How cute is that little guy?  very cute I think.  That’s Martin the Paknak.  Paknaks are fun soft rubbery 3-D decorations for kids (and adults too!) to personalize all of their stuff: Backpacks, lunch bags, headbands, computer bags, household items,whatever you can think off.

They come with customized Velcro in the back that helps them stick to anything quickly and easily.  This also makes them interchangeable and they are also weather resistant.  I just thought they were  such a great idea for many reasons: they can help revive an old backpack or lunchbag.  They can also help personalize a very generic looking bag.  You can also put it on headbands, lamps or binders.

Today I have the opportunity to give away four sets of six Paknaks  (one set of six to each winner).  That way you can let your or your kids’ imagination go wild and start embellishing whatever they want.

What do you need to enter this giveaway?

1)  Visit the Paknak website and then come back and leave me a comment sharing which one is your favorite Paknak character.  I bet you will have a hard time picking, they are all so adorable!

For additional entries you can

• Share this on Twitter using the following line (just copy/paste):

Pick your favorite @Paknak and enter for a chance to win one of four Paknak prizes http://bit.ly/3FXU9m (via @commnsensemoney)

• Share this on Facebook:

Pick your favorite Paknak and enter for a chance to win one of four Paknak prizes from Common Sense with Money http://bit.ly/3FXU9m

• If you have your own blog you can also share with your readers about this giveaway.  Just make sure to link back and leave a comment with the link so I can verify this.

This way you can earn up to four entries.  Just make sure to leave a separate comment if you decide to share this giveaway with others. If you are reading this entry via email updates or via RSS reader please click through this entry and visit my blog to enter. Emailing me is not a valid entry for this giveaway. This giveaway is open to residents of the United States only. Please enter only if you are 18 years or older. This giveaway ends 9/2 at 9PM CST. At that time I will select the winner using Random.org and will contact that person. If after 48 hours after contact I don’t hear from them I will select another winner at random.  Good Luck!

Want to give in to the cuteness?  Use code PAK20 at checkout to get 20% off Paknaks.

Post by: Common Sense with Money

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There are some good deals going on at Office Depot this week.  If you spend more than $10 you can get the following items free, albeit limit three per household:

• Acrylic ruler
• 12 pack of eraser tops
• 8 pack of Scholastic Crayons

$0.25 Cents Items Limit 3

• Office Depot 4 pk glue stick – Awesome Deal
• Book Covers – Awesome Deal
• 5 ½ x 8 notebooks (small) – Great Deal

Two for $0.99 Cents Item
• Compass

$0.99 Cents Items
• Office Depot Ruler
• Soho Pencil Box
• Fiskars Scissors
• Composition book
• Filler paper 150 sheets
• Paper Mate 5 pk mechanical pencils
• Paper Mate 4 pk expressions mini pens
• Paper Mate 4 pk expressions erasers
• Stackable trays
• Push Pins 50 pk
• Colored paper clips
• 3 hole notebook punch
• Magnetic rubber calculator
• Webster Dictionary
• Office Depot correction tape
• Gartner Fashion portfolio’s
• Plastic storage box (small)
• Staedtler Rally Wood 12 pk pencils – (.25 cents @ Fry’s)

$2.99 Items
• 3 Liter Plastic Storage Boxes
• Filing Crates

Happy Savings!

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Another week of cheap school supplies at Staples.  Preview your ad here.  Here are some of the best deals:

Sunday through Wednesday Only Deals

Black and White Composition books 100 sheets $0.25 each

$1 Deals

Staples photo supreme 8½” x 11″ paper, 50/pack $12.98 less $11.98 easy rebate = $1
Limit 2 rebates per household.

HammerMill 8½” x 11″ CopyPlus copy paper, 500 sheets/ream $5.79
Receive $1.80 instant savings
Submit for $2.99 easy rebate
Pay $1 each
Limit 2 rebates per household.

Other Deals

Norton Antivirus 1 PC FREE after rebates

HP Office 8.5″ x 11″ copy paper, 5-ream case on sale BOGO or 2/$39.99 less $19.99  Staples Easy Rebate when you buy two
Pay $20 for two

Thanks Mummydeals!

