Thrifty Momma Ramblings

I Saved at Book Renter Textbooks

January 21, 2012 Ebates, reviews, saving money

First I want to mention I am not being paid or reimbursed by the website. This is a review with all my own opinion. I truly enjoyed the site and savings so I had to share with my readers.

I needed three textbooks for my Spring college classes. These books were not cheap even if I rented them at my local stores and many online sites. When I came across BookRenter.com, I was excited at the prices I was given for my three books. The most expensive book was well over $100 to buy, but still would have cost me well over $60 to rent. I was given the same price for a digital rental. The Bookrenter.com price was $30 for the semester! That was a 50% savings. One textbook was only $3 cheaper. The last book I needed, I couldn’t even buy at many stores as they were sold out. Their price was $27! Again that is a 50% savings.

My total for all three books was $94 with tax. Shipping is free both ways. You can upgrade your shipping to express for $20-40 depending on the weight. I ordered them a couple of days ago and will receive them by Tuesday. It took less than a week with free shipping. They shipped them the next business day after purchasing. I also went through Ebates (double money offer) and received $8 in cash back. I paid less than $90 for all three textbooks which is a huge savings. If I rented them at any of my local rental stores, then I would have paid close to $200 with tax. I saved almost $100 on my books. I can definitely use that money in my pocket.

If you refer 5 people to rent their books within 5 days of your purchase date, then you will receive your order for free! That is a great incentive. I’m still more than thrilled with my savings. If you or your child want to save more money on renting their textbooks, then please go check out Bookrenter.com! I also saw they will buy back textbooks. I don’t know much about the program as I prefer to rent my textbooks. I did buy one textbook last year for Dreamweaver. I got it at Amazon for $50 used. It was in excellent condition.

STOP SOPA/PIPA- Internet Blackout January 18, 2012!

January 18, 2012 Uncategorized

I usually do not post political articles on my blog, but this is something that affects all of us regardless of your political views.

SOPA/PIPA what? I have read about the bills in the last couple of months, but Washington is going to vote on this bill on January 24th, 2012! You have probably read about the protest on many big internet sites such as Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, and many more. Basically this bill is meant to stop “piracy” of rogue sites. This is fine in theory, but the way the bills are worded it will hurt the internet as a whole and everyone who uses the internet. I have embedded a YouTube video below which will further explain the bills proposed before Congress and the Senate.

If you think this doesn’t affect me, then you are wrong! If this bill is passed, it’s a slippery rope we Americans don’t want to go down. It won’t stop at the internet. Do we really want to give the government this kind of control?

We need to kill this bill, and the government needs to find another way to fight piracy. As bloggers, we really need to take notice and write our Congress and Senators to vote NO to SOPA/PIPA! This will hurt how you make money to help support your family. Does the government really want to further hurt the economy? So many people are finding ways to help make a little extra money while out of work. Please visit Stop American Censorship to learn more.

Give Your Furniture a Makeover

January 16, 2012 Frugal Living Tips, House and Home

Last May I posted about remodeling my house. We painted almost every room in the house, put down new vinyl floors, painted kitchen cabinets, fixed cracks above the door frames, and put in a new bathroom sink and toilet. I bought new furniture for our bedroom which I got on clearance. We only had nightstands, and we needed a dresser. I wanted a nice set of matching furniture for our bedroom. When it came time to redo our son’s bedroom, we didn’t want to buy him all new furniture. He has lots of shelving in his closet so he doesn’t need a dresser. He already had a couple of mismatched pieces of furniture in his room. He had an entertainment center and a nightstand. They were still in great condition but in dire need of a makeover.

We watch a lot of remodeling shows on DIY and HGTV channels. My husband had already completed the kitchen cabinet hardware project (you can read about it here). The obvious solution to our problem was to paint the furniture. It was going to be a lot of work with sanding, priming, and then painting. I already did that with the kitchen cabinets and was not in the mood to do another big painting project. My husband had a brilliant idea to solve our problem. He decided to spray paint the furniture. We already had the black satin spray paint from the kitchen hardware project. My son’s room was gray with diamond plated outlet covers. Hubby thought black furniture would compliment the room nicely. He was exactly correct. I told you we watch a lot of remodeling shows on tv.

The spray paint had primer already mixed in so no need for another step. He did rough up the nightstand with a 120 sanding block. Then he wiped it down thoroughly. He used a satin black finish which brought out beautiful details of the piece. He used two coats which dried very quickly outside. It was a very sunny day with little humidity which helps it to dry faster. The one mistake we made was not using a clear coat protector afterwards. The nightstand has a few chips as you can see in the pictures. I am going to wait until spring to add another light coat and then apply a clear protector coat. To further protect the top of the nightstand I had a glass top cut by the local glass shop. It cost me $12 plus tax. I think it adds a nice touch to the nightstand. I also did the same thing to my nightstands and my bathroom vanity. It’s a built-in vanity to the wall. I spent around $80 for all four items. It makes cleaning so much easier and protects the pieces more from water stains.

The project was very easy and inexpensive. I paid around $15 for two cans of spray paint to makeover the entertainment stand and nightstand. I didn’t take pictures of the entertainment stand, but it looks just as nice. Hubby also spray painted the drawer pull a nice silver which gives it a wow factor. It was just a plain brass color. We already had the silver spray paint color. I am planning to do the same thing for my living room end table and entertainment center. I promise to do more of a step by step with pictures for those pieces. This project extends the life of furniture you already own. Why spend more money when you can just give your furniture a makeover. Do you have any furniture you would like to makeover? I would love to read about it.

