My New Favorite Necklace

Once again Blogger on my phone is acting crazy... so you'll get my Tuesday post on Monday night... cause I'm tired of writing it only to see it disappear when I hit "save".  Perhaps tomorrow I'll try a post without pictures or anything "special" to see if I can get it to save and post appropriately. 

Ok, to the real reason for my post.  Newby, Milo and Dixie saved their green papers and bought me a great necklace from Ms. Laura and Animal Rescue & Activism by Crafting4Cause on Etsy. 

It's handmade, has a special color bead for each of my babies, and it goes to help other animals in need. It was only $20 delivered.

I absolutely love it. The sentiment of "Love Little Legs" is something we all appreciate and share... but coupled with the dachshund charm and my babies' colors just makes it even more special to my heart.

I found the shop because a friend had posted it on Facebook.. a delightful find IMHO. I love buying things from Etsy, and helping the small businesses. Especially if they offer dachshund things :)

Check them out... and all the other shops on Etsy.

***Update.. I received a great little note from the shop after I wrote thanking her for the necklace and telling her I blogged about it.  Here is her response:

Thanks for the sweet message! I'm so glad you love your necklace and that it has special meaning for you!!!! That makes my day! :D

Normally I try to donate to specifically to non-profit organizations that offer free and low cost spay/neuter (since fewer animals means less will need rescue!), but since I've had quite a few people wanting this particular necklace it seemed more fitting that I send some donation money to a dachshund rescue organization. So I recently sent a nice sum to Dachshund Rescue of North America. But oftentimes I do send money to Dena Delgado who runs Dachshund Rescue in Southern California. Dena is good friends with the woman who runs the rescue I volunteer with so I'm very familar with their work and I've met and spoken with Dena quite a few times. It's a really great organization that really focuses on unwanted senior dachshunds and those needing medical care. I'm so thankful that I have an opportunity to donate to these great organizations! So thank you for helping me do this!!!

That's so neat that you mentioned your necklace on your blog!!!
Again, thank you for your message! ❤  Laura

 

Budget Cooking

As many of you know I am definitely a girl with budgeting in mind! I love to save pennies whenever and however I can. And, even in my weekly planning of food I will plan and carry out as best I can to make my small amount of cash go its farthest.

I am not a huge coupon shopper. The only places that will use computer printed coupons is Meijer and Kroger, and oftentimes the savings is not worth the travel to those stores. So I get around my budget in other ways.

When I do go shopping with coupons I get them from Coupons.com. They have coupons for those major chain, major company items which I cannot do without.

Instead of purchasing ready made mixes, I will make mine from scratch using recipes I have found at Mom Advise. ie why buy Bisquick when you can make it cheaper at home? Another great site for make at home items is Budget101.com.

Sign-up for Kraft First Taste, which will allow you to try never been seen before Kraft items, often free or with a huge discount.

But my number one thing is to stock my pantry with basic staples which will help you down the road when shopping. I have all of the things that Paula Deen says are 'necessities' and a few more of my own to suit my family's taste buds. Then when you go shopping, you really only need to pick up any special meats or veggies and any pantry basic on which you are running low.

Another great thing is to shop at Aldi. Aldi is an off shoot, with low prices, of Trade Joe's. Their foods are fantastic, and they offer a Double Guarantee... they will replace the product AND refund your money. I have never taken them up on this, as everything I have purchased is wonderful! Just take your own bags and load up on the savings!

These are my means of saving money each week...

This is my way of stretching my food dollar...