Happy New Year!

Yesterday, my husband and I spent some time rehearsing all of the highlights of 2011 with our two boys.  It’s really amazing what can happen in a year, don’t you think?  (My six year old learned how to swim, ride a bike and read, and lost his first tooth all in one year.   Pretty big accomplishments, if you ask me!)

We had so much fun, I thought I’d take a few moments to do the same here and share just a few highlights of this past year:

A Look Back at 2011:

In March, the Realistic Look at Couponing series began with my version of Extreme Couponing.  (To date, one of my most popular posts ever.  I’m glad you guys ‘understand’ my sense of humor.)

In April, we reached a milestone with our one millionth visitor to Cha-Ching on a Shoestring.  (And you all keep coming back–thank you!)

In May, readers and bloggers across the country joined forces in our second annual Couponing for Community event.   In one week’s time, 26,639 items were donated by couponers nationwide.  (Still gives me goose bumps thinking about it.)

In September, I received an email from a producer at Anderson Cooper’s new daytime talk show.  A week later, my husband and I were sitting on his set sharing with the world about couponing and enjoying our three minutes of fame.

And a couple personal highlights for me:

In May, my sister, her soon-to-be husband and I ran the Broad Street Run 10-miler in Philadelphia.  (And lived to tell about it!)

In October, Mission Mini Van was completed!

In December, I shared our exciting news: We’re having a BOY!

***

Like I said, it’s pretty amazing what can happen in a year, don’t you think?

Thanks for your BIG part in making 2011 a fantastic year.  Now I’m going to put my feet up for a while and do a little bit of dreaming about what I hope 2012 will hold.  Want to join me?!

Tonight, we drove around with our boys and looked at Christmas lights.

If you haven’t done so yet, I dare you to.  It’s amazing how being forced to just sit. and look. and breathe…can melt away those last minute stresses.  (It also may have something to do with the fact that my two little elves were required by law to stay still for the hour we drove around.  Yes, that’s a perk too.)

True confessions: I still have some wrapping to do.  In fact, I even had to send my husband to the store today for one more gift.  Tomorrow we head up to New York to celebrate with family and I have not packed. one. single. thing.

But strangely enough, I am at peace in the midst of the craziness.

I’ve had my moments of stress this week, but I am determined to not allow those moments overshadow my joy.  (If you recall, I really struggled with this last year.)

I want to be completely present in this time of celebration.

So I want to take this time to let you know that I will be taking a break from posting deals for the next few days.  {I know you understand.}

May I encourage you to do the same? I promise there will be many more great deals to come.  But no deal will be as priceless as the time spent with family and friends over the next few days.

But before you go, I’d love for you to read a post I wrote a couple of years ago, sharing my heart about What Christmas Means to Me.  (That is–if you like stories that involve punching the bad guy and such.)  It’s just a little peek into my heart and where my HOPE lies.

I wish you a very Merry Christmas, friends.

And peace in the midst of it all.

I thought I’d take a brief break from our regular schedule to give you a little peek into our lives.

Some of you may have already caught my little hint that we are expecting baby number 3.   We are excited!

This week we had our 20 week ultrasound and discovered that we will be having  another BOY!

I honestly can say that although it would have been fun to learn how to be a Mom to a little girl, I love the idea of having 3 boys.  I’m rather fond of the two I have already, so that’s a good sign.   Plus we are fully equipped with trucks, Super Hero costumes, and little blue clothing.  So that’s nice too.

Now thankfully, we have 20 more weeks to figure out another boy name…

Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers!

I am full.  And I don’t mean full of turkey (although that would be an appropriate statement as well.)

I am full of gratitude.

For:

A loving family who all pitches in to make holidays like this one so much fun

A husband who supports me and all my crazy endeavors (who also happens to be celebrating his birthday today!)

A God who loves me more than I will ever know or understand

A year full of blessings–and yes…even difficulties too.  (I may not think so at the time, but I know they are a part of life and growth.)

And in case you aren’t aware…I am thankful for YOU!

You all have made my life more rewarding in so many ways.  Thank you for your faithful support, cheerleading and well…just for enjoying this journey of frugality with me.  It’s a fun one, isn’t it?

I know that some of you are going through tough times now and this holiday may not be as easy to celebrate as it once was.  Please know that I’m saying a special prayer for you today.  Hang in there, friend.   Keep moving forward.  I believe that it will get better.

I’m hoping that you are able to take some time today to share what you are thankful for.   I will leave you with this quote that my friend just shared with me:

“It’s not happy people who are thankful. It’s thankful people who are happy.”

Let’s be thankful, ok?

Blessings,

Kaley

In case you’ve been wondering where I’ve been the past couple days, I wanted to assure that I am alive and well and soaking up our time in NYC.  We got here Monday in order to do some prep for the show (which tapes on Wednesday).  As it turned out, things were moved around and we ended up having no obligations on Monday.  So we’ve had two days just to enjoy the city.

And that’s exactly what we’ve been doing!

