I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, crafter, and blogger living in rural New England. As seen in Martha Stewart Living, Food Network Magazine, and more! | Tutorials, DIY, crafts, parenting tips, recipes, money saving tips, product reviews, local product features, New England living, intentional living, and more! |
We're celebrating Plaid Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday all weekend long! Enjoy 20% off everything in our Etsy shop through midnight Monday with the coupon code "20PLAID".
Quantities are limited at the moment, so shop sooner than later. Thank you all again for your support and shopping small!
Happy Thanksgiving from Birch Landing Home! Hope you're spending the day with loved ones and enjoying your blessings. So much to be thankful for <3
And don't forget about our sale that starts Friday and goes all the way through Monday! To get early access to the sale, make sure to sign up for our Newsletter - I'll be sending out the coupon code to subscribers sometime tonight.
Even if you're not planning on shopping the sale this weekend, my weekly newsletter will keep you updated on any future sales and new products for the Etsy shop as well as giveaways and new posts on the blog.
Look what came in the mail today! New Hampshire Magazine's December issue along with their 34-page Holiday Gift Guide (available to magazine subscribers only), packed with ideas of local places to shop, products to buy, and fun holiday events to do. And we're so excited to be included - you can find Birch Landing Home right on page 12 in their "Master the Yankee Swap" Gift Guide.
Make sure to check out all their great local selections in the Gift Guide, and if you're not a NH Magazine subscriber the guides can also be found online here.
And did you hear the news of our upcoming sale?
We'll be hosting a sale all this weekend for Black Friday/Plaid Saturday/Cyber Monday (whew). The sale code will be posted online Friday, but subscribers to our Newsletter will get the code Thursday night - if you don't want to miss out on the sale be sure to sign up now!
Correction: There is a misprint in NH Magazine's writeup. While I have in fact been featured in Martha Stewart Living Magazine, I haven't been featured in Yankee Magazine (yet anyways - hopefully someday soon though!) :)
Pssst! We'll be having a sale all next weekend for Black Friday/Plaid Saturday/Cyber Monday! Be sure to check here on Friday for the sale code - and if you want to get it Thursday night make sure to sign up for our Newsletter below ;)
We always try to spend consciously, but this year I really stepped up my couponing game as well as finding discounts for the shopping that we do. In doing so I've narrowed it down to my 9 favorite money-saving apps that I use most often - and in just the last few months I've already saved a couple hundred dollars! | This post contains my experience with these apps as well as some referral links |
Amazon
Oh Amazon... we buy everything from gifts to groceries on here. But what I really love most is using Amazon on the fly and checking prices in-store before deciding where to purchase. If I'm in a big box store and thinking about buying a book, new sneakers, etc, I always use the
Amazon
app to scan the barcode of the item (so handy!) and see what the price difference is - and spoiler, it's often slightly cheaper (sometimes a lot cheaper) on Amazon. And since we have AmazonPrime, shipping is typically free!
Walmart
Walmart also has a super-handy barcode scan feature so you can check prices while you're out shopping, but it's Savings Catcher feature is probably the most handy. With
Savings Catcher (a feature within the Walmart app), you simply scan in the barcode on your receipt and Walmart checks your items against advertised sales of other chains in the surrounding area. If an item is found to be cheaper at a surrounding store, Walmart credits you the difference on an eGift card which can be used towards future purchases. Savings Catcher helps make sure you're always getting the best deal.
Cartwheel
Cartwheel
is Target's "coupon" app - every week there are new offers for you to unlock and claim when you checkout in store (just scan the barcode generated on the screen of your smartphone). The savings are typically small but really add up over time, especially if you do a lot of grocery and clothing shopping there.
EatRight(or whatever particular incentive your health plan may have)
With EatRight Rewards, you unlock weekly offers and discounts for healthy foods and the amount you save gets credited to your account. Once you accumulate a minimum of $10 you can cash it out. I particularly love that this app only gives discounts on fresh fruits, veggies, and healthier foods. (*EatRight Rewards by Nutrisavings is the particular app that is specifically contracted with my health insurance plan, which is why I use it. Check with your particular health plan to see if they have any healthy-eating incentives available for members!)
Ibotta
With Ibotta you unlock offers and earn rebates for items you purchase in exchange for some basic market research (typically viewing an advertisement or answering a multiple-choice question). Once you earn a minimum of $20 back you can cash it out to your PayPal account or redeem it as a gift card. I've written a
more indepth post on Ibotta here
, if you're interested.
Checkout51
Checkout51
has offers for rebates back on grocery items - simply scan your receipt and select which rebates you qualify for to earn money back, with no market research questions to answer. Once you earn a minimum of $20 you can cash it out. - And both Ibotta and Checkout 51 can be used in conjunction with each other to really stack those savings.
Rakuten (formerly called Ebates)
Rakuten (formerly called Ebates) is great if you do any kind of online shopping - think Amazon, photo sites, clothing stores, etc. Simply log into your Rakuten account (Chrome has a handy extension you can download too) and launch the retailer's website from there.
Rakuten
will suggest discounts and coupon codes at checkout and often will allow you to earn back a percentage (usually very small but it adds up) of your purchase as a rebate. Every quarter you can cash out if your balance is $5 or more. I can see Rakuten coming in very hand this Christmas season while ordering Christmas cards and buying gifts!
Coupon Sherpa
Coupon Sherpa is a great app for quickly finding in-store coupons and discounts while you're out shopping, as well as coupon codes for online purchases. Simply open the app and look up the store you're in - Coupon Sherpa will list all the current coupons available so you can choose which one works best for you. Simply bring up the coupon on your phone and have the cashier scan it when you check out.
Kohl's
The Kohl's app allows you to save coupons, and keeps track of rewards points and Kohl's cash. I don't know how many times I've had an awesome coupon for Kohl's only to have forgotten it at home! Thankfully with the app you don't have to remember to bring these things, and it's easy to check current offers and rewards balances.
So those are my top money saving apps right now. If you have any questions regarding them, please ask away - and if you have a great app that I haven't listed here, please let know!
And don't forget, I'll be sharing an exclusive coupon code for my Etsy shop this week with my newsletter subscribers! So if you haven't already, please sign up for my newsletter by clicking on the button below. I promise I'll never send more than one email per week and will never share your information. Thanks so much!
Wooden blinds are a great window treatment option, but finishing them off can be tricky, especially if you don't want to hang curtains too. Today I'm sharing my easy, no hardware-needed solution for dressing up the blinds.
All you need is a thin piece of wood or trim (about 1/4" thick) painted to match your blinds and adhesive velcro - that's it! I cut down our trim board myself, but if you don't have a saw you could ask your hardware store to cut it to the width of your blinds when you purchase it.
For velcro I used Scotch Indoor Velcro Squares. They have a 3 lb weight limit which is more than enough needed for our project, but I made sure to use three velcro tabs per window for a secure hold.
To hang, I just put the adhesive velcro tabs along the top assembly of the blinds and pressed the trim board on top securely. That's it!
This makes for a quick and professional finish to the blinds but still allows you to easily take it down to access the mounts for the blinds for window maintenance and cleaning.
Newsletters are where it's at now and I'm jumping on the bandwagon ;)
Please feel free to sign up for my weekly newsletter in the form below. I manage the list myself and don't share your information, so you don't have to worry about getting spammed.
I plan on sending out one email per week, tops (we all get enough emails everyday already, right?). In the weekly newsletter I'll share a summary to some of my latest posts, any giveaways I'm hosting for the blog, as well as what's new in the Etsy shop and exclusive coupon codes.
