VS Reward Card Shopping Trip

So today I decided to cash in my VS reward cards. I had two from prior purchases and 1 I earned free this morning from Facebook. Long story short I only ended up using two in the store and figured I'd use the 3rd another day but I came across a pretty good VS online deal. Here are my spending scenarios:
In-Store:
1st Transaction:

Sexy Little Things Noir Travel Size
Total after Rewards Card: $.60

2nd Transaction:

Very Voluptuous Lip Plumper in Baby Pink (This is my second one and I LOVE it. It doesn't really plump but it's a great gloss)
Total after Rewards Card: $9.??


















Online- 3rd Transaction:

I went through Ebates for 2% cash back. I purchased a sleepwear item for $25.99. This qualified me for a perfume set. There was also a promo for any purchase you got a free lip gloss set. Lastly free shipping on orders over $25.
Total after Rewards Card: $15.99 (Sleepwear, 3 full size lip glosses, and perfume set)

Favorite Couponing Sites

Here is a list of my favorite couponing sites. I follow all of these on Facebook as well as on my Google RSS feed. On  my Android device I use an app called Greed2 which shows me all the new posts from these websites. 


My Frugal Adventures
Money Saving  Mom
For the Mommas
Common Sense with Money
Passion for Savings
Mojo Savings


What I love about these sites is that they bring you the most up-to-date deals going on. Also, for specific stores they give you coupon scenarios so you can plan your coupon trip for the week. On a few of the sites you can search by store (i.e. Weis) and it will tell you the best deals and tell you what coupons to use and where you can find them. It makes couponing easy :)


In the near future I will be posting about coupong strategies. I have been slacking in the couponing area since I have been moving so much but I will be back at it in the new year!

Review: GVP Travel Flat Iron

As I mentioned in my Sally Beauty Haul I got a free GVP Travel Flat Iron . The GVP is supposed to be the knock off of the Chi flat iron. I had my doubts but this flat iron is AMAZING.
I used this flat iron on Ily's hair and not only did a great job at straightening her hair, it lasted into the next day. I have used the InStyler on her hair in the past but it didn't last and it was difficult to get around her face and ears. I don't own a good flat iron because I rarely need to use one. I am not going to buy one just for Ily's once a month need-to-have-straight-hair-or-I'm-going-to-die moment. So this FREE flat iron worked out great. A bonus is the travel size flat iron is the perfect size for Ily's little head :)

Consignment Store Haul

Let me start out by saying I was at my local consignment store for a total of 4 hours on Saturday. 4 hours is a long time but it was well worth it. I got rid of old stuff and replaced it with more sh*t :) On top of the great deals I got Ily made a new friend who just so happens to be going to her kindergarten next year. 

Total amount spent: $5 credit...yes I made money (this is with store credit and a $10 punch card filled)

Purchases:

1 pair of Express jeans

2 pairs of AE jeans

1 pair of Aeropostal jeans

1 pair of skinny jeans for Ily

5 kids toys

The jeans are in EXCELLENT quality. I now can get rid of some of the old jeans I don't wear anymore since I have replacements. 

The biggest steal was a Vtech Sit to Stand Alphabet Train. Currently on Amazon this item is priced at $39.99. My consignment store charged $14.95. 

I asked the Ily's new friend if he thought this toy was fun. He said "yeah but my mom says I don't use it." haha. That is how a lot of toys purchased at Danny's age are. So I just don't see the purpose in spending money on toys that don't see the light of day.

Earlier I had ordered the Vtech Interactive Zoo Learn & Dance from Walmart for $10. I purchased one from the consignment store for $2.95. So far I have spent $0 on Danny for Christmas and he has 6 "new" toys.

Midnight Pumpkin Pie

I made this for a mini-Thanksgiving I had and it turned out fantastic!


Midnight Pumpkin Pie
Start to finish: 1 hour (10 minutes active)
Servings: 8
1 cup heavy cream
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate bits
15-ounce can pumpkin puree
1⁄2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground dry ginger
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cloves
1⁄2 teaspoon ground allspice
1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 prepared (raw) deep-dish pie crust
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a small saucepan over medium-high, heat
the cream until just bubbling. Remove from
the heat and add the chocolate bits. Stir
until completely melted and smooth.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin,
brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves,
allspice, nutmeg, salt and the chocolatecream
mixture. Add the eggs, whisking until
everything is thoroughly combined.
If it isn’t already, fit the pie crust into a 9-inch
deep pie pan. Pour the pumpkin mixture into
the crust. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until
the center is set and no longer jiggles.

Recipe from Alison Ladman, Associated
Press writer.

Nutritional information per serving
(values are rounded to the nearest whole
number): 390 calories; 210 calories from fat
(53 percent of total calories); 24 g fat (13 g
saturated; 0 g trans fats); 100 mg cholesterol;
43 g carbohydrate; 5 g protein; 3 g fi ber;
and 240 mg sodium.

Sally Beauty Haul

I have a hard time passing up a good sale. I try and ask myself, do I really need this? The answer is usually no. So I follow it up with, am I going to end up buying this and it won't be at this price? That usually is the deal breaker. 

I had a $5 off coupon I needed to use at Sally's before the end of the month. The coupon was from renewing my Sally Club Membership. I was going to just buy a clarifying shampoo and Ily needed a new leave-in conditioner but then I saw it...Hot Shot Tools had a special going on. The special was buy any specialty tool and you get a free curling iron. I had been wanting the Hot Shot Titanium 1 1/4" Curing Iron. I purchased the Hot Shot Tourmaline Ceramic 1" a few months ago and it is by far the best curling iron I have ever used. My favorite part is how fast it heats up. I recently saw a Youtube video on the Hot Shot Tools Deep Waver. My  hair doesn't hold enough wave just using sea salt sprays so I decided to purchase the Waver. 

Upon cashing out I found out I also get a free GVP Travel Flat Iron. It is supposed to be the generic version of the Chi Flat Iron. Who turns down free stuff? Not me! I left Sallys paying $57 for the deep waver, travel flat iron, curling iron, leave-in conditioner, and clarifying shampoo. Overall I saved $65 (Membership price).

Hot Shot Tools Curing Iron $36.99/$39.99

Clarifying Shampoo $5.99/$6.79

Deep Waver $48.99/$54.99 (Eh it's good, not great)

Travel Flat Iron $26.99/$29.99 (Works amazing on Ily's hair)

Leave-In Conditioner $3.79/$3.99 (Ily says she loves the smell)

So long Kinect- Hello LeapPad

I had my mind set that I was going to get the Xbox Kinect bundle for Ily. I really wanted to swash buckle Captain Hook like in the commercial. Walmart had been running an add for the bundle to be $199 with a $50 gift card. I ended up cominig across a LeapPad on sale for $99. To be honest I didn't know what it was until I did some research and found it to be a hot item. I scored mine from Amazon. Walmart has it listed for $120 but it was sold out and Toys R Us was sold out as well. 

I like to think that with 2 kids I'll just double dip the useage. I buy a lot of things in gender neutral colors :) Although the $99 is still pricey, and the LeapFrog Explorer was on sale for about half that price, I like the LeapPad's built in camera and my little Ilyana the artist will appreciate the paint-like app. Also, the newer the technology is now the less old it will be by the time Danny uses it. The age range is 4-9 so I hope to get good use out of this product.