Kelly's Thrifty Tips

Are you a social butterfly who loves to entertain? Do you like to be the one who is totally "in the know"? Do you like to have gatherings at your home? Do you like to try products for free? If you answered yes to any of these questions or are just curious then you will want to check out houseparty.com. Houseparty.com is where companies connect with customers to introduce new products and ideas. You could host a house party where you can try any number of new products. It is all for free and quite fun. Get details at the link below.

LINK: houseparty.com

Now this is something I am bringing up, because I have been doing it for a long time, and I was shocked that no one I know is. I am talking about the My Coke Rewards program. It is pretty much what it says it is. It is a reward program for buying Coke products.

It works like this, you buy a soda and twist off the cap. Under the cap is a code. You go online to My Coke Rewards, register and then add in your code. You can even put in codes that are found on the 12 pack boxes. Each code is worth different values, but they all add up. Once they do, you can turn them in for prizes.

I have received magazine subscriptions to Better Homes and Gardens, Good Housekeeping, and Family Circle thanks to My Coke Rewards. You can also trade them in for picture prints from Snapfish, rental car discounts, coupons for 12 packs of Coke products and more. And this is the coolest, you can also donate your points to organizations like Habitat for Humanity. Really the variety is crazy, and it is all free. Get some details at the link below.

LINK: My Coke Rewards




FREEBIES

Folgers is offering its Facebook fans free samples of their Special Roast coffee. Like them on Facebook to be part of this offer.

LINK: Folgers Special Roast Sample

Each day until May 4, Gillette is giving away some free Gillette ProGlides on their Facebook page. I suggest that you try this one early. If you got this last year like I did, you don't qualify.

LINK: Gillette ProGlide

Oh I love a birthday freebie! Joe's Crab Shack is one of my favorite fun places to eat, and you can sign up for their email updates and get a free appetizer when you sign up as well as another one on your birthday! As far as Arizona goes, I could only find two locations in Tempe.

LINK: Joe's Crab Shack

FREE MUSIC

iTickets.com has free downloads this week for the Newsboys song "Save Your Life" and Martha Munizzi's song "Excellent." Remember you have to be a member to get the downloads, but they are great about not spamming you.

LINK: iTickets free music

Free CCM download this week is Chris Rice's song "Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go." You can also still download for free songs from Bart Millard, Laura Story, Jonny Diaz, The Choir, Catalyst Music Project, and Cloverton. Get in on these free downloads while you have the chance.

LINK: Free CCM music downloads

FREE KINDLE OR NOOK BOOK

I found a great book for free via Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook. It is called The Heart of Memory: A Novel by Alison Stobel. I downloaded it to my Nook, and I have to tell you that I just love it! Remember you can download both the Amazon Kindle App or The Barnes & Noble Nook App to your iPad, iPhone, Android or PC.

LINK: The Heart of Memory (Amazon)
LINK: The Heart of Memory (Nook)

FREE EBOOK

Sign up for email newsletters from Common Sense With Money and you will get a link to her Ebook "Extreme Couponing 101." More and more, this kind of information is truly a blessing.

LINK: Common Sense With Money Extreme Couponing 101

Making your business card work for you

In this day and age where we are in a social media world business cards are not recieved the same way they used to be. We are also in a different economy. Business cards are expensive to have made and leaving them just anywhere is not frugal or wise. Click here to find out 7 tips to get people to keep your business card.

Kelly's Thrifty Tips

With summer break rapidly approaching, I thought it would be a great time to re-mention a great website for teen job hunting. In addition, if your teen is interested in looking for a job for the summer, you might want to inspire them to get started as soon as possible because in addition to their classmates looking, adults and college students and grads are also out there or going to be out there hitting the pavement. Some of the listings below are for teens but others are for adults as well.

SnagAJob.com is a great place for you to help your teen locate local jobs in retail, hospitality and more. And grownups, you can also look for jobs there too.

LINK: SnagAJob.com

Summer jobs, internships, and lots more can be found at SummerJobs.com

LINK: SummerJobs.com

For those college kids of yours who enjoy the great outdoors, you might want to direct them to SummerCampStaff.com. I have to say that this was a dream job for me when I was in my college years.

LINK: SummerCampStaff.com

More camp jobs can be found at the American Camp Association's website. Follow this link if you are interested in a camp job and a change of scenery.

