DaveRamsey.com is having a Labor Day Special. Books, CDs, and DVDs are only $10. Other items are also on sale. Specials end on September 2nd.
This weekend only, place a $10+ order at Avon.com and receive free shipping.
Coupon code: 829FSW
Deadline: 9/1/08 at midnight
Even though Christmas is several months away, I am trying to start buying gifts now. This will help my keep costs down, as well as find the items I really want. If I were to wait until the last minute, I may end up spending more than I want to, and possibly buying something I didn’t really want to give…
Check out Frugal Gift Giving Ideas at Almost Frugal.
The Simple Dollar has some suggestions on this article: Do You Overspend on Gifts? Six Things to Think About Before Striking Again.
Another great article at The Simple Dollar is entitled Nine Things to Do When the Going Gets Tough.
Gather Little by Little has a post that explains how to use the envelope budget method. If maintaing a budget is difficult for you, give this one a try.
Vanilla Joy is having two giveaways today. Here are the details:
Friday part 1:
1. StoryBook Creator Plus Digital Scrapbooking Software by Creative Memories
2. Memory Manager 2.0 Software by Creative Memories
3. A Gorillapod Go-Go by Joby
Friday part 2:
1. A Decorative Trimmer by Creative Memories
2. A Desktop Carousel by Making Memories
3. A Crop-a-Dile II Big Bite from Roberts Arts & Crafts
4. A Ribbon Ring by Ribbon Ring
5. And finally, the All Fall: 8×8 Album and an All Fall: 8×8 Paper Pad by Fancy Pants Designs.
There will be another giveaway, but it has not yet been decided when it will take place. So will want to check back to see when you can sign up for it.
My peach leather did not turn out as good as I had hoped. The edges started getting darker, but parts of the middle were still wet. I decided to take it out of the oven so I would not burn any of it. As I did in my first attempt, I used wax paper again and where it was more well done, it was hard to separate the leather from the edges of the leather. It does taste great though! My oven was probably the main problem – it doesn’t cook evenly. In the future, I may try to use my toaster oven – it has a dehydrator option, and hopefully will cook more evenly. I will have to have two small batches, since the pan I used in my oven does not fit in my toaster oven. It will probably take longer if I have to make two batches, even though (I hope) the toaster oven will dry out the fruit leather more quickly.
You can read about the beginning of my fruit leather story, as well as my second update if you would like some background on this post.
If you have ever made fruit leather, which option did you use to dry out the fruit? And did that work well? Do you have any recommendations?
The giveaways at Vanilla Joy just don’t stop! Today you can enter to win over $200 worth of Fiskars supplies. To be more specific, the prizes are:
1. Fiskars 12 inch/30 cm portable rotary trimmer with wave, scoring, deckle, and pinking blades
2. Fiskars 12 inch/30 cm Portable Personal Trimmer and 2 pack replacement blades (straight and scoring)
3. Fiskars 45 mm Comfort Grip Rotary Cutter (sewing tool)
4. Fiskars 6.5 x 24.5 Acrylic Ruler AND a 6.5 x 6.5 Acrylic Ruler (sewing or scrapbooking tools)
5. Fiskars 24×36 rotary mat
Be sure to enter!
I think these sewing tools would be very useful. They probably save a lot of time when cutting fabric. I still just use scissors, but would really like to buy (or win) a cutting tool.
Here are some links to a few great articles I’ve read recently:
10 Truths About Frugal Living at Frugal Dad
Online Survey Scans at Gather Little by Little
Back to the Basics of Saving Money also at Gather Little by Little
Lunch Box Tips and Tricks at Be Centsable
Vanilla Joy’s newly posted giveaway is for three items:
1. The Ultimate Paper Trimmer by Purple Cows
2. The Sizzix Sidekick die cutting machine
3. Portable Ribbon Dispenser by Creative Options
Click here to sign up.
As I mentioned in a post yesterday, Vanilla Joy is having tons of giveaways this week.
Monday: Cricut by Provo Craft
Tuesday: scrapbooking supplies and tools by EK Success and a portable ribbon dispenser by Creative Options
These prizes sound fabulous – if I win, it would definitely help me get out of my scrapbooking slump.
Check out these sales before you go shopping this week:
Giant (PA) at Moms Need to Know
CVS at Coupon Cravings
Walgreens at Money Saving Mom
Wal-Mart at The Centsible Sawyer
Rite-Aid at Sisterly Savings
Target at Attention Target Shoppers
Monday: corn and bean chowder (More-With-Less, page 202) with salad and homemade biscuits stored in the freezer (never got to this last week)
Tuesday: honey baked chicken (More-With-Less, page 180) with steamed veggies
Wednesday: mac and cheese with stewed tomatoes (homemade, of course!)
Thursday: grilled or baked ham with steamed veggies and maybe sweet potato fries
Friday: family birthday dinner – and we don’t even have to take anything (besides a gift) 
Saturday: pita bread pizza with salad
Sunday: fried rice
