It’s that time again! On your October California Utility Bill (Which includes PG&E, SCE, SDG&E, Bear Valley, Liberty, and Pacific Power), you will receive a California Climate Credit. For SDG&E customers, the amount is $81.38. This comes off the Electric portion of your bill.
The California Climate Credit directly results from the State’s Cap-and-Trade Program which requires polluters to pay for climate pollution. Credits are distributed in April and October each year. Credits appear automatically on your bill and are designed to help utility customers during the transition to a more sustainable future.
And if you want more ways to save energy and money, check out Ohm Connect! We’ve been using Ohm Connect for 6+ years, saved thousands of dollars on our power bill, and earned thousands of dollars in gift cards and cash via PayPal!
The past two weeks have been busy. Between feeling under the weather and being busy with end-of-the-month activities, I am glad the end of the quarter is upon us.
I’ve updated my list of freebies for birthdays in 2025, which you can find here.
For free food resources, please refer to my comprehensive list, available here. It is focused on San Diego County, but additional resources are outside my area.
Don’t forget that tomorrow is National Coffee Day – Freebies and Deals can be found here.
Next Monday, 9/29/2025, is National Coffee Day. In the past, this meant free coffee flowing like water.
This year, there are a few fewer offers, but the available offers are pretty good.
I’ve separated the list into two categories: the first is offers that are available in the San Diego/Southern CA area (where I am), and the second is the rest of the country.
I am unable to confirm these beyond finding them online, so if you go into a store and it’s not an available deal, please let me know.
FYI- Many of these deals require a purchase.
If you are unsure if a local coffee shop or coffee chain in your area is participating, check the app or ask in your local store.
Deals available in San Diego/Southern CA:
7Eleven – FREE hot coffee with purchase for 7Rewards loyalty members in the 7Now app
85°C Bakery Cafe – FREE coffee in the app
Circle K – FREE hot or iced coffee in the app
Bruegger’s or Einstein Bros Bagels – FREE coffee with any purchase in the app
Burger King – FREE medium iced coffee for Royal Perks members with a $1+ online or in-app purchase
IKEA – FREE coffee or tea with IKEA Family
Wendy’s – Watch for a Hot, Cold Brew, or Frosty Cream Cold Brew for only 99 cents offer
Paris Baguette – FREE medium hot or iced coffee for Rewards members with any purchase from 27-29th
Deals available throughout the US:
Kwik Trip – FREE 12 oz Coffee with the app
Lamar’s – FREE small coffee
GetGo – FREE coffee when you scan your Giant Eagle Advantage Card
QuickChek – FREE hot or iced coffee with a purchase for rewards members
QuikTrip – FREE small coffee with the app
RaceTrac – FREE medium coffee via the app with the promo code: COFFEEDAY25
Wawa – FREE coffee for Rewards Members. Offer may vary by location, so check with yours
Shipley – FREE Cold Brew Donut or Original Glazed for loyalty members with the purchase of any coffee
I’ve been doing some research to find some fun resources for my day job, and I wanted to share because sharing is caring!
Here are just a few of the educational resources available from Canva.
First up is my personal favorite: Canva. It’s a website where you can make all sorts of media- both print and digital! They have a lot of free worksheet templates for all grades.
I recently learned about Free Book Marketplace, which sells low-cost books to educators. Their Free Resource section is expansive. Their Free Resource section can be found here.
This resource won’t go live until next month, but I’m mentioning it now: Book It. For both home schools and traditional schools, this program is a great way to celebrate reading with tasty rewards for grades TK/pre-K up to 6th grade!
If Pizza isn’t on the menu, Panda Express has a program called Read with Me that is for TK/pre-K through 5th grade (ages 5-11).
Education.comhas a plethora of lessons, worksheets, and educational supports in ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language.
And don’t forget Teachers Pay Teachers. This site has a lot of free resources. Everyone who sells on this site must provide at least 1 free resource. I have a lot of free resources in my store. TPT frequently has sales and discount codes. I do my best to post these coupon codes and sales as they become available.
