March Birchbox

On Friday my favorite little box arrived in the mail box!

I was extremely thrilled with the size of the samples in my box this month. Sometimes all the products are truly only one use but this time I am pleased that almost all the products are deluxe size.

The Keims Cleanshine Energizing Shampoo I received is a decent sized sample. I am just a little disappointed that there isn't a coordinating conditioner with it. With my dry, frizzy hair I can never not use conditioner, and I tend to use conditioner faster then shampoo anyways. I will use this though, and will let you know if does anything good or bad to my hair.

I am extremely excited to try this Michael Todd's tropical fruit enzyme exfoliant scrub. Tropical fruit sounds like a totally delicious scent to me and I absolutely love any sort of body wash or exfoliator. I have already placed this in my shower to use asap!

Jergens BB body perfecting skin cream was my extra this month and I'm so glad that I have the chance to try it. This is something that I often have thought I would like to try when I see it in the store. It is a decent sized sample as well so I can't wait to try it out!

I also received a $2 coupon that I hopefully will be able to work into a couponing scenario =)

I received a product from The Balm called How 'Bout Them Apples which is a lip and cheek stain. It is a cream product which I will be using as a blush since I don't really wear any products on my lips. I received the color Pie but there are five other colors that come in this line.

I love Coola products, but I am a little bummed that this sample is smaller then my others. This is a tinted matte sunscreen, 30spf which is a nice idea to wear instead of foundation on a sunny day. I want to try this but will definitely be waiting for a warm, sunny day when I can actually spend some substantial time outside. (This winter weather is killing me people!)

Overall, I'm loving my Birchbox this month. I can't wait to try all of these samples and I will be back to update you soon on which ones I loved and which ones I didn't. (if any!)

Weekly Couponing Wrapup!

On Saturday the day after writing last week's Weekly Couponing Wrapup, I headed to CVS to finish up a few deals that I wanted to complete before the couponing week was over!

I purchased…
One Cadbury Egg at 74 cents
I received a 74 cent ECB back, making this completely free!

Two Covergirl Nailpolishes @ $3.99 a piece
They were on sale for B1G1 50% off, making the second one $1.99
I used $3/2 man. coupon and $1 CVS coupon off select Proctor and Gamble products.
This made the nail polishes 99 cents a piece!

I spent $3.19 out of pocket, 47 cents of which was tax. I received my 74 cents ECB back.

I was really excited that I managed to get these items for free and cheap! I love my nail polish! I saved $6.25, with a percentage of 70%, right on target!

At Bath and Body Works on Monday I used a one day only Facebook coupon in order to get a free lotion from the Hawaii line.

I normally don't have the opportunity to run to BBW just for a freebie but I was already near my local one since I was at the airport so it worked out perfectly! =)

In the past I've always been nervous to walk in and just pick up a freebie and not buy anything else but this time I just did it. I purchase enough items from BBW that it shouldn't be a big deal for me to get freebies every once in awhile!

This is my free 16x20 Shutterfly print. I just paid shipping to get this! Love deals like this!

At Walgreens this week

4 Almay makeup removers @ $5.99 each
On sale B1G1 Half off
I used the $2 coupon from the Walgreens Coupon book which applied to all the items.
I used (2) $5/2 coupons. (One needed to be adjusted down to $4.96 because I didn't have $5 to coupon!)
My subtotal was $0, but because I have to pay tax before coupons my total was $1.26

I also received a catalina coupon to get a Free Almay Makeup Bag!

My coupon savings was 100% AMAZINGGGG!

That's how I saved this week, did you do any couponing this week?

Project 365: Week 10

Welcome to Project 365 Week 10! 

I'm starting to really love these posts every week. It's nice to be able to share a little bit of my personal day to day life because believe it or not I do some other things instead of just blogging! =)

On Thursday day 65 I received a piece of mail from Google confirming my mailing address, which means I officially met the threshold with Google adsense. I am super far away from actually getting a check, but I was excited that this blog is turning into something!

Day 66 I received my free 16x20 Shutterfly print in the mail! It was nice to look at it and see the beautiful French Riviera. I would love to get back there someday! =)

On Day 67, Saturday, I went to the local middle school play with my co-worker and friend Laura to see some of our students perform! They did a great job and were super excited to see us there!

Day 68 was a working day for me- but a fun one! I went to a competition for two of my students. They each performed a solo and two duet numbers. The duet number I choreographed received the highest score of all their routines so I was very proud! 

Bonus picture from day 68! With all of our trophies, medals, invitations to Nationals and pins!

On Day 69 I did a one day only deal for a free lotion at Bath and Body Works!

Day 70, Look at that face! I just love this little girl so much and I honestly have trouble leaving her because when I come home she acts like I've been gone for days even when its only been a few minutes!

Yesterday on Day 71 I spent my day off trying on Bridesmaid dresses! The one on the top left is the exact dress I will be wearing in Rachel's wedding in August. The other three pictures are from trying on dresses at David's Bridal for Brittni's wedding. For Brittni's we are wearing the dress pictured multiple times (any dress that isn't the bright blue one!) in navy blue. 

Some bonus pictures from trying on Bridesmaid dresses…

What's Coming Up...

Hey everyone!

I am so slacking today, you'll see tomorrow that today I had an extremely productive day!

Since you didn't get a real blog post today, I will share with you what is coming up here on Balancing On My Toes.

