Save 90% off books at the Library Bookshop

With summer upon us, we are looking forward to all the summer programs that keep boredom at bay. The nice thing is that most cities have free library programs for children this summer. The library system in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties have weekly programs that entertain and educate. I always come away learning something myself. Visit Pensacola with Kids for a schedule.


While at the library, visit the bookshop as well. Ours has book racks outside for $0.50 for any book, DVDs, VHS and cassette tapes. Inside, the bookshop sells mostly newer, hardcover books for $2 each. There are plenty of biographies, romance and suspense books. We usually donate books and occasionally buy books, and old tapes.


For the first time ever, I found hardcover books that I liked in the bookshop:


The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook (because it’s Martha Stewart)
Walk It Off (because we all can use another exercise book)
One Wintry Night by Ruth Graham Bell (wonderful story)


If bought retail, these would cost $50! Instead I only paid $6, saving 88% and I also helped the library. I also picked up a Curios George book, The Jolly Postman and Rescue Heroes VHS tape, only $0.50 each.


How do you save on books?

I’ve shopped used bookstores and bought some off BarnesandNoble when they’ve had $2 sales too. A friend is saving up Swagbucks to get FREE Amazon cards to pay for books. But shopping the library is the most convenient by far and economical by far.

Frugal Friday: $0.39/lb Bananas on Clearance

Many of us love to browse neighborhood grocery stores for clearance in the meat department. But our local Winn-Dixie also has plenty of produce on clearance like bananas for $0.39/lb. They're on a rack with other produce like tomatoes, peppers, and fruits, all marked down.

Ripe, but still great!

They come in a small, white paper bag. Since 4 bags is too much to eat in a few days, I froze some in a freezer bag. I peel and freeze them whole. We love smoothies and one banana with a few other fruits makes enough for our family.

Peel n' freeze

I use bananas and other frozen fruits to cool hot oatmeal, besides using them for banana bread and smoothies. My husband keeps bananas from spoiling by eating a few with generous spoonfuls of honey peanut butter. My little ones eat bananas because I tell them to.


Where do you find cheap fruit? The Comissary sells a box of bananas for $5. Besides Winn-Dixie, what other stores have you seen these bargains?

See more Frugal Friday's ideas at Life As Mom.

Happy Easter!

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter tomorrow!


We're having a small Easter egg hunt on Sunday. I managed to save lot of eggs from last year. One or two had remnants of LaffyTaffy but the rest were in great shape and ready to be filled.

The only sweets we had around the house were chocolates. To make up for the lack of sugar in the eggs, I followed this great tip from one of the blogs I read: add coins, stickers, tattoos, Legos, beads and buttons.

We also dyed eggs for the first time this year. CVS had FREE Paas Kits this week and I aslo had extras from previous years. After boiling a few of them and letting them cool slightly, we drew on the warm eggs with crayons. Then, when they were dyed, the crayon markings stayed- like color resist. Art class during co-op is paying off!

This morning the Easter Bunny came and hid the hardboiled eggs out in the front lawn. Instead of running after the eggs, our kids walked together and helped each other spot the eggs. Sometimes, I am amazed at how close they are! Since there are no trinkets in these eggs,each one found got them a minute of Nintendo DS playing time. After they were done collecting the eggs, they peeled the them for me. Each boiled egg they peeled earned more minutes. Egg salad and deviled eggs are calling my name!

Of course, the best time to buy empty eggs is after Easter. Don't forget that Target will have them on clearance at 50% off Monday. Candy will start at 30% off. But the best place to get them cheap without worry of them running out is at drugstores like CVS. People tend to forget they have clearance too. Well after Walmart and Target's shelves are cleared, CVS will still have a few. They might even put them on 90% off clearance. So, keep your eyes open!

See more Frugal Friday tips on LifeAsMom.

Not-So Frugal Wal-Mart Gas

When you use a Wal-Mart gift card or credit card to pay for gas at Wal-Mart, you get 3-cents off per gallon. Sounds like a pretty good deal. To top it off, Wal-Mart has the lowest gas price in our neck of the woods almost all the time.

BUT, an older gentleman informed me of results from unexpected experiment they had with gasoline from Wal-Mart and from another gas station. Since they were traveling to GA, they filled the tank here in Pensacola first. On the way back they filled up at a different station, since they didn't have any gas stations at the Wal-Mart there. Were they surprised at how much better gas mileage they got from the other station. From Wal-Mart's gas, they got 18 miles per gallon, as opposed to 22 mpg from the other.

We switched from Wal-Mart to another station to see if we had the same results. And we did, plus, the very next day, the car stopped trying to shut off. It ran smoothly at a higher mpg. I'm glad the told us. It's so important to share Frugal Tips! Share yours on Frugal Fridays.