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This past Thursday I participated in a Webcast offered by Office Max and was stunned to learn that teachers spend an average $1,200 OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKET buying back to school supplies for their classroom.  Do you ever struggle wondering what to get your child’s teacher for a present?  Always think school supplies or gift cards to school supplies stores.

To help teachers with these expenses both Staples and Office Max are offering Teacher Appreciation days:

Office Max is offering teachers a free tote bag and 15% off everything you can fit in that tote on Aug 9th.  You’ll need to show your teacher id to take advantage of this offer.

To find out when Staples is offering a Teacher Appreciation Day, just enter your state and city in this page.

I will share more on what I learned on this webcast at a later date because there were some very good tips from Peter Walsh, organization expert.

Thanks Frugal Adventures!

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Another great week of deals at Staples and I am getting really jealous there is not one where I live.  The sales circular preview here shows a coupon for $5 off $50.  If your sales circular has it, you could pick up all of the freebies or nearly freebies after Easy Rebate and get them for free or better.  If you didn’t pick up the norton Antivirus for free on Amazon.com, you can get it at Staples this week as it is free after rebates.

BIC Brite Liner assorted high lighters 5pk: $1 (Limit 2)
Use $1/2 printable coupon
Pay $0.50 each after coupon

Staples 70-sheet wirebound notebooks: $.01 (Limit 6)

Staples Multipurpose paper 500 sheet ream: $4.99 – $3.99 Easy Rebate = $1 (Limit 2)

Casio label maker: $14.99 -$15 Easy Rebate = FREE (Limit 1)

Staples Slim-line pencil sharpener: $10 – $10 Easy Rebate = FREE (Limit 1)

Handy lines dry erase makers 3pk: $3.99 – $3.99 Easy Rebate = FREE (Limit 1)

Brother 575 plain paper fax: $59.99 – $50 Easy Rebate = $9.99

Norton Internet Security 2009 for 1-3 PCs: $59.99 – $40 Easy Rebate – $20 upgrader Mail in rebate = FREE

Check out the sales ad sneak peak for full details on these and other offers.

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A few days ago I shared how shopping for back to school items was one of my favorite times growing up as a child.  I grew up enjoying going to school.  Getting ready to start a new year and be able see my friends again made for a really exciting time for me.  At the time I know I couldn’t grasp exactly how much of a financial burden this was on my parents.  In addition to having to buy supplies and school books, they also had to worry about paying tuition.  Unlike here in the United States, the public school system in my home country is not as reliable.  My family had to make a lot of sacrifices to be able to put us through private school on our family’s limited income.

My favorite memories always involve me going shopping with my mom.  That was always a lot of fun and almost an adventure.  To this day my mom doesn’t know how to drive, and besides we didn’t have a second car, so we always took the public bus.  I loved going to bookstores to find the best deals on school supplies.  Oh! how much would my mom have loved having sales circulars or blogs or any other resource to get the best deals.  Back in those days, everyone had to do the research on their own and actually hunt for those deals in person, not virtually like we are able to do now.

Thanks to the internet all of this information and deals are readily available to us and we can make it work to our advantage.  However, sending your kids to school is still expensive and it could take a chunk of cash from your budget.  In case you didn’t read it, make sure to check out my tips on Back to School Shopping for Less.  To further help you on your back to school shopping I am happy to be able to give away a $100 Visa Gift Card sponsored by Hallmark.  That’s right!  you can take this card to the store of your choice and use it to buy those back to school items still on your list.

What do you need to enter this giveaway?

1)  Leave a comment on this post sharing YOUR favorite back to school memory.  It may be from when you were going to school or a back to school memory involving your children.

For additional entries you can

• Share this on Twitter using the following line:

Share your favorite back to school memory and enter a chance to win a $100 Visa GC  http://bit.ly/wgaLD (via @commnsensemoney) #hallmark

• Share this on Facebook:

Share your favorite back to school memory and enter a chance to win a $100 Visa GC  from Common Sense with Money http://bit.ly/wgaLD

• If you have your own blog you can also share with your readers about this giveaway.  Just make sure to link back and leave a comment with the link so I can verify this.

