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Halloween Rice Krispie Treats – On a Stick!

Who doesn’t like treats! The kids are going to love these festive delicious Rice Krispie Treats!

This is what we bought. I would just get the almond bark, and color that. It was the easiest to melt.

We also picked up this pumpkin pan, on Amazon.

I made 2 batches of Rice Krispie treats. If you have not made these before they are really easy. My 12 year old made these batches. It took 2 batches to make what you see in the picture.

When the rice krispies were hot, I pressed them into the pan.

The kids helped by putting the sucker sticks into the treats. We suggest dipping the sticks into the melted chocolate first then sticking them into the treats. We let them harden for a little while.

This kid is a pro. He ate about as many as he helped fix. (Good job bud)

While they were hardening a little more I chopped the almond bark and melted it on the stove. You can use the microwave but Tiffany prefers this way. 🙂 Just heat it slowly or you will burn it.

Then get the kids and start dipping them. You can do whatever colors you like, dip them a little or all the way. We did both. The kids had an easier time just dipping the tops and adding sprinkles.

The kids do this stuff all the time and love it!

You can start getting fancy and adding the pre-made figures you can buy at the store.

Paul’s mini Martha Stewart got the fanciest and was making Frankenstein.

We bagged them in the $.97 treat bags and tied with twist ties. I am sure you can add ribbon but I am just able to tie my shoes, ribbons are too much trouble 🙂

Tiffany walked in as they were wrapping up and added the candy corn to the bags and they looked great!

Cost:

Rice Krispies $2.68
Marshmallows $1.25
Almond Bark $2.98
Wilton Cookie Stick $2.88
Sprinkles $4.97

About $.75 a treat! (The more you make, the cheaper!)

Tiffany’s School Lunch Tips (for Making LOTS of Lunches FAST & Cheap!)

Aug 1 by Paul Ivanovsky 24 Comments

This is a guest post from my wife Tiffany at MyLitter, she has made a few school lunches in her day!

To help save on school lunches I make a lot of my own pudding, jello and treats. If I can get a killer deal on fruit roll ups and granola bars of course I buy them but for things like jello and pudding it is just too cheap to make! Plus, it tastes better then the pre-packaged stuff.

The night before, after the kids are in bed OR new for me this year, my 11 and 9 year old daughters make pudding and jello for the next day. They pour them into the little ziplock containers and toss them in the fridge overnight.

The trick is getting them to remember to bring back the container, or not leaving it in their backpacks!

I also use the little containers for small fruit, chunks of cheese, ham, mini pickles, chunks of fruit and dry cereal.

I also make sandwiches in bulk by using a 6 pack of rolls.

Next, comes the ham and cheese.

Then I flip it over and cut 6 sandwiches.

For me this is a quicker way to get a bunch of sandwiches and they are just the right size. You can do it this way and stick the rest in the fridge for the next few days if you don’t need that many sandwiches.

I try and stay under $4-5 dollars a day for all lunches. So about $20 – $25 a week on lunches. I buy bread and rolls on sale and freeze them. Earlier this summer at Randalls I bought 13 packages of string cheese for under $.75 a bag, then I freeze and pull out every few days. I also freeze lunch meat and load up when I get it on sale. The snacks are always very cheap at Kroger mega events. We go through an enormous amount of fruit, I always try and price match it at Wal-Mart.

What do you make for lunch?

Halloween Rice Krispie Treats – On a Stick!

Oct 7 by Paul Ivanovsky 3 Comments

I posted earlier about all the options that Walmart had for making your own treats this year.

My wife makes all kinds of treats for each Holiday and really just about every week for one reason or another. That is why I look like I do! Awhile ago the kids and I made my favorite things in the entire world. Rice Krispie Treats.

This is what we bought. I would just get the almond bark, and color that. It was the easiest to melt.

We also picked up this pumpkin pan, it was $9.97.

I made 2 batches of Rice Krispie treats. If you have not made these before they are really easy. My 12 year old made these batches. It took 2 batches to make what you see in the picture.

When the rice krispies were hot, I pressed them into the pan.

The kids helped by putting the sucker sticks into the treats. My wife suggested dipping the sticks into the melted chocolate first then sticking them into the treats. We let them harden for a little while.

This kid is a pro. He ate about as many as he helped fix.

While they were hardening a little more I chopped the almond bark and melted it on the stove. You can use the microwave but my wife gets set in her ways and so we do it this way 🙂 Just heat it slowly or you will burn it.

Then get the kids and start dipping them. You can do whatever colors you like, dip them a little or all the way. We did both. The kids had an easier time just dipping the tops and adding sprinkles.

My kids do this stuff all the time with their Mom and so they were helping me!

We started getting fancy and adding the pre-made figures you can buy at the store.

My 8 year old (mini Martha Stewart) got the fanciest and was making Frankenstein. I thought it was Elvis, so it is a good thing I didn’t say anything and let her talk!

