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!