First Wagon! - a review

I got this On the Edge 900124 Red Folding Utility Wagon from Amazon last week during one of their Lightning Goldbox Deals and I must say it is everything it said it was. It came already put together and folded up in a very compact size and I was able to get it out of the box and put the little girl in the wagon within 3 minutes.

Our 8 month old little girl had her first wagon ride on Sunday since it was such a lovely day and she absolutely loved every minute of it. It was so much more spacious than her stroller and she was able to roll around and play and even wanted to take a nap in it as we pulled her along. She thought it was her new moving crib.
It pulled very well and we also tried pushing it which was just as easy and the wagon seemed to roll over grass, concrete sidewalk and a paved street without any issues. I love the long handle as I am 6'4" and I didn't have to lean down at all to pull her. I also love the handle clip that allows you to keep the handle in the upright position when not in use. There is also a nifty little basket on the back for things like a cooler or a diaper bag.

I can't testify as to the longevity of the product as we just got it but as far as ease of use and convenience it doesn't get any better. To be able to fold it up so easily and compact was a must for us as our garage is already too full plus we also wanted a wagon we could travel with. So this fits that purpose very nicely.

My wife really loved the canopy and it was also very simple to put on. Simply raise the four corner rods and pull the canopy out of the pocket in the front of the wagon, unfold and place it on top. No snaps, buttons or hooks to deal with of any kind just the simple taught pressure of the fabric keeps the canopy on. Again this being new, I don't know if the fabric, as it gets older, will begin to stretch and lose some of it's tightness around the 4 poles which could then lead to issues with the canopy staying on in higher winds.

My little girl has not yet learned to walk, crawl or pull herself up so I may be singing a different tune about the wagon when she does since there no straps on the wagon of any kind for child restraint. This would be the only downside I could see for the wagon except maybe I exceed the weight limit and therefore can't ride in it myself.

Overall for $85 this is one of my better purchases for our daughter and I am well pleased.

2 Year Subscription to Parenting the Early Years for 2 Bucks

We love Amazon Mom which allows us to save 30% on Amazon's already discounted diaper prices using the Subscribe and save feature. Which we then cancel after we recieve the product. What we love more is the ability to stack coupons with the discount. Almost monthly there is an Amazon Diaper coupon in magazines like Parenting and Parenting the Early Years for 20% off diapers at Amazon.com. And the kicker is that if you have coupons starting with different letters they too can be stacked together for even more savings. Right now the two codes that are circulating start with "YT" and "YJ". So if you get one of each you combine them on the same purchase on top of the 30% off discount from being an Amazon Mom.

So today I found out that I could get a 2 year subscription to Parenting the Early Years for 2 bucks. So of course I order a couple more subscriptions just for the coupons.

You too can save big by clicking on this link http://eversave.com/share/jbG7 and using the code "TOUCHDOWN" to save $3 off the $5 deal price.

What is stockpiling?

Recently I heard about a new TLC show called Extreme Couponing.  I haven't watched an entire episode but I did watch several clips online.  My immediate thought afterwards was that the folks depicted are not extreme couponers, they are HOARDERS, it's a disease and they need help!  There is a BIG difference between hoarding and stockpiling so I thought I'd dedicate a blog to talk about what stockpiling is and how extreme couponers do it.

Stockpiling is exactly what it sounds like - creating a stockpile of something.  I consider the "something" to be a household or food item that you use or consume regularly.  Most couponers accomplish their stockpiles by combining sales with coupons.  I find, personally, that I am able to stockpile most efficiently and inexpensively at Harris Teeter and CVS but it can be done using a plethora of other stores if those are not near you. 

Why stockpile?  Well, that should be obvious but for me, my purpose is multifold.  1) I hate shopping (that's right!) 2) I love getting stuff for free or cheap and 2) I hate shopping!  Confused about how shopping helps someone who hates shopping?  Well, my dear, you see the more I stockpile the less I run out of the stuff the less I have to shop....it's all about how you look at it!

