RAOK for Bloggers!

I am participant in the RAOK for Bloggers hosted by Giving Without Spending I have choosen my fellow Kizoodle
member Frugal Wife and Mama of 2

Amy is a SAHM to 2 wonderful kids, and is always on the prowl for a good deal!

I am excited about this project, and already know who I am profiling next week! Happy Reading!

Freebie Frenzy!

I have never done this before, but here we go!! I have also checked these to make sure no $$ is required. Some do require a UPC. I have learned to save UPC's from most of my "name brand" items. I just use an empty baby wipes case in my pantry. When throwing out a box/package from say, Nabisco, I just slid it in the box so when rebate comes along, I already have it!

FREE Pull-Ups Potty Training Kit HERE ( it is a DVD)

FREE items from Kraft Promotions HERE (UPCs are needed) (ex. Golf kit from Planters)

FREE Diabetes Information Library HERE (some items are out of stock, just keep looking! Lots of FREE info on Diabetes prevention and many other health publications)

FREE tote from Wellcare HERE when you fill out a survey

FREE Instant Garage Sale Kit HERE (scroll down, it is a download)

FREE Reusable Grocery Bag HERE

Donate a FREE Bible HERE

FREE DVD and Pedometer from Tylenol HERE when you sign up for newsletter.

Buying Tropicana Orange Juice to help the enviroment

Tropicana Orange Juice recently changed it's packaging to be more environmentally friendly. On the carton there is a code to enter that Tropicana will preserve 100 square feet of rain forest for every code you enter! You can check out more details HERE!

Blog Profile: Giving Without Spending

If you are looking for ways the help others, without breaking your piggy bank, check out my friend Melanie's blog, Giving Without Spending! She highlights ways you can help others with out spending anything! Or ways to give without spending much. I really love it and hope you will too!

Trip Totals

Here are the totals of out trip! Went over budget slightly, but hey, my husband decided to go at the last minute, so I had to add a person and didn't have time to adjust the spending allowance.

Gas: $63.00 (and I still have more than half a tank)
Food: $28.50
Miscellaneous: $8.00 (car wash and laundry at hotel)
Hotel room: $0
Entertainment: $0
total for trip: $91.50

We stopped to get gas (tank was at less than half) and decided to go ahead and "blow" some money on a couple of $5 Footlongs from Subway. Hey, 4 hungry kids and 200 miles ahead doesn't make a pretty picture! We did eat food from home in the hotel Sunday night, and the only money we spent there was for the laundry. My 10 year old had been at a church retreat all weekend and the are required to play in the mud! I was not carrying around muddy clothes, and my 12 year old had spent the day at a Horse barn, so again, not gonna carry yucky smelling clothes in the car. Took my own detergent so that saved me some $$. (Free Tide samples received in the mail) I totally forgot that the machines would be coin operated! So spent $1.50 on the washer, and thought about not using the dryer and just hanging them in the room. I really wished I had listened to myself, because I spent the $1.50 on the dryer and it didn't work! We ended up drying them in the room anyway. *Sigh*
All in all it was a productive trip! We delivered 4 cases of Girl Scout Cookies, visited family and spent some time together, so well worth it!


**when we got home yesterday, my Pizza Hut gift card was in the mailbox! LOL, wished we had had it on the trip though!

Travel totals....so far.

So, hitting the road tomorrow! I will be traveling about 300 miles. The cooler is packed, the snacks are packed, and the clothes are almost packed. I gassed up the car for a total of $35 ($1.70 gal) and spent $2.09 on snacks at Kroger. I have a ton of the Betty Crocker snacks in the pantry too, so that will help. And lots of drinks for the kids. We will have to eat out lunch tomorrow, but expecting to eat in the hotel room tomorrow night. Also went to the library the other day to get some fun Books on CD and some DVD (I have a DVD player in my van). I also called ahead and reserved a port a crib, saving me a wrestling with my youngest daughter, and the saving space in my van for necessities.
So far, so good, at least budget wise!

FREE Liz Lange Health Journal

Saw this on Coupon Geek! Just go HERE to take the quiz about Cervical Cancer. At the end of the quiz you will fill out the form to recieve a free health journal.

Travel Challenge

Well, here I was just itching for a tightwad challenge, and one has presented itself! I will be traveling to the Ft. Worth area this weekend! I have take some things to my sisters office in downtown Ft. Worth, Texas (3 hrs travel time for me). I will need to use a hotel room because of time constraints. So, I was Googling hotels, and called my beautiful sister for ideas, when she said she had a FREE (INCLUDING TAX-there is a room and board tax here in TX) stay at any La Quinta Suite Hotel. **Pretty suite!
So my room and board are covered!
Hotel: $0

Next challenge is food. I have a $15 Pizza Hut GC on the way from MyPoints. Hopefully it will get here in time. That could work out really well with the Buy a Large and get 1 for a penny deal!
So here is my goals:
Less than $60 total OOP for Gas
$20 total OOP for food (1 adult, 4 kids) for the 2 day trip.
Breakfast is included at the hotel.

Will update totals when I can! I LOVE a challenge!

**Pun intended

Not much to share

I have not made many posts lately simply because I have not had anything to share. Plus, we have been super busy with the closing of Basketball and my youngest childs birthday. The party turned out nice, but I had no great deals to share. I haven't been to CVS in WEEKS and my Walgreens trips have turned out to be a bust. The only thrifty highlight in the last few weeks has been our Valentines party.
I put my 10 year old in charge of the family party, and she had a budget of $10, of which she spent $9. Each (4 kids) child had a bag of candy, we had decorations and ice cream, so she did a great job! If I can get the pics uploaded, she made great little mailboxes for everyone out of Kleenex boxes, and I know she was proud of them.
My hubby also suprised me with a new Blackberry Pearl (which was totally not needed or necessary) but he went thrifty for me! It is a refurbished that cost less than half of what the "new" phones cost.
I am hoping to get more tips posted, and maybe some guest posts.
Thanks for reading.

Tightwad Tip: Learning your address

When teaching my kids their address and phone number I used a magazine subscription postcard to teach them. I was reminded of this idea after about ten of them fell out of my All You! magazine.
It also reinforces writing skills because they must print clearly in a confined space. These postcards can be found in any magazine. You can often find them in the free magazine pile at the library or in waiting rooms. This is another one of those easy things to carry in your purse to keep you kids busy when you need them to be!

FREE Stuff From Earths Best Baby Food

Did you know that Elmo's birthday is February 3rd? In honor of Elmo's' birthday, Earths Best Baby Food is offering the DVD " Elmo Love You!" FREE with proofs of purchase and $1.49 Shipping and handling.
Check out the page HERE
You will also be automatically entered in the Random House Sweepstakes to win a Grand Prize vacation to Sesame Place or one of twenty-five First Prize Earth's Best Gift packs!
Also on this page you will see how to get a Healthy Monsters Coloring Book and lots of valuable coupons from Earths Best Baby Food.

Redbox codes for 2/2 BONUS code for Wags!

Here is your Redbox promo code for Mondy, 2/2

D9P24G good at any location today, expires at midnight.

DVDATWAG good today, Feb 2 only and only good at Walgreens. code good until midnight.

Thanks Erin!

Free Book from Pampers!

Check out Niki's post to see how you can get a FREE book from Scholastic from Pampers!