Freebie Friday & Saving over $500 a year on Car Insurance!



(photo courtesy of Liberty Mutual)

I found out a month ago that the auto insurance we have paid faithfully for over 15 years was going to drop our comprehensive coverage and greatly increase our liabilty, an inevitable result of 3 car accidents in 3 years (though none of them technically "our fault"). Over the course of my married life, I have been very diiligent when it comes to shopping around for insurance rates, checking every year or two to make sure we were still getting the best deal. However, when we had the big wreck 3 years ago, we had a large claim and every time I looked into online pricing, the question was always there: "Have you been in an accident resulting in a claim in the last 3 (or sometimes 5) years?" So, I decided to wait until the 3 years was up, and wouldn't you know, 2 months shy of the date, we hit a deer, nearly totaling our van. Then my daughter was a passenger in a wreck in Pennsylvania--not even her car--but some weird PA law bills OUR car insurance. Yikes. Anyhow, long story short, I was forced to shop around, and I can honestly say now that I am very glad I did. Here's a shout out to Liberty Mutual, who gave us the best rates by far with even BETTER coverage than we had before...and saved us over $500 a year! They could also save us about $60 on our hommeowners, but because we are going to try to sell soon and our current policy is paid until September, we decided to wait on that. I'm not getting any kick backs...but I am encouraging you to check them out!!

And here's some interesting and yet scary news: U.S. consumers incurred nearly $48 billion in new credit card debt during 2011 (424% more than 2010 & 577% more than 2009) -CardHub WOW!! Are you a part of this? If you are, I hope you are like us and pay off your card monthly. If this is what is growing our economy, we're in for some rough years ahead!!

On a lighter note, it's Friday, and here are a few freebies to brighten your day:



How about a free sample of Beneful Dog treats: http://instoresnow.walmart.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid82797.aspx#/home

Here's a link for a coupon for a free quart of Clark and Kensington paint at Ace hardware:
http://facebook.acehardware.com/SoulPaint/coupon.phps

Free sample of Stayfree with wings:
https://secure.startsampling.com/sm/stayfree102018/captureAddress.iphtml?item=102018&source=ba-stayfree

Free sample of Lipton Tea and honey: https://www.facebook.com/lipton?sk=app_189108814524383

Use it up, Wear it out....

Did you finish the rhyme when you read the title? I'm sure many of you did:

Use it up
Wear it out
Make do
Or do without!

I did a little google search to find out the origin, and while there was nothing concrete (Is there anything concrete on a google search?), the phrase has been called "the four threads of New England character," and it became the conservation motto during WWII. It's no wonder I grew up hearing it.

I try to apply these principals to our lives, and while I don't always succeed, I'm pretty much always thinking about ways to be more frugal in any given situation, perhaps to my own detriment. C'est la vie. It's truly just in me. Here are a few examples; I'll focus on a different stanza for the next few posts:

USE IT UP

Black bananas and hard marshmellows. The stuff of trash bin dreams? Not at my house! I keep old bananas in the freezer until I feel like baking. I have several great banana based recipes, but the family favorite is Banana Muffins. Pure yum. And hard marshmellows might make lousy smores, but I picked up this bag in the clearance section at Sav-A-Lot for 50 cents; melted with butter and combined with the rice crispies, no one had a clue that they were past their prime:

What are some ways you "use it up" when others might throw it out?

 

On a side note, I have to say, I'm getting more and more excited about Hong Kong every day, particularly because everyone we talk to who has been there has nothing but great things to say about it. However, most of these wonderful comments are quickly terminated with "but it's expensive!" Yikes. I am determined to make it a frugal experience, so you'll have to stay tuned to hear all about it. Until then, we are busy preparing: doctor appointments, criminal back ground checks (we're clear, in case you were wondering), kitchen remodeling, mailing documents with Fed Ex to the tune of $117.00. Hmmm...when I see it written, I realize we not starting out on a very frugal footing...

Ten Good Freebies!

What deals have you been getting lately?? Saturday, I went out on a date with my hubby (using a BOGOF coupon for Zaxbys) and we stopped at Office Depot because I had a coupon for $15 off a $75 purchase. I admit that this by itself isn't so great, but I combined a few deals. I had received an email from them explaining that they would give me a $5 gift certificate if I updated my email; I did so and printed off the certificate. They were also running a couple of specials: buy $59 of HP ink and get a free DVD AND 100% back in rewards on all Folgers coffee, which happens to be my fave. So, I purchased almost exactly $59 in ink for my printer, picked up a tub of Folgers and added a couple of Cadbury eggs to get my total to $75. I used the $15 off coupon, the $5 certificate, got a Julie and Julia DVD for free and will also get back $13 in rewards for the Folgers and $6 in rewards for the ink (they always give you 10% back on HP ink). That's about $35 out of pocket for $85 worth of product (counting the free DVD). Long story short? Never pay full price. I will need coffee and printer ink in the near future...now I don't have to worry about running out!