And not strictly educational, but… LEGO® Life Magazine offers free subscriptions. Perfect for kids aged 5-9, this printed magazine is packed full of cool activities, fun comics, creative builds, posters, and so much more. We get it at my house, and I try to bring it to school to share with the kids after mine are done pouring over it.
Did you know that Michaels offers a Teacher Discount? Once you verify yourself as a teacher, you’ll receive 15% off everything (even sale merchandise!).
After seven months, it’s time to bring back the weekly meal plan post. And it’s to hold myself accountable. Everyone’s been fed, so that’s not the problem. The problem lies in that unless I have something staring me in the face saying, “Hey, this is what you’re eating tonight!!” I will just ignore that and graze like a raccoon. Everybody’s fed. The kids always have a nutritious dinner, but I will just stand in front of an open cupboard and eat crackers out of a box. Or I will eat a cheese stick and handfuls of greens like it’s dinosaur time.
So my hope is that when I write out this whiteboard weekly meal plan, I will hold myself to it.
The whiteboard has been repurposed yet again, and it’s ready for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.
Breakfast: We tend to eat cereal, a bagel, or an MBS (Mrs. Bear Special) each morning for breakfast. I usually have a proffee and a bagel.
Lunch: M-F I pack myself and the kids’ lunches. I bring 5 lunches to work on Monday and stash them in the fridge. I pack the kids lunches each night before bed, except for the cold stuff and ice pack- those I put in when I get up in the morning.
Dinner: This week, for dinner, I chose some easier options to ease back into meal planning.
Now that it is fall and it is officially soup time (even though it’s like 90° outside most of the time) I will be making a big batch of soup once a week, so I will have soup for lunches and for dinner at least one to two nights during the week. This week’s soup is Zuppa Toscana. I also have a casserole planned for this week.
I love me a good old-fashioned casserole, and so does the little one. The big one not so much, but he’ll drink a smoothie any day of the week, so I’m not terribly concerned about him not getting something nutritious in his belly.
What I learned this week: One can still contract Pertussis despite being vaccinated against it. How do I know? Both my kids got it. I took yesterday off from work, and the littlest one and I saw the pediatrician, who confirmed that both kids had it (The big one saw a doctor the day before).
My house has turned into a medication dispensary. My kitchen counter is cluttered with medications, schedules, hand sanitizer, and Lysol spray. The horrors persist, and so do I.
I’ve updated my list of freebies for birthdays in 2025, which you can find here.
For free food resources, please refer to my comprehensive list, available here. It is focused on San Diego County, but additional resources are outside my area.
If you are into Organic/Natural/Healthy products, then Social Nature is right up your alley. Sign up and apply to sample products that you are interested in. I usually receive 4-6 offers/freebies per month, sometimes more if I have time to shop. And most of the time it’s full-size products, not just a tiny sample.
In addition to the offers where they mail you a coupon for a free product, Social Nature has started offering 100% cash-back, similar to Ibotta and Fetch Rewards. I love this because I can select exactly what I want, Social Nature tells me which local stores have it, and I can add it to my next shopping list.
And it’s just as easy as Ibotta and Fetch Rewards. Snap a pic and upload it. You can select Venmo, Paypal, or an Amazon Gift Card for your rebate.
Here are just a few of the Free/100% Cashback offers available now:
I like the Home Expressions Quick Dri® Benzoyl Peroxide Friendly Bath Towel because certain people in my house use oxy pads (yes those still exist) and other face products that contain Benzoyl Peroxide, and that can bleach out other towels. I also like white towels because you can bleach them.
So if you need to refresh your linen closet this weekend, JCP is a great place to start!
This week has been so busy. Between work, appointments, and overall shenanigans, I am finally able to sit down and post these freebies and deals. And some of these are fire as the kids say.
I’ve updated my list of freebies for birthdays in 2025, which you can find here.
For free food resources, please refer to my comprehensive list, available here. It is focused on San Diego County, but additional resources are outside my area.