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Showing posts from November, 2009

Saving Money at Cracker Barrel

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Cracker Barrel has a rewards program! Register here today and receive a coupon for $5 off your next $20 purchase. Here's how it works: You can register here . Since you don't have a Front Porch rewards card yet, it will allow you to register using your phone number. There is also a place to request that they mail you a rewards card. Within 3 days, the confirmation page says I will have a welcome coupon worth $5 off my next purchase. Here's more info from the site: Welcome Reward : Because you have registered, you'll enjoy a welcome reward of $5 off your next purchase of $20 or more. Seasonal Reward : Visit four times or spend $100 in a three-month season and receive your choice of one of three hand-picked rewards. Legends Reward : Earn a second seasonal reward by visiting 10 times in a single month. Earning and Redeeming Rewards : Simply give your Front Porch Friends card or your phone number to the cashier when you're visiting Cracker Barrel.

Completely random - Megaman Battlechips

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I have no clue what these are but I have 5 of them. Somehow I 'inherited' them from a yard sale. They say Megaman Battlechip. I've looked on ebay and amazon and I think they go with some kind of Megaman characters. If you want them for your kids, just email me . Otherwise, they're going in the goodwill basket this week.

Time to thank the CVS cashiers

I'm a huge believer in saying thanks to those who do something nice for me..... so here is my thanks to the Danville CVS cashiers. Everytime I check out at CVS, the cashiers have smiles. They seem to think it's cool that I am able to save money by using coupons. When you have a good cashier, tell them thanks! So, thanks - Danville CVS!

New Coupon Printer at CVS!

Our Danville CVS now has a new coupon printer. When you walk in, you will see it on the end of the 2nd aisle. All you do is scan your CVS card and it will print out extra CVS coupons for you to use on your purchase. The coolest thing about these coupons is that since they are CVS coupons, you can stack them with your other manufacturers coupons! - BONUS savings!

"Limited Warranty' - 2 great words to see on a product!

If you have read my blog long, you have seen that I often request that companies honor their warranties when I have a product fail. I have had my water filter replaced twice (for free) because it was defective. I have received replacement scales, a replacement laser pointer mouse, new water hose, money back for 4 cans of deck sealer paint because it chipped off completely & a couch completely replaced - just to name a few. When a company puts the words '1 year limited warranty' or 3 years or 7 years - I feel like they should honor their word. That's why when we had to buy new Christmas lights today for our tree I loved seeing the words '3 year limited warranty'! I looked on the box to see what the requirements are to have the lights replaced and made sure I kept the receipt and the upc codes for all 4 boxes of lights. I really hope these new LED lights work like they're supposed to, but just in case they don't - I'm ready. *** Just a note..... I NEVE

Need free panties? Join VS

If you join the Victoria Secret Pink Nation, you will get coupons periodically for a free pair of panties - no purchase required. They also send you coupons for other items as well.

Shelburne Falls Coffee Sample

Sign up for their email newsletter and receive a FREE sample of Shelburne Falls Coffee right here .

I get to play today - while the rest of the shopping world goes crazy.

Today is Black Friday but I'm not going near a store. I get to play and decorate for Christmas, knowing that my Christmas shopping is practically done. I don't have to mess with Black Friday crowds, don't have to be in the shopping craze or fight with someone over a toy in the aisle. I can feel very pleased with myself (almost smug if you please) that I was able to buy my kids Christmas toys for very little out of pocket. How have I done that? I have spent the entire year watching sales, accumulating swagbucks, using coupons, matching sales and being as smart as possible. Do you get to relax today while the shopping world goes crazy? I know some people get a huge thrill of hunting and scoring a great find on Black Friday - but for me..... I'm quite content to stay at home today. If you haven't gotten your Christmas shopping list checked off yet, there's still time to snag some really good deals. Here's a couple of tips..... Make sure you are getting

$1.00 coupon off 2 BirdEye frozen vegetables

Click here for a $1.00 coupon off 2 BirdEye Lightly sauced frozen vegetables

Where is the coupon button on the blog????

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Here is where you can find the coupon button that I often refer to in my posts! It's always on the right column of the blog - a small square. If you click on the button you will be able to print off tons of money saving coupons (including the $5 Star Wars coupon, $5 My Little Pony, Coast, Nivea, Dole Fruit and lots more! Just a note about this coupon button : You can get to the same place by clicking on the web link ( http://www.coupons.com/ ) OR you can click on my coupon button (the gray square with blue highlights (follow the red arrow above) and help me out at the same time. Every time someone clicks and prints coupons from my blog instead of just clicking on the coupons.com link I get a tiny (very tiny) percent. It takes about 10 coupon prints for me to get a quarter but the way my mind and budget work..... I love it!

