I have been compiling these lists for my own use for quite some time now, and I have had a few friends and family ask me about them, so I thought others may get use from them and save a little time to boot!
Please comment below if you find any of the links not working or any errors in my list. ALso, if you find additional Q’s, PLEASE comment!
Blessings,
Ok, honestly, what homeschool mom doesn’t love school supplies? I personally get giddy when I see Crayola crayons and spiral notebooks for less than a quarter. Since it IS that time of year, I figured those of you who like to take advantage of all the awesome back to school sales would benefit from a great list of sale highlights, compiled by Tara at Deal Seeking Mom.
Happy Stockpiling!
Let me start by saying, what?! only SIX sites?! This is gonna be tough, but I will do my best.
1. Most Useful Social Site
Facebook wins this category hands down. Yes, I have had a MySpace in the past, and I just don’t like it. Facebook has better apps and games and is wayyy more user friendly. Even my grandma has a Facebook!
2. Most Useful Homemaking Site
I LOVE A Christian Home!! There is no end to the information and encouragement you will find on this site, from homemaking and cooking, to large family logistics and parenting, you can find it all here!
3 thru 4. Most Useful Homeschooling Sites
OK, this is a really hard one because I have several places on the web I read faithfully. BUT as far as variety of content and writers, my first choice just HAS the be Heart of the Matter online magazine. Not to mention the awesome conferences and contests you can find going on all year long. I have had the privilege of working with the HOTM team for the past year and they are a great bunch of ladies!
I can also frequently be found browsing through the reviews on the TOS Homeschool Crew’s Blog. being a confessed curriculum junkie AND a highly analytical, researching kind of gal, curriculum review sites are one of my best friends (along with catalogs, which I will get to in a moment) and I love the opportunities to hear about new products from people that have actually used them in their homeschools.
5. Most Useful Shopping Site
One of my favorite activities as a kid was browsing through the newest JC Penny toy catalog, marker in hand, circling and initialing all those wonderful things I just couldn’t live without. Now that I’m all grown up (snicker) I use Amazon.com to look up information on items I am considering purchasing and sometimes (if I’m lucky) I even get to look through a few pages of books I am considering as additions to our home library. But my favorite feature of Amazon has to be the wishlist feature! And the best part? They even have a Firefox add-on that I can use to add any item on any site to my wishlist! What could be better? I also love that I can get unlimited FREE second-day shipping for one low price per year.
6. Most Useful Recipe/Meal Planning Site
This is a recent find for me, but it takes al the guess work out of grocery shopping and meal planning on a budget. Menus4Moms is an awesome resource for busy moms, frugal moms, health conscious moms alike! There are several different subscription options, and all of them are very reasonably priced. Each plan comes with a weekly e-mailed menu plan, complete with detailed recipes and a grocery list that even has your estimated cost for the week. Of course, I am learning how to maximize my savings by perusing sale ads and using coupons to get rock-bottom prices.
I would love to share a list of couponing resources that I use, but there would be wayyy more than this six item list can hold, so I will save that for another post!
What sites on the web make your life easier?
Blessings,
I am all about getting the most out of my money however I can and as a homeschooler, expenses can add up quickly. I have always made use of the internet for various games and printables. Up until the last year or so, I have always had Lexmark printers. They are inexpensive and easy to use. But I have found as my kids get older and our needs have changed, I have had more and more ink expenses. About 6 months ago, i finally got fed up with my Lexmark all-in-one, and decided to purchase a new printer from a different manufacturer.
I decided to go with an HP all-in-one. I was happy with my purchase for about a month til it was time to refill my ink. I found that no one refilled the cartridges so I tried to figure out how to refill them myself. I didn’t have very good luck with the process. That was ok, I figured the cartridges were cheaper than the Lexmark cartridges had been, so no big. But I soon realized I was going through these cartridges even quicker than I had with my Lexmarks. So, I decided I needed to do more research and buy a different printer.
