Welcome to Friday Follow!

March 26, 2010 by
Happy Friday Follow! hosted by One 2 Try, Hearts Make Families and Midday Escapades!

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Welcome to the ninth Friday Follow celebration!
Here’s how YOU can join the celebration:
* Link up your blog name and URL using the MckLinky below. Only need to add on one blog to be seen on all the blog hops.
* Follow the Friday Follow hostesses listed in the first 3 slots.
* Follow as many blogs as you like
* Comment on the blogs telling them you’re from Friday Follow
* Follow back when you get a new follower through Friday Follow
The Blog Hop is the same at each of our three hosts blogs so you do not have to add your blog at each site. Just one – but you can follow each blog. Follow a few or follow them all.
The list is new each week. The links do not carry over. Please link up each week for new participants to find your blogs. The list is only open to add your blog links on Fridays. It will be visible all week to visit the blogs listed.

Welcome to my blog!  I host daily “themes” each week such as Menu Planning Monday, Tip of the Day Tuesday, Thrifty Thursday, and Freebie Friday.  Also, be sure to check out my giveaway for free Mahatma rice!

MckLinky Blog Hop

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Freebie Friday: BJs free trial membership, Home Made Simple coupon book, Special K + lots of free weekend activities!

March 26, 2010 by

HAPPY FRIDAY!  I hope everyone had a great week!  Here’s a list of freebies for this week:

BJs Free Trial Membership ~ Get a free 60 day trial membership at BJs.  You must activate this offer by 7/5/10.

Home Made Simple Coupon Book ~ Get a free coupon book with over $30 in savings for popular brands such as Febreze, Mr. Clean, Swiffer, Dawn, and Cascade (I love these coupon books!)

Special K Protein Meal Bar ~ Get a free Special K Protein meal bar plus coupons for $1 off Special K Protein meal bars and $1 off Special K protein shakes

Here are some free events around town this weekend: (some of these are “local” if you live in the Houston area and some are “national”)



Bass Pro Shop ~ Get a free 4X6 photo with the Easter bunny March 27-28, 11 am-3 pm and March 29-April 2nd, 6-8 pm (at Christmas we did this and got a free photo with Santa and the quality was great, but be prepared for lines!).  Make your own Sun Catcher (3/27 and 3/28 beginning at noon).  Easter Egg Hunt:  3/27-3/28 from 2-8 pm (ages 8 and under)

Easter Egg Extravaganza – Saturday, March 27 from 10 a.m. at Bear Creek Pioneers Park.  The following events will be provided:

*Coloring contest – 10-10:30 am
*Homemade Easter egg contest (bring your own decorated egg) – 10-10:30 am
*Most Creative Homemade Easter Basket contest (bring your own homemade decorated basket) – judging at 10:40
*Easter egg hunts – 4 Easter egg hunts will begin at 11 am for the following age groups:  2 and under, 3-5 years, 6-7 years, 8-9 years

KVPAC Arts for All! Family Festival ~ From 10 am-5 pm enjoy free activities, games, drawings, artist demonstrations, performances, refreshments, and art projects.  Located at LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch.

Lakeshore Learning ~ Saturday, 3/27 from 11 am-3 pm make “My Puppet Pal” – a playful puppet decorated with lots of craft materials like buttons, stickers, feathers and more!

Lowe’s Build & Grow Clinic – Make a classic Kaleidoscope – Saturday, 3/27 from 10 am-11 am – register for this Build & Grow Clinic here

Michaels ~ Free Family Event:  Spring Thing – Crayola Presto Dots – Saturday, 3/27 from 10 am-1 pm – create spring projects with NEW Crayola Model Magic Presto Dots (sponsored by Crayola)

Toys ‘R Us 3D Easter Adventure – Saturday, 3/27 from 12-2 pm – fun activities, free gifts, and more, sponsored by Crayola

Have a great weekend!
Filed Under: freebies

Thrifty Thursday: Spring Break Dave Ramsey Style

March 25, 2010 by

My husband and I started the Dave Ramsey program about a year ago and as I have mentioned many times before, it has been life-changing for us.  One question that I get a lot from people who are just starting the program or who are thinking about starting the program is “Isn’t it hard?  Don’t you just wish that you could just have fun sometimes?”  We still have “fun” but we have learned to get creative and we’ve also learned to think about things a little bit differently.

