Back to School Part I

This year back to school shopping has been ongoing and challenging.  There have not been too many great sales that I have been able to find.  I have not picked up very much this year.

Yesterday, I got another email from Hollister that said you can get 50% off their red lined items (clearance items).  We finally went to check it out last night and got some great deals.  It is really hard to find sales like these, so when I can find them it is a real deal because getting name brand clothes at deeply discounted prices is great!

Here's what we got:

jacket: on sale for $19.89 (reg. $39.50)

shorts: on sale for $20.00 (reg. $39.50)

polo: $7.45 (50% off $14.90)

polo: $12.45 (50% off $24.90)

jeans: $9.95 (50% off $19.90)

jeans: $12.45 (50% off $24.90)

t-shirt: $9.45 (50% off $18.90)

Also, I got myself:

2 graphic t-shirts: $6.95 (50% off $13.90)

1 graphic t-shirt: $7.95 (50% off $15.90)

Total spent: $120.20

Total savings: $120.20

A Summer of Learning

This summer, we have made it our mission to continue to encourage our kids to learn new things by doing things in fun and different ways.

The school year ended and summer started.  We will have a one kindergartner and a high schooler in our house next year which are both really great things.  For our soon to be kindergartner, I am making a book of things we will work on during the summer so that he is ready for his first day of school.  I want to continue to encourage him to learn as much as he possibly can so that he is not behind during his first year in school.  I am excited to create this book of learning for him.

This summer we will teach our kids new things including showing them how things work, how to make some home improvements, exploring our environment and discussing ways we can keep our resources safe for them and future generations, caring for our garden and fruit trees so that they are aware of where some of their foods come from and how much work it takes to grow them from seeds and bulbs, visit local spots that are educational and so on, the possibilities are endless.

This summer we will continue teaching our kids about sharing with others, why we freecycle, our impact on our environment and our community, how growing vegetable seedlings and sharing bags of food with other freecycler's is how we hope to help end hunger in our community and so on.  There is so much more to learn and learning together makes it more fun!

Our Financial Overhaul

This year and for the next few years, we are focusing our attention on how we can live on less and put more money into building our savings and paying down our debt.  With our recent downsizing or pairing down of our belongings, it gave us a look into what more we can do in terms of saving money while keeping the clutter out.  We are brainstorming ways we can pay down debt quicker while simultaneously saving along the way.  We are committed to making this change happen beginning this year and for the next few years to come.


So far, some of the things we have been looking at are:
1. We are in the market for a new internet and cable plan while cutting our landline phone.
2. Our purchasing habits have been pretty lax lately but it is now time to get back to being frugal.
3. We will be running the dishwasher less.
4. When doing laundry, we will do it right away instead of dewrinkling them over and over again.
5. We will be going back to drinking soda stream instead of purchasing canned sodas.
6. We will be eating out much less and will utilize Mommy's Diner more often for home cooked meals.
7. The kids will police themselves in making sure lights and tv's are off when not in use.
8. We will turn up the thermostat and utilize the fans more often to keep energy costs down.
9. We will utilize the grill more during the summer so we don't heat the house.
10. We will turn off the lights when we are watching tv.
11. We will use the pool pump to help keep the water in the pool clean so it does not need to be changed out as often.
12. We will cut down on the amount of cleaning products and try to use natural products including baking soda, vinegar, newspaper, borax.
13. We will cut down on the amount of processed foods and try to make them fresh (i.e. mashed potatoes, fries, etc...).
14. We will try to eat out of our freezer and pantry to keep costs down.
15. We will try to utilize rechargable batteries.
16. We will search in books and online for simple delicious recipes to try with items we already have.
17. We will try to reduce wasting food by freezing leftovers.




We will continue to do the following to keep costs down:
1. We will continue to make our own laundry detergent because it is saving us money.
2. We will continue to combine errands so that we save on gas.
3. We will continue to use as much free light as possible.
4. We will continue to utilize our local library for books, cds, dvds and magazines.
5. We will continue to use coupons.
6. We will continue to utilize Freecycle.
7. We will continue to grow a garden to help cut back on dollars spent on food, canned, fresh and frozen.
8. We will continue to save used paper and use the back of the paper to print some things or do artwork on them.
9. We will continue to have regular maintenance on our vehicles (i.e. oil changes, recall items, paint protection, etc...) to keep them current and running great.
10. We will continue to keep our tires inflated to the recommended amounts and drive near speed limit to reduce our gas usage.
11. We will continue to search for the cheapest gasoline or purchase it on base.
12. We will continue to have yard sales to sell off stuff we no longer need.
13. We will continue to consign our unused items at the thrift shops.
14. We will continue to make our purchases work for us by joining customer loyalty programs, online rebate programs, online coupon code sites, etc...
15. We will continue to request samples as often as possible to try new products and so we do not have to pay for those items.
16. We will continue to utilize Craigslist to sell items we are no longer using or have a need for.
17. We will continue to use swaptree.com to trade dvds, books, cds and video games.
18. We will continue to share the crops from our garden to try to help end hunger in our neighborhood.
19. We will continue to recycle our aluminum cans for money.
20. I will continue to do online surveys for points to redeem for gifts.
21. I will continue to scan all my purchases for the National Consumer Panel to make my voice heard with manufacturer's and earn points every time I scan or do their surveys.
22. We will continue to wash our clothes in cold water to save money.
23. We will continue to make some of our food from scratch (pizza crusts, cinnamon rolls, bread, muffins, cookies, cakes, etc...).
24. We will continue to take advantage of any/all deals for free admission for military members.
25. We will continue to carpool when possible.
26. We will continue to wash our own vehicles versus going to car washes.
27. We will continue to look for either free or inexpensive events, activities, parks, etc...
28. If we travel, we will continue to look for the best deals available to us.

