How I Got A Silhouette Cameo for $162 Less Than Retail

PaperLark Studio has its Christmas present already - a Silhouette Cameo! I've been eyeballing this cutting machine for my business since last Christmas. After I spent two solid days slicing and dicing 200 program fans by hand for a wedding order last June, there was no doubt I needed to add a cutter of some sort to my equipment to save my thumbs from carpal tunnel.

With a retail price tag of $299 for just the Cameo, I knew it would be a pretty sizable purchase in order to get everything I needed for it. When you own your own business, a penny saved really is a penny earned {like seriously!}. Unfortunately, my usual go-to money saving tactic of using a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby or Michaels wouldn't work for this. These coupons don't apply to Silhouette cutting machines.

When I know that I'll be making dropping a good bit of money on a purchase, I price watch. By price watching, I'll know a good deal when I see one. Another good thing to do? Research the Black Friday price for the item. It has been my experience that this is usually when the company will offer the best, rock bottom price.

After I researched a little and price watched for a few months, I knew that the average low price for a Silhouette was $269 and usually came with a free bundle pack.

Now then, I'd like to introduce you to Google Shopping if you haven't yet formally met this time-saving tool. By searching for Silhouette Cameo, it will pull up every price from every place online that sells this sucker. In addition to saving you time from checking multiple sites, it'll also allow you to see where it is being sold at the lowest price.

I would check the price of the Silhouette on Google Shopping every couple of weeks. After a few months of routinely checking, Overstock.com had dropped its price to $229 with a pretty impressive bundle package.

Lastly, to knock a few extra dollars off my price, I checked Retail Me Not {which I love} for any applicable coupon code. There I found a code for 10% off + Free Shipping on any order over $50. With the coupon code, it brought my total to $209.99!

Here's a break down of what all I got and the numbers:

I can't hardly wait to bust out my Silhouette and get to cutting. I foresee invitations of all different shapes in PaperLark's future and maybe some gift tags! Knowing how much money I saved, makes me that much more excited about it.

Happy shopping!

Miranda

Traveling on the Cheap: Tips from A Budget-Loving Traveler

Our vacation to Hilton and Savannah is a mere nine days away! What makes that thought even sweeter is it means our vacation to Disney World is less than two months out.

I've heard more than once friends and family wonder aloud where we get all this money to travel. After all, with a mortgage + car payment + student loans, we must be putting it all on a credit card, right? Oh contraire!

Ya'll know I'm all about budgeting and savin' a dime! I have a few secret strategies that help get the most out of our vacation dollar and even stretches our budget to allow two vacations.

Destin, Florida - Sept. 2013

I think it is important to note here that it is only the husband and I. We have no children yet. Once that bundle of joy comes along, our priorities will likely change as will our budget. However, I believe these tips are still applicable to families and can help with getting the most out of your vacation budget!

• Speaking of priorities... When the husband and I married, we both agreed that we wanted to travel and spend our money on experiences and memories rather than things. That said, we made traveling a priority in our budget and committed to allocating money to it throughout the year. 
• Save a little each paycheck... Saving up for a vacation should be something you do throughout the year - not in the few weeks before you leave. Even sticking back a small amount over the course of a year can really add up! I try to stick back $20 per week for our vacations. With $20 a week, that adds up to $1,040 a year. I will say though there are several weeks where I need that $20 to go somewhere else and that's okay! In reality, that $20 is fun money and if I don't have it that week, I don't have it. No big! The key here is try. You'll be surprise how far a little can take you.

New Orleans, Louisiana - July 2013

• Make some money on the side... This is where most of our money for vacation comes from. My husband works with a baseball academy as an instructor for camps some weekends. That extra money goes into our vacation fund. When I babysit or pick up a non-PaperLark related project, that money goes into our vacation fund. When I was still at my part-time job, I would pick up extra hours when I could. That money would go into the vacation fund. When you work hard, you get to play hard!

• Make your money work for you... How? Use card points wisely! Once again, I'll sing the praises of Delta Community Credit Union who we bank with. When we run our debit card as credit, we get 1 point for every dollar. It still comes straight out of our checking account, but we get points just like it was a credit card. Ha! See if a bank near you offers a program like this. Over the course of a year, those points really add up especially if you can run your debit card as credit when you pay your bills! For example, we paid for our entire hotel stay for our upcoming trip to Savannah and Hilton Head with these points. Zero dollars came out of the vacation fund for somewhere to stay. The money we would've spent on a hotel in Savannah is now being used to pay for our stay at Disney World. 