LINK: Summer Camp and Camp jobs ACA

While looking at various websites for jobs, I found something else that you might be interested in checking out. It is called camp hosting. Camp hosting is also known as work camping. Basically a couple with an RV can work at a camp doing things like maintenance, cleaning, and taking money from customers in exchange for a camp site for the season and often a monthly wage as well. These are usually seasonal jobs running from May to October. Want to learn more? Follow the link below to get some more information.

LINK: Camp Hosting
LINK2: Camp Hosting
LINK3: Work Kamper News (yes that is a K)

If you have a problem with an appliance and you want to save some cash or you want to keep your appliances maintained and save on repairs from letting things slide, you might want to check out RepairClinic.com. RepairClinic.com has tips and online assistance for appliance repair and maintenance.


Several months ago, I put in a recipe that I found for making your own laundry soap, and I thought now might be a good idea to give some recipes for making your own fabric softener. First make sure that you have a gallon container that you can put the mixture into.

Recipe:

6 cups of water
3 cups of white vinegar
2 cups of hair conditioner (I find suave on sale all the time and it comes in lots of great fragrances)

I have read that lots of people really like this recipe especially when they have family members with sensitive skin. I have also read that this works will with HE washers.

Of course you can also forgo the fabric softener and try dryer balls. I picked up a pair at Target the other day. It was $5 for two. Using them speeds up the drying process in addition to softening clothes. They are reported to last about 1000 drying cycles so this is definitely well worth the $5. I have read that tennis balls also work well for this, but that the nubby fingers on the dryer balls seem to hep it work better with drying time.

FREEBIES

Want to get your hands on a full-sized Origins cleanser? Fill in and print out the form at the link below and on April 22 bring it and your usual skin cleanser (does not have to be full it can be empty) to your Origins store, and they will trade it for one of their fabulous cleansers while supplies last. There isn't one over here in Prescott, but follow this particular link to see if there is an Origins store near you (there are definitely some in Arizona).

LINK: Form for free Origins cleanser

Remember to bring in a travel cup to participating Starbucks on April 22 and you can get a free coffee or tea! Yum!

LINK: Free Starbucks on April 22

While supplies last sign up for a free sample of Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Shampoo and Conditioner. I love Garnier's product line, and I am sure this is another winner.

LINK: Garnier Pure Clean Samples

In case you haven't seen it, in celebration of Earth Day Lowe's is giving away one million trees. Go to your local Lowe's on Saturday, April 23 to pick up your own tree. Get them before they are gone.

LINK: Lowe's Free Tree

Another Walmart free sample that will probably go very fast. Check out the free sample for Gold Bond Ultimate Deep Moisture Body Wash.

LINK: Gold Bond Body Wash Sample

iTickets.com has three free music downloads right now. There are songs by Shawn McDonald, Bethany Hamilton, and La Will and Izreal. You do need to be a member to get the songs.

LINK: iTickets Downloads

Fun & Frugal Family activities

Doing fun activities with the whole family doesn't have to be something that breaks the bank. Click here for some fun and relatively inexpensive ways to enjoy some priceless family time together.

Kelly's Thrifty Tips

TODOS -

I thought I would dedicate today's post to todos. I brought up Spring cleaning a short time ago, and it is a good time to get in gear with that, but I want us all to remember the fun todos. These are simply things that might be fun to do.

Get OUT! This snowy Saturday reminded me of how important it is to take advantage of the lovely weather we have been having. Arizona is simply loaded with lovely places to enjoy. Start taking advantage of the fabulous weather we have been blessed with. A change of scenery and a change of pace is an instant mood lifter. Doing something new is good for the mind, and getting out and moving around is definitely good for the body. Do things locally and save on gas. Get creative and have an adventure of your own.

1 - Open all the windows in your home and let the sun and fresh air stream through. Tackle a cleaning project when you can take advantage of the bright sunlight and fresh cool air. Yes...this is a chore, but a chore is so much easier to do when you have a that sense of flushing out the icky. No?

2 - If you have the yard, clear up an area and look into gardening. There are lots of great resources online that can help you. If you don't have much room, you can still garden by utilizing some large pots.

3 - Explore your neighborhood and take a nice walk. You might catch a yard sale or meet some new neighbors.