I thought you'd enjoy seeing a few photos of my most useful stockpiles:

Toothpaste, toothbrushes and floss (you can't see)

Deodorant (very important item you don't want to run out of!)



Shampoo and conditioner



Liquid dishwashing detergent

Powder automatic dishwasher detergent



Liquid formula concentrate (we don't normally use this but I found it on a clearance rack at Harris Teeter and it turned out to be a better deal than our normal powder so we bought all that they had - 24 cans = 24 days of formula)







Just do it!

This week I outdid myself at CVS.  A few weeks back I got a coupon out of the red machine for a $25 giftcard with a transferred prescription.  I had never transferred a prescription and figured it was really complicated but hubby came to me and said he wanted to transfer one of his so I headed up to CVS to figure out how to do it.  It was actually simple and they did all the work for me which was a huge surprise.  An hour later I picked up his refill and got my giftcard.

Fast forward to this week and we are out of canned soda (very scary in our household), dishwasher detergent and Lysol hand soap dispenser refills.  So, I headed back up to my favorite CVS and got (6) 12 packs of Pepsi products for $20, used the giftcard so they were free and got back $10 in ECBs.  I then used the remainder of the giftcard, the $10 In ECBs plus another 89 cent ECB to get 3 boxes of Cascade and 2 hand soap dispenser refills for free!

So, I didn't pay a dime of my own money and walked out restocking three categories of items we use often and were out of - LOVE IT!

Kite Update

Recently I came across a very good deal on Amazon that I posted about a Prism Quantum Stunt kite which is one Prism's basic to intermediate two line stunt kites. I actually already own one of these kites but since I had some recent birthday money I decided to go ahead and get another one in a new color style that I really like called Spectrum. This is a great kite and really fun to fly because it has a lot of pull so you really feel the kite.

So why do I ever need more than one of the same kite? Well because one of the really fun things to do with kites is to stack them. Stacking is when you take multiple kites and connect them together on top of each other by two short even lengths of spectra line attached to the center of the 2 leading edges of the lower kite to the flying lines of the upper kite. A process which is repeated for each kite you wish to add to the stack. This allows one person to fly all of the kites in tandem by simply controlling the flying lines of the bottom most kite in the stack. It can be a very beautiful and amazing thing to watch. Some people have stacked as many as 25 or 30 kites. Personally, the most I have flown is a 5 stack with my Prism Microns. This stack kite set is super fast and does require some very quick reaction times but it is a real blast to fly. Since the Quantum kite can have quite a bit of pull I would probably only want to at most stack 3 of them but I am sure someone has probably done more.

When Olivia gets older say 4 or 5 I am hoping she is going to want to fly kites with me but at that age she will not quite be ready for stunt kites so a single line kite will be more in line for her to start off with. Fortunately Prism, my favorite kite company, also has a product line of single line kites too. Some of these kites are designed so that they can be easily stowed away in a book bag, luggage, car or wherever. Their newest addition to this stowaway single line kite design is the Delta Kite. Right now Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Prism-Stowaway-Delta-Kite-Spectrum/dp/B0044TGS1I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1295043084&sr=1-1 has the Delta kites available ranging from about $20 to $34 depending on the color scheme you chose. That $20 price is great and lucky for Olivia and I the $20 one is in the Spectrum color scheme just like my new Quantum Stunt kite. So it didn't take much convincing myself to use bit more of my birthday money to go ahead and buy Olivia one of the new Prism Delta Stowaway kites in the Spectrum color scheme. In the meantime until Olivia is old enough to fly it herself I will now have 3 Prism Stowaway kites in my quiver, 2 Diamond and 1 Delta design, which is a perfect number to match the number of cars we have in our family. So no matter what vehicle I am driving, if I am out and I get somewhere with some good wind and open land I will always have a kite on hand to fly.

