Simply Carolina Dreamz » Frugality
Do you Paperback Swap?
New arrivals, this week: The Modern Woman’s Guide to Life The Quotable Book Lover MLA Handbook for Writer’s of Research Papers Writing Down the Bones Perfect Phrases for Resumes Looking for God in Harry Potter Office Proffessionals Desk Reference Unfinished Business Building Belief While discussing Writing Down the Bones, on Twitter, I was able to add a couple more books to my wish list: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life :: Anne Lamott On Writing :: Stephen King These were added to my other wish list books that I’d love to touch: The Omnivore’s Dilemma : A Natural History of Four Meals :: Michael Pollan Peace and Plenty: Finding Your Path to Financial Serenity :: Sarah Ban Breathnach SparkNotes: Women’s Literature :: SparkNotes Editors I feel there is no hope that I will ever receive The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I’m almost the 900th person waiting … Read entire article »
Filed under: Creative Chaos, Frugality
Home Made Cleaners Examined
Image via WikipediaI’m going through some changes.. in my HM cleaning type recipes.. HM Dishwasher Soap I’ve been stretching my powdered Cascade, for about a year now. I did try to just go to HM powder, but the film, on the dishes just wasn’t working. Even white vinegar was not helping the film. Upon some research, I noticed that many others were mixing Dollar Store Dishwasher Soap, with their borax and baking soda, to cut the film. I just kept buying my powdered Cascade at Sam’s, and used it as one part, of three.. 1 part Cascade Powder 1 part Borax 1 part Baking Soda I am going to experiment, now, though, with Citric Acid, in place of the Cascade. Citric Acid is the common “dishwasher cleaner” ingredient. I bought some from WholeSalesSuppliesPlus and … Read entire article »
OH, the Taco!
Image by simply_carolina_dreamz via Flickr I adore tacos. We’ve been eating them all week. I’m hoping to have a more creative menu next week. Don’t hold your breath, though. My creativity is disabled, at the moment. *blink blink* I prefer corn tortillas. I love flour tortillas, too, though. Especially fresh home-made flour tortillas. In my book, tacos should crunch. Crunch is a relative term, though. I’ve decided there are some must-have’s in the taco world.. My taco must have: meat cheese lettuce That’s it. If we don’t have meat, cheese, or lettuce, we can’t have tacos. Bonus items include: Beans (Kidney or Pinto) Fresh Tomatoes Salsa Chopped Cilantro (Yes. I’m one of those people.) Sour Cream Guacamole Bacon (hahaha.. I’ve never had bacon on a taco.) Onions (fresh or sauteed) Cooked peppers (I prefer red, orange, or yellow bell peppers.) Jalapeno’s (I prefer them pickled.) What did … Read entire article »
Filed under: Feeding the Needz, Frugality, HomeMade
Kohl’s is a Deal Maker
So much has been given, to me, from Kohl’s since I figured out how to Play their game. Last month, I signed up for a Kohl’s charge card. I was buying some sterling silver jewelry, that was already 60% off and the speaker above my head kept telling me I could get an additional 15% off if I opened an account. I figured that if I don’t keep a running balance on this card, I won’t have to worry about their horrendous percentage rate. Since I opened that card, though, I’ve had many unexpected surprises. @HeatherSolos and I braved shopping, one afternoon, and a package of knives, that I had been wanting to buy was on sale. As I reached to pick up this three-pack of sharp kitchen knives, the package split and all … Read entire article »
Filed under: coupons and dealz, Creative Domestication, Feeding the Needz, Frugality, Unexpectations
Bi-Lo Kohl’s non coupon offer
As a follow-up to my Bi-Lo post, the other day, I wanted to let you know that there is a fantastic deal promotion if you buy Kohl’s gift cards at Bi-Lo. You would get the free $10 Bi-Lo gift card and you’d get .20 cents in feul perks rewards, by buying $200 in Kohl’s Gift cards, from your local Bi-Lo. Offer expires 8/17/2010. **disclosure: SimplyCarolinaDreamz received a beautiful gift bag, some coupons for an upcoming promotion, and $50 in free Bi-Lo Gift Cards** … Read entire article »
Filed under: coupons and dealz, Creative Domestication, Frugality
New ways to earn Fuel Perks at BiLo
There are some exciting new things coming, from BiLo. Check back for some fun stuff to come. BiLo now includes fuel perks on gift cards you buy in their “gift card mall.” (the full list is here) but we find will be rearranging the way we spend our money, for the following stores: Barnes and Noble Best Buy Cold Stone Ebay Home Depot IHOP JC Penny Kohl’s Lands End Logan’s Restaurant Michael’s Petsmart Regal Cinemas Staples Subway There are many more. There are two gas stations and an air line on the list. Oh, and Starbucks, too! Fuel Perks is easy to participate in. Other than special bonuses, the general bonus is $.05 in fuel perks for every $50 spent. There are weeks when they double the bonus, and right now they are sponsoring some special ways that you can get more fuel perks. I do about 1/3 of my … Read entire article »
Filed under: Foodie Frenzy, Frugality, LowCountry
Fun stuff going on in the world of PaperBack Swap
Are you using paperbackswap? You should be. I’m having so much fun with it and have saved so much money, that I would have spent in the big name bookstores. Here’s a look at my current statistics: Let me explain what you see.. I have 7 books, that I’ve requested, with 7 of my book credits, from several different members. My current list has the following books on it: Life Balance (Linda and Richard Eyre) Endowed from on High (John D Charles) Looking for God in Harry Potter (John Granger) What I wish I’d known before my mission (John Bytheway) Romancing the Ordinary (a Sarah ban Breathnach book out of print that I’ve been looking for everywhere.) A Woman’s Worth (Marianne Williamson) These 7 remain in this queue until the member has mailed the book to me. The second tab has … Read entire article »
Filed under: Creative Chaos, Frugality, Unexpectations
Planner, Calendar, and Coupon Binder
I really didn’t want to buy another planner. I really needed to get my calendar and planner organized. I really didn’t want to buy another planner. Oops. Sorry. *wink* So I go to Staples.. The Boy needed to meet someone there, to pick something up.. so I’m feeling rather proud of myself that I know where my Staples Reward card is.. I check.. I take it with me.. so far so good.. I find this binder, that I love.. I hate that its made in China (MIC) but what can I do? I don’t want to “make” a binder. It was really hard to take photos of it, while its empty, so I’ll share the photo on the front, that shows better the features. The accordion file part is detachable and slides … Read entire article »
Filed under: Creative Chaos, Frugality
Home Made Laundry Soap
Making Home Made Laundry Soap has become so simple, to me, that I’m quite disgusted that I’m using some commercial product, right now, because I got behind on grating and drying some Zote. Here are the basics to start with: My recipe is very simple: 2:1:1 (2 parts dried powdered soap, 1 part super washing soda (sodium carbonate), 1 part 20 Mule Team Borax (sodium borate)) First I grate the Zote (my favorite choice for soap) in my food processor. I lay it out into a plastic box to dry a couple of days, then I use my magic bullet or blender to make soap into a fine powder. (A friend, of mine, used Ivory Soap bars and it works beautifully, too.) There have been times when my super washing powder and/or borax is very … Read entire article »
Filed under: Creative Domestication, Frugality
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