Blogging on the Road...

Do you ever go on vacation when you're broke? I did. It happens occasionally. Events and holidays don't necessarily coincide with the non-housepayment payday. Thus-as we are over the hill (360miles) visiting family for a grandiose wedding extravaganza with pennies to our names...and the 5yr-old is winning with the most. So--just because we didn't come laden with funds doesn't mean that we aren't going to have funs :) Tomorrow is Memorial Day. My oldest brother is retired from the US Navy and suggested to my parents that they needed to visit the submarine museum in Bremerton. It's quite good and very kid-friendly. Excellent combination for my crew. So I googled it and came up with high-5's and chorus-line kicks...it's free to get in. That will be the start to our fabulous free day with family.


The kids expect treats and goodies for untold behaviors. Bribery is my best method of behavior control in public. Sonic Drive-ins have the best form of payment right now. You can go to Sonic now thru June 27th and grab a BOGO free Sonic shake on the spot OR get a coupon for a FREE Shake on your next visit! SOLD!! That's basically, half-price, in plain language. It's always seems more satisfying and tasty when you aren't consumed with the notion that you just paid the same price for 12oz of ice-cream as you would have for the whole blimey gallon. Sonic here we come!!

From the Seattle PI: Memorial Day weekend 2010 dawns with programs for and about veterans. New this year is the announcement that eight museums across the state have joined the National Endowment for the Arts' Blue Star Museums roster, meaning each will grant free admission to military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day (Sept. 6). Seattle has some of the most amazing flight and art museums. So the planned events for the family activity is looking better and better and I'm still not looking for the change out of the couch cushions and off the floorboards of the truck.


I love the fact that both of my parents are veterans--Air Force and Marines. And being that my father goes nowhere with the crew--I still am able to take advantage of the military discount for families as I have my mother with us.


So before you determine that you don't have enough money to enjoy your vacations and get-aways--look up the deals to be had in the area you're in and you might be surprized that you can have yourself a lot of fun and memories without breaking the bank.

Kraft Deals Galore!!

So we left town today for the long, holiday weekend...that means that I had to take advantage of a fabulous sale on Kraft products early on in the sale period. Check out http://www.albertsons.com/ and the deal they are running on Kraft products. When you buy 6 selected products, you automatically save $3 on your total (no coupons, no waiting at the end for a Catalina print-out). I got coupons at the store for $1 off 2 products (BBQ sauce, salad dressing, A-1, etc). They were hanging near the products.

Now what makes this such a great deal is that there is another Kraft sale running in conjunction with this one. For every $25 you spend, you get a $5 Catalina OYNO coupon at the end. Disclaimer: last night I did all my transactions in increments of 6 products...but it was a long drive and I got to thinking about how those two deals could be used together. This is what I came up with...and you need a a couple of friends to enjoy this deal or a love for BBQ sauce. You need 19 coupons from the pad hanging in the condiment section. If you buy 38 bottles of Kraft BBQ sauce, your total is $26.22 before those 19 coupons. The coupons are $1 off 2 bottles--bringing the total to $7.22. Then you get the automatic $3 off (for buying the required 6)...and then you get the $5 coupon back at the end of the transaction. That makes the total deal a whopping -78cents. See what you come up with when you drive 350 miles....free goodies. Now-how to get that much BBQ sauce home?

Note: I saw the Kraft coupons hanging with the product in 2 different Albertsons' in Spokane. Since I'm in the greater Puget Sound area right now, I am going to check a local store to see if the same coupons are available. The coupon is what makes this a stellar deal and if it's not available...it's still a great price, but not so stock-up worthy--if you know what I mean. Also--watch the expiry dates on the products. Sad to say, these kinds of sales are a great way for the store to flip their inventory and that means that there could be a range of dates on the bottles of about 18 months!! I had to go through the bottles to find the dates that were furthest out into 2011, but I was weeding through Mar2010-October 2010. Yes--that was March 2010...gross!! You know the store has had the product awhile when there is dust on the bottles! (That reminds of an old country song...except they weren't talking about BBQ sauce ;)

The coupon that I mention here that is available at the grocery stores, includes the salad dressings as well. There is a Catalina promo coupon for this product as well, when you buy 4 bottles, you get a $4 Catalina print-out automatically. You can crunch the numbers and set up different purchase scenarios to see how you can balance you quantities to include another fabulous deal. It's not very often that you have a sale that layers so much savings at one time. The price-savvy will take advantage of this great deal, so don't miss it because you waited till the last day.

SC Johnson $5 Rebate

Holy Huge Picture, Batman. It must mean there's a great deal on this product somewhere!! Rebates, you say? Yes--they are awesome!! Rebates are bonus cash in the grocery market savings plans. They are over and beyond any use of coupons and discount sales. So when I came across this one--it's like manna because it's so-inclusive and not on funky products I would never buy, yada-yada-yada. Looking at it, I can't tell you how many transactions I've done that met the requirements since the beginning date that I could have already turned in. But the beauty of the situation--there's still time for all us late-bloomers.

