What a Deal!

I feel like the Money Saving Mom, posting about the deals I got, but they were too good not to share!

So check this out, I got the Meet Strawberry Shortcake DVD for 31 cents and the five  Classic Characters Golden Books boxed set for FREE!  Yeah, no joke!  I was a bit skeptical that I could get a DVD that was in the good, used condition it was described as on Amazon.com for only 31 cents (plus $2.98 shipping and handling), but I did!  Not a scratch or smudge on the DVD and the case is in great shape!  I found three other used copies of various different Strawberry Shortcake DVD's for 99 cents each from a different seller on Amazon.com that I hope are in the good condition they were described as.  I will definitely add a raving review if they are!  There are a few other DVD's I want to get for my 2-year-old (who's all about what she refers to as "Strawberry Land") that I'll be willing to purchase if their used condition is described as having no scratches on them, in a case that's in good shape, for under $1.

As for the Golden Books, since I never received the free 1-year Parents magazine subscription from the Huggies Rewards catalog I tried to redeem last August, I didn't know if I'd really receive anything for my second attempt to get an item with my cashed in rewards points.  Both times I was notified via email that it would take about 6 to 8 weeks to process my order.  So when the box my husband carried in from our mail box today contained my Golden Books order (which I thought were the other three Strawberry Shortcake DVD's I purchased), I was delightfully surprised (to get an idea of how the Huggies Rewards works, check out my post Fru-gal-ity)!  So I will definitely keep collecting those yellow little stickers on the Huggies products I purchase and submitting the points online!

I've also been getting crazy deals and rewards buying my groceries at Vons (Safeway), so maybe I'll need to post a second edition of Fru-gal-ity with an update on other ways I've found to save money as a stay-at-home mom.


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Sunday, April 29, 2012 [Edit]



So here it is - my raving review!  A couple days ago I received the three other used Strawberry Shortcake DVD's I ordered (sooner than I was expecting to get them!), the discs in perfect condition and the cases in good shape!  So I've learned from experience that it's not a too-good-to-be-true deal to receive used DVD's purchased for under $1 in the like new condition they were described to be online!  Since I had to cancel our Netflix subscription that we got to enjoy for a month, purchasing these DVD's so my 2-year-old could still enjoy watching "Strawberry Land" was worth it to me.  Plus, you don't get the bonus features on Netflix that you do when you own the DVD.

Arielle Elise Photography

When I think of Arielle, one word comes to mind - light.  And that's not just because she's a natural light photographer, as is clearly seen in the luminous photos she takes for weddings, portraits, special projects and her personal [slash] photography blog!  Since I "met" her online several years ago, light has emanated from Arielle through her strong faith, good example, and personal thoughts she has openly shared on her blogs about singleness, missions, marriage, motherhood and the other journeys life has taken her on.  I love Arielle's style of photography because it captures everything that's beautiful about life. Check out Arielle Elise Photography for yourself and find out how you can capture the beautiful moments of your life!

Little Treasures [Second Edition]


























It's that time of year again - our church's annual rummage sale!  I was so excited to finally clear the boxes that had been lining up in our hallway tonight when I brought my donated items to the church for Saturday's rummage sale!  Of course, I had to check out what potential deals were to be had!  My attention was drawn to the part of the room where the bookshelves were holding [laughs] none other than books - surprise (it dawned on me how funny that sounded as I was writing it)!  First thing that caught my eye - the A&E VHS set of Pride and Prejudice.  I own the movie starring Kiera Knightley but I had no idea what I was missing from the story until a friend let me borrow the A&E version back in the days when I was literally sitting on the couch all day long nursing Leala when she was a baby, my mind turning to mush, bored out of my brains.  The character development is a lot better in the A&E series, though I still prefer some of the casting in the 2005 film.  Can't wait to share this with my mother-in-law (she loves Jane Austen's novels and I was telling her about this series).  Now all I need to do is actually read the novel, which, in fact, came free with my recent download of the free Kindle Reading App.  That's what summertime is good for, right?

When it comes to a rummage sale or thrift store, I'm always on the look out for good stories that I can add to my girls' book collection!  I'm really selective when it comes to what my girls watch, what is read to them and what they'll read in the future.  We're given so much time in a day and I want good quality stuff forming their little minds.  What shapes who'll they'll become someday really does start when they're little.  So when it comes to stories either shown in a movie or written in a book, I look for the ones with good moral, character-shaping lessons.  Well, I scored!  I got the complete collection of the American Girl Kit and Samantha stories.  The first one I found was Samantha Learns a Lesson on the shelf all by itself.  I was hoping that wasn't the only one and that I'd find some more American Girl books.  I came across a Mystery one, but I'm unfamiliar with those stories.  Then I found the Kit Story Collection to my delight!  After rummaging through some nearby boxes filled with books and movies, there it was - that classic dark red box encasing the rest of the Samantha stories!  Oh my, seeing that box with the ribbon tied in front brought back memories from when I was into the American Girls in 5th grade.  My favorite was Felicity.  I'm so looking forward to sharing this historical fiction with my girls that the American Girl website advertises as, "Stories from the past, lessons for the present."  I couldn't have said that better!