Family Fun Day

Today was a scorcher of a day, 97+ degrees, however we decided to make it a family fun day.  We decided to redeem a groupon we had previously purchased online.  When we redeemed our groupon, they gave us four coupons for four tokens to redeem for four baskets of balls, four coupons for four tokens to redeem for four turns at the batting cages and another four coupons for four plays of miniature golf.  The groupon says all needs to be redeemed on the same day, however when we got there the coupons they gave us did not expire until April 2011.  

We went to Arundel Golf Park in Glen Burnie, MD and had a great time together at the driving range, at the batting cages and at the miniature golf.  We took pictures and enjoyed the day together.  This was our first experience doing these things together and it turned out to be a lot of fun...yes, even in scorching hot weather.

When we were at the driving range, all the golf lessons I had when I was little came rushing back to me.  I did pretty good.  My husband taught our youngest how to hit the balls and my husband hit some really far himself.  Our oldest had learned golf from a friend's husband a few years ago and the lessons came back to him.

At the batting cages, we had a little trouble with the softball machine but after it got started back up, all was ok.  I had never been to batting cages before.  It took awhile to get used to but it was a lot of fun!  Our youngest got hit on his finger from the softball so he was in too much pain to continue hitting his softballs.  Our oldest, my husband and I had a blast doing it.

Miniature golf was a little tricky on some of the courses.  At the end of the round, my husband won, our oldest came in second and our youngest and myself tied for last place.  

Hasbro Family Game Night

On Saturday, June 19, 2010, I hosted a Hasbro Family Game Night at our house.  About 10 of my family and friends attended.  There was a lot of food served including crackers with dip and assorted salsas, fruit kebobs, garlic chicken, barbeque chicken, grilled corn on the cob, rice and key lime cake.  We started out playing Taboo and had a blast and moved on from there to Trivial Pursuit Bet You Know It to Electronic Catch Phrase.  Prior to this party, I hadn't played Trivial Pursuit in such a long time and now I remember why, I am not that great.  Electronic Catch Phrase I had never played as well and turned out to be an interesting game.  Out of all the games included in the party pack, our guests absolutely loved Taboo, then Trivial Pursuit and then Electronic Catch Phrase.  Our family and friends had a blast checking out and playing the games they were not as familiar with.  This was my first House Party and we absolutely had a blast and can't wait to experience it again.  Thank you Hasbro for affording us this opportunity to explore games with our family and friends!

Downsizing or Pairing Down

We are in the midst of downsizing or pairing down our belongings again.  To get to a place where we want to be - only living with things that we need and use, we know that it is going to be all uphill from here.

To give you a little insight, when we first moved here, we got rid of about 1/4 - 1/3 of our household goods which felt great because we had not realized how much we had accumulated after being married for 11 years.  By got rid of, we mean consigned, sold and freecycled. Our loss was their gain and it freed up a lot of space in our home.  We made every effort to make sure our items would be reused or re-purposed and kept them out of our landfills to lessen our carbon footprint.  Four years later and we are in the same situation where we are back to square one and are downsizing again.

This Spring, we went through everything that we own from the kitchen, shed, attic, kids rooms, jewelry, bags, garden items, outside toys, everything and put together things that we did not use/do not need anymore.  Before we knew it, it was more then we had anticipated.  What we did was we separated our items into three categories - consignment, sell and freecycle.  Once all the items were in their respective categories, we moved on it.  We put a lot of our items up for sale on Craigslist, we took some of our items to our respective consignment shop and we have freecycled quite a bit of stuff that others can reuse and pass on whatever they cannot use to others.

Most of our outside toys and garden stuff sold very quickly on Craigslist, however we do have a few more items available.  One of our consignment shops you can only take 10 items in twice a week and we have not been making it down there very often in the last month.  Starting this week, we will try to make it down there to consign our items to try to make at least a little money on our stuff.  We have not taken anything down for quite some time to the other consignment shop that is currently accepting everything but shoes and clothes.  We tried having a yard sale this past weekend and barely anyone showed up even after much free advertising, however my friend and I swapped a lot of stuff (electronics, clothes, kids stuff, stuffed animals, etc...) from each other and saved ourselves money that way.  We love swapping items amongst friends because we are saving money and getting semi new items in the process.  We are also posting some free stuff on Craigslist which is going quite fast as well.  We have freecycled quite a bit of items lately which makes us feel good about helping people/other families and giving back to our community.

The downsizing process continues as we try to free up more and more space in and outside of our home.  We will be trying to have another yard sale in a different area toward the end of the month which we are hoping will bring in more people in to look at our stuff.  This time all the advertisement will be done for us and my friend and I will share the cost of the space.  To sit for a couple of hours to try to sell our stuff is worth it just to get rid of our items and keep them out of our landfills.

We still have options at this point to try to get a little money for our items - consignment shops, posting items in lots on craigslist, freecycle and if all else fails donation (tax write off).

We could save ourselves a lot of time and headaches by just donating our stuff and taking the tax write off but since we are a single income family who constantly tries to keep as much money in our pocket, we want to make sure we make every effort.

We can already see the difference from all of our hard work paying off - consigning, selling and freecycling.

It will be so nice to have all the extra space once all is said and done.