• Select and use credit cards wisely! Do NOT put your vacation on your credit card unless you've got the money in your account to turn right around and pay the card off. There is no sense into going to debt for a vacation. For me, it would just be too stressful to think I'm on a vacation I can't pay for. What I mean when I say select and use credit cards wisely is to make them work for you. My husband drives a lot for his job. We purposely selected a credit card for him that has high return rewards for gas. He only uses that card for gas purchases. We can cash the points in to pay for the gas to get to our vacation destination. 

Walt Disney World - Sept. 2012

          Unannounced to him, I wrote into the fine print of our marriage vows that the husband had to take me to Disney World every year. That said, I got a Disney card for my business. With the card, you get Disney Rewards Dollars and other perks like private character meet n' greets or discounts off park merchandise and dining locations. We use the Disney Reward Dollars to pay for our vacation package or souvenirs. 

          The key with credit cards is to spend only what you have and pay them off                                     completely every month! 

• Use fuel points strategically...In our area, Kroger offers fuel points. For every 100 points, you can save 10 cents off per gallon of gas up to $1 off. They also use the 1 point = $1 system. You have to buy groceries so you might as well make that necessary expense work in your favor! The two months before a trip (because the points do expire!), I save up my Kroger fuel points. Before we leave, we redeem our points and fill up.  Before we leave, I do try to find a Kroger between home and our destination to stop and use the last bit of points we have to re-fuel. [To find out more about Kroger's Fuel Reward Program, click here.]
• Take advantage of discount sites like Groupon or Living Social...You can save on experiences or food by keeping an eye on these sites. In the few months before our trip, I make a point to stop by these sites every couple of weeks. When we visited New Orleans last year, I booked two guided tours for both of us for the price one ticket for one tour. Yeah! Big savings! I've also got two tours via Groupon bought and reserved for our Savannah trip. 

What are some of your favorite tips for traveling well on the cheap?

Miranda

Disclaimer: I was NOT compensated in any way for this post. The opinions expressed here are purely my own. 

Totes + Towels = BIRTHDAY BASH!

Happy July!

The month of July is a big deal in our house. Not only do I celebrate a birthday, but PaperLark Studio does as well! To celebrate PaperLark Studio officially turning two years old (and my birthday too, of course!), we are having a HUGE sale. 

For the whole month of July, you can receive 24% off of your online order of $24 or more. I bet you can't guess how old I'm about to be, huh? Just enter the coupon code BIRTHDAYBASH at checkout!

To make the Birthday Bash sale even sweeter, I'm debuting some exciting new products. These have been pretty hush-hush, but I can finally share them with you. The first batch are already listed in the shop with more on the way. 

Without further ado, I'd like to introduce to my new line of tote bags and tea towels!

Large Monogram Tote Bag

The large monogram tote bags make perfect beach bags. At least that's what I'll be using mine for during our trip to Hilton Head and Tybee Island later this month. Seriously though, these bags are huge! They measure 16"x18" with a 6" depth. Not to mention, they also have two 9"x9" pockets on the back. Perfect for your sunscreen and book, right? I'm just sayin'!

The price? $15. And yes, you can use the BIRTHDAYBASH coupon code on these in my Etsy shop. 

Perfection.

Pretty Things Inside Tote Bag

I'm also debuting my regular size tote bags. These are $10 and measure 13.5"x13.5". I use these to keep up with my latest crafting products. Also, when I do my December Daily album, I like to keep all of my album supplies in totes like these. You can find "Pretty Things Inside" here and "Keep Calm and Craft On" here.

Keep Calm and Craft On Tote Bag

Last, but certainly not least, is the tea towels! These are $8 each and are made with 100% canvas cotton. There are sure to add a dash of laughter to any kitchen.

You can find the "Whip It, Whip It Good" tea towel here. I also have a set of two tea towels that would make the perfect wedding gift or housewarming gift.

You can find the "You Wash, I'll Dry" tea towels here. A set of these will be finding a home in my own kitchen here soon!

All of these will be making their craft show debut at Market Day in downtown Newnan this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you can't wait until Saturday or the drive is just a little too far, grab yours off the Etsy shop. Again, don't forget about the BIRTHDAYBASH coupon code!

Happy birthday to me, PaperLark Studio and you!