Free Christmas Music downloads

For a limited time, you can download Sampler Claus from Amazon MP3 for FREE. It includes 7 holiday songs by Frank Sinatra and other crooners.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm taking the day off blogging to enjoy the holiday. I hope you each have a great day enjoying time with family and friends! Happy Thanksgiving!

2 Wii games for under $5

OK.... so you want to know how I just got 2 new Wii games for our family for less than $5.oo total? Easy! I swapped them . I am mailing a game I don't want and someone is sending me something I do want. If you have DVDs, books, CD's, or games you don't want, you can post them at swaptree . Then you make a quick list of everything you would possibly want. Then Swaptree does the work. As soon as they find a match, you get an email asking if you will accept the trade. *One complaint I have heard about swaptree is that you might be asked to swap your high value Wii game for a book or cd. We found a way to fix that. My husband has a swaptree account where we only list wii games and I have a regular 'other' stuff account. He lists the games that we no longer want and puts on his want list the Wii games we do want. That way, it is a fair swap. We have tried out quite a few games this way! Need more info about swaptree? Read my original post here ...

Aveeno Baby Shampoo - BzzAgent Review

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I am a BzzAgent and recently I was sent a full size bottle of Aveeno Baby Shampoo to try out and review. So...... here's my quick review. The shampoo is 'natural wheat, oat and vitamin' so it was very gentle, didn't cause tears and was easy to rinse out (all important things in my kids opinion). I didn't think it had a particular smell - good or bad. Personally, I like kids shampoo that smells fruity when they are clean. Overall, a great shampoo but not one I'll buy unless it is on sale and I have coupons. Interested in becoming a bzzagent so you can get free stuff to try out? Just send me an email and I'll send you a link.

Not a coupon - but a tip to make life easier!

Just a quick tip to make life easier..... Alot of samples and coupons require you to register an email address. I have 2 email accounts. One for regular email and the other for my samples/deals and coupon request. That way I don't get tons of junk in my regular account. I also use the same password for every single one of my sample/coupon sites. That way I don't have to search to remember a pesky unique password for each account. This makes my coupon/sample request process go much quicker.

Free calendar from Oriental Trading

Click here for a free calendar from Oriental Trading. (The site says there are monthly money saving coupons.)

Free audiobook - Desiring God (John Piper)

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ChristianAudio.com is offering a free download of Desiring God by John Piper during the month of November. Go here and add it to your cart. Then use coupon code Nov2009 at checkout to get it for free.

$1.00 coupon for Scotties Kleenex

Just in time for cold season! Go here to print a coupon for $1/1 Scotties Facial Tissue.

Save $$$ on gift wrapping

I am almost embarrassed to write this tip: surely everyone does this already? Oh well.... just in case... Since we are having a 5 year old birthday party today, I wrapped presents last night. That got me thinking. What is my #1 $$$$ saving tip for wrapping presents? Simple! I use the same gift bags for the family birthdays every year. That's right. Natalie has gotten her presents for the past 3 years in the very same gift bags: Winnie the Pooh, Care Bear, sparkly pink...

.50 RoTel coupon

Here is a $0.50 Ro*Tel coupon. You should be able to print it twice. Go here and wait for the header to show an ad for a $0.50/1 coupon.

$1 coupon for Puffs tissue

Go here to request a $1/1 Puffs Ultra Soft and Strong coupon by mail.

More free photo cards for Christmas

Here's another offer for more free photo cards from See Here. Sign in to your account (either existing or new) Choose "photocards". Then start creating your card, insert your photo and text then when you check out enter newbaby for 50 4x8 cards. No shipping fees! This offer expires Nov 30.

Aveda Birthday club

Join Aveda's Birthday Program today and get a free, full-size product on your birthday! Today was the first day I had ever been in the Aveda store. (I called the 800 number on the card to check for a location. They are located in the Lexington mall closest to me). Honestly, I thought it was kind of expensive but I will definitely go back the next time I get a free card in the mail!

Build A Bear Workshop

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Build A Bear Workshop - quite the fun adventure! I've heard that its next to impossible to get out of the store without spending a ton of money..... but Natalie went today for the first time and had a ball. For those of you who don't know how it works.... here's the scoop. Pick out your animal. The basic bear cost $10.00; bunny, dog or turkey - $12; then the animals go up from there. Decide whether you want a sound . (starts at $5.00 and goes up). I didn't give Natalie this option since I know she doesn't like to cuddle at night with anything that wakes her up with noises. She didn't even realize it was an option. Bring your bear to life . They stuff the bear. Natalie picked the heart. This was cool. She had to rub the heart and go through a whole process of 'giving the bunny a heart'. - really cool! Then she got to decide if the bunny was filled just right. Give her new bunny a bath and brush it. Now the fun part...... picking out clothes . Full out

Our Mall Experience!

