Christmas Morning

Funny Clip of the Day

Take on Me: Literal Video Version - watch more funny videos

Survey's Really Do Payoff!

Yesterday I got my third check in two weeks from various survey groups and today I deposited all three for a total of $19! Not much in the grand scheme of things but it will certainly help my "fun" budget. Mike and I have devised a budget that helps us save for things we will need really soon (like a new used car) while allowing ourselves each $50 of "fun money" each month. Fun money is used whenever we go to the movies, bowling, buy/rent movies, decide to eat lunch out while at work, buy clothing that's not needed, etc. It goes away pretty fast which is why we've taken to doing surveys to help bolster our individual budgets (it also helped tremendously this Christmas). It's not the quickest way or the most efficient way to make an extra buck; but it lets us earn money on our own terms without getting a second job. Some of the survey money I earned this month represent surveys I've been taking for the last six months. I'm hoping the momentum will continue and the checks will keep rolling in. We'll just have to see...

Proof that freebies CAN be awesome!

Ok, so usually freebies are small and unelaborate. But occasionally there are exceptions. I can't remember exactly how I signed up for this one but it totally knocked my socks off. I have to show you pictures so you fully understand. It starts out as an innocent, albeit somewhat large, box.

Inside it becomes more intriguing...

At this point I'm a little confused and a little awestruck














And voila it's an actual wooden crate filled with straw and four full size cans of organic Muirs Glen diced tomatoes (one is fire roasted). Pretty darn impressive show if you ask me.




And now on to some Christmas themed fun!

Here's a bunch of fun songs I found on Amazon available as MP3s for those in need of more Christmas tunes. Some are really random!

News and Stuff!

It's been awhile so time for a new post! I read some very exciting news in the paper this morning: Greensboro is getting its own Mellow Mushroom!! If you've never heard of the Mellow Mushroom, they are a pizza and sandwich joint that has amazing food and many items can be ordered vegan. It'll be in downtown Greensboro on Elm St soon.
Anyone who regularly shops at Harris Teeter, listen up. Their next big promotion is a free $25 gas card if you buy $40 or more in one trip each week for a certain number of weeks. I highly recommend signing up for the E-VIC program (you get one email a week listing the week's sales). If you're a member of the E-VIC and do the promotion you get an additional $25 gas card. Pretty sweet! Also if you sign up for E-VIC before Dec 31 you get entered to win a possible $5000 cash. Plus most weeks offer a special deal just for E-VIC customers. We've often gotten cookies, salsa, etc for super cheap with these deals.
My birthday is coming up in January and I just remembered that several places offer birthday freebies! If you have a birthday coming up, make sure you sign up at Moes.com. You get a coupon for a free entree on your birthday. If you have a Hollywood Video card you can get a free rental on your birthday too. Free dinner and a movie!

Cat Toy Recommendations

We've had Millie and B a year and a half now and have come to discover what toys are worth their price. Probably the best brand we've found is Petstages. They make these great chew toys (for cats and dogs) that can be great for teething and playing. I wish we knew about them when our cats were teething because some you can even freeze like you would a baby's teething ring to help alleviate the pain. How cool is that!?! Both Millie and B love the bright colors and textures and sounds of the toys and will bat them around like crazy. They also really like the turbo scratcher type toys with the ball that spins around. They tire of it after awhile but always seem to go through a phase where they like playing with it again. And then there's the laser mouse. Oh, the laser mouse. We're bad parents in that we usually only bring it out when we want them to get out of a room and they are being stubborn. They fall for it everytime. That's how much they love it. Nothing else matters when the laser is awake. I'd also recommend catnip bubbles if you haven't tried them yet. I feel a little weird encouraging my cats to be "intoxicated", but they seem to enjoy it. The nip affects some cats more than others so your mileage may vary.

Recent Good Deals

If you have a Melting Pot nearby, you may be interested in this offer. Apparently if you sign up for their member's club, they will send you an email coupon for a free chocolate fondue for two. They're building one in Greensboro on Wendover. I doubt it's vegan friendly, but some people who read this may be able to take advantage of the offer.

If you're a CVSer you might want to check out the sales flyer starting today. You can get contact lens solution for free (after Extra Care Bucks) and there are coupons available that let you save even more. They are still doing a battery deal as well where you get $10 in Extra care bucks for buying $20 in Duracell batteries. Don't have an ExtraCare card? You can get one here.

My Baby's on CDBaby!

