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Nifty Thrifty savings has a coupon posted so you can get 5 free packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Just in time for football season snacks!

http://www.niftythriftysavings.com/2010/09/walmart-5-free-packages-of-philadelphia.html

I printed my coupon and I’ll be heading to walmart soon (was going anyway but this makes it exciting! lol)

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I’m excited to be part of BLOGFEST 2010. This is my first time particpating in any multi-blog event. The main page, A journey of books, is where you can find the complete list of participating blogs.  Also if you use the blogfest tracking list it makes it super easy for you but you can also win the grand prize.  I kind of got lost in the mix I think of the blogs.  My blog was omitted from the finalized list but it was fixed very quickly by a journey of books as soon as I noticed it.  So, I apologize, but I didn’t know who I was supposed to link to next. (Each blogfest participant was supposed to link to the next blog). So my suggestion would be to either click on the A journey of books link, the blogfest banner below, or I’ve been using the tracking list.  That way I could keep track of who I visited and who I didn’t so far. 

My giveaway is going to be an item of the winner’s choice from my ETSY shop “Angie’s Candles“.

I make hand-poured soy jar candles, soy melting tarts, and wax dip bears.

Soy candles are healthier to burn.  I chose this wax medium because one of my boys have asthma.  I love candles and read about how to burn them healthier.  On tip is to use a wick dipper or something as simple as a metal spoon to dip the wick in the melted wax and pull it out to extinguish the flame rather than blowing them out. It also extends the life of your wick.

Soy melting tarts are meant to go in your tart warmers or potpourri warmers. This is an alternative to get a lovely scent in your home but avoid flames.

Another option is Wax dip bears.  Some of you may be aware but I’d say half of my shop visitors had never heard of them.  Wax dip bears start off as stuffed bears but are dipped and scented.  They then act as a cute room air freshener . The scent generally last for 30 days.  After 30 days you can refresh the scent by holding a hairdryer 6 inches away and warming the bear for about 30 seconds.  These make great door prizes, basket fillers, baby shower table decor, or under $15 gifts. Again, no flame but nice scent.  The bears you see in my esty shop aren’t dipped yet. You choose the bear and scent.  They aren’t dipped until they’re ordered.  They are placed on a glass dish and packaged with Cello bags, bow, and tag.

Being a frugal gal myself I try to find the best prices I can on my materials so I can try to give you the best prices I can.  Also my etsy shop is fairly new.  I don’t have a wide variety of scents yet but I order a little bit at a time.  If there is a particular scent you are looking for, email me.  If I can find the scent I can make it. 

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I don’t claim to be an expert in the movement to live greener. I’ve had an interest for a few years. After all, our children, grandchidren, etc, have to live on this planet after we’re gone. My interest really peaked when I realized I could be saving some money AND living greener at the same time. I wanted to share some of my tips on how living greener can save you money.

I know some of these are seemingly obvious. Remember I’m a green newbie. If you have any other tips to share with me and my readers I’d love to hear them.

1. Recycling

We all know recycling reduces waste, reuses items to give them a second life. My town does not have a city wide recycling program. They have a few bins scattered in town where you can take minimal items like newspapers and clear glass. We save all of our aluminum cans. There is a local recycling company not far from my house. You can take your recyclables there and they pay you depending on the weight of all the items you bring. It’s not enough to quit your day job over but we average $12 each trip. Hey $12 a pack of steak at walmart. If your town has a city wide recycling program it can cut down on the amount of garbage going out.  In my town you are allowed so many bags per week.  If you have more than the allotted amount they charge you extra.

2.  Organic Gardening

This is still something I’m learning more about. What I do know is, that instead of buying all those fertilizers, pesticides, special soils, etc you can make your own at home AND it’s safer for the environment AND your kids and pets.  As I said I’m still new to this but little facts like planting marigolds around your garden will deter rabbits.  Or use a soapy water spritz as a safe pesticide (bugs don’t like the soapy taste).  Composte bins are great.  Save your potato peels, rotting veggies, etc and use them in your garden.  Used coffee grounds are good for your acidic soil loving plants like Azaleas. 

