Hello and Welcome to Thankful with a Side of Thrifty! My name is Tricia and I write about my thankful, thrifty life for several reasons: I love writing, I enjoy saving money, I am abundantly grateful to God for the many blessings in my life, and most of all, in some small way, I'd like to help others find joy in living thankful, thrifty lives also!

At times I blog consistently, at other times, I am quite sporadic. Occasionally, I have giveaways for those who subscribe or follow my blog, so if that's your thing, be on the lookout...and sign up! I am not a professional writer by any means, and you will find, without question, occasional typos and grammatical faux pas. Much of this has to do with whether or not I work the night shift (I'm an RN, by vocation) before I write.

I have 4 kids, 1 foreign student, 2 cats, 1 dog, 2 fish and 1 husband. I was born, bred and buttered in the great state of Maine, where I (usually) spend a month every summer in a family cabin. My current city is High Point, NC. We have lived in this area for 15 years now and even though I will always be a country girl at heart, I have come to appreciate city life.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Give back ideas and nearly free Bounce bars!



Wow, it's really raining here in High Point today, but it's unseasonably warm, so I'll take it. It's been the perfect day to work on some holiday projects: Each year our church hosts a Thanksgiving dinner for area foster families, and I generally bake two turkeys--that I get on sale, of course. So today smells like Thanksgiving at my house. The kids also participate in the Samaritan's Purse shoebox drive every year:
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/afr/. It's such a concrete way to give. Does your church or community center host any meals? A shoebox drive? Angel Tree? There are so many ways to give that don't cost much. What are your favorites??

What freebies have arrived in your box lately? In the past few days I've received Hugo cologne samples, 4 Barista K-Cups, 3 Twining Tea Bags, a Kinerase skincare sample, a Kleenex sample and 3 Platex Tampons, along with many coupons. Make sure you are getting free products...sign up when I post the links! It's even more fun now because I have many of them shipped to my daughter in college to fill her box also. You know how college kids like mail! Right now there are more sales than freebies, but always be on the lookout.

A couple of tips I recently read (and tried successfully):

What's your recipe for making traditional rice? Two parts water to one part rice, I'm guessing, and if you let it cook too long, it gets really sticky. I read somewhere that if you think of rice like pasta, and boil it in at least 4 parts water to 1 part rice and then drain it, it will not be sticky but will have more of a "minute rice" consistency. Guess what? It worked!

And don't you hate to have "pilly" sweaters? Use a pumice stone to take off all the pills; works like a charm.

Have you tried the new Bounce Dryer Bar? I did when they offered a rebate earlier in the year, and I do have to admit that I like not having to remember to add a dryer sheet. Right now there is a rebate offer for $5 back and there was a coupon for $1 off in the last P&G coupon insert. It's for a 6 month bar...that makes for a very good if not free deal!
http://www.bounceeverywhere.com/BounceBlog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Bounce_Rebate.PDF

Thanks for your votes! 14 days left: www.cheapsally.com/contest/tricia-cliff/

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