I know this site looks pretty plain today, but please bear with me as I am in the middle of a bloggy makeover....everything should be back to normal soon. In the meantime, please be sure to enter the current Personalized children's CD giveaways and check back very soon for more!

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to do a quick update to remind those of you who have not yet entered the Kinder Glo Night Light giveaway that today at 11:59 PM it will be closing. So if you'd like a chance to win one of these adorable nightlights, click here and enter before it ends.


Also, as you can probably tell by looking, I am still in the process of redesigning this site, and things are still looking a bit strange, but please bear with me as I learn as I go.

Great giveaways
I have more great giveaways coming soon, so please check back for these.

Holiday Gift Guide
I will be launching my Holiday Gift Guide series as well, filled with great products, exclusive savings for my readers, and much more. So please join me as I spotlight some of this season's hottest products.

Those of you who are loyal readers and have been checking out the Centsible Mommy blog frequently have probably noticed my absence these past few weeks and also the absence of new posts, deals, and giveaways. My family and I had been traveling for the holidays, visiting relatives! We had a great time! By the way, hope your holidays were wonderful too!!!!

Ours were perfect up until last week, when my husband (the only one of us that was employed-we were a one income family) was laid off of work unexpectedly. Definitely not the best way to start of a new year, but hey, that's life, right? For every bit of good there is usually bad to balance it all out. Or perhaps I just being a bit pessimistic due to my family's current situation! But I have learned that these things also have a way of working themselves out too, so I am not yet totally down about it although I am getting there. Therefore, much of my absence since the holidays has been as a result of me out job hunting this past week---still to no avail. The hunt shall continue, so please wish me luck!

I am so relieved to have some free time tonight to reconnect with all of you and bring you some more fabulous deals and some great giveaways---(I have lots of giveaways scheduled, so please check back for those soon) as I have missed blogging these past weeks and exchanging emails and comments with many of you!

I am glad to be back. Hope you all stuck with me, and that you'll stop by soon to check out all that I have scheduled this week and next. I have some great giveaway starting VERY soon! For those who grew impatient (totally understandable) and have bailed, sure hope you will stop by again!

Have a prosperous 2009! I definitely hope yours has started off better than mine has!

Thanks for reading and have a great evening!
Jamie

Just wanted to remind everybody that today October 28th is the last day to enter the Sun Protection Zone Giveaway.! Click here to enter!

Hello my fellow frugalistas,

Hope you have found some fabulous freebies and bargains this week! Today is Savings Saturday, so please be sure leave a quick comment on how much you saved this week with coupons, freebies, sales & bargains. I always like to hear about creative couponing and savvy shopping!

Also, if you have not already done so, be sure enter the Card Cubby giveaway here. This is the last of the Card Cubbies, I will be giving away on this site and there's only 2 more days to enter!

Love giveaways? Don't want them to end? Don't worry, they're not! I have lots more great giveaways planned for the month of August. I have one starting Monday!

Would you like an additional entry for the upcoming giveaway?

Here's how:

Guess what the next giveaway is and get an additional entry!

Here's a hint: It's Hip, and it covers your "ass"ets and comes in a variety of colors!! If you guess what it is before I post it on Monday, you'll get an extra entry! Email me with your guess.

Don't want to play the guessing game? Another way to get additional entries is to refer your friends. When they enter the giveaways and leave your name, you get an additional entry. The more people who leave your name, the more entries you'll have!

Other Happenings

I've added another coupon toolbar which equals even more savings for you! If you haven't already done so, be sure to check it out here!


The Clutter Challenge
For those who have joined me in a conquest on Clutter, please update me on your progress. I am only half way through my home and already have about 15 boxes for yard sale! I will update you again soon!

Coupons for Troops

Have expired coupons, don't throw them away!!! Instead help Military families save money with just the cost of postage. Click here for more details! I just sent off my envelope this week. I sure hope it helps a family save some money!

Dead Deals
Have you clicked on something only to find a broken or dead link because it probably has expired? Please let me know so I can remove it or fix it if necessary!

Thank You

Thank you to all of you who have left me comments or suggestion, or shared the deals and freebies and coupons you've found. I appreciate it! Please keep them coming. I love hearing from all of you! Not too mention, the more people chiming in with their frugal finds=more savings for us all!

Have a fabulously frugal & fun weekend,

Jamie

A few days back I invited you to join in a clutter or rather decluttering challenge in order to simplify life and find possibly find some clarity ( I read From Clutter to Clarity). Well, on my end the progress has been slow going. With 9 month old and 3 year old sons, crawling and running amuck, I haven't had as much time to get it done as I previously anticipated. It seems when I finally get going and cleaning out a closet or cupboard, I have to stop every few minutes to intervene and referee a baby battle, make a bottle or snack, pour a cup of milk, put a toy together, you name it...the usual mommy stuff! I do intend to get it all done in the next few weeks as planned, hopefully with my sanity intact! And for sure it's going to take me longer than a week, perhaps a week was an unrealistic goal! Not sure if anyone's joined in the challenge...but just wondering how your progress is going! Hopefully better than mine. I will update you more on my progress later! Wish me luck!

