Free Betty Crocker booklet with $10 in savings

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Free Betty Crocker booklet with $10 in savings

Frugal Living Friday: Wrapping Paper

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

Wrapping paper is lovely, but also expensive. It can add up if you wrap every gift in pretty stuff. And don't be fooled: Most of the wrapping paper at the dollar store is not a better deal...the rolls are small and the amount of paper on there is minimal. If you do love wrapping paper and can't part with it, your best bet is to purchase and stock up when it is on clearance after the holiday. Target has birthday and other occasion wrap on clearance several times throughout the year. The wrapping paper I do buy I always get on clearance for way cheap...at least 75% off.

Growing up, the only time gifts were wrapped with real wrapping paper was at Christmas time. And it was special..and we had to open the gifts with a knife to keep the paper good so my parents could recycle the wrapping paper. We would wrap presents next year with the same gift wrap...until it got too old to use.

Anyway, back to the topic, one way to keep costs down and still have fun with your gift presentation is to use plain butcher paper or some other type of plain paper and have your kids decorate it for the occasion. Real Simple had this idea also. You can read about it here.

Another thing to do is use the comics from the Sunday newspaper. If you get the Sunday newspaper, instead of recycling the comics immediately, save the comics in a stash for gift wrapping. We do this a lot at our house, and my kids love it.

Or, you can even try using things for gift wrap that are truly re-usable, like fabric or a pretty dishtowel.

Real Simple had a fantastic article last year on this very thing...Creative Wrapping Ideas. There are six fabulous ideas here, so be sure to scroll through the entire article.

Not only does not buying lots of wrapping paper save you money, but it saves our landfills too!

What have you tried or done to conserve gift wrapping costs?

Frugal Living Friday: Wrapping Paper

Free Kids Audio Books

I love the internet! SO many things to be found, and great people to share with! Vanilla Joy posted this on her blog today, and I loved her post so much I wanted to share it her with all of you. Thanks Vanilla Joy for alerting me to this great deal!

Audible Kids is a fantastic website for thousands of audio book downloads. Here is a link from their website to download 9 free book titles! Fabulous! Book titles include:

• Rapunzel
• Gift of the Magi
• The Tell-Tale Heart
• Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
• The Emporor's New Clothes
• Rip Van Winkle
• Peter Pan in Scarlet: First Chapter
• Rotten School: The Song
• Interview with Lemony Snicket

I can't wait to get these on our iPod. My soon-to-be-eight year old will love it!

Free Kids Audio Books

Tip Junkie

I was featured on Tip Junkie today! YAY! If you haven't been to Tip Junkie's website before, check it out. Always many, many good ideas to find!

Tip Junkie

Reminder

There are a lot of new people visiting my blog. I have gone from 24 visits per day to 150 visits per day! WOW! I wanted to remind everyone new to check out my sidebar. I have links to basic information that you need to know about couponing, doing rebates, and getting all sorts of good deals! Here are the categories:

Around-town fun
Coupons 101
Free digital prints
Free Product Samples
General coupon rules
Magazine subscriptions
Online shopping
Printable coupon links
Rebates
Walgreens FAQ

(I know the digital prints category is out of date...I really need to update that. It takes a lot of time and I just haven't found the time to do it yet. But hopefully I will soon.)

I recently started a category on the sidebar of current free samples you can get. I hope I can keep that current for you. I also have links to tons of great freebies, including digital scrapbooking!

I also have categories on my sidebar of some great websites to visit and learn about. Check those out too! I love comments and participation so don't be shy! In the past year I have done a few giveaways too...and there just might be more down the road. So stay tuned!

Reminder

Free Address Labels

Click here to get some free address labels from the PVA Association. I have gotten these several times before, and they come fairly quickly.

Free Address Labels

The Sneaky Chef

The Sneaky Chef is a cookbook to help you sneak more veggies, fiber and healthy goodness into your recipes! I received this book free from my husband's medical insurance last year. If you are interested in this book, first I would recommend checking it out from the library before you invest the money. Try a few recipes and see if you will use it.

