How to Shop for a Woman

Fella’s this one’s for you! You might want to pass this around to ALL. YOUR. FRIENDS. December 26th, they will thank you for it!

Ladies in the house - pass this one to ALL the men in your life (husbands, boyfriends, wanna-be boyfriends, fathers, uncles, g-paws, etc) for one rockin’ gift this year!

Guys, if you think you can run to the store on Christmas Eve and pick out some prepackage gift, slap a bow and think it will blow us away…FORGET ABOUT IT! Women want a gift her man has put some thought and effort into selecting, wrapping, and presenting.

Exclusive December 13th Holiday Deals

This year many retailers will hold a special mid-December one day only online sale to help boost holiday sales.

The day to look for these deals is December 13th. There will be a ton of deals available only on this day. I’m told these deals will not work a day early or the following day so get this is the prime time to finish up some holiday gift shopping.

Remember these deals are only open on December 13th so get ‘em while they’re HOT!!!

Sesame Street LIVE Special Thanksgiving Presale

Special Thanksgiving Day PRESALE alert for Sesame Street LIVE performance. This deal expires midnight Thanksgiving night and tickets are opened to the general public on Black Friday so hurry so you don’t miss out!

Sesame Street Live “Elmo’s Healthy Heroes” is coming to Minneapolis!

When Super Grover loses his superness, Sesame Street needs a hero! Never fear, Elmo and his team of Healthy Heroes are here. Teaching lessons of healthy habits through song and dance, Elmo, Abby Cadabby and your favorite Sesame Street friends will explore exercise, nutrition, sleep/energy and hygiene – all in a quest to put the “super” back in Super Grover. It’s Elmo’s Healthy Heroes to the rescue!

Current Holiday Deals

Image via WikipediaHoliday shopping is already in full swing at many stores. Seems the shopping season starts earlier and earlier EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. Soon it'll be Christmas year round.
Finding the best deals this time of year is a lot of work. IT'S EXHAUSTING! I've dedicated a special "Hot Holiday Deals" area on the right side bar to help you find the best shopping deals through the holiday season.

14 Cheap n Easy Last Minute Costume Ideas

Optimus Prime

Halloween is less than a week away. Weren’t we sitting by the pool sipping a big ole glass of sweet tea last week??? Where did the time go?

We did something this weekend we haven’t done in years: we bought costumes for both the boys. Shocking for this frugal mamma but with trucker hubby on the road, me back in school…I thought this would be the more prudent approach to this year’s Trick or Treating Marathon Event.

Mobile Phone Refund from Radio Shack

This weekend hubby surprised me with a new cell phone!

I haven’t had a cell in 3 years when we moved to our little corner of nowhere Minnesota where all cell providers were roaming!

We hit the mall Saturday with the intention of just having a fun leisurely family day, strolling the mall, checking out the pet shop and maybe enjoying some lunch in a nice restaurant.

XTREME Sam’s Club eValues Savings

Starting Tuesday, Sam’s Club is opening eValues to all their club members for one 6 day period to celebrate Labor Day. Normally this is a perk only Plus Members receive but everyone has access from September 1st through the September 6th. Over $300 in massive discounts are being offered on a variety of items.

How do you use it eValues? Simple visit the eValues portion of Sam’s Club webpage and see what items are discounted.

Personalized Back To School Gear

I found a great place to get personalized back to school supplies for the kiddos. PersonalCreations.com can add a stylish font with your child’s name on a variety of products like back packs, lunch totes, water bottles, locker mirrors, shirts, rulers, locker magnets, teacher totes, dorm room floor mats, duffle bags and a host of other items guaranteed to kick off the school year in style. They have items perfect for teacher gifts, dorm rooms or even the elementary student’s coat room!

 

Save 15% by signing up for their newsletter. I also have a discount code for you. Save 20% off this August with coupon code AUGTHNK.

 

The roller bags featured in the ad above are currently on sale starting at $26.89 (INCLUDES personalization up to 10 characters)

Back To School DOUBLE Ebates!

Do you shop for back to school supplies online? I admit I often forget about online shopping except during the holiday season but there are plenty of online deals for the Back to School rush too! I already told you the Back to School promotion going on at SwagBucks this week but Ebates.com has a compelling deal too. They’re offering DOUBLE CASH BACK with their Back to School Savings promotion.

Sunday Coupon Preview Reminder

Don’t forget you can get a preview of this Sunday’s coupons to help plan your shopping! This is an invaluable source when I use coupons. Timing is EVERYTHING when it comes to using coupons so getting a heads up, really helps.

