Hooray for the Alive! Expo!

Loot!

Not much more to say. I got half-price tickets to the Expo (not a difficult thing to do, I promise) and scored all this fun stuff (plus a bit more not shown). Favorite freebies - big bags of organic brown rice, boxes of organic granola, sample-sized Luna bars, a jar opener...and COUPONS. I also got suckered into a newspaper subscription, but it was a great deal AND I got back part of what I spent in the form of a Publix gift card so it was an even BETTER deal. Of course if I actually had gotten the paper this morning it would have been the BEST deal but...I'm sure it will work out tomorrow (I've already made calls/sent emails/gotten delightfully conflicting information).

This begins the last week of preschool before summer break. My brain kind of ends on Friday as well. Fun.

Friday Four - Four Freebies from the Mall Last Night - March 11, 2011

1. I went to Aveda and scored a sample pack of their Smooth Infusion Hair Care line. (Freebie seems to be gone from their site, but the store may still offer this deal if you ask.) It's a nice little set and I look forward to trying it, as my hair is kind of out of control right now.
2. I used my LUV<3BBW CLUB card (no longer available, sorry) at Bath & Body Works to score two free candles (the small ones) in yummy fruity scents. I wish I'd gotten to use this before - it gives you one freebie a month, but only on a Thursday. Still, the hoops I had to jump through were worth it, as the free candles were worth $7.
3. I used my Godiva Rewards card to get a free dark chocolate truffle. (I believe you can still sign up for this deal in the store/online - you get one free chocolate a month, plus specials and shipping deals.)
4. I tried to get my free Haagen Dazs Midnight Dazzler (freebie on Facebook) but the shop had some complications with their ice cream order, so I need to go back and get it another time.

This week flew by. My kid had two nights where she was up screaming for hours and then two nights where she slept for 9 hours straight (unheard of). She went to school in underpants every day and did really well, with only a few accidents. And she said my cat's name - just once - loudly and clearly. I'm off to my second consignment sale of the season, and I'm hoping to hit a third tomorrow. Happy weekend!

Well Hey There, Kroger, Thanks for the Freebies - March 10, 2011

Hello Kroger, hello gorgeous. I know, I know, we've had our differences in the past. I'm still crabby that you didn't give me my free soda. Your little brother is really rude about my coupon usage. Your parents don't care about me or you. You're expensive and you're inconsistent and I just don't understand you sometimes.

But when you give me $19 worth of paper towels for free, throw in a free shampoo, and then give me a giant pack of TP for $2.99 (alongside the free TP and Tide detergent you gave me earlier), well, I kind of forgive you. For now, anyway.

Thank you very much to IHeartKroger.com for tipping me off that the free Bounty coupon I loaded onto my card a few days ago had no size limit. My paper goods closet is now fully stocked for a while. I probably won't be home for today's freebie, but I'm thrilled at what I have scored from this promotion so far.

However, the truth is, I'm still a Publix girl. Shhhhh.

PS PLEASE help me win $500 by clicking here and learning about Purex Complete Crystals. All you have to do is click, you don't have to do anything else. THANK YOU!

Let's Talk about Freebies - January 16, 2011

Don't forget that my contest to win a Solofill reusable filter for your Keurig brewer is still going - it ends Friday!

I've been able to score a bunch of freebies at stores, I've won a contest, and I cashed in some MyPoints, so I wanted to make a note of it. My goal with this blog is not to give you the heads up on deals - there are plenty that cover that (including many in my blogroll!) - but to talk about the deals I got, both to keep track for myself (selfish! ha!) and to inspire you. I don't have a ton of extra time (right now I'm writing this blog post while my daughter works with her speech therapist) nor a lot of patience - I'll never be on Extreme Couponing nor will I ever have an entire floor of my house devoted to a stockpile - but I do love to get a deal!

• Best deals first - I won a Melitta One: Single Cup Coffee Pod Brewer and a box of pods from American Coffee Services!  So fun! They have great prices on single-serve coffee pods/K-cups/T-discs, etc., so check them out!
• I saved up enough points from MyPoints.com to earn a $50 Amazon gift card. (If you'd like a referral to the site, which would give me some bonus points, leave your email address in a comment on this post. However, you can also join without a referral, so go for it!)
• I won another few $5 Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks. I really like the new Food videos on the site, actually, and watching them has boosted my bucks a ton.
• I scored two bags of Hartz Crunch N'Clean cat treats at Target for free. They were on sale (or...is this the everyday price?) for $1.49 and I had two coupons for $1.50 off. I learned about this deal from CouponMom.com by the way - that's one of my favorite sites for the quick-and-dirty best deals. I also got two giant canisters of oatmeal for 4 cents each (plus I got 5 cents back for using my own bag so...6 cents for 96 ounces of oatmeal - and I love oatmeal!)
• I scored an adorable tree-shaped tent for my daughter's bedroom for $20 - $10 off of the regular price - because I found it hidden on a clearance rack on the perimeter of the Target store.
• I got a free bottle of Sierra Mist Naturals soda from Target because the last time I was there a coupon printed out for a free bottle with no extra purchase required. A nice treat, and I like that this soda uses sugar and not HFCS or artificial junk.
• I got four bags of Friskies cat treats for free from Kroger with a coupon that came out in November and that expires today. The treats are on sale for $1 per bag (a great deal already) and the coupon was $2/2.

However, I also bought the double paper today (the early and late editions bundled together for $3 instead of $4) and one was missing some coupons. (I emailed the paper; last time this happened, they mailed me the coupons. It's annoying though.) And the bedding we bought my daughter at Target last night is on sale today (of course) (but I may go back and get my refund if I have time). And I dropped off empty ink cartridges at Staples last week and then I found out that Office Depot is giving $5 per cartridge instead of the $3 I'll get from Staples. Ah well. I can't win them all! (I did get a box of 18 K-cups at Office Depot for $6 by using a 40% off coupon - yay!)