With Valentine’s Day just a couple of days away, here are some last minute ideas to make the day a little more fun for you and your children.

Free and Frugal Valentine Ideas – I love this post! It’s one I wrote as a brand new blogger last year and has lots of fun ideas that my kids enjoyed when they were younger.

Free E-Book with Valentine Desserts – Easy Valentine’s Day Dessert Recipes

Valentines Day Music Sampler – If you like Karaoke, (it amazes me how many brave souls do!) then you can download free Karaoke Valentine music from Amazon.

Cute and Inexpensive Valentine Ideas – Jenn at Frugal Upstate has a fun list of Valentine crafts and ideas.

Printable Valentine Crafts and Activities – geared mainly toward young children

If you are snowed in or want to save money by eating at home this weekend, check out this free eCookbook that contains 27 Secret Restaurant Copycat Recipes.

A little creativity goes a long way!

Have fun,

Thanks Karen!

I have become such a deal addict that whenever I need to make a purchase, I go through my mental list and see what will work for this purchase. Once you start saving, it’s hard to stop. Here is a list that may help you.

• Refer a friend program – This usually works for services like pest control or cellphone service. We started using the yard pest control that our neighbors use and by doing so, we both received $25 restaurant gift cards.  Ask your family, co-workers and neighbors for recommendations and make sure to tell the company when you sign up.
• Online coupon search – If you’re headed to a specific store, do a quick search online and see if there is an IPQ (internet printable coupon) you can get. I found many of these during the holidays because everyone wants your business.  Before you head out to the office supply store, check online for a printable coupon, even if it’s from a competitor, print it and take it with you.
• Club rewards - This ties in with the internet printable coupons above. If you don’t have any luck with a search, check the store or restaurant website. If you sign up to receive e-mail notifications, you may get special coupons or rewards. Sometimes you may get a sneak peak of sales before the general public does.
• Competitor coupons – Check to see if stores you frequent take competitor coupons. You may be surprised how many do. Craft stores, hardware stores, office supply and some grocery stores.
• Coupon doubling - There are some grocery stores that will double a manufacturing coupon up to a certain amount.
• Discount shopping day - Some stores offer discounts for shopping on a specific day of the week. Bealls, here in Florida, often offers 15% off if you shop on a Wednesday.
• Kids eat free – If you have kids and love to eat out, you should have a list handy so you know which restaurants to go to on what night. These are typically offered during the week when the restaurants are slower. Kids Meal Deals is a great website to find participating restaurants in your area.
• Senior discount – This may not apply to everyone but you should be aware of days or times when stores offer them. You never know when you will want to go shopping with family and maybe they will benefit from your knowledge.
• Early bird specials - Shop or eat early and you just may save. Kohl’s occasionally offers discounts for shoppers during specific days or times. Some restaurants also offer discounts if you come before their rush hours.
• Secret shopping - You could possibly get paid to eat out or shop at your favorite store. Check back for information on secret shops I’ve done and how you can do them too.
• Shop Online – There are many sites that will give you cash back for shopping at stores through their links.  Upromise and Shopathome to name a couple.  Search for a coupon code for that store and some sites even let you use more than one.  You might be able to find a free shipping coupon code or if you reach the minimum purchase, you might get free shipping as well.
• Company discounts – Can you get a discount based off the company you work for? Recently when we signed up for our cellphone service, we where happily surprised that we would get 5% off our monthly bill because of where my husband works.
• Price shop - Many folks price shop stores in their area, but you should also price shop online. Many online “stores” can offer lower price because the have low overhead. The majority of the time you can also get free shipping. Who wouldn’t want to shop in your PJ’s and have it delivered right to your door? I took advantage of many of these offers during the holidays.
• Price matching - Many stores will price match the lower advertised price at a competitor store. hhgregg recently told us they would price match and take 10% off the difference. So if you are one of those people who don’t like online shopping, there is no reason you still can’t benefit from a lower internet advertised price.
• Price adjusting – WHAT! The TV you just bought yesterday is now $50 less today? There is nothing more frustrating than opening the Sunday paper and seeing your previous purchase at a lower price. This is one of the questions I now ask stores. Most of them will price adjust within 30 days of your purchase. Over the holidays, I price shopped a toy for my daughter. Target had it on sale for the lowest price I had seen AND I had a coupon. I bought it and 2 weeks later they lowered the price again. I went in for a price adjustment and they told me they do not do those. I was relatively new to deal-shopping then and knew I had made a newbie error by not knowing this ahead of time. Well, I went out to the car and retrieved the item and returned it. I just happened to still have one of those coupons I used on the previous purchase, so I went to the toy section and bought it again at the lower price. What? You wouldn’t do the same?
• Thrift store shopping - This is usually a hit or miss for me. But with an open mind and an imagination, you may get lucky. Check back for details on my latest find.
• Garage sales – This is also a hit or miss for me.  It’s so much fun when you find something, and there’s nothing like a little outdoor shopping.  Last summer, I found an under-the-cabinet TV for my kitchen.  It was brand new in the box, and I never would have splurged on an item like this at full price.
• Shop with a list – If you go with a list, you are less likely to impulse buy.

The number one tip I can give you is to have patience and do your research. Saving money isn’t always quick and easy but a definite joy in the end.  I’m learning more everyday and I have a strong desire to save my family money.

Through the years, I’ve found a few ways to save on the clothes without my daughter feeling deprived.

