How to save some serious money for the holidays

I came across this dancing baby and I had to put him into this blog. It my baby's first Christmas. Let's dance he he. Gosh,Christmas is just around the corner. You know what that means parents--Money bye bye ($ for gifts,foods and decorations). Now, we have to save money so we can spend it on the people we love.
When you want to be frugal, you have to go on a mission to find where the savings are. Online if you go on Google you can type in discount, coupon or savings and you will come across a lot of ways to save a few bucks. Where sites like http://www.dealtaker.com can give you coupons and other cool saving tips. If you want to shop at the major stores try online first. They give special discounts for online only (stores like Costco and Disney store)and they also have a clearance spot online too. But be careful, some sites are just plain bogus. Some sites lets you print coupons and such and they are all fakes.

Try to see if you can get the gifts you want at online sites like Neweggs or such.
I try to capitalize on Black Friday as well. I would go to the websites to find out what I want to get everyone for Christmas and see which shop has the best price on that day and try to get there very early. If not, I try to send hubby there to do the dirty work. I always pick up some DVDs and CD's they are dirt cheap on Black Friday. I also stock up on batteries and such too. It is great me and hubby get up real early and my mom usually comes over to sleep here to take care of the girls while me and hubby go shop like mad. Seriously, ask my husband, on Black Friday I am like a mad woman with a mission or a chicken without her head. I would target every shop near my home first (so I can get the best stuff at a great price). I mean gosh I get my husband up at 12am or 1pm, man I thought I was crazy but they had people camping out two days in advance. I was like, dude you guys are nuts. But, look who is talking I am more nutty than anyone I know.

I like to print my own photo holiday cards, that way I can use my photo shop skill he he. It is cheaper and means more when it is self made. I let my Pbj decorate the cards with glitter glues and stickers. She loves it and saves me money from buying cards. Instead of buying wrapping paper I reuse the grocery bags. I let Pbj cut out flowers and different stuffs from old catalogs,special tailor print pictures(example:gift for grandma, pictures with grandma in it), glitter glue, and lots and lots of color markers to decorate the bag/wrapping paper. Every year after Christmas I would go and buy all the bows and ribbons for 75%-90% off the regular price. What I also do is after each holiday I would go shopping. Like for Halloween, I would go buy Halloween Pj's for Pbj & Bree Bree. I would buy age 6,7 for Pbj so she can wear them next Halloween. After Christmas, I would stock up on those beautiful dresses (two dress size bigger than Pbj)at a discount. Sounds kinda of silly but when I have to go to a party Pbj always has the dress and accessories ready. Pbj loves to play dress up too, that way she also has things she can play with. What little girl wouldn't like to play dress up.

As far as cleaning supplies, what I do is I buy Boric cid, vinegar,baking soda and make my own concoctions. Boric acid used with your laundry can help save you some detergent. What I mean is I use 1 cup of boric acid with half a cup of detergent to wash the whole huge load of laundry. Without the boric acid I would have had to use about 2 cups. I use vinegar and baking soda to clean sinks, toilets and such. I also use them to unclog drains or kill those smelly stinky drain smell or toilet smell. I would pour about 4 tbsp of baking soda into the drain and next pour about a cup of vinegar into the drain once a week. It works great. I also use news paper to clean windows instead of towel paper (they work better). I also use toothpaste for cleaning too. I would go to the dollar store to get the cheap toothpaste for the cleaning of household stuff.

I also save on pillow cases, bedsheets,and comforter covers too. Yeah, I am the crazy one my comforter even gets a cover. It is easier and cheaper to wash the cover once or twice a week instead of taking the comforter out to the cleaners once a month. I still have to take the comforter out to have the cleaners do it every so often because my washer and dryer wont fit :( Pillow cases are expensive too, especially when you want to buy Disney Princess ones. So, what I do is I would go to the fabric stores to check out their discount bins (left over cut outs and such) and see if they have all the Disney Princess or Strawberry shortcake or whatever my daughter like; then I would sew it myself at home. Sometimes the piece is not big enough so I would have to sew a couple of pieces together to make one piece but it still looks good.

For Bree Bree, I would save money on baby food. I go buy carrots, sweet potatoes, and such and I would steam them or boil till they are soft. Then I would blend them with her baby rice/oats cereals in a blender. I separate and store them in different little container. I would take one out one at a time each meal and heat it up for her. I make enough for about three days each time. It saves me tons of money. She gets fresh food made by me so I know what is in it. At the stores it cost like 1 dollar or more for a small jar that is not even enough for one meal.

If you have some more ideas for how I can save money please put it in my comment box. Thank you in advance. I am sure your advice will help either me or someone else who will read this blog.

Making unforgettable memories!

Wonderful memories are created everyday, but some memories are burned into our soul. We took the girls out to the pumpkin patch last week and purchased 3 fairly good size pumpkins. One for each of my daughters and one for Kai Kai my niece. My daughters had tones of fun. We got some great pictures out of that day for our memory book. And today, we carved the pumpkins it was fun for them and clean up for the adults. I got some great smiling pictures holding the carved pumpkin, for the memory book. Although I carry my camera with me 24/7, I do miss a lot of those Kodak moments.
For example, Pbj did the cutest and sweetest thing ( I and other thought so but not my husband). We were at Costco, my daughter wanted to try some of the samples that they were giving out. My husband went over and got her some yummy chicken alfredo, she loved it. When she finished eating it she asked for her daddy to get her some more. Well, he complied, when he came back she gave him a big kiss and the warmest hug you can get on a cold day. Do you believe it, she wanted another one. Her daddy was only an ear shot away, but Pbj screamed out daddy I want another one of those chicken stuff and please daddy this time can you get me two more. I already said shh to her but she screamed even louder this time saying, "Daddy did you hear me, I want two more chicken stuff!" My husband was embarrassed, he started walking toward the samples when Pbj shouted again. This time even louder than before, "Daddy, I love you sooo much and do you know I love you the most!" Everyone of course stop turn and looked toward our direction then toward her daddy. My gosh, most of us thought that was the cutest thing. My husband tried to walk quickly over to the samples, but then Pbj screamed again. The whole time I am going sh sh sh. Pbj said, "Daddy do you hear me, I said I love you the most, your a great daddy!" Now, people are laughing, Pbj didn't know that they were laughing because she was cute. Pbj's face started to turn pink then red then you know what's next--cried her little heart out. Her daddy came running to her side and we all try to comfort her. Then, ladies were walking toward us saying darling your cute and we are not laughing at you. A older gentleman walk by her and said sweet pea it's okay, we didn't mean anything bad. He said, we thought that you were adorable that's all. Another said aww your such a beautiful little princess, your the cutest girl I have ever saw in my entire life. Suddenly, Pbj ducks her head out of her daddy's hug looks over at the lady and shyly wipes her tears away. Pbj looks around her and ducks her head back down. Another girl walked by and said don't cried we are laughing because you're so smart and cute. Well, I guess vanity stopped her from crying but she hid her face inside daddy's arms. Who can blame her though, wouldn't you want people to give you star attention (even if it is just for a minute). I wish I had taken a picture of all this. Man we had a group of people laughing and clapping like fans for their idol.
I hope I taught my girls that we love them both. We didn't just have quantity time with them but quality time as well. Hopefully when they get older, they will look back at these unforgettable memories and feel warm all over. Like the warmth from the sun shine on their faces on a cold winter day. May God bless you with unforgettable memories to be treasured as well.