Great Savings with Campus Book Rentals

Recently my husband started taking college classes again, and as we went about purchasing the textbooks, I was reminded of just how expensive some of the books can be.  I was excited the other day when I learned about Campus Book Rentals.

This site allows you to save money on textbooks by renting them as opposed to buying them. Previously I had heard of renting ebooks, but this is the first site I’ve learned about which actually lets you rent a physical copy of the book you need and then ship it back when your class is over.

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Bright Beginnings for Baby

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PBM Products for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
For the new mom who wants to start her child off with the best in nutrition, consider infant formula from Bright Beginnings. 
The mission of this company is to provide Premium Nutrition Without The Premium Price. Comparable to the leading brands, Bright Beginnings offers milk based baby formula with DHA and ARA, the key nutrients found in breast milk.
Four unique formulas are available to fit your child’s special dietary needs, including Premium, Soy, Gentle, and Organic Formula.
And now the busy mom can save time and avoid a trip to the store by purchasing the baby formula online!  Bright Beginnings is available to buy on diapers.com. And they have lots of great deals, including Free 1-2 day shipping when you make a purchase of $49 or more!
They also have great prices on Bright Beginnings, starting as low as $9.79 for a 12.9 ounce can of Premium Formula and just $22.59 for the 25.75 ounce can of Organic Formula.  And you can save even more money on Diapers.com by purchasing the Bright Beginnings Formula in 6 packs.
For more product and nutritional information, updates, coupon codes, and deals, you can check out and “like” Bright Beginnings on Facebook.

Visit Sponsor's Site

Mousey Thrift Store Fix-up

As some of you know, I collect mouse ornaments and figurines.  I found the little guy above at a thrift store for 50 cents!  There was only one problem. The sugar on his spoon was missing, and the spoon was no longer attached properly to the bowl.  But that, of course, didn’t stop me from getting him!
When I got home, my first thought was, “What am I going to use for the ‘sugar’?”  And for some reason I just couldn’t think of anything.  The easiest and most obvious choice seemed to be a piece of cotton ball, but I knew that would look dumb.  So I asked my very smart hubby for help.  I showed it to him, and asked what I could use for sugar.  He looked at for a second, and almost immediately he said, “a packing peanut.”  Why didn’t I think of that?
So I went to grab a packing peanut.  I’m always getting packages in the mail, so we usually have a large supply!  To attach the spoon back to the top of the sugar bowl, I simply used the hot glue gun.  (I was going to gorilla glue, but it just wasn’t working.)  And then I tore off a piece of peanut and used the hot glue to attach it to the spoon.  Very quick and easy!

Here’s how it turned out. Very cute! And you can’t even tell it’s a packing peanut unless you pick it up and look really close. In my opinion, this was 50 cents well spent! So if you’re shopping at a yard sale or thrift store, and you find something you like, but it has a minor flaw or break, don’t get too disappointed. It just may be an easy fix!

-Jerri

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I’m posting a link to this post at:
It’s So Very Creative & It’s So Very Thrifty hosted by It’s So Very Cheri
Make it for Monday hosted by Cottage Instincts
Made it Mondays hosted by The Persimmon Perch
Making the World Cuter Monday hosted by Making the World Cuter
Make Your Monday hosted by Twice Remembered
Metamorphosis Monday hosted by Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land
Market Yourself Monday is hosted by Sumos Sweet Stuff
Marketing Mondays and Sharing Ideas Wednesday is hosted by The Trendy Treehouse
What Your Working with Wednesday is hosted by Me and My Bucket
Show & Tell Wednesday is hosted by Blue Cricket Design
Tip Me Tuesday is hosted by Tip Junkie
Week End Review is hosted by Tator Tots & Jello
Star on Saturday is hosted by Craft-Werk
Penny Pinching Party is hosted by The Thrifty Home
Show & Tell Friday is hosted by Romantic Home

Thrifty Basket Decor

Here’s something cute and simple.  I got these baskets at the thrift store.  They were a whopping 50 cents each!  Oddly enough I found these on two separate occasions, and both are in good condition and both appear to be hand painted. 
And I just happened to have some plastic eggs here at home to put inside them.  I’m currently displaying these in the kitchen for Easter.
In the future, I may decoupage these eggs for fun, but till then, they are fine for me as is. 
So if you’d like to decorate for Easter, but you don’t want to spend a lot of money and/or you’re not that crafy, just get you some plastic eggs at the dollar store and stuff them in a basket.  It works!

-Jerri

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I’m posting a link to this post at:
It’s So Very Creative & It’s So Very Thrifty hosted by It’s So Very Cheri
Make it for Monday hosted by Cottage Instincts
Made it Mondays hosted by The Persimmon Perch
Making the World Cuter Monday hosted by Making the World Cuter
Make Your Monday hosted by Twice Remembered
Metamorphosis Monday hosted by Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land
Market Yourself Monday is hosted by Sumos Sweet Stuff
Marketing Mondays and Sharing Ideas Wednesday is hosted by The Trendy Treehouse
What Your Working with Wednesday is hosted by Me and My Bucket
Show & Tell Wednesday is hosted by Blue Cricket Design
Tip Me Tuesday is hosted by Tip Junkie
Week End Review is hosted by Tator Tots & Jello
Star on Saturday is hosted by Craft-Werk
Penny Pinching Party is hosted by The Thrifty Home
Show & Tell Friday is hosted by Romantic Home

Lovely Valentine Gifts from Dayspring. Save 20% This Week.


