CVS Free Magnet Deal Gets Better

The CVS free magnet deal is even better than I realized! If you're creating a new CVS photo account you get a credit for 50 FREE prints. So I created an account, ordered 53 prints and 1 4x6 magnet for a grand total of..... $.57!!! You can apply the promotion code for the magnet (FREE4MOM) at the end of checkout and there is a box you can check that says to apply the 50 free print credit to this order. Click that and you're done.

It was really easy to do. I'm excited to see how the magnet turns out. I made one of my girls from our last Disney trip. They're going to love it!

This is really a great promotion, I hope you can take advantage of it!

Free Photo Magnet From CVS

CVS is offering a free 4 x 6 photo magnet! Create the magnet online and enter code FREE4MOM at checkout, select instore pickup to avoid shipping charges, and pick up your FREE magnet at your local CVS! What a great freebie!

20 FREE Songs From I-Tunes

Become a fan (or now a liker) of I-Tunes on Facebook and get 20 FREE music downloads of your choice from I-Tunes! I love this giveaway, I'm definatly doing this!

Orgins Earth Day Freebie

If you have an Orgins near you, bring in whatever you are currently using for skin care and they will give you a free full-size bottle of one of their cleansers. I don't know where one of these stores are, but if you do you may want to check it out! I think this is for tomorrow only!

FREE 6 Pack Sample of Nescafe Taster's Choice Coffee

Nescafe Taster's Choice is giving away free samples (6 pack) of their coffee. Go here: www.tasterschoice.com to request your free sample!

Organic Coupons

If you're wwwinterested in saving money on organic products defintatly sign up at www.mambosprouts.com. Mambo Sprouts periodically mails out coupon booklets, with TONS of great coupon in it. You will also receive a newsletter via email that also has coupons in it. Organic coupons can be hard to come by, and this is one of the only ways I know of to get good coupons that you otherwise wouldn't be able to find.

If you know of any other ways to save money on organic food pass them on here, I'd love to hear your ideas!

Clearance Finds at Target

Just back from a quick trip to Target. Of course they didn't have what I was looking for but I did get some great bargains for my kiddies. It's that time of year when you realize that none of your kids summer clothes from last year fit, and that they're going to need an entire new wardrobe.... I don't know why I'm so surprised that this happens EVERY year.

Anyways, my youngest daughter has about 4 short sleeve shirts, so I figured I better get looking. Target has 2 piece outfits on clearance for $3.70! Plus it was her favorite color...SCORE! I also picked up another 2 piece outfit for $6.00. And my best finds were in the shoe department. I bought my oldest daugter a pair of black dress shoes in the next size up for $2.49, oldest daughter also got a pair of dressy sparkly leather flip flops for $3.00, and youngest daughter got an awesome pair of black sparkly dress shoes with purple butterflies on them for $3.27! None of the shoes were marked these prices, they were all marked over $10, but a lady in the store said to scan them at the U-Scan machine cause they were coming up cheaper. I'm really glad about the shoe deals, since my kids feet are growing like weeds lately.

I spent under $20 for 2 complete outfits and 3 pairs of shoes. Can't beat that!

Pop Tart Rewards

One of my daughters favorite (unhealthy) snacks is a Pop-Tart. I don't know what she finds so wonderful about them, but she would pick a Pop-Tart over just about any snack. Pop-Tarts has recently started a rewards program. Just buy different flavors with the specially marked package and you can redeem them for various prizes. I plan to use my points for a free movie ticket (a movie ticket is 5 points).

I love when buying a product we frequently use can get me a reward, like a free movie ticket. I recently noticed that even 7/11 has a Slurpee Rewards program now. What a great way to reward loyal customers!

Swagbucks Rewards!

