Sorry

Just would like to say I am sorry for the crazy spacing with my post. When I edit them they look great and when I publish them they go crazy. I am working to see what the issue is...SORRY.

My #1 Fashion Lesson...and it is FREE you already own it

Let me start off by saying I LOVE FASHION & ACCESSORIES. I am NOT a name brand girl, if I love it and think it is a great piece at a great price I am going to buy it. This means I enjoy shopping everywhere, thrift stores, salvation army, sales racks at Target, Wal-Mart, TJ Maxx, Marshall's, etc. I do believe you can splurge on great staple pieces such as shoes, great jeans, and handbags. But just because it has a famous name I am not going to buy it. Actually, a few months ago I was shopping with a great sak bag that I had bought at TJ Maxx for I think $55 and a store clerk caught me off guard by asking "Is that sak?". After a few seconds of trying to figure what she was talking about I responded yes with a smile. When in my mind I am thinking...how does she notice that over the great color, design, style, etc.

Also, while we are talking style. My #1 advice when it comes to style and fashion is PRIDE & CONFIDENCE. When stepping out and even staying in take a little pride in how you look. I love watching old shows from the 1950's and 1960's because they dressed up for the simple things. Mothers were always in a nice dress at home. If they went into town they wore a nice hat, gloves, and dress. They had PRIDE. You still see this in our grandparents...I very rarely see my 80+ year old grandparents in jeans and a old t-shirt...actually I don't think they own t-shirts. Take note in this. But no matter what you wear, wear it with CONFIDENCE. If you are confident people will automatically be drawn to you.

This is one of my favorite quotes. It reminds me of my wonderful Mother. She always had this little saying to described ladies that always looked nice. (I am just going to use a random name) "Sylvia always looks like she stepped out of a powder puff". Many of my friends have asked me what this means when I say it. My best description would be ladies that always look like "they just stepped out of a powder puff". Think of the following ladies....










Of course, Jackie Kennedy. A huge style icon known for her pearls, hair, and sunglasses. Let's not forget gorgeous husband and son.












Princess Diana, shy yet very confindent. Always seen with a ladies hemline. My grandmother would never have to ask her if she needed to sew some lace or a ruffle on her skirt.















Kate Middleton, new to the powder puff club but we just can't get enough of her style. I love that she dresses herself and does her own hair...as far as we know. Once again, notice the hemline.




















Last but not least, my favorite Reese Witherspoon. Not only is she a young mother and from the south, but she just seems like a girlfriend you could go shopping with and do lunch. LOVE HER. I love her classic and preppy style.

















So my challenge to you ladies is next time you are stepping out ask yourself "Do I look like I just stepped out of a powder puff"? Also, step out with Pride & Confidence and I am sure everyone will think "She looks amazing".

P.S. Yes, I have been known to go to the grocery store, doctor office with sick kids, etc. with gym clothes, no makeup, & baseball cap. Somedays I feel like dressing like a celeb in hiding, but only if I am going to be out for a few mins.

Stay tuned this weekend is family fall pictures. I can't wait to share my new haircut and color along with my wonderful outfit for under $100.

My new face wash

Yes, can you believe it? I am using a bar soap. About a month back I was reading an article in the October Redbook called "The anti-aging plan for your exact skin tone". I may only be 30, but the past couple of years I have really been paying attention to taking care of my skin. No more tanning beds and no more time in the sun without sunscreen. I have very dry skin and one thing I do not enjoy is my skin feeling tight and dry.

So I found myself reading what Dr. Ranelia Hirsch, MD a dermatologist from Boston recommended for my caucasian skin. Can you believe it....twice a day she recommends cleansing your face with Dove Sensitive Skin Unscented Beauty Bar. So of course I thought I would try it and see if it would work on my dry skin. I found mine at Publix 2 bars for $2.49. I keep one bar in the shower for my a.m. wash and one by the sink for my p.m. wash. Well I must say I have found my new face wash. I have been using it for about a month and I love the way my face looks and feels. Even better I recommended it to my sister who has oily skin, and recently started breaking out again like a teenager. (By the way this made her very upset.) So she decided to try it as well. Guess what, she loves it too. I can't believe it a simple bar soap works perfect for my dry skin and her oily skin.

