Free Aveda!

Aveda is my favorite store for natural beauty products.  It is pretty expensive, though, so I try to get in on as many freebies as I can.  Right now they are offering a 3 Piece Smooth Infusion sample pack when you join their birthday club.Once you join, they will send you a coupon on your birthday for a free fragrance, which has a value of about $20.  They also send out freebie coupons throughout the year for samples with no purchase necessary.
Just click on my link on the top right side of the blog to join.  You will be glad you did!

Awesome paid online survey comany

Clearvoicesurveys.com is one of my favorite online survey sites.  They pay an average of $1-$3 per survey, and I have never had a problem getting paid.  You have a choice of amazon.com gift cards, payoneer debit cards (works just like cash) or dining dough for use in restaurants.  Most of their surveys are product related, but I have also participated in many interesting surveys on ethics, finances and memory that are hosted by universities.  If you have some extra time on your hands and want to make a little cash, check them out!
http://www.clearvoicesurveys.com/

Free A&W Rootbeer Float Printable

Who doesn't love a free rootbeer float??  http://www.redplum.com/pages/viewoffer.aspx?id=1603659

Free Sample from Mariani

Free sample of their new Cinnamon Raisin Bread Raisins.  Yum!
http://www.marianifruit.com/wordpress/?page_id=2

Free samples from Walmart

Walmart has 3 free samples available right now:
Playtex Sport Tampons
Crest Pro-Health Clinical Gum Protection
Tena Adult Undergarments
http://instoresnow.walmart.com/In-Stores-Now-free-samples.aspx

Want to make money and test products?

Pinecone Research is one of my favorite survey companies.  Not only do they pay $3 per survey, they send me a lot of cool products to test, and then pay me $3 to tell them about it!  You can join here: http://pinecone.logicalmedia.com/?affid=CD50  Hurry and join, because the link will disappear when they have gotten enough people.

Get Fresh With a Friend

Cottonelle® brand is putting the word out to everyone that it's time to get Fresh with a friend. Tell your friend how much you love the fresh, everyday clean you get from Cottonelle Fresh® Flushable Moist Wipes.

And when you share that love of freshness, we'll give you and your friend each a free tub* of Cottonelle Fresh® Flushable Moist Wipes and a free Cottonelle EasyReach™ hanger, with Command™ Brand Strips from 3M for damage-free hanging and easy removal.

So how do you get started?

Just head to GetFreshWithaFriend.com and enter a few bits of info for us. A FreshMail will then be sent to your friend, and that free tub* of Cottonelle Fresh® Flushable Moist Wipes is as good as yours. It's that simple.

Over $150 in King Soopers e-Coupons and Cellfire coupons have reset

King Soopers has reset their e-coupons.  If you aren't familiar with this program, it's easy to set up.  Go to http://www.kingsoopers.com/Pages/default.aspx and set up an account.  You will need your Sooper card to set it up.  Once you have added your card to your profile, click on the top right on the homepage where it says "In Store---Coupons".  This will allow you to load the coupons to your Sooper card.  This is a simple way to use coupons without having to bring paper coupons with you to the store!

Cellfire is a similar program which loads e-coupons to either your Sooper card or your Safeway card.  You can go to http://www.cellfire.com to set it up.  The cool thing about Cellfire is that you can use both the digital version of the coupon and a paper coupon.  In the past, I have been able to combine digital and paper coupons with a sale and have actually made money by purchasing certain products. 

Attention Parents! Free Tag or Tag Junior book from Leapfrog.

Free book from Leapfrog when you create your child's learning path
Just click the link, register your child and choose products your child would want on his/her wishlist.  No purchase necessary!
http://www.leapfrog.com/en/freetagbook/book.html#utm_source=distribution&utm_medium=ToysFreeBook&utm_campaign=parenting

Free Sample of Cinnabon Cream of Wheat

http://www.creamofwheat.com/cinnabon/

There is also a printable coupon for $2/1 box.

Buy locally- the community (and your tastebuds) will thank you!

I love farmer's markets.  Nothing is better than a farm-fresh heirloom tomato and a crusty slab of just baked bread.  I look forward to walking around and checking out all the fresh produce, handmade crafts, baked goods and all of the fun things that I don't need, but are fun to look at. 