Miranda

Coupon code expires 7/31/2014.

How to Save $$$ on Project Life

Happy Tuesday!

If you know me, two things I'm passionate about are Project Life and saving money. I've regularly posted on these two topics. (The two most popular? Project Life Obsessing and Grocery Grumbling: How We Only Spend $60 a Week On Groceries.)

What is Project Life? It is a product line created by Becky Higgins which is aimed at taking the guess work out of layout design. Her product line offers up a variety of coordinating albums, journaling cards and photo pocket pages. Ultimately, Project Life is a method of scrapbooking using pocket pages to lay out a page without glue or fancy embellishments. It's specifically focused on recording memories through journaling instead of spending all your time jazzing up your page with glitter, stickers and rub-ons.

To be completely honest, the name-brand PL (Project Life) items are expensive. I thought it was pricey a year ago when I started and I still feel that way. You need three key items to complete a Project Life album: Core Kit + 12x12 Binder Album + Pocket Pages Pack. Each of these items are $30 a pop. That's $90 for the basics! No dividers, embellishments, envelopes. Heck! You have to still shell out the money for a year's worth of pictures to go in the thing.

After completing one full year album and getting half way through my second, I've learned a few tricks and tips to make Project Life better fit my budget. I have also tried off-brand products and were not satisfied with them. You can still get the quality PL products for the off-brand price!

Collect PL items throughout the year. I buy the items I need for the next year's album a little at a time throughout the year. Though few and far between, you will see Project Life products go on sale. For example, I keep an eye on the Michaels circular every week to see if they mark PL down. Last week, Michaels had all PL products 50% off.

I scored my album and core kit for next year for $30. These beauties are now hiding in the basement with the Christmas stuff to be wrapped and put under the tree. It's my Christmas present to myself every year. 

The morale of the story? Keep your eyes open for sales on PL all year long. Jump on a good deal and stick it away for the next year or use it now. Patience!

Follow Becky Higgins on Instagram or her blog. How do you know when these items are on sale? When I first started Project Life a year and a half ago, you could only buy PL products through Amazon. Now, you can find PL products at most major craft stores. Lucky for us, right?!

If PL goes on sale on Amazon or on the Becky Higgins website, you'll be the first to know via her blog or Instagram. (You can find her blog here. Her Instagram is here.) She's really good about hyping sales and giving the occasional heads up on future mark downs.

Besides getting a leg up on sales, there are free printables that coordinate with the core kits and of course, some great inspiration for your album. 

Put those Hobby Lobby/Michaels coupons to use.

The best part of PL coming to major craft stores? You can use those generic 40% off any regular priced items to add to your collection. I use these coupons to get the coordinating dividers or speciality card packs like my December Daily album for example.

Utilize freebies by other PL enthusiasts. A quick search on Pinterest will give you a slew of Project Life free printables made by fellow scrappers. I like to use these in my pages to mark a special day like a birthday or a day trip. If you'd like a short cut to some good freebies or need a place to start browsing, be sure to check out my Project Life board here.

Bonus Tip. As I said before, you've got to buy prints of your pictures to fill your album! Buying prints can get pricey too especially over the course of a year. I've tried every printer from Walmart to Snapfish in my years of scrapbooking. Who I personally recommend and use? GrooveBook!

For $2.99 a month, I get 100 4x6 pictures in a book. The pictures are perforated so you can easily pull out the pictures you'd like to go in your scrapbook.

You have to download their free app, follow the sign up instructions and upload your pictures. I take almost ALL of my PL pictures with my iPhone so this works wonderfully for me.

Would you like to try it out for free? Use the coupon code WINSLETT5 to get your first Groovebook FREE.

Disclaimer: I was not compensated by neither Project Life nor GrooveBook for any part of this post. I just love these products - plain and simple. All opinions in this post are strictly my own. I hope they help you in your Project Life endeavors!

What are some ways you cut your PL costs?

Happy scrapping!
Miranda 

Grocery Grumbling: Save by Buying Wholesale

Welcome back to our last installment of Grocery Grumbling! If you missed any of our previous posts, you can catch up here and here.

When we moved into our house, I was in awe of all the space we had in comparison to our 600 square foot apartment. Most notably, I was thrilled with the pantry space we know had. I have not one, but two pantries in our new home. I finally had the space to be able to buy in bulk and stockpile some nonperishable goods.