The last of my finds were a copy of The Pilgrim's Progress, For the Children's Sake, and one of Leala's favorite movies, Bolt.

On my mental wish list was a copy of Pilgrim's Progress written in modern English.  I had purchased a copy years ago that had claimed just that, but when my husband and I tried reading through it, we were practically looking up every other word in the dictionary!  [laughs] I double checked this copy and it really is "modern."  I look forward to reading this Christian classic.

I'm sure I had read a recommendation somewhere for the book For the Children's Sake, written by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, Francis and Edith Schaeffer's daughter.  I became familiar with Francis Schaeffer through his awesome documentary How Should We Then Live.  I think his wife wrote a parenting book that I've wanted to check out.  Anyway, this book Susan wrote seems to be a promising addition to the books I've been collecting about educating my children.

[laughs] And lastly, Leala was so excited that I had gotten her the Bolt movie that she instantly ejected the current movie she was watching from the DVD player to watch it.  From my experience at last year's rummage sale, when I spotted the Bolt DVD case, I opened it up to make sure the DVD was really in there.  It was!  Then I decided to check the condition of it - like new (not a scratch or smudge)!  This was another one on my mental wish list because when I had rented it from our local library, Leala watched it so many times!  I think one of the reasons she likes it so much is because one of her favorite animals is a "puppy."

Each of the books I believe were 50 cents and the movies $1.

To end this post that I had planned to make a short one, if you're local to the San Diego area and love rummage sales, come down to Cross Connection Escondido on Saturday, April 21st from 7:00 am to 2:00 pm to get some good deals on some treasures of your own!  All the proceeds go to funding the missions trips we have planned this year (Africa, China and Israel to name a few).  You can also contribute by donating sell-able items tomorrow, Friday, April 20th, from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm.

Check out the treasures I found last year in my post Little Treasures [First Edition].

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Saturday, April 21, 2012 [Edit]

My husband let me go to the rummage sale when it opened this morning, before he had to go to work, and I scored more deals for $5 total!

One of the first things I spotted was a like new, 6 book Felicity box set!  She was my favorite American Girl! And after a little bit of rummaging, I found the missing Samantha's Surprise book that I noticed wasn't in the collection I bought the other night.  Thank God I found it!

I got The Rescuers book for my 2-year-old since it's one of her favorite Disney movies and was "berry" happy when I spotted the Strawberry Shortcake board book because Leala is totally into her right now!  She points out every image of a strawberry she spots, whether it's on one of her shirts or on a jar of "Strawberry Jam" and excitedly proclaims, "Strawberry Land!"

A game-lovin' friend of mine pointed out the Junior Apples to Apples to me which she had mentally noted would be something I'd like to get for Leala. [laughs] You could actually get one yourself in a Wendy's Kids' Meal.  I actually got a couple earlier this week with a $1.99 each coupon and ended up with the Flippin' Frogs game which Leala has had so much fun with (not to mention it's helped her learn her colors "yellow" and "red" and how to count up to 6!) and Pictionary Man.

FREE Francis Chan!


No, Francis Chan is not in jail.  However, three of his books are available for free* to download through Amazon Kindle:


About four years ago I found out about Francis Chan from an online friend and my Christian life has never been the same!  Through listening to his podcast, I gained a higher view of God that totally revolutionized how I related to Him and changed how I worshiped Him.  I was encouraged to live more by faith in what God could do, not limiting Him to my circumstances, knowledge or experience.  I also learned the importance of being a part of a body of believers and how exciting it is to go to church with the attitude of being a blessing to others and meeting God in His house.  To sum it all up, a lot of negativity in my Christian walk was replaced with the joy of knowing God better.  I'm always blessed by pastors who preach what they practice and Francis Chan is such a pastor.

I was so excited when Francis Chan's first book Crazy Love came out!  I read most of it and then ended up lending it out to a friend.  About a year later I got it back!  Since that first book, I've been curious about the books Francis Chan wrote on the Holy Spirit and Hell.  Now I get to check them out!

OH, and if you don't have a Kindle like me, you can download a free Kindle Reading App as well!


* The three books listed above, written by Francis Chan, were available to download for free up until Easter.  However, the Kindle Purchase Price for Crazy Love and Forgotten God is only $2.24 and only $2.99 for Erasing Hell (all $2.99 on Nook).  Still a bargain find!