5 Transactions....

That's right - FIVE transactions!  That is the number of separate register visits I made today at CVS.  I've never done a trip that big before.  It took a lot of planning ahead, coupon clipping, organization and TIME but wow, I got alot of high dollar stuff!  Here's a photo and below is the breakdown.

#1  Bought 4 packages of Excedrin and 1 GE Energy Smart lightbulb - had $15 in manufacturer coupons, spent $12, got $12 back in Extra Care Bucks (ECB).

#2 Bought 2 packages of Prilosec 42 ct. - had $3 in manufacturer coupons and $12.50 in ECB, spent $38, got back $14 in ECB (will submit a rebate request for $25 so total spent will end up being $13).

#3 Bought 3 L'Oreal Everpure shampoos and 2 conditioners - had $3 in manufacturer coupons, a $4 off $20 CVS coupon and $14 in ECB, spent $11, got back $10 in ECB.

#4 Bought 4 Reach toothbrush 2 packs - had $2 in manufacturer coupons and $10 in ECB, spent $0.93 (tax) and got back $5 in ECB.

#5 Used my $5 in ECB to buy a few items for fun.

Total spent $39.95 (after rebate mentioned in #2), total ECB earned and spent in this trip $50.50

I heart CVSing

I keep a list of things we use frequently so that I can be on the hunt when a deal comes along.  If we run out of these items and I have not found a good deal then I will just buy them in bulk at BJs or Sam's Club but if at all possible my preference is to get them for free or pocket change in advance so that I don't have to do that.

CVS is my favorite place for such deals and this week I was able to get two items on my "running out of" list plus an extra goodie for myself. 

My deal:
Bought a great smelling exfoliating Tone body wash on sale for $3.88 and used $1 off coupon.  Got back $3 in Extra Care Bucks (ECB).  Then bought 2 small Dawn dishwashing liquids and 3 boxes of Puffs with lotion which were all on sale - used the ECB from the previous transaction plus $1 in manufacturer coupons.
Total out of pocket was $4.22 for all items.  (Photo below of the Dawn and Puffs)

Great Kite Deals Going on Now at Amazon

OK so my favorite hobby, of which there are many, is flying Kites unfortunately I don't get to fly as much as I would want because the winds here in Raleigh are just not as consistent as one would like to truly enjoy hobby on a regular basis. But I do get to fly several times a year when we go to the Outerbanks of North Carolina and I have built up quite a quiver of kites over the lasts several years. Why would you need more than one kite? Well because they can be beautiful to look at but more importantly you need to have the right kind of kite for the wind that you will be flying in. There are kites designed to fly indoors with no wind, in low wind, in medium winds and even in high winds. So if you really want to be able to take advantage of the wind presented to you on a particular day then you will want to have the right kind of kite in your quiver to fly in that wind. You can however as a beginner buy a kite that will have a broader wind spectrum but obviously the performance level of those kites will not be as good as one designed specifically for a certain type of wind. As you progress in the sport you will want to start building your quiver for the various types of winds and flying styles you prefer.


Now the type of kites I prefer to fly are two line stunt kites mostly manufactured by Prism out of Seattle, Washington. I am a big Prism Kite fan, I guess because the very first stunt kite I bought was a Prism Quantum and thus I became familiar with the line and the level of support offered by the company. I have just about every Prism kite they make both stunt and single line with a few exceptions mostly on the Parafoil end. I do own a few other brand of kites though but my favorites are always the Prisms.


I happened to notice today on Amazon that there are quite a few Prism Models available right now at greatly reduced prices and thought I would share them with you incase someone might be interested.