Jamie

CENTSIBLE Read

Also, I've read this e-book that I highly want to recommend called 100 ways to Save Money. It's a definite must read. Read about that here. And guess what? One's being given away on this site this week! So check out this post to find out how you can win your copy?

Recommended Frugal Resource

Another item I must recommend for those trying to sharpen their savings savvy and really maximize their savings is The Couponizer. It's been on my sidebar under Frugal Resources for about a month now, but I thought I should mention it for those who overlooked it. And right now when you order a The Couponizer you get a free book: Greatest Secrets of the Coupon Mom by Stephanie Nelson. I ordered mine and can't wait to get it and start maximizing my savings! Also, a few weeks back I downloaded Stephanie Nelson's other book: Advanced Grocery Savings Strategies: Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half. Get your free download here!

POLL RESULTS

The results are in for last weeks poll: the majority (45% of you) said you enjoy every type of post here on Centsible Mommy: Freebies/Samples, Free Magazine Subscriptions, Coupons & Store Savings,Tips on saving on utilities & other, and tips on how to make extra income. So I will continue posting information on these thrifty tidbits. Thanks to those who took a second to pick their choices!

What's Coming Up?

Also, this week I invite you to join me on my quest to clarity. This month I am going to declutter my home in hopes to find some clarity. I have been inspired by the book From Clutter to Clarity. Let's declutter our homes and find some clarity together! Feel free to send me notes or pictures of how you decluttered a room in your home or a note on how many bags or boxes of clutter you removed from your home. This week I am starting with my bedroom. Which room will you start with?

So please, join me in a quest and let's declutter our way to clarity! After all, you gotta love where you're at! I will be updating you in a few days as to how it goes and want to see how it goes for all of you as well, so please share your results with me!

I am also preparing for a yard sale in the upcoming weeks/month and will be posting some tips on successful yard/garage sales here soon....so be sure to stop back by to check those out -especially if you have an upcoming yard/garage sale planned.


Have a Meager Monday and remember to read my tips on making some extra money and don't forget to grab yourself a freebie or two.

As always, if you found a deal, please email it to me and share the savings! Thanks to all of you who have shared the savings thus far! By the way, if you want to share the love, grab my button from the sidebar! Thanks!

Have a fabulously frugal day,
Jamie

Good Morning (afternoon or evening depending where you are in the world)my Fabulously Frugal Friends!

Here's just a small recap of what's been going on around here the last few days. As you may have noticed, I added a 3rd column and some new design to this blog, in the process some of the elements got a bit mixed up...so please if you come across a broken link or something else that doesn't seem quite right, please take a second to let me know and I'll fix it right up!

Also, many of you have emailed inquiring about where to find coupons.

As I have said before, I live in an area where the newspaper does provide any coupons. (and I am missing out on a lot of savings because of it). But for those of you are fortunate to find coupons in your newspaper that is a great source!

If you live in a area without coupons in the paper as I do, where then do you find coupons? I wondered the same thing and then did several searches to find coupons. Without the coupons in the paper, I needed to find some sources for coupons as my family needs to maximize on the savings that coupons will provide.

The best source I found so far for coupons is Cents Off . It's not a free service, but well worth the investment. For example, let's say you order fifty (50) $2 off (Any) Product coupons (that you choose). This equals $100.00 in savings, you pay only $ 8.50 for service charges & shipping and a one time lifetime membership of $5.00. Your profit in savings after paying the $ 8.50 is $91.50. This program is awesome because you can pick the coupons of the products you use instead of waiting for them to come around in the newspaper and they come clipped and ready to use.

I highly recommend Cents Off for saving some serious money-especially if your paper does't provide coupons!!! Couponing couldn't be any easier!!! This is less expensive than buying multiple Sunday's papers! You can order the coupons that you actually want for the brands you use. And if you're like me and don't have coupons in your local paper, you'll especially want to sign up for this service.

Secondly, I have added a coupon bar to my site. Many of you have been printing them out from here. This has helped me to save quite a bit of money!. I print all of the coupons from here as well. They change often so be sure to check back from time to time.

Another source, I use is Coupon Surfer. I added this a few days ago immediately after I came across it. They have lots to choose from from here as well. You also can pick and choose the categories you want and they will email them to you when new ones are added to their site. It's a free service. I have joined recently and don't have a lot of feedback as of yet ...but so far I have printed quite a few from here.

Another source for coupons is to visit the websites of the manufacturer for the products you use. Look to see if they have a sign up page to get on their mailing list. From time to time they may send you coupons. A good example of these that send coupons monthly or every few months is Huggies & Pampers. I love getting coupons packets in the mail. I post these links to these maufacturer's sites as I find them so be sure to check my blog out from time to time. Browse these old posts to find some of these. Also, if you find any, please be a peach and share them with all of us!