Just ordered my Amazon gift card through swagbucks! I won on 3 searches today!! I usually only win once or twice a day. Plus I entered the swagcode, so I made almost 60 Swagbucks in 1 day! I'm so excited, I'm getting closer to my goal! I want to get my daughter this book. Guide to the Magic for Kids. She will flip out over this book. She loves her Birnbaums for Kids book, but she's seen pictures of this online and this so up her alley. She, of course, loves Disney World and I know this book is perfect for her. It has pictures of all the attractions, stickers, an autograph section... pretty much everything a 5 year old Disney enthusiast could wan. It's $30.00, which I think is pricey for a kids book, but with my Swagbucks it will be free! Now I just have to get $15 more in the next 5 weeks so I can get it 100% free.

I love that Amazon participates in this program. Amazon.com is one of my favorite online shopping sites. They have everything, for great prices. I can even order my gluten free products in bulk! What more could a girl want....

My Money Saving (I hope) Organic Garden

As I've posted before I'm really trying to switch to more natural, organic eating and living. But organic food can be EXPENSIVE! To help with the cost I've decided to start trying to grow some of my own food! I'm actually really excited to try this. Today we started our seeds. We're starting small. My girls and I planted tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. Since we have no actual place to plant these, they will be grown in planters (which I have to find... so any good deals post here please).

I really hope this works out. I would love to have organic veggies and be able to turn these into organic pasta sauces and salsa. Yum! Maybe I could even try pickles if I get brave!

Any tips? I'm a newbie to all this and I'm not so sure I have a green thumb!

Swag Code Out!!

For those of you that use Swagbucks there is a code out worth 9 Swagbucks. To find the code click the down arrow where it says "From TSG" on the toolbar. The first thing that pops up should be the code. Hurry it expires soon!

So far I've made 42 Swagbucks today! Only 3 away from my next gift card!!

Don't know what a Swagbuck is?? It's my absolute favorite online rewards program. It's a search engine (searches through Google) that awards you random points (not every search will win) in the form of Swagbucks. You can cash out your points for many, many, prizes. My personal favorite is the $5.00 Amazon Gift Card, for 450 points. But you can cash out with paypal or for lots of other gift cards too. Winning searches earn at least 10 Swagbucks.

It's a great program. 100% free and so easy to use. I highly recommend this site. You can click at the link to the right to check it out!

Clarification

Just a FYI for those of you that don't coupon often. Nearly all the coupons I use are from the Sunday paper. If I use an internet printable I'll put the link. But 99% of the coupons I use are from the paper. I clip any coupon I think I may ever use. I have 2 expandable coupon holders, one for grocery and one for health, beauty, and cleaning. I file them in the organizers by catagory. It works well for me. I don't have a ton of coupons, I get 1 or 2 papers a week. And since I buy about 90% gluten free items I don't usally buy or cut coupons for the processed items since we can't eat them anyways.

If you have any questions about how to get started couponing send me an email or leave a comment and I'll get back to you asap, I love helping other people learn to save money!

Meijer Deals

Today was my grocery shopping day at Meijers. I think I did pretty good. I spent $40.60, but that included all the things I needed to start my little garden. And since this is my first attempt at starting a garden I needed to start from scratch. For my garden I got: 40 peet pots, containers to put the peet pots in, seeds, potting soil, and a trowel. I plan to grow tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. I wish I could grow more, but I just don't have the space. I'm hoping it turns out well and I have lots of nice yummy organic veggies. I'd love to be able to make and can some salsa and pasta sauce.

Anyways, the deals I found today were:

Halls Cough Drops - sale price $.99 (minus $1.00 coupon) Final - FREE
Clorox Green Works - sale price $2.58 - bought 2 for a total of $5.16 (minus 2 $.50 coupons doubled...so $2.00 off) plus Meijer has a promotion that if you buy 2 Green Works products you get $2.00 instantly at register.... so Final - $1.16 or $.58 each! Plus each bottle came with 1 free sample of laundry detergent
Rimmel Bronzer - Reg price $6.99 - clearanced to $1.72 (minus $1.00 coupon) Final $.72!
Hidden Valley Dressing - sale 2 for $5.00 (minus $2.00 coupon) plus Meijer has a promotion buy 2 Hidden Valley get lettuce free. So $3.00 for 2 dressings and lettuce! (Would have been better if I'd had 2 coupons)
YoPlus Light Yogurt - Sale $2.00 (minus $.50 coupon doubled) Final $1.00 each (I got 2 - we eat a lot of yogurt)
Meijer Organic Milk $3.00 for 1/2 gallon. Yummy!
Sargento Reduced Sodium Shredded Cheese $2.00 (minus $.55 coupon) Final $1.45
Cantelope $1.50 each (we cut into this as soon as the groceries were put away)