The first model is the one that I first purchased back in 2004 from Kitty Hawk Kites which is the Prism Quantum and back then it retailed for about $80 bucks but now they retail for $112. Amazon is selling a few Prism Quantum models in the low $60 range which is a great deal on this entry level kite. It is big, durable and has a strong pull so it is easier to control because you feel the movement of the kite. It also has a built in shock absorber in the spine to help ease the effects of the inevitable crashes that beginners will have. It also has an adjustable bridle that allow for more radical settings one you progress in your flying skills. This kite performs well in a variety of winds although Prism states as little as 3 mph I would suggest 6 mph or more to be more realistic. I have flown this kite several times in high winds around 25 mph and been very pleased with it. I highly recommend this kite to anyone as their first kite and at this price it is very hard for even me to resist buying another one. Here is the link to the kite on Amazon http://www.blogger.com/www.amazon.com/Prism-QUANTUM-Quantum-Stunt-Kite/dp/B003H34NBO/ref=pd_sim_sg_1 and your price will vary depending on the color you chose but there are some colors that are really great deals.


The second model is the Prism 4D Ultralight Stunt kite and Amazon has one of the Yellow color for sale around $80. This is a pretty nice deal based on the retail price of $105 for this kite. As the name implies this kite is for low wind or even an indoor kite and actually is quite a good kite for flying in Raleigh as the winds tend to be relatively low here. I don't have this particular model but I do have it's predecessor the Prism 3D Ultralight and have been very pleased with it so far. I just want to mention that since this kite is designed for little to no wind it's construction is not going to withstand the physical abuse most beginner fliers will give a kite so I don't recommend this one as your first kite but if you have been flying awhile and are ready to start building your quiver then this is a good first kite to add. Here is the link to the kite on Amazon www.amazon.com/Prism-4D-Ultralight-Stunt-Kite/dp/B003L2THA8/ref=pd_sim_sg_5 and as mentioned the Yellow color is the one that is on sale for the best price.


The third and final kite I am going to mention is really more for the intermediate to advance fliers but it also is my favorite kite in my quiver and that is the Prism Zephyr.This kite retails for $280 and right now Amazon is selling the Prism Zephyr in the Eggplant color for about $146. This is an amazing price for this kite and probably your best overall deal as far as the savings are concerned. One of the biggest things I like about this kite is the wonderful hard shell kite case that comes with it. The case alone is worth $50 so you are getting a really superb deal on the Zephyr kite at this price. In my Zephyr case I can carry all my line sets, the Zephyr and one other kite and that is usually the Quantum. I can also fit my Prism 3D kite on the outside of the case strapped on by the the bungee cord lacing down the side if I wish. The kite itself is a low to medium wind kite and there is also an included weight set that can be put in the spine to help in the higher wind range. Being an higher end kite you will have some features not available on the lower end models such as a fully adjustable bridle, adjustable leech line and leading edge tensioners and yo yo stoppers making this a great competition kite. At this price even though it is designed for intermediate to advance fliers I would almost recommend it to new fliers who had the money because it is such a great kite. But my real recommendation would be to buy both the Prism Quantum and the Prism Zephyr that way you have something good to learn on now the Quantum and then also have a kite that you could grow into later the Zephyr and all for about the normal street price of the Prism Zephyr. Here is the link to the kite on Amazon http://www.blogger.com/www.amazon.com/Prism-ZEPHYR-Zephyr-Stunt-Kite/dp/B003L7TQB8/ref=pd_sim_sg_7 and as mentioned the Eggplant color is the one that is on sale for the best price.

As a side note I mentioned having different types of kites in your quiver based on the wind but please also be aware of the need for different types of linesets depending on the wind conditions and the length of line you desire to fly with.

I hope this helps someone looking to buy a kite soon. I don't know how long these prices are good for and Amazon's prices fluctuate greatly so take advantage while you can. Now I just need to resist the urge to take advantage of such great deals myself as I really do not need another kite unless someone really just wanted to get me one for my 37th birthday coming up soon then I could always use another kite.

Save 25% on all your Sam's Club / Walmart Purchases for the Year

So this year Sam's Club is running a "Gift of Membership" promotion for members through December 24th and possibly extended through the 31st. With this promotion for every Advantage Plus Gift of Membership card purchased you receive a $25 Sam's Club/Wal-Mart gift card - or- for every Standard Gift of Membership card purchased you receive a $10 gift card. The Advantage Plus Membership is $100 and Standard Membership is $40.