Frugal Friday: How To Stack Coupons

REMINDER: Tomorrow, Oct 1, coupons will reset! Check coupons.com, smartsource.com, and redplum.com to get printables.



Coupons are great with sales. Even better when you can combine store coupons with them. At CVS, you can add a coupon from the Coupon Machine on top of these two. To make it easier to explain, watch this short You Tube video of my Frugal Adventure at CVS. I got 2 sunscreen sprays FREE by stacking coupons.

You can apply these same principles at stores like Target and Walgreens. Even better at Publix because they take competitor coupons too. If nothing else, use the $5 off $50 at Apple Market coupon when you shop Publix BOGO deals. It's always in the Weds Food Section.

Frugal Fridays: Older Kids Help at Theme Parties

Our friends celebrated their daughter's birthday with an Angelina Ballerina theme. What I loved best about it was the special guest who visited them. To the little girls there, she might as well have been Angelina Ballerina herself.

She's the older daughter of a family friend who has been taking ballet lessons forever. Dressed in her recital outfit, she gave a mini-ballet class, complete with stretching exercises. What a pro!

The girls loved every second of it.

I thought it was an awesome idea to invite an older child to be a special guest at a younger child's party. So if you are having a pool party, invite a junior lifeguard to give swimming lessons. Or if someone rides horses, learn how she takes care of the horse then have a picnic there. Little kids are easily impressed and the older child feels honored. This makes for a frugal and memorable party!

Share your frugal tips. Visit Frugal Fridays for more ideas.

Strawberry Containers for Produce Storage

Since Publix has strawberries on sale for $1.25, we have lots of them on hand. As I cleaned them today, I thought it would be great to use them for storing other produce. And it worked beautifully. Now, the fridge doesn't have to be littered with those thin produce bags!

Asparagus are $1.99/lb at Publix.

Lay it on it's side on a cutting board, keep the rubber bands on, and cut off the ends and portion sizes. Same with parsley and cilantro, I keep the ends for making broth.
The top and middle portions I'll store in the fridge and cook this week. The bottom pieces will be flash frozen for later. A friend assured me these freeze fine.

This post is linked to Thrifty Tip Tuesday and Frugal Friday, whenever these posts go up this week!

Frugal Friday: Squeegee the Bathroom Clean

Most of you probably do this already. A year ago, to me this was the best frugal idea ever. In between cleaning the bathroom every week, we squeegee the shower and tub after every shower. It only takes a couple of minutes. But it's a lifesaver here in Mildew Central (They don't tell you that at the Visitor's Center about Florida.) We've not only kept soap scum at bay but also don't have to work as hard cleaning the bathroom. Hence, we're also saving on bathroom cleaner. I'm all about saving money and doing less housework!
More frugal tips await every Friday at Life As Mom.

Calling Manufacturers When You Goof-Up

Frugal Fridays is brought to you by Life As Mom.

Did you know that cake mix has an expiration date? That's the downside of stockpiling for me. How do you keep track of all the different expiration dates? So when I have something expire, I call the manufacturer's 1-800 # right away. Mostly embarrassed, I ask them if this product will kill me if I eat it a week after the best buy date. They often chuckle and say no. Then they offer to send me a coupon for FREE products! That softens the blow to my coupon queen ego. I'm trying desperately to do better by looking at the dates before buying the product and only keeping what I know we'll eat before then and donating the rest. Until I perfect that, (I'm trying real hard!) help is just a phone call away.

Clog-A-Likes Kitchen Shoes

My feet have journeyed to 3 continents, climbed Mt. Fuji, endured 12 years of hard pavements in Manila. Yet, I can only stand for an hour in the kitcken before they ache! It must be genetic. My mom sends me shoes with comfy soles because she knows the pain my heels feel. But since I can't escape the kitchen, I've longed to have kitchen crocs like Tricia showed off at Once a Month Mom. I mean, if you cook for the whole month in one Freezer Cooking day, your shoes could either make or break your success!
So my frugal solution: Clearance Clogs for $1 at Wal-Mart. They are hideous enough to keep me from wearing them outside, so they'll stay clean as house shoes. The best part is they're like walking on foam! No more painfully achy feet; more enjoyable cooking memories. How about you? How do you stay comfy while cooking? Have you bought some good shoes on the cheap lately?

For other ideas to keep you frugally-motivated, visit this week's Frugal Friday.

California Dreamin'

Welcome Company Girls! While it's evening here now, I still put on a pot of coffee. The gentle pitter-patter of rain outside just calls for it!

Today I did laundry and got reacquainted with the lint remover. Some black socks came out spotted with white fuzz. Does that happen to you? Hubby was sick and left some tissue in his jean pockets. As I rolled the lint remover over 12 socks back and forth, I was surprised with calm that came over me. I got these lint removers free a while back and thinking of freebies makes me happy. BTW, that's my Frugal Friday tip: be on the look-out for freebies. Every week I get something for free. This week it was toilet paper, paper towels and post-it notes. Pair a few coupons with a sale, voila! Instant frugal. It's easy to find freebies at Target, Publix, and Wal-Mart, too.

