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Archives for 2012

2012: AMF’s Summer Unplugged Bowling Program

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Photograph Credit: AMF

Do you realize that summer is a little over a month away? Though I am looking forward to summer, our family has a full May schedule with both my son and older daughter playing soccer.

In gearing up for summer activities, AMF is once again offering children ages 15 and younger the opportunity to bowl 2 free games each day from May 14 to September 3, 2012. Shoe rental is not included.

Free Registration

To get the free games, you must register each of your children. Each week, you will receive an e-mail with printable coupons for each day that week with each child’s name on it. For example, I have three children. When I receive my e-mail, I will get 21 coupons – one coupon for each day of the week for each child. To save on ink, I will only print the coupons I need.

Parent Registration

If you want to join your children, AMF offers a summer pass for $29.95, which allows 4 adults ages 16 and up to bowl 2 free games each day all summer long. Again, shoe rental is not included.

Though our family did not make it to the bowling alley last year or the year before, I still signed up my kids. Paul and I purchased bowling shoes and the summer pass, but we never made it to the alley. With the summer pass available all summer, I can (and will) wait until we plan to bowl before purchasing the pass.

In using time wisely and looking forward to summer plans, register your children at AMF and watch your inbox for free bowling coupons. You have nothing to lose, so sign-up and look in your inbox for those coupons.

Question: Does your family enjoy bowling?

CardStore.com: 2012 Free Mother’s Day Card

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Photograph Credit: CardStore.com

Mother’s Day is May 13. In using time wisely to prepare ahead, you can score a free  personalized Mother’s Day card from CardStore.com using promotional code LUVMOM.

I love personalizing the photo cards, especially when they are free. When you order, select your card, personalize it, and proceed to checkout. Your total will be $0.00 with no payment information requested.

This offer includes free shipping. You can choose to send the card to yourself or to your recipient. I love the latter option since my mom does not live in South Carolina.

You can also use promotional code CWF2420 to buy two Mother’s Day cards and get one free.

These offers are valid until Sunday, May 6. Remember, Mother’s Day is May 13. In using time wisely, take 10 minutes to design and order your free card from Cardstore.com today. Happy celebrating!

Question: What type of card do you prefer to receive?

Register Review: April 3, 2012 Edition

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Though I often share my deep savings trips, I do not always save 80% or more at the grocery store. Some weeks, I stock up on items we need even if the item is not buy one, get one free. Sometimes sales prices are the best you can find.

My goal is to know what a good price is by using my pricing list, to stock up when those items are 50% or more off the regular price, and stay within our $80 per week grocery budget.

The shopping trip I will share with you was a great trip with a 54.9% savings. Every time I save 50% or more at the grocery store, I get excited.

On this Publix shopping trip, I used buy one, get one free deals, sales, store coupons, and manufacturer coupons to get $109 worth of groceries for $49.09.

Buy One, Get One Free

The buy one, get one free offers I purchased were:

2 – Rosetto Tortellini, 19-25 oz., at $4.19 ($2.10 for the first and $2.09 for the second)

4 – French’s French Fried Cheddar Onions, 6 oz., at $3.79 ($1.90 for the first and third and $1.89 for the second and fourth)

2 – Ragu Pasta Sauce, 16-24 oz., at $2.19 ($1.09 for the first and $1.10 for the second)

2 – Mountain Dew, 2 liters, at $1.66 ($.83 each)

Sale Prices

2 – L’Oreal Healthy Look Crème Hair color, $4.99 each

8 – Kraft American Singles, 12 oz., $2

13 – Birds Eye Frozen Vegetables, 7.5-28.8 oz., 50% off

1 – Jif Peanut Butter, 17.3 oz., $3.59

Store Coupons

Used a $.75 Publix coupon for Jif from the yellow advantage flyer

Manufacturer Coupons

Used 1 – $.50/1 French’s French Fried Onions (which doubled)

Used 1 – $.50/1 Ragu product (which doubled)

Used 2 – $2 off L’Oreal hair color product

Used 6 – $.50/2 Birds Eye Steamfresh varieties (which doubled)

Combining the Savings

At checkout, I presented the cashier with my two loyalty cards which she scanned. Then she scanned all the items, and my subtotal was $109 before sale prices and coupons. Next, the fun begins as my children and I watch the screen to see the savings increase while the total decreases.

The cashier began scanning the coupons and then waiting for the computer to double all the coupons $.50 or less. At the conclusion, I owed $49.09, which was a 54.9% savings. With these savings, I stocked up on cheese and frozen vegetables.

During the week of this shopping trip, I also spent $7.34 at Bi-lo and $22.31 at Aldi. My total for the week was $78.53 within our $80 per week budget. Woo hoo!

Though some weeks I am under budget and other weeks I am over budget, I know going into the week how much I can spend to stay on track for the month. In working through the Money Saving Mom’s Budget assignments, I keep track of our expenses which makes staying within our budget possible.

In using time wisely, I make out my grocery list, match coupons, shop my list, and review each trip. As you combine strategies, you, too, will see regular discounts of 50% or more on your grocery bill. Happy savings!

Question: What items do you buy in multiples?

Earth Day Giveaway – Winners?

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Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Sometimes along this blogging journey, I take a chance to see what happens. For the Earth Day giveaway, I used Rafflecopter to funnel all the entries. Anytime you try something new, you never know what’s going to happen. In this case, I had no entries from my readers.

