Saving Money.. on books!

I kinda talked about this before, over a year ago and I didn't get into it too much so thought I would share another way I save money easily.

Paperbackswap is a FREE website that allows you to trade in your books for credits, you can then use your credits for books, cd's and audio books.

Here is how it works, after you sign up you need to list the books you are willing to mail to someone else (usually about $2 using media mail). It is very easy to list them, no pictures, no fee's just post the serial number on the book and determine what condition you think they are in, that's it! When someone wants your book you get notification via email, then print the mailing label and drop it off at the post office, that's it, once they receive the book you get a credit. I know it seems a little weird to pay for the shipping but you get free shipping on the ones that are sent to you, and for me it would take more than the $2 to drive into town to get to Borders and Barnes and Noble is even farther!  I am pretty sure you still get a few credits just for signing up too, I did, but I don't remember how many.  

When you "order" a book you do not pay anything to have it shipped to you either.  So if you are continuing to post the books you have finished then you continue to get credits! You can create a wish list and be notified when books on your wish list become available! They have all kinds of books available, kids books, young adult and how to books! I just ordered a Suze Orman book and added the Dave Ramsey book to my wish list.  

I love getting books/magazines in the mail, some days it is SO nice to have a new little escape from the chaos!

And the library is another great way to get books and magazines, obviously borrowing them has some pro's and con's. I take advantage of our library's magazine swap. It's free to bring magazines you are done with and take any you have an interest in. I was lucky to pick up a few Country Home Magazines a while back ( I SO miss that magazine!)  I think hubby appreciates me not filling the recycling bin with magazines too.

I'd really hate to give up reading books to stay on budget so this really helps us!

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Looking for Christmas stuff..

And it's HARD to find stuff I love!

Our stuff is non traditional, very funky and whimsical which makes finding crafts a challenge. While I was browsing for some ideas I came across these which are all VERY cute! I think I can attempt 1 of them for sure, the sewing ones, probably not so much!
This one from HERE

These stockings are more our style, luckily I found some at Home Goods Last year!



source

This wreath is gorgeous! It doesn't really go with our Christmas stuff but I like it! Found via HGTV.com

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Organizing Friday!!

I can tell you that last Friday I didn't do ANY organizing.. I did shop myself into exhaustion though!! So today (well I actually started a little yesterday) I decided to figure out another option for the toys downstairs. There are a ton of books and toys down here and the set up we had going on just wasn't working anymore!

We have been using our closet downstairs to store ALL of the seasonal stuff and it is just overfull!!

And you can't tell from this picture, but this closet goes a ways back and around the corner.. FULL of bins. YIKES!
 Made some progress yesterday during nap time

I went through all the bins, all 14 or so of them, and made sure things were in the right bins, stuff that hasn't been used in years was taken out (for a few people and Goodwill) and sorted.
Decided to put the empty bins (Christmas stuff) and the next stuff I will be using in the side part of the closet.
Then Moved the shelf to the back, the kids are little, they don't have to duck yet!

We have a little moose hook that we have had in this closet since we first moved in but it doesn't work us where it is, the kids can't reach it and the hooks are too small for the adult stuff.
I think I will move it down and back so it is at there level and I don't have to mess with it anymore!

Today I got all the books and toys back in here and the front room is SO clean, amazing what a little organizing can do to another room!

I need to get a different bin to replace the one on the bottom that is too small for all their shoes, and I think we probably won't be keeping our shoes in there anymore, that empty bucket doesn't have another job right now.

Now this should work just fine for us.. but I am already making more plans, like seeing if I can get hubby to trim out the right side of the closet and paint the inside with chalkboard paint.. I am sure he will be so thrilled about his weekend (maybe next weekend) project!
And I am going to move that hook to the left side for the kids coats and backpacks, and I already have some hooks I got on clearance at Target to replace it for our jackets and bags!

I still love that there is plenty of room for all 3 kids to get in there and get the toys out but that they can be put away and hidden when it's time to wind down for the day!
Finnley realllly likes to play in there, kinda hard to get him out sometimes!

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~Saving Money~ Swag Bucks!

First I want to say sorry it has been so long, between Thanksgiving and Black Friday things were crazy, and then my amazing Grandma passed away and things have just gotten even more crazy.  I missed the blog world!

Sooooo Swag Bucks!! I talked a little about theme here, but I was still new at that point. Now I know a little more and can say that I paid for a big portion of the kids Christmas gifts with Swagbucks, yes they are E gift cards and they have to be used online, but most places have free shipping codes when you spend a certain amount, or with codes. When I first started using them I was saving for paypal cash, but those expire and cost more "Swag Bucks".  Then I started getting some Amazon.com ones, but haven't used ANY because I can't decide and don't have quite enough to qualify for free shipping so I would still be paying for part of it. After I realized my mistakes I figured Target was my best bet and I started saving my Swag Bucks for Target gift cards! I was able to earn enough for $80 worth of gift cards in just a couple months, not spending ANY money to start or enroll, and not wasting time searching for codes. I just use it instead of google to search for the sites I visit, like Facebook, Blogger, Cafemom, and Yahoo and sometimes Google. Signing up and sharing with your friends helps! When friends and family sign up through your referral you also get their searching bucks up to 1000! No selling or buying in or anything like that. Swag Bucks can do this because they offer advertising on all those pages. I am hoping to pay for ALL of Christmas and Birthday for friends and family throughout the year with Swag Bucks this year.  If you have Face Book, become a fan of their site, and also Swag Bucks Hints on Facebook. Both will give you hints when there are new codes, and when you are here, check out the Swag Widget at the bottom of this page, just click codes and see if there is one. I am not really a code searcher, there are lots of people that do that, but I didn't want earning gift cards to take away anytime I wouldn't normally spend on the computer!

And again, signing up is FREE, earning is FREE, redeeming is FREE!

You can sign up HERE!

I really hope I can get back in the swing of things and share some Christmas stuff with y'all soon!

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