Last summer, we actually were able to take a small vacation that we paid for completely using cash and gift cards.  We had a lot of fun, but when we got home, we also had peace of mind in knowing that we wouldn’t have credit card bills haunting us in a few weeks from the “fun” we had. 

Last week was spring break and I would have loved to take a little vacation, but budgetwise, it just wasn’t in the cards for us.  If you take Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class, he will tell you over and over again that if you will live like no one else, then later you CAN live like no one else and I think about that all the time!

So, before the week started, we sat down and explained to our kids that we weren’t going to be able to “go away” anywhere but that we still wanted to have a fun week and we told them that we wanted to come up with a list of ideas of fun things that we could do together as a family.  The list ended up being so long that we now have a good jump start on fun things we can do together this summer, too!  I loved, too, that a lot of the things that they came up with didn’t really include things that would cost money and focused more on just being together as a family.  Sometimes as parents I think we feel like we need to give, give, give to our children and I think we forget that it’s the little things that count.

We budget from the 15th of the month through the 14th of the next month.  This might not work out for everyone, but it worked out for us.  So, our budgeting period had just ended and we actually had about $90 left in our envelopes, so I took half of that and put into an envelope for my son’s birthday, which is coming up, and put the other half into a “Spring Break Fun” envelope.

Here are some of the things that we did as a family during our Dave Ramsey Style Spring Break:

*Arts and Crafts Day ~ This was my daughter’s request.  We had so many other things going on that we didn’t have time for an entire “day” but we did spend a few hours throughout the week doing different arts and crafts activities.  There are some great free sites out there with a lot of great ideas.  One of my favorites it Make and Takes because there are a lot of fun ideas using things that you already have around your house.

*Chuck E Cheese ~ We have been to a number of parties at Chuck E Cheese and each time we go to a party, the kids get a certain amount of tokens.  We never seem to use all of our tokens when we’re at the actually party, and so we bring them home and keep them in a cup and then we have a supply of tokens for the times when we want to go and play on our own.  A lot of times, there will also be a coupon or sticker for 10 free tokens in the goodie bags at the birthday parties, too.  Our Chuck E Cheese also has souvenir kids cups with a straw and you get free refills when you buy the cups.  I bought the cups at some point (they weren’t very expensive) and it has been a great investment!  So, we took our cup full of tokens and our drink cups and went early one morning and spent NOTHING!  We basically had the place to ourselves.  The kids played for almost two hours and we cleared out just around the time that it started to get crowded.

*Cici’s Pizza ~ My kids love Cici’s.  In the Entertainment book, there are coupons for a free child’s buffet with the purchase of an adult buffet.  Kids 3 and under eat free, so we only had to get one child’s buffet, which was free with the coupon.  So, the three of us were able to eat for $4.24 including tax and then I got an extra $1 in tokens for them to play the ball game and the crane game.

*Family Game Night ~ Thanks to the Amazon deals during Christmas, we have a well-stocked game closet.  We play one or two games here and there as a family, but the kids wanted a “Game Night.”  So, we pulled out a bunch of games, let them stay up later than usual, and had a blast during our “Family Game Night.”

*Family Movie Night ~ This was another request from the kids and we actually ended up having two family movie nights.  We let each kid pick out a Redbox movie and used free codes to “rent” them.  We bought some ice cream and everyone in the family got to pick out their own toppings.  We had two ice cream sundae nights to go along with our family movie nights!  (The total cost for the ice cream and toppings was $12.59)

*Pump It Up ~ Our local Pump it Up offers a “Pop in Playtime” where the kids basically get to play for two hours.  The price for this is $6 per kid, but I had a Buy One, Get One Free coupon from our Entertainment book, so it was $6 for both kids and they had a blast!

