Frugal Friday with Marsha 6/20/14

I am actually writing this post early and scheduling it to post as I am at a quilt retreat.
7:30 am to get there to help set up.  We sew from 9 am to 11 pm today and 9 am to 4 pm on Saturday.

The retreat costs $65.  It's in town so not an overnight to have to cover a motel too.  The $65 helps to pay for the small amount we are paying for the building, 3 meals, and a little towards some of the door prizes. 
Most door prizes were donated by a few quilt shops and then members of the guild.

Is this frugal?  Probably not....I could just set aside this same time and sew at home.  The problem is that I won't do it.  I will allow people to call and be taken somewhere....think I need to be on the computer....or any number of other excuses.
At home I won't have the socializing with other quilters either.

Let's just say it's frugal to save my sanity!

Hubby and I did shop at Aldi this week.  We spent just over $200.  I feel good knowing that we have plenty of food for suppers for some time.
Aldi is the cheapest place to shop, in my opinion.  We got a very nice variety.

We also bought 4 jugs of scoopable litter.  You might remember that I've been cutting up newspapers for the litter boxes for lots of months now to save the money of buying litter.
This does do the job, but I had a hard time keeping up with the papers, even picking up free papers here and there.  It also doesn't cover smell too well.
Aldi has the jugs for just $3.99.  I feel this is cheap enough to buy the litter over spending the time to cut up papers.  I can now find other things to do with the time that I was spending cutting them.
The grocery store has their store brand of the same size litter on sale for $5.89 this week.  PetCo offers you to refill this size jug for $5.49.  So, $3.99 really is a good deal.

One other thing hubby bought this past weekend was a new steam cleaner for the carpets.  (The income tax refund came in).
We ended up buying  Hoover Power Path as I wanted a smaller more portable machine.
It's been over a year since our other steam cleaner bit the dust.
I can feel that buying our own machine is frugal.  It's a lot cheaper than paying a company to come out to shampoo the carpets or to rent the machine at the store 2 or 3 times a year.
I'm very pleased with the Power Path.  It does a really good job....and especially with over a year of grandchildren, children, and pet stains!

I think that is all for me this week.  I do hope you have some posts to share this week.

An InLinkz Link-up

Squidoo Hopping 6/19/14

I'm sure by now that all of my squidoo readers know about the new payout threshold.

I can be ok with the minimum being set to $25 for everyone starting with the July 2014 payouts.
I do assume that when they say July 2014 payouts that they mean starting in September 2014 to start the $25 minimum since our pay is for 2 month prior.
Please correct me if I am wrong there.

I have high hopes that the new threshold will give me the motivation to step up my game again in squidoo.  Not just by updating and building more, but also by promoting the lenses as well.

I had already planned on updating one lens yesterday before reading HQ.  After reading HQ I was motivated to update another lens while I was at it.

Also, I had only been taking notes on updates and such for the past couple of months.   I found those notes and got them all written where they belonged in my notebook.
Most probably keep track of their lenses in some sort of a spread sheet.  I keep mine in a 3 ring binder.
Each lens has it's own piece of paper, and of course they are in alphabetical order.
I have noted when I created the lens and what charity is getting 10% of the earnings.
I then make note of any updates I do to the lens and the date.
I have a 2 page list of possible updates to give me ideas on what to do.
You know, some lenses don't really warrant an update except checking to make sure the amazon products are still available or something along those lines.

I hope to see lots of links this week.  I'm linking up the 2 that I updated yesterday.  Thanks!

An InLinkz Link-up

WIP Wednesday--Getting Ready for Retreat!

I did do some sewing this past week, but failed to think of taking pictures!
Too late now because I have my trunk packed for the quilt retreat this Friday and Saturday.

I'm taking 2 of my machines.  The one machine in the front has my walking foot on it and I do intend to get to some quilting this weekend.

This week I'm going to post my usual UFO and NewFO lists and then make notes behind on what I have packed in hopes to work on this weekend.

In addition I have my hexagons packed.  Last week going through the linky's I found:  http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/2014/06/scraphappy-saturday-in-happy-sunny.html
Each month she picks a color and June is YELLOW!!  That's my favorite color.  I have gone through all of my hexies and picked out the ones with yellow and hoping to complete all of them by this time next week to link up with her blog post.   I will be working on these at Needlers group this afternoon and worked on them some last Friday and then a few evenings at home as well last week.

UFO's:
(finished) Log Cabin quilt
 (finished)Log Cabin wall hanging
(finished) Log cabin table runner
Rectangle quilt  ---------------------(this is packed but last on my list to work on)
2 rectangle table runners (one done)----(2nd one is packed to quilt and finish.)
challenge wall hanging
GoodNight Irene quilt/wall hanging-----(I plan to get the border done)
(finished) Quilt for sewing club at church
 (Finished) Applique Bunnies quilt
 (Finished) Penny Patch Quilt
Yo-Yo Table runner----------(I plan to finish this)
Hexagon table topper
(Finished) Spoolin' Around
Emerald Island Fusique table runner

NewFO's
Sunflower table runner and matching placemats--------(this is the project that I am in hopes of completing this weekend!!)
Spiderweb quilt
Easter wall hanging
Cat wall hanging
Christmas bags (total of at least 25)
Braid table runner
Sunflower pillow
Christmas wall hanging
Five and Dime quilt
Chevron quilt


I am linking up with the following blogs:

Apparel n' Bags for Less----Review

When I was approached to choose a bag and do a review for apparelnbags I knew exactly what type of bag I was going to look for.
I bought a larger laptop and could no longer use my old laptop bag.
I went right to the messenger bags on the website.

I ended up choosing the

BAGedge BE023 Bike Messenger Bag  

pictured below:

It is pretty perfect for my needs.  Plenty of room for my laptop as well as other items.
There are pockets on both sides as well as additional pockets on the flap and under the flap.

Here it is filled.   As you can see I am carrying a water bottle on one side and I have the other pocket used as well.   My mouse and mousepad are in the zippered pocket on the outside of the flap.    My cords on in the pockets on the other side of the flap.
Inside  I have a legal pad, a spiral notebook, my laptop, and 2 Sunday papers as well.
Sturdy shoulder strap is another plus.

http://www.apparelnbags.com offers many types of bags including the messenger bags, but also back packs, duffle bags, totes and more.

A bag for everyone.   Pricing is very reasonable!!

Discounts when spending more than $100 on one style, so go right ahead and order for your team here.  Yes, a lot of the bags also offer customization. 

Also enjoy free shipping on orders over $149.

There's more!  Hence the name Apparel n' Bags , they offer so much more than just bags.

You can also purchase t-shirts, polos, shirts, pants, sweats, thermals, athletic wear, shorts and more!  They sell apparel for infants, boys, girls, women, and men.

You will want to be sure to check out all that they sell.  In addition there is also work wear, head wears, outer wear, intimates, as well as accessories such as blankets, socks, and gloves.

I think that Apparelnbags has all of your apparel and bag needs covered.

Become a fan of their facebook page and receive 10% discounts.

International delivery available with a minimum order.

Let's talk brands!!  Apparelnbags offers from over 60 brands.  If you are looking for a certain brand it's easy to click to that brand.  Just some of the brands are:  Champion, Dickies, Hanes, L'Eggs, New Balance, Precious Cargo, and Sierra Pacific.

Disclosure:  I was sent a bag in exchange for my honest opinion of the bag as well as the apparelnbags website.  I was not compensated otherwise and all opinions are my own.