Free Christmas Music from Oprah!

Not sure how long these are available, so go download them now! They have step by step directions if you aren't "download savvy", like my mommy. :)

Eight fun songs, including my favorite, O Holy Night, by IL DIVO.

Check it out here!

Another Sneak Peak at Black Friday Deals!

Thank you Katie for sending this my way. Our local news channel did a story on this and has a slew of links on their website. Check it out!

Give the Gift of Finacial Peace

Here is a great post about Dave Ramsey's $10 book, software and DVD deals.

Best Buy Buys Back

Best Buy has a new trade in program. They will give you gift cards for your old electronics.
Another to check out is gazelle.com to do the same and get cash for old gadgets, they even pay for shipping and send you a box.

$10 Off and Free Shipping at Diapers.com

I was sitting at my allergists office today, thumbing through a parenting magazine, and found this great offer! Have you ever heard of diapers.com? (I hadn't) . Go to their website, purchase something (diapers, formula, skincare, toys, baby clothes...), and enter in the promo code: YXDE4691 and receive $10 off your first order! If you order reaches $49, you'll get free shipping! I ordered myself a huge case of Pampers (with the $10 off, they come to about .17 per a size 3 diaper). To get my free shipping, I ordered some Platex Drop-ins, which were the same price as the generic ones I bought at Walmart earlier today. So a pretty good deal I'd say!

$30 worth of SC Johnson Coupons

Sign up here for $30 worth of SC Johnson Coupons, stuff like Scrubbing Bubbles, Pledge, Windex and more. The lowest amount is $1.50 off, and ranges up to $10.00 off. Well worth checking out, hopefully they are still available, I got them a couple of weeks ago.

Cash Christmas?

This is a great post on the benefits of having a Cash Christmas... gee, what a novel idea!

Check it out here, at beingfrugal.net.

Welcome to My Fellow Bargain Babes!

I couldn't resist.

I'm thrilled to have a two awesome ladies on board to help me out with this blog. They are SHARIN THE FRUGAL LIVIN LOVE! A warm welcome to my buddies Monica and Kearna! Wooo hooo!

1200 free prints and 3 free 8x8 photo books!

Check this site out their prices are super to begin with only $.06 for 4x6 prints and $.12 for 5x7 prints! For a limited time you can open up a free account and get 1200 free prints, 3 8x8 photo books and other great print credits. You only have to pay shipping which for 50 prints was $5.99 (I think) but every other site makes you pay that on top of the price of the prints. They do spread the credit out over a few months and give you 50 4x6 prints and 50 5x7 prints each month plus tons of other stuff. Just look and see.

Free Jolly Time Popcorn

I saw this one at an Albertsons, then I noticed later that it was hidden in their ad. It is Buy 3 boxes of Jolly Time Pop Corn for $5.00 and receive a $5.00 Albertson's Gift card by mail. Limit 2 offers per household. Expires 12/17/08

Links to This Weeks Deals

Here are a few links to help you get started with your grocery deals this week. I wasn't too impressed with the coupon insert in today's paper. Only one! Boo hoo! I guess that is just how it is this time of year.

• Walgreens - you can find the breakdown and coupon matchup's here,or here.
• Walmart - she has links to other printable coupons as well.
• Albertsons - check out this wonderful printable list from Pinching Your Pennies... I just scan through and find the items with 4 or 5 red stars next to them. You can also go to the forums to read about different shopping scenarios people are doing.

Here is a link to a link of some Weight Watchers Smart One's coupons.

And lastly, here is a link to a sneak peak at the Walmart black Friday add. Looks like some pretty good deals.. still not sure if I'm brave enough to go to Walmart at 5am. Are you? Eeek!

Shopping Online?

I've recently found a cool website called Ebates - if you love to shop online... this site will save you money! How does it work? Ebates has a slew of online merchants that they work with. These merchants offer cash back on a percentage of your purchase. So instead of going to the online merchant directly, go to Ebates first, click on the merchant from there, and then shop! You'll then receive a certain percentage of your total purchase back in to your Ebates account. Then every three months, Ebates will send you either a check via mail, or send money to your paypal account.