Multi Family Yard Sale Update

We are finally having our multi family yard sale this Saturday...yay!  My good friend and I went through both our houses and got everything out and prepped for our yard sale.  Pricing every single piece was a chore but it will make it a ton easier when it comes to tallying up how much money we all made at the end of yard sale.  A few other people will be joining in as well, so there should be a wide variety of items.  We used different color stickers and will remove them and place them in a book before each item is sold.  Then at the end, we will tally all the numbers up.

This week, my friend and I have been posting and selling some of our items on Craigslist.  There has been a lot of interest especially because we both priced our items really low to make a little money on our items and to free up more space in our homes.  We are both downsizing and it will be nice when all of our unused items are in homes where they can be used and appreciated.

Prepping for our yard sale has taken so much of my time.  I am constantly thinking of ways we can display our items that would encourage people to come and look instead of everything being laid out on different blankets.  I will display all of our $1 clothing on the shelves on black cabinet that we are selling.  I will display our more expensive items on our tables and our more expensive clothing on garment racks.  I've got our shoes on two racks and the larger toys will be laid out on blankets.  We have different boxes too - under $1, $1, $2, $3, $5, $10 and a few other items.  All items are priced to go!  My awesome husband said to make a map of where I want our posters hung and he and our oldest will go and hang them for us.

Wish us luck on our yard sale.

Spring/Summer Activities

School is ending in less then a month and with summer on the horizon, here are some ways you and your family can really enjoy yourselves without hurting your pocketbook.

1. Cinemark's Summer Movie Clubhouse - 10 movies for $5 if purchased in advance.  Select your state and movie theater here: http://www.cinemark.com/summermovieclubhouse/
2. Regal's Free Family Film Festival - free movies during the summer.  Select your state here:http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx
3. Local libraries - most times they have their summer reading program where you can earn rewards after every so many books read.  The ones in Maryland have summer activities.  In the past, they have had magic shows, science shows, storytime, etc...
4. Smithsonian Museums - these are always free admission.
5. Redbox - rent movies for $1/day.
6. Blockbuster Express - rent movies for $1/day.
7. Restaurants with indoor play areas - places such as McDonald's and Chick-Fil-A.
8. Visiting a local farmer's market - It is a great time to teach kids about different fruits and vegetables and to find out where our produce comes from.
9. Day trips to Washington DC - is a great opportunity to soak up the history of our country and to visit all the free monuments, museums and tourist attractions.  We loved visiting the National Zoo, Navy Memorial & Museum, White House, state Senate office building, reflecting pool, National Mall, Smithsonian Museums, Arlington National Cemetary, etc...
10. Day trips to Ocean City, Maryland - is time to enjoy all the sites on and off the boardwalk and enjoy the beach!  While you are down there you can visit Assateague Island National Seashore and wildlife refuge.
11. Visit Baltimore's Inner Harbor - is a great time to take in a little history of Baltimore like at Fort McHenry.  There are also the tourist attractions like the National Aquarium, Fells Point, Lexington Market, etc...
12. Groupon.com - Offers great deals on activities throughout the Baltimore metropolitan area and other cities across the country.  We were able to purchased discount tickets for Earth Treks and Arundel Golf Center.
13. Local parks - Local parks are a great resource because they normally have running/biking/walking paths, playgrounds, tennis/baseball/basketball facilities, restrooms, picnic areas, water activities, etc...  Sometimes these parks host organized runs and have events there as well.  Some have admission fees and others do not.
14. Indoor playgrounds - These are often found in local malls.  Most of them have hand sanitizer stations.
15. Oriole Park - Chick-Fil-A offers a Junior Orioles Dugout Club program where you can purchase a new membership for $17.  For kids 14 and under: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/bal/fan_forum/dugoutclub.jsp
16. U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, MD - Offers a history lesson on the Navy.  It is beautifully updated and offers a good view of the dock.
17. Baltimore Washington International (BWI) trail and viewing area - This is a great time to teach kids about aviation and for them to see it for itself.  Some of them even have a playground area for kids to play, details here: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/greenways/bwi_trail.html
18. Ellicott City - Walk through and soak in the history and enjoy the local atmosphere and foods.
19. AMC Summer Fun Bowling Pass - Offers 2 free games per day, details here: http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/
20. Bank of America's Museum on Us program - Free museum admission if you use your Bank of America card, details here: http://museums.bankofamerica.com/
21. Apple Free Workshops - Free workshops at participating Apple stores, details here: http://www.apple.com/retail/workshops/
22. Pottery Barn Book Club: Free story time 11-1130am every Tuesday at participating stores, details here: http://www.potterybarnkids.com/customer-service/book-club.html
23. Borders free story time, see your local store.
24. Barnes and Noble free story time, see your local store.
25. National Crytologic Museum & National Vigilence Park: http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/museum/
26. Baltimore Museum of Art - free family Sunday's between 2-4pm with free activities.
27. Anheuser-Busch Here's to the Hero's Program - complimentary one day free admission for a service member and up to 3 family members to either Sea World Orlando Orlando, Sea World San Diego or Sea World San Antonio, Busch Gardens Tampa, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, or Sesame Place, Adventure USA, Water Country USA valid through December 31, 2010.
Registration and details here: http://www.herosalute.com/cavatx/index.html
28. Every Tuesday night, can you purchase upper seating for Baltimore Orioles games at Camden Yards from Ollie's Bargain Outlet for $8, details here: http://www.olliesbargainoutlet.com/newsEvents/articleDetail.aspx?id=26&type=2
29. Read books on free download of Kindle for pc and get free book downloads from various websites.
30. Family game parties - board games, outside games, video games.
31. Pool parties.
32. Don't forget all the places that kids eat free to stretch your dollars even further.
33. 600 museums offering active duty military and their families free summer admission, details in this Washington post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/23/AR2010052304305.html
34. Craft days at home with friends.