Purchase any THREE SC Johnson products from their list (Saran, Nature's Source, Off, Raid, Drano, Fantastik, Shout, Pledge, Scrubbing Bubbles, Windex, Glade, Ziploc) between now and June 30, 2010, fill-out the mail-in certificate and postmark it by 7/15/10. This is a fabulous rebate program because you are allowed THREE rebates per household!! Stellar, Stellar, Stellar. You just have to send in your original, store-identified cash register receipts with the purchase prices of the products circled with the rebate form filled out. Easy bonus money. Go to this link to print the rebate form. http://www.scjohnson.com/Files/afc-rebate-form.pdf?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=offline&utm_campaign=2009-10-value-tag-DIRECT

And just for the record, Safeway is running a Catalina coupon on Ziploc containers through 6/13. Buy 4 Ziploc containers at $1.99 each and use 2 of the $1.50/2 Ziploc container coupons. You end up paying $4.96 and receive 2 $2 Catalina coupons back--making them 24 cents a piece. Submit the receipt on the rebate and it's a $4.76 MONEYMAKER!! That's what I call a bargain.

Kids Bowl Free this Summer

We did this program last year and loved it. It was fabulous and even extremely affordable to take our herd bowling. We are quite fortunate to have a participating bowling alley in Spokane (North Bowl) that is a apart of the Kids Bowl Free program. You can sign up to do this program for free by going to http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/ and register directly on the bowling center page. Once you register, you will have the opportunity to purchase the family pass. The Family Pass was created to allow for adult family members to enjoy bowling with their families as well. The Family Pass is $24.95 and includes 2 GAMES PER PERSON PER DAY. This one-time payment covers up to 4 adults for the entire summer and is a tremendous value. You still have to pay for shoe rental (one idea: check out the local Value Village...), but the total cost is very diminished from what you would normally spend. For our family of 7--this is a HUGE savings and well worth the small fee to have a great activity that the kids look forward to during the summer.

Free Summer Kids' Movie Schedule

I start to anticipate summer when I think of all the fun things we can do because we have fewer schedule restrictions. But when I start thinking about how much everything is going to cost, I could easily freak-out. But you're talking about the woman who can get blood out of a penny...well, not really, but I like a great deal--FREE's better though. So this mind-set works well with the Free Summer Kids' movies hosted by Regal Cinemas. Every area has their own schedule at their local Regal theaters--google Regal and find out what your theater has scheduled. But this is the schedule for the Spokane Valley Regal Cinemas starting next month:

6/22-6/24--Tale of Despereaux (G)

Coraline (PG)

6/29-7/1---Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (G)

Astro Boy (PG)

7/6-7/8----Charlotte's Web (G)

Planet 51 (PG)

7/13-7/15--Rugrats: The Movie (G)

Ice-Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (PG)

7/20-7/22--Rugrats in Paris (G)

Kung Fu Panda (PG)
7/27-7/29--Wallace and Gromit (G)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (PG)

8/3-8/5----Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (G)

Monsters Vs Aliens (PG)

8/10-8/12--Doogal (G)

Hotel for Dogs (PG)

8/17-8/19--Muppets from Space (G)

Paul Blart: Mall Cop (PG)

I've already slept through several of these movies in years past--so I doubt that we will be going weekly, but it is free--so add it to the list of options. On the north side of Spokane, the Village Theaters at Wandermere do a Summer Children's Movie series as well. The kids usually buy sheets of tickets for all the movies for $5 before they let out of school. The movies are generally newer releases and more "popular"...if you know what I mean. I don't mind paying the $5 a person because $30 for 10-12 movies for 6 people is so cheap because at current ticket prices--we wouldn't even be getting in for that price with everybody at a matinee. (It's 6 people during the summer instead of our usually lucky 7--since it's falls upon me to entertain the kids day after day as Dad's generally at work).

This is "cheapness herself" speaking when I tell you my family movie tip... I don't believe in 100% gouging the theaters of their profits, especially as the movies are SO cheap for the kids series. But even without paying an arm and 2 legs to get in, it still costs me the second leg to throw popcorn on the floor and have children begging for more candy--at $4 a box. So here's what I do: I buy the large popcorn bucket with the large refillable drink. I take brown lunch sacks and cut the upper third off, while still folded...and stick those in my purse. When we are seated, I divvy the bucket of popcorn up between the paper bags and hand them on down the row. By the time the last kid's bag is filled, I'm empty and ready for a refill. No kidding--we go through 2 refills before the movie starts...and 1 during the movie. The theater provides water cups for the kids to share the large drinks--hence I score big-time with my little tribe sharing a bit of liquid sugar. We do this at least once a week during the summer and it doesn't break the bank and we still contribute to the profits of the theater--just not to the gold-plaiting on the roof. I'm set and I'm only into refreshments for $8.50. Kids are happy and I'm NOT broke for going to the theater. (I didn't tell you that I occasionally let my kids eat the candy that's in their pockets...just not MY pockets). Mother of the Year tip: it doesn't cost me anymore to let my kids bring a friend along because it only means an extra bucket of "refillable" popcorn and an extra cup. Yeah!! It's easy to be gracious when it doesn't cost any more :)

Deals Galore...

