Cha-Ching on a Shoestring™

Living Large on a Limited Budget

Everyday with Rachael Ray for Only $3.50 per Year! (Hurry!)

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Right now you can score a subscription to Everyday with Rachael Ray for only $3.50/year at Tanga.com (reg. $23.99)!  You can purchase up to 4 years at this price. Simply use code EVERYDAY at checkout and your discount will pop right up!

Keep in mind that Tanga deals are subject to end at any time.  So be sure to snag this one quick if it’s one you are interested in!

Note: It can take up to 14 weeks for your first issue to arrive.  Sounds like a great Christmas gift idea to me!

HOT Toys R Us Deal: Seven Hasbro Games for $.56 Each!

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chutes-and-ladders

Toys R Us has a HOT deal this week on Hasbro board games that I am super excited about.  Buy $25, get a $10 Toys R Us Gift Card.

But it gets sweeter. Right now, Hasbro is offering over $60 in rebates on their board games when you purchase them at Toys R Us. Click here for more details.

Pair these rebates with the sale at Toys R Us for a HOT deal.  Here are the prices:

$3.99 Board Games

Ants in Pants
Candy Land
Cootie
Chutes and Ladders
Don’t Break The Ice
Hi-Ho Cherry-O
Memory

$7.99 Board Games
Clue
Boggle Jr
Rubiks
Scrabble Jr
Yahtzee
Monopoly Jr or Deal

$9.99 Board Games
Mouse Trap
Scrabble
Perfection
Connect 4
Boggle
Perfection

Purchase all seven of the $3.99 games and send in for the $2 rebates for each, and you’ll score them for $3.93 total after rebate and gift card.  (Note:  The rebates are only offered once per item, so be sure to purchase seven different games.  The sale is also only being offered on standard versions of the game, not character versions such as Dora the Explorer.)

I am so excited about this because I’ve been thinking lately that my four year old is ready for board games AND it fits perfectly into my money-saving strategy for Christmas!

Thanks, My Frugal Adventures!

How I Plan to Spend Less Than $50 On Christmas This Year Part 4

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christmas-money

I just finished another step in my spending-less-than-$50-this-Christmas-money-saving strategy. Right from the comfort of my own home. (Click here to check out the rest of this series.) To remind you, I have always had to resort to taking out loans at this time of year, and while I have been so grateful that they are now an option in my times of need (when it comes to short term loans bad credit doesn’t get in the way anymore!) I would like to reach a point where I successfully manage to stay within my budget.

I used some of my MyPoints to snag a gift card. Since most of the people on my Christmas list read this blog faithfully (or so they say!), I hesitate to divulge the exact details of the gift card. I will simply say that I am confident that the recipient of the gift will be delighted. (Although no cash was spent on the purchase of this gift, there is still a lot love in those hard-earned MyPoints.)

I actually can’t believe that I haven’t talked with you all more about MyPoints. I have been a MyPoints member since 2003. Although money-saving blogs were not even a twinkle in their mother’s eye yet, this was the beginning of a beautiful relationship between me and free stuff on the internet.

I have accumulated over 30,000 points over the years, and hope to save up for some home furnishings when we finally buy our own home. However, occasionally I like to dip into my savings for special occasions and Christmas happens to be one of them!

Becoming a MyPoints member is simple:

  • Simply sign up here.

  • You will begin receiving e-mails and will receive 5 points each for ‘reading’ them. (All you really have to do is click on them once you’ve opened the e-mail.)

  • If you decide to accept the offer that is being shared, then you will receive a certain amount of points for doing so.

Here are some of my favorite ways to earn points:

  • Refer friends. You will receive 25 points for each of your friends that sign up through your referral link. You’ll then receive 10% of the eligible points that your friends earn. Click on ‘Easy Points’ then ‘Refer-a-Friend’ to learn more.

  • Shop through MyPoints. Planning on doing some on-line shopping at Christmas time? Check out their extensive list of merchants by clicking on ‘Shop’. You’ll receive a certain amount of points per dollar spent by clicking through the MyPoints site when you do your shopping.

  • Simply be faithful in reading your e-mails! I typically receive 8 -10 e-mails a day from MyPoints. That’s 40-50 points a day just for clicking on my e-mail. Since rewards begin around 1400 points, it should take only about a month or so to earn enough points to claim your first reward!

My gift card should arrive in 2-6 weeks, which gives me plenty of time to order a couple more if I decide to use them as Christmas presents. If you choose to  

” target=”_blank”>sign up today, why not plan on making  

” target=”_blank”>MyPoints your savings center for next Christmas? By then, you should have plenty of points to use!

Stay tuned for even more money-saving Christmas ideas!

How I Plan to Spend Less than $50 on Christmas This Year Part 3

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christmas-money

Ready for my next super secret step in my money-saving strategy for Christmas this year?

(In case you are new around these parts, I am planning on spending no more than $50 on Christmas this year–without being a Scrooge or knitting a single thing.  You can read parts 1 and 2 here and here.)