That is a pretty nice deal in itself if you were planning on giving away Sam's Club Memberships to friends or family.   You would receive a 25% bonus that you could save for yourself or give away. But the hidden jewel here and the reason for my blog is that the Gift of Membership cards are really just glorified gift cards. So, if you are attentive enough to read the back of the card you would see that it states "This card may be used for purchase of merchandise at Sam's Club, or any retail format of Wal-Mart stores, INC. in the US and Puerto Rico."

When I discovered this I confirmed with the Sam's Club manager that they can indeed also be used for purchases at either Sam's Club or Wal-Mart. So really in effect you are buying $125 in gift cards for $100 (Advantage Plus Gift of Membership card). Do this enough times and the savings can really add up!  It is equivalent to saving 25% at Sam's Club or Wal-mart, your choice.

For my family we buy a $250 Wal-mart Gift card each month to be used for groceries so I know in advance that I am going to have at least $3000 in expenditures at Wal-mart this coming year for groceries so I purchased 24 Advantage Plus Gift of Membership cards.  This came to $2400 and I received an additional $600 in gift cards which totaled $3000 - the amount needed for 2011 at a savings of 25 %. That $600 in savings is a new HDTV, Computer, Ipad, Digital SLR or just over 2.5 months of free groceries for my family.

To avoid confusion with the the cashiers I would suggest that you quickly convert the Gift of Membership cards to traditional gift cards by going to Wal-mart.com and just purchasing new gift cards using those Gift of Membership cards as the payment method. I can just see trying to explain to a cashier for 20 mins that the cards are also good on purchases. As a small bonus right now Wal-mart.com will ship the gift cards to you for free which saves you the regular $.97 delivery cost for gift cards.

I will admit I tried to do something similar last year using Microsoft Bing Cash back when it was still around and offered 20% cash back on Wal-mart.com.  I bought a year's worth of gift cards then after waiting 3 months to receive the cash back found out that Bing invalidated the transaction because it was apparently not applicable to the purchase of gift cards.....should have read the fine print.  So this year I got wiser and got my savings up front versus waiting til later.

I know that $2400 seems like a lot of money and it is to us as well but when I compared keeping the money in savings longer, earning a measly 1% interest, to pre-purchasing the gift cards (that I know will be used), earning a 25% return, the choice was simple.

Lovin' Me Some Printables and other deals

Something I've found recently that I am loving is free printables.  I got introduced to these on an awesome blog Craftily Ever After.  I just framed my first one this weekend and am hoping to get another printed up and framed.  MAYBE they will grace my wall by Christmas!  Right now this one is just propped up on the mantle.  I have saved ones from Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas on my computer.  I am hoping new ones crop up throughout the year as I am planning to keep the frames up permanently and just swap out the printables with each season.  Here is how it looks at the blog author's home.  I got my frames at Michael's when they were having an extra 25% off of the sale price (40% off) and this printable I got for free at Rite Aid when they had a code for a free 8x10.  I am hoping (fingers crossed!) for another free code soon so I can get "Keep Calm and Merry On" to go next to this one.  At some point I'd like to add a third frame like the one on the blog but they only had 2 left when I bought mine.


Another cool deal this week was at CVS, my favorite deal gettin' place!  I wish I had a picture but we have a new camera now and Mark is hogging it.  I got 3 12-packs of soda, a package of diapers, a box of wipes, baby nail clippers and baby oragel toothbrush for $3.26!  How you ask?  Well, it was a combination of extra care bucks, CVS and manufacturer coupons and gift cards received for purchasing a new prescription there.  I held out on these purchases until it was just the right buying time and yes, I scored!

The Benefits of getting up with the Baby at 4:00 am

Sometimes getting up at 4:00 am in the morning pays off and today was one of those mornings. I have told you my fondness of finding good deals and usually some of the best deals are to be had in the wee hours of the night before they get well publicized on the various deal sites and most people like myself included are generally aspleep. Today was just such a day but as luck would have it in this case I was actually up.


