Deal Killer!

I spent over an hour last night going through coupons and getting things organized to do some shopping today. But alas, I wake up to this. Still snowing and really cold. Not a good day to be travelling 3 hours each way (I was going to the city where my Grandma is staying so I could visit her as well).

So instead, I'll be staying home snuggling with kids, playing with new toys, and (hopefully) cleaning and straightening up a bit for our 'Cousins Christmas Party' tomorrow evening.

Hope you're all having a fun weekend, staying warm and enjoying your blessings.

There WILL be coupons this weekend!

Sorry, guys--got some misinformation. There will be one coupon insert in the newspaper this Sunday from P&G. Keep an eye out for it!

Also, did you know about THIS website? You can get a preview of the coming weekend's coupons a few days in advance. If there are some good ones coming out, you'll know to buy more papers!

Great Toaster Strudel Coupon!

I found a coupon this morning for $1 off ONE box of Pillsbury Toaster Strudel! I'm really excited about it because I, um, I mean *my kids*, LOVE these! Usually you only find .55 off 2 coupons, so this one is awesome. Don't forget to hit your back button a few times to be able to print it one more time!

Click HERE for your coupon!

Caregiver's Marketplace

If you're caring for young kids or a parent/grandparent, you've got to check this out. Caregiver's Marketplace is helping caregivers save some hard-earned money on brands such as Huggies and Pull-Ups, Nature Made, Ensure, Polident, Icy Hot, and many more.

You simply register at their site, then print off the form and send it in along with your register receipts for at least 5 eligible items. Very easy to do, and you get between .75 and 2.00 for items you are already buying. Click HERE to learn more.

No Coupon Inserts for Two Weeks

Just a heads-up that there is no need to get your Sunday papers this weekend or next (if you're like me and just buy them for the coupons). That will leave us plenty of time to enjoy with friends and family over Christmas and New Year's. Enjoy it, because I seem to remember being inundated with new coupons after the New Year, especially for 'healthy' and 'diet' items. *smile*

Free Christmas Music Downloads

25 days of free music from Amazon.com HERE.

They've got some great music to choose from! I know I'm posting this pretty late, but I just now got the chance to actually download the ones I wanted. Thought I'd share, anway--better late than never, right?

$5 Alice Gift Card from Swagbucks!

***I misunderstood how this works originally--I just snagged one of these gift cards, and in the 'fine print' it states that it will only allow one gift card/code per swagbucks account, and the cards/codes cannot be combined with each other. So, not free stuff, but cheap(er). Sorry about the misinformation! I'm very bummed about it, myself. :(

You all know how much I love Swagbucks. I have the toolbar and use it anytime I need to do an internet search. I sometimes use it to 'search' for sites I want to visit anyway (and know the address for), just to give me an extra chance to win those digital dollars.

I've always used my swagbucks for $5 Amazon gift cards--they're just 45 swagbucks, which I can earn in about a month. It's like free money just for doing your thing online! I used the gift cards that I had saved up to help with Christmas shopping this year--every little bit helps, right?

Well, it has come to my attention that Swagbucks is now offering $5 gift cards to Alice.com for ONLY 20 swagbucks!

If you've never heard of it, check it out--Alice.com is a pretty new shopping service for nonperishable grocery and household items. The best part is that they offer FREE SHIPPING on every order (I believe they require a minimum of 6 items per order). Another plus--they offer 'coupons' on some items, turning their already-reasonable prices into some pretty good deals.

I think that during times in life when you just don't have time or are physically unable to get to the store, this service is great. If you're in the last few weeks of pregnancy or just had a new baby, this will save you (or your husband :) a trip to the store just to grab those few items you're running low on.

I'll definitely be giving this service a try now that I can use my 'free' money from Swagbucks! When you go that route, it's like free household items. It doesn't get much better than free!

Cool Crafty Links

Thanks to my friend Paula over at Hearty Works, I've been enjoying a few new-to-me crafty blogs this morning. Here are some highlights:

Giver's Log: Hot Chocolate on a stick! And if you need more incentive than that to check out the site, you may not be human. Or you were never a kid. Take some time to look around at all her great gift ideas--not all homemade, but all are thoughtfully categorized for the perfectly suited recipients.

Design Mom: She has some great ideas for displaying children's artwork HERE.

Infarrantly Creative: Beautiful Christmas on a Budget series begins HERE.

Enjoy!

Shop at Home $100 Gift Card Giveaway

Toni over at The Happy Housewife has a giveway for a $100 Gift Card to any online store on the Shop at Home website. I've used this site several times in the past couple of months to find coupon codes for free shipping and other deals. Check it out!

Shop at Home $100 Gift Card Giveaway

How often do YOU cook?

I cook pretty much every evening these days, but breakfasts and lunches are usually cold stuff or warmed up leftovers.

In the past, I sometimes did some 'planned leftover' type of cooking. I would brown 5 pounds of ground beef, then package it into meal-sized portions for the freezer. Or cook a couple of chickens, or a 10 pound bag of leg quarters, then de-bone and freeze the meat for later meals. This helped a LOT (and I should probably do that again sometime).

But one activity that sounds so helpful, is Once A Month Cooking (OAMC). I've done this only 2 or 3 times in my cooking career, and let me tell you--it's work. But it pays off exponentially throughout the month, when you simply pull meals out of the freezer and reheat them. It's wonderful. But it's a LOT of work.

Money Saving Mom is hosting a Freezer Cooking Day over at her blog. I hope you'll go check it out and click all the links for some great recipes and strategies.