Ummmm, if this simple bar does amazing work on my face I wonder what it could do for my body? So I am going old school and trying this bar on my entire body for a week. So stay tuned for the results.

Bless It

I must share this, and as my sister Amanda and I say often say "Bless it". My wonderful nephew Levi will be turning 8 in a few weeks. Love this guy, something about your sister having a baby makes you realize you can actually be a mother one day yourself. Anyway, Levi and my cousin Casen are only 3 weeks apart...and this year they are going to have sleepovers as their birthday parties. Such big guys, meaning we will have a separate family birthday party. FYI, I come from a large family and we do everything together I am proud to say. My nephew Levi loves cookie cake just like me. So being a new baker I wanted to make him & Casen a cookie cake for their party. Bonus: Casen asked for a cookie cake, "Yay". I don't think there is anything better than a yummy thick cookie cake...not the mall cookie cake "YUCK". When Jonathan and I got married his groom cake was actually a cookie cake.

Not wanting to disappoint the boys I decided to practice making and decorating their cookie cake. Keep in mind I have made this cookie cake a few times, just never to show off to anyone. I use the recipe on the back of the Nestle semi-sweet morsels package without the nuts. Back to the cake, I wanted to try to make the boys a cute layered cake. So I decided to bake it on a cookie sheet and add wax paper like I do when I bake my pumpkin roll to make it easy to remove it from the pan. Reminder: new to this baking business so it is all about trial and error. Half way through baking the cake I smell burning, I open the oven to find.....

GREAT, now I have to clean the oven.....but the practicing must continue. I have never decorated a cake other than frosting one. I don't even own anything to decorate a cake with. Once again my wonderful sister Amanda did, so she let me borrow her decorating kits to practice. And no, she has never used them.

I was very excited about playing with food coloring to make beautiful blue icing. I haven't played with food coloring since I was a little girl. So I started mixing a few drops of coloring with the icing and I got the perfect country blue. YUCK. Not wanting to waste all my blue food coloring on the practice cake I decided to jump into the decorating. I ice the bottom layer and attempt to add the top layer with no luck. The yummy top layer just ripped apart. I decided to jump into decorating and seeing what each little tip would do. I did find my favorite tips to use. So here it is....all I can say is "Bless It". As my friend Lolly said when I sent her a picture of it. "Wow, that's a beauty".

Notice, Hart liked so much he had to have a little piece. Don't worry, I will be practicing again before the big party. Bless It.

I'm back...but things are changing a little!

So I have been missing for a good time around here. Quite a bit has happened since my last post. I am now a mother of two..which means the purse strings have tightened up. I am also a new SAHM since Miss Haylen has been born, so we are living off just my husbands income which means the purse strings have almost been tied all together. I am sure you moms know what I mean. But I am here to tell ya, it is so worth it all.

I have had a few friends request I start back to posting to my blog, so I am going to try my best to find time to do this. As usual I will share my favorite items that I find to be great bargains and very useful. I will also be adding to the blog my new found passion of cooking for my family and my new adventures of DIY and crafting. I have discovered I can actually cook and I really enjoy it so I will be sharing some of my favorite recipes. Now as far as the crafts and DIY projects....I am very nervous about this. My wonderful mother who was very crafty passed this gene to my sister Amanda not to me. I just come up with the idea and they have always done it for me. But with my new found interest in pinterest.com I have a ton of projects I want to try. So we will see how this goes. So stay tuned.....

So....It has been to long!

I know I have been missing in action lately....ok for 8 months. Yet here I am with my latest frugal find. Recently I was informed about this great site woot.com (LOVE IT)!!! This website offers one item a day at a discount price. The item changes daily offering all types of items. I have been checking it out daily for some early Christmas shopping. They also have a kids woot & shirt woot I love as well. T-shirts are only $10 with free shipping....great gift price for Christmas! Check out woot.com and let me know what you think!!!