What is also cool, is when you sign up, they automatically give you a $5 bonus. And right now, you'll receive an extra $10 bonus if you make a purchase between now and the end of the year. So if you're going to buy something, you may as well do it through Ebates!

Are you still concerned or have questions? I pulled this from their "about Ebates" page:

Ebates is the pioneer and leader of online Cash Back Shopping. The company was founded in 1998 by two Deputy District Attorneys in Silicon Valley who used to prosecute online fraud & identity theft before starting Ebates (so you can be sure we are very into secure online transactions!). So go ahead, sign up and start shopping now. Joining Ebates is always free - you'll never pay us anything. And four times a year or more, we'll mail you a Big Fat Check, or transfer the money to your PayPal account if you'd prefer. We can even send the money to your favorite charity. All 100% free.

People often ask: "This sounds too good to be true, how are you able to do it?" It really is quite simple. Just like almost every other online shopping center, we get a commission from the stores when you make a purchase. Instead of keeping that money - like almost all other sites do - we share it with you!

So, as long as 900+ of the world's top online stores are happy to pay a bonus to attract the new, valuable customers we send their way, Ebates is going to continue to send Big Fat Checks to our satisfied customers across the globe.

COUPONING 101

There are so many cool things to learn when it comes to couponing. In fact we teach a 2 hour coupon class, which doesn't even cover all the great stuff we could tell you... (we could go on for hours and hours talking about coupon strategies and ways to save money). So we will try to keep it simple and sweet!

First off, did you know that YOU HAVE CONTROL over how much you spend on Groceries?

Look at all the things we got for FREE using coupons.

Ready to get started??
Here is what you need to do.

START COLLECTING COUPONS -

Internet Coupons: Coupons you can print at home from your computer.

Our favorite sites for printing coupons are Coupons.com and Red Plum. Here is where you can find more sites to print coupons from. We have a great tutorial for printing coupons.

Newspaper Coupons: These come as inserts in the Sunday Paper. Looks for the names Smart Source, Procter & Gamble, and Red Plum.

Store coupons: Keep your eyes out for coupons in the store.

• Catalina- (click for detailed info) basically it's a printable coupon that is handed to you with your receipt at the store.
• Peelies- peel off coupons found on products at stores
• Blinkies-found in the aisle at the store spitting out of the blinking black box
• Tear Pads- Usually displayed next to the product and tear off of a pad. :)

GET ORGANIZED -

Start Simple: Monica started with a little $1 store photo book, because she just wanted to test out couponing before she put a lot of effort into an organization system.

Here are a few methods for organizing your coupons once you are ready to step it up!

Filing Method: Get a letter sized accordion file and file your coupon inserts. Don't clip until you are ready to use them. With this method you do not have to waste anytime clipping coupons you never use. You will have to spend time clipping before you can shop, and you will not know where your coupons are if you unexpectedly find an item on sale. You could also clip your coupons and store them in a small accordion file.

Binder Method: This is Monica's choice. Check out her binder and organization method. She keeps her coupons in baseball card holder sheets. You could also use photo album sheets. She keeps them organized by category, so she can find them quickly and easily.

Combined Method: This is Cathy's choice. Don't clip your inserts. Place them in a sheet protector along with a list of all of the coupons in the insert. You do not have to type that up! Simply copy and paste the coupon list from our coupon preview to a word doc and print. Then put all of your inserts in a binder.

Clipping Method: We recommend that you get more then one insert each week. In fact we get five! Do not clip each one separately! Stack each matching page together and cut all five inserts at one time!

FIND THE DEALS -

You do not have to do all the work, that is what a coupon blog is for! Best of all, IT'S FREE!

TIPS!