After spending about 30 minutes to get the little girl back to sleep, I decided I should probably stay up just a bit longer to ensure that she really was fast asleep. No sense putting the head back down on the pillow and just about to fall asleep to be awoken by an upset baby. So I decided to go to the office in the next room and check on my favorite deal site http://slickdeals.net . This was the right thing to do because as it just so happened I was able to get in on the ground level of a deal before it went on fire.

Amazon.com was selling Battlefield Bad Company 2 Ultimate Edition for $28.96 normally about a $60 game while at the same time offering a Trade-in credit for the game of $27.00. Just at a base level it looks like ok nothing really special here I could play the game for a week and then return it only losing a dollar but the kicker here was that this game qualified for Amazon's current promotion of Buy One Video Game or Accessory and get the 2nd 50% off. So by buying two games for just about $40 bucks I could then turn around and ship them back to Amazon for a trade in credit of about $54 in amazon gift cards.

Before proceeding with the purchase I needed to lock in my trade-in credit price because it was surely about to plummet once the market got flooded with a bunch of other Slickdealers doing the same thing. The only problem with this was that now I was locked into a seven day window in which the games must be shipped out back to Amazon and I didn't have the actual games in hand yet. The one good thing about most of the online trade-in sites is that they provide you with a prepaid shipping label so the package only has to be postmarked by the deadline not actually received. But if I were to miss the seven day window I would forfeit my guaranteed trade-in price and would be stuck with what ever the current market price was at the time received. Luckily though I am an Amazon Prime Member which means I am entitled to free 2 day shipping . So I should be able to get the games in hand before I actually need to send them back. This netted me about $14 and so I decided to repeat the deal once more but this time with the XBOX version since Amazon limits the number of trade-ins it will accept from a single user of each title. So in the end I had about $28 in credit coming to me for about 15 mins work.

As expected by the morning commute all the trade-in sites were flooded with the game and of course the premiums went down accordingly. So I got in early before the word got out all because my sweet little girl couldn't sleep and needed her Daddy at 4:00 am .

On a side note Amazon doesn't just accept trade - ins on games but also some books too. Another good site for trading in games and electronics that I like to use is http://gazelle.com . There you can get cash delivered to your Paypal account and they will sometimes even offer you a bonus amount if you accept a giftcard to a certain retailers like Amazon.

More DEALS!

Stacking manufacturer coupon with Target coupon got me the first cookie dough roll for 96 cent, then I got a Catalina and was able to stack that with a manufacturer coupon to get the 2nd for free.  Then I got another Catalina so hopefully there will be some more free cookie dough for me soon!

FREE with my ExtraCare bucks at CVS!

Deals, deals and more deals!

Harris Teeter - Super Doubles Trip #1  $8.57

Harris Teeter - Super Doubles Trip #2 $2.49





Target - $0.15

 



Kroger $16.93



And lastly, my favorite deal, which I do not have a picture of, was at Walgreens - 1 toothbrush, 2 flosses and 1 hydrogen peroxide for $0.57



HT Super Doubles

Super Doubles at Harris Teeter can yield lots of free or significantly reduced items!  A lot of what I went for was already gone but I got 3 cans of cream of mushroom soup (which I need for a recipe next week), 2 lbs of spaghetti, 10 oz bottle of soy sauce, 3 pack of popcorn, tic tacs, advil (had coupon for free bottle), scrubbing bubbles toilet gel discs and frozen pierogies and refrigerated creamer (which I left at work) for $7.10 (would have been $30 at regular price).  Yay for deals!

Babylegs 75% Off!

Babylegs.com a company that sells these utterly cute leg warmers, tights and socks is currently offering 75% off any order $75 or more when you purchase items from their Costume selection. Enter code SPOOK75 at checkout. Shipping is FREE.

http://www.babylegs.com/Costume-C673.aspx

I was very giddy when I found out and I bought 7 pairs late last night for $20.50 shipped. They had a few none Halloween looking ones which were the ones I bought. Some have sold out so the selection now is getting very limited so if interested act quickly. I think our daughter Olivia is going to love these and they well help keep her warm and protect her little legs when she starts to crawl. Shannon probably thinks I am crazy and is not too sure what to make about them but I just adore them.