Now you know how easily amused I get. On a more serious note, flu season hit my laptop. Not too long ago, I cleaned out a virus. And this week it got two at the same time! Thankfully, all my docs and pics were saved from the last incident. I had to reboot the whole system. But what I forgot to copy was all the addresses of my bookmarked favorites! Oh well. At least I got to spend more time with family. Just this Tuesday, hubby and I stayed up til the wee hours of the night talking while he worked out and I clipped coupons. Just like college days when no sleep was routine.

We've only had one overnight trip away from the kids when we went to Monterey, CA. Since living in the Gulf Coast, I've forgotten how wonderful it is being engulfed by mountains. The crisp air and cool nights was a relief that summer. Except for when I thought we'd fall off the mountain and die driving Big Sur, it was a perfect trip! Even though I can't wait to get away there again, being able to reconnect with my husband when the kids are asleep this week has filled up my emotional tank. Having no agenda except to share and dream together is truly a Fine Thing.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Enjoy the link love. I hope you will visit other sites I've listed here. The fellowship is unsurpassed at Company Girl Coffee. Frugal Fridays is filled with inspiringly economical tips. Finer Things Friday keeps me motivated to stay positive.

Fighting a Computer Virus

UPDATE: I did it! It's fixed. I'm not really sure what I did except that we just saved $200. So, if you ever run across this problem, remember the name of the program and google it. Follow the suggestions, and also read the comments to find other tips. This is my frugal tip for the day!

I may not be able to post for a couple more days. My computer is infected with Antivirus Live. Good thing that I can work on the blog from another computer! So bear with me until I get it all cleaned up. On a side note, whenever there's been a problem with a virus, all I've had to do was google the name of the virus and find a step-by-step solution online. I've also downloaded a free software called Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. It's worked for most of the pests I've encountered. Except for this one. So we took the computer to Best Buy's Geek Squad. They were going to charge us $199! That's just crazy. If my computer was frozen and not turning on, yes I would pay that much. But they said it costs just $70 to diagnose the problem. They're worse than mechanics! But when we walked away, the nice young man suggested that we could always reboot the system back to factory settings. Which is what I will do. Thanks for the free advice. Best Buy, you're still on my good list.

Frugal Fridays is a great weekly carnival to visit and learn some new tips on just about anything.

Frugal Friday - Trade Magazines for Used Bookstore Credit

Do you have a used bookstore where you live? We have two near us. They sell books, CDs, DVDs, and magazines. I have traded old books for credit there a few times. I often tell friends who shop for used books to bring their old books to trade. But I forget to remind them about magazines. I once traded mine and received at least $8 credit. This goes a long way at a used bookstore since books are at least half off the retail price.

So, if you get FREE magazines like all those I have above, trade them for "new" books (or more magazines). Lots of blogs tell you about FREE magazine subscriptions. So keep on the lookout. Read them, pull out the coupon booklets, and get "paid" for them at the used bookstore! Don't forget to call first to see which magazines they are taking.

If you live in Pensacola, my favorite used bookstores are:
Turn the Page Books & Gifts (Green House)
9105 Gulf Beach Hwy
(850) 456-5200

Hawsey's Book Index
803 North Navy Boulevard (near Shrimp Basket)

Did you like this frugal tip? If you have a frugal tip to share, stop by Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom.

(850) 453-1430

Frugal Friday - an Online Storytime

My kids have been enjoying storytime at the Library for a few years now. But this summer it has been outdoors and the yucky FL weather has kept us mostly inside in a weird hibernation. (The FL heat gives me cabin fever but it's so much worse because you can't even enjoy a hot cocoa!)

So I like to let them watch Storyline Online by the Screen Actors Guild. I don't remember how I came upon the link but it' now a bookmarked favorite! They have many books read by actors young and old. For example James Earl Jones reads How to Be a Drum. And our favorite, Stellaluna, read by Pamela Reed. The website loads up easily and you can view it in a full screen too. I have even picked up a couple of storytelling lessons to improve my own skills!

*Please note, these pictures are from Amazon, so nothing happens if you click on the picture here.

Cardboard Spice Drawer

This week's Frugal Fridays question was: What wonderful creations have you and your family made out of cardboard boxes?

Whenever I look at a cardboard box, I always want to keep it. I think, “It can be useful for something. Let’s just hold on to it just in case.” Very earth-friendly but not at all practical! But in this case, I’m glad I made some use of the cardboard boxes these chocolate chip cookies came in. I don’t even remember if they were good cookies or not but I do know they make for an organized spice drawer.

Check out more frugal tips not just every Friday at www.lifeasmom.com