Also, check out her website. She offers many free recipes to try. YUM!

Here is one of her recipes that I tried over the weekend. Breakfast Cookies...they were very good! (Since this recipe was originally posted here on the internet, I figured it was okay to pass it along.)

SNEAKY CHEF’S BREAKFAST COOKIES
Nutrition Highlights: whole grains, calcium, and protein. Rich in vitamins B and E, iron, potassium, folic acid, calcium, tryptophan protein, and fiber.

2 cups whole grain cereal flakes (such as Wheaties or Total)
3/4 cup Flour Blend (1/4 cup white flour, 1/4 cup whole wheat flour, and 1/4 cup wheat germ)1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 large egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
Cinnamon sugar for dusting*

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or spray with oil).Using a rolling pin, gently crush the cereal (in a sealed plastic bag) into coarsely crushed flakes. Alternatively, you can quickly pulse the cereal in a food processor.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together Flour Blend, crushed cereal, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk together egg, sugar, oil, vanilla, and ricotta cheese. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just enough to moisten dry ingredients. Drop single tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving about an inch between cookies. Flatten cookies with the back of a fork and then sprinkle tops generously with cinnamon sugar (or just sugar if your kids don’t like the cinnamon flavor). Bake about 18 to 20 minutes, or until nicely browned and crispy around the edges. Makes 16 to 18 large cookies.*Cinnamon has been found to help stabilize blood-glucose levels, thereby preventing the usual “crash and burn” feeling we all get after eating sweets.

© Missy Chase Lapine, all rights reserved.

The Sneaky Chef

Digital Converter Boxes

After Feb.17, 2009, most broadcast TV stations will shut off their analog signals, which perhaps 20 million U.S. homes without cable or satellite still use. But Congress will help you pay the $50.00 to $70.00 cost of converting old TVs for the new digital signals.

From GOV site: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/index.html

Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon Program

The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has launched the Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon Program (Coupon Program), as authorized in the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005. Starting January 1, 2008, all U.S. households will be eligible to request up to two coupons, worth $40 each, to be used toward the purchase of up to two, digital-to-analog converter boxes. For more details on the federal regulations, including the budget information, please the DTV Converter Box Coupon Program Rules.

It's not too late to get your $40 coupons if you need a digital converter box! The coupons look like credit cards, and watch the expiration date! You have 90 days to use them. We lucked out...RC Willey had converter boxes on clearance for $40 each...so we got 2 free! (The only reason they were on clearance was because the boxes had been opened...the converter box itself was untouched.)

I have talked to some people who are confused about this. Here is the information of general FAQ's taken directly from the official government website. Please consult the above fact sheet to find out if you need a converter box.

If you are still not sure if you need one, I would highly suggest you request the coupons anyway. It doesn't hurt...you are allowed two per household...and then you can decide if you want to use them or not. It's $40 bucks people! Don't turn down a free coupon to save you money!

Applications can be submitted Here online
or call (888) 388-2009.

One thing to keep in mind: Once the coupons expire and you didn't use them (or if you lost them) you are out of luck. More cannot be reissued to you. So keep them in a safe place!

Digital Converter Boxes

Frugal Living Friday: Shoe Boxes

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

I swore up and down growing up that I would not do certain things my parents did. But alas...I was doomed from the start. I am a cheapskate through-and-through. Sigh...yes...I even use empty shoe boxes for many things...organizing, crafts, storage.....should I be embarrassed? I'm not! I am also a firm believer that kids don't need the newest fad or every new toy to have fun. I do buy toys for my kids, but I think it is also good to let them use their imagination. Shoe boxes are perfect for this!