Shortly after we moved in, we got a membership to our local wholesale club, BJ's. After some trial and error not to mention a lot of math, I've compiled a list of the most cost-effective items to purchase at your local wholesale club like BJ's, Costco or Sam's Club.

Best Bang for Your Buck

Dog Food - there is usually always

a coupon for dog food and it'll get you a huge bag of food for a little bag price!

Olive Oil 

Toilet Paper

Potato Chips - I always go for the 50 count Snack Pack.

 It's perfect for lunches and lasts a month!

Snack Items - This includes: fruit snacks, granola bars, etc.

Toiletry Items - This includes: shampoo, conditioner, soap, 

toothpaste, deodorant, etc. Usually always have a coupon for these items.

Only have to buy them 1 or 2 times a year!

Ziploc Baggies: Another thing to get with a coupon that is almost always cheaper 

than the grocery store.

Contacts - Seriously! It's the least expensive place in town (and online) we've found

for the hubby's contacts!

That said, this is not a comprehensive list of the only things you should buy wholesale. These are simply the items that I have found to be most cost-effective. The most important tool to use while shopping wholesale is KNOWING PRICES. You can't spot a good deal without know what its counterpart at the grocery sells for. 

My tips for shopping wholesale? On average, I go to BJ's once a month with a strict budget. Everything is written on the list and typically has an accompanying coupon. Don't stray from the list. I know that stuff in the middle is tempting as is the mega size bag of Reese's on the candy aisle, but resist the dark side. If you don't, you'll have a hefty price tag at checkout. 

Before going, I use a price list to give me an idea of what I'll be spending to make sure it fits in my budget. Looking for a price list? Check them out here:

Costco Price List

Sam's Club Price List

BJ's Price List

What are your tips for saving by buying wholesale?

Miranda

Couponing Class

I've got the scoop on the couponing class taught by our very own guest couponing blogger, Rebecca Lettelleir! [Missed her excellent couponing post? No problem! Catch up here.] 

Date: Saturday, August 24

Time: 9 a.m.

Where: Royal Baptist Church Newnan, GA 30263

Cost: $10

If you would like to attend, please send an email to Rebecca at lettelleircouponer@yahoo.com to reserve your spot! 

-Miranda

How to Buy a House in your 20s: Part One

Age is a funny thing, isn't it? At least our perception of age is. No matter what age you actually are, yourself or those around you will think you're either too old or too young for some behavior/action/task/etc. For example, I will be 23 in a couple weeks. I'm old enough to buy alcohol, vote and drive a car. However, I'm still waiting for that golden 25th birthday when my car insurance will go down (despite the fact I've never gotten a ticket of any kind or ever caused an accident - I digress).

Throughout our entire home buying process, those we ran into along the road where impressed/surprised/in disbelief that a couple was buying their first home at 22. Naturally, they were curious as to how we were able to do so.

So, here you have it. The good. The bad. The ugly. And the truth about how we bought our first house in our 20s. Be sure to come back for Part Two! [Click here for Part Two!]

Note: I am not a financial professional in anyway. The advice presented in this article was gleaned from real-life experience and advice from our parents, financial professional and realtors. 

Live poor. 

We adopted this concept from good, ole Dave Ramsey:

"If you live like no one else, later you can live like no one else."

What did this mean for us? Saving money on our living expenses where ever we could. There are several very nice and new apartment complexes in our town, but we didn't live at any of them. Instead, we lived in our tiny 1970s apartment that we lovingly called "The Craphole."

You might think I'm being a little dramatic, but seriously there was a reason we called it that. The police were a reliable staple around our complex - especially on the weekends. Little children ran around outside shirtless and sock-less in December! If a couple broke up, you saw their stuff on the curb the next morning. Not to mention, we were in a constant war with bugs. While I never felt unsafe at any point, it certainly wasn't the classiest place in the world. However, it was a means to an end. We paid $300+ less a month than we would've paid at the new, nice apartments. We lived in that apartment for a year so that's $3600 I stuck away.

Another great way to live poor? Don't get cable! We paid $120 a month for our Internet and cable. At the new house, we've just got internet ($30 a month). Throw in a Netflix and Hulu subscription with our antenna in the attic and we only pay $45.98 for our TV entertainment (a $74.02 savings). We don't miss those channels we never really even watched and certainly don't miss that bill!

Eat poor. 