Must Have, Can't Live Without Wallet

I am very picky when it comes to my wallet. I would say most people are, I know my husband and my sister are... so I assume most people are as well. Anyway, since starting our Dave Ramsey FPU class we have been using his cash paying system with the envelopes he supplies in his kit. I find the system wonderful. It has really helped me keep us in a budget when shopping for groceries, cleaning supplies, etc. But I HATE those paper envelopes, they just don't work for me. It takes to long to get your cash out or flip to the envelope I needed. Also, I still carried my separate wallet for insurance card, license, sam's card, etc. So I spent about two hours one night searching the web for a wallet. I searched etsy.com where I found cute ones Moms had made, but it wasn't for me. And then I ran across www.savvy-cents.com, she is a Mom just like us in Greenville, SC that was having the same issues as I and decided to design a wallet. So of course I ordered one (in red) and it came in last week. I am in love!!! It is stylish, simple, and helps me keep things very organized! If you use Dave Ramsey's cash system or even your own cash system I would order myself one today. The wallet is $24.99+tax&shipping....but it is worth every penny!

Few of my Fav Vain Items

I am sure I am not alone when I say I have a few vain items I can't live without. I know I could but I love them!!! And I think I need them!!! I am about to share my secrets, you may laugh or you may be the one that says "Hey, I want to try that too!"

My #1 item I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!! I found my new best secret the week Hart was born. After a 11:00 pm NICU feeding Jonathan and I headed to Wal-Mart for pantyhose for my baby shower. (I was going to wear pantyhose to hide my baby weight from giving birth just 7 days before) Anyway, while at Wal-Mart I peeked in to take a look at their shapewear....and there she was my little Sweet Nothings. I do not wear a dress without her! I have two different styles; one is a boy short for shorter dresses and I have a longer style that comes just above my knee. I highly recommend them over Spanx. For around the same price of Spanx you can pick yourself up about 4-7 pairs. Prices start at about $8+. While around Wal-Mart this weekend stop in and pull, tug, etc. check them out. Sweet Nothings by Maidenform

I love Clairol Perfect 10 hair color. Once, again after having Hart I was looking for ways to save money on myself so I can spend more on him. As Moms we are all guilty of this. So I decided to try coloring my hair at home. For those who don't know I must color my hair b/c I have been turning gray since I was 16! That is right...my sister who is 2 years older than me does not have the 1st gray hair but I do. This product caught my eye 1st b/c the color was so close to my natural hair color and it only takes 10 mins. Also, a small bonus it smells really nice to. To give you a color idea I use 6.5A Lightest Cool Brown. Cost is around $14.99 but I try to watch CVS and pick it up when they have it on sale for $9.99.

Crest Whitestrips Premium or Advanced Seal a box of these can last me almost 6 mths. I had been using Crest Whitestrips for about a year when I asked my dentist what he recommended to whiten teeth. And guess what he recommended...Crest Whitestrips. I use them once maybe twice a week only 1 time during the day every few weeks as I feel I need to. I do not use them more than that, they can make my teeth very sensitive. The only time I didn't use them was while I was expecting, he recommended that I didn't. The cost usually $34.99+ but always check the newspaper for a coupon and get them then.

I have very dry skin and I can't stand for my skin to feel tight and dry. For about two years I have been using Clinque Supermoisture makeup w/ dramatically different moisturizing lotion for very dry skin and I have never been happier. If you have the same problem I would stop by and see if you Clinque crew would give you a sample. I also believe Clinque at our Belk in Gainesville has a free gift going right now. Can't really give you a price point b/c I pick mine up sometimes at Belk or at the outlet if they have my color.

My little helper for my flat fine hair was found at my favorite CVS! Christophe Volume Mousse, I add this to my hair at the roots right before I blow dry and can really tell a big difference. It retails for $8.99 but this week it is on sale for $4.99. I will be stocking up. Great week to try this out and if you don't like it you only lost $5 bucks and pass it on to a friend to see if they like it. But trust me I believe you will LOVE IT!

Shhhh, here I go again telling about my under garments. For years I have fallen in love with Hanes No Show Panties which once again I can only find the silky ones at Wal-Mart. They don't lie they really are the only no show panties I have found out there. I gave up wearing "strings" as my Mama called them after I was informed how unhealthy they really are for you. They must be very popular b/c every time I find them in human colors...black, tan, white I have to search for my size in my favorite style. I can't stand pink, purple, goofy color panties. Ladies unless you are under 10 don't wear these. No one likes to see someone bend over flashing hot pink panties, we do really look silly. But that is just my opinion. Retail $8.50 for 3 pairs

My 2009-2010 Winter fashion must have George Tights. Guess where I can only find them...Wal-Mart. Love these tights they are thick, warm, and even have control top! They also hold up very well during many washes which is hard to find. They retail for $5.99. Be a rebel and pick up some fun ones as well as your basic brown and black.

