I am sure you have read the headlines today.  Many major websites have shut down in response to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill.  Under the current wording of SOPA and PIPA, websites could potentially be blacklisted from search engines, advertising networks and Internet Service Providers via court order.   Your favorite websites (think Youtube, Tumblr, Wikipedia) might get penalized, blacklisted or even shut down due to a copyright infringement lawsuit.

I cringe thinking of what it entails to have the government regulating the content available on the internet for the benefit of a few Hollywood studios, record labels, and publishers to maximize their profits.  It’s our hard earned tax dollars working for the benefit of a few for profit companies.  There are lots of great articles on this subject on the news today, but here is one on CNN if you wish to read further.

Help stop this bill and tell your congressman to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA.  It takes seconds.

I know you are off doing some last minute shopping (but hopefully not because I bet it is crazy out). Or maybe you are home baking up a storm.  So I am off to do the same.  For the first time this year I intend to not get online for the next two days.  Well, as much as my willpower will let me because I do love a great deal and I love sharing it with you.

I will be back on Monday looking for ways to save us all money.  But for now, I trust I have helped you enough for the time being, so I am signing off just like you to enjoy this time with my family.

Have fun!

I just wanted to stop and wish you a very happy Thanksgiving! Today I am thankful for my family, my friends and you guys! You make deal hunting totally FUN for me and I truly appreciate each and every one of you who stops by this blog to check out my daily finds!

I truly intended to take the day off today but there were so many screaming deals just on the first half of the day. It is incredible! but now my husband has given me a minute to wrap this party up at least until after Thanksgiving dinner. What can I say? I do drive a hard bargain!

So, I am taking the time to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner in the company of family and I hope you are all doing the same. I will see you back here after the turkey-induced coma wears off enough for me to type up semi-coherent posts, lol!

Happy Eatings!

As you guys know we are now in November and I know most of you are rounding up your Holiday Shopping list. In this post I wanted to share a few important things with you:

First, since I know a lot of you are and will be shopping for Holiday presents, I will start sharing with you deals on items that I think some of you may have on your list. In general I am thinking toys, small appliances, gifts for guys, electronics, etc. These are not deals that I regularly blog about but because I know some of you are looking for them I will be sharing them with you.

Here is my disclaimer: Not every deal I share will be for you. But it may be for some else. What I am trying to say is that when I blog about a deal I am not saying quick buy it now! I am saying buy it if it is on your holiday shopping list. So keep that shopping list on hand so you don’t deviate!

Second, I also wanted to share how you can keep on top of things.  Long time readers know that some of these Holiday deals come and go very fast!  So if you want to keep good tabs on things I suggest you follow Common Sense with Money in the way that best suits you: via Twitter, Facebook, RSS or email or by downloading our mobile apps.  With any of these you should be able to keep up and get the items on your shopping list for a lot less.

Finally, speaking of Holiday Shopping Lists, what do you have on yours? Let me help you score a deal on the items that you are looking to buy for the Holidays by sharing them with you (leave comment on this post). If you tell me what it is you plan on buying I can do a better job at keeping an eye out for deals.

So, that is all I wanted to share with you. Can you believe that the holidays are around the corner?

I love being able to make lists on Facebook because they can help you make sense of your feed.  I have a lot of friends and also follow a lot of pages and over the past two months I just felt too overwhelmed by so many things showing up on my one feed.  I was losing touch with my friends and also family because of the mess.

You probably noticed that Facebook automatically created a list for friends and family for you and gave you a chance to edit it.  You can also create a list of the pages you follow and make it easier to keep tabs on them.  If you follow blogs on Facebook you can create a list to make it easier to follow their updated.  Here is how to do that:

On the left side of your Facebook you will see a section called lists.  To create a new list, hover your computer mouse over that section and click on “More:

After you click on more, click on “Create a List” and name your list. I follow a few deal blogs so I called mine “Deals.”  Then after you name it, on the right side you will see a section called “On This List” type the name of the blogs you follow that you want to add to this list.

I follow a lot of pages, so I have narrowed my lists down to “Companies”, ‘Recipe Blogs”, “Parenting Blogs”, etc.