This way you can earn up to four entries.  Just make sure to leave a separate comment if you decide to share this giveaway with others. If you are reading this entry via email updates or via RSS reader please click through this entry and visit my blog to enter. Emailing me is not a valid entry for this giveaway. This giveaway is open to residents of the United States only. Please enter only if you are 18 years or older. This giveaway ends 8/9 at 9PM CST. At that time I will select the winner using Random.org and will contact that person. If after 48 hours after contact I don’t hear from them I will select another winner at random.  Good Luck!

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Here are the best back to school deals for Office Depot and Office Max available this week:

Office Depot

Free
Scholastic Glue with minimum $5.00 purchase

$0.05 Cent Item
Office Depot Brand Pencil Pouch

$0.10 Cent Item
Tug Pencil Sharpener

$0.25 Cent Item
Paper Mate #2 Pencil 10 pk

$0.50 Cent Item
Office Depot Value Notebook Filler Paper 150 sheets

$0.99 Cent Items
• Office Depot Brand 12” Acrylic Ruler for Binder
• Office Depot Brand Marble Composition Book 100pgs
• Office Depot Brand Paper Clips
• Sharpie Accent Pocket Highlighters 6pk
• Liquid Paper Smooth Coverage
• Paper Mate Ball Point Stick Pens 10pk

$1.99 Items

• Tug Brand Book Covers (solid colors)
• Mead Assorted Pocket folders
• Aluminum Ruler
• Pentel Clic Erase Grip
• Fiskars Scissors for Kids
• Mini Clip Board
• Mini Milk Crates
• Paper Mate Eraser Mate Pens
• Expo White Board Eraser
• Expo White Board Cleaner
• Memorex CD-R Media 10 pk

$2.99 Items

• Office Depot Brand Wire bound Notebooks
• Office Depot Brand Notebook 3-hole punch
• Expo Fine Dry Erase Markers 4pk
• Rubber band Ball
• Mini Sport Stapler
• License Notebooks
• Paper Mate Gel Pens
• All Sharpie Accent Mini

Buy 2, Get 1 Free

3 for $3.49 ($1.16 ea)
Liquid Paper Dryline Grip Correction Tape

3 for $3.99 ($1.33 ea)
• Paper Mate Expression Mechanical Pencils 5 pk
• Paper Mate Expression Retractable Ballpoint Pens 5pk
• Sharpie Accent Jumbo Highlighters 4 pk

3 for $7.49 ($2.50 ea)
Sharpie CD/DVD Markers 4 pk

3 for $4.49 ($1.50 ea)
Expo Low Odor Chisel Markers 4 pk

Office Max

$0.01 Cent items
• 2-Pocket Basic or Prong Folders (Limit 6)
• 12″ Wood Ruler (Limit 3)

$0.10 Cent item
• OFFICEMAX Wide or College-Ruled Filler Paper – Limit 3
• OFFICEMAX® #2 Pencils, 12-Pack – Limit 3

$0.50 Cent Item
Composition Book, Wide or College-Ruled, 100-Sheet – Limit 6

25% Off Items
• All ELMER’S® Brand Glue
• All MEAD Five Star® Notebooks, Folders or Flex NoteBinders
• Wide Selection of Back To School Bags and Backpacks

Buy 2, Get the 3rd for 1¢
• All BOOK SOX, Jumbo, Scented, Extreme and 3D Book Covers
• All Laminate or Two-Tone Two-Pocket Folders
• All OFFICEMAX® Self-Stick Notes or Binder Clips
• All POST-IT® Flag + Single Pens or Highlighters
• All POST-IT® Label Pads

50% Off Items Limit 4
• All CRAYOLA® Markers, 10-Count or Colored Pencils, 12-Count
• All PAPER MATE® Write Bros. Grip Mechanical Pencils and Pens, 12-Pack
• All SHARPIE Accent® Liquid Highlighters (.99 cent @ Office Depot 6pk)
• All SHARPIE® Twin-Tip Markers
• OFFICEMAX® #2 Yellow Pencils, 36-Pack

Buy 1, Get the 2nd for 1¢ Items
• BIC® Cristal Ball Pens, Blue or Black, 10-Pack
• UNI-BALL® Jetstream™ Pen 3-Pack
• EXPO® Click Dry™ Erase Marker 3-Pack

You can view other back to school deals I have shared with you here.