This is just some of what I got. I'm really trying to convert to more organic products, so I was excited for the Clorox Green Works deal. I would love to use cleaners that are all natural. I'm interested to try the detergent sample to see how that works. Plus I was out of Organic Milk, so I was glad that was on sale too!

Did you find any deals at Meijers this week? Post them here!

My New Addition

A tragedy has turned out okay after all. My slow cooker, one of the most used things in the kitchen, broke last week. I was bummed (especially since dinner was already in there cooking). So my shopping began, trying to find the perfect one. My last one was just a standard slow cooker, no bells and whistles, but it did the job. I figured since I was buying one anyways, I might as well upgrade. Now I can set the time I want it to cook and it will automatically turn to "keep warm" statu when done. It has a locking lid so it's easy to transport. And it came with a spoon. Yes the spoon is what sold me..... it has a place to rest ON the lid! I am a slow cooker nerd apparantly. I can't wait to use it!

FYI - I can't find a picture of the exact one I bought, but this is kind of close. Mine just has the electronics and LCD on the front.

Rewards Program Updates

Last week was pretty hectic, but I think I still managed to do okay on my rewards programs.

Opinion Outpost - made $6 (took about 40 minutes)
My Suvey - made about $5 (tooka out 20 minutes)
My Points - made about 200 points (took about 2 minutes)
Swagbucks - made 200 swagbucks (don't really have a time, but I only searched for things I would have been doing anyways... so I guess that doesn't really count as extra time).

I'm only 45 swagbucks away from another gift certificate. I'm excited about that! I'm trying to supply nearly all "free" gifts for my daughters kindie graduation. So far I think I'll do okay.

I'm also excited about my points. The points are really adding up fast, and I think in about a month I'll have enough for a $25 gift certificate for Rainforest Cafe. The kids and I will have a blast there while my husband's at his convention in Orlando. I've never been to the one at Disney and I know it will be awesome!

I should be ready to request checks from Opinion Outpost and My Survey by the end of the week (I wait until I reach at least $10). That's $20 more for my vacation!

Reusable Bag Deals

This week there are a couple reusable bag deals in honor of Earth Day. My favorite was in today's newspaper.

Mail 5 plastic Target bags in and you'll receive a coupon for $1.00 off a Target Reusable Bag priced $1.49 or more. Everything you need is in the paper (in the coupon inserts). The ad turns into the envelope and postage is even prepaid. All you need is tape and the plastic bags. I'm definitly doing this!

Walgreens has a coupon in their ad for 3 reusable bags for $1.00! I'm planning to do this too.

I recently decided I'd like to switch to using all reusable bags, and these offers sure will help!

Sorry For My Absence

Sorry, I haven't been around in a couple of days. My mom had to have surgery, and although the surgery itself went well, the recovery is going badly. She responded badly to the anastesia and has been unable to keep any food down and has been so dizzy she can hardly walk. I was at the hospital helping out, and wasn't near a computer.

Anyways, she's still in the hospital... but should be getting out today! My dad is with her and I was able to come home and get some much needed rest. I promise the deals will be coming, although it may be slow. I'm not sure when I'll be headed over my parents to help take care of my mom.

Meanwhile, if you see any good deals out there feel free to contact me and I can post them here.

Thanks!

Entertainment Book Deal

If you want an Entertainment Book right now you can get it super cheap through Shop at Home. If you don't already have a Shop at Home account you'll need to create one, and you get a $5 credit just for signing up! Shop at Home is an online shopping rewards program. If you order your Entertainment Book through them they will credit your account $7! The Entertainment Book is $15 with free shipping. So if your a new customer you will pay $15 for the book buy your account will be credit back $12 ($5 for being a new member & $7 for the Entertainmen Book Credit). You'll end up paying just $3 for the book!

