Go play this instant win for a chane to win Coke or Ritz FREE for a year!

• Log into mycokerewards.com
• GO HERE and click on “rules”
• Scroll down to 5c and click on “Click Here”
• Enter the security key
• Click on ENTER on the instant win game
• Select Use a free entry for this instant win and click Submit
• Drop the Ritz cracker and see if you won

Thanks Who Said Nothing In Life is Free!

Looking for something to do this weekend with the family?  Check out this list of free events around town:

• Lakeshore Learning Craft- Stop by anytime on Saturday (2/5) between 11 am – 3 pm to make a Chinese New Year Drum

• Home Depot Kids Workshops – Stop by anytime Saturday (2/5) between 11 am – 2 pm to make a heart shelf

• Pottery Barn Kids – Stop by Saturday (2/5) at 10 am for a storage and organization memory box crafting activity

• Michaels – Stop by Friday (2/4) between 4 pm and 6 pm to make a FREE Valentines Day Candy Photo Holder

• Michaels – Stop by Saturday (2/5) between 10 am and noon to decorate a Creatology Vinyl Figure Doll

• Michaels – Stop by Saturday (2/5) between 1 pm and 3 pm for a Pops Demo

• Michaels – Stop by Sunday (2/6) between 1 pm and 3 pm to decorate a FREE Valentines Day Box (purchase required)

• Museums on Us – On the first weekend of every month, Bank of America Cardholders can get into over 100 different museums, zoos, science centers and more for FREE!

• Walmart Event Finder: enter your zip code and see what is going on in your area.

Thanks, Who Said Nothing in Life is Free!

Here is my progress so far:

I used a clothes hanger and cardboard to make the shape of the crown:

Then wrapped it in paper and created a web with painters tape to give it “body”. The instructions called for masking tape but I had none of that. but I did have a lot of painter’s tape since my husband painted a couple of rooms in our new house:

This is what it looks like now after two coats of papier mache:

That’s all I have for now. I hope the next update is after I have it decorated. I am not crafty AT ALL!! So I am very proud to be up to this point, can’t you tell?   I just hope I am doing it right.

It’s been a great week for me.  Just yesterday I had a Febreze with Gain scent show up at my door and today I got this box of YZ Hydravescent Crystals (no longer available).  Earlier in the week I got a box of Scrubbing Bubbles products I got for being one of the first 150 to follow Scrubbing Bubbles on Twitter.

PS.  I forgot to say that I also got a Bounce Dryer bar from Vocalpoint, wee!

What freebies have you gotten recently in the mail?

I just wanted to show you what Coupons.com is offering me right now.  After so many of you are saying that coupons.com have reset I went on to check and the site says they have ZERO coupons for me today.  No more saving money with coupons for me

Anyways, I think they are in the process of resetting and that’s why it is showing like this.  Are you getting this same message too?

I have something fun to share with you!  Due to the success of the Mother’s Day Giveaways I hosted, I decided to partner with other bloggers to plan an awesome giveaway bash in honor of Father’s Day.

Next Thursday June 10th, 13 other bloggers and myself will be hosting giveaways all day long for cool stuff to give to dad.  Whether you are a dad, or shopping for one, there is sure to be something in the giveaway list that will get your attention.  Some of the items I will be giving away include an awesome Flip Slide Camera ($280 value!), Rocawear fragrance, Hanes products gift basket, Otterbox mobile cases, and so much more!  I am counting about 12 giveaways so far on this blog alone.  Add to that the giveaways on the other 13 blogs and you have TONS of chances to win.

Something you may want to do in prep for this bash is become a fan of the Dad’s Rock Event on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.  We have been announcing the sponsors and giveaway prizes, so make sure to follow to get the scoop.  Here is the list of the other participating blogs:

Mrs. Moneysaver

The Thrifty Mama

Surviving the Stores

Faithful Provisions

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Passion for Savings

Moms Need To Know

Kingdom First Mom

Fashion Cents for Mom

Hoosier Homemade

I Go BOGO

Penny Pinchin’ Mom

She Saved

I hope you will join me on Thursday and have fun on this party I have planned.