4 - Pack a lunch and take it to the local park with a book or camera. You can enjoy the fresh air, a good story or people watch. Just enjoying a change of scenery is such a lift after a gloomy gray winter.

5 - Have fun with the kids. My son used to love when we would go outside and play with squirt guns. I used to blow bubbles and he and his friends would run around shooting them down. There are lots of recipes for making your own bubble solution online.

6 - Check out your community calendar. Most towns and cities have one online. Look up your town's community calendar and see what is going on. There are always plenty of fun events for the kids and adults. I found several pretty awesome happenings just by looking up Prescott's calendar. You can find concerts, craft shows, classes, and more just by taking the time to look.

7 - If you have a GPS system or even a smart phone (you can get a free GPS app), you might like to try Geocaching. Geocaching is a treasure hunting game that you play by using a GPS system. People hide a cache at a site and log the coordinates in using a GPS. Then they post it on the Geocache site. You look for the sites in your area, and go on the hunt. For a real break down head on over to the Geocaching site here.

8 - Want to get out and about and tourist it? April 16th to the 24th is FREE NATIONAL PARK WEEK! Hooray! Yes, I get excited about this one. There are some wonderful parks here in Arizona, and now is the time to enjoy a slew of them for free! This year's theme is Healthy Parks, Healthy People. Follow the link below to learn more and get in on all the details. There is even an event calendar here with events for parks here in Arizona.

9 - Want a change of scenery without going too far? Why not check out the neighboring city or town. I am sure there are plenty of local attractions you can enjoy by just going a town over from your own.

10 - Local arts. Start checking out all the fabulous entertainment in your city. It usually doesn't take long to locate a fine arts association in your town. Support the local arts and enjoy some home entertainment. When it comes to live entertainment, the price is always right. Look for local concerts in the square, theater groups, art walks, and symphonies. You can enjoy some very high end entertainment locally and save on gas and ticket prices.

LINK: National Park Week



FREEBIES

I have to say that so many freebies come and go all the time that it is hard to keep up with them. I just may start posting them here whenever I see them rather just when I post on Thursdays.

CVS will send you a coupon via email for a free full size Essence of Beauty product when you like their Facebook page and go to their promotions page (link is on the left side of their FB page). You do need to enter your CVS loyalty card, and if you don't have that. Let me just say that you need to get one now! They are great for getting some extra special deals at CVS. Sign up at the link below.

LINK: Essence of Beauty Coupon

Sam's Club members can sign up now for a free sample of Huggies Supreme baby wipes. Yes, you do have to be a member and they are in limited supply, but a great little thing to have on hand for minimal work. :)

LINK: Sam's Club Huggies Supreme Baby Wipes Sample

Rewards Gold has another fabulous free magazine opportunity and this time it is for Forbes Magazine. These do not always last long, but I have noticed that you can usually get your hands on the financial magazines for longer than the fashion magazines. I get this particular subscription thanks to Rewards Gold and like it a lot. It is a simple process of joining up, referring friends, completing a watch survey and two reviews, and a free year subscription is yours. Not bad at all.

LINK: Rewards Gold Forbes Magazine

FreeCCM has a free song download of Laura Story's "Faithful God." You can also listen to her new album "Blessings" as well as download songs from Jonny Diaz, The Choir, David Walker, Derek Webb, and Cloverton. You can also still listen to Jonny Diaz's new album. Remember you do need to be a member, but it is totally free, and they are very good about only updating you once a week.

LINK: Free CCM


FREE ACTIVITIES



Check out Michaels for a great activity for the kids. They have an activity on April 16th where the kids can design and color their own canvas tote to take with them. This is for ages 3 and up while supplies last. Contact your local Michaels to see if they are participating. This event runs from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, but remember that it runs while supplies last. PS This canvas bag might make a nice treat for mom for Mother's Day.

LINK: Michaels Store Events

Loew's has some great Build and Grow clinics coming up. On April 23rd your kids can build a window birdhouse (apparently it sticks to your window so you can see the nest through the glass. On May 7th the kids can make a beautiful Happy Mother's Day flower vase. Follow the link below to sign up your children and get all the details. This is always a great treat for the kids and you truly can't get better than the free price. :)

LINK: Lowe's Build and Grow Clinics

Speaking of free things to do don't forget that next Wednesday, April 20th, Ken Lain from Watters Garden Center will be at the Radio Shine studios giving us some of his tips and tricks that will help all of us gain some gardening success. You can bring your lunch making this a totally free event or order lunch for $8. If you would like to sign up for this awesome luncheon session follow the link below to our website, and you will get all the details under latest news.