*Red Robin ~ My kids love Red Robin and they recently opened one up in our area.  We don’t go there often because it is a bit pricey, but we had a gift card I’d earned and there is a $5 off $20 purchase in the Entertainment book, so we ate for free and we have enough left on the gift card to go back and eat again another time!

*Story Time at the library ~ My kids love the library, but we don’t get to go very often during the school year because the story times are usually during the day and I’m working during the day.  So, we went to the story time, which included a movie, books, songs, dancing, and a craft, and the kids had a blast.  Plus, it was completely free!

*Swimming ~ There is a community center in our area that has an indoor pool and free swimming!

So, when all was said and done, we had $21 left (there was some change, but I put any change we have into the change jar).  We used $7.40 to do the Princess and the Frog/Toy Story deal at Toys ‘R Us (that’s how much we spent on all 3 movies because they didn’t have the “right” Toy Story movies with the pre-order).

So, we had $13 left, which went into our “eating out” envelope.

I realize that I have young kids and that what “works” for us will not work for older kids, but I think it’s really important to be realistic about what you can and cannot afford no matter how old your kids are because you’re teaching them a lesson that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.  My point, too, is that a little creativity goes a long way when you’re living on a budget!

Also, if you haven’t invested in the Entertainment Book yet, it really is “worth it”  Right now, you can get them for 50% off and they are offering free shipping.  The prices vary by location (in my area, they are $17.50).  Ours has more than paid for itself already.

And….if you’re trying to get out of debt, but haven’t jumped on the “Dave Ramsey Bandwagon” yet, you can register to check out a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class for free!  The classes will be held the week of April 5-12th.

Do you have a Thrifty Thursday tip to share?  Feel free to link up below!

For more Thrifty Thursday ideas, check out Coupon Teacher, Madame Deals, and Life as a Mom.

Filed Under: Thrifty Thursday

Kroger deals for the week of 3/24

March 24, 2010 by


Don’t forget to load your coupons to your Kroger card:
Cellfire
Kroger
Shortcuts
Upromise

**For more information about loadable coupons and how they work check out this post!

This ad is based on the Texas/Louisiana market. My Kroger stores double three “like” coupons with a face value up to $.50 and triple three “like” coupons with a face value up to $.39. Your market may be different. Check with your store for details!

Check out the Kroger March Madness Instant Win game and get great prizes added to your Kroger shopping card when you’re a winner.  I won a four pack of Reese’s peanut butter cups last week and Planters peanuts!

This week, the “March to Savings” promotion continues – buy any 8 participating products and get and instant $4 off: (the prices listed are AFTER the instant $4 off)

*Advil pain relief – $2.49/each
$1/1 Advil printable
Final Price = $1.49/each (when you buy 8 participating items)

*Aquafresh Advanced Toothpaste – $1.99/each
$.75/1 Aquafresh Premium toothpaste – 1-3 RP
$1/1 Aquafresh Advanced printable
Final Price – $.99 after coupon (when you buy 8 participating items)

*Aquafresh toothpaste – $.99/each (when you buy 8 participating items)

*Beneful dog food – $4.49/each (when you buy 8 participating items)

*Bird’s Eye Steamfresh Vegetables – $1.68/each
$.35/1 Birds Eye Steamfresh Vegetable, Pasta, or Rice – 2-28 SS (should triple)
$1/3 Birds Eye Steamfresh Vegetabl, Pasta, or Rice – 3- RP
Final Price = $.63/each (after coupon, when you buy 8 participating items)

*Brawny paper towels – $5.49/each
$.50/1 Brawny paper towels, 2 rolls or larger – 3-14 RP (should double)
Final Price = $4.49/each (after coupon, when you buy 8 participating items)

*Bumble Bee tuna – $.50/each
$1/2 Bumble Bee Premium Tuna Pouch – 2-21 SS
$1/5 Bumble Bee tuna printable

Final Price = FREE after coupon!