Sales, Stocking, Stacking:

1. Just because you have a coupon does not mean you should go out and use it! Wait until a good sale! Combining sales and coupons = HUGE SAVINGS!
2. When you see an item on a good sale, buy more. We encourage building a stockpile so that when you need cake mix (for example) you will find it in your pantry (and you bought it for .25 or less), rather than needing to go to the store and pay full price for it!
3. You can use a store coupon AND a manufacturer coupon on the same item! We call this stacking coupons! Check out our Walgreens Tutorial for examples on doing this!

Shop from your stockpile:

So now that you are getting multiple newspapers, you'll be able to stock-up when you find a good sale! When you menu plan, (or if you are like Cathy - you are more of a last minute planner), you will look no further than your pantry for the items that you need!

Final Thoughts:

Couponing takes time to incorporate into your daily life. We too are busy women - but we've done it and our family is blessed because of it! We welcome you to browse around our site. Got questions?? Feel free to ask us - we LOVE helping our fab readers!

Collecting Coupons?

You can buy the Sunday paper complete with the coupons at the Dollar Store for $1! It normally sells for $1.50. They carry it all week while supplies last.

Albertson's This Week

A few things that I thought were worth picking up.

1. Land O Lakes Fresh Buttery Taste spread 8-15 oz. 1.00 (for every two you buy a 0.75 albertsons coupon prints out.)
2. Pillsbury cake mix .50 when you buy 10
3. Pillsbury frosting 12-16 oz. or brownie classics 19.6 oz.
1.00 when you buy 10
4. Albertsons gelatin or pudding .44-3.9 oz. .50

For printable coupons and all the add details go to pinching your pennies.

REDBOX

I love Redbox for their $1 movies. Did you know that on Monday's you can get a free rental. Yup, you just need the code. It is updated weekly. Here is how you can get it. On Monday check out this link at insider redbox and they will have it posted or you can sign up on the website Redbox.com and they will email or text the code to you on Mondays. Last week Kung Fu Panda made a great FHE. Enjoy! Oh ya, you can use the code multiple times if you have multiple credit cards.

Sneak Peak at Black Friday Ads

Check them out here.

25 Books for $15!! ~The Christmas Box~

Thanks Christa for the great tip!

The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans - purchase 25 for only $15... go to his website for all the details and why he is doing this.

Christa pointed out that this could be a wonderful gift for teachers, neighbors, people you visit teach, distant relatives...

Check out his website for all the details!

(ps - Christa found this at the pinching your pennies forums... awesome resource!)

Walgreens - The Plan

First of all, they have a coupon to get a $25 gift card if you transfer a prescription. I have one at Walmart right now, and I'm tired of going all the way there to get it, so I'm going to transfer it to Walgreens and save some gas and get a gift card!

I found these scenarios from BeCentsAble and

Skippy Peanut Butter 2/$3 - going to use .35/1 and .75/2 found in Red Plum 10/5 & 11/16, which gets me 4 Skippys for $1.15 each

Betty Crocker BOGO Free 2 for 2.29 less .40 printable coupon I had, comes to about .75 each

Chicken Noodle Soup - .59/ea, using coupon I had clipped, not sure what from though :(, .40/2 - comes to .39 for a can of soup.

Register Rewards (after I purchase 4 select items, it will give me a $3 coupon for my next visit)
25% Sauve Mens Shampoo, using coupon from 11/16 Red Plum .40/2. Not sure of final cost yet.

I plan on going back with my $3 in rr (register rewards) and getting some Vaseline Intensive Care lotion. It is 25% off, and there is a $1.25 off coupon in the 11/16 Red Plum.

This is my first attempt at Walgreens, so hopefully all will go well!

My ALBERTSONS Plan

First off, are you saving the entire coupon flyer from today's paper? Keep it, and file it. I found an unused expandable file folder and am sorting my coupon inserts this way. I have a different method for my internet coupons. But file those inserts by week, and get as many as you can (ask friends, family, purchase another paper, go dumpster diving... yes some people really do it!).