I have something very exciting and FUN to introduce to you.  I hope you will really like it.  For a while I have been thinking of the many ways you can fun on this blog.  I share so many fun offers with you and many times I wish I could see how you rock those deals.  Well, now you can share them with me and everyone else!

Every Monday I will set up a special post where you can upload pictures of your deals and share how you went about getting them.  But that’s not all!  You and every one that reads your comment and checks out your picture will be able to vote on your deals.  You will be able to ask your friends and family to vote for your deals too.  On Sunday Morning I will close the post and the person with the most votes for that week will be crowned Iron Shopper of the Week.

That sounds cool right?  Well, yes but that’s not enough in my book. The winner will also get a $20 gift card to Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens or Rite Aid or just plain ole cash via paypal.  The winner chooses!!!

So, I am letting you know today in case you do any shopping during the weekend, you can take your picture and have your deals ready for when I set up the post on Monday.  Coming this Monday, you will see how easy it is to share a photo of your deals, vote on them and share them with your friends.

I am really looking forward to this new feature because you get to share with me and everyone else how you rock the deals. Plus I am also hoping it will be helpful for everyone as people can get ideas of how to do things and by sharing with your friends it could encourage them to join the fun of saving money.

So, who’s up for being crowned Iron Shopper of the Week?

Check out what just showed up inside my mailbox:  the contents of my free Kraft Sample pack.  I chose the “grill one” and it came with three small bags of Wheat Thins, the coupon for free hot dogs, coupon for free bbq sauce and the International Foods coffee. It also came with a copy of a rebate form: “get $10 back when you buy $30 in Kraft products” between 5/23 and 6/13.

In addition to that I also got the free sample of Cascade and Pantene.  Plus my husband’s free subscription to Gold Digest Magazine.  What freebies did you get in your mailbox recently?

Enjoy your loved ones!

Some of you shared with me yesterday on the CSWM Facebook page that you got your sample box from the Sample Showcase program via the US Postal Service,  Well, I got mine today too!  It sure was packed chock full of goodies wasn’t it?  My bar of Dove Chocolate was melted too but I followed your advice and stuck it in the freezer and voila!  ready to eat!  Thanks to Stephanie for emailing me the list of the contents of this freebie:

A full size (1.16 oz) Dove Peanut Butter candy bar.
An original Tasters Choice stick pack
A Vanilla Tasters Choice stick pack.
A .16 oz sample of Shower to Shower sport
A .16 oz sample of Shower to Shower shimmer effects
A full size (.71oz) McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Marinade
A .5 oz sample of Secret Clinical Strength
A .3 oz sample of Aveeno Active Naturals Nourish+Moisturize shampoo and conditioner
A .3 oz Aveeno positively ageless lifting and firming night cream
A .15 oz Aveeno positively ageless firming body lotion
A Bengay moist heat therapy patch (4in x 5in)
2 packets of splenda with fiber
Coupons for $1.00 off any one Splenda sweetener with fiber, $2.00 off any Aveeno active naturals product (excludes cleansing bars and trial sizes) and $1.00 off any Aveeno Nourish+ hair car collection (excludes trial size)

I believe this is at the top of the list of the best freebies I have gotten.  I know a lot of you were pleasantly surprised as well.  Make sure to give feedback on these products at mysampleshowcase.com to keep the program going.  If you are not signed up yet, sign up for the mailing list to get updates about future programs.

I just wanted to share what came in the mail today:  the hobo bag I got from Target.com for $5.  To boot, the bag came with a Eucerin sample plus $4 in Target coupons for Eucerin products.  Not a whole lotta freebies for me lately, so this surprise Eucerin sample was nice.  The bag was cute.

If you got the bag, are you happy with it?  I think it would be a fun summer bag for me.  I usually mostly carry boring brown or black bags, so a blue bag will be fun.  What goodies showed up in your mailbox this week?