Here is one of the pairs I bought called Candy Apples

I am also very tempted to try out one of these WooBee Blankets which they have on sale right now with an additional 25% off using in code WOOBEE25 and also free shipping. I really would like the Cow Pattern one to go with Olivia's new Cow Pattern Car Seat.

To See they 3 different types and determine which one is right for you go to

http://www.woobeeforbabylegs.com/which-woobee.html

Or if you are already familiar with them you may go here to shop directly.

http://www.babylegs.com/Gear.aspx

They normally range from $30 to $64 and now with the discount are going from $18 to $36.

Random Friday

It has been a busy week with a teething baby!  Olivia's very first tooth made its appearance on Wednesday morning so starting Tuesday night and since it has been REALLY difficult to get her to sleep at night.  She is so pitiful it just about breaks my heart.  We are giving her baby Tylenol and orajel, teething rings, frozen washcloths, etc. but she is in pain.  Fortunately once she gets to sleep she stays asleep but I've been getting to bed myself much later than usual so I am VERY tired!!

So, all week I've had thoughts of things I wanted to blog about but no time to actually blog so today I'm calling this Random Friday because these things are scattered like the wind....no theme at all here!

Smile.ly is a website where you can sign up to become a reviewer of new products.  I read about this on She Saved, one of my favorite websites for finding deals.  So, if you click the Smile.ly link I will get more "smiles" and be eligible for more product reviews - so go there if you'd like to sign up too!

DEALS of the week: 

• Free king-size TWIX from Murphy USA (sign up on their website to get discounts on gas)
• The Christmas address labels and homemade gift enclosure cards from Overnight Prints came in the mail and are just adorable - I only paid shipping!
• The free Snapfish photobook I mentioned here arrived several weeks ago and the very next day I spilled a bottle of water on it.  Since it was a soft cover it was ruined and I was so upset.  Mark called Snapfish and they offered to replace it at no charge - THANK YOU Snapfish! 
• Also, Snapfish currently has two codes through October 31 that will get you 20 free 4x8 photocards - you can read more here.  I hope to get some photos of Olivia in her cow costume this weekend so I can order these just before the clock expires!
• I used my extra care bucks I talked about here plus manufacturer coupons to get my shampoo and conditioner at CVS for a much lower price than usual (I have to use more expensive ones because I am allergic to so many chemicals) and got $5 more extra care bucks!  I heart CVS!  If you are not currently saving at CVS or using extra care bucks and want to learn more go to my most favorite website for deals to learn how.

Speaking of deals, I want to tell you about a new ministry I am blessed to be involved in at my church.  Clipping for a Cause is about using our coupon know-how to help others.   Did you know that every week you can get food items for $1 or less at the grocery store by combining coupons with a sale price?  Clipping for a Cause marries couponing with  helping those in need and is based on Proverbs 22:9  "A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor."  I am so excited for an opportunity to use my administrative and deal finding skills to help someone else.  It is wonderful to get deals for my own family but even more precious to be able to get them for someone who really needs it!

Great deals and free stuff

I heart great deals and free stuff!  This has always been the case; however, I have noticed that since becoming a mom I am more diligent than ever about finding them! 

So, here are a few of the things I found this week:

• Free candy corn at CVS (scan your CVS card at their coupon machine to get 99 cent off candy corn coupon - the candy corn is currently on sale for 99 cent)
• 2 free 5x7 photo cards at Walmart (this coupon was in Sunday's PARADE newspaper insert)
• A coupon for a free bottle of Advil (a promotion on the Advil website last week)
• $2.50 in Extra Care bucks at CVS that I earned from my last quarter's shopping

20% off Diapers @ Amazon Coupon is back!