Also, we lived poor by not eating out. In January, I got serious about our grocery bill. The old saying goes if you want to know what matters most to a person, just look at their checkbook. Well, if you looked at our checkbook in December, you would see that food mattered...a lot. We'd buy a $100 of groceries, but then go out to eat three or four times a week. Eekk!

With the New Year, I vowed not to eat out unless it was budgeted into the groceries for the week. I also made a menu for the week and made sure I only bought the items on my grocery list. (Resist those impulse buys!) I also cooked freezer meals which I blogged about here. Doing all this, I brought our grocery budget down to $60 (without couponing)! That's $40 more dollars a week I stuck back in savings. $160 a month people!

[NOTE: I've gotten a lot of questions about how we manage to only spend $60 a month on groceries. I wrote a follow up post here that will go more in depth.]

Budget for EVERYTHING!

Last January, I purchased a expense tracker book from Target. I am in LOVE with it! It is made by Mead and called Organizher. It helped a lot to see how much money was coming in and going out every month. It also allowed me to keep track of what money I had sitting where for what purpose.

I budgeted everything (and still do). We have a budget for everything from oil changes to Christmas savings. You've got to stay in that budget. If carrying cash helps you budget better, do that. If having it on your debit helps you budget better like me, do that. At the end of the day, it's your money. Find what works best for you.

Hold onto that income tax

I know it's hard, but stick it in savings and forget about it. It was really hard for me not to just hightail it to Disney World for the week with that income tax return, but we were able to buy the appliances and furniture for our house with it. Those things aren't cheap and you need them to make a home! It'll be worth it. I promise!

Hope part one has given you something to think about and maybe even some inspiration. In part two, I'll dive more into the advice we got from our parents, financial advisers and realtors.

Get to budgeting and living poor!
Until next time,
Miranda

How To: Create a Couponing System

I must admit I feel like quite the coupon fiend.

When I went grocery shopping with coupons two weeks ago, I got enough food within our budget to eat on for two whole weeks! I stretched the $58 I spent on groceries far!

While I didn't buy groceries last week, I did clip coupons for free school supplies. Seeing as I have no current need for school supplies, we donated the free items [three glue sticks and two really nice pens] to a local school teacher.

Now that I've been buying newspapers and collecting coupons for a little over a month, I needed a system to organize my coupons. The stack of circulars on my dining table was growing and getting out of hand.

My weapon of choice for organizing my tower of coupons? A file folder system.

My coupon filing system!

I gave each coupon circular its own tab. So, in my file folder, I have individual tabs for: SmartSource, RedPlum and P&G. You'll find SmartSource and RedPlum on a weekly basis while P&G comes out monthly.

In the Sunday paper, some stores like Publix and Target will put out store coupons. I made another individual tab for store coupons.

My next tab is labeled "Other." This tab is for coupon circulars that don't come out regularly. For example, in last Sunday's paper, General Mills put out a coupon circular for their items. It now lies in the "Other" tab.

Lastly, I have a "Restaurant" tab. I have coupons for meals at various restaurants like Red Lobster and Shane's Rib Shack stowed in this section. Let me tell you, these coupons are date night gold! Nothing like getting one nice meal and the other free. With these coupons, you can actually afford to go to a movie with the money you save on food.

Every Sunday night, I sit down and write the date at the top of every coupon circular I get. Next, I draft my weekly menu/grocery list around what is on sale this coming week. Personally, I use CouponMom.com which can break down deals based on the percentage that you save. Also personally, I don't get a deal that will save me less than 50 percent.

When I find a deal that I like, I write down the specific name of the product, what store to get it at, what the coupon value is and what circular I can find it in. Once my list is complete, I go through the circulars and clip out the coupons I need.

Of course, sometimes there is a deal for an item that I need like milk or dog food for Bentley, our Yorkie. At this point, I go through ALL my circulars again looking for these specific items. Last night, I was able to find a $1 off coupon for Iams dog food. While it might not make much of a dent on a $12 bag of dog food, it's still a dollar off something I'd have to pay full price for anyway.

What were my results this week? Here is my receipt.

Coupons and all, I spent exactly $40. However, I purchased $62.91 worth of food. My total savings as you can see above was $22.91.

The deals I am most proud of? I got two jars of Ragu spaghetti sauce for $1.38, a can of Gillette shaving gel for $1 and two Colgate toothbrushes for $1.58.

Happy Couponing!
Miranda