I love buying discount gift cards- It’ a great way to stretch our money further. Right now Raise (a company that sells gift cards at a discount) is offering $5 when you sign up here (make sure referral code ahewes shows up in the referral box to get your $5 free!).
I purchased a $25 Sears Gift Card (I chose a digital gift card, so I could use it online right away) and paid only $8.72 Out of Pocket! I paid with my paypal account, using money I earned doing surveys!
Raise has tons of great stores: Kohl’s. Staples, Macy’s, Walmart, and tons more!
Who doesn’t love free samples!!J oin Club Olay and they’ll help you take care of your skin through expert beauty advice, award winning products and money-saving offers!
Right now Schoola has two ways for you to save big!
Now through 11/22/15, save30% off sitewide with code COZY30.
This code can be used as many times as you’d like up until 11/22. You can combine it with referral credit, but not with other coupon codes!
Looking for another way to save? Sign up for their email newsletter to hear about Black Friday deals and holiday steals. You’ll get a $5 coupon code to use right away. Already get our newsletter? No worries, you can still sign up to get the deal.
Wanna spread the love of Schoola? The Give $20, Get $20 deal is back!
When you share your unique Schoola referral link with a friend, they get $20 to spend on their first order. As soon as they make their first purchase, you get $20 in credit.
We’re doing our next batch of tie dying on Thursday morning, and thanks to Schoola’s amazing sales and prices, I’ve been able to amass 16 shirts and onsies in various sizes and styles to tie dye!
The mail man just brought us another bag of goodies from Schoola yesterday! I’m loving the high quality clothes I can get for the kids (and myself) for such low prices. And it gives me warm fuzzies that I’m helping schools at the same time!
Today only,when you spend $11 or more you’ll receive $11 to spend on Schoola. Credit codes are sent on 12/1 and limited 1 per person. For a limited time we have free shipping with no minimum site wide and $20 referral credit rewards for you and anyone you refer!
Here is Birdie is a dress that I got from Schoola!
I’m on a new recipe kick right now. I don’t often get inspiration from Pinterest recipes because they are either things we don’t eat, or are overly complicated or cutesy. Instead I draw ideas from cookbooks, magazines, stuff I see at the grocery store while I cruise the aisles, and Buzzfeed’s Tasty Videos that are all over Facebook. I was jonseing for Olive Gardens now defunct Spinach Artichoke dip the other day, so imagine my surprise when I stepped foot into my local 99 Cents Only…
I found a jar of this Bruschetta at 99 Cents Only the other day and small jar of Artichoke dip. I knew I had to take them home and concoct something delicious!
I set to work in the kitchen to find some other ingredients that would pair well to I could whip up something fabu for a meatless meal. I pulled out a bag of frozen spinach and cheese to compliment the flavors of the dips.
We had a spaghetti Squash on the counter, so in order to keep the dish healthier and full of veggies and fiber, I opted to bake up the squash and use it instead of the traditional noddles or pasta in a casserole. If you’ve never cooked with spaghetti squash, I posted a tutorial here.
After rummaging through the freezer and fridge, I assembled the ingredients and got working! There is no photo of the finished product because it got eaten up quickly.
Clean and bake the spaghetti squash. For info on how that’s done, check out the tutorial here.
While the squash is baking, mix together the two dips in a large mixing bowl.
Add the spinach and half of each cheese. Stir until completely mixed.
Prepare a 9×9 glass pan with spray release.
Place all of the spaghetti squash shreds/”noodles” in the bottom of the baking dish, and smooth down to create an even layer.
Pour the dip mixture over the top and smooth to evenly cover the squash.
Top with the remaining cheeses.
Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until the cheese has started to brown and bubble.
This dish is gluten free and vegetarian. To make it vegan, use dairy-free cheese! If you HAVE to have meat, this would be great with grilled chicken, or Italian sausages mixed in or served along side.
This recipe serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side dish.
Today is National Sandwich Day, so that means a few BOGO Offers! Before heading down to your location location, call ahead to make sure that your preferred location is participating!
Togo’s is offering a FREE 6″ Regular Sandwich with purchase of any 6″ regular or large sandwich, chips & 20 oz. fountain drink. This deal may be limited to those in the Togo Tribe (Their Loyalty club). I received this offer via email.
Have the McDonald’s App on your phone? Open it up to to find a BOGO Chef Crafted Sandwich coupon. There may be other coupons available to you too.