Friday Ramblings- Graduation Day!

January 14, 2012 Family Life, ramblings

I now realize today is Friday 13th, but I went pretty much all day without even realizing it. See how superstitious I am. I wanted to do a little bit of rambling today, and even pose a question to my fellow bloggers. First for the question to other bloggers. Do you write posts in advance for your blog and schedule them? I am thinking this is something I should start doing since my classes start again on Thursday the 19th.

Today I had graduation day at my university. Basically I got to meet with my adviser, and then have my graduation application signed with several signatures. I wasn’t interested in spending money on invitations, a ring, or even professional pictures. I will not send out invitations, but I am throwing a graduation party afterwards. I will invite everyone by phone and through Facebook. Yes I am so original. I am getting an Associate’s Degree so I can’t actually buy an official ring which I would never wear so why waste the money. I am leaning towards buying the cap and gown which will cost $50, but I can use them again when I graduate with my BA in two more years.

I forgot to mention last week I found our Christmas tree for next year on clearance at Wal-Mart. It was a $100 tree marked down to $22 so I paid $23 with tax! I was thrilled when I saw it so cheap. It’s a 7.5′ Douglas Fir which is a foot bigger than the tree we had. I donated that one today along with some old decorations. I can’t wait for next year to use our new tree. It will be here before we know it. I also bought our blue and silver decorations for next year at different stores. I paid around $100 which included a tree skirt, stockings, wreath, and decorations plus bags and such. I love those wonderful after Christmas sales especially when it’s marked 75% or more. The pickings are slimmer but the savings are fantastic.

My son received his report card on Tuesday and he made Honor Roll! I am so excited as he was having a little trouble the first part of the grading period. I am looking at him fast asleep on the couch. Kids have this wonderful innocence about them especially when they are sleeping. I am going to stop rambling for tonight. I do have some good posts lined up for next week. I just need to get some pictures taken for one post, and I need to get some more information lined up for the next one. This weekend I will be a busy bee writing and visiting family and friends. I have to watch the Saints beat the 49ers tomorrow night!

Save More Money with Walgreens Prescription Savings Club

January 12, 2012 Uncategorized

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Healthcare is expensive and on the rise. Insurance providers have you jump through so many hoops in order to stay covered. Prescriptions are not any different. You might not have heard, but there has been a dispute between Walgreens and Express Script program for the last year. If you are part of the Express Scripts’ pharmacy provider network , it means as of January 1, 2012, you can longer use Walgreens pharmacy to fill your prescriptions. This includes all Walgreens pharmacies nationwide and Duane Reade pharmacies in the New York City area.

Now all Express Script patients will have to change their pharmacy. Walgreens has more 24 hour stores than any pharmacy in the country so you can get a prescription filled day or night which is great for emergencies. The worst part of this dispute is that the costs are not going down as a result. The Express Script program stated clients will not see costs drop by excluding Walgreens pharmacy from its network. It’s quite possible that costs might go up as Walgreens offers competitive pricing on prescriptions.

In order to help many customers, Walgreens Prescription Savings Club is offering a special discount on annual membership for the month of January. For $10 a year, a family membership covers everyone in your immediate family, including a spouse, dependents 22 and younger and pets. Individuals may join for $5. Join and receive discount prices on your prescriptions.

Other great benefits included:

Savings on more than 8,000 brand-name and all generic medications
Discounts on flu shots, pet prescriptions, nebulizers and diabetic supplies
Bonuses when you purchase Walgreens brand products and photo services

This is a great savings to help ease the burden of higher costs. If you are not following Walgreens on Facebook or Walgreens on Twitter then you should start today. I already follow them on both and I am signed up for special emails for special discounts and coupons.

TMR Frugal Living Tip #88

January 9, 2012 Beauty and Fashion Tips, cleaning, Frugal Living Tips, saving money

Today’s thrifty living tip is to use baby wipes to spot clean your clothes. I know they have the Tide fabric wipes, but baby wipes do the same job and cost less to buy. Baby wipes are very effective at cleaning up spilled food or drink. I keep a small pack of wipes in my purse. They have the hard case or you can buy the small pack of samples. I also receive free wipe samples from time to time in the mail. My little one is a tween, but I still keep a box of baby wipes in my house to use for many things as they are so versatile. You can even use them as makeup remover especially for your eyes.

Get to Stepping with Cafe Well

January 7, 2012 Uncategorized

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cafe Well. All opinions are 100% mine.

This year I have resolved to exercise regularly. I did great last year until I started college. Then I got lazy and made excuses not to exercise more. I was excited when I read about CaféWell and the Race to the Moon program.

Cafe Well is a great online social network site which allows you to connect and support others who are also trying to lose weight and get healthier. You can find healthy lifestyle tips, information on health issues you might have and challenges. The site is free to use and join.

One program CaféWell is offering is called Race to the Moon through HealthAmerica. This health challenge encourages people to get more active by offering free wireless pedometers to track participants steps by either walking or running. Each participant will earn rewards for reaching milestones and total steps taken. Health \America is offering the free wireless pedometer to their members in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Ohio, and West Virgina. Even if you are not a member, then you can still join CaféWell.

I would love to start a fun workout challenge with my friends. We could keep logs of doing something daily, and keep each other on track by posting our logs for everyone to see. It would be a great way to encourage each other by losing weight together as well as getting healthier. The grand prize will be a day of shopping to replace the clothes that will be falling off of us.