Thrifty Ways and Ideas is a blog dedicated to finding great deals by using coupons, sample product freebies and find thrifty new ways of saving money in my everyday life.
Katie at Three Blondes and a Redhead has a great post on some pre-Christmas organization tips. Click here to read. I am definitely going to find a few minutes in my busy Christmas Eve to prepare for all of Payton's gifts.
Uexchange.com - Trade Anything, Pay Nothing. U-Exchange is the Largest Free Swap Site on the net that specializes in every type of trade. There are no membership fees, barter currencies or commissions taken on trades. It's Free to contact, post and trade with other members.
This site reminds me of the movie The Holiday with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet. The 2 girls exchange homes for a vacation and there lives completely change.
I received another $10 gift certificate last week. I average about 6 a year and always look forward to what I can find for nothing. I think I did great on this trip.
Saturday was a fun-filled day that costed us a total of $10. First, we took Payton to see Santa at a specialty store downtown Mount Airy. She was so happy to see him. She went right up to him, crawled in his lap, told him her name and smiled for the camera. I took the picture so it made it free plus I got (4) FREE 8 x 10's from Walgreens using my account and my husbands. There was a craft area for kids so she colored her a picture. Free snacks was also available so she got a cookies and punch before she had to tell Santa bye. Then, we took a wagon ride through the downtown area. She loved that too. Her face just lite up when we took off. Afterwards, Payton got to pet the horses and she was extremely thrilled with that. We had so much and hopefully we have started a new family tradition.
Every year I hang garland on my mantle. This year I came up with a new thrifty tip. I needed some napkin rings. I didn't want to buy anything so I started going through some decorations that I did not use this year. I came across some extra garland. This is what I came up with.
I got out my wire cutters and cut a piece of garland off to wrap around the napkin.