So I've been working on the deals I'm personally going to take advantage of this week. But so far, I've only gotten Albertsons completely ready, mostly because this is only good through Tuesday. This is my plan:

ALBERTSONS (sale through 11/18)

• Best Foods Mayo 1.99 - use .60 off one (in 11/16 Red Plum insert)
• 1 Gallon Shoppers Value Milk $1.99 (I'm going to get a bunch - cheaper than Costo!)
• Barilla Pasta - 10 for $10
• 1 doz eggs $1.59 (is this a good price? I'm not sure)
  

I found this great tip on the Screaming Penny Idaho Forum:

"You saw the add for the 2 Sara lee Pies and 2 Breyers ice cream in this weeks Albertsons ad for $6.37. Bet you didn't know you could get them for $1.37 with the Catalina promo.

Here's how:

buy 10 Marie Callendars frozen entrees at $2.00 each this generates a coupon for $10 off post cereals. Buy 5 boxes at $1.99 each this then kicks out a $5.00 coupon. Use this on the Sara Lee promotion and pay the $1.37. This will need to go through as three separate transactions.

So for $21.37 + sales tax you get 10 Marie Calendars dinners, 5 boxes Post cereal, 2 Sara Lee Pies and 2- 1/2 gallon Breyers ice cream.

Also Albertsons is running a 3 day customer choice stealth coupon ad. With the purchase of $25 in groceries you can use the following coupons.
$1.00 off your choice frozen pizza
$2.00 off produce tote and can use existing coupon already attached to tote
$3.00 off any seafood purchase of 2 pounds or more
$4.00 off any 2 pound chunk cheese
the coupon is valid 11/16 - 11/18"

I think I'm going to attempt it! Let me know if you find something great and wonderful!

ps - Here is the Grocery Smarts/Pinching Your Pennies Albertsons link. And here is the link to the Pinching Your Pennies "Screaming Deals" forums for Idaho.

Another Free Photo Book!

Readers of Simple Mom are offered a free photo book, courtesy of Inkubook! Check out her post and get all the details. She is also having a contest, offering another free book to five of her readers - this one you get to pick out ANY book you want! Pretty cool! Check out the same post for the details. By the way, Simple Mom is an excellent blog (one of my faves)... you may want to subscribe!

The contest ends Sunday November 17th. Good luck!

ALL THE LINKS for This week!

Oh my goodness. I haven't had time to go through my google reader this week. I had over 100 posts in my "frugal" folder. So now I've finally sat down to find all the really good stuff (to me anyway). So here it is... you ready? Click on the stuff that interests you!

• Fred Meyer (Thank you Storm! She featured my design blog last week! Woo hoo!)
• Albertsons (Also, did you see the great deal - Buy 1 Sara Lee Pie, get another FREE plus two containers of Bryers Ice cream!! WOW - Thank you Sherry for bringing that one to my attention!)
• Walgreens (also here - HERE IS A $5 OFF $20 OR MORE COUPON TOO!)
• KMart
• WalMart
• Rite Aid

I haven't had time to look over the Pauls ad to see if there were any goodies. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Also, has anyone gone to Winco and found something wonderful?

Here is the newest blog I've added to my reader:
$5 Dinners

Here is an excellent post I came across:
Using Your Freezer and Cooking From Scratch to Save Money

And here are a few links to some coupons and savings:
Target Coupons
30% Off coupon for Old Navy (expires 11/16)
Daisy Sour Cream
$5 off $25 at True Value Hardware (Lowes and Home Depot apparently will accept this coupon as well)

So that is it for now! I haven't gone out and done a real good shopping trip in quite awhile. I had a huge stack of coupons that needed to be clipped. Last Sunday evening, me and my two oldest sat on the family room floor and clipped and organized! They love it and want to do it every Sunday evening after the little ones go to bed.

Also, If you're having trouble printing coupons, (I've noticed it happens when I'm using firefox), try opening the link in a different browser window (like Internet Explorer rather than Firefox).

So let me know how this is working for you!

Free Snapfish Photo Book

Have you already heard this?