Be aware that you do need to have a $20 balance in your Shop at Home account to request your check. But if you do a lot of online shopping this should be fairly easy to accumulate.

This offer is valid through the end of April!

Starbucks

Don't forget to bring in your reusable mug to Starbucks to get your FREE coffee today!

Swagcode is Out

If you've signed up for Swagbucks there is a swagbuck out worth 5 swagbucks. If you downloaded the toolbar click on the little down arrow next to: From TSG there should be something that says Congratulations on Having the Toolbar. Click there and the code is in the message. Hurry before it expires! (It's against the rules to actually post the code.... you can only post directions)

Don't know what a swagbuck is? Feel free to email or leave a comment and I'll get back with you. Or check out the link on the right side of the blog!

Save Money While Shopping

Since I love shopping, but would be broke if I went as often as I liked, I've had to find some creative ways to support my habit. My favorite way is to sign up for all my favorite stores reward programs and coupons. I regularly get coupons in the mail for $15 off a $15 purchase, $10 off a $10 purchase, ect. To me it's like free shopping money. The best store for this is Kohls, I get $10 off $10 coupons from them pretty regularly. I've gotten so many things for free there. I go in and look through the clearance and I always find something great, especially in the kids department. I aim to get as close to $10 as I can (you have to have $10 before tax to use the coupon), and many times I've only paid tax for my purchases. I've gotten a blanket for my daughters bed (regularly $30, after sale and coupon....$4), 2 piece outfits for my daughter for free, dresses for me for free, $60 Vera Wang shoes for $1 after clearance and coupon.... really my list is endless.

Many stores participate in programs like this. Some I am sure participate are:
JCPenny
DSW (I received a $10 cert in the mail just for signing up in store)
Kohls
Joanns, Michales, Hobby Lobby (sends 40% off coupons via email and regular mail)
Children's Place (receive frequent % off coupons via regular mail)
New York and Company/Lane Bryant (I think these stores are owned by the same company....and they both send out coupons)
Toys R Us/Babies R Us (I usually get $$ off coupons from here)

I love shopping this way. This weekend I went out using my gift certificate like coupons and I bought:
2 pairs of Steve Madden socks
1 pair of undies
1 dress shirt (regular price $50)

I spent....... $3.00!!!!!

If you know of anyother stores with programs like this please share. I'll add it to the list!

Update on Lakeshore Learning Earth Day Crafts

I just got an email from Lakeshore Learning and they have even more planned for Earth Day! From 11-3 you can participate in:

Hands on activities
Free crafts
Plant your own flower seed

Sounds like it's going to be a great day!

Cinnabon Freebie

On April 15th Cinnabon is giving away 2 FREE cupcake bites to each guest. This promotion is from 6-8 p.m. You may want to call your local shop to make sure they are participating.

Sound yummy, doesn't it!

Get a FREE Reusable Bag at Kroger

Kroger has a great contest out right now. Design a reusable bag (takes about 2 minutes to do this, can take more if you get fancy) and you're entered into a contest to win $1,000. But just for entering you will get a credit for a free reusable bag added to your Krogers Shoppers Card. Just redeem it next time you're in Krogers. I did this last year, and it worked. I love having reusable bags around!

The website is listed below. Many other stores are participating in this so be sure to check the list of stores if Kroger is not in your area!

http://www.designareusablebag.com/

FREE Coffee From Starbucks!

Bring in a reusable mug to Starbucks on April 15th to get a free cup of coffee!

For the good of the planet, Starbucks is encouraging everyone to switch from paper cups to reusable travel mugs. So bring in your mug for a free cup of coffee.

For more details check out their website here:
http://www.starbucks.com/thebigpicture

Thomas the Train Event at Toys R Us

This Saturday Toys R Us Stores are having a Thomas the Train event. It goes from
11-1.