When you're a bargain shopper, some things just set you off in a tizzy. You never look at things the same way when you have a walking calculator buzzing in your head. For all you looking for great deals...Old Navy has their flip flops for a buck--that's $1--per pair Saturday only. There's a limit of 5 pairs per person. Just knowing this set my head in a twirl when I saw the flip flops (thongs to all of you 70's and more mature babies....) at Wal-Mart for $3-15 a piece. Then when I was a Target--the deal was $5 for 2.........Oh. That makes this sale a no-brainer. Of course I'd like to pay $1. For what those things cost everywhere else--I can have 5 pairs for the price of 1. Sold.

This is a pitch for the local garage salers...Tis' the season, 'ya know. Our HOA is hosting a neighborhood garage sale this weekend. I just got an e-mail from a lady at church whose neighborhood is about 1/2 mile away--and they are having a neighborhood garage sale as well. That's amazing news for bargain hunters on the go!! Where else can you hit 50+garage sales all within a mile or less. Now I can't vouch for everyone's junk, and I still have no idea what we will be willing to part with--but I've seen the neighbor across the street perfecting her piles for the last 2 days and it doesn't even start till Saturday. So--whether a serious shopper or just out for the thrill of the hunt...expediency in the rounds is everything on a Saturday morning. So the more garage sales in one area--the better. Enjoy--and I hope you find your best deals :)

Target Steals......I mean Deals

I'm heading to a great deal today. I printed my coupons for Aquafresh Kids' Toothpaste. It's on sale at Target for $1.62 a tube. I printed $1 off manufacturer's coupons and Target has a store coupon for 50 cents off. That makes the tubes 12 cents.... Hmmmm. I think I'll get 4. (Hahhahaa...we have 2 computers and I was able to print 2 sets of coupons from each computer, thus the magic number of 4).


I did the same deal with Cottonelle Toilet Paper at http://www.coupons.com/. They have a manufacturer's coupon for 50 cents off a 4 pack, and at http://www.target.com/ (under coupons), I was able to print $1.50 off coupons. The beauty of this possibility is that the Target coupon doesn't have any size restrictions....so. I don't know what the going rate for 4 packs of toilet paper are, but I'm hoping that they aren't too much over $2 a package. If they are...wowzers!! I'm going to start getting a little more irritated when I see how much gets wasted in the kids' bathrooms for everything except for what it was intended for. I know--TMI. But that's what happens when you don't really have to "pay" regular price for things from your living wages...you don't freak out over the wastefulness as you would if you'd just worked an hour of hard labor for the money that would have paid for what the 5 yr-old just flushed down the toilet to see if it would actually go!! (Thrift and budgeting is in the works for a lesson to said child....but we are also trying to encourage curiosity and interest...just haven't introduced cost factors to her yet).



Other things on the Target shopping list: Huggies' Baby Wipes. I printed coupons that save $2 on a container of 64ct or more. WOW!!! Now that's what I call a deal. I would buy a year supply (or 10 years) if I had 100 computers. That's a stellar deal. By the way--5 yr-old has been out of diapers for 2 years now. But I got hooked on baby wipes almost 13 years ago with the first child-and now they are a must for everything from road trips, preschool, sticky hands, etc. Life will never be the same again in our household because we love baby wipes. Just sayin'....


I e-mailed my sister-in-laws the fabulous Huggies deal going on at Fred Meyer this week. Haven't heard back if it was profitable for any of them...but here's the scoop. You need to hit all the websites and print the SWEET Huggies coupons and then take them to Freddies' to clean house on this deal because they have a Catalina deal going on in conjunction with the Huggie's sale price. Buy 2 Huggies Jumbo pack diapers for $7.99 each with in-ad coupon. (This includes Little Movers, Little Swaddlers, and Snug & Dry). Use 2 of your printed coupons from any of the coupon websites. You will end up paying $9.98--then receive a $3 Catalina coupon...making the final price for each package $3.49. You could do a second transaction (and third, and fourth, etc.) and use the $3 Catalina coupon with other coupons, making each transaction $.96--plus you keep generating a new $3 Catalina coupon from each new transaction. For all of you in diapers still--great deal!!


The best diaper websites to print free coupons from: http://www.coupons.com/, http://www.smartsource.com/, http://www.bricks.coupons.com/, and http://www.target.com/. There are more--you'll just have to find them. It probably wouldn't hurt to google "Huggies coupons" and see which sites you can print for free from.

Follow-up: Home from the stores. I got everything in the picture for $9.24 (the bulk of that being my contribution to the Governor's slush fund). If I had been in my "left" mind instead of my "right" mind--it would have cost $37.42 before tax. I saved around 80% off of that original price with coupons I printed for free from home. Now if I can do it--anyone can, if they have a computer and a printer ;)