DaySpring is the latest company I’ve become affiliated with. They are a Christian Company that sells an array of lovely gifts.

It’s a great place to shop for cards and stationary, as well as Christian art, Home Decor, Music, Jewelry, Books, Coffee Cups, Picture Frames, and More!

Today I’m featuring just a couple of items that you might be interested in for Valentine’s Day. And I’m happy to say that this week through February 14, all Simply Sweet Home readers will get 20% off your entire DaySpring purchase. To take advantage of this offer, just enter the coupon code VALNTN20 at check out!

Take Hope to Heart

Christian Love Charm Necklace


Be Still and Know – Sweet Bird – Christian Coffee Mug

By Grace Alone Necklace

Creative Decor and Jewelry by Show Offs Art

Christian Inspirational Jewelry – Necklaces, Bangles & Pendants

For these gifts and more, visit DaySpring. And don’t forget to use the coupon code VALNTN20 at check out to recieve 20% off.

-Jerri

O’Charley’s Kids Giveaway

Going out to eat can get expensive, particularly when you have a large family. So all month long, in honor of my blogiversary celebration, I’m having a special giveaway for some Ocharley’s Kids Eat Free Passes. Each pass is good for one free kid’s meal when you come in and purchase one adult entree. (No more than one kid’s coupon per adult guest.)

I will be doing 4 weekly drawings starting Sept 20 and ending October 11. Each weekly winner will recieve 5 of these coupons.

To win, just leave a comment telling me your favorite thing to order when you go out to eat or the name of your favorite place to eat.


Giveaway Closed. Winners to be announced.

Town Hall For Hope

I just found out about this free event that’s coming up next Thursday, April 23. The Town Hall for Hope is being hosted by Dave Ramsey, financial couselor and author of The Total Money Makeover. (If you’re interested in getting out of debt or managing your money better, you should check him out.)

The Town Hall for Hope is a nationwide event. It’s an opportunity for people to come together and listen to Dave Ramsey talk about the economy, the recession, foreclosures, and other topics. After the presention, Dave will be taking questions through email & Twitter and answering them live.

This event is FREE to the public and there are many host locations. Just go the website and type in your zipcode to find a location near you. (There are over a dozen locations within 15 miles of my house, and I live in a small town, so it looks like there’s a location for everyone.)

And if you can’t attend an event, then you can view the town hall from your living room via YouTube. For more information on this event, go to The Town Hall for Hope.


-Jerri



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I’m going to share this post for Frugal Friday over at Life as Mom.

Adventures in Shopping: I Love Ross! (Dress For Less, that is)

One of my favorite places to look for bargains is Ross Dress For Less. They have a vast selection of clothing of all sizes and styles, and they have a number of housewares, kitchen, and decor items. I’ve bought items from every single department in this store, but I’ve been most impressed with the deals I’ve gotten on jeans, shorts, and capris. I can usually find really cute stuff for $15 or less, which is awesome if you’re on a tight budget.

I also love their housewares stuff, and I enjoy looking through their picture frames and photo albums, and if you’re in to organizing, they have great deals on baskets and stuff.

My husband also likes this store. He loves athetic shorts and jerseys, and he especially loves Adidas and Nike stuff, and he’s found some good deals on these. Last trip he was looking for a pair of comfortable shoes to wear for work, and he was pleasantly surprised to find a very stylish and comfortable pair of Dr. Martens for $30. (They would have normally sold for over $100) Overall, I’d have to say that this is the best deal we’ve ever gotten. The cashier was even commenting on what a great deal we were getting and how great the shoes looked….but I think she thought we were a little crazy when my husband said he was going to wear the shoes for work.

Last trip I also bought something really cute for myself, which I think all my baking, homemaking, blogger friends will love! It’s this lovely Butterfly Apron:

I always have to check out the back of the store to see if they have any nice kitchen or household items, and this last trip, I was really surpised to find a stack of aprons. They’ve never had these before at any of the locations where I shop. It may be a new item that they’re going to carry regularly, or it may be a limited time thing. Whichever the case, I was really happy to find these.

Each apron is made of cotton, and is one size fits most. They all tie around the waist and around the neck, and they have a single pocket. And they had several colors and designs available at my location. (I remember seeing a couple of different flower patterns and also a polka dot one.)

I’ve looked around at aprons on the internet. The cheapest ones I have found are around $20, though many are $30, $40, or even $50. So I was very pleased to find the ones at Ross for only $7. If you’re in the market to purchase an apron, you may want to check them out.