Look at what I got in the mail today:  the TIGI Lip palette I blogged about 6 weeks ago!! yeah baby!  I am so excited.  It has ten different shades and I really didn’t think I would get it.  But there it was, in my mailbox.  I know the site had a lot of traffic problems when I blogged about it BUT I hope those of you who were able to get through get it very soon too.

How generous is that?  I KNOW lots of you are already doing that.  If you are not, then this is the perfect challenge for you, because you can challenge yourself to do this and have a chance to win some pretty cool prizes in the process.

Here are more details about this challenge:

:::  You need to start by registering for this challenge so that you can be an active participant and get credit for and track your efforts.

:::  The challenge lasts five weeks starting on July 13th through August 17Th.  During this time period the challenge is not to spend more than $25 per family member per week. Household supplies and toiletries do not count toward each weeks total. You can spend less by growing, bartering or using stockpiled food to supplement your meals. BUT, if you wish to take a break from cooking and eat out or order take out the cost must go toward the week’s total.

::: You can use the Spending Log provided by All You to track your spending but make sure to keep all of your receipts during this period. if you are chosen a finalist you will be asked to submit them. So, find a shoe box to keep those receipts safe during this five week period.

How will the winner be chosen?

::: All entries and exit forms will be judged by All You’s editors, based on the following criteria: Staying within contest spending guidelines (50%); creativity and ingenuity (25%); and healthy choices (25%). All You will select 10 finalists, from whom a winner will be chosen on or before August 24, 2009. All finalists must submit grocery receipts. Incomplete and/or inaccurate entries and entries not complying with all rules are subject to disqualification.  Check the rest of the contest rules here.

Exactly what could you win?

::: One Winner will receive a $1,000 grocery card and a year’s supply of Knorr side dishes and will be featured in All You magazine and the CBS Early Show in December.

I can’t tell you how much I would love to hear that one of my readers is the winner of this challenge!  And I just know it is so feasible.  You can count on my help providing you with the hottest deals during that time period to make sure you stretch those dollars to the max!

PLUS to get you started on additional savings I am giving away TWO one-year subscriptions to All You Magazine.  You guys know I love All You magazine and the coupons you can find in it.  What a better way to get ready for this challenge than by giving you a chance to get access to these coupons for FREE!

How do you enter this giveaway?

1. Leave me a comment sharing that you have joined the All You Grocery Challenge and are ready to get started prepping for this challenge.
2. Share the  news about this challenge and giveaway with friends and family by sharing it on your blog, Twitter or Facebook.  Make sure to come back and share that link with me in the comment section.

This giveaway ends July 7th at 9PM CST.  U.S. residents 18 years and older only please.  I will pick two winners and contact them at the time the giveaway ends.  If after 48 hrs they don’t contact me back I will select another winner.

Good luck!

These were some of my favorite coupons:

• $1 off Peter Pan Peanut Butter in January and August.  I got several free jars of PB with this coupon.

• $2.25 off an Electrasol in January and August.  I am well stocked up on dishwashing detergent.  I read on HCW that there will be a $2.50/1 Electrasol coupon in this weekend’s inserts so if you haven’t had a chance to use this coupons.  You may be able to do so now.

• $3 off two Huggies Cleanteam wipes in March (or April) and then July.  I stocked up on a lot of these wipes with these coupons  Although I wouldn’t recommend to clean a baby’s bum the clean messy hands very well and now that my oldest is potty trained I can use them for their intended purpose.

• $5 off three Johnson’s and Johnson’s Target coupon (this summer).  This coupon allowed me to get well stocked in baby wash and q-tips for free or cents.

• $5 off three Johnson’s and Johnson’s manufacturer coupons.  Overage from this coupon paid for a lot of my groceries this fall.

• $3 off two Huggies items Target coupon (January).  This coupon allowed me to stock up on baby wipes.  I still have a few more of those tubs and I will probably have left for the next baby.

Those were some of my favorite coupons.  As you can see a lot of them were for baby items and a few of them provided me with free food or overage to pay for it.  What were some of YOUR favorite coupons for this year?  Leave a comment sharing which coupon you liked and which coupon you would like to see again in 2009.