I try every way I can to make something extra or leftover work for a need that I have. My parents used old shoe boxes for organizing, and so do I. Here are a few ideas I have used empty shoe boxes for:

• organizing socks, undies, etc in dresser drawers. This works especially well with the kids,and when they help put their clothes away, each item has "a home" to go to.
• boxes for older receipts in envelopes (I organize these by year)
• decoupage the box with scrapbook paper and use it for pretty storage
• each of the kids decorate their own box for their "secret box" where they put special items. I like to use contact paper and stickers for this.
• organizing small toys, books, and other travel items in the car
• organizing various supplies in the garage
• baby doll bed
• storage for art supplies

Here are some fun crafts for kids to use shoe boxes for:

How to make a fairy house from two shoe boxes

A Guitar from a shoe box

Valentine Box

Bean Bag Toys House

Puppet Theatre

Using extra shoe boxes for all these things is also a great way to reuse and recycle! What have you used empty shoe boxes for?

Frugal Living Friday: Shoe Boxes

Preparedness Blogs

Here is a starting list of several emergency preparedness blogs to check out. If you know of one not listed, please let me know.

iprepared
Food Storage Made Easy
Preparedness Families
Safely Gathered In
Totally Ready
Everyday Food Storage
Let Us Prepare
Care to Prepare

Preparedness Blogs

Free Disneyland ticket on your birthday!

Megan just emailed me about a fun promotion coming up at Disneyland next year. If you are planning a trip there with your family, you will want to know about this!
Anytime during the year 2009...from January 1st to December 31st, you can get free admission to Disneyland on your birthday! How cool is that? Make sure you read the details and fine print here. You have to sign up and register and follow a few simple instructions. Easy!

Free Disneyland ticket on your birthday!

Spiderman Operation Game...$9.99 shipped!

(thanks pyp!)

Here is a great deal! Time to begin stocking up for Christmas! I love online shopping, especially when there is free shipping involved. Saves time and gas going to the store.

Spiderman Operation Game for $9.99! Plus free shipping!

Description
Spider-Man is now on the Operation table. Use all your skill and coordination to remove Spidey's ailments with the tweezers -- without setting off the buzzer and making his eyes light up. Required 2 "AA" batteries, not included.

KB Toys

My boys will LOVE this.

Spiderman Operation Game...$9.99 shipped!

World's Largest Ice Cream Social

Visit Cold Stone Creamery on September 25th for a free 3oz Make-A-Wish creation! Valid only from 5-8pm. While supplies last. Donations are accepted and 85% off all donations go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The two creations have been thought up by two Wish Children, Jack and Emily. Here are all the details.

World's Largest Ice Cream Social

Free full size bag of cat food

Be one of the first 50,000 people to register here and receive a free bag (3 lbs) of 9 Lives cat food!

Hurry, this will go fast!

Free full size bag of cat food

School Supplies

Now is the time of year to start watching for school supplies on clearance. Stock up for next year, supplies you might need later, or even for donations. Target right now has their school supplies at 75% off (not the backpacks yet, though).

A few years ago I was totally stalking the backpack clearances at the stores. I was re-doing our 72 hour kits and wanted some nice backpacks. I got some super good BIG backpacks at Shopko for around $7 each...they were normally close to $20 regular price. So keep watch if you need larger backpacks for 72 hour kits. Every week more stuff goes down in price!

School Supplies

Albertson's Campbell's sale starting tomorrow!

Albertson's is starting another good sale tomorrow and through next week. Campbell's soup is a great price! Here is the shopping list from PYP with all the details. Last year on this sale I totally stocked up and I just ran out! So perfect timing for me. :) (I just wish the prices were as good as last years...but with prices always rising on everything it is impossible...oh well).

Like I mentioned last week, the list details the sale price on each item, the coupon that matches up, where to find the coupon, and what your final price will be. Scroll down a few posts and you will find the list for the Albertson's sale going on right now...but it ends tonight if you want to get in on it!

Here is Idaho's shopping list. Utah's is the link above, and their sale is different from ours.

Albertson's Campbell's sale starting tomorrow!

FREE 2 year subscription to Parents Magazine

Thanks PYP! Hurry...this won't last long!

Sign up here for 24 issues of Parents.