Go to Oprah.com and click on the link to take you to snapfish.com and get a free 8 1/2 x 11 photo book! Regularly priced at $29.99 - you get it FREE! What's the catch? You have to request the offer by Friday midnight PST. And then you have to COMPLETE the book by Sunday!

I'm going to do a 2008 year in review. I have all my pictures on my computer by month, so it will be pretty quick and easy to gather them up and get them in the book. It is a simple drag and drop process.

Here is a good post that gives step by step instructions, plus a few hints...

Have fun! And thanks to Cheri for letting me know about this! By the time I would get around to watching this episode off of my DVR, it would be way too late!

ps - Sorry for the lack of posts. We've been going through some water damage, restoration, new kitchen flooring stuff. In the end, it will be WONDERFUL - it is just the "getting there" that really stinks! My reader has over 200 unread posts for me to scan through! EEEK!

Food Storage - Weekly Accumulation Schedule

I do believe this was referenced to during the evening session of Stake Conference a few weeks ago... Thank you to Rebecca for emailing this to me!

This is a suggested schedule for accumulating a basic food storage. Just some ideas – make it fit your family. If one of the items is on sale one week, or you have a coupon to help cut your cost, obviously you would purchase the necessary amount at that time rather than on the “scheduled week.” Purchase the items listed per member of your family. Example: 3 cans of corn X 4 family members = 12 cans of corn. If your family does not eat a certain product then substitute for one that they will eat. Some of the items do not have amounts so buy what you can. If you continue with this each year and rotate items – you will accumulate a nice storage.

January

• Week 1- 5lbs sugar and 1 box powdered sugar
• Week 2- 5 lbs flour and 1 jar yeast
• Week 3- 2 lbs brown sugar and 2 lbs salt
• Week 4- Baking powder, Baking soda and 1 box foil
  

February

• Week 1- 3 cans corn and 3 boxes Jell-O
• Week 2- 3 cans peas and 3 boxes pudding
• Week 3- 3 cans string beans and a jar of pickles
• Week 4- 3 cans tomatoes and 3 spaghetti seasoning packets
  

March

• Week 1- 4 cans cream of chicken soup, 1 lg jar of salad dressing
• Week 2- 4 cans chicken noodle soup and 1 jar of chicken stock
• Week 3- 4 cans cream of mushroom soup, 4 can refried beans
• Week 4- 3 cans vegetable soup and 2 jars salsa
  

April

• Week 1- 3 cans favorite soup and 1 box saran wrap
• Week 2- 2 lbs. macaroni and 2 lbs. spaghetti
• Week 3- 2 lbs. rice and 2 cans of yams or pumpkin
• Week 4- 1 lg jar peanut butter and 1 box Ziploc bags
  

May

• Week 1 -1 lg box instant mashed potatoes & 1 cake mix w/frosting
• Week 2 - 19 oz box of oatmeal and 1 jar mustard
• Week 3- 1 lg bottle of honey and 1 jar of syrup
• Week 4- 4 cans tuna and 1 jar mayonnaise
  

June

• Week 1-1 lg jar of favorite jam & 1 brownie mix
• Week 2-2 cans favorite canned meat & 1 bottle of ketchup
• Week 3-1 lg can of chicken in broth & 2 cans pork & beans
• Week 4-2 cans beef stew or chili & 2 cans of kidney beans
  

July

• Week 1 -3 jars of applesauce and 3 cans of peaches
• Week 2-1 lg bottle of oil and 1 can of shortening
• Week 3- 3 cans favorite fruit
• Week 4- 7 gallons of water
  

August

• Week 1-1 lg package of favorite drink
• Week 2-1 lg box of instant milk
• Week 3-1 lg jar orange juice mix
• Week 4-vitamins
  

September

• Week 1-peroxide and alcohol
• Week 2- first aid cream and cotton balls
• Week 3-first aid tape and ace bandages
• Week 4-dish soap
  

October

• Week 1-laundry soap
• Week 2-2 bars body soap
• Week 3-bleach and stain remover
• Week 4- toothpaste, floss and mouthwash
  