2008 was the first full year that saw me using coupons heavily.  It was also the first year that I played the drugstore and grocery game.  This allowed me to take advantage of rebates, register rewards, extra care bucks, double coupons and other types of promotions, in addition to just plain overage, to help me save money.  The results were extremely positive.  My family has received more than we could ever imagine and we have also been able to give back more than we ever thought we could.

Here are some of my favorite deals of 2008:

• Olay soap deal at Walgreens.  This register rewards promotion earned me about $88 in register rewards that I used to buy paper towels, diapers and other items that usually require a lot of money out of our budget.
• RX Essentials and Viactiv overage deals at Walgreens.  Adding food to cover overage is a tactic I use to cut back on food budget.
• Free food deals were plentiful this year.  Here are three popular ones: Poptarts at Target, Nutrigrain Bars at Walgreens and Omaha Steak Deal (this one ended up bursting at the end but I still got some cheap burgers out of this one).
• Diaper deals: I particularly had fun with the diaper deals at CVS and who can forget the diaper deal at Walgreens this summer.
• I have saved a lot of money thanks to double coupon promotions at my grocery store’.  Even though at the beginning of the year the store canceled the promotion, I helped lobby to bring it back.  The store brought it back at the beginning of the summer.  Hopefully it will remain for a while longer.  I also had a lot of fun the first time Kmart doubled coupons here in Wisconsin.
• We also saved on clothing expenses by taking advantage of these deals: Sears Father’s Day Gift Card promotion and Victoria’s Secret Bra deal.

Those are just some of my favorites.  I would love to hear from you.  What were your favorite deals of 2008?  If you have a blog, I think your readers would love to hear from you.  If you decide to write an entry with impressions of your favorite deals feel free to leave a link to it in the Mr. Linky below.  Don’t forget to link back so they can come read other favorite deals entries.

Tomorrow’s topic: Favorite Coupon of 2008

Would you like to know how much I spent on what you see pictured? $1.93 after register rewards.  I also have $45 in Dale and Thomas Gift Cards.

Earlier, Angie left this comment on the weekly deals post:

I wanted to let your readers know that there is currently a glitch in the system at Walgreens when doing the Robitussin deal. It is producing double Register Rewards. I printed 5 of The Rob. coupons, bought 5 bottles @ $4 each, and it printed the $10 Register reward, and 2 $5 Register Rewards. Profit of $10. They will probably catch this error soon but it is a great deal while it lasts.

Since I wanted to rent a movie using the Free Redbox code and Walgreens is on the way I decided to give this a try.  So in my first transaction I bought 3 Robitussins and two Dimetapps.  I paid $11 out of pocket and got $20 in Register Rewards.  Then I bought three of the Popcorn, Indiana Gourmet Popcorn boxes for $2.49 (My store is already at 75% off clearance on the holiday items) and five of the cloth gift bags.  I used $10 in register rewards and paid $0.93 in cash. Each of the gourmet popcorn boxes have a $15 gift card to Dale and Thomas that expires on 3/31/09.  I can use those for a birthday present between now and then.

Edited to add: There are two possibilities of why this may be happening: either there is a glitch in the way the promotion was programmed.  Or there could be a second unadvertised promotion running along side.  This happened recently with a Children’s Tylenol offer when a  weekly register rewards offer coincided with an offer running all month long.

If you would like to take advantage of these  situation please remember this:  If this is a glitch it may get fixed sooner or later.  So take that into account if by the time you hit the store you only get $10 in Register Rewards instead of $20.  But if it is any consolation, you are still getting the medicine for cost of tax only.

This is a sample transaction.

3 Robitussins 4oz
2 Dimetapps 4oz
=$20
-6 three $2/1 Robitussin coupons
-4 two $2/1 Dimetapp coupons
=$10 + Tax out of pocket and you may get $20 in register rewards back or $10 for sure.

I noticed I could only print three of each coupons per computer.  I will keep my eye out on this deal to update you as soon as I find out, if it is a glitch, when the glitch gets fixed.

Angie has a couple of other scenarios on her blog too.