I have never seen a Broadway Show and it’s always been a dream of mine.  My husband made me proud and discovered a way to score Buy One Get One FREE tickets!  (I’ve trained him well, huh?)  So last night we saw the Phantom of the Opera.

(This is where I reveal a little secret: I was so exhausted from our day that I could. not. keep. my. eyes. open.  In spite of that, I thoroughly enjoyed that parts where I was awake!)

We had to laugh when we saw this GIGANTIC banner promoting Anderson in a shopping center.  What’s up, Anderson?!  We’ll see you tomorrow!

We decided to visit the Museum of Natural History today.   How cute is this little turtle-dinosaur-creature?  I had to get my picture with him.  (Just as a side note, we entered the building directly behind the Vice President of Brazil and his entourage of secret service men.  Gotta love NYC!)

Tonight we hung out in Times Square.  Two words: Sensory Overload.  Seriously, I could have sat there several hours just taking it all in and still not seen it all.

BUT NOW it’s time for me to get my beauty sleep because tomorrow we tape the show!  I’ll try to keep you guys updated on Facebook as much as I can throughout the morning.

I should be back in action posting on Thursday.  See you all then!

A recent vacation with my family

I just wanted to take a moment to THANK YOU all for being patient with me this summer.

The past two months have been very FULL with family staying with us for a few weeks, my sister’s wedding, two extended family vacations, house guests, a three day family reunion and more.   It’s all been GOOD stuff, but it’s also meant that finding time to dedicate to the blog has been difficult.  There have been days I haven’t been able to post at all, and I’ve neglected certain series like my Cha-Ching Challenge and my Saving on a Shoestring update.

But for some reason, you all just keep coming back!  I just want to express my appreciation for being such faithful readers  I still get the most wonderful comments and encouraging emails from you all even in the midst of the craziness.

And that just makes me happy.

Life seems to be calming down a bit now and so I hope to be able to stick to a more consistent blogging schedule.  But thanks in advance for your understanding.  Sometimes life is just plain full.

You guys are just plain fantastic.

I’m guessing you’ve noticed that things have been a little quiet around here this week.  In case you were wondering if I had fallen off the face of the earth, I wanted to give you a little peek into my week.

We were in the Pocono Mountains where friends of our let us stay in their lovely cabin.  We spent the week with my husband’s family–as well as a large number of very friendly deer.  We also spotted a porcupine walking across our lawn at one point…thankfully, he didn’t stick around.

I realized once I got there that internet access was extremely limited, so I apologize for not giving you a heads up that I would be posting less last week.  I’m hoping that you understand!

As much as I missed interacting with you all, it was so nice to unplug and literally get away from it all.  I read books, took naps, swam, boated, ATE and made memories with my family.  And unlike most vacations, I actually came home feeling rested.  What a concept!

FUN times!

And speaking of FUN: I am very excited about a few things coming up this week on the blog.  So stay tuned and as we get back to our normal Cha-Ching routine!

So I’m guessing you all have been sitting on the edge of your seats for weeks now wondering if I was going to pull off my $50 Christmas. Right?

Well, you can sit back and and take a deep breath because the moment has finally arrived.

The results are in.

Ladies and Gents, I believe I pulled it off!  I believe that the Christmas of 2010 will be my first ever $50 Christmas.

{Insert wild applause here!}

{As well as a sigh of relief after last year’s $50 Christmas FAIL.}

I’ve been making my list and checking it twice and crunching my numbers and unless I suddenly remember that I didn’t buy any gifts for my husband or something, I think we actually even came in under budget!  (Which just means that I have a head start on next year’s Cha-Ching Christmas Club!)

I have to say that I think I made some of my family members nervous with this whole crazy idea.  It was my turn to buy a present for my older brother Todd this year.   He had the hardest time giving me a list.  I soon figured out that he just wasn’t sure how he could ask for anything that would fit in such a small budget.  I quickly assured him that he had nothing to worry about.   My Christmas fund was well stocked with money that was set aside from rebates throughout the year.  (I think he breathed a sigh of relief.)

I hope that my ‘crazy idea’ has inspired some of you to make the most of rewards sites and other ‘found money’ throughout the year.  I hope you’ve been encouraged that a little creativity can go a long way in stretching your money.

Most importantly, I hope you don’t feel like you need to have a $50 Christmas.  Success is measured in attainable goals that you set for yourself based on your circumstances and your needs.  If you’ve found creative ways to stretch your budget at all, then I say, “Way to go!”  That’s fantastic.

Now enough celebrating.  I’ve got some wrapping to do!

***

Update: Some of you wanted to know more specifics on how I accomplished this goal.  I won’t go into every little detail, but I thought I’d give you a general idea of how I made this work for me.  Keep in mind that I had a year of planning behind me!

Swag Bucks: I did about half of my shopping using Amazon gift cards that I earned through Swag Bucks.  (Those of you signed up through my link helped me out with that.  Thanks!)