Just got word that the November issue of Parents magazine contains the coveted 20% off Diapers Coupon which if you read my I want to be an Amazon Mom Blog post know that it can be stacked with the Amazon Mom Subscribe and Save Discount of 30% making for slick Diaper savings just in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas as the coupon doesn't expire until December 31, 2010. This time look for the Bright Green Card.

I am hoping that they will have the same in the November Parenting Magazine too with a different starting Letter in the coupon code so that then will stack for ultimate Diaper savings. Remember now you must join Amazon.com/mom to get the 30% S&S savings.

Amazon Gift Card Savings

If you happen to have an Amazon Chase Visa Rewards Card now is a great time to stock up on Amazon gift cards for Christmas or even if you plan on making a purchase on Amazon yourself in the near future. This is because when you use your Amazon Rewards Visa card to purchase $50 or more in Amazon gift cards from Amazon.com during the month of October you will receive a 5% gift card bonus credited to your Amazon.com account in November. This is in addition to the usual 3 points reward for using your Amazon Visa Reward card to make an an Amazon.com purchase. That is like getting 8% off after rewards points and gift card bonus at Amazon.com which is very nice indeed. They have capped the max bonus at $100 per Visa Rewards card but that just means you would have to buy more than $2000 worth of gift cards before reaching the limit of the rewards available. That is a lot of gift cards which will only be an issue for folks trying to buy really big ticket items like a new 3D LED TV or prepaying for your entire year of purchases on Amazon.com or if you have a really long Christmas Gift List. I really do not have this problem but still I like the additional savings on the small amount of purchases I am going to make from Amazon.com anyways so it works out nice for me too.

Check it out for yourself if here for the full details https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000579861

Also, remember if your planning on buying those discounted diapers I mentioned in an earlier blog post by becoming an Amazon.com Mom you may want to buy a gift card first with your Amazon.com Rewards Visa and then use the gift card to pay for the diapers to get the most savings.

One word of caution. I do not recommend ever using a credit card to obtain a deal unless you already have the money in hand to pay the card off when the bill comes at the end of the month and can also afford to spend the money without harming your family finances. It is simply not worth saving 5% only end up paying the credit card company 19% interest on that purchase down the road. ALWAYS USE YOUR CREDIT CARD RESPONSIBLY.

I know we will be giving out a lot more gift cards this year to thanks to this deal on Amazon.com. I think I might be becoming an Amazon.com addict. I will have to find some deals not on Amazon.com in the near future.

Baby deals

I have never been much of a shopper.  That is a bit strange for a female but God knew I'd be paired with Mark later on and wisely made me the way I am!

With that being said, at times my husband's all-consuming quest for deals does wear off on me and I can get a little crazy with the credit card.  That happened yesterday at Walmart - those baby jeans with hearts on the butt were too cute to pass by!  I just knew Olivia would want them in her current and next size, plus the matching jacket...and those little pant sets on clearance, and some new teethers (she really wants those).....you get the idea! 

Back to deals though - I got a few good ones recently that I'm proud to tell you about.  Olivia is 3 months old and I still have not sent out birth announcements.  Seriously, who has time for such things with a newborn?  Anyway, I had decided not to bother but then I saw that Kodak Gallery was offering 20 free baby announcements and Shutterfly was offering 10 free 5x7 matte cards.  So, I designed up two announcments lickety split!  I'm hoping to get them mailed out this week to coincide with Olivia's baby dedication on October 10th.

And then, as if the announcements were not good enough, Snapfish was offering at free 5x7 photobook.  I had been wanting to make a book for my pregnancy that Olivia could enjoy looking at when she is older.  It took me 3 days of working on it here and there when I had time but I just got an email that it is on it's way and let me tell you, it is CUTE!  I cannot wait til it arrives!

So, for all three of these I only had to pay shipping so it was probably $10 or less total and I am getting 30 birth announcements and a photobook - woo hoo for deals!