Subway is offering a free sandwich with the purchase of any sandwich and a 30 ounce drink. (Source Twitter)
If you know of any other free or BOGO Sandwich deals, please leave a comment!
Over the weekend I took part in the Moms Meet Wow Summit here in San Diego. I got to meet and network with tons of awesome moms and brands. I got to learn about how we can live more naturally with just a few small (and easy) tweaks! I met Lisa Bronner of Dr. Bronner’s Soap fame and learned a lot of how to start my own journey to green (which I’ll be sharing with you later in the week).
Part of the event was meeting brand ambassadors and sampling their products. That means tons of swag. I came home with an assortment of goodies, and I am sharing my bounty with you! I pulled together a box of goodies! In addition to all of these awesome goodies, I’ll also include a few coupons for free products.
Entering is easy… To get started leave a comment with your easy go green tip! It could be something like turning off the water when you brush your teeth or carrying reusable shopping bags in your car at all times! There are additional entries too. Just check out the Raffle copter widget here or on the giveaway tab of our FB page (it’s NOT mobile friendly- FYI).
You’ve probably heard or read about bartering to save money, but you aren’t sure where to start, or how it works. I’m here to demystify it for you!
I barter all the time! Thankfully, a lot of my friends have large vegetable and fruit gardens, fruit trees, or chickens produce eggs. I trade my time and services that I can provide for these things. I love to trade my ability and skill with sewing for farm fresh eggs. The price of eggs in California is insane! A dozen eggs can be almost $6.00, depending on where you shop.
Here are a few tips that I recommend you try in order to stretch your budget with the use of bartering:
Step One: Make a list of the skills you have. Can you sew? Can you babysit? Do you have a lawnmower and some free time to mow lawns? There are lots of things that you can do the people need help with. Maybe you have a great eye for organization and you could help a friend or a neighbor organize their pantry or their garage. Maybe you Love to clean? You can use that skill to either earn money or to barter for goods and services that you need. Maybe you have an overflowing garden or hen house!
Step Two: Make a list of stuff that you need. Do you need help sewing, cleaning house, or do you need to stretch your grocery budget a little bit further with the help of homegrown fruits and vegetables, farm fresh eggs?
Step Three: Ask! Ask your friends or if you’re feeling shy post on your Facebook page or whatever social media that you use. If you’d like to get a broader reach you can even post on websites like craigslist or fiverr.com. You’d be surprised at what kind of offers you get!
I’d love to hear about the types of things you barter for!
Recently, our bed frame broke. Our bed is nine years old, and our bed frame was the cheap-y one that came free when we bought our mattress and box springs. I shouldn’t really be surprised that it broke, but it did and it was no longer comfortable to sleep in our bed. It’s sagged in the middle because the part of the bed frame that broke was the center slat that provided the support for the mid section of the mattress.
I began my search online for a new bed frame. I checked all of the usual suspects: JCPenney, Sears, as well as trusty old Craigslist. All I wanted was a sturdy metal bed frame. No headboard, no foot board, just a bed frame.
Finally I found one that fit the bill. It was this one here from Sears. It was sturdy, as it had extra supports in the middle (which is very important when you have a small child likes to bounce on the bed like we do), and it fit my budget. So I set upon trying to get it for cheaply is possible.
First, I checked to see if there’s any place I could get a free Sears gift card with points from various rewards programs I use. I checked my Mypoints account, and I checked my SwagBucks account, and finally I checked my RecycleBank account. Turns out I had enough RecycleBank points to get a $10 gift card from Sears. I cashed out my points and a few days later I have received via email a $10 gift card from Sears.
Second, I logged onto my Shop Your Way Rewards Account (through Sears.com). If you haven’t signed up for Sears Shop Your Way Rewards, it’s easy! You can do it at any Sears, Sears Outlet, or Kmart location. It’s like any other store club card. Scan your key fob or enter your phone number when you check out and earn points. Points can be redeemed for cash off purchases. Also- Shop Your Way Rewards members get access to great coupons, and sometimes even surprise points (Frequently they send out $5 in points- just for being a member!). I had a $10 off of $50 or more purchase good for anything in the home department, which happens to include bed frames.
Third, I logged on to all of my survey websites: PaidViewPoint, and PineCone Research to see if I had points I could cash out for a PayPal payment. It turns out I had over $25 that I could cash out at PaidViewPoint. I requested a PayPal pay out and within six hours I had $27 and change in my PayPal account. I also discovered that I had enough points to cash out for a $15 payment via PayPal through PineCone Research. I requested that as well. I had $42 and change to use!