• Check the American Girl website throughout the year and look in the “sale” section. I have found outfits, for both doll and daughter, at unbelievable clearance prices.

• Craft stores like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby have been my favorite resource for doll clothing. In the bear and doll-making section, you will find clothing that fits the 18″ dolls. You can almost always get these on sale by either the weekly ad or the 40% off one item coupons that the stores often publish.

• Target’s Our Generation dolls/clothes/accessories are fairly priced. I have heard from a reliable source however, that while the clothes fit the AG dolls, they can be a bit snug.

• Amazon has a collection of doll clothes from a few companies I have not heard of but they are adorable! The prices vary widely. If you have been saving Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks, (like I talked about in this post) the clothes could be free!

• Etsy is like a mall of handmade products. Do a search on their site to find unique doll clothes.

Do you have any other places where you have found the clothing or accessories at good prices?

We do not watch or rent videos often, but when we do, it’s a special occasion. Whenever we have a household project we need to tackle or want to reward the children, I go either to our local library or Blockbuster for a bargain.

Because we rarely bring new videos home, they are extra special and the provide necessary time my guy and I need for either our own downtime or to occupy the children so we can focus on a project. Yes, read that as a using “videos as a babysitter” but since they are so rare, the children consider it special.

The library provides the movies for free and our local Blockbuster offers a free family rental with the rental of a new release. Check with your local Blockbuster to see if they have the same offer. Though not as predictable, sometimes you can find a code for a free movie with Red Box. A quick search in Swagbucks (you are earning gift cards with Swagbucks, right??) or a search on your favorite deals blog should yield a code, if there is one.

Do you have any money saving secrets for movie rentals?

I assembled this dish without a recipe so I cannot give you exact amounts. Just add a little of the spices at a time until it smells/ tastes right to you.

Sauteeing the veggies and meat

Ingredients:

1 lb or more elbow macaroni – I used almost 2 lbs

1 can undrained diced tomatoes – I used the “chili ready” variety.

1 small can tomato sauce

2 cans beans – I used one can kidney beans and one can chili beans

Left over meat – I used about 3 slices of pork tenderloin and some meatballs, chopped into smaller pieces.

green pepper, onion, celery  – 1 each, chopped or sliced

cumin

chili powder

2 Tablespoons butter

Directions:

Cook elbow macaroni according to package directions, but do not cook all the way through. Set aside.

Saute green pepper, onion, celery in a little bit of olive oil. When the vegetables start to become tender, add meat.

When meat is warm and vegetables are tender, add butter, cumin, parsley, chili powder, salt and pepper to meat. Stir until they are well-coated.  Add tomatoes, sauce and macaroni to the meat mixture.  Cook about 30 minutes.

Top with a little hot sauce and cheese.

Enjoy!

My son has been eyeing shirts like these and they were only $2.50 each. I don’t know if you can see the labels, but they are American Eagle and Banana Republic. The retail prices are easily $40 and $80 respectively.

To find the best deals, be willing to drive to other neighborhoods, especially checking the more prestigious ones. Finding deals such as the ones I found, made the extra drive worth it.

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Children’s Place has been one of my favorites when shopping with my children. My daughter is still young enough to shop there and she has been known to get quite excited about some of the styles. In fact, we bought a few styles in two sizes. It helped that the outfit she loved was on the clearance rack and I had a coupon!

Click the image for a 15% off coupon for the next time you are at the mall.  This might be a good time to think ahead to Christmas gifts as well as their clearance section for the next season.

Happy Shopping!

If you are starting your Christmas shopping early or worried about stretching your Christmas budget, there many additional Hasbro coupons at the site linked below or you can click here. I was at Walmart today and noticed that these coupons will make for some very inexpensive gifts.

Save $5 on Enfamil Premiun with Triple Heart Guard

Save $3 on Hasbro’s PlaySkool Lullaby GloWorm

Save $5 on Hasbro’s PlaySkool Activity Ball

Save 20% on Sears Photography Save 20% on entire purchase, no session fee and free wall portrait.

Today I hit Walgreens and stocked up on some great sales while using my Register Rewards. Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup for .39 each was one of my best deals. (I got it by combining the store sale of .89 each with an Internet Printable for $1.00 off two.)

I also found an amazing deal on Domino Sugar, but unfortunately I did not have a coupon. I found one for you, so you can get an even better deal than I did.

My local Walgreens had 5 lb. bags of Domino Sugar for 80 cents. Yep, I thought it was a mistake too! I picked up two bags, anticipating extra baking in the coming months. Here’s a coupon where you can get an extra 30 cents off each bag, making 5 lbs. of sugar 50 cents. (If you hit the back button in your browser, you can print two.)

Domino Sugar Coupon Sign-up

I hope this deal works for you!

I love finding bargains for my family, especially when the bargain includes well-priced meat. Meat is so expensive but my husband and son consider it a very important part of the meal, so I like to keep a good variety on hand. I usually shop the sale ads and buy the cuts that are about 99 cents per pound. I recently bought a tray of pork chops, large enough for 4 meals, for about $5.50.

However, the worst part of freezing meat is the messy nature of getting the flimsy pieces into the zippered bag, without making a mess of the zipper and my hands. I stumbled across a little trick that kept a least a little of the messiness at bay.

I divided the meat onto styrofoam plates and then slid the entire plate in the bag at once. No mess and it stacked inside the freezer better as well. Simple!