After you create your lists, you will see which ones have any updates on the left side of your Facebook Home.  Just click on them to check who has said what and interact.  So go on and make a list of Blogs you follow and be sure to add Common Sense with Money first to that list.

I just wanted to remind you that the second couponing Webinar is scheduled for this Sunday 7/10 at 9:00 PM EST.  Please make sure to be there early as seats are available on a first come first serve basis.

Also, I wanted to let you know that due to feedback from attendants of the first Webinar I have decided to split the topics covered on the webinars.  In the future one webinar will cover Basic Couponing concepts and strategies for saving money at the grocery store.  I will then follow up with a second webinar at another date that will help you master drugstore shopping.  Right now, you can register for the next webinar which will be about basic couponing.

This webinar is for those of you who are getting started and have a lot of questions about how coupons work.  This will go over topics covered on my Couponing Ebook in more depth.  Sign up for this webinar now:

Title:Learn How to Coupon with Common Sense with Money
Date:Sunday, July 24, 2011
Time:9:00 PM – 10:00 PM EDT

Thanks to everyone who has provided feedback so far and because of that I am confident that this webinar will answer your questions and teach you what you need to know to use coupons the best way possible.

Just a quick reminder to those of you who signed up for the couponing webinars. The first one is tonight at 9PM EST. Be there early as it is first come first serve basis and you don’t want to miss out on getting in.

This will be a one hour long webinar and please make sure to have already read through my FREE Couponing Ebook, so you are ready to hit the ground running.  bring your questions too as we will have a live Q&A session.

I just wanted to give a quick reminder to those of you who signed up for my couponing webinars. The first one will be this Sunday 6/26 at 9PM EST. I am very excited to talk to 500 of you about one of my favorite topics: couponing!  I will be giving you the information you need to master this skill.

We will be starting promptly on time, so make sure to be there sharp! Bring your questions as we will be having a live Q&A session.

For those of you interested in attending future webinars, I will be announcing new dates soon!

The third annual Frugal Festival Food! sponsored by Albertsons is coming to Los Angeles, CA. Stop by the Canoga Park High School, 6850 Topanga Canyon Blvd in Los Angeles on June 25, 2011 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a one-day gathering of consumers hungry to save money on groceries, meals out, and home cooking.

Guests will nosh on free tastings from Albertsons, The Stand, Yozen Frogurt, and Libertine, learn how to use a solar oven, enjoy a free swap food, compete in Albertsons’s Coupon Challenge to find the best deals, and win Free Raffle prizes from Pyrex, Starbucks, and a $300 Albertsons gift card.  There will also be a free swag bags worth $16 to first 500 guests.

Tickets are $5-$10 and available exclusively through Goldstar. Or you can participate in the Food Swap and get into the rest of the event FREE. Read more about this food swap here.

But five Common Sense with Money readers will win free tickets. Just leave a comment to be entered to win. This giveaway is a very short term one and will be closed tomorrow 6/22 at 11PM EST. So enter now!

Frugal Festival Food! is hosted by BargainBabe.com founder Julia Scott, a former reporter and columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News who organizes the Festival each year to thank her readers. Our Marquee Sponsor is Albertsons.

If you currently read Common Sense with money via RSS Feed, this is an important announcement for you. Some of you may have noticed that my feed is no longer updating for you. I had to change “feed providers” and in the process I “lost” some of you. I apologize, there was nothing that could have been done to prevent that.

So, if your feed is no longer updating, you will need to re-Subscribe using this link. When you do that, you will once again start getting my timely updates.  Feel free to delete the old obsolete feed.

Thank you for joining me on my journey of saving money.  I hope you will continue on this path and tag along as I set forth finding more money saving opportunities for us all.

From my family to yours,

xoxo

The show has sparked a lot of buzz from people who misunderstand coupon users as well as those who feel outraged by how these people are being portrayed.  but most importantly the show has sparked the interest of millions of people in learning how to save money using coupons.

If you are interested in learning how to get free stuff and free groceries using coupons and deals, I have some important tips to help you achieve this goal:

1) Start small but get started. Be  realistic and don’t expect to start pulling the same type of stunts these people pulled on the show on your fist shopping trip.

2) Focus on the stores near you and narrow it down to 2-3 stores.  No need to be shopping all around town.  Focus in leaning how to save big at your favorite grocery store and learn how to shop at the drugstore near you.