Activities Include:
Storytime
Coloring Fun
Thomas Trivia
Special Offers
Free Gifts

Make sure you call ahead to your local TRU to make sure they are participating.

This sounds like fun. My youngest daughter loves trains so she might be really into this!

Money Saving Tips

So you want to save money. So do I. There are probably a million in one ways to do it, so I don't know why it can be so hard sometimes. It's kind of become my thing. My M.O. if you will....

Anyways, this post is to put some ideas out there on how you can save money easily.

First of all - USE COUPONS. Buy the Sunday paper. Where I live it's cheaper to buy it either at Dollar General or Meijer. You won't save money if you buy stuff just because you have a coupon. The best way to save is use coupons to buy things you already use when they're on sale. I try to save coupons for when an item is on sale and than I stock up. I routinely get things that I would have bought anyways for pennies or even free.

Second - Make use of catalina deals in a store. A catalina is a coupon that prints out at the register when you pay. The deals are usually advertised in the store circular or by signs. For instance, Meijers had Betty Crocker Fruit snacks on a catalina deal. If you bought 3 you got a coupon for $1.50 off your next order. Well, I only needed 2, but hey they cost $1.86, so why not buy 3 the 3rd one ends up being $0.36 after the catalina deal.

Third - If you buy online shop through a rewards program like ebates or mypoints. You get a percent back for each purchase. Many retailers are listed. It takes minutes to do it this way and you'll get a check for your efforts.

Fourth - Shop smart. Look at clearance racks first, than move on to sales. Or even better, try out alternative shopping methods. My mom used to routinely hold clothing swaps. It was great, we all brought clothes we didn't want/fit anymore and "shopped" from our friends stash. Everyone ALWAYS took something home, the extra was donated. We brought clothes, shoes, purses, jewelry, ect. It was a blast. I think this would work great if you have friends with kids, and could do a kids exchange. Unfortunately my friends all have boys or girls whose sizes wouldn't match with my girls. But I would love to do this.

Fifth - If you want to make a big purchase check online prices first. We recently needed bunk beds for our girls. The one we liked was $1200 in the furniture store. We found an almost identical one on Amazon.com for $500. And you know what? When it came and was set up, I like it even better than the more expensive one! That's $700 in my pocket. I spent that $700 on my new couches. The couches were bought at American Freight. They're Simmons leather and so far are great. Way cheaper than the regular furniture stores. Check online to see if there is a location near you, they are located nationwide.

Sixth - Save your change. If you have a "extra" you'd like to save for set up a jar. In our family we use cash for everything. We average about $75 a month in change. It all goes in the jar, which gets deposited into our vacation account once a month. Easy money that we don't even miss. Plus husband's pockets don't jingle when he walks, and my purse is lighter. Everybody wins!

Seventh - Check sites like craigslist.com. Of course use common sense with this. My husband is always the one to do exchanges, ect. But it can be great. We got a Wii for free last year by doing an exchange for an item we no longer had a use for. Loved it.

These are my money saving ideas. What are yours?

Lakeshore Learning - Free Reusable Tote

This Saturday Lakeshore Learning is having an Earth Day Craft for the kids. They can design and keep their own reusable bags. This craft is 100% free. It runs from 11-3. My kids are excited about going to do this. :)

Free Books!

Since I love reading (and have an unhealthy obsession with buying new books) I was excited to learn that my husband's new I-Pad has a reader feature. I browsed through the free books available through Apple and was pleasantly surprised. Now I have about 40 books on his I-Pad, which I borrow when he's home. They had all the Jane Austen books (my personal favorite), tons of Henry James books, and lots of other goodies. Mainly the classics, which are what I prefer anyways. If you have an I-Pad or I-Touch/I-Phone you may want to check it out.