November

• Week 1-shampoo, conditioner, hair products
• Week 2 -sanitary napkins and diapers
• Week 3-napkins, paper cups, plastic utensils
• Week 4-paper plates and trash bags
  

December

• Week 1 - toothbrush
  
• Week 2-toilet paper & individually packaged handi-wipes
• Week 3 -batteries and flashlight
• Week 4-waterproof matches and candles
  

EXTRAS:

• Medications
• Journal
• Good First Aid Manual
• Cleaning Supplies
• Light Bulbs
• Disposable Razors
• Band-aids

Links to This Weeks Deals

So here we are, Wednesday afternoon, and my blog reader is full of stuff I need to share! I changed the preschool week since my kids are out Th & F. So I've been busy doing preschool for the past few days... here I am with the goodies for you!

I haven't even looked at the ads this week, but here are the links:

• Pinching your Pennies (thanks for the reminder Amanda) link to Albertsons ad with coupon matchups - this info is based on the Utah ad, but I'm pretty sure they're very similar, if not the same! Look for the 4 and 5 red stars - this means STOCK UP!
  
• Costco list - here Megan blogs about things she found that are cheaper to purchase at Costco, rather than a grocery store. She also shares things that she does not purchase at Costco. I have to disagree with her on the diapers and formula. I switched Logan over to the Kirkland brand of formula (my pediatrician says they're all the same), so I spend approx $30/mo on formula rather than $80 if I used Enfamil. Also, this past week I purchased some of the cheap Freddy's diapers for Seth (2 - and no I'm not ready to potty train yet). He's leaked a few times already. If I can pay a little extra for nicer diapers (again, I purchase the Costco brand), and let him go longer in between changes (hey - I've got six kids! I'm not changing diapers every 3 hours!), then it is probably the same or cheaper since I don't have to change him as often. (I know just what my sister is thinking right now).
• Another Albertsons list (you may or may not like this format better) from Holly at Mommies With Cents
• Whats Free at Rite Aid
• Most recent list of Walmart deals (with links to printables - but keep a copy of Walmarts coupon policy with you! I can almost guarantee you'll have troubles at Overland/Cole!)
• $40 Menu for this week at Money Saving Mom
• Kmart deals
• Deals on toys
• Freddys

That's all for now!!! Let me know about anything else you find! Thanks for the nice comments, i appreciate them!

Coupon Tip Tuesday

Welcome to our collection of couponing tips. Some are for newbies and some are for more advanced couponers. There is something here for everyone. If you are new this is a excellent place to start!

If you have a tip or a question that might make a great tip post feel free to share in the comments!


COLLECTING AND ORGANIZING COUPONS:

Printing Coupons

Coupons.com Tutorial

Trouble Printing Coupons?

Coupon Binder Organization

Fabuless Coupon Database

Why should I Keep Every Coupon?

What to do with all the Newspaper?

How to Use the PYP Shopping List

Which Price Do I Use on That PYP list?

SHOPPING AT THE STORE:

Decoding the Store Ad

Give Couponers A Good Name

Shopping from Your Pantry

Target Price Matching

Walgreen's 101

Think Small

When Should I Shop?

How to Avoid Leaving the Store without the Deal

Stock up Price

What Price to Use to Get the Catalina??

Using Printable Coupons

I found this excellent post on Freebies 4 Mom about using printed internet coupons. She has a link to the WalMart coupon policy - which I have printed and will keep in my purse. EVERY time I try to use printables there, I have problems (Overland/Cole). The last time I was there, the cashier was rude to me and acted like I was quite the thorn in her side when I asked for a supervisor.

So check out her post. She has links to some current internet coupons.

And here is a beginners guide to using coupons! A quick recap:
1. Set a budget
2. Get some coupons
3. Organize your coupons
4. Focus on one store
5. Plan your purchases
6. Stockpile

Share your success stories anytime in the comments, or email me and I'll post it!