3) Slowly but surely start building a stockpile of items that your family will use.  No one needs 1,000 boxes of cereals or thousands sticks of deodorants.  At most you need about a supply for around 8 weeks.  This is the length of the sales cycle and when most likely the item will come back on sale.

4) Before you shop, look for coupons for the items on your list in the coupon database.

5) Subscribe to Common Sense with Money to get all of these coupons emailed to you daily.  Never miss a deal!  Also follow Common Sense with Money on Facebook to get hot freebies before they are gone.

Read, read as much as you can, invest time in learning how to shop at several stores.  It is the best way to save time and save yourself frustrations.

I just wanted to take some time to wish a Happy Christmas to my readers who celebrate this holiday.  Take the time to enjoy family, food and give love.

Things have slowed down here since yesterday and I plan on taking it easy these next two days.  I will be around, although I don’t foresee doing a whole lot of posting since I don’t think anyone is looking for anything in particular right now.  Unless I see some amazing freebie pop up, I just plan on being with my family and enjoying my children.

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to take some time and thank you for your patience over the last few days.  As many of you noticed I was having issues with the site which caused problems in getting the page to load.  I have been working very hard since Monday in trying to find the cause and solution.  I just confirmed that my server package has been upgraded which means the problems should be over now.

I thank you for bearing with this.  I realize that it must have been very frustrating to try to leave a comment on a giveaway post when you couldn’t even connect to the site.  Rest assured that noone was as frustrated as I was.  Since I don’t drink I finally made some rice pudding last night to “drawn” my sorrows.  That made me feel a little better

Your continued support in the good times and the bad ones means the world to me and I thank you for it.

My favorite thing about the Holidays is giving.  I love the giving spirit every one gets into and how we are all looking for ways to make others happier with our gifts.  I love that the Holidays are also a way to give back in thanks for all of the blessings that we receive DAILY.

Today I want to share with you this simple (and FREE) way you can help support Journey 4 a Cure.  This non-profit organization is focused on helping families affected by pediatric cancer and raising money to help fund childhood cancer research.  I can’t even say pediatric cancer without feeling all choked up.

YOU can help raise $12,500 in funds towards this organization by just liking the following companies on Facebook.  They have agreed to donate $1 for every new liker they get through 12/12.  Please!  I beg you to find it in you to click on the links below and like these companies on Facebook to help raise the funds for such a worthy cause.

• Cheep: Cheep helps you find the best deals by showing you accurate price comparisons from around the web in real-time as you shop online. Perfect for holiday shopping.

• CoupSmart: This iPhone app lets you scan products you buy every week and then sends you coupons by mail for products you actually buy and use. Apps for Android and Blackberry are coming soon.

• Extrabux: Extrabux helps you find the best prices online, shares coupon codes and gives you cash-back all at once. A must for any online shopper, especially on Cyber Monday.

• Valpak: Valpak has been mailing out blue envelopes full of local coupons for years, but you can also head online to Valpak.com and enter your zip code to get printable coupons.

• Valpak Deals: Valpak Deals offers great daily deals in local areas, including Las Vegas, Omaha and Long Island. They’ve got national deals too, like a $115 portrait package at Sears Portrait Studio for only $20.

Special thanks to my friend Erin from Coupon Cravings who has worked so hard to make this campaign come to fruition.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I hope you have a nice day full of turkey, stuffing and friends and family.  Make sure to enjoy and cherish your time with your loved ones.

The site has undergone a little facelift overnight.  Well, it was installed overnight but in the works for the past few weeks.  I hope you like the new design.  As usual, I have tried to make changes to make it easier for you to find everything you need faster.

I don’t expect everyone will be happy about it for two reasons:

• First, people are averse to change.  That’s just our nature.  But I hope that with time you will grow used to it.

• Second, because we all have different likes and dislikes.  That is also in our nature.  Colors that work for me, don’t work for some of you.

If anything, take the improved functionality and make it work for you.  Also I have already noticed it loads faster.  I think that should make everyone happier!  Thank you so much for reading and visiting Common Sense with Money.  I want you to know that everything I do, I do it with you in mind.