Fourth (And Finally), I also logged on to Top Cashback as well to see if I can earn any cash back for this shopping trip. Turns out I was going to earn a cool 3% cashback on my purchase.
So here’s how I got it for free:
Bed Frame $54.98 + $3.60 Tax
-$10/$50 Coupon
-$10 Sears Gift Card
-$38.58 from Paypal. (Money was earned doing surveys online as I outlined above. It took me less than two hours combined to do all of the surveys and earn this money. This time with spread over about a months time.)
Plus I qualified for free shipping because the original price was over $49.99
The best part is, I earned 3% of my post coupon amount ($38.58) because I shopped through Top Cashback. That’s more free money to use in the future! So I got paid .30 to buy something we really needed!
Freshly made bed (and laundry- It is Monday, after all!)
The bed frame was delivered on Friday and I just set it up this morning. And we did give it a good test bounce after the bed with put back together. It’s very sturdy I’m proud to announce.
The point of this post isn’t to show off, “Look what I can do isn’t this cool?!?”, but it’s meant to inspire you and show you that you can-do these things as well. You can get stuff for free. And not just little samples of this and that, but you can actually get things that you need for your home for free.
Taking surveys does take time however with PaidViewPoint, and PineCone Research. The surveys that you will do you’ve been pre-selected for, and take less than 10 minutes each. So you’re not wasting time doing surveys you don’t end up qualifying for and the payout for both of those companies is so low you’ll be able to reach a payout in less than a month even if you only do a few surveys for them each week.
So there it is. That’s how we got a brand-new bed delivered to our house for free. No smoke, no mirrors, no hocus-pocus, or anything shifty or questionable. Just a brand-new bed frame delivered free.
I’d love to hear about the kinds of things that you have gotten for free or really cheap using the profits from surveys or even secret shopping. So leave me a comment and let me know what kind of awesome things you’ve gotten for free!
Looking for a tasty freebie? Fill out this form here and you’ll receive a free a Hummus & Pita Chips GoPicnic Meal!
Right now Schoola has two ways for you to save big!
I’m on a new recipe kick right now. I don’t often get inspiration from Pinterest recipes because they are either things we don’t eat, or are overly complicated or cutesy. Instead I draw ideas from cookbooks, magazines, stuff I see at the grocery store while I cruise the aisles, and Buzzfeed’s Tasty Videos that are all over Facebook. I was jonseing for Olive Gardens now defunct Spinach Artichoke dip the other day, so imagine my surprise when I stepped foot into my local 99 Cents Only…
I found a jar of this Bruschetta at 99 Cents Only the other day and small jar of Artichoke dip. I knew I had to take them home and concoct something delicious!
We had a spaghetti Squash on the counter, so in order to keep the dish healthier and full of veggies and fiber, I opted to bake up the squash and use it instead of the traditional noddles or pasta in a casserole. If you’ve never cooked with spaghetti squash, I posted a tutorial here.)
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Today is National Sandwich Day, so that means a few BOGO Offers! Before heading down to your location location, call ahead to make sure that your preferred location is participating!
Togo’s is offering a FREE 6″ Regular Sandwich with purchase of any 6″ regular or large sandwich, chips & 20 oz. fountain drink. This deal may be limited to those in the Togo Tribe (Their Loyalty club). I received this offer via email.
Subway is offering a free sandwich with the purchase of any sandwich and a 30 ounce drink. (Source Twitter)
I came home with an assortment of goodies, and I am sharing my bounty with you! I pulled together a box of goodies! In addition to all of these awesome goodies, I’ll also include a few coupons for free products.(so good on salads, in smoothies or just out of the bag!)
(I’ve already eaten 10 of these bars- they are insanely delicious)
You’ve probably heard or read about bartering to save money, but you aren’t sure where to start, or how it works. I’m here to demystify it for you!
Recently, our bed frame broke. Our bed is nine years old, and our bed frame was the cheap-y one that came free when we bought our mattress and box springs. I shouldn’t really be surprised that it broke, but it did and it was no longer comfortable to sleep in our bed. It’s sagged in the middle because the part of the bed frame that broke was the center slat that provided the support for the mid section of the mattress.
Finally I found one that fit the bill. It was this one here from Sears. It was sturdy, as it had extra supports in the middle (which is very important when you have a small child likes to bounce on the bed like we do), and it fit my budget. So I set upon trying to get it for cheaply is possible.
Hewes Family Fun 