato's Closet for pre-teens and teens (maybe even some moms) http://www.platoscloset.com/

My very favorite way to get clothing is swapping! Madeline has recently gotten some great hand me downs from a few of my friends. It is like Christmas morning for mommy opening up the bags and seeing what we've got then trying them on the kids. So much fun! Thank you Shannon, Brandi and Jodi!!!

Ways to find clothing swaps, do you participate in a playgroup or have co-workers with children maybe a year older than yours? In exchange for some clothes why don't you make the other mom a batch of homemade cookies or a casserole dinner. Many moms simply give their old clothes to goodwill or sale them at a garage sale they are probably sitting in their closets or attics and they would love to pass them on and free up some much needed space.

Here is a photo of Madeline in one of her new outfits!