Disney Movie Rewards

As is probably obvious my family loves Disney. We travel there, we watch Disney Channel, and we buy Disney movies. Disney Movie Rewards is a great site that rewards you for buying Disney movies, cd's, movie tickets, ect. We started using this program a while ago and have received a couple of rewards from them. In the past we've received CD's. And I just ordered another reward today. I bought my oldest daughter a Disney mp3 player a while back on Amazon, and I just needed some headphones to go with it. Well I had enough points in my Disney Movie Rewards account to cash out for some behind the ear Hannah Montana/High School Musical headphones (they have interchangable plates so you can wear them Hannah style or High School Musical style). She will love these. I'm giving her the mp3 player as part of her Kindergarten Graduation gift. I just have to load it up with all her favorite songs! Of course I'm not paying for the mp3 downloads. I'm using my Coke Rewards points to pay for those (I think I have enough for 15 downloads)!

I love using rewards programs!

Vacation is Booked!

I am so excited about this I have to share! I booked our vacation this weekend! We'll be staying at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort. I've never stayed here but I'm so excited to, especially since they just redid the pool and they added a water playground feature. Plus of course, I got a great discount on my room. I've never paid full price for a Disney Resort. This time I'm saving about $80 a night. If you're planning a trip to Disney there are some great deals to be had. For this years trip I'm using a PIN code to book my room. A pin code is a deal that only you can use, it comes direct from Disny via email or snail mail. No one knows for sure how to get these random codes, but one thing that has worked for me is signing up for an account at Disneyworld.com. This is free, and allows you to create customized travel maps that Disney will mail to you 100% free, these are great maps that only have the attractions you choose on them. My kids love these. You can also make dining reservations, ect. Also sign up to receive the free vacation planning DVD It's 100% free and I received my discount code about 2 weeks after ordering. My kids love watching this DVD. It's all about the parks and you can even see the Disney Resorts so you can decide where you want to stay.

I love vacation planning, it's seriously one of my favorite things to do. Now that my resort is booked I get to start planning our dining reservations!

Vacation Fund Deposit

I received a check from Opinion Outpost Friday so this morning I made a deposit in my vacation fund.

$9.00 from Opinion Outpost
$12.40 in loose change (this was about 1 weeks worth)

$21.40 towards my vacation!

I was going to cash out for a gift certificate for Rainforest Cafe for my trip this morning, and of course now that I have enough points the certificate I want is no longer available! It figures :)

Clearance Deals at Sears

We stopped by Sears this weekend looking for some shoes my daughter needs for her dance recital. They didn't have the shoes, bu they did have some awesome clearance deals. I was able to get a nice pair of black leather dress boots for $4.99! I was so excited since I've been looking for some for a while. They're the tall kind that almost go to the knee too. They were exactly what I wanted and the price can't be beat.... now I just have to wait until fall to wear them.

They also had tons of Lands End clothes/coats for 70% off the clearance price. They had jackets marked as low as $19.99 with 70% off that! I need a sprint jacket, but couldn't find one that would work for what I need. It might be worth checking out if you need something for next year.

And I finally found some shoes for my daughter this morning. So I'm excited. She needed all white tennis shoes and they were so hard to find in her tiny size. She should get her costume this week! I'm so excited!

Lakeshore Learning

Don't forget tomorrow at Lakeshore Learning there will be free crafts for kids. This weeks craft is a Customized Door Hanger. My kids love going here, we try to make it there most Saturday afternoons. The craft is from 11-3 and is 100% free. They usually have markers, glitter glue, stampers, stickers, jewels and shapes to glue on... lots of room for creativity. This is hands down one of my girls favorite things to do on the weekend! My only problem is that I can't leave that store without buying something. They have so many great things for kids of all ages. My kids have loved everything we've bought there and it really does make learning fun.

Maybe we'll see you there.

Mega Swagbucks Day

Every Friday is Mega Swagbucks day! That means that your random searches are more likely to pull high number Swagbucks. The most I've ever won in a single search are 50 swagbucks, but I know people who have won over 100. I think the most awarded is 1,000. Not too bad for just doing a simple search. Don't know what a swagbuck is, check out my earlier post. Or just shoot me an email or leave a comment on this post.

