Happy birthday to me! (and an exercise in estimation)

Happy birthday to me!  We celebrated my 34th birthday this weekend and though I didn't get to sleep in and I didn't wake up 10 lbs. lighter, it was a good day regardless.

I woke up to sweet and thoughtful gifts from my Matt.  New and improved travel coffee mug -- yes!  Then I got most of the morning to myself (HEAVEN), took Chloe to lunch and out shopping to spend some birthday cash.  Then I cooked up EXACTLY what I wanted for dinner.  Steak with mushrooms, homemade wheat bread, oven-baked potatoes topped with plain yogurt and cheddar cheese, pear/cranberry/walnut/blue cheese salad and peach cobbler for dessert.  And while I LOVED partaking in last year's dark chocolate and cherry pavlova I didn't feel like putting forth that much effort this year.  (If you've never attempted a pavlova, I highly recommend it!  Read about my pavlova journey here.)

It's good to be 34!  I don't even care that I'm seriously close to the 30's midpoint.  Whatever.  I could care less.  My life is stuffed to the gills with blessings; the biggest being that all my sins are forgiven.  What can top that?!?  If my life had a theme song, Psalm 32 would be it!

So, on to the exercise in estimation.  During my birthday shopping spree I happened upon a Payless that was going out of business and liquidating their inventory.  I almost didn't stop.  I was seriously disappointed with Borders' so-called liquidating sale and was skeptical that the Payless sale would yield any actual bargains.  It's tough to impress this super-cheap-coupon-clipping-bargain hunter.  But the sale was indeed worthy of my time.  8 pairs later I was one happy cheapskate!

What do you think I paid for these puppies?  Closest guess to my actual total will win . . . . something.  Really, I promise to put together some kind of fun mystery prize for the winning estimator.  I won't divulge the percent off I netted here but I'll give you a tiny clue.  Think more than 50% off.  Put on your estimating caps and give it a go!

Solomon was very excited about the new pile of footwear.  He spent a good 20 minutes (which is nigh an eternity for my busy boy) trying on shoes and stomping around the house in them.  Cuteness!

Deals and faves

This weekend I scored some pretty sweet deals!

I came across Oprah Winfrey's very generous coupon deal for Payless yesterday afternoon (50% off everything) so Chloe and I scooted out right after supper. I got her a pair of really sturdy navy blue shoes for only $6.50! And mama got two pairs of clearance shoes for $3 and $4. Woo-hoo! Now that this belly of mine is starting to grow, it's nice to distract from my hugeness with some cute new shoesies. :)

Then after a rainy lazy morning, I scooped up the kiddos and drove out to Target. As we were leaving, Matt said, "What do we need from Target?" Such a silly question! Target ALWAYS has something we need. :) Thanks to Money Saving Mom's recent blog post on Target deals, I snagged two cake mixes for 25 cents each and two bags of mini-marshmallows for 50 cents each (perfect for making another several batches of rice krispies treats). And as I hopefully expected, several items were 75% off in the dollar spot. SCORE! I got some lovely cards, stocking stuffers, thank you notes, and board books for just $3.00. To top it all off, I even got 5 cents back from bringing my own bag.

I love Target. It's on my all-time favorite stores list.

And so is Chick-fil-A. Have you heard about their Operation Christmas Child partnership? I'm sure lots of you recall this annual charity which sends out shoeboxes full of goodies to needy kids in third world countries (see more details here). Chick-fil-A is joining in the generosity this year by offering to send the shoeboxes for you AND giving you a coupon for a free sandwich for every box you fill. We've got two boxes almost filled and ready. I L.O.V.E. the idea of showing Chloe and Clive that Christmas is not about getting but giving. (Though I AM excited about getting some free food.)

What deals have you snagged lately? And which shops are your favorites for bargains and pleasant shopping experiences?

Reluctantly buying retail

For good or bad, I take a certain pride in knowing that I buy almost all our family's clothes second-hand. I truly enjoy thrift-store shopping, repurposing, and using clothes until they are worn or no longer fit me. Thrifting is like a treasure hunt for me!

Also, our budget requires us to be incredibly frugal with our clothing purchases. Add to it that I have the world's fastest growing daughter and buying second-hand is imperative.

As Chloe is growing older and taller, I've found it increasingly more difficult to find used clothing, shoes and outerwear in her size. Shoes are the worst! Chloe has inherited my clod-hopper feet and is already in a size 13 or 1. It was so disappointing this fall to open up her bin and see 11's and 12's I had bought ahead of time that were hopelessly too small.

Hence, my quest for a winter coat for Chloe began. I searched all the thrift and kids' consignment shops in the area to no avail. In fact, I was utterly appalled at how much consignment shops charge for USED coats! Hello, $30 or $40 for a used coat?!? I realize supply and demand is at play here but that's utterly ridiculous.

I turned to ebay next and was equally disappointed in the price and selection.

Reluctantly, I tried Target. Turns out for 20 bucks I scored a super warm lined puffy coat for Chloe in her fave color blue. I had a $5 gift card and since the 6/6x was a tad snug I went with a bigger size so the coat will (hopefully) last two seasons.

It felt strange to buy Chloe something brand spanking new but I must say I'm pleased with the bang I got for my buck. Yet another wonderfully satisfying Target experience. :)

Where do you find affordable outerwear for your kiddos?

Online travel tips

My dear wise blogging friends, do you have suggestions for me on booking hotels online? We're trying to plan a short mother's day family rendezvous in Pittsburgh and I'm not having much success. As usual, we're doing it all on the cheap. We're planning to visit the amazing-sounding Pittsburgh zoo (we can get in for free with our Cleveland zoo membership card) and we hope to score a cheap hotel room for the night. With free breakfast and indoor pool of course. :)

Specifically . . .
1. What website/s do you use most often for travel planning?
2. Are there particular days of the week to search online for the best deals?

Thanks for your help!

Free membership in Freepeats this week only!

Be sure to take advantage of FREE lifetime membership this week only at freepeats.org. Freepeats is an organization started by the author of the amazingly helpful babycheapskate blog. Freepeats is similar to freecycle; members swap kid, baby, and maternity items by posting via a local forum. So far freepeats is available in 25 major cities. Check here to see if there's a freepeats near you. And read all about the free membership details here.

Hurry and take advantage of this free membership by Wednesday, August 20.

I'm curious to know how many of you are involved in freepeats. I've been e-watching it for awhile now but never could break down to pay the membership fee. I'm rejoicing (loudly) that I can join free. As Wayne and Garth would say, "Score!" Let me know what great items you receive through this wonderful organization!

Some good deals for your Friday

Happy Friday to you all! It's going to be a gorgeous warm day here; a perfect summer Friday.

Now that I subscribe to Freebies 4 Mom and Money Saving Mom, I'm always alerted to the deals, free samples, and coupons that are out there. Today, I came across two fabulous specials I just had to let you know about.

• Click here to print off a $10 off a purchase of $30 at Walgreens. Good today only! If you do the free-after-rebate items, this would be a great way to purchase the items for May or June. Even though it isn't officially June, the new EasySaver catalog is available as of today. Or if you're willing to invest a bit more time planning your purchase, check out these ideas for purchases at Money Saving Mom. There are some overlapping May and June coupons that would make for some free or almost free purchases.
  
• The competition for online photo processing must be huge. Sites like snapfish, winkflash, and shutterfly are constantly offering free prints to new customers. Snapfish has a terrific promo going right now for new customers. 50 free prints and a free flipbook! To be a new customer you simply need to register a new email address. Between Matt and I we have 4 email accounts so I used one of Matt's to take advantage of this great promo.