Exciting news! Mike just got set up on CDBaby with his latest EP. You can check it out here and even hear samples: http://cdbaby.com/cd/flyhomerfly . Pretty cool!
We just got done eating our free pizza from Papa John's. If you befriend them on Facebook they send you a code for a free medium cheese pizza when you purchase another pizza online. It still cost a pretty penny seeing as their pizzas cost twice that of Little Caesar's, but it was cheaper than they would have been full price.

Yummy

For all my vegan friends, here's some recipes I highly recommend:
Rick's Casserole
Impossible Pumpkin Pie
and a Peanut Butter Pasta recipe I've made so many times I can write it from memory:
Cook pasta for two people, when there are three minutes left on your timer add 2 cups brocolli (or less, your choice) to the pasta and boiling water.
While pasta is cooking, mix up your sauce:
1/3 cup peanut butter whisked with 1/4 cup hot water (which until smooth)
Add a few splashes of hot sauce, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1 Tbsp Braggs, 1 tsp worcestire sauce, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp sugar
Drain your pasta and brocolli and mix with the sauce. Bon appetit!

Also on a side note, I highly recommend seeing Iron Man. It held up to the hype.

Mistletoe Makeover

Today I was a little bored so while looking for good online deals I came across this site: Merry Mistletoe Makeover from Sephora. You upload a picture and get a makeover and they put your head on a dancing body. It's creepy and funny at the same time! It was truly more fun than I initially thought it would be. When you're done it lets you email your finished picture to a friend or yourself. If you were planning on buying something from Sephora.com you also get a code to get a free gift with your purchase.

Sweet Savings!

Sometimes it's a good thing to wait. Mike and I searched for good Christmas cards last year during the after Christmas sales. We didn't find anything. So we thought we were reduced to picking out full priced cards at Target and Wal-Mart. And while they had good selection we just couldn't find any we agreed on. Until Walgreens. The infamous drug store on the corner had a buy one get two free and we walked out of there with three boxes of cards we absolutely had to have for only $4. Sweet! On other savings news there's a website I want to recommend. Retailmenot.com is a great site to visit before ordering anything online. You can search for a website and find coupon codes that will save you money when ordering online. There's also an awesome forum with some good freebies, mail-in-rebates, and bargains. You need to be a little cautious with some of the posts, but most of them are legit. I ordered some clearance stuff from Current and because of Retailmenot my total went from $20 to $8.56. Super sweet!

Triples Weekend

Harris Teeter is having triples weekend this Thursday through Sunday. They will triple all coupons under $0.99. Mike and I went today and saved $48.60 with coupons and VIC savings combined. Some of the great deals available are free baking yeast, $0.25 crest toothpaste, free Muir Glen canned tomatoes, and 4 cans of Swanson broth for $1.38. We even found some useful items in their clearance cart. (Check out the discounted Halloween merchandise for 75% off!).

Survey Savvy

I'd like to feature a survey site every couple weeks for those interested in earning extra money on the internet. Survey Savvy is one of the legit sites I've found. Mike and I both use it and have both gotten checks. One of the best parts about Survey Savvy (besides the name, reminds me of Jack Sparrow) is that there's no minimum amount you need to earn to cash out. You can take a $1 survey and immediately turn around and get your $1; or you can keep saving the dollars and cash out when it's a more impressive amount. The surveys are decent and payout well if you qualify. You can also earn extra money for referring other people that take surveys. It's pretty much a win-win situation. If you're interested in signing up you can click here or on the picture above.

Mad Men

If you're bored with your TV and haven't checked out Mad Men yet, I highly recommend it. It started out a guilty pleasure full of period costumes and ended up being something I was proud to watch with its excellent writing and quality acting. It's always interesting to me to get a peek into the past and be able to identify with it through fiction. You can check it out On Demand (if you have it) or buy the episodes on I-Tunes for about $1.99 each. Or check out AMC's website to see when they will start airing reruns.

Happy Halloween!

Last night I got a phone call that I won "It's the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on DVD from a local radio station. I was pretty excited because Mike had professed to being a big fan of this movie and really how can you go wrong with the Peanuts? If you want to get a free copy of your favorite Peanuts movie and eat Bird's Eye Voila products, here's a link to a rebate you might like: Voila Rebate. I made what appear to be a successful batch of brownies from a recipe in "La Dolce Vegan". They didn't turn out flat and dry like some other recipes I've tried before. So here's to the Peanuts and chocolate! Have a Happy Halloween!!

Doors close at 6:30

Mike and I got around to voting today. The line was long but supposedly not as long as others. I only saw one person turned away because she arrived after the doors closed. Overall it was pretty painless and now we don't have to worry about finding time on the 4th. Hurray! I'm pretty sleepy so I will make this blog short. The end.