Enjoy the 2 years of Parents. No strings attached. You'll never receive a bill. Parents is America's leading magazine devoted to serving people who are raising children. This magazine is designed for women ages 18-34 with growing children. It's editorial focus is on family formation and growth including the daily needs and concerns of modern mothers. It also regularly features information about beauty, food, fashion, home, age specific child development, health, pregnancy, marriage, finance, child care, education and discipline.

FYI: I have ordered from ValueMags before. They are a legitimate company, and I have always gotten my orders.

FREE 2 year subscription to Parents Magazine

Family Fun and Wondertime magazines, only $2 per year!

For a limited time only! This is a great deal! Thanks Dewey from PYP for posting this. Family Fun magazine is my favorite magazine ever! This would make a great gift too.

Family Fun and Wondertime
10 issues/year - up to 3 years available
New or Renewal - $2.00 per year (Save 80% off the subscription price)!

This deal does not require a coupon code but you must select CHECKOUT before prices will adjust. You can view your price adjustment prior to paying.

Family Time

FamilyFun magazine dishes up crafts, recipes, party ideas and more. Enjoy boredom-defying activities in over 180 splashy, colorful pages. Geared toward parents with young children, this energetic magazine promises to enrich the lives of families. Offering a "we've been there, we know" sort of comfort to parents, folksy first-person articles let parents know they're not alone. A sense of community is expanded further in the "My Great Idea" section--culled from readers' letters--that suggests kid-tested ideas for everything from summer games to rainy-day projects. Homeschoolers will find plenty to ponder as well--a winter issue, for example, describes how a snowflake takes shape, then suggests a paper snowflake-making project. Reviews of digital games, books, videos, and DVDs, written by industry experts, help parents feel up to the minute. FamilyFun is positively inspirational to parents who want to shake up the routine and keep the magic in a family.


Wondertime

WONDERTIME is a magazine from the editors of FamilyFun dedicated to helping parents nurture their children's love of learning. A blend of how and why, WONDERTIME inspires moms of infants through 6-year-olds to see the world through the eyes of their children, and to celebrate the wonder of this all-too-fleeting time. WONDERTIME mixes playful activities and everyday adventures with compelling insights into the fascinating ways children develop physically, socially, intellectually, creatively, and emotionally.

Family Fun and Wondertime magazines, only $2 per year!

Frugal Living Friday: Homemade "Eggo" Waffles

Welcome to Frugal Living Friday! Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

Today's topic is very simple, and I'm sure most of you already do it. I thought I would do a post on it anyway because maybe there is someone out there who could use this idea. When you make homemade waffles or pancakes for breakfast, double or triple the batch on purpose. That way you can freeze some for later. Whalla! Homemade "Eggo" waffles. We had homemade wheat waffles with cinnamon syrup for breakfast this morning. I made 20 extra waffles, fit them in this Ziploc bag, squeezed out the extra air, and now I have a few breakfasts done during the next few weeks. I love it!


Doing this does take a little extra time, but it's worth it! Your family is getting homemade goodness instead of the stuff from the store that is full of high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and artificial colors/flavors. You know what is in these...you made them! And, it really does save money. You may think that box of Eggos at Costco is a good deal, but if you make waffles from scratch and freeze them yourself, it is still much much cheaper.

I posted my recipes above that I made today. Do you have any recipes you want to share?

Frugal Living Friday: Homemade "Eggo" Waffles

Huge Quaker Sale at Albertson's

If you haven't already heard on other message boards, starting tomorrow Albertson's is having a HUGE Quaker sale! By combining coupons with the sale price, you can get many items for less than $1!

There are also many items on sale for a great deal when you combine coupons with the sale price. For example, Electrasol dishwasher detergent (20 ct box) is on sale for 3/$10. Use the $2.25/1 coupon in Sundays paper and you can get it for only .09! There are many other deals too....Clorox items, cleaning supplies, cereal...lots more! This is a great time to gather as many coupons as you can and stock up!

Instead of me ranting about every good deal starting tomorrow, check out the list already provided by Shelley at Pinching Your Pennies. Every week she spends a lot of time putting these shopping lists together. In the list you will see how she details for you:

• the name of the item
• what the sale price is
• what coupons match up with the item (and where to find them)
• and what your final price will be. She even has printable coupon links! Lovely!

