June is National Pet Preparedness Month. It’s about keeping your pets prepared for a disaster, and having a plan in how to take care of them if something happens. You need to have a kit ready with all of the essentials they may need, as detailed at the link at the end of this post.
Also, in honor of the month of keeping pets prepared, I thought I’d once again share one of my favorite sites to use to keep my pooches prepared. I have continued to order since this was originally written, and have had the same positive experience each time with their products, pricing, and the speed in which they delivered my orders. You can get credit just for signing up, resulting in free or verrrrrry inexpensive products. Check it out! Doggie Loot
What pets do you have? Our current roundup is one lazy dog, two spoiled cats, two broody chickens with no possibility of chickies and two (three any day now!!!) little monkeys (otherwise known as our children 😉 ).
For more info on preparing your pets for an emergency, scurry over to the link below:
With summer dawning, alot of folks are hitting the road for family vacation or visiting relatives. Since most of us are on a budget, I thought I’d share a few of the little things I do to save big when we travel.
“Penny Pinching Peach is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com”
We like our caffeine when we’re on road trips, so instead of stopping everywhere for drinks, I make a big jug of sweet tea (Lipton, of course!)ahead of time and put it in mason jars in the cooler. It’s extremely inexpensive, and easily poured from jar to travel cup. We also pack jars of milk and juice for the kiddos, as well as water if we’re going somewhere with questionable water quality.
Anyone who travels with kids knows that plenty of snacks are a must. I make things like cookies (Try my recipe for Healthy Oatmeal Cookies here. They travel well for a few days.) and snack mixes, plus take things like boxes of raisins, apples and bananas. I also pack some emergency treats like lollipops for when the little stinkers start howling about being stuck in the car. Since they are a treat to our kids, they work well at buying some peaceful time. We still sometimes stop for an icecream cone or some local delicacy as a treat, but we aren’t tempted to grab convenience treats for inflated prices at bathroom stops when we already have plenty of yummy goodies to munch on.
If you can, pack some sandwiches, canned goods, and breakfast items to eat for breakfasts and lunches while traveling. Also, gather up coupons for various restaurants you may stop at on your travels. Often, you can sign up for birthday clubs (see my post here: Happy Birthday Freebies) and get some really high value coupons for various restaurants just for signing up, even before your birthday comes around.
If you have pets, and know someone trustworthy nearby who also has pets, try to work out a pet sitting trade with them. You watch their pets while they travel, and they watch your pets while you travel. This way, neither of you has to actually spend any money on pet care. Just make sure to walk them through how to care for your furbabies, leave a list of the basic necessities of their care, and leave everything in plain sight that they will need to taking care of your critters.
Always look for the coupon books that are available in any tourist area, and search online for savings ahead of time at any attractions you intend to visit. You can rack up some serious savings on tickets and shopping this way.
I think most of us know to check the coupon books or make reservations online at discounted prices to save on hotels,and I’m really trying to focus on the more obscure little ways to save, but it must be mentioned. Also, if you are a government employee, in public safety or any career like that, inquire into what discounts are available to you. You may be surprised at how much of a savings some hotels will give you for those careers.
What are your favorite little tricks for saving big while traveling? Traveling with little ones, check out my post Traveling With Little Riders!
I was given the Liebster Award by two of my fellow bloggers- My 3 Monsters http://my3monsters.wordpress.com/ and WAHMs Live Green http://www.wahfamilieslivegreen.com/. Both ladies have blogs that run pretty true to what their titles hint at, and I’d encourage everyone to check them out. I’m truly flattered to be thought of for this award, and am nominating some wonderful and different bloggers myself this time around. I tried to make this fresh, but some of the facts about me are just the same. 🙂
These are the Liebster Award rules; “When nominated, the blogger must list eleven facts about his/herself, answers questions given by the nominator, and come up with eleven questions for the bloggers he/she nominates.” The bloggers are also supposed to have under 300 followers.
Here goes something!
♥ Eleven Facts About Penny Pinching Peach♥
Hubby Training
•I probably have one of the hardest working husbands in the world. He’s a firefighter/paramedic, and I’m very proud of the fact my husband is willing to save lives and help others for a living.
•My dream growing up was to be a mommy and…..whatever else. The only unchanging part was that I wanted to be a mommy. My two munchkins? Crazy little dreams come true! 🙂
•I come from a long & proud line of penny pinching peaches.
•I was peeling taters in the kitchen with my mom when I was 7. I’m passing on the helping-in-the-kitchen-early-on tradition to my little girl, who already puts up freshly washed silverware and crushes cans for recycling at the ripe ol’ age of 3 1/2.