Here's a list of current (at least they were when I wrote the post) freebies for you. Enjoy!

Free sample of Olay 2 in 1 facial cloths: http://teenvogueitlist.com/olaysample

Free sample of a the new Tide Pods: https://www.tide.com/en-US/tidepods/get-a-sample.jspx

Free sample of Simple face wash for watching a short video:
http://cvssavingscentral.com/Programs/UNI-SimpleBPQ1.aspx

Free sample of Miracle Whip: http://www.startsampling.com/sm/openmouth102227/captureAddress.iphtml?item=102227&source=ba-mysample&p=

Free sample of Crystal Light Energy drink:
https://www.facebook.com/crystallight?sk=app_311236678907933

Free sample of gud body lotion from Bert's Bees:
https://www.facebook.com/Gud?sk=app_173756732737396

Free sample of Simply Right baby formula:
http://www.simplyrightformula.com/baby-formula-sample.aspx

Free Metamucil sample: http://instoresnow.walmart.com/In-Stores-Now-free-samples.aspx

Free Gevalia coffee sample (this is available at Walmart now):
http://isn.auth.cap-hosting.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid102841.aspx

Free personalized card from cardstore.com:
http://www.southernsavers.com/2012/02/free-personalized-card-from-cardstore-com-free-shipping/

Hong Kong bound...and a free gallon of milk!

Yes, the rumors are true: Mike has accepted a teaching position at the International Christian School in Hong Kong for the upcoming school year. We are at once extremely excited and still somewhat stunned as he went from being jobless next year (his choice) to having three job offers in a week. (Note to teachers--if you can't find a job here, apply overseas.) The difference between this and traditional mission work is that they actually pay you a salary as opposed to our having to raise support. Given the general equality of the various teaching positions, we actually ended up making our final decision on what might seem at first glance to be somewhat minor "perks:" a cross country team for the boys, a furnished apartment that is actually on the 7th floor of the school building (see above), and health insurance that covered our college-aged daughter. Salary wise, we were quite happy. It is less than the average pay for public school teachers with Mike's experience, but about on par with Christian schools here in the states, IF you take into account the 25-50% higher cost of living that HK supposedly has. I don't buy this completely after talking to some of the families who have moved there. I think it's a lot like the US...there are many different lifestyles...and if I can be frugal here, I can be frugal there.

Add to this a great health and dental plan (better than here, actually), flights back and forth to HK for the whole family every two years, a housing stipend (after the first year with a furnished apt.), free private school tuition for the boys and various other perks and we're thinking that this frugal mama will do just fine even if there aren't any coupons or yard sales. If we can sell our home here, which we are going to try to do, then we will be completely debt free. (I soooo want to call in to Dave Ramsey and do the 'WE'RE DEBT FREE' yell...)

The school, ICS, is taught completely in English and Mike will be teaching AP US History and Economics. ICS has a wonderful reputation in HK and the average SAT score is far higher than that of schools here in the states. As of this moment, I don't have a job, but if I do not qualify for any positions at the school, I will most likely volunteer there, at least part time. And no, I don't want to attempt to pass the nursing exam in Hong Kong!

 What will be different? One of my friends here said that when she thinks of Asia, she thinks of people living in dresser drawers. I had to smile. I'm actually really looking forward to downsizing dramatically.  We do have a balcony; I've already packed tomatoe and basil seeds:). This is what our very IKEA-ish kitchen and bath look like:

So, what isn't there to love? Well, there are always goodbyes and that is never easy; especially leaving a daughter in college. We are planning on her flying over to visit during Christmas break, and we will spend about 6 weeks in the states each summer, so in reality we'll see her almost as much as we do now, given that she is going to college 7 hours away.

We do LOVE our home here, but 6 bedrooms is a little large, and when our boys graduate, we will want something smaller anyway. We are updating our kitchen and then will put it on the market. If it sells, great. If not, then we will try to rent it. One big perk of remodeling the kitchen now is that I have already cleaned out and packed up all my cabinets, leaving out only the bare essentials, and I have a huge yard sale pile! So, while Mike will be paid, we do plan to sell off some items in order to have an emergency fund and to fly Abby back and forth. We'll keep you posted on loot you can buy:)

Here's to our new home town:

Meanwhile, back in High Point, I'm still on the lookout for all the deals I can get, especially now! So here's a great one for you:

Who can't use a coupon for a free gallon of milk?? (I used mine today at Wal-Mart!) This site is giving away 10,000 coupons a day until March 3rd, so try another day if it doesn't work the first time. Just go to this link and follow the instuctions...you do have to buy 3 breakfast items to get the free gallon. That should be easy enough:

http://www.southernsavers.com/2012/02/new-milk-coupon-free-milk-wyb-3-breakfast-items/

If that's not enough incentive, try cheaper breakfast items:  add a $4 off 4 boxes of Kelloggs cereal, $1.25 off any I Can't Believe It's Not Butter or $1 off Activia yogurt at http://www.coupons.com/  If your zip doesn't work, try 99218.