Magazines are another great source, and fortunately I get a lot of free subscriptions. Browse this category to sign up for some of these free magazines. Many of them have coupons every month.

I am constantly on the lookout for sources for coupons and will add them to this blog as I find them --so be sure to check back here for coupons as well.

Well, hope this answered your questions. Do you know of other sources for coupons that are free or low cost?

Also, the Card Cubby Giveaway is still running. Be sure to enter if you would like to win one. This will help you organize all of your coupons, gift cards, savings cards and it's cute too! I ordered the pink one.

Have a fabulously frugal day,
Jamie

'Hello everyone,

I hope you had fabulous Fourth of July celebrations yesterday and enjoyed time with your family and friends...I sure did!

I wanted to take a moment and recap on some of the events around here. I also had an email that I wanted to share.

First off, I want to say that I am overwhelmed by the response to this blog. Thank you to all of you whom have kind words or offered their saving savvy to make this site even better, or simply passed on this link to share the savings with your friends and family. The more people chiming in equals more savings for us all!

As you may have noticed, I have added some new features in the past weeks and hope to continue to do so, and as always feel free to share your tips, links, and information on deals, freebies, and other money saving methods. Also, if you have ideas and suggestions, I am open to those as well. So, please continue to send your emails and comments and I will try my best to answer/incorporate them all.

A note of gratitude from Candace:

I received an email from Candace about a month ago(we have been emailing back and forth for about a month now since she 1st came across my blog). She wanted to express her gratitude for this blog as her husband recently was laid off from work. She told me that not being accustomed to living on just one income with 3 children, she went into panic mode and frantically searched the Internet for some answers on how to save money. She said she finally found my site, but oddly enough not through a direct link to here, but from a search word that lead her to another blog, whom coincidentally had me linked in a post. She said she saw the word centsible in the title of my blog and after having been quite discouraged for pretty much the whole night, still decided to take a look (this was about a month ago). She wrote me again yesterday to say:

"Jamie,

I just wanted to say thank you for all that you do. Thanks to you I have learned to be more thrifty when my family NEEDS it the most. With the tips and links from your site, I am now using coupons and saving an average of $50 a week on groceries and using the the other coupons and tips to buy things from the other stores with significant savings too. I am also receiving lots of samples and other freebies too. My favorites are the magazines!

We have also lowered our phone bill and cut expenses as well. Living on one income is becoming easier thanks to you! I also want to say that a few weeks ago, was my son Aidan's birthday, normally it wouldn't be a problem to get my son something that he has asked for but with money as tight as it is my husband and I were worried that we wouldn't be able to afford anything on his list. So as I do daily, I visited your site, where you had posted 2 different coupons for free Thomas trains, (I had my mother and friends print some for me too) and store coupons for Toys-r-us. We were able to get my son 4 Thomas & friends trains free and with the other coupons, some accessories and tracks for a lot less. We only spent $18.00 for about $90.00 worth of stuff! Needless to say, my son was very happy when he opened his presents and I wanted to say thank you for that! You helped us make Aidan's birthday terrific! And I will definitely be stopping by every day as always. My husband, Jeff, told me to tell you that you rock! He likes the free magazine subscriptions too!

Thank you and God bless you,

your loyal reader & friend,
Candace.

P.S. I have told all my friends about your blog.I wanted to be sure that people in similar situations as myself or who are just looking to save money know about your site! "

Note: I am so glad I am able to help Candace's family! Do you know somebody who is having hard times making ends meet or simply would like to save money, be sure to share this blog with them as every penny saved helps!

Other Recaps

Award
I was awarded my very first award recently, which I was happy to receive. I still need to award 4 more blogs: (I awarded one last week).

I will be awarding one soon, so please check back!


Giveaway
I will be hosting my very 1st giveaway on Monday, July 7th, --I think most of you would like to have a chance to win---so please sure to stop by and enter!

Site Poll
The results for the shopping poll were:
66% of those who cast their vote said they only shop for necessary items
33% shop for fun, but not everyday!

I started a new poll (can be found in the upper right hand corner) about your favorite posts. Why bother with the polls you wonder? The polls are a great way for me to determine what kinds of deals I should focus on. It's my way of figuring out what those of you who read this blog want to see and where I should put the most effort! So if you have a second, please check your answer. Not too mention, they're fun to see the results as well!


Have a great weekend,

Jamie

Just a reminder that I will be hosting a fabulous giveaway here on ¢ent$ible Mommy this coming Monday, July 7th! Be sure to mark your calendars to stop by to enter! Sure...I could tell you about it now, but what fun would that be, hmmmm? See ya soon!

Hint: What's Passion Pink, Blue Bell, Classic Black, Simply Silver, stylish, incredible for saving money, and could be yours if you win? I guess you'll have to wait till Monday to find out!