The problem is, it's easy to be enticed into spending more money that you had originally intended.  The sights, smells and tastes of summer fading into fall are enough to loosen anyone's purse strings-- even a tightwad like me.  Occasionally I will let myself splurge a little, but mostly I try to stick to the plan. What plan? Well, I find it's a lot easier to fend off the urge to splurge when I have consciously set down a plan for spending.

First, what can you afford to spend?  How much would you usually spend on a week's worth of veggies at the supermarket?  It's kind of like Vegas...  if the only money you have left is what you need to pay your rent, don't bring your wallet into the casino!  In fact, don't go to Vegas in the first place!  Only bring what you can afford.

Second, think about what you need.  It's easy to end up "needing" a bushel of organic leeks and 10lbs of rhubarb when you don't  think ahead.  How much can you eat in a week?  There's nothing frugal about getting a great deal on produce that will spoil before you can eat it. 

Third, scope out the entire market before you purchase.  Think of your first trip around as reconnaissance...  see what's available before you commit.  If you see something you really want, ask the price, as someone else may have it cheaper.  Produce is produce, it doesn't really matter which farm you get it from.  I do think, however, that there is one exception to this rule.  If something is one-of-a-kind and you absolutely fall in love with it... if it is within your budget... buy it.  It might not be there the second time around.

Fourth, check out the deals.  The more familiar your become with the market, the more likely you will be to get good deals.  The old rules apply: smile, be friendly, and say please and thank you!  People are much more likely to give you a good deal when you smile and treat them well. Ask for pricing, and ask what their "deal of the day" is.  You never know, it might be just what you need.  My favorite farm offers a "fill a bag for $10 deal".  I bring a large re-useable shopping bag that will hold about 50lbs without ripping.  This allows me to get whatever I want for the week ahead... for only $10.  Sometimes I alter my shopping list a little, depending on what they are offering.  This weekend I got 2 pumpkins, 1 large cantaloupe, 6 ears of corn,     3 lbs of green beans, 4 ginormous cucumbers, 6 tomatoes, 2 lbs of brocolli, and a bag of roasted chilis for only $10.  I was also able to get a half bushel of Palisades peaches for $18. 

Farmer's markets don't have to be expensive if you shop well.  Even if you do end up spending a little more than you would have at the grocery store, the purchases you make help support local farmers and artisans.  What could be better than getting fresh, yummy food and at the same time supporting people in your community?

Under Construction

So...  Where to start? 

I think I have been very aware of the value of money for most of my life.  I grew up in the sort of home where an allowance was something I dreamed about - but more in the way one would dream about a night with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson... fun to think about but I'm probably more likely to walk out of Starbucks and get hit by a bus.  It's not that my parents didn't want to spoil me...  they just didn't have the means. 

I atendended Catholic elementary school where I not only received an excellent education, I was also schooled in the understanding of just how different I was from the daughters of doctors and such.  And so, being the strong-willed person that I am, I took matters into my own hands.  My first job was at 10 years old.  I worked for our next door neighbor who raised show-dogs.  I would clean up a 50lb bag of dog poop a week, for the princely sum of $5.  It wasn't much, but it allowed me to buy the fancy shampoo my friends were using, and to feel like I could be more like them. 

My mom says that she remembers a trip to the grocery store when I was 7 and my little brother was 5.  He was whining for some sort of sugar cereal... the kind of thing we didn't eat. Supposedly, I turned to him and said "No David!  We just can't afford it."  I was well indoctrinated from an early age.  And so was my brother... he didn't even put up a fight, he just returned the cereral to the shelf.

I would like to believe that it was this environmental brain-washing that makes me the deal-seeker I am today.  I'm not sure though, that this is entirely the case.  Although my parents are frugal to this day, I seem to thrive on killer deals, freebies and coupons in a way that borders on obsessive.  For me, it's the thrill of the hunt, and I'm a big game hunter  :)

And so, I have decided to share what I can with my family, friends, and whoever else may stumble on my ramblings.  I will include whatever good deals I can, including grocery, freebies and whatever else I can find.  I also enter (and win!) sweepstakes, so I will include links to whatever I think is good.  If you find a great deal that I haven't posted, let me know!  I would love to include it. 

Thanks for your interest, and stay tuned...  there is more to come!