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New Birthday Freebies!

Abby H.4 Comments

Every year I update my Birthday Freebies post (you can see last years here), but there are some really cool ones, so I decided to do a separate update post, so you don’t miss them.

There are a lot of birthday freebies that I do not list on the original post, only because I don’t think they are that cool. Getting a free Rice Krispy treat when you buy lunch, or a free soft serve cone when you buy a hamburger are not making my list. Sorry Noodle Company and The Habit.

ttronslien-8721.jpgAs a member of the Driscoll’s Berry Advisory Panel, they email you a link for a .50/1 printable coupon!

Kohl’sYes2You members get a $5.00 coupon! I’ll be hitting the clearance rack today!

If you have a Boomer’s near you, join their Discount E-News Club! You’ll receive a super birthday deal (This is Lil’ Man’s Favorite): You’ll receive a free 4 Hours Unlimited Attractions  Play Pass good for all the attractions – Miniature Golf, Go Karts, Bumper Boats, Rock Wall and Kids County Fair.  Club members receive the special privilege of using this offer ANY single day during the month of their birthday.Must provide proof date of birthday at time of redemption.If you sign up during the Month of your Birthday you will receive your Birthday coupon within 48 hours.

Bruegger’s Bagels gives you three free bagels for your birthday. SCORE! Our family eats tons of bagels, so this is a sweet deal.

Between these great freebies, plus all of