Successful Yard Sales

Since I have been trying to downsize our household, I have also been researching ideas for successful yard sales online. Most of what I found include the following:

1. Heavily Advertise your yard sale (i.e. Pennysaver, Craigslist, local newspaper, signs in your neighborhood a few days before, etc...) which will mean heavier foot traffic.

2. When having a multi family yard sale, use different color stickers to price your items. Remove stickers from all sold items and place in a book. At the end of the yard sale tally the different color stickers up which makes it easier to split up the money.

3. Make sure you have some bags on hand in case people buy more then one item.

4. Have your kids sit out and help sell their items.

5. It's ok to sell other things like bottled water, baked goodies, etc...

6. Price all your items before the day of the yard sale.

7. Go early to set up.

8. Bring tables, mats, blankets, hanging racks, chairs and such that you will set your items on or sit out on.

9. Have everything set up before the start of your yard sale.

10. Most of all have fun and make money on stuff you do not use anymore.

11. Make sure you have enough change on hand.

Do you have any other helpful tips for a successful yard sale? If so, I would love to hear them.

Case Lot Sale

Case Lot Sales can save you a bunch of money in the long run especially when they allow you to use coupons for them and as long as you have the space to store them.

On Friday, I went with a good friend and our kids - there was a two hour wait just to get in because there were not enough carts. Too long of a wait, so we left. The second day I went was Saturday mid morning and there was no line to get in however an hour wait in line to pay. There were a lot of great deals this year and I saved over $20 in coupons effortlessly which was really nice for a change. The commissary either had all the coupons inside with the items themselves or they were giving the coupons out near the products. Examples of great deals include Cheese Nips - regularly $6.50/6 boxes or $1.08/box , after coupons $3.50/6 boxes or .58/box and Mountain Dew - regularly $4.99/24 pk, after coupon $3.99/24 pk.

When I got home, my family helped unload which was great! They are awesome!

Restaurant Coupons

Over the years, we have managed to save a good amount of money by using coupons and discount gift certificates at restaurants. Whether it be fast food, sit down or otherwise. If there is a coupon or a discount gift certificate out there, most often I can find one. I will be sharing with you restaurants that we frequent throughout the year and where you can find coupons for eating there at a discount.

1. Quizno's Q Club: http://www.quiznos.com/subsandwiches/Offers/OffersLanding.aspx

Sign up for their Quizno's Q Club and get monthly coupons delivered to their inbox. In the past there have been $1, $2 or $3 off coupons, $5 off $20 sandwich platter, free drinks with a sub/salad purchase, free chips and drink with large sub, etc...

2. Baskin Robbins: http://www.baskinrobbins.com/?cid=722561&jid=38748483&mc=100&eid=251057&cmpid=email_ext_000127

Sign up for their emails and have coupons and specials delivered to your inbox. Most times there is a $3 off a cake purchase, for your birthday they have a coupon for a free scoop of ice cream and occasionally they have programs like .31 scoop night that support their charities.

3. Starbucks: http://www.starbucks.com

Sign up for their newsletters and get in the know about free coffee days, specials and free events at participating locations.

4. Ruby Tuesday: http://www.rubytuesday.com/

Sign up for their newsletter and receive specials, promotions and coupons directly to your inbox. Occasionally they have buy one, get one (bogo) free meals and free dessert coupons. They have a promo going on where if you visit them on Mother's Day for brunch, lunch or dinner, each table will receive a special gift.

5. Wendy's: http://www.wendys.com/news/signUp.jsp

Sign up for their Wendy Mail newsletters and receive valuable coupons and promos delivered to your inbox. Occasionally they have $1 off coupons on new sandwiches and other items.

6. Groupon: http://www.groupon.com

Sign up for Groupon.com and get their deal directly to your inbox. In the past, they have had bar and grill, seafood and other restaurant deals.

7. Einstein Bros.: https://www.einsteinbros.com/secure.html#/EClub/

Sign up for their e club and get their deals and coupons delivered to your inbox. Friday's they usually have free bagel Friday's with coupons, free bagel & schmear when you sign up on facebook.com, discount coupon for their bagel buckets, etc...

8. Olive Garden: http://www.olivegarden.com/menus/

Sign up for their newsletters and get valuable coupons in your inbox. Currently they are running a $5 off 2 dinner entrees coupon.

9. Dairy Queen: http://www.blizzardfanclub.com/?utm_source=BFCblast&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BFClink&utm_campaign=BOGO0419v2

Sign up for their Blizzard Fan Club and get their coupons delivered to your inbox.

10. Dave and Busters: http://www.daveandbusters.com/Rewards/#joinToday

Sign up for their Dave and Busters Rewards program and get valuable coupons from buy $10, get $10 or buy $20, get $20 in game play for free, free appetizer coupons, free entree coupons, etc...

11. TGI Friday's: https://www.tgifridays.com/gmms/givememorestripes.aspx

Sign up for their Give Me More Stripes program. In the past, there were bogo free entrees, free appetizer with purchase, etc...

12. Famous Daves: http://www.famousdaves.com/pig-club/

Sign up for their P.I.G. (Pretty Important Guest) newsletters and get coupons in your inbox.

13. Texas Roadhouse: http://assets.fbmta.com/clt/txrdh/lp/join/join_loc.htm

Sign up for their VIP club and newsletter and get their specials delivered to your inbox.