As you guys know we are now in November and I know most of you are rounding up your Holiday Shopping list.  In this post I wanted to share two important things with you:

First, since I know a lot of you are and will be shopping for Holiday presents, I will start sharing with you deals on items that I think some of you may have on your list.  In general I am thinking toys, small appliances, gifts for guys, electronics, etc.  These are not deals that I regularly blog about but because I know some of you are looking for them I will be sharing them with you.

Here is my disclaimer: Not every deal I share will be for you.  But it may be for some else.  What I am trying to say is that when I blog about a deal I am not saying quick buy it now!  I am saying buy it if it is on your holiday shopping list.

Second, and speaking on Holiday Shopping Lists, what do you have on yours?  Let me help you score a deal on the items that you are looking to buy for the Holidays by sharing them with you (leave comment on this post).  If you tell me what it is you plan on buying I can do a better job at keeping an eye out for deals.

So, that is all I wanted to share with you.  Can you believe that the holidays are around the corner?

Yesterday morning was ver anti-climatic. I knew my 3-year anniversary of blogging was coming up so I looked at my blog archives and it turns the anniversary of my first post had actually come and gone.

Many things have happened since the start of this blog: we have added to children to our family, we have moved homes, my husband changed jobs and more. Yet one thing remains constant: our desire to save money so we can achieve our financial goals. Saving money is a lifestyle for our family. The one thing we have learned is that it’s important to do this with a purpose. Having a goal helps you stay the course. You will also find that with time these goals change. When we first started our main goal was to save money so we could survive on one income. Our goals have since progressed to saving money so we can save for our future and the future of our children, among others.

After three years I still call myself lucky to be able to share with others my passion. And while I spend a lot of time during the day doing this, it is still fun for me to do it so in any sense ever considered a chore. My goal is and has always been to help save YOU money as well. While not all of the deals that I share apply to everyone that reads this blog, I consider myself successful if at least one of you finds the information you find here useful.

While I may be late to my own anniversary celebration that doesn’t miss I should skip it entirely. So to celebrate and to thank you for your loyal readership I will be having a giveaway bash this coming Tuesday. I have a few goodies I want to share with you.

I just wanted to make sure you stop by the new Frugal Community Sponsored by Blogfrog and Ebates.  Getting Started is very easy and you do not even have to leave my blog because the community is hosted right here. You can use your Facebook login to connect to the community. if you don’t have a Facebook account or don’t want to use it, you car create your own profile with an email address. Plus guess what? As part of the launch there are lots of prizes to reward you for joining us and participating on the community.

So, come along and join us! We have some hot discussions going on:

Un-frugal spouse…what do I do?

Where is the best place to get shoes for the teens and kiddos?

What is Your Biggest Frustration With Couponing?

To find the community everyday, just click on “Community” at the very top right of this blog’s homepage or the button on the right hand side that looks like this:

Hey guys!  Just wanted to share with you that I am in NYC attending Blogher Conference and having a TON of fun.  I have had the good luck to meet some really great people like Heather from Passion for Savings, Keri Lyn from  She Saved, and Tracie the Penny Pinchin’ Mom!  If you want to know why we are wearing Santa hats and a snowflakes crown it’s because we stopped by the Hallmark booth and they were doing some promo for the holidays.  Then we stopped by the Just Dance booth where we danced to  Wake me Up byWham! and Hey Ya by Outkast.  I believe someone out there somewhere has a video of that, oh boy!  That Just Dance for wii game is a ton of fun by the way!

It has been a CRAZY day.  This morning I spent some time walking the expo halls and there are a lot of great companies represented.  Each giving out some little something.  But so far my favorite ones have been Eggland’s Best and Hillshire Farms because they were giving away coupons for free product.  Oh!  McDonalds is here too and they also gave me a coupon for a free frappe.  I could use it too, I am running low on energy.

Most people are just running around attending “parties” or the conference sessions.  Last night I had a chance to attend Blogger’s Night Out put together by Martha Stewart  Living.  It seems Martha was there, I didn’t see her.  This afternoon I was lucky to attend Getting Gorgeous.  I had a chance to learn about the Power Mat and Miracle Body Jeans, as well as Remington products.  I also dropped my business card for a chance to win a pair of skechers shape ups. Actually, I have been dropping my card for a lot of raffles so I am hoping I get lucky. But with 2400 bloggers in attendance maybe my chances are not so good.  I’ll let you know!