Thanks Shelley!

If you end up going to the sale, post your great deals!

Huge Quaker Sale at Albertson's

Frugal Living Friday: Dehydrating Herbs

Starting today I will be featuring a new topic called Frugal Living Friday. Each week I will feature a tip that can help us stretch our budget and live more frugally! If you have a tip that you want shared on Frugal Living Friday, let me know and you could become a guest blogger for a day.

On to today's topic: Drying herbs! I love growing fresh herbs in my garden. But I also hate to see them go to waste. Dehydrating them is a perfect solution! It is fast, easy, and it will give you spices to use in your cooking for months to come. It saves money on buying them.

There are probably many ways to dry herbs, but I will share with you how I like to do it. If you have done this before and have advice to share, please feel free to comment!

The first thing to do is to pick the herbs from your garden. Here I have parsley, chives, and lemon basil. Oh, they smell so good! I love picking herbs and having my hands smell so fresh and tangy.
Wash them well under fresh water. I like to put them on paper towels, then dab off the extra water with more paper towels on top. Make sure they are completely dry. You can let them sit out to air dry but I just dry them off with the paper towels then shake them a bit to get the extra water drops off.

When the herbs are all clean, you will notice the longer stems, like here in the parsley. You want to cut those off before dehydrating.

This is how I like them to look before I put them in the dehydrator.

After you have all the herbs cut to the proper size, then put them on the trays. I like to pack them in, but not too tight because they will dehydrate faster. Herbs generally only take about 4 -5 hours anyway to be done. I have found with my dehydrator (I have a Ronco) that it works more evenly if I have them spread out a little more.

I have five trays on my dehydrator, so I have plenty of room. When I did all the herbs here all five trays were packed. I had 2 trays with chives, 2 trays with parsley, then this tray pictured here, with parsley and lemon basil. Notice I did the basil like the parsley, the longer stems I cut off before placing in the dehydrator.
Here are the chives. I snapped these in half and laid all over the tray.

Now, just follow the directions according to your dehydrator. Here is what mine looked like when done. Notice how the pretty color is gone and they get all shriveled up. The basil especially. But the wonderful flavor and smell is still there. I love how my house smells when I dehydrate herbs!

When you are finished, there are many ways you can store your herbs. You can crush them and place them in empty spice containers from the store, or in your own containers. I read somewhere that fresh herbs like this keep their flavor better when they are crushed immediately before using. So I choose to store my dehydrated herbs in sandwich sized baggies. I can fit an entire tray of parsley in one baggie. Then I can crush them right before using. Another tip I read was that fresh herbs like these keep their flavor much longer than the ones you buy in the store. Who knows how long they have been on the shelf. My parsley and chives that I dried last year still smell as fresh as the herbs I did last week. Awesome!

Frugal Living Friday: Dehydrating Herbs

Be Careful...

There are some very good points in this article on Buying Things Because They are on Sale is an Awful Way to Save Money. It reminds me of what my parents always told me: "Just because it is a good deal doesn't mean you need it."

Be Careful...

Free Kids Jeans

I know the title to my post is somewhat misleading....but I will explain how you can get some free jeans...free replacement jeans. Did you know you could get free replacement jeans for your kids? You can! This is the perfect program for kids who are hard on their jeans and wear holes in the knees constantly. But wait...none of us have children like that, do we?

SHOPKO
With any of their kids jeans, any brand in their store, when your child wears it out before they outgrow it, they will replace it FREE. It has to be the same item, same size. No receipt is needed. If the exact item is not in stock when you go to replace it, they will help you find a comparable item to replace it with.

SEARS
Sign up at the store for their Kids Advantage program. With this program, any article of clothing will be replaced for free if it wears out before your child grows out of it. I am told that even shoes count! I have not tried that myself, so I would ask to make sure. It works like Shopko...the item is replaced by the same item, same size.

Is anyone aware of other stores that do this?

Free Kids Jeans