In this process, I discovered Continuous Ink Systems, refillable cartridges and auto reset chips. Wow, how did I not stumble across all of this information sooner?
I settled on an Epson model that happened to be on sale at a local office supply. I paid a bit more for it than I was used to, but I figured since I had previously had so much trouble with my cheap printers, maybe a little more money would give me a printer that would last longer and perform better. The best part of this purchase is that it was a wifi printer!
My next step was to buy an ink refill system. I originally was looking to purchase an CIS, but decided that after having just purchased a printer, I need to keep my costs down (so as not to cause my husband to have a cow). So I instead decided to purchase a refillable cartridge kit.
I paid about $50 for my kit and it has already paid for itself! My kit came with 4 full, refillable cartridges (designed for use with my printer model), and 4 large bottles of ink to refill them with. I would have paid about the same to purchase 1 set of OEM cartridges from Epson.
There is enough ink in the cartridges and the bottles to equal about 12 regular cartridges of each color (and possibly more). When my printer registers the cartridges as empty, I simply take out the “empty” cartridge (which is actually about 3/4 full still), place it back into the printer, and reinstall it. Then it shows up as full and I’m off and printing again! AWESOME!!
This is the best way I have found in my 6 years of homeschooling to have worry-free printing. I can now print whatever I want without worrying if it’s going to use up all of my ink, and that my friends, is an awesome power for a homeschooling momma to have (evil grin).
It is very easy to find these kits, though the prices vary greatly depending on your printer/cartridge model and the place you purchase it from. You can find lots of them on Amazon, or you can just do a Google search on “continuous ink systems” or “refillable cartridges” and get lots of results. I happened to purchase mine from SuperToBuy, but if I end up repurchasing any in the future I will order them from this Amazon seller. They include more ink with your kit AND they offer a one year replacement guarantee on their cartridges.
All in all, I have been extremely satisfied with my purchase. If you do a lot of printing, like me, it is definitely worth the initial investment to purchase one of these systems or kits.
: ) Cassie
January 28, 2010
Free $5 Gift Card to Babies 'R Us or Toys 'R Us ~ Hurry!
Hurry on over here and Become a Facebook Fan of Babies 'R Us. When you become a fan today {1/28}, you'll receive a Free $5.00 E-Gift Card!
Quantities are limited ~ I'm sure these won't last long!
Even better... it says the E-Gift Card can be used in-store or online at Babies 'R Us or Toys 'R Us!
: ) Cassie
I spent several hours last night perusing grocery ads and clipping and gathering coupons. This was the end result:
I went to 3 stores to score these deals.
Walgreens:
Kmart:
Kmart is running a special where you can get 4 boxes of select General Mills cereals for $6. I used 4 different coupons totaling $3.55. This put my total at $2.45 for 4 boxes of cereal!
Kroger:
I also got some really great deals at Kroger. Among them were:
Kroger 1/2 gallon milk – $.98 (I bought 4)
Medium eggs were on sale for $1.15 (I bought 2)
Campbells soup - $1 each + .40/2 which doubled to make each can only $.60
I bought 2 packs of 8ct. Kroger hot dogs for $.88/each
Hunt’s Snack Pack 4pk. pudding on sale $1 + .50/3 coupon doubled to make each only $.67
Pillsbury Family Size brownie mix on sale $1 + .40/1 doubled to make 1 only $.20
Pasta Roni on sale $1 + $1/3 to make each .67 (bought 3)
My best deal from Kroger:
Healthy Choice Meals $2.20 each + $5/5 e-coupon + $5/5 printed coupon = 5 meals for $1!!
I have definitely caught the coupon bug!!
Here are the totals broken down:
Shelf cost = $68.63
Kroger Plus savings - $7.77
Coupons savings - $25.65
Total OOP cost = $35.21
What awesome deals have you found this week?
: ) Cassie