3.  Energy Savers

We just recently put insulation in our house.  I could not believe the different in our heating oil bills from the year before.  I didn’t really think it was going to make that much difference but it did.  The year before We had to fill up our tanks 3 times (I live in PA and it was a cold winter).  Last year only twice.  We also installed a digital thermastat.  We set it so the temp automatically goes 60 over night but kicks on in the morning around 7 just before we start getting up.  While there is an initial cost for these things the savings are long term.    I had also heard that installing solar panels will eliminate your electric bill and in some area electric companies will even pay you!  My husband and I are trying to gather all the facts on this in our area.  We’re considering.  If anyone in PA has these I’d love to talk to you. I worry about how they work in the winter when the snow piles up.  Other smaller steps like changing to energy efficient light bulbs, turning unneeded lights off, washing clothes in cold water, and taking shorter showers, can all add up. Not only energy saving for the earth but also money saving steps for you on your electric and heating bills. 

4. Green living rewards programs like Recycle Bank

I’ve found a couple programs that reward you for living greener.  The best one I know of is Recycle Bank.  You earn points for green choices such as recycling in your community, sending in old electronics to recycle, signing up for their newsletter for green tips and more.  I recently became a Recycle Bank Insider.  I will have more green tips on my blog and Recycle Bank Reward codes.  You can use your Recycle Bank reward points to cash in for products, gift cards, coupons, sweepstakes, and more. 

Those are just a few tips for now.  Please share some of your tips with me.  I’d love to learn more.

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“What We Won Wednesday” is a place to share our wins for the past week. It doesn’t have to be just blog giveaways it could be: a scratch off ticket win, a basket party win, a national sweepstakes, twitter party or whatever you’d like to tell us about. If you can remember where you won it too,that would be great.

There are several purposes to this post

1. To encourage others
2. To share in the joy with our fellow readers and bloggers
3. To show that people really do win

So Congratulations every body. I hope you all have wins to share!

My wins:

1.  Davinci Beads from http://www.mnmspecial.com/  I won a bracelet in the length i wanted and my choice of 3 beads!

2.  Himalayan Salt Lamp from

http://tnshadylady.blogspot.com/2010/08/salt-power-himalayan-salt-lamp-giveaway.html

So excited about this one. I thought they looked really cool and took advantage of about

 every entry offered then came back to tweet several times lol

3.  Huggies wipes from @huggies #wipeswednesday on twitter.  I just found out that every wednesday you answer a certain question they tweet and they pick…i think it’s 10 winners from the answers.  Oh boy can i use these!

4.  $50 Chocomize gc from  www.busy-mommy.com  
I was so lucky this week to win so many things I really wanted.  If you haven’t seen the chocomize site you get to make your own chocolate bars with whatever ingredients you want.  I’m interested in trying one with the gold dust just because I can lol. 

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If this is your first time linking up with us on This for That, please READ THIS POST for more information!

Post your “need” in the MckLinky by writing about what you need and linking to where others can fulfill that need. Meet the need of the 3 ppl DIRECTLY ABOVE your link, AND THEN YOU ARE DONE! If you want more than 3 ppl to help you out, then wait a bit, come back later and enter your need again (just make sure you AGAIN help out the 3 ppl DIRECTLY ABOVE you). The idea is that you help out 3 ppl and 3 ppl help you out…AND you don’t have to wonder if you left someone hanging because your job is done as soon as you help out the three ppl above you! You can link up as many times as you want!

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT IN ORDER TO LINK UP, YOU NEED TO FULFILL THE REQUESTS OF THE THREE PEOPLE ABOVE YOU. IF YOU CANNOT MEET THE NEED, PLEASE EMAIL ME. OTHERWISE, I WILL BE DELETING REQUESTS OF THOSE WHO AREN’T FULFILLING THE REQUESTS OF OTHERS. IF YOU DON’T HAVE TIME TO HELP OTHERS OUT AT THE MOMENT, THEN PLEASE WAIT TO LINK UP UNTIL YOU DO. THANK YOU 🙂
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