I just ordered this Christmas gift for my one year old, Lincoln. Besides being cute, it also teaches the names of shapes and colors and has a multi-lingual switch that allows baby to hear the shapes in English, Spanish, and French.  And my favorite part?  It has an on/off volume control.

pelican

Guess how much I paid?  Mmhmm.  You guessed it.  Not a cent.

I ordered it through the Pampers Gifts to Grow program. Been entering codes faithfully for many years now and finally decided it was high time to use them!  (My Mother in Law deserves props for entering codes for me as well!)

Are you a Pampers Gifts to Grow member? If so, do you have enough points to grab a Christmas gift for someone this year?  There are a wide range of gifts available for baby or for others (i.e. an Applebee’s gift card).

I am crossing my fingers that this will come in time, however.  It says it should arrive in 8-10 weeks.  So, I guess there’s a chance that it will be a birthday present instead!

If you aren’t a Pampers Gifts to Grow member yet and still have a baby in diapers, you can sign up here.  Then start saving up your points for next Christmas!  (Look for codes on packages of diapers and wipes.)

The following codes should get you some free points to start off with:

GRATUIT89102009

THRIFTYMOMMYGTG

STARTEARNINGNOW

Plus, did you know that through 11/05/2009, you will get triple points for codes found on Pampers Wipes?  If you have some Pampers wipes, be sure to add your codes before Thursday!

How I Plan To Spend Less Than $50 on Christmas This Year Part 2

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christmas-money

I’ve really enjoyed your responses to my first  “How I Plan To Spend Less Than $50 on Christmas This Year” post.  (Whew—should’ve picked a shorter title.  I might need a coffee break and I’m only getting started!)

It also helped me realize that I should clear a few things up:

1)  I plan on spending no more than $50 after all of my other resources have been used up. (You will have to stick around for the next few weeks to find out what those resources are!)  I do have many resources that will allow me to purchase much more than $50 worth of gifts.  We simply won’t feel it in our budget.

So have no fear, Mom.  You will still receive a lovely gift.

2)  I. don’t. do. crafts.

It’s not that I don’t wish I was craftier.  I see what my friend Beckie does with her hands on a daily basis and I sigh a little sigh of jealousy.  It’s just not my thing.

So, part 2 of the plan is NOT that I will be knitting enough scarves and sweaters and socks to clothe all those on my Christmas list.  Sorry if that’s a disappointment.

3)  Much of my plan involves some long-term thinking.  So, it will most likely not be feasible for you to implement it for this Christmas.  But, I hope that I can encourage you to put my strategy into place now for next Christmas. I know you will be glad you did.

That being said, I will share one aspect of the plan that you can begin right now.

I spent a good chunk of time yesterday filling out my rebate information that has been piling up.  I posted about these rebates here, here, here, and here.  I think many people discount rebates as a ploy that companies use to get you to buy their product.  However, when used properly, they are a great way to save money!

When all is said and done, I will have spent less than $10 out of pocket for the above rebates which are around $40-$50 in value.  My plan is to put that money directly into my Christmas fund.  (Or if it’s a product, I can use it as a gift!)

Do you want to get started on this idea?  Here are some rebates that are currently available.   (As well as some great ideas on how to use them!)

Did I miss any?

How I Plan to Spend Less than $50 on Christmas This Year

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This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will make a small commission if you click and make a purchase.

christmas-money

Hold on now– before you start calling me Scrooge, let’s get one thing straight.  I LOVE Christmas! We celebrate big with all the trimmings and holiday parties and family gatherings and the chestnuts roasting on the open fire and what-not.

So, when I tell you that I am planning on spending less than $50 on Christmas this year, please know that I do NOT plan on being any less generous than years before.  I simply plan on being much savvier in my joy-to-the-world-holly-jolly-ness!

We have always set a budget in year’s past and have been pretty faithful about sticking to it.  But one thing I have not done well is to plan ahead.  I have often found myself doing  the whole dreaded last minute shopping thing and the last minute wrapping thing–and let me tell you, that is not the best way to be strategic in  saving money.  (It also doesn’t help with the holiday spirit either!)

I am working hard this year to think ahead and be prepared, in an effort to:

1) be careful with how we spend our money and

2) give ourselves room to take delight in the meaning of Christmas and the joy of that time of year.

Believe me.  It is not typical of me to be thinking about Christmas this early.  But then, I’m hoping this won’t be just a ‘typical’ Christmas!  (Besides, I promise not to hang any decorations or watch “White Christmas” until after Thanksgiving!)

Over the next few weeks, I plan on sharing my money-saving strategy with you.  In doing so, I hope that I can be a resource for you as you prepare for this Christmas season and others to come.

But first, I’d love to hear from you!

I want to know:  How do YOU make the most of the Christmas season?  What steps do you take to fight off the craziness that so often makes up the month of December?  How do you plan on making time this year to enjoy and celebrate the meaning of Christmas?

Leave a comment and let us know.  That way, we can all be a resource for each other!