14. Chili's: http://assets.fbmta.com/clt/chlscrp/lp/join/join.asp

Sign up for their email club and get coupons delivered to your inbox.

15. Greene Turtle: http://www.thegreeneturtle.com/eclub.php

Sign up for their e-club and get great deals and coupons delivered to your inbox.

16. Fuddruckers: http://fuddruckers.fbmta.com/members/UpdateProfile.aspx?Action=Subscribe&inputsource=w

Sign up for their e club and get a free gift for joining, a free burger on your birthday and something special on the anniversary of the day you signed up with them.

17. Romano Macaroni: http://macaronigrill.com/Menu/RestaurantSearch.aspx

Sign up for their email club and get their specials and coupons in your inbox.

18. Johnny Rockets: http://www.johnnyrockets.com/locations/

Sign up Rocket e club and get the deals in your inbox. Coupons include a free hamburger on your birthday.

19. Damon Grill: http://damons.fbmta.com/members/UpdateProfile.aspx?Action=Subscribe&InputSource=W

Sign up for their e club and get their deals, free gifts and more in your inbox.

20. Potbelly Sandwich Company: http://www.potbelly.com/TalkToUs/InsideScoop.aspx

Sign up for their Inside Scoop club to be in the know of new stores, special offers, new food and what the future holds.

21. Hooters: http://www.hooters.com/Registration.aspx

Sign up for their mClub and get in the know.

22. Applebees: http://www.applebees.com/EmailSignup.aspx?s=Nav

Sign up for their email newsletters and get in their know.

23. Buffalo Wild Wings: http://assets.fbmta.com/clt/bww/lp/join/1/join.asp

Join the Buffalo Circle club and get in the know.

24. Assorted restaurant coupon resources:

a. Restaurant.com (Yomato Sushi, Woodfire Grill, Garry's Grill and Catering, Bill Bateman's, etc..)

b. Valpak.com (Pizza Hut, Bill Bateman's Bistro, etc...)

c. Entertainment Book or entertainment.com (Auntie Anne's, TGI Friday's, Greene Turtle, Tony Roma's, Qdoba, Don Pablo's, Champps, Fuddruckers, Boston Market, Cinnabon, Domino's, Hardees, Pizza Hut, Wings To Go, etc...)

d. Clipper Magazine or clippermagazine.com (Ledo Pizza, Cheshire Crab, Hibachi Grill and Supreme Buffet, The Olive Tree, Mongolian Grill, etc...)

e. Pennysaver or http://www.pennysaverusa.com/category/restaurants/region/w-us-md-anne-arundel-pasadena-21122/radius-0/ (Johnny's Family Restaurant, Wendy's, Popeyes, Double T Diner, Listas, Friendly's, etc...)

f. Consumer Eye magazine

g. Local newspaper (Dunkin Donuts, Subway, Chuck E Cheese, Quizno's, Hardees, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Boston Market, Baskin Robbins, Cold Stone Creamery, Dave and Busters, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa John's, Little Caesars, etc...)

h. Direct mail from local restaurants (McDonalds, Burger King, etc...)

i. Local restaurant menus sometimes include coupons

j. Mall brochures (Auntie Anne's, etc...)

k. Anne Arundel County & Annapolis: http://www.annearundelcountywebsite.com/foodanddrink.html

Other Restaurants:

1. Medieval Times: http://www.medievaltimes.com/

Sign up for their newsletter and get their specials, coupons and coupon codes delivered to your inbox.

2. Friendly's: http://www.friendlys.com/

Sign up for their BFF (Best Friends of Friendly's) club and get their newsletters with valuable coupons delivered to you inbox. Right now they have a promo on Mother's Day of bogo free breakfast.

3. Rainforest Cafe: http://www.rainforestcafe.com/safariclub.asp

Sign up for the Safari Club and get promos, specials and coupons delivered to your inbox.

4. Red Lobster: http://www.redlobster.com/club/

Sign up for their newsletters and get valuable personalized coupons, recipes, specials and other information delivered to your inbox.

5. Living Social: http://www.livingsocial.com

It is a program similar to Baltimore Groupon.

6. The Melting Pot: http://www.themeltingpotclubfondue.com/

Sign up for their Club Fondue and get info on their events.

E-Coupons

Since e-coupons came out, it makes redeeming coupons almost effortless depending on where you shop.  Some of the e-coupon sites that we use include the following.  Safeway is the only grocery store that I know about here from the list of stores you can redeem these e-coupons at and we rarely go there.  Check their e-coupon sites for redemption locations.

Upromise: https://lty.s.upromise.com/secure/ecoupon/eCouponHome.do?cm_re=v1|Logout-_-Logout|Main-_-eCoupons
Cellfire: http://www.couponmom.com/cellfire-coupons-464
Shortcuts.com

Don't take my word for it, check it out or try it for yourself.

Happy Saving!

April Savings

April has turned out to be a wonderful month full of savings.

This week alone, we saved so much money in due diligence to the time I invest in strategic couponing.  I had not been able to get down to the base to get my shopping done, so instead I opted to support our local economy by shopping at our local stores using sales along with store coupons and stacking them with manufacturer coupons.  We were running low on stuff here so I had a chance to stock up on some items this week.