Happy Frugal Shopping! Oh, and I have teamed up with a blogging group to bring you even better deals and hopefully add to our income in HK. More on that in another post, but be sure to subscribe to my site so you don't miss any posts.

Making an affordable (no knit) wool Stocking Cap

While we are looking at daffodils and crocus here in NC, I am well aware that my friends and family up north are hunkered in for a few more weeks of winter, so this post will still be applicable for them. Several weeks before Christmas, I posted a plea on my facebook status asking if someone could knit an all-wool stocking cap for me--those long pointy kind with a tassle on the end. My daughter wanted one for Christmas, and the only one I could find online was a replica on Amazon from the movie "A Christmas Story;" they were asking $24.99. Way too much for this frugal mama.

After I posted my query, one of Maine friends chided me, "Tricia," she wrote, "you are a Springfield girl, you can do this!!" Wanting to defend my fragile ego, I responded that, while my mother had taught me knitting basics more than once, I had forgotten them and there was no way I could relearn in two weeks. That was lame, and I knew it. I decided to employ a little Yankee ingenuity.

I went on a trip to Carolina Thrift, a huge second hand store here in High Point. I found two all wool sweaters in patterns I liked, one lamb's wool and one angora. I looked specifically for sweaters with a nice, tight bottom edge that were extra long. I also went on a Monday, when all clothing is half off. I scored my two sweaters for less than 5 bucks total.

I came home and cut out the hat pattern that I wanted, using my own head as a measure, and then I looked for yarn in my craft scrap box that matched the colors on the sweaters. I looked up "how to make a yarn pom-pom" on you tube (one of those things I could do when I was 8 but had since forgotten--it went the way of knitting in the recesses of my brain). Armed with my precut "hats" and pom-pom cardboard, I spent a couple of hours on our 10 hour car trip to Michigan making my daughter's Christmas present. Using a darning needle, I simply sewed around the edges with really thick cotton thread and made sure to use the bottom of the sweater for the band of the hat. Then I made the tassles and sewed then on. Voila! Two all wool stocking caps for less than $5 and about 3 hours time.

You are right, Heidi, I am a Springfield girl...and I did it:

The Positives of Housing Exchange Students

Many of my readers know that since 10/08, we have had three different foreign students living in our home, pretty much continuously, except for the summers. Obviously, there are positives and negatives to this arrangement, and every family is different, but we have had wonderful experiences with all of our adopted kids: Teresa from Guatemala, and Young Meen and Seung Gi from South Korea.
Tere, our Latin girl, was only here for 8 weeks. She was very outgoing and wanted to be involved in all that we were doing. She was here for a language/cultural immersion program, so studying wasn't a priority. We travelled quite a bit and I even got up early to go Black Friday shopping with her--something I will probably never do again!

Young Meen was with us for 2.5 years, and she and my daughter were like sisters by the time they graduated in May:

Seung Gi has been with us since the beginning of this school year. Like Young Meen, (and in our experience, most Asian students) he is quiet and prefers to spend much of his time alone in his room. I know this is bothersome to some families we have been in contact with, but we really don't see this as a negative, it is mostly a cultural difference.

How do we handle having a "stranger" in the house? Again, I know every family is different, but we essentially treat our students as we would a guest/boarder in that we don't feel we have to have the same rules for them that we have for our own kids. We only have three basic rules. They have to: eat (a minimum of) the evening meal with us, clean their room on Saturday, and go to church with us for one service a week. Unlike I would be with my own kids, I don't worry myself with how much time they are on the computer,  what they are eating, or how they doing with homework. IF any of these issues became a problem, I might worry, but these kids are here to get an American education-most have been away from home since middle school-and trust me, Asians are pretty self-motivated.

Are we compensated? With Tere, no; with the Asian students, yes. How much? Because our school has different agents that we work with, I am not able to divulge this information, but most pay a monthly stipend of at least $400. Anything $400 and under is non-taxable, more than that and you have to claim the difference.

So to sum it all up, having a foreign student in your home can be a very rewarding experience in many ways, a situation I would highly recommend!

Wednesday, November 30th, is that last day you can vote for me in the cheap sally contest. Thanks for all your help!

www.cheapsally.com/contest/tricia-cliff/

Free almonds

Not a lot to say today but I did want to share this link for a free almond sample before they are all gone..enjoy!

Here's a great link for a 1 ounce sample of fresh almonds (thanks, Lori!) http://www.caalmonds.com/ Look for the link that says "free sample" on the left side.

Free sample of Atelier Cologne: https://www.facebook.com/AtelierCologne?sk=wall

Thanks for your votes! www.cheapsally.com/contest/tricia-cliff/