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Mall adventures : 1 stroller, 2 kids, 2 juice cups, an extra diaper, camera, a printed off mall map and of course - a whole stack of coupons. What a fun day! 1 free pretzel from Auntie Anns Pretzel shop . (coupon from recent newspaper) = FREE 2 free chocolate lollipops and 1 piece of chocolate/caramel candy from Sees Chocolate (They were giving out samples.) = FREE 1 free 8 oz body spray when I bought any item from Bath & Body Works (I found the small hand sanitizers for $1.00) = $1.59 Printable coupon from here 1 free perfume from Aerie just for signing up for their A-List club. (They give away one free item every month on Thursdays. Just walk in, sign up and pick up your free item.) 1 free bottle of massage oil from Aveda . ($25.00 value). = FREE Join Aveda's Birthday Program today and get a free, full-size product on your birthday! 1 free pair of panties from Victorias Secret = FREE There is a special going on. Purchase $10 worth of product from VS and get a Santa savi

Dealigg!

My friend Tracey told me about this great site - www.dealigg.com ! You can go to the stores and coupons tab at the top of the page. There you will find an alphabetical list of every store you can possibly think of. Under each store name, you will find a link to coupons available for that store! I checked it out to help me prepare for my mall challenge. Happy hunting.

My mall Shopping challenge

If you know me at all, you know that I am not a mall shopper. However, today my daughter turns 5 so I'm taking her to Build -A-Bear in the mall. While there, I am going to see how much free stuff I can pick up. My plans are to spend no more than $10 today (including Build-A-bear) by using all my coupons. I'll let you know tonight how it goes.

1.50 coupon for Wet Ones

Click here for $1.50 coupon off Wet Ones. You just fill out your name and email, then agree to "pledge to fight off germs". Then print your coupon.

.75 coupon for any Johnsonville Sausage

Click here for .75 coupon for any Johnsonville sausage.

$1.00 coupon for Coffeemate Creamer

Click here for a $1.00 coupon for Coffeemate Creamer. *This coupon offer has been around awhile but it seems to be making the rounds again. If you have already printed 2 coupons, you won't be allowed to print again.

50 FREE photo cards! - still available

Update : I finally got my cards ordered. the site is slow. But the cards are completely free. no credit card needed. You can order 50 free 4x8 photo cards including free shipping using the coupon code freebies4mom-1109 at SeeHere by Fujifilm. A couple of notes about this deal: This came available last week but the site was hit so hard that it was barely crawling. That's why I waited till today to tell you about it. I talked to Heather at Freebies4Mom and she assured me this code is good till Nov 30 so you have plenty of time to design your free photo cards. This a completely free offer. I'm hoping to get a good picture of the 3 kids this weekend to use for Christmas cards. If you decide you don't want to use them for Christmas cards, you can make them Thank you notes, or babies first 'something' or anything you wanted to use them for.

Free money (again) from Magazines.com

Yes! You read that right. I just got my mail and I had another $5.00 check to ME from Magazines.com. This is not a rebate check or a refund - just free money they gave me. How can you get in on this? Click here . Once you are on this page, click on the Log In button in the upper right corner. Scroll down on that page and click on the area that states you have never ordered with Magazines.com but would like to create an account. Done! Now you just have to wait. In the last year, I have received several emails from them. I always look to see what it says. Then I usually just delete the email. BUT - everyonce in a while, you will get an email from them that says "enjoy this free $5.00 on us toward a new magazine". If you scroll down to the bottom of that email, you will see a link that says "receive a free check instead". This is my 2nd check I've gotten from them. I'll let you know when I get the next email with the free $ link! Note: I have never

Saving $$$ at Cracker Barrel

If you like to eat at Cracker Barrel, you might want to check out this article at Saving our Cents about a program that gives you $5 off $20 on your first purchase just for signing up at Cracker Barrel and more savings the more you eat there.

Free Kindle for PC and free ebooks

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Wow! This is the day for book deals, huh? Have you heard of the Kindle? The handheld electronic 'book' that lets you download books and read them - no paper required. It's kind of pricey (around $250 or s0) BUT no problem there....... You can go here to download (for FREE) a Kindle for your computer. Very simple. All you do is download it, then go here to download free books (note: not all Kindle ebooks are free, but there are quite a few choices). You must have an Amazon.com account to access this deal. (No credit card required, of course!) I have never read a book on the computer. I usually prefer the old-fashioned way, but I may try a new book tonight - for free, and no trip to the library.