Here are our savings:
At Rite Aid - total oop: $46.22, before coupon total $98+
At Staples - total oop: $16.17, before reward total: $47.13 - $30.96 Staples Rewards
At Target - total oop: $22.43, before coupons: $32.94
At Walgreens - total oop: $36.74, before coupons: $53.74
At CVS Transaction 1- total oop: $37.39 - $10 MIR = $27.39, before coupons: $44.99
A CVS Transaction 2 - total oop: $47.22, before coupons: $82.47


The savings opportunities have been all over.  Just today I told my friend that there are coupons for most everything out there from products to services to restaurants, etc...  I asked her how she shops without using coupons.  She said it is hard to shop without coupons because she knows that she has one somewhere for it but just is not very organized when it comes to couponing.  This is the same friend that I have been teaching couponing to and she has gotten a lot better since we first started a few years ago.  She does not carry her coupons with her and wonders where they are most of the time.  It is so frustrating to watch her throw money away like that.  So today in Target, I showed her a few simple saving methods and she found it to be unbelievable.  I feel better that I was able to save her a little while shopping for things that she needed.

My Product Reviews

Coupons and samples have allowed our family to try tons of new products each year either for free or is very inexpensive.  Here are some of the products we have recently tried.

1. Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaning Gel Fresh Clean Scent- I received a sample in the mail and to my surprise, these things have worked for us so far and they smell good. One stamp of gel inside your bowl is supposed to last a week but it has lasted us much longer and has kept the bowl clean.  We will continue to use this product as long as we have a coupon for it.

2. Suave Kids Shampoo - We purchased this item using a coupon and only had the chance to use it in the last month because of our shampoo rotation.  This items says tear free but it really is not.  Last week, it got in my youngest son's eyes a few times and just burned them like crazy.  Of course after the second time this happened, we ceased using this item for my youngest and gave it to my oldest.  I would not purchase this item again since it does not work for our youngest.

3. EnviroKidz Organic Gorilla Munch Cereal - We tried this on a recommendation from a friend because the ingredients are so simple (organic corn meal, organic evaporated cane juice and sea salt) and not rocket science.  We really enjoy this cereal and will continue to purchase this item in the future.  Purchased at Trader Joe's.

4. Fage 2% Greek Yogurt - We tried this on a recommendation from a friend who introduced us to organic foods and because I had a coupon for it.  My kids and I really enjoy it with a little bit of honey and will continue to purchase this item as long as we have coupons for them.

5. Oikos Greek Yogurt - We tried this on a recommendation from a friend and we had a coupon for it.  We love the one with honey and will continue to enjoy this product in our future.  

6. Danimals Smoothie - My youngest son tried this product after seeing it by the yogurts and he loves it!

7. Baby Bel Cheese - My eldest son tried this and loves it!

8. Apple & Eve Fruitables with 1/3 less sugar - Saw these on clearance at the commissary and had to try them.  Our youngest really likes it!

9. Odwalla beverages - We tried a few different ones (pomegranate, strawberry, blueberry, etc...) and loved them.  It is a healthier alternative to sugary drinks.  We purchased these with a coupon at the commissary.

10. Yoplait Smoothies - We have tried both varieties and our kids enjoy them.  We will continue to enjoy them in the future.  We purchased these with coupons at the commissary.

11. Pringles Super Stackers - We have tried different varieties and the ones we purchased, we have enjoyed. Looking forward to trying other varieties in the future.  We purchased these with coupons at the commissary.

12. Marcal Napkins - We love these durable napkins and will continue to use them in the future.  We purchased these with coupons at the commissary.

13. Bounty Basic - We tried these and they are not even worth the money we paid for them.  Useless.  We purchased these from Alice.com with an online coupon.  Love Alice.com but not this product.

14. Keurig Cafe Mocha - My husband tried these and loves them!  We purchased these at the PA Dutch Market in Annapolis, MD.

15. International Delights Sweet Buttercream Liquid Coffee Creamer - Got my own bottle after trying this at a friend's house.  Absolutely delicious and I will continue to enjoy it in the future.  We purchased this on sale at a local grocery store.

16. Barilla Tortellini Three Cheese - A coupon fairy left me a coupon on the shelf at the commissary to get these for half off.  We love these!

17. Ronzoni Smart Start Pastas - Tried these because we had coupons for them.  At first we did not like them but we soon got used to the taste and now we can't even tell the difference.  We purchased these at the commissary.

18. Herbal Essense Pear Shampoo - I used this and loved it!  It really does make your scalp tingle and it smells good.  We will continue to purchase this in in future.  We purchased this at Walmart with a coupon.

19. Aussie Shampoo - This shampoo smells and works well.  We love it!  We purchased this at AAFES with a coupon.

20. Cascade All in One packs - We tried these before and they seemed to work well.  We recently tried them again and they are leaving my pots white on the outside.  I do not like these at all.  Purchased these on sale with a coupon at the commissary.

21. Gillette Body & Facial Wash - My husband and son love these!  Will continue to purchase in the future with coupons.  Purchased this at Target with a coupon.

22. Franks Red Hot Sauce - My husband tried this one and he says it tastes ok.  He still prefers his Tabasco over this one.  Purchased at Target with a coupon.

23. Franks Buffalo Wings Sauce - My husband tried these at a friends party and says that he likes it.  

24. Spam 25% less salt - We tried these and cannot tell the difference between this and the original, so it is a definite keeper!  Mom purchased it.

25. Ortho Weed-B-Gone - We tried these because it said it would kill the weeds and not the lawn.  The day after I sprayed our weeds, there were brown spots on our lawn.  I don't think this product works very well and will not purchase it again in the future.  Purchased at AAFES.

26. Kiwi Fresh Force Shoe Refresher - My oldest son uses this and it seems to keep odors away, so this one is another keeper!  Purchased at the AAFES uniform shop.

