Category — Budgeting

Juicefairy.com is a budgeting blog about how you can stretch your money and live fabulously on less but I understand that the economy is hurting and a lot of people right now are not worried about living “fabulously”.  They just want to be able to pay their bills.  MSNBC has reported that the number of U.S homes heading toward foreclosure more than doubled in the first quarter from a year earlier.  CNN Money said that the unemployment rate was at a 4-year high right now. With the price of gas and food rising some people are facing the reality of not being able to pay off outstanding debts.

Being in debt can make you feel as though you are drowning.  There are places you can turn when facing possible bankruptcy.  Freedom Debt Relief specializes in debt consolidation and credit counseling.  They can take an aggressive approach to relieving your debt so you can avoid bankruptcy. Bankruptcy will scar your credit report for 7 – 10 years.  It can stay on court records for over 20 years.  Every time you apply for credit, whether it is a home, a car, a lease, or insurance, you will be impacted. Typically Freedom Debt Relief can negotiate balances down to 50% of what you owe.  If you are in a bad situation financially and can’t find a way out contacting Freedom Debt Relief for their free consultation can’t hurt.  Be comforted by the thought that there are options.

This is a Pay Per Post Opportunity. 

My obsession with saving money has possibly gotten out of control.

I have been reading a lot of wedding blogs lately and it is insane what you can do for a wedding with a big budget. It is all well and good if you have the money but if you don’t it just hurts to read. I want damn white peacocks at my wedding too! Just because you can and I didn’t know that. But I almost freaked when I read this. Darci, you can buy jars that look exactly like your pretty Pottery Barn ones at Michaels for half the price. Plus you can use the 40% off coupons. I wanted to cry for the thirty dollars extra she had to spend. I actually had to restrain myself from commenting … because I didn’t want to make her feel bad.  To calm myself, I repeated “she used a gift-card” over and over in my head, excusing that kind of blatant waste of money.

I think I have a sickness.

When I find a nail polish color that works for me I don’t want to let it go. But the second it starts to get goopy my self-done manicure starts looking sloppy and it bugs me. I have always heard putting a drop of acetone nail-polish remover or clear nail polish into your favorite lacquer will extend the life a little longer, but ultimately it ruins it. Well, SuperNail nail polish thinner will replenish your older polishes and make them new again. At $2.99 this saves my favorite colors and the cost of replacing them!

God I love a good bargain! I know you do too so I have a treat for you. One of my favorite bloggers, Kyle, from Rather-Be-Shopping is going to be doing a bi-monthly guest post about saving money with coupons. He is probably the only guy I know of who is as obsessed with finding a coupon or a bargain as I am. I think he will be able to pass on some really juicy tips. Drum roll please …

I want to thank JuiceFairy for giving me the opportunity to try an ‘online coupons’ feature on her terrific blog. Very exciting opportunity. A little about me, my name is Kyle James, I live in northern California with my wife and 3 young kids. I own and operate a website called Rather-Be-Shopping.com which specializes in online coupons for over 500 stores, organized in 23 shopping categories. I also have a blog where I write about frugal living, tips on saving money, and other musings about life in general.

You are probably thinking, “Why is this dude writing a post on JuiceFairy?” Fair question, as I am not a fashion, decorating, or beauty expert. But I do know about living on a budget and finding great deals. So today I’d like to talk about bare walls and empty rooms. That pretty much summed up our house when we moved in 5 years ago. It was the first house that my wife and I had ever lived in together. We were always in small apartments with very few walls to decorate. Now we had big walls, much bigger rooms, and still very little money to decorate.

Over the past few years we have decorated the house ourselves and found ways to do it without spending a ton of money. Here is how we did it, along with some online resources we used:

• Artwork and Prints. I am a huge fan of All Posters.com and Art.com for bargains on stuff for the wall. We have bought several framed prints from both. They each stock over 500,000 posters and prints and have this really cool ‘Custom Frame’ tool that lets you pick your matte and frame and shows you online what it will look like. I have found their prices to be very reasonable and they always have coupons for 20% off or free shipping on your $9.99 or more order. Also, keep an eye out at Costco or Sam’s Club, our Costco has an annual artwork sale where we have scored a couple great deals as well.

• Do-It-Yourself. I have become a pretty darn good painter and it has saved me hundreds of dollars. As a matter of fact, I know all the employees in our local Home Depot’s paint department by name! They offer free classes on the weekends on doing things like faux painting, picking colors, and basic painting techniques. Take advantage of them, they helped me a bunch.

• Yard Sales. Most of the furniture in our family room came from yard sales. We recently bought a really cool wooden toy chest from a garage sale for $20 and I was able to refinish it myself. It would have probably cost over $200 brand new. Hit yard sales late in the day as people are more likely to give you a great deal since they want to get rid of the stuff and not have to store it.

Here are some online coupons for a few of the stores I mentioned, plus a few other related coupons that might help you save some money decorating your home.

All Posters.com

Save 20% Off your Online Order

Coupon Code: 82P20

Expiration: 6/20/08

See All: All Posters Coupons

Home Depot.com

Save $5 Off your $50+ Online Order

Coupon Code: SPRING21

Expiration: 5/11/08

See All: Home Depot Coupons

JCPenney.com

Save 20% Off your $75+ Online Order of Window Coverings, Bedding, Bath, Decorative, Rugs and Apparel

Coupon Code: WKIT842

Expiration: 5/25/08

See All: JCPenney Coupons

Art.com

Save 15% Off your Online Order

Coupon Code: MAYO

Expiration: 5/09/08

See All: Art.com Coupons

Bare Walls.com

Save 10% Off All Framed Art and Prints

Coupon Code: RTHRBFR

Expiration: 5/31/08

See All: Bare Walls Coupons

Lamps Plus.com

Save $5 Off your $50+ Online Order

Coupon Code: 24AFFDC6

Expiration: 5/31/08

See All: Lamps Plus Coupons

BlindsGalore.com

Save 25% Off your $450+ Online Order + Free Shipping

Coupon Code: LUVMOM

Expiration: 5/12/08

See All: BlindsGalore Coupons

I am always hunting for a good deal, and I found a one-stop website that does some of the hunting for me. Check out StyleNotes a website that posts daily bargains for womens clothing, footwear, accessories, and more fun stuff.

Right on the home page they have hot deals which are updated daily. Today there is a link to shoe deals on Amazon for as little as $18. One of the posted pairs is this cute pair of Nine West Mary Janes for only $26.69.

Then they actually have a link today for bomber jackets at Tilly’s for $8! They are actually pretty cute jackets too (available in white and black). Too bad I live in Florida and I wear a jacket maybe once a year.

Important: The following is the best part of the StyleNotes website. I have been looking for a site that can do this for a while. If you go to her alerts page you can add your email and receive alerts every time a deal or coupon is posted for the stores you love. Just choose from one of the hundreds of stores on the list. I am always seeing something I like and just waiting for a coupon to arrive. Now if a site could just watch and item for me and tell me when it is on sale I would be in heaven!