1. My March Birchbox! You will be seeing this sometime next week. I've already cheated and looked online at the products I will be receiving and I'm super excited for this box!

2. Lots of product reviews! 

3. Bathroom spring cleaning.

4. Garage spring cleaning.

5. How to save money series!

Stay tuned! =)

Spring Cleaning: Organizing and Deep Cleaning the Laundry Room

I decided to organize and deep clean our laundry room yesterday. This is a room that gets little love for the big job it does. In a room that's working so hard to get things clean, it deserves a little more cleaning love!

This was the state of our laundry room:

So, I started off by emptying out each section of the cabinets and wiping down the inside. I made sure that each item went back in a similar location so that way no one would be searching for a specific product.

Looks so much better right?

When I climbed on top of the dryer to dust the top of the cabinet it made me wonder if anyone had ever dusted up there before….

I'm sure the dryer lint has something to do with that mess but nevertheless it is a little embarrassing!

So much cleaner and nicer!

I did the same thing with this cabinet- taking everything out, wiping everything down and putting everything back in neatly in a similar location.

I also found some change, which I figured was my payment for cleaning up!

 Sigh. So much better!

I also wiped down all the baseboards, cleaned out the sink, and cleaned out our sample bin where something had leaked. I'm very pleased with this clean up!

Purses, Bags and Other Accessories!

Happy Monday everyone! Today I am sharing how I organize all of my accessories. This includes my purses, bags, scarves, shoes, etc. I have really made an effort to (like my clothing) get rid of anything that I don't use. I don't want an excess of items I never pull out of my closet, I can't imagine why anyone would!

I hang all my bags and purses from shower curtain rings. This system has worked great for me because it is an inexpensive way to hang these purses and also keeps them organized. If I find that I haven't been using a bag recently I do donate it or try to sell it on Ebay. With the exception of the purse I am currently carrying, these are all of my purses!

I love to wear scarves, but I often buy them on sale and find that I have a ton of similar scarves. I now have about 10 and have made sure that they are different colors so I don't have any that are too similar. I keep them corralled in this bin, if they don't fit in the bin then it is time to go through them.

I keep some of my shoes inside this pink milk crate. I use this crate for all my flats and flip flops.

This has been working well for me since I like them to be all corralled in one location.

I keep my boots all standing up against the side wall of my closet. You can see that a pair is missing because of the paper towel rolls. I use paper towel rolls inside all my boots in order to keep them standing upright. This helps them maintain their shape and is an easy cost-free method. 

The remainder of my shoes live on this shoe rack. I bought this years ago and mainly keep my heels on its shelving. This rack used to be filled but I managed to weed through my heels and get rid of quite a few. I like that there is a little room to grow!

I keep my hats, gloves, and belts inside this bin. I contain them all inside, but I don't make a big fuss out of it because I really don't have that many of each in here.

My last accessory bin is my bathing suit bin. Now this is one I really need to weed through. I just purchased a new suit for this summer (due to tan line issues with strapless bridesmaid dresses) but I know that there are a ton of bathing suits in this bin, many of which may not fit me anymore or may not be my type anymore. I like to keep my bathing suits separate from my other accessories so I can grab one quickly if it's time to head to the beach or the pool!

How do you store your accessories?

Weekly Couponing Wrapup

On Sunday I headed to CVS to get some amazing deals!

3 Glade sprays 3/$3

I used a $1/1 CVS coupon and $2/2 man. coupon, making them FREE!

2 Crest prohealth mouthwash $4.99 each

I used 2 $1/1 coupons, making each one $3.99

Gold Emblem Jelly Beans 99 cents

KitKat 99 cents

Newspaper $3.50

I also used a 20% CVS coupon, which only took money off the newspaper since everything else was sale items. It took off 52 cents.

Then I used $10 ECB.

I paid $3.63 in cash and received $7.49 back in ECB's for my next trip!

My total savings was $23.09, 89%! +)

My shopping trip at Target was not as impressive but things didn't go exactly as planned!

I purchased 3 packs of Burts Bees double packs (there were no single sticks of the original chapstick available- but I was okay with that because this is a product I use hundreds of times every single day!)
$5.49 each

Because I purchased 3 Burts Bees products I received a $2.99 (tax value 3.19) Method soap completely free!

2 Kotex 64 counts @ $2.99 each, $5.98 total.
I used a $1.50 off two Target coupon, making it $4.48 total or $2.24 each. 

This wasn't the greatest deal. Originally I planned on purchasing the single sticks of chapstick and smaller packages of Kotex which would have made this a better deal, but oh well!

I used $7 in Target gift cards from previous purchases and also from the Shopkick app.

I paid $18.62 for this transaction- definitely not my greatest but all things that I will definitely use in the future.

I headed over to Walgreens on Wednesday night to get some other deals! (This was my favorite transaction of the week!)

I purchased 6 Reese PB Easter egg singles @ $4 total
I used two $1/3 man. coupons, 50 cent rewards member savings, and 90 cents off from the Walgreens March coupon booklet.
Final Price: 18 cents a piece, $1.10 total

I also purchased a Dawn dish detergent which was on sale for 99 cents.
I used a 50 cents man. coupon
Final price: 49 cents

I paid $1.94 including tax for these seven items making them roughly 27 cents a piece! Excellent!!!


How did you do this week?!