Technorati Tags: coupons,sunday coupons,grocery shopping strategy,grocery,discounts,deals,sunday circular,shopping,save money on food,food budget,grocery budget

Grocery Shopping with the Four Fellas

Our grocery shopping is usually done every two weeks in the closest major city (approximately 75 miles away) at either Sam’s Club, Super One Foods, or Walmart. I keep a Styrofoam cooler in the back of the van for the frozen goods. Typically it’s a family event where we spend the morning in the city doing something fun with the grocery shopping done before we head home. This has worked well for us. I can focus on my coupons, sales flyers, and shopping lists while hubby maintains order amongst the little people in our happy clan!

Since hubby started driving a truck again, my shopping strategy has changed. Instead of dragging him to the grocery store to wrangle the kiddos during his valuable “home time”, I take them all shopping by myself. YEP! I take the four fellas grocery shopping all by my little ole self 75 miles away from home!

Swap Kids Clothes Nationwide!

You can swap clothes the kids have outgrown locally or across the country. You only pay a $13  flat rate shipping charge for the box you receive. Typically there are 10 items in a box. When you’ve collected enough clothes to ship out, it’s picked up for FREE! From what I can tell, there’s only one catch: for every box you receive, you have to ship a box of clothing…hence the SWAP concept!

Join the web's #1 kids clothing exchange for a FREE 2 month PRO Membership! Click Here to access the free 2 month Pro Membership upgrade.

Technorati Tags: kids clothes,swap,frugal,online swap,used kids clothes

Save Money at the Grocery Store – 4 Easy Tips

Saving money has become an increased priority in our home. Hubby’s transition from Worker’s Compensation to Unemployment benefits demand a serious restructure in our finances. Here’s a few of my money saving strategies you can easily employ in your shopping routine.

Cook from scratch! Cutting back on the prepackaged convenience foods is the single fastest way to dramatically reduce your food budget. There’s no denying prepared food or food kits cost more. It’s easy and healthy to cook many of these things at home. If you’re not a culinary goddess in the kitchen, no worries! Stop by the library, yard sale or the book store and grab a good basic cookbook to get you started. My favorite is the Better Homes & Gardens plaid cookbook.

Supplement your grocery bill with FREE products. Yes, I said FREE PRODUCTS. Sign up with programs like Kraft’s First Taste and Vocalpoint or other vendors to get coupons for free products or even free product samples sent directly to your mailbox. Recently I received coupons for FREE Ritz Crackerfuls, Digiorno Pan Pizza, Kraft Cheese Melt Downs, KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce and an assortment of other products.

Glidden’s Paint Testers Got You Covered

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Glidden. All opinions are 100% mine.


Glidden Paint gave away 2 paint testers earlier this week plus 2 more to give away to friends. I wasn’t fortunate enough to win some new paint but maybe next time.


I do enjoy using their paint testers. They come with a paint brush in the lid so I don’t have any extra supplies to purchase. These handy dandy testers are the perfect size for small painting projects like picture frames or jewelry boxes and of course touch ups for around the house.

Speaking of touch ups around the house, it won’t be long before our walls will need repainted. I’ll be sure to get a Glidden paint tester in the color I use on the walls to make touchups easier. Wild Man went through a phase where he wrote on walls with whatever he could find; marker, pen, pencil, lipstick, fingernail polish. You name it, he wrote on our walls with it! I have scrubbed my walls with just about everything I could find and you can still see the marks in some areas. The paint testers would have been significant time saver but I didn’t paint these walls so who knows what color would match!

Don’t Forget Dad’s Day is June 20th

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Bliss Living. All opinions are 100% mine.

Father’s Day will be here before you know it. You may already know what you plan to get the father’s in your life, which makes me very jealous of you! If you don’t have a Father’s Day plan, Bliss Living has plenty of gifts for Dad certain to suit many budgets and styles.

Bliss Living’s unique personalization is what sets their gifts apart from the rest I’ve seen on across the web.

Does your guy have a man cave? Is he a sports junkie? Grill master?

Vacation Destination: Branson MO???

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

Branson Missouri is quickly becoming THE vacation destination spot! After exploring a few Branson-centric sites, it’s no surprise with the sheer variety of activities offered. It seems Richard Branson has developed a destination appealing to singles, big kids, little kids, parents, seniors and everyone in between. There’s golfing, shopping, concerts, festivals and plenty of water activities at any of the 3 lakes in the area.