More books for presents - less than $2 each

Here's another great offer for great Christmas presents! If you’re planning to give children’s books as holiday gifts, be sure to check out the selection of books online at Books-A-Million. They have a great range of books for little ones that start at just $1.77. Plus, get free shipping when you use the promo code BKLVFREE. Plus, if you plan to buy anything here, make sure you start shopping from mrrebates . You will get $5.00 bonus just for signing up + 2% cashback! If you are already a member, you will get 2% for every purchase. Here’s what you do on the web site :- Click the “Bargains” tab at the top of the page.- Click “Juvenile Fiction” or "Juvenile Non-Fiction" in the box on the right that says “Browse Bargain Books by Category.”- Sort the books by “Price (Low to High)” and click “Update.” You’ll see the books priced at $1.77 showing up in the first.

Tons of Christmas present options for under $5!

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Christianbooks.com has thousands of items priced at $1.00 or less. Shipping is 3.99 for up to $20. So you can order 1 item and pay less than $5.00 but it will be a better deal if you order several items for .99 or less and then pay only 3.99 for all of them. Click on BARGAINS then down about halfway to DOLLAR DEALS! There are tons of kids books, adult fiction, beginner Bible books (even a plush character from Hermie and Friends!) If you don't want religious themed items, there are still choices (just not as many). They do offer some really cool small wooden 3D puzzles (animals, plane, helicopter, motorcycle). There are some really cool items here! Thanks Sisterly Savings !

Free Sample of Loreal Ever Pure

Click here for a free sample of Loreal Ever Pure Shampoo

Free Applebees Meal for Military on Wednesday

On Wednesday, November 11 veterans and active duty military eat free at Applebee's when they show proof of military service (see their website for list). No coupon or purchase is required, but drinks and gratuity aren't included in the free meal offer. I do recommend that you call your local Applebee's before heading out to confirm that they are participating in this promotion.

Become a Bzz Agent!

Interested in being a BzzAgent? Send me an email and I'll send you a free invitation. It is of course free. The 'campaigns' don't come often at first but I have just been accepted into my 3rd. Back in May, I received the Off Clip-On and Mosquito Lamp. 2 weeks ago, I received the Zyrtec Allergy medicine In 3 weeks, I will receive Aveeno Baby Shampoo and Diaper Rash Cream. It takes quite awhile to get invited to do the first campaing, but I figure it's worth a few minutes to get the chance at free stuff.

Children's Zyrtec Easy Dosing Product Review

I am a BzzAgent. That means that periodically I receive products to review and test. (You might remember that last summer I was sent the Off Clip-On and Mosquito Lamp to test and keep for free). This month I was sent a box of Children's Zyretec Allergy perfect measure. This medicine is 10 individually wrapped pre-filled spoons. They are perfect to drop in your bag so you have the medicine with you whenever you need it. They also included a stack of $3.00 coupons for me to share. Have you ever used this product? What did you think about it?

Selling stuff on Amazon.com

I've had several people ask me how I make money online. Here's one of the ways I make some extra cash online! Maybe it will help you get started too. I sell books, cds, dvds, games etc at Amazon.com Here's what I do to determine if something is worth selling on Amazon.. I search for the title on Amazon. Then I check the used/new price it is selling for. My rule of thumb is to deduct $2.50 from whatever the lowest price is. That will tell me what I will potentially make as profit. If the lowest price (doesn't matter condition) is under $5.00, I usually don't mess with it because I would only make a potential profit of $2.50 and I would still have to have shipping supplies. Make sense? (see bottom of article to see what I do if it's not worth selling on Amazon). There are no fees to list but Amazon will charge a fee when it sells. But they will also give you a credit to supposedly offset the cost of shipping. Once I determine that an item is worth selling

Enter To Win Spa Specifics & Get A Free Sample!

Enter here to win a 16oz. container of our Velvet Milk Aloe Butter Mask and just for entering you’ll receive a FREE sample of the Velvet Milk Collection! This is some kind of lotion for feet.

Free memo cube

This is a free sample of a memo cube from a paper company. Just click here to request yours.

Coupons - just for asking (again!)