27. Puffs Plus Lotion - I received a free sample from Vocalpoint for Puffs Plus Lotion To Go.  These facial tissues work well and the fact that it has lotion in it is great!

28. Cottonelle Toilet Tissue - Tried these because we had a coupon for it and were running low.  Will never buy these again.  Leftover tissue on our behinds and it seemed to clog our toilets.  Purchased at the commissary.

29. Trader Joe's Lobster Bisque - Absolutely delicious!  My eldest and I love it!  My husband had a reaction to it and my youngest doesn't like it.  Tastes great with pasta or by itself.

30. Reese Select Clusters - Had to try them when they were on clearance at the commissary.  These are really sweet.  If I have a sweet tooth, I have one of these and I'm done.  Yes, it's that sweet!  I would not purchase again in the future.

31. Mr. Clean Multi Surface Cleaner - Tried these from Walmart because I had a coupon for it.  It leaves streaks on windows and mirrors.  However, seems to clean well on other surfaces.  I would not purchase this item again.

32. Coffee Mate Vanilla Caramel Sugar Free Powdered Sugar Creamer - Tried this when I saw it on clearance at the commissary.  Tastes ok.  Nothing I would purchase again in the future.

33. Costco Kirkland Toilet Tissue - Very durable and inexpensive.  We love these!

34. Dagoba Chocolate Bars - First tried these at Mom's Organic Market.  We thought it was ok for dark chocolate.  Purchased another one at the commissary.  We like it but are not too crazy about dark chocolate. We hope they come out with milk chocolate variations in the future.

35. Kashi Tasty Little Cereal Bars - We tried the strawberry one from the commissary with a coupon.  I like it but my kids are not into it.

Hot Topic New Rewards Program

Hot Topic has a new frequent buyers program that replaces their old card. It is now an actual point card called HT+1 Your friend with benefits. Just signed up while I was down at their store last night and came home to complete my registration online. Got 10 free points just for signing up.
Details here:http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/member/Login.jsp

Recent Great Deals

Here are some of the recent great deals that we will or have been able to take advantage of.

1. JcPenney $10 off any purchase using coupon code 4BESTMOM. I got a firming brief that was on sale for $12.99 (reg. $22), $9.01 savings with sale minus $10 coupon code=$2.99+$5.95 s/h=$9.48 (total savings $19.01). I have been looking for one of these and just was not willing to pay the high prices for one.

2. Aeropostale $10 off $10 printable coupon for a free item priced at $10 and under. They had mens cargo shorts on sale for $20, used the $10 coupon on this and got it for $10 + tax. $20 for their cargo shorts was almost unheard of and to get it for $10+ tax was a rare deal.

3. Beyond the Rack body shaper for $20. Used my $10 credit that you get when you sign up toward this purchase. I had been looking for one of these for awhile and had not found one at a price I was willing to pay until I found this one. Took awhile to arrive at my door but I am very pleased with it and it even came with an extra pair of clear straps. Yay me!

4. YaySave freshwater pearl set of 10 bracelet set for $19.99 (Mother's Day Special pricing). Used my $10 online gift card that I earned using my swagbucks points toward this purchase. I also earned another 500 points for taking advantage of this deal and they were delivered yesterday, yay! They are beautiful!

5. My hubby got tickets to the CPOA Baltimore Orioles game night at a discount.

6. I recently received my Paypal $5.00 deposited into my paypal from redeeming my swagbucks points.

7. Free Kindle for PC application and free Kindle for PC Amazon downloadable books online.

8. Buy one, get one free pretzel coupon for signing up at Auntie Anne's online. Purchased 2 pepperoni pretzels ($3 savings) and got my frequent buyer card stamped for the one that I purchased.

9. Tropicana Rewards - bogo free Fandango movie ticket.

10. All You magazine's free 5x7 flipbook from Snapfish (just saved $9.98). Just paid shipping and tax for a total of $2.11. This will make a great gift! I received this in the mail the other day and the quality is excellent as usual and will make a wonderful gift.

11. Home Depot's Garden Club bogo free tree. We purchased a pear tree and an Okame Blossoming Cherry tree ($19.97 savings). One for our front and one for our back yard. It is a too good to pass up deal.

12. Baskin Robbins 31 cent scoop night is on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 (5-10pm) to honor the National Fallen Firefighter foundation. We did NOT end up going to this.

13. CVS free 4x6 magnet deal, create and use promo code FREE4MOM ($6.99 savings).

14. Shutterfly create 3 free 5x7 cards for Mother's Day and use promo code CARDS4MOM to get them for $1 + tax shipped to you, my total $1.01.

15. Buy.com has the Visual Land V-Touch for $39.99 mp3/mp4/camera/video player w/sd expansion slot. List price $199 for a savings of $160 with free shipping. This would be a great substitute for the iTouch.
See deal here: http://www.buy.com/retail/department.asp?loc=111&adid=17653

Note:

1. My good friend Maryanne saved $20 with the coupons that I shared with her. I'm so very proud of her! Keep up the great work!