    

Some activities my family would enjoy at Branson Landing are:

3rd Annual Downtown Clown Around in mid June Golfing at the Payne Stewart Golf Club Shopping at historic Downtown District  National Kid Fest going on June - August in Silver Dollar City Visiting the Culinary & Craft School

Kansas City Steak at Level 2 restaurant at the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede Dinner Attraction Cirque Montage show featuring artists from Cirque du Soleil Cowboy Church on Sunday

Saving on Beauty Supplies with help from Coupon Mom

I just learned Coupon Mom has a web show series. That's right! A web show dedicated to teaching you and me the best strategies for saving money on everything from beauty supplies to groceries to pet supplies to party and office supplies to a variety of other things.

Not familiar with Coupon Mom? Stephanie Nelson is a real mom like you and me who found tremendous success saving money with the normal everyday shopping using savy saving strategies she has perfected. This coined her the name, Coupon Mom. She's been featured on the Early Show, Oprah Winfrey and the Today Show showing a national audience how to save money on their everyday routine shopping.

Every Thursday till the end of April, a new episode airs at Coupon Mom's Show page. There are also links for money saving coupons in her sidebars to help you kick start your coupon savings. Another fabulous feature of Stephanie's show - YOU can submit your very own challenge for Stephanie and maybe she will pick you to be featured on the show.

I don't use coupons as much as I could so her show's tips will definitely help me save even more $$$ on our family's budget. Here's how she helped on family save on beauty supplies for the teenage girls of the house!

#KmartBLS Teasers for 12/12 and 12/13

Here are the teasers for this weekend December 12^th and 13th:

· Essential Home Snug Sack 50% off (reg. $19.99)

· Jaclyn Smith Today Cashmere Blend Throw $12.99 (reg. $29.99)

· Kodak 7” digital frame $49.99 (reg. $79.99)

All day offers:

Saturday:

· Mens Boxed Gifts $5 (reg. 16.99-19.99)

· Die Hard Battery Bank BOGO Free (reg. $9.99)

Sunday:

· Fisher Price Fashion Separates $4.99 (Infant/Toddler) reg. $10.99-$18.99

· Hershey Snack size jumbo bags $3.50 (reg. $5.99)

I may have to get some Hershey's and snuggle up with the cashmere throw this weekend. It's suppose to be a cold one here!!!

Don’t forget to follow @KmartDealsnNews and use the #KmartBLS hashtag for a chance to win every day! For more info & rules: http://tr.im/KmartBLS. Good luck!

#KmartBLS for 12/5 thru 12/6

I don't know when the next post will go up this week since I'm battling a migraine that seems to be brought on by a change in the barometer. I'm really guessing since it coincides with our first snow fall of the year. I can't shake it for the moment so I'm taking Excedrin (which isn't working like it normally does) while lying in a dark room! I am tired of the pain and lying around so hopefully it will pass soon.

In the meantime here is this weekend’s Kmart Bluelight Special teasers you don't want to miss out on:

Bluelight Special teasers for 12/5 to 12/6:

· All 14k gold Birthstone Baby Charms $29.99 (reg $69.99)

· Mushabellies $14.99 (reg. $24.99)

· 4 piece table tennis table $99.99 (reg. 149.99)

All day offers:

· Saturday: Small Wonder Blankets & Wonderkids Thermals – BOGO Free

· Sunday: Men’s 3pk Fashion Brief or 2pk Micro Knit Boxers or Musical Card Boxer $5 (reg. 9.99-12.99)

Don’t forget to follow @KmartDealsnNews and use the #KmartBLS hashtag for a chance to win every day! For more info & rules: http://tr.im/KmartBLS

Holiday Kmart Blue Light Specials via #KmartBLS

Here are this weekend’s Bluelight Specials - running from Thursday to Sunday as opposed to the usual Saturday and Sunday:

Bluelight Specials for 11/26-11/29 THURSDAY to SUNDAY from 1PM-6PM!

· Kids Route 66 Graphic Tees $3.99 (Reg. $7.99)
· Essential Home 7.5' x 9.5' Rug in a Bag $34.99 (Reg. $69.99)
· All Multi-Roll Wrap 50% Off (Reg. $7.99)

Don’t forget to follow @KmartDealsnNews and use the #KmartBLS hashtag for a chance to win every day! For more info & rules: http://tr.im/KmartBLS.