❈Sac Thrift Chick❈

Looking to impress your Easter guests? Add some whimsy to your Easter dinner table place settings with these cute and edible birds nests. This idea comes from the creative brain of my mother, who made these birds nests last Easter. She said they are simple but a bit messy to make, so wear gloves to protect your manicure. First, create your butterscotch-noodle nests. Empty 1 bag of butterscotch chips into a saucepan. Add 1 tablespoon of shortening. Stir the chips and butter together over low heat. Pour 1 bag of chow mein noodles into the saucepan. Stir the noodles until they are coated with the butterscotch. Scoop out the noodles onto wax paper and shape your nests. You can also vary the recipe by adding chocolate and/or peanut butter into your saucepan on low heat. Then, hatch your bird family. Fill the nest with gummy worms, chocolate birds, Peeps, and egg-shaped candies, including nuts, jelly beans and chocolates.

Being a responsible adult means choosing the practical, no frills bra you really need over the cute sundress, or even the oh-em-gee so cute polka-dot Tommy Hilfiger push-up bra with lace trim. I am a responsible adult. With mad shopping skills. For my birthday, Kohl's sent me a coupon for $10 off anything, no exclusions. Bless you, Kohl's. After browsing the bra section and wrinkling my nose at the weak-tea buy one, get one half-off sale, I sauntered over to the clearance intimates section and found a black Bali bra. Normally $40, it was on clearance for $12. After my coupon, I paid $2.16. That's what I call a score. I still needed a basic white bra, and I was also interested in a sports bra. I only had about $8 left from my original $50 birthday gift. I comprised between a sports bra and a white wire bra and got a Warner's brand wireless bra with lift, and good, supportive straps from Ross for $12.15 total. I can stomach going $4 over my birthday cash for suc...

When it comes to thrifting, I have my go-to shops, but I'm always looking for new stores to add to my favorites' list. My mom had scored some mega deals on collectible Sesame Street characters at Mary's Thrift Store on Auburn Boulevard in Citrus Heights, so on a Thursday, I decided to check it out. If only I had stopped by the day before. Mary's has day-of-the-week sales, and Wednesdays are half-off everything used in the store. The dresses that piqued my interest weren't covered on Thursday's sale, and I wasn't crazy about the sticker prices. The poor organization of the racks also kept me from taking many items back to the dressing room. I did, however,  walk away with one purchase for $4 and change. In warm weather, I'm all about the sundress. And I especially love the teal color and comfortable cotton of this Forever 21 halter. The dress is in like-new condition, and I know I'll get a ton of use out of it. Goodwill is not a store on...

My treat-yo-self birthday shopping spree adventure continues with killer deals from my much touted Shop Your Way Rewards program. I swear SYW isn't paying me for this promo, I just love it that much and really hope Sears doesn't go under; I would mourn the loss of my rewards. Shop Your Way offered me another free trial of its free shipping program for 90 days, plus an offer to get $10 back in points on a $10 or more online purchase, excluding clearance. So I signed up and crossed another item off my list: a comfortable top I could see myself wearing regularly. Normally $14.99, on sale for 11.24, this navy, polka dot, tab-sleeve, henley top cost $12.14 after tax. I got $10.11 back in points for a future purchase. A few days later, SYW sent me a birthday coupon: $10 off any Sears purchase of $25 or more. So to Sears I went with my wishlist in mind. After trying on arm-fulls of black pants, I settled on a pair of petite-sized Canyon River Blues jeggings, normally $4...

Birthdays are a big deal for me. It's that rare time of year that I will treat myself with the gift money I receive. I am not someone who will just buy herself what she wants; I wait until I have pharmacy rewards at CVS to buy a new mascara or box of hair dye. I almost only rent from Redbox when I have a discount code. If a store sends me a coupon for $5 off a $5 or more purchase, you better believe I will find something I need between $5 and $6. When a new album comes out I want, again, I wait until Christmas or my birthday to ask for it. And although I have a pretty sizable wardrobe, it's been accumulated over many years, and it's cost me very little. Some people would call me cheap; I prefer thrifty, of course. For me, retail therapy is real and thrilling. I get a high out of scoring great deals and finding the items on my list of "need/want when I have the money" that I keep on my little, dated slider phone. On my wish list:  Red, rectangular vintage...

Comfortable and cute are two words that don't go together often enough in fashion.   I have skinny jeans, that while my vanity loves the look, my gut hates the squeeze. Those skinny jeans and the like are the clothes that send me straight from entering the front door to exiting out of the pants and changing into lounge pants at lightning speed. I'm pretty sure 20 male comics have made jokes on the subject of a woman's rush to make the drawstring pant change.  But this thrifty outfit is so comfortable and stretchy, I literally did yoga in it earlier today. And if I actually had anywhere to be, I could totally pair it with heels to instantly dress up. The top is a 99 Cent Sweater Sale find from Thrift Town, and the jeggings are my newish pair from Ross . The embellished Rocket Dog shoes are probably 9 years old, a super great $10 clearance find from Famous Footwear.

When it comes to acquiring new furniture for the house, I have two rules I almost always follow. The new piece has to be free or under $11. Otherwise, I have to sell something I already have to pay for the new piece. And then it still has to be a stellar deal. For example: When I wanted a different chair in the family room , I sold our rocking chair (picked up for free, 5 minutes away) for $35 and bought this cushy, zebra print chair for $20. Because I'm diligent about following my self-imposed rules, I sometimes wait a bit to get what I want, especially since I'm picky and obsessive-compulsive about matching. Lately, I've been frustrated using with my hope chest as a coffee table in the living room . We use baskets and decorative boxes to hold all our stuff, but those storage containers take up a lot of space atop the chest. That's space where our feet and cups like to go. And even with the top of the chest cleared, we still have limited to spac...