I recently decided to contact a few more companies and see what kind of response I would get. Sometimes I get great responses! ... and sometimes not. But I keep trying. Here's a few of my latest contact reports.... I emailed SC Johnson (makers of Glade, Windex, etc); Thanked them for their products and requested coupons. Here's where to contact them. Got this response: How thoughtful of you to tell us how much you like our products that make your home smell better and help you clean. I'm happy to hear they worked great for you. We work hard to offer products that satisfy consumers, like you; and your positive feedback lets us know our efforts are paying off. Because we value you as a loyal consumer, and appreciate your thoughtful comments, I am sending a packet of dollar off coupons for some of our newest products to your home address. There are coupons for cleaning products as well as fragrance products. Please feel free to give these products a try, and we hope they will

Save-A-Lot coupons and 'rules'

I very rarely shop at Save-A-Lot because it's across town and off my regular path. However, this $5 coupon convinced me to try it out. I found a super helpful cashier who shares my love for coupons. Here's what I learned: You can stack Save-A-Lot coupons with manufacturers coupon (at least at the Danville store)! Here's an example: Kelloggs Apple Jacks cereal was on sale for 2.55 I used the $1.00 Save-A-Lot coupon from their website I used a $1.00 manufacturers coupon I had in my notebook Total price for a box of cereal - .55! Here's the hitch in my opinion..... Save-A-Lot carries alot of its own personal brands so most of my coupons don't work there since they are for more mainstream brands. But, if you shop there often, you will probably start to recognize particular brands they do carry. Click here to sign up for a $5.00 off $20 purchase at Save-A-Lot! While on their site, click on 'printable coupons' so you print off extra coupons just for Save-A-

Congrats! - We have a giveaway winner.

Congrats to #4 - Slbragg. You're the winner. I'm hoping to have more giveaways soon!

Welch's Juice Coupons

Click here to print several coupons for Welch's Juice or here for the sparkling grape juice.

$5 off $5 purchase at Things Remembered

Here's a coupon for $5 off a $5 purchase at Things Remembered. This is going to be tough to find a free item but if you are near a mall with this store, it's definitely worth a shot. Make sure you go straight to the back of the store for the clearance items. You may be able to find something there.

Sample of Surf Detergent

Click here for a free sample of Surf Detergent

Buy 1 Get 1 Free - Kikkoman Soy Sauce

Click here for a Buy 1 Get 1 Free Kikkoman Soy sauce

Another giveaway - Fiber One Toaster Pastries

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Don't forget to enter this giveaway! Here's another great giveaway from My Blog Spark . They sent me 2 Fiber One Maple Brown Sugar Toaster pastries (which were a huge hit in our house), a little cooler bag (which is perfect size for 3 juice cups that I constantly carry with me), an insulated drink cup and a calendar/journal. The fun part is that they are sending one to a lucky reader. All you have to do is leave a comment below with your email address. As usual, the winner will be chosen randomly by my kids. I could go have a number drawn by a computer generator..... but this way my kids get to be a part of the blogging experience. For an additional entry , subscribe to the blog. (How do you do that? Just click on the right of the blog where it says 'subscribe'.) Then leave a comment telling me you subscribed. If you are already a subscriber, just leave that note in the comment section. For a third entry, leave a comment with a link to another place you go looking for

Coupons, Cashiers & Cudos!

This is a random thought about coupons & cashiers. At Danville Kroger yesterday, I used the self checkout with under 20 items. I, of course, had a huge stack of coupons. The cashiers both laughed and said that they never minded seeing me come through their checkout because even though I had tons of coupons, they never had to worry about my coupons working. That was a huge 'cudo' to me and it made my day. Why does this matter to you? Because each time one of us 'super couponers' use coupons we are paving the way for the next 'new couponer' . If we are nasty, impatient and sneaky with our coupons, we are making it harder for the next customer who wants to use legit coupons. What I learned from this: Always check my expiration dates before I get to the checkout lane. If there are 'free' coupons, try to write down the amount that will be free so the cashier doesn't have to go searching through a long receipt for the amount. Always make sure th

Free sample - Avery Labels

Click here to request a free sample of Avery Mailing Labels.

Best Local Playgrounds - according to my 3 kids!

There is no school today for my son.... and there's supposed to be sunshine and 60 degrees! What does that mean? It means a day at the playground! Here are some of the places I know of that are cool! Do you have a great park you like to visit? I'd love to post your favorite places to play. If there is any interest, I may try to expand this section of the blog to include pictures of the playgrounds with directions from mapquest. I love getting my kids out and letting them really be kids! The best thing about local parks? They're FREE and they get us moving! But where are the coolest local playgrounds? Kentucky Stanford, KY: Logan-Hubble Memorial Park (about 1 mile north of Stanford and a mile or so off the main road out in the country). A great modern colorful playground, swings, a small toddler playground off to the side - Large lake for fishing, tons of picnic pavilions and tables, and a bonus - there is an authentic seesaw, merry-go-round and bouncer! (These play pie