We bagged them in the $.97 treat bags and tied with twist ties. I am sure you can add ribbon but I am just able to tie my shoes, ribbons are too much trouble 🙂

My wife waked in as we were wrapping up and added the candy corn to the bags and they looked great!

Cost:

Rice Krispies $2.68
Marshmallows $1.25
Almond Bark $2.98
Wilton Cookie Stick $2.88
Sprinkles $4.97

About $.75 a treat! (The more you make, the cheaper!)

Guest Post: Wahl Clippers 50% off + How To Cut Hair Videos

Jan 24 by Paul Ivanovsky 1 Comment

::Guest Post from Tiffany::

Today on Amazon you can pick up a 20 Piece Wahl Complete Haircutting Kit for only $21.97 it is normally $40.00. It will also ship free with a $25 purchase, or with Amazon Prime, so I suggest maybe adding a hair cutting cape or combs to the order to get free shipping if you don’t have Amazon Prime.

* Cutting your kids hair is an AWESOME way to save some money and add money to your Fiscal Cliff Survival Plan every few months!

I made a few video tutorials on how I cut my kids hair. If you are new here, I was a hairstylist before kids 🙂

How to cut “bangs” on kids (Omgosh! I forgot how RED her hair was!!)
How to cut short hair – Part One
H0w to cut short hair – Part Two

Product Description

Color: Blue & White
The wahl color pro 20 piece complete haircutting kit is perfect for performing professional quality haircuts at home. the clipper includes a comfort grip for easy handling, adjustable taper control and wahl exclusive accessories. kit includes: mc clipper, blade guard, 12 colored guide combs, barber comb, styling comb, scissors, cleaning brush, blade oil, english/spanish instructions/styling guide. 6 inch handled storage case.

Color coded guide combs make it easy to remember everyone’s favorite hair length, every time you cut
Color coded keys make it easy to correspond the correct comb to the right setting
Self-sharpening, high-carbon steel blades are precision ground to stay sharp longer
Ideal for head and total body grooming
Soft touch grip for comfort and control

Ge HERE to take a look!

The video below is “How to cut boys and mens hair” my little guy was not thrilled!

Buy a $100 Walmart eGift Card and get a $10 card free!

Dec 10 by Paul Ivanovsky Leave a Comment

Today on Walmart.com you can buy a $100 eGift card and get a $10 one free.

A Walmart Gift Card works just like cash, but it’s easier to carry, more fun to receive and available in hundreds of fun gift card themes, from birthday to graduation to wedding to baby and more. Walmart Gift Cards are easy to order, too. Just pick your design, add your value and bam! You’re done.

Readers Email: Problems at Walmart

Oct 15 by Paul Ivanovsky 21 Comments

This is a guest post from MyLitter:

I get a LOT of email everyday and I try and answer all of it. Most of the time it is readers having problems at their stores and asking what to do.

This is a reader email question from Sunday:

Hello Tiffany,

So i know that Walmart has changed their coupon policy. Was told tonight that they no longer price match and use coupons. It has to be one or the other. Manager was very rude and said they would only do it this time. When told that we had the printed policy he said “he hasnt read it yet” but refused to even look at it but yet said because of the changes he couldn’t do it again. So i am confused, If he never read the policy why is he saying that We cant do this? And is he right?

This was my answer because I was a really mad at the manager:

Oh my heck!!!

What an ass! No, nothing has changed in the policy!

Call 1-800-walmart and tell them the name of your store and the problem that you had. Ask them to call your manager and set him straight and call you BACK when they have taken care of the problem.

Tiffany

Ok, so normally I don’t write a reader back that way but I was just tired of managers clearly not knowing what their own coupon policies are.

Walmart has not changed their policy in 18 months. Managers have had 18 months to get a copy and read it. They have had some procedure update for employees but no change in the policy.

Why do managers and cashiers tell you “there has been a policy change?”

BECAUSE THEY DON’T KNOW THE POLICY. They don’t want to look like they have no idea what they are talking about and so they make up policy changes and they make up “rules” and it usually ends with…. come on, you have heard it before…

“O.K. Just this ONE time”

When it should be, “Sorry I don’t know my own policy. Next time you come in I will have read it and will start following it.”

What can you do?

READ and PRINT the coupon policy for the store you are shopping at and BRING THE POLICY WITH YOU every time you shop there. Need to find the policies, you can go HERE and print them.

If you are still having problems, call corporate. This way you get confirmation that you are correct and you can ask them what you should do. They might tell you it is up to the manager. If that is the case and they are not friendly I would not shop there. If you are correct, then I would ask them to call the manager of that store and have corporate explain their coupon policy to them. ASK FOR A FOLLOW UP CALL!

Need the corporate phone number? Just Google “—– corporate phone number” and you will find it. I call Walmart often and so it is 1-800-walmart.

If you are armed with information and confidence you will have a better shopping experience.