Right now I am headed for Robeez for Stride Rite Launch Party.  I have been a HUGE fan of Robeez since my oldest was born so I am excited about this one.  From what I understand Jonathan Joseph Star from Project Runway will be present, so cool!  Oh and speaking of celebrities, this morning I saw Bruce Jenner and Padma Lakshmi

Anyways, just wanted to touch base with you, lest you think I have gone MIA.  If you were wondering my dear husband is at home with the kids so please say a prayer.  From what I hear so far so good though.  but I still can’t help feel a bit worried and guilty.  Well, only two more days and then back to the grind.

Today I am very excited to share with you the new Frugal Living Community powered by Blogfrog and Ebates.  The vision of the community is to bring like-minded financial savvy individuals like YOU together to share frugal living tips, tutorials, success stories, and support in a variety of categories from food to travel.

I am honored to have been tapped by Blogfrog as one of the Frugal Living Community Leaders.  There is ten of us and I am in great company. Together we will be answering your questions, leading the discussion and providing you with out money saving tips and expertise.

Getting Started is very easy and you do not even have to leave my blog because the community is hosted right here.  I am also loving that you can use your Facebook login to connect to the community. if you don’t have a Facebook account or don’t want to use it, you car create your own profile with an email address.  Plus guess what?  As part of the launch we are having lots of prizes to reward you for joining us and participating on the community.

So, come along and join us! We have some hot discussions going on:

Dumpster Diving for Food

DIY – What Do You Make Instead of Buy?

From Trash to Treasure

To find the community everyday, just click on “Community” at the very top right of this blog’s homepage.

1)  Every Sunday I will select a random winner chosen among all of the deal emails I get during that week. BUT for your email to count you MUST contact me using this contact form.  Only emails sent that way will count and give you an entry for the weekly drawing.  I am even leaving a direct link to the form on the right side bar of this blog.  Just look for the square that says: “Email Your Deal for a Chance to Win.”

2)  Just email me your deal, free sample, special coupon you found, swagcode alert, any deal you come across and that you have not seen mentioned here.  The more deals you send the more entries you get towards the weekly drawing.  The only thing is that every email must be a different deal.  The same deal emailed 5 times won’t get you five entries.

Just one thing:  There IS only one of me manning this blog, so if I don’t get to post your deal please don’t get offended or discouraged.  Your email will still count as an entry and it is of course deeply appreciated.

This is my way of saying thank you for taking the time to email me your deal.  I want to reward you for your loyalty and helpfulness and this was the only fair way I could think of doing so.  We will see how it goes during the first few weeks, who knows I may even revise the amount of the prize upwards.

Thank you again for your help!

I also wanted to share with you some family news.  My family moved this past weekend from Wisconsin to New Hampshire.  Yes, it was quite the move and we drove with all three kids on Friday and Saturday.  I tried my best to keep things as normal around here.  But if you emailed me or left me a comment and I have not gotten back to you yet please email me again.  I know some of you offer Cetaphil coupons to me and I would love them, if you printed them for me.  I am thankful for such awesome readers.

So, what does my move mean to you?  Mostly, that this is just about to get better.   I am now able to shop at Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens.  So I am very excited about being able to share those deals with you. For my Wisconsin readers, nothing should change either since thanks to Minnesota Coupon Adventures and Rose Knows coupons I can still bring you Pick N Save Deals and now even add Piggly Wiggly deals.

As for me, I look forward to shopping new stores.  But in many ways I almost feel like starting over.  I have to learn how to shop at new stores plus identify “coupon friendly” stores and cashiers.  I am sure you know what I am talking about.

Finally, I am sad to have left friends and family behind.  A move this far is quite an adjustment for everyone.  There are many things that need to be taken care of.  Many of you may think, “how can she keep blogging?”  but doing this is actually a diversion, a break, for me, not a chore in any way.  I just want to ask for some slack if this week I don’t respond to your emails or comments in a timely manner.  Please feel free to ask your questions in the comments section and I have many helpful readers that are always happy to help.