Since I had not used Rafflecopter, I wanted to confirm that the widget was working properly, so I entered the contest. Well, my entry was the only one counted. So, I am evaluating to see what happened. Here are the possible reasons I came up with for why no one entered:

Rafflecopter Widget Did Not Work

I received notification early in the contest that the Facebook link was not connecting to Using Time Wisely’s page. The link connected for me, but then I am the administrator. I reloaded the widget, logged out, checked, and it worked. So, the Rafflecopter issue may have deterred some of you at the onset of the giveaway. Again, I apologize if you got frustrated.

Confused about the Giveaway

Maybe I did not explain the giveaway clearly. Even if you were already a Facebook fan, you could still enter. The giveaway was open to everyone, and you would have had 10 entries automatically because you are a Using Time Wisely Facebook fan. You did not need to be a new fan to be entered.

Already Own a Green Bag Tag

Another reason for not entering may have been that you already use a green bag tag. Only needing one, you bypassed this giveaway to give others an opportunity to win.

Missed the Announcement

If you were handling other issues, you may have just missed this giveaway. I understand how life happens, and you just need to get back on track.

Not Worth your Time

The last reason I came up with was that the green bag tag was not worth the minute of your time to enter. If you don’t live near a CVS, shop at CVS, or need another item to remember when you go shopping, then you passed over this opportunity.

Though I understand all these reasons, I really want to make Using Time Wisely useful to you. Though it is easier for me to bypass the giveaways since it takes time to create the posts, pack the products and ship the items, I want to help you save money, energy, and time while using time wisely. When I find items that can help my readers, I want to share with you by offering a giveaway.

Thank you for reading and for your patience as I continue to learn. If you feel comfortable doing so, I would love to hear why you did not enter. You can leave a comment or send me an e-mail at usingtimewisely.com (at) gmail (dot) com. Grateful for each of you. ~ Tracy

Blue’s Clues Birthday Party – Part 3 of 3

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Though I plan each birthday party, I know that there will be changes. I never know how my children will react on the day of the party. Sometimes they are all in and ready to play everything while other times they do not want the attention focused on them.

Having learned from past birthday parties, I try to have a backup plan or at least another option for those moments.

For my toddler’s Blue’s Clues party, we chose a theme and planned an itinerary. On the day of the party, we carried out our plan. I enjoyed the process as my toddler allowed Daddy, grandparents, and siblings to help her. Though the party was not perfectly executed, a bit of spontaneity kept everyone on their toes. 😉

Welcome

Since my toddler cannot turn the door knob on our front door, my son and older daughter opened the door when the guests arrive. My toddler remained down the hall waiting for her guests to come see her.

Games – Part 1 of 3

Blue’s Clues

After our guests arrived and had a few minutes to play, we began the game of Blue’s Clues. For our party, Blue was looking forward to something at this birthday party, and she left 3 clues to help us figure out Blue’s Clues.

The 6 children then began searching for Blue’s Clues. (We hid one clue at a time to avoid finding them out of order. During setup, Paul placed the first clue. Though I could have cut the clues out of paper, I just used the clues from her Halloween outfit since they were nice and big.)

The birthday girl found the first clue on the living room ceiling fan. It was really cute. The older children took turns drawing the clue in our handy-dandy notebook.

Hide and Seek Blue

During setup, I hid 6 Blue’s Clues items (2 figurines, 2 stuffed animals, and 2 bath mitts). With the 6 children paired up, the two 6-year-olds searched for the figurines while the two 4-year-olds and two 2-year-olds looked for the stuffed animals and bath mitts. Each child found one item. How cute it was to watch the older ones help the younger ones after finding their own.

Lunch

With our party beginning at 10:00 a.m. and the younger children used to eating lunch around 11:00 a.m., I tried to keep them on schedule. The children found their seats at the table, set with tableware, silverware, and place cards, while the parents served the food.

      

While the children ate at the table, the adults filled their plates and ate in the living room.

Games – Part 2 of 3

Pin the Paw on Blue

After lunch, we played the Blue’s Clues version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. The older children were blindfolded, but the younger ones just closed their eyes or placed the paw on Blue. 😉

  

Open Presents

The children all sat on the living room floor and waited for the birthday girl to open her gifts. Sometimes opening the presents is the hardest part with keeping the children back to removing the toys from the packaging to the commotion.

However, this gift opening session went very well. While the grandpas removed the toys from their packaging, we continued with our games.

Games – Part 3 of 3

Blue’s Clues

During lunch, I placed the second paw print on my daughter’s portrait. When the participants found it, we drew the clue into our handy-dandy notebook.

While drawing the second clue, Paul placed the third clue on a candle. The guests quickly found the third clue, added it to our handy-dandy notebook, and deciphered Blue’s Clues. Blue was ready for the birthday girl to blow out her candle.

Sing, Blow Candle, and Cake

After singing, my daughter blew out her candle (with help), and we served cake at the table with the children sitting in their lunch seating arrangement.

  

Thank you and Goody Bags

As the children finished their dessert, they went to play. My daughter then distributed the goody bags, made from brown paper bags with a paw print and a guest’s name on the front. The goodies included: blowouts, straws, flying disks, jewelry (girls) and action figures (boys).

Play with new toys and goody bag items

The participants finished the party by checking out the new toys and their goody bags. Throughout that morning, they enjoyed playing with each other while celebrating my daughter’s second birthday.

With an itinerary in place, I followed the plan to keep the party moving and to remind myself when to hide the clues and what activity to complete next. The party was fun for all and wore out our toddler. Upon telling her friends goodbye, she got her blanket and crawled upstairs. She was ready for her nap. 🙂

When planning birthday parties, I consider the theme, plan an itinerary, and enjoy the execution. Happy planning!

Question: Does your child like or avoid the attention at his/her birthday party?