Free Potholder From Stouffers

You can get this potholder free from Stouffers by following just a couple of easy steps. First go here: www.dinnerclub.stouffers.com
Second: Create an account, this will take about 1 minute to do and you get 100 points for signing up.
Third: Click on the Earn Points tab and take the survey. This is worth 100 points and takes about 1 minute to complete.
Fourth: Click on Rewards and you can get the potholder for 200 points. 100% free, you don't even pay shipping.

So Sleepy

Bear with me today, I'm slightly exhausted. Last night I was so tired I brushed my teeth with my hair smoothing creme. And even worse it took me a while to realize it. I knew the "toothpaste" tasted funny (FYI - hair smoothing creme tastes like soap), but I still didn't even give it a second thought. I did eventually realize it and rebrush, but man that taste could not be washed out. Than I took sinus medicine that kept me tossing and turning, and of course my youngest decided last night would be the pefect time to try staying up all night.

All in all, I am just trying not fall asleep in my seat. And I'm mainly just counting time until I can go to bed. I hate days like this, and it's definatly not helping that it's so gloomy outside. I need to wake up!

Great New Freebie

Bring in the cover of the May issue of Seventeen Magazine (or a print out of their home page) to Aeropostal for a FREE T-Shirt. You must be between the ages of 13-29 to be eligible for the offer.

Thanks couponingtodisney.com for this great offer.

Disney Store Freebie

Stop in any Disney Store on April 22nd to receive a free baseball hat in honor of Earth Day. All you need to do to receive the hat is bring in 6 empty plastic water bottles.

Earth Day Freebie at Target

This year on Earth Day (April 18th) the first 1.5 million to make purchases at Target will get a FREE reusable tote bag.

Today Only FREE Prints at Walgreens

Today only Walgreens is offering 20 free prints. Upload and order online (you can pick up in store to avoid shipping charges). Enter code PRINTS20 at checkout. Gotta love free pictures!

Online Surveys

In the past 45 minutes I've made about $10 while watching t.v. with my sick daughter. I'm a member of several online companies that pay you for your opinion. My 2 favorites are mysurvey.com and opinionoutpost.com. Both companies send you periodic emails with opportunites to take surveys for money. They will give you an approximate time it will take to complete as well as how many points you will recieve (you need 1,000 for a $10.00 cashout from mysurvey and 500 for a $5.00 cashout from opinionoutpost) it's up to you to decide if it's worth it to participate. For me it's easy, and I enjoy making a little extra vacation money on my own. It won't make you rich, but I'm hoping to make a couple hundred extra dollars this way by my vacation in November.

Do you have any reward sites you recommend?

Kmart!

Since it's double coupon days at Kmart I'm trying to take advantage of it and stock up on things for the next few months. Here's how I did today!

$4.49 Loreal Eye Shadow (needed color for my daughter's dance recital)Minus 2.00 coupon doubled .... so $.49.

$3.00 Crest Vivid White Toothpast - minus $1.00 coupon doubled... final price $1.00

$3.50 Oral B Cross Action Toothbrush - minus $2.00 coupon doubled... final price FREE

$2.61 Reach Toothbrush - minus $1.00 coupon doubled... final price $.61

$4.29 Tylonal Extra Strength - minus $2.00 coupon doubled... final price $.29

My total - $3.01 (including taxes)

I love when Kmart has this deal. I can stock up on so many things that we'll use. Any of you have any good deals to share?

Movie Deal at CVS

My kids have been bugging me to buy the new Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakwell, for the past couple of weeks. We saw it at the theater and they LOVED it. This week CVS is having a pretty good deal on the DVD. If you purchase $20 in participating Proctor and Gamble items (a list is in their ad and the $20 is before coupons) you get $15 off the movie making it only $4.99!

I needed a few things anyways, and I had some pretty good coupons to match up with the ad. I bought

2 9pks of Charmin - total $9.98 (minus $1 coupon)
2 28pks Always - total $10.98 (minus $6.99 coupon)
Alvin and the Chipmunks $19.99 (minus $15 for Proctor and Gamble special)
Total $17.96 plus tax. Not too bad considering I got the DVD

Plus Proctor and Gamble is doing a special offer right now. If you spend $50 on Proctor and Gable products (before coupons) by the end of May you get a special coupon booklet worth $100 for free. So because of this deal I'm about $21 closer to that $50 (you can use multiple receits).