Points & Frequent Buyer's Programs - Making your purchases work for you

I have found that memberships to points programs can be very rewarding.
I am a member of various points programs including:
1. Pampers Gifts to Grow - Points are accumulated to redeem online.
2. Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards - Points are accumulated to redeem online.
3. Mypoints.com - I have redeemed points for various gift cards.
4. Swagbucks.com - I have redeemed points for 2 gift cards.
5. Visa points program - I have redeemed points for various gift cards.
6. Tropicana Rewards - I have redeemed points for buy one, get one (bogo) free Tropicana 50 juices.  I have also redeemed point for bogo free movie ticket.
7. Mycokerewards - I have redeemed points for various photo printing services, coupons for bogo free items and entering a few of their sweepstakes.
8. AERewards - Points are accumulated to receive discount/reward coupons in the mail.
9. Ace Rewards - Points are accumulated to receive discount/reward coupons in the mail.
10. Hallmark Gold Crown Rewards - Points are accumulated to receive discount/reward coupons in the mail.
11. Office Depot Worklife Rewards - Points are accumulated to receive discount/reward coupons in the mail.
12. Staples Rewards - Points are accumulated to receive discount/reward coupons in the mail.
13. Children's Place "Place Perks" - Points are accumulated to receive discount/reward coupons in the mail.
14. Best Buy Reward Zone - Points are accumulated to receive discount/reward coupons in the mail.
15. Rainforest Cafe Safari Club - Points are accumulated to receive discount/reward coupons in the mail.
16. TGI Friday's - Points are accumulated to receive discount/reward coupons in the mail.
17. Famous Footwear - Points are accumulated to receive discount/reward coupons in the mail.
18. National Consumer Panel - Points are accumulated when purchased household items are scanned and transmitted via a telephone and surveys are completed online.  Points are accumulated to receive discount/reward coupons in the mail.  Occasionally they will send items such as bottle openers, etc... through the mail.
19. Regal Movie Theater - Earn 1 credit for every dollar spent, reward details here:  http://rcc.regalcinemas.com/CrownClub/appmanager/rcc/CrownClub?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=REWARDSSCHEDULE
20. Ledo's Pizza - Points are accumulated to receive discount/reward coupons in the mail.

Frequent Buyer's Programs can also be very rewarding if you frequent places more often then others.
1. Rita's Italian Ice -  Buy 10 treats, get one free.  Offers a card for frequent purchases.
2. Jewelry Service Center Watch Battery Club (Walmart in Glen Burnie & Arundel Mills) - Buy 4 watch batteries at regular price, get one free.  Offers a card for frequent purchases.
3. K.J. Watch & Jewelry Repair (Marley Station Mall, MD) - Buy 6 batteries, get one free.  Offers a card for frequent purchases.
4. AAFES combo card (Fort Meade, MD) - Buy 8 combo meals, get one free.  Offers a card for frequent purchases.
5. Harry & David - When your purchases reach $150, you will receive a complimentary 8 oz. box of chocolate truffles.  When your purchases total $300, you will receive 20% off your next purchase.  Offers a card for frequent purchases.
6. Reel Time Movie Card (Fort Meade, MD) - Get a stamp for every 9 admission or combo purchases, get a free medium popcorn with medium drink combo.
7. Auntie Anne's - Pretzel Perk

Vocalpoint

What is Vocalpoint you may ask?  Who is Vocalpoint for?

Since becoming a Vocalpoint member, my family and I have been able to try so many new products either with the samples they send us or using coupons and then we often like sharing if the product worked for our family or not.  Vocalpoint sends out samples and coupons to try new products and gives you a few coupons to share with family and friends to spread the word of these new products.  Vocalpoint is for everyone who likes trying new products, sharing new products with friends and letting people know about it either on Vocalpoint message boards or on your own blog.  To learn more about Vocalpoint, go here:http://www.vocalpoint.com//about.html and to become a member, go here:http://www.vocalpoint.com//registration.html

Thank you Vocalpoint for allowing us to participate in your wonderful program.

The other day we received a sample and coupons for us and to share for Puffs To Go plus lotion.  We will be trying it out this weekend. 

The allergies are acting up and we have already gotten out the new boxes of facial tissue in our house.

More Garden

Today we planted the rest of our garden. We planted some jalapeno peppers, tomatillos and beef steak tomatoes, from seeds of course.

Last year, our entire crop was all planted from seeds. This year, we planted most of our garden from seeds and some of it (yellow onions, garlic and strawberries) from seedlings/starter plants. We are keeping an eye on our garden to see how long it will take to grow or start sprouting. Our winesap apple tree is flowering pretty good now, so we are hoping that this year it will produce a little more fruit for our family to enjoy.

The onion starters are starting to get the greens pop out from the top and there are some small garlic plants from the garlic seeds. The small garlic is soooo cute. Everything else looks good, so we will keep an eye on it.

We have been noticing recently that a squirrel has been getting into our garden. He has been quietly reaaranging things but we just went through everything and regrouped whatever was out of place.

So far so good and we are looking forward to reaping the rewards from working hard in our garden this year. Whatever extras we may have will either be frozen for future use, shared with family and friends or shared via our local freecycle group.

Green Onions

I bought a bunch of green onions two weeks ago and they are still producing for us. You see after we got them home, we cut the bunch down to the start of the dark green part and stuck the bottoms in a planter with potting soil in them and watered them. The first batch of regrown green onion was cut this week and frozen for future use. The second batch will be cut this weekend and the process will continue. I plan on getting as much out of this one bunch of green onions as I possibly can. Why should we have to keep purchasing green onions every time we need them in a recipe (like we have done over and over in the past)? Each time it gets too long and we do not use them right away, it will be frozen for future use. However, we just found some fresh noodles at the asian market yesterday that looks like saimin (I hope it is) and we will probably use the green onions in that this time around. I hope it is delicious!

Just another way to stretch our dollars the smart way.

Update: The green onions died off. I wonder if I watered them too much. Anyways, I will pick up another bunch next time I go grocery shopping and repeat this method.