Now that we are slimmed, with great hair, makeup, and smile grab yourself my favorite coffee of all time!!! Dunkin Donuts Original Blend once you join us you will never turn back. My local Sam's Club has a large bag for only $16.99. Grab a cup and enjoy being a Fabulously Frugal Mom!

How daily decisions impact our wallets more than I thought...

Jonathan and I had our 1st Dave Ramsey FPU class this past sunday. If you don't know much about Dave Ramsey he is an awesome speaker and gives out common sense advice about working a budget and saving money for your future. Which I think we all could take his advice looking at our current economy and financial state!

Ok, back to our class. There was one chart that really stuck out to me. How our "Daily decisions can make a Huge impact!" Here are few examples.

Say you smoke a pack a day, or have some other habit like candy break, coke break, ice cream break, etc. And it cost you $3 a day...that is $90 a month/$1,080 a year. Wow! Think about what you could do with that money if you just put that is savings everyday!!!

Ok I know what you are thinking. I thought the same thing...I don't really have a habit of spending $3 a day on cigs or snacks. But do you enjoy those cool $5 cups of gourmet coffee? Lets use that in the same example: $5 a day for your fancy coffee...that is $150 a month/$1,800 a year. Even bigger WOW!!!

Now this is the example that really hit home with me and my husband. If your like us you have been known to eat out for lunch. We have cut back this year, but we have done this. An avg. lunch runs you $8 and the avg. work week is 5 days that is $40 a week....$160 a month/$1,920 a year. Yikes!

So here is my question. Lets take the lunch example and say you take your lunch everyday for 60 years. Why 60 years because that is the example Dave uses in his chart, you save from age 16-76. Guess how much you could save.....
$115,200 I think I could handle that to take a nice little vacation!
And here is Dave's example: Take that $160 a month and invest it at 12% from age 16-76. Guess what that will get you.....
$20,663,319 Forget the vacation, I am going to buy a few vacation homes!

Take a few mins and take this in. I vote we all pack our lunch, find a bench or nice spot to meet with friends and enjoy our savings and dream together where we are going to buy our future vacation homes!

For more wonderful info on Dave Ramsey as well as where you can find a class in your neighborhood go to http://www.daveramsey.com/.

Crazy Couponing

Everyone has been asking about my coupon class from Saturday so I thought I would share a few tips and ideas that I found useful. First thing I would like to share is that these tips really do work! I went shopping at Publix Sat. night and bought $98 in groceries and only paid $53 that is a savings of $43 dollars. Isn't that great? Here are a few of the tips.

*You must change you way of shopping. If you are like me you shop for what you need when you need it. Ex. we are out of paper towels we buy paper towels. Well that is all WRONG!!! You shop for what is on sale and use your coupon for that item on sale. Ex. Publix has Progressive Soup on sale for BOGO $2.29 and I have two coupons for 0.50 off so I pay $1.29 for two cans which equals 0.65 each. Bottom line I saved a total of $1.64 off each can. Wow!

*For the avg family of 4 they recommended cutting two papers of coupons on Sunday. They also recommended using the AJC for this. Also, clip every coupon! You may in the end get some of the items you never would of used for free and you can donate them.

*Going back to stopping the shopping for only the items you need. They taught us to purchase and build a stash with the items on sale. In the south coupons cycle around about every 6 wks so about the time you need to rebuild your stash you will have a coupon.

*Everyone has their favorite stores to shop, mine in the past has been Kroger but I now know to shop Publix BOGO sale! Publix BOGO + coupon = HUGE SAVINGS! Also, I love CVS and their ECB (extra care bucks). The key to using these is multiple transactions. Use your ECB for other purchases during the same trip.

*We also learned to us a coupon spreadsheet. You can make your own and I highly recommend it. I used mine for my grocery list and stuck to it. Make one column for the items, retail $, sale $, store Q (coupon), MFR Q, & final value. Do the math before you shop to see what you are really saving.