Post by: Common Sense with Money

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Another week of great deals at Staples.  Here are the best I see  You can also preview your own weekly ad here.

Staples Filler paper, 120 sheets for $0.01 each (Limit 5 and only available Sunday through Wednesday)

Accel 1 Subject Notebook, 100 sheets $0.75 each(limit 3)

HP Office Copy paper 5 Reams on sale buy one get one free or 2/$39.99

Zebra Retractable ballpoint pens $1 (Use $1/2 printable coupon)

$1 Items (after instant Savings or Easysaver rebate (Limit 2)

Staples 3-hole binder puncher
RoseArt Washable watercolors
Paper Mate Sharp writer mechanical pencils, 5 pk
Westcott 7” bent handle scissors
Staples Delta Elite Retractable Gel Pens, 2 pk
Poohy Petz assorted monkey head cap erasers, 10 pk
Staples photo plus paper, 60 pk

$2 Items (after Instant Savings or Easysaver rebate (Limit 2)

Staples bright white multi-use paper, 500 sheet ream $7.99 (less $2 instant savings and $3.99 easy rebate)
3 M Command Poster Strips, 12 pk
OOPS Retractable Correction Tape, 2 pk
Sharpie Retractable Permanent Makers, fine tip, 3 pk
Post-It 1/2 Tape Flags
BIC Wite-Out Correction Fluid $2 (use $1/2 printable coupon)
Scotch Magic invisible tape, 3 pk
Staples 3 ring pencil pouches
Pentel EnerGel RTX Retractable Rollerball Pens, 3 pk

There should also be a coupon to get a $10 Staples Gift Card when you spend $50 in the sales flyer. If the coupon is not included in your sales flyer, remember that in the past around midweek the coupon becomes available online. Cross your fingers same happens this time. Mummydeals has put together a scenario here to get the paper for really cheap, check it out!

See the rest of the weekly deals at Staples over at Savings with Cents.

Post by: Common Sense with Money

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I knew Staples wouldn’t disappoint!  There’s a new $5 off $30 coupon available for printing on the Staples website.  The coupon is good through 8/1/09.  Make sure to use it to get good deals on all the back to school sale items they have going on this week.

What kind of deals have you gotten at Staples so far?

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These are the hottest back to school supplies deals at Staples this week:

25-Cent Deals

• 5-Pack BIC Matic Grip Assorted Mechanical Pencils (use $1/2 printable coupon to get them free!)

• 4 Oz Elmer’s Non-Toxic School Glue

• Staples Manual Pencil Sharpener

• 12-Pack Staples Cap Erasers

• 100-Pack Staples 3″x5″ White Ruled Index Cards

• * Assorted Slider Pencil Cases

2-For-$3 Deals

• 3-Pack Expo Click Low Order Retractable Markers (use $1/1 printable coupon to get them for $0.50 each)

• 3-Pack Avery Glue Sticks

• Staples Rubber Grip 1-Hole Punch

• 24-Pack Ticonderoga #2 Pencils

• 3-Pack Staples Invisible Tape, 3/4″ x 50 yards

• 3-Pack Pilot Frixion Erasable Highlighters

• 2-Pack Westcott 5″ Scissors

• Assorted Staples Mini Stapler

Assorted Other Deals:

• 500-Sheet Ream of Hammermill CopyPlus Paper $1 After $3 Easy Rebate (limit 2)

• 50-Pack Canon Pro 8.5″ x11″ Photo Paper $2 After $8 Easy Rebate (limit 2)

• Omnitech 2GB MP3 Player $5 after $15 rebate (requires a small filler to reach $30)

• 12-Pack Staples 0.7mm Mechanical Pencils $2

• 6-Pack Staples Hype pen-style highlighters $2

Some areas have a coupon for $5 off $30 purchase in their local ad, so be in the lookout for that.  You can also check out your local ad here.

Happy Savings!

Post by: Common Sense with Money

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