•I was homeschooled, graduating at age 15 in the top 1% of graduating seniors nationwide.
•I lost my mom in 2006, and I miss her every day, but she lives on in the hearts of all who loved her.
•I love doing crafts, but haven’t been able to do as many crafts since having babies.
•I am a lifelong bookworm, but that is yet another neglected hobby of mine since having little ones.
Chicks and Chica
•I love cooking and baking. Feeding folks the vittles I stir up is just the icing on the cake!
•I taught myself calligraphy when I was in middle school. That seems like an obscure and useless skill, but it has come in handy to add a bit of pizzazz to the lettering when making cards.
♥Questions From My 3 Monsters♥
1.Why did you start blogging? Several reasons, one being that friends & family encouraged me to officially share what I’d been sharing unofficially forever. 2.What inspires your blog? My family, frugality and random things. 3.What is your favourite holiday and why? Christmas, because it brings my little ones so much joy. 4.What is an important tradition in your family? Right now? My daughter “trick or treats” for prizes when she goes potty. We’re still forming our lifelong traditions, though. 🙂 5.How many children do you think is the ideal number to have? I think it varies according to the family, honestly. For some, that number is none or one. For others, it is 5 or 10. I’m not sure what it is for us yet, but I hope it’s at least one more than we have. 🙂 6.What is your family’s favourite meal? Hmm… that’s a toughie! My family loves my chicken and dumplings. Ritz cracker chicken and chicken livers with mashed taters & green beans. A creamy chicken concoction I tried recently that the hubby called the “best chicken ever”. Chicken, apparently?? lol
I Cook Good, Mommy!
7.Any suggestions for picky eaters? (This question is purely for selfish reasons!) My little ones generally eat well, but when my daughter goes through a picky patch, I get her input on meals. I’ll say “Shell noodles or curly?” or let her help mix things, dump ingredients in a bowl….pretty much anything to be involved with the meal. When kids help make something, they usually eat it. 🙂 8.What is your dream vacation? Happy, peaceful, warm, and without some weird agenda? lol 9.What kinds of music do you listen to? Country, rock, Christian worship/contemporary. 10.Coffee or tea? Sweet iced tea. 11.If you could offer kids one piece of advice for the future what would it be? ONE?!? Don’t let what the rest of society is doing or thinking dictate your morals and ideas.♥Penny Pinching Peach’s Liebster Award Nominees♥
•You obviously enjoy blogging, but what’s a hobby you’re known for?
•What is your favorite way to save?
•If you could spend your weekend any way you wanted, what would you do?
•Do you have any pets?
•Which beauty item can you not live without?
•What is your favorite place to shop, online or offline?
•What two words best describes your personality?
•What is your favorite snack?
•Do you have any hidden talents?
•What would you like to be remembered for?
Congratulations to all of these fantastic bloggers!
I look forward to reading your replies and to continue keeping up with all of your fantastic blogs! Please visit and follow all of these interesting bloggers. I know you’ll enjoy them as much as I do!
This is a great deal for my pet lover friends!! You’ve got to try this little place called Doggy Loot!
They have a rotating stock of discount pet items, which are mostly for dogs. A few items would be suitable for cats, as well. I ordered a pink flamingo Kong toy for my doggies for just $9 (when it is normally a $16 toy). Keep reading, and I am sure you can guess my out-of-pocket cost on this item. 🙂 However, this is still a great deal if you buy your dogs toys to play with, even if you are paying for it.
Squeak, squeak!
When it came in, my little girl was very excited to give it to her doggies. I was pleased with the quality and cuteness of their new squeaky chew toy. Our dogs, Ducky & Gypsy, were tickled pink with their new toy. They “argued” over it briefly & playfully before my older, stuffed animal obsessed Gypsy took her new “baby” into her doghouse with her puppy dog stuffed animal. She just sat there grinning for the longest time.
Happy about their loot!
To sum it all up, Doggy Loot gets good reviews from me for speedy shipping, a good quality product, and arriving exactly as represented on the site. Now, how do you get a great deal for yourself?
First step, obviously, is to go to the site and sign up. You get a $5 credit just for joining! Once you do that, click “My Credit”, and then go to “Dogs”. Just for filling out your dog’s info, you get another $5 credit. Since most items are about $10 to $20 and shipping is free, this is a real steal! Please click my referral link here to join the fun: http://www.doggyloot.com/?rid=1332881
Happy doggy!
Please come back and let me know what you ordered and how you like it. I’m excited about this site! 🙂
Penny Pinching Peach 