Some pretty groovy giveaways, coupons, and freebies

I'm scouring the internet to find awesome stuff for you!!

A Frugal Mom is giving away a Betty Crocker Potato Buds Gift Pack.

Thrifty and Chic Mom has info on the Sears Kitchenaid Rescue my Appliances Sweepstakes.

Boston Market has new printable coupons!

Friday means freebies!

Woo Hoo!  And there are  tons of freebies out there this week.  You can always check out my twitter feed for even more freebies.

 

From Wal*mart: Garnier Ultra lift moisturizer & Crest Pro-Health toothpaste

Breathe Right strips- I heard this on the radio yesterday.

5 React Gum (From facebook)- Allow pop-ups & sign on to Facebook, Click on left side "See If You Are Chosen", Watch a short video & enter information.

Jiffy recipe book- I love this freebie.  I've ordered it for a couple family members and they are so excited when it arrives in their mail box.

For those who can't get enough of Emergen-C, here is another sample offer!

Pop-Tarts Sprinklings- MMM Breakfast!!

Veteran's day is coming up! McCormick & Schick's is offering free dinners to Vets! (there will be a lot of Veteran's Day Freebies available!

Operation Stockpile clean up!

Last night we cleaned out the cupboard.  It had become very disorganzied, and it bugged me.

I started with a bankers box that Brooke had brought me (generously filled with food).  The food went into the cupboard and the empty box serve as the collection box for the food bank.

We have an amazing amount of soup! And pasta/rice.  I moved the cereal down from the top shelf (I have a hard time reaching it), and put the extra condiments up there, since we don't use them as frequently. All of the tomato products are on one shelf together, along the broth and other making "stuff".  I tried to group everything together and make it easier to find.

I didn't take any before pics (Trust me- it's pretty  embarrassing!), but here are some afters.  Our stockpile is on the bare side.  We haven't been on a major shopping trip in a couple month.  I usually go to the store once a week for milk and veggies, and I cruise the markdown meat section and pick up roasts and ground beef.  I buy chicken breasts and cheese at Costco once a month or so.

 

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Th first three photos are the inside of my newly re-organized cupboard, the 4 photo is the box of food that will be donated to the food bank.  The last photo is my awesomely stocked freezer.  Most of the frozen food came from 99 cents only!

Now my cupboard and freezer are a lot more organized, which will help me plan the menu for this week and next.

 

 

 

Making a list and checkin' it.. more than twice

The holiday gift list has been made, and it's been trimmed because of finances.  I typically buy gifts all year for various family members and keep them in my gift "closet".  It's not really a closet- since out apartment is pretty small, storage is at a premium, so I have to get creative.  My "closet" is a 3 drawer white plastic Sterilite storage set (with the wheels removed!).

I can't take pics of what's inside each drawer- since some of my readers are on my gift list, but I carry my shopping list of gift recipients with me and when I see a perfect present for them throughout the year, I pick it up and put it away.  By October, I am usually done shopping.

This year, sadly, I haven't been as good about it, or maybe I just couldn't find some awesome deals. I do however have the gift for our work holiday party- thank goodness for after Christmas sales! (We have to bring 1 holiday themed gift)

I'll be using Mypoints points for Holiday gift cards, as well as the cash I make from Synovate and Pincone Research surveys, as well as the awesome $10/$10 coupons JCP mails out (we should probably get 1 or 2 before the holidays) to fill in the rest of the gifts that we need to buy.

 

How do you budget for the holidays?

 

Otrib.com

Here is an interesting thought... What happens to your facebook page when you pass on?

Otrib provides a service that lets you name an heir to your Facebook account and specify its handling after you die.

Otrib also provides other tools to those who are greiving.  The ability to write Death notices and obituaries, funeral home ratings.  They also have a lot of articles about end of life and various aspects of the funeral business (like what happens if you die in a foreign country).

It is a FREE community, and they also offer a facebook app (app.otrib.com)

I found out about Otrib because I am a bzzagent.  Bzzagent.com is a word of mouth marketing company.  Bzzagents (like ME!) share information, samples and our opinions on products and services (it's called spreading the bzz!).  If you'd like to learn more about becoming a Bzzagent yourself or checking out what Bzzzagent has to offer, check out their website.

 

IRL

For those of you who know me IRL (in real life) know that DH lost his job on 9/24/10.  That is one of the reasons that my posting has been less frequent.  Also, we are expecting a baby (we call it "the Cub" b/c we don't know the gender yet) in March.

Things are starting to stabilize, so I should be back to posting more often.

I am on Twitter daily, so you can always check out what I'm tweeting and re-tweeting (usually freebies and awesome deals).

Remember, when I get to 200 Twitter followers, I'll be holding another give away.

In other news, I've been working on my couponing/frugal living book. One of the sections I want to include is a list of silly/funny/crazy things you do to save money (squeezing ketchup packets in to the empty bottle, stuff like that).  I'm giving away a 20 coupon potluck to each person who contributes, and you'll receive an attribution in my book (or you can remain anon.).   You can post a comment or email me your contributions.

 

Everyone loves tacos!

Crazy Coupon Mommy is giving away the fixins' for an awesome Taco night!

Here's what you could win:

*a packet of Old El Paso Taco Seasoning
*a Cactus Chip & Dip Serving dish
*a set of 3 Fiesta Chili Pepper serving dishes
*a $10 gift card to purchase your taco fixings

Everyone loves a family taco night, I know that my family does!

15 times when you shouldn't use your credit card

From Creditcards.com and yahoo finance.

Here are a couple more thoughts:

If you can't afford it, don't buy it. Here is an awesome Saturday Night Live skit about just that topic.

 

Frugality articles

Here are some interesting articles that I've read over the past few days:

7 spending cuts you might not even notice.

Summer Savings: 21 Ways to Save Money on Restaurants, Day Trips and More

But will it make you happy?

Get Out of Debt the Right Way

Eight Painless ways to save money

12 obscure websites that can save you money