LINK: How Does Your Garden Grow? with Ken Lain at Radio Shine

FREE WAY TO GIVE

Okay here are a few ways that you can give right now without taking a dime out of your pocket.

Like Rite Aid on Facebook and they will donate $1 to the American Heart Association's Go Red For Woman movement. They are giving up to $25,000. When I signed up they were at $4,108. Spread the word for a good cause.

LINK: Like Rite Aid and Give


For every person who takes the World Food Programme's short hunger quiz, a child will be fed. Test your hunger IQ and then spread the word! This quiz literally takes about three minutes. Not only will you learn a little more about the world's hunger problem but your participation will feed a child. How cool is that?

LINK: World Food Programme's Hunger Quiz - Feed A Child

Free Rice is a vocabulary quiz also from World Food Programme that donates 10 grains of rice per right answer. You can improve your vocabulary and help others. The Free Rice program has given 90,023,711,930 grains of rice to date! You can sign up with your facebook and track your progress, get friends involved, expand your vocabulary and best of all...give.

LINK: Free Rice

And last but not least, don't forget Goodsearch.com and Goodshop.com. Goodsearch and Goodshop allow you to donate to your favorite nonprofit by simply doing what you do online every day...searching and shopping. Search through Goodsearch.com and your nonprofit of choice will get a penny per search. Here is how it works. Type in goodsearch.com. When you get the main page simply type in who you are searching for and verify. After that, you simply search. You can change each time you search or you can simply keep it the way it is. Each time you search, that charity will get a donation. This money can really add up. You can also shop via their Goodshop.com site and a portion of those sales go to your favorite nonprofit (the price doesn't change. It is just like if you shopped by going to the site directly. Read all about it at their website link below. And if you are curious as to how those gifts can add up, after you verify your favorite nonprofit, click amount raised. This will give you a current tally. Imagine, if you searched twice a day every day for a year, you would painlessly give $7.30, and if you shared this tip with your friends, the donations could seriously climb.

LINK: GoodSearch and GoodShop

Top 10 Power Foods

What is the secret to a long and healthy life? It is in the food that we eat. As you well know, all foods are not created equal. God wants us to be good stewards with all He has blessed us with…including our bodies! Choosing and eating the right foods will not only honor Him, but it will help increase our quality of your life. Click here to see the list of foods.

Kelly's Thrifty Tips

Oh where to begin today? There are so many things to share, but actually one thing struck me this weekend while reading Woman's World magazine. It struck me so much that I clipped a little article snippet and saved it to my little tip notebook.

As I have worked to save money, I have been learning what I should buy fresh, frozen or canned. This weekend I found a way to save money and do something good for yourself too. I love orange juice! I especially like it when I am coming down with a cold. I don't know about you, but I crave OJ when I am close to getting ill. I usually buy what is on sale, but go for carton juice with vitamin D. That stops today. I read in Woman's World that there was a study in the journal of Nutrition Research that showed that orange juice from frozen concentrate may assist in reducing LDL cholesterol. Apparently this is because the frozen concentrate will use the entire orange from the peel on in. These parts have more flavanoids than pulp alone. I cannot fully explain what flavanoids are but I do know that they have wonderful antioxidant qualities. These can help prevent free radical damage that leads to LDL build up. Quite often you can get the frozen concentrate orange juice for a much lower price than the carton or bottle so it really is a win-win.

April is literally a day away, and it is time to get those shopping plans made. The best way to save money is to plan when to spend it. Here are a few things that are good buy bets for the month of April.

April is a slow month for gym memberships so head on out to the gym and see if you can get yourself a deal. In fact with summer coming, isn't this a great time to get started on a new more fit you? Don't be afraid to ask for the best deal you can get. A lot of places are more willing to work with you now than ever before.

Looking for a television? Apparently the Japanese fiscal year ends on March 31 (picked up this information from yahoo.com) and that can mean a drop in prices for you on a fabulous new television.

You may not need these items now, but April is also a great time to buy winter tools and winter wear.

I don't know if it is because there are lots of weddings around the corner or what, but cookware prices are excellent during the month of April. If you need to upgrade few items in your own kitchen, this is a great time to get started. I highly recommend pricing yourself a crockpot or two. That is one of my cooking tools that I absolutely love.

Don't forget to start hitting all the thrift stores, because more and more people are Spring cleaning and donating those goodies. By the way this is a great time for you to Spring clean and do a little donating yourself. Don't forget to get a tax receipt.

I have also heard that April is a great month for purchasing used cars. With gas prices the way they are, this might be a great time to downsize into something smaller and more economical. Because new vacuum cleaners make their way to the floor in June, markdowns are going to be taking place at a quick pace. If you have been entertaining the idea of a new model, this is the time to act.

Tools are also priced right during the month of April. Why not pick up a few awesome tools for dad that you can gift him on Father's Day?

April is also a great time to pick up seeds, and with the prices I have been seeing for veggies, this is also a great time to chat with your local nursery and get some recommendations. I just purchased a double four x four raised garden bed, and I am totally planning on going to town in the gardening zone. Thankfully I have inexpensive assistance in the form of a fabulous 16-year-old son.

Lastly I also read that April is a good time to pick up some inexpensive cruise tickets. Apparently European cruises are especially lower priced. If you would like a getaway, this could be a good way to go about that.

FREEBIES

Oh one of THE best freebies comes from the Sample Showcase! The Sample Showcase sends lots of free samples through UPS, and it is a MUST. The free sample box opportunity is in just a little over four days. Register now so you can get in on the samples when the offer goes live.

LINK: Sample Showcase

If you are interested in business news you might want to sign up for the free issue of Bloomberg Business Week. I got a free subscription to it a while back and it really is a great magazine.

LINK: Free Issue of Bloomberg Business Week

Rewards Gold has the opportunity for you to get a free subscription to Newsweek magazine. I have mentioned Rewards Gold before. It is a very simple program where you recommend Rewards Gold to a friend, complete a Breakfast survey and then do two simple reviews. That is it, and in return, you get a fabulous no strings attached free magazine subscription. Rewards Gold has kept me in free magazine subscriptions for years. The magazine offers change quickly so get in while you have a chance.

LINK: Rewards Gold Newsweek Magazine

Get your free sample of Fiber Choice fiber supplements. They are tasty, good for you, and of course free. Get them while supplies last at the link below.

LINK: Fiber Choice

Register now for a free sample of Zantac 150. Free and available while supplies last.

LINK: Zantac 150

Yay! It is back! Free samples of Nescafe Taster's Choice coffee singles. These are way tasty and awesome to have on hand. They come in a variety of flavors too.

LINK: Nescafe Taster's Choice Coffee Singles

Okay I am telling you this one now so you can mark your calendars! I am also telling you now, because as I grow older, I forget this stuff when the time comes (I have set my email calendar for this one). On April 22nd bring in your travel mug and participating Starbucks locations will fill it with coffee or tea. Get details at the link below, and ask your Starbucks if they will be participating.

LINK: Starbucks April 22

FREE MUSIC DOWNLOADS

FreeCCM has some great free downloads for everyone this week. Songs from The Choir, Catalyst Music Project, Derek Webb, Desperation Band, Gateway Worship (featuring Kari Jobe), and Cloverton. Every Tuesday, they have a new song for you to download for free. They also have some great contests too. Don't miss out. It is free to join.

LINK: FreeCCM Music Downloads

Join New Release Tuesday and get access to download Phil Stacey's "More Than That," Caedmon's Call "She," and "Because of Your Love" by The Ambassador.

LINK: New Release Tuesday Downloads

FREE KINDLE DOWNLOADS

If you are looking for some free Christian Kindle downloads from Amazon, here is a quick list for you to check out. And remember, you can download the Kindle app to your PC, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, and iPad. So you do not have to own a Kindle to enjoy this awesome feature.

Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers

She Walks In Beauty by Siri Mitchell

Michal: A Novel by Jill Eileen Smith

Invisible by Lorena McCourtney

Stuck In The Middle by Virginia Smith

Fave Crafts has a wonderful ebook on recycling crafts. When you click on the link a window will open asking for your email. Do not bother with that window. Close it and you still get your ebook.

LINK: Fave Crafts Recycling Craft eBook