I'm saving the movie for one of her gifts at my daughter's Kindergarten Graduation party!

Online Rewards

One of the ways I'm saving for my trip is by doing online rewards sites. One site that I use frequently is Mypoints.com. Mypoints is one of the easiest things to start doing. Once you create an account you'll start receiving paid emails from them. All you do is click on the link in the email and you receive 5 points. You also earn points by doing online shopping. Go to mypoints.com and search for the retailer you're looking for, chances are they participate and you will receive points for each dollar you spend. Since I'm not much of an online shopper I get most of my points from clicking on emails. They also have a daily "wheel" you can spin for points. I've won anywhere from 5-100 points a day doing this. So far I'm 1/2 way to my goal, I'm saving my points to redeem on a Rainforest Cafe gift card for our November trip (they have to locations in Disney World).

This is a slow way to save, but it probably takes me less than 1 minute a day to click on all the emails so it's worth it.

Blockbuster Express

Blockbuster Express has a code out for a free rental. Use the promo code GA13A4 to get a FREE rental!

If you're not familiar with Blockbuster Express it's a kiosk that works just like Red Box. Go to the link below to find a location near you!

http://www.blockbusterexpress.com/kiosks/

Kmart Super Doubles Days!`

If you have a Kmart near you there are awesome deals this week only. Become a rewards member (it's free and easy, sign up at the Customer Service desk they just need your name and address) and they will double your coupons up to and including $2! This makes for some great deals. The limit is 5 coupons per day. I stopped by today and here's how I did.

$4.00 - 1 Gilette Body wash (minus $2.00 coupon doubles... so FREE)
$6.00 - 2 Crest Pro Health Touthpaste (minus 2 $1.50 coupons doubled... FREE)
$3.59 - 1 Stayfree (minus $2.00 coupon doubled... FREE)
$4.59 - 1 Tampax Pearl (minus $2.00 coupon doubled... $.59)
$.49 - 1 pack of gloves (2 pair) for next winter
$1.99 - Girls Blazer (for my daughter...it was 90% off)
$1.50 - Sunday paper

Total including tax $5.29

Not too shabby. I plan to go back tomorrow!

Hot Prints - FREE Photo Book

Hotprints.com is an online photo company. Once you create and account with them (it's free) they offer you a free photo book each month, all you have to pay is shipping!

I love making photo books. I make them for my kids and they go crazy for them. I've never used HotPrints but I plan to use them for my next photo book. Can't get much better than free!

Lakeshore Learning

If you have a Lakeshore Learning near you, did you know that every Saturday they offer a FREE craft for kids? If you're in Michigan the only location is on Hall Road (near Babies R Us), but many states have locations. The craft is offered from 11-3 and there is a list in the store to tell you what's coming up. This weekend is a Silly Bunny Puppet. My kids love going to do the crafts there, and it's a great store. We've bought so many great products for them. They're a great store for homeschooling supplies or to supplement your childs education. My daughter does well in school but has really enjoyed doing "work" at home too. My favorite things are the dry erase lapboards (starts at $2.49) and dry erase pouches. The pouches are great, you can put anything in them (we use 1st grade workbooks) and they become instant dry erase. It's great because my daughter isn't writing in the book she can do it again and again. And it will still be good when her little sis is a big enough. The pouches are $19.99 for 10, but my store will sell a single pouch if you ask for $2. You can also order any of their products online. This is one of my favorite stores, they have great products. And if you have little kiddies they have a lot of educational and safe toys.

Love this store!

Computer Issues

So it's been a slow go today. My computer is having issues, that I haven't been able to completely resolve yet, so bear with me.

So far I only have 1 deal for you. The 1st 100,000 people to become fans of Butterfinger on Facebook will get a coupon for a free bar.

I'll be back with more deals sooon, assuming my computer remains functional!