*Chips Ahoy cookies – $1.99/each (when you buy 8 participating items)

*Classico Pasta sauce – $1.49/each
$1/2 Classico Pasta sauce printable
Final Price = $.99 after coupon (when you buy 8 participating items)

*Coca Cola 2 liters (includes Diet Coke, Sprite, and other selected varieties) – $.75/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Daisy sour cream – $1.39/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Del Monte tomatoes – $.50/each
$1/4 Del Monte vegetables printable
$1/4 Del Monte vegetables – 2-7 RP
Final Price = $.25/each after coupons (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Dial body wash – $2.99/each 
$1.50/2 Dial for Men body washes printable
Final Price = $2.24/each after coupon (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Dial or Tone Foaming Hand soap – $1.49/each
$.35/1 Dial multibar pack, liquid hand soap or foaming hand wash – 3-7 RP (should triple)
Final Price = $.44 after coupons (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Glaceau Vitamin water – $.75/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Ghiradelli brownie mix or Krusteaz muffin mix – $1.99 (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Hellman’s mayonnaise – $2.49/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Hershey’s pieces – $1.99/each
$1/1 Hershey’s candy pieces – 1-31 SS
Final Price = $.99 after coupons (when you buy 8 participating products)

*International Delight Coffee Creamer – $1.99/each
$.55/1 International Delight printable
$.55/1 International Delight – 3-7 SS
Final Price – $1.44 after coupons (when you buy 8  participating products)

*Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, Frosted Mini Wheats, or Fruit Loops – $2.27/each
$1.50/2 Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats printable
$1.50/2 Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats printable
Final Price = $1.52/each after coupons (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Kellogg’s Pop Tarts – $2.19/each
$1/2 Kellogg’s Pop Tarts printable (this is a manufacturer’s coupon with a Target logo)
Final Price = $1.69/each after coupon (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Ken’s salad dressings – $1.49/each
$1/2 Ken’s salad dressing or Lite Accents (some areas got $1/1, but Houston did not) – 3-7 SS
Final Price = $.99 after coupon (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Kraft singles, shreds, and chunks – $1.67/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Kroger Deluxe Ice Cream – $1.99/each (when you buy 8 participating products)


*Lay’s potato chips – $2.29/each
$1/1 Lay’s potato chips, any new flavor or variety – 3-14 SS
Final Price = $2.29/each (for new varieties, if they are included in the sale)

*Lean Cuisine or Stouffer’s Entrees – $1.77/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Listerine Antiseptic mouthwash – $2.49/each
$.50/1 Listerine antiseptic mouthwash – 3-7 RP (should double)
Final Price = $1.49/each after coupons (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Maxwell House Coffee – $5.49/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Morning Star Farms, selected varieties – $2.49/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Mott’s apple juice – $1.19/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Nabisco Ritz or snack crackers – $1.99/each
$1/1 Nabisco crackers – 1-24 SS
Final Price = $.99/each after coupons (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Ore Ida potatoes – $2.29/each
$1.50/2 Ore Ida French Fries printable
$1/1 Ore Ida Steam ‘N Mash potatoes printable (I love these!)
Final Price = $1.29/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Oscar Meyer Lunchables – $.99/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Oscar Meyer wieners – $1.49/each (when you buy 8 participating products)
**There is a catalina deal that ties in with this – buy 2 Oscar Meyer hot dogs, get a $2 catalina (reportedly this has an end date of 3/28 in the Houston area)

*Ozarka Spring Water – 24 pk, .5 liter or 12 pk 700 ml bottles – $2.99/each
$1/2 Ozarka brand water (valid on 12 pk) printable
Final Price = $2.49/each after coupon (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Pace Picante sauce – $2.29/each
$.40/2 Pace Picante sauce – 1-31 SS (should double)
Final Price – $1.49/each after coupon (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Planters Peanuts – $1.99/each
$1/2 Planters nuts – 1-24 SS
$1.50/1 Planters printable (When you become a fan of Mr. Peanut on Facebook)
Final Price = $.49/each after coupon (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Pop Secret popcorn – $1.99/each
$.50/2 Pop Secret popcorn – 2-21 RP (should double)
Final Price = $1.49/each after coupon (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Powerade sports drinks – $.50/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Right Guard Deodorant – $2.49/each
$2/2 Right Guard printable
$1.50/1 Right Guard Total Defense printable
Final Price = $.99/each after coupons (if the Total Defense is included in the sale)

