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May 17, 2014    |       2 comments

Freebies!

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Hey guys! Hope your weekend is off to a good start!

Just wanted to pop in quickly to let you know about a couple of FREEBIES that I just recently came across…

1. Free Make-up/Nail Polish

Over on Jordan’s blog (funcheaporfree.com), she recently posted about how to get a FREE Beauty Box valued at $80!!!

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You go to this site (Julep.com), sign up for their monthly boxes, and your first one is free. BUT, you can cancel anytime (even before your first “paid” box), so you can essentially just get the FREE box and cancel right away. Make sure to read the itty-bitty fine print (not sure if everyone’s is the same or if it depends on when you join, but for me it said I have to cancel between the 20th-24th because boxes are shipped on the 27th). Generally I wouldn’t bother with this, but I actually just ran out of eyeliner and I’m also running very low on lipgloss. This box came with BOTH eyeliner AND lipgloss along with 3 nail polishes. The shipping cost was $2.99, which is WAY less than even just a single eyeliner (not to mention the lipgloss). I don’t need the nail polishes, but I just see them as bonuses. Be sure to enter the promo code at checkout!

2. Free Music

I’ve recently started reading The Prudent Homemaker’s blog (thanks to reader tips! Thanks guys!). I love how she does the “Last Week’s Frugal Accomplishments” posts – I always get great ideas of ways to save money (both from her AND in the comments!)

I was shocked – SHOCKED! – when she mentioned in her last frugal accomplishments post that her library does free music downloads. Totally 100% free (not “rented”, no strings attached). I immediately logged into my library’s website and found out MINE DOES TOO!!!! You can imagine my frustration when one of the FIRST songs that popped up was one I had just barely bought for $1.99. Argh – hate when that happens! But now I know about this and I totally plan on taking advantage all summer long (or however long it lasts – has this always been a “thing” and I’m just now finding out about it??). My library allows 3 free downloads per week and the music is yours forever. It’s also new stuff so this is a great find for me, as I’ve been slowly trying to “beef up” my music library. Check our your library too!!!

Any fun freebies that YOU have found lately???

 

May 16, 2014    |       39 comments

Rewards and Celebrations

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I have some good news to share today! I am about to receive the largest paycheck of my life!!!

I have been working on a writing-related project for a loooooong time (10 months) and finally finished last week. (No, it was not a book). I wasn’t smart setting up my contract and I had agreed to not get paid at all until project completion (in my defense, I thought it would take a fraction of the total time invested). Anyway, 10 months later I’m about to receive a paycheck for several thousand dollars (more than 5, less than 10…but that’s “gross,” so I’ll need to pay taxes), which is by far and away the largest single paycheck I have ever received.

Good news: This means we are going to knock it out of the park this month in terms of our income. Last month was the most we’d ever made (in life), and this month is going to be even better! I tell you this because we’ve just “met” and I really want you to understand how NOT TYPICAL these huge pay months are for us.

But, that aside, I want to celebrate. It feels like a HUGE weight off my shoulders to have this project complete; in the past we would have done something fun – gotten a ‘sitter and gone to dinner.

But we pay babysitters $13/hour (is this normal?? I used to make $5/hr when I babysat but that was 20 years ago), plus a dinner-for-two can be in the range of $50, so we’re talking roughly $80-$100+ if we were to throw a movie into the mix, too.

What do you do to reward yourself when you’ve hit a big milestone? Ours has ALWAYS been going out to eat, but we need something new (read = cheaper!) I want to celebrate a little!

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