Rue La La, Groupon, Gilt, One Kings Lane: I posted about all of these sites in the past and ways to earn credits for them.  Each one of them came in handy for at least one gift this year. (Unfortunately the free credits are no longer available, but you can still earn credits by referring friends!)

Shop It To Me: I earned some Gap gift cards through their referral program and used them to help buy a gift. (Learn more about this here.)

Rebates: The money that I set aside from rebates throughout the year covered those gifts that I needed to use cash on.  This was probably about a quarter of my shopping.

Drugstore shopping: Shopping at CVS and Rite Aid took care of many of my stocking stuffers this year.

Freebies: A few of the freebies that have come in the mail will also find their way into my sons stockings.

Hallmark Coupon: I even took advantage of the $5 and $10 Hallmark coupons that I posted a while back to buy some fun presents for almost FREE.  (Be sure to check your magazines to see if you have any.  I believe they don’t expire until 12/24!)

Dr. Oz Giveaway: Remember that crazy Dr. Oz giveaway that had us all frustrated because the sites kept crashing?  Well, I kept attempting to win that $50 Target gift card by filling in my information over and over for about an hour while I worked on other things at the computer.  I was shocked to later discover that I actually won!  That was a fun surprise and definitely helped with my $50 Christmas!

Shopping the sales: And of course, I shopped the sales to stretch our dollars even further!

And finally (and most importantly), we were cautious in what we spent money on this year.  We have a few quality items that we got for our boys this year, but we didn’t go overboard.  We decided that if it wasn’t going to provide them hours of fun, learning, or exercise, then it wouldn’t find its way under our tree this year.  So they may have fewer presents to open this year, but I’m quite sure they won’t notice since they will be so busy playing with the presents we did get them!

A couple of years ago, there was this silly little “25 Things About Me” thing going around on Facebook.  Well, eventually I succumbed to the pressure and joined in making my list.

I found the list recently, and it hit me that it might be fun to share with you, my readers, to give you a better picture of who I am.

I have eliminated a few things so as not to bore you…and because a few of the items no longer apply since I wrote it almost two years ago.

So without further adieu…all you ever wanted to know about me and more!

• I have been to South Korea, North Korea, Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Hawaii (that’s a foreign country in my eyes!), Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, the Bahamas, and Mexico and Canada, of course. My favorite was Australia. I would still like to go to Africa one day.

• I had a variety of jobs while in college including: a Friendly’s waitress, a telemarketer, a foam hanger packer, and an RA.

• I could eat Frosted Mini Wheats for breakfast every morning.

• If I could get away with it, I would also serve Frosted Mini Wheats for dinner. I am not a big fan of cooking.  I am, however, a big fan of E-Mealz.

• If I could be anything when I grow up, I would have a hard time choosing between a television talk show host and a star on a sit-com.

• My husband and I dated for four months and were engaged for four months. That would be 8 months total.

• One of the qualities I admire the most is the ability to communicate well while thinking on one’s feet. I would love to be able to do that better.

• Two of my goals in life are to go on another cruise and to learn how to raise one eyebrow.

• The highest compliment that you can pay me is to tell me that I am funny.

• I love coffee. Particularly Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla coffee. With Cream and Sugar. Please.

• I am a dreamer, by nature. There are days this is good.  And there are days it it not.

• I love that both of my boys have blue eyes although no one in my immediate family does. Thank you, Grandpa Hill and the Ehret family.

• I have run a half-marathon in NYC. I hope to do so again and finish with a better time.  Someday.

• I was in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC in 1990 (which is why I was so embarrassed when I wrote a post the other day about “Cheep Green Giant Veggies”).

• I am fascinated by people and learning what makes them tick.

• Becoming a mom has taught me so much, but possibly the most important is to work hard to live in the moment.

• I hate shopping.  (Kind of ironic, huh?)

• I am the third of six children and a classic middle child: peacemaker, independent, easy-going and still craving the spotlight that I seemed to have missed.

• I am most happy when I am with my family.  But I absolutely love to be alone as well.

• I love Jesus more than I can say and strive daily to be more like Him.

How about you?  I’d love to know a few fun and random things about my readers as well!

Raise your hand if you have moved more than three times in your life.  Seriously.  I’d love to know.

I know people who haven’t lived in one place for more than two years at a time.

Honestly.  I don’t know how they do it.  I have moved to a new house twice in my entire life (that I remember).

We have had an Extreme Home Makeover-ish kind of week around here as we get ready to move.  (Minus the free appliances from Sears, the trip to Walt Disney World and thousands of helpers.  Oh and Ty Pennington.)

All I can say is: I am tired.

Oh and did I mention we are moving in two days?

Yikes.

Anyway.  I just thought I’d give you a heads up that  I will have a few posts scheduled over the next couple of days (and another fun giveaway!), but I am going to take a break from blogging for a few days.  So if I don’t respond to comments or emails, don’t feel too badly.  It’s just that I am buried under a pile of boxes somewhere!

So good-bye for a bit!  I’ll miss you all!  (Unless of course you’d like to come help me finish painting and packing…now wouldn’t that be fun?!)