-Jerri



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I’m sharing this post for Frugal Friday over at Life As Mom.

Review for List2Shop.com

We all know that having an organized shopping list is an important key to saving time and money at the grocery store. Today I’m going to tell you about a site where you can create multiple shopping lists. It’s called List2Shop.com.

With this free site you can easily and quickly create and print your shopping lists online, and if you sign up for a free account, you can save your shopping lists to use at a later time. This is a perfect tool for someone who wants to list a few items at a time and then come back later to add a few more or for anyone who wants to create a master shopping list to print out for each trip.

Also, consider this: How many times have you been at work and thought of something that you needed to add to your grocery list? And how times have you planned a shopping trip for after work and realized that you left your list at home? With this website you can access your list from anywhere.

A free account also gives you access to the Favorites Tab, where you can create a list of your favorite stores or a list of your favorite items. With this feature, you can make a list of a few items that you buy every week, or you can create a larger list of items that you buy when your stocking up.

I just signed up for a free account and began making my shopping lists. It was very easy to set up, and the features on the shopping list tab allow you to create a detailed and organized list. I’ll explain how it works.

On the page you have 3 columns. Under the first column, there’s a list of categories such as “baked goods,” “medicine” and “spices & herbs.” When you click on the category of your choice, a list of products that belong in the category pops up in the second column. You then click on the item that you want add to your list. (There’s also a place where you can manually type in an item that may not appear on the menu.)

Then there’s an optional third column, which allows you to pick a store that you’d like for the item to be listed under. I really liked this feature, because I always make one list for Aldi and one list for Wal-mart. And this feature will allow me to easily add an item under one store or the other. (And I think you will be impressed with the vast array of categories, products, and stores that are listed.) You can also minimize your lists on the page, so that you can easily or focus on a particular list.

Now as I said, the site allows you to create a detailed list. For each item that you place on your list, you have the option to enter a quantity, the price, and even a comment. This is perfect if you’re someone like me. I often write a quantity beside each item on my list, and in the past I’ve also used my old receipts to determine the price of each item so that I can have an idea of how much my grocery bill will be. And now that I have access to this website, I can enter the prices so I’ll be able to quickly estimate my grocery bill each week.

I also like the idea of the comments section. I think this would be a great place to type in the brand name and/or the portion size you want to buy, which will really save time when you’re in the grocery store, and it would also be helpful if you ever send somebody else to do the shopping.

And once you’ve created your list, you can easily edit your items and move them up or down on the list for perfect organization.

What I love about the site is that it is very easy to understand and navigate through. Your shopping lists and the menus used to add items to your list are all located on the same page, so you don’t have to go back and forth between webpages. You can add items to your list with just a few clicks. And most of all, I enjoyed being able to organize my list and add the extra details about each item.

If you’re a busy woman looking to get organized and save time and money, you should check out List2Shop.com.


-Jerri

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I’m going to share this post for Frugal Friday over at Life as Mom.

A Foreign Invasion of My Washing Machine

Today I’m sharing an article that was sent in by Michael Brown. It’s a story that a lot of you moms out there will surely relate to, and it’s a very relevant article to read during tough economic times.
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Washing machines are for washing clothes, not your children’s toys. Adults know this but sometimes kids have to find out for themselves. I have five year old twins and I’d like to think that I’m a pretty good parent, but my little angels occasionally get themselves into things that they’re not supposed to, like my washing machine. Here’s my story about appliance repair.

My boys like to play army when they’re stuck in the house on a rainy day. They take these little green men and hide them all over my house and then hunt them down with some jeeps and plastic tanks. It can be an annoyance when I’m cleaning up and finding army men everywhere but its fun to watch them strategize and have fun. They have been warned though about hiding their toys in appliances or under appliance parts of any kind. I guess they didn’t think that this meant the washing machine.

If you’re a parent, you can probably guess the rest of the story. The jeep and the tank somehow ended up in the washer and the washer got turned on mysteriously. Both boys came pelting up the stairs and Mom had to go down and shut her very loudly banging machine off before the damage got too extensive. The appliance itself was okay because the toys weren’t in there that long but the agitator had gouges in it. That plastic they make those trucks out of is tougher than it looks.

I did have a brief moment at this point where I feared that I would have to buy a brand new washer, but common sense took over. I could see that it was just the agitator that was damaged and it looked fairly simple to replace. As a single mom, you have to learn how to be handy with tools and raising two boys you need to be able to fix things that are broken without calling in professional help.

Taking a neighbor’s advice, instead of calling for an appliance repair guy I went online to http://www.appliancepartspros.com/ and ordered a new agitator for $29.07. They have Whirlpool parts for washers, dryers, refrigerators, ovens, stoves, and appliance parts for just about everything that you can’t find in a hardware store. All in all, there are over 1,000,000 appliance parts at Appliance Parts Pros and you can order them shipped the same day. It was a great option for someone like me who has more time than money. The installation was fairly easy and the washer works great now. The kids are still grounded.

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