*Sargento shreds and slices – $1.67/each
$.40/2 Sargento natural shredded cheeses – 1-31 SS (should double)
Final Price = $1.27/each after coupons (when you by 8 participating products)

*Simply Orange Juice – $2.49/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Skinner Pasta – $.50/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Snyder’s of Hanover Pretzels – $1.99/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Softsoap body wash – $2.49/each
$.75/1 Softsoap Nutri-serums printable
Final Price = $1.74 after coupons (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Special K Protein Snack Bar or K20 Protein water – $2.49/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Speed Stick or Lady Speed Stick deodorant – $.99/each
$.75/1 Lady Speed Stick Stainguard printable 
Final Price = $.24/each (if this is included in the sale)

*Tostitos tortilla chips, salsa, or queso dips – $2.29/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*TreSemme shampoo or conditioner – $2.99/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Tyson Any’tizers – $2.18/each
$1/1 Tyson Any’Tizers bag snacks – 3-7 SS
$1/1 Tyson Any’tizers snacks, any bag – 1-24 SS
Final Price – $1.18 after coupons (when you buy 8 participating products)

*Wesson cooking oil or Pam cooking spray – $1.99/each (when you buy 8 participating products)

OTHER WEEKLY DEALS:

*I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter – $.98
$.50/1 I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter printable (should double) – use zip code 77041
Final Price = FREE!

*Kroger canned vegetables – 2/$1

*Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits – $.98/each – there is a catalina deal that ties in with this:
Buy 4 Pillsbury refrigerated products, get $2 OYNO
Buy 5 Pillsbury refrigerated products, get $3 OYNO
Buy 6 Pillsbury refrigerated products, get $4 OYNO

Here are the coupons that tie in with this deal:
$.30/2 Pillsbury Grands Shortcuts loadable (expires 5/27)
$.30/2 Pillsbury Grands Shortcuts loadable (expires 4/27 – loaded previously)
$.30/2 Pillsbury Grands printable (should triple)
$.30/2 Pillsbury printable (from pillsbury.com), should triple

SCENARIO:
Buy 6 refrigerated biscuits – $.98/each

Use 3 $.30/2 printable coupons (should triple)
$.30/2 Shortcuts loadables should both come off

Spend $2.58 OOP, get a $4 OYNO catalina

*Sara Lee bread Classic Wheat Bread – Buy One, Get One Free

*Split chicken breasts – $.97/lb

There is also a catalina deal on Betty Crocker potatoes: (this reportedly runs through 4/18)
Buy 1, get $.50 OYNO
Buy 2, get $1.50 OYNO
Buy 3, get $3 OYNO

The following coupons match up with this deal:
$.40/1 Betty Crocker box or pouch potatoes Shortcuts loadable
$.40/1 Betty Crocker potatoes cellfire loadable

*I have some $.40/1 printable coupons, but it doesn’t look like these are available to print anymore.  They seem to come out pretty often, so hopefully more will come out before this deal ends!

I haven’t purchased these in awhile, but off the top of my head, the pouches run about $.99 and the boxes run about $1.49 (again, I can’t guarantee these prices are 100% correct – I will look the next time I’m there and correct if needed)

CRAZY MEAL DEAL:  Buy 2 lbs (21-25 ct) White Gulf Shrimp Wild Caught, Previously Frozen, get FREE Fresh Selections Garden Salad, Louisiana Crab and Shrimp Boil, Louisiana Cocktail Sauce, Coca Cola Classic 2 liter bottle, Bakery French bread

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Disney Movie Rewards 10 point bonus code!

March 24, 2010 by

When you log into your Disney Movie Rewards account to enter your bonus codes from your new Toy Story 1 and 2 movies, enter the code DMR, too, and you’re get 10 bonus movie rewards points!

(Thanks Mojo Savings!)

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