I have found it to be useful to attach my store Coupon spreadsheet with my coupons and sale paper. That way I have everything together.

*They also touched on organizing you coupons. You can use a file system, shoebox, bag, or notebook with baseball card holders. Also, divide them any way you prefer by type, letter, etc. What ever works for you! I prefer the notebook with card holders. I like seeing the coupons I have out in the open.

This class was awesome and the ladies were awesome as well. They have really made this their ministry to teach and touch other women through their coupon class. I am going to see if we can have the ladies come to my home church of Talmo Baptist and teach a class. Please let me know if you would be interested in attending this class.

Excitement over COUPONS!!

For over a little more than 6 months now I have become excited and crazy over coupons! I must admit, I am not the best at shopping and always getting the best bargain...but I do try really hard!!! I went from using just my small file folder to the crazy notebook with baseball card holders. I know you look goofy shopping with this thing, but if goofy saves $8+ bucks I will shop with goofy any day.

I am still amazed by these women that go grocery shopping and buy $90 worth of goodies and only pay $6. HOW DO THEY DO THIS??? I must know the secret!!! Well guess what ladies, my prayer has been answered. Last week my lovely sister Amanda emailed me and invited me to a coupon class at a local church. I of course am all over attending this event, FREE tips, FREE childcare, and best of all we learn how to get more for less or FREE! I can't wait, I am counting down the days. This weekend is my shopping weekend for all the home basics. My plan is to wait until after the class saturday afternoon and put myself to a challenge to see how much I can save. Don't worry I will be letting ya'll know how I do.

I am so excited about this new year ahead for my family! Between starting our Dave Ramsey's FPU class next sunday, learning how to save more $$$ with coupons, setting a budget and sticking to it I am finally seeing financial freedom in our future. I can't wait! Please continue to keep my family in your prayers through this new journey.

FREE 10 from elf

Big Coupon Weekend!

This Sunday, 1/3 you should have 5 coupon inserts!!
(3) SmartSource
(2) Red Plum

For more info go to one of my favorite saving spots www.southernsavers.com. I recommend adding this one to your favorites if it isn't already and check it often. They are always current and have great ideas for getting the most for your $$$.

Lovin' Redbox

If your like me you have seen the boxes around town everywhere. At your local Kroger, Walgreens, etc. I even noticed people at them but never paid them much mind. Until one day at the Walgreens in Commerce I just stepped up to check it out. Can this be for real, renting New Releases for only a $1 a day? Where have I been, why hasn't anyone told about this? So I decided to rent a movie for my girlfriend's girl night. And now I am in love!!!

All you do is provide them with your email address, select your rental, swipe your debit card and go. You pay a dollar a day and return it to any redbox location. You can even reserve a DVD online and pick it up at your local redbox. (I haven't actually tried this so I would be interested to hear how it worked out.)

I really like this concept b/c I really have to LOVE LOVE LOVE a movie to buy it! So this way if I don't care for it I am only out a buck. Here is one of New Releases redbox if offering, I can't wait to see it. Checkout redbox.com for more rentals and additional info.

Happy New Year!

Can you believe it is 2010? In the past I really haven't made any New Year's Resolutions...but this year I have! I like to call them my goals for 2010. To hold me to them I am going to share them with all of you!

• Keep Faith, Family, and Friends in that order. If I keep my Faith 1st everything else will fall into place.

• Save, Save, Save...only buy needs not wants. I can be really bad at this, for example this morning I have already been look online at makeup. I mean really it is 7:35am what am I thinking? But don't worry I didn't order anything!

• Spend more quality time with my family. Work on building great memories not just living in the moment!

• Give more! I am really excited about this one!!! I want to give more of myself and my time. There are so many opportunities out there for volunteering or just helping a neighbor out. We all should take a little of our time to help out and teach our kids that we expect them to do the same.

• Last but not least...MY FABULOUSLY FRUGAL MOMS BLOG!!! I am really excited about what we can do with this outlet. I want this to be a place we all can meet and give each other tips on saving money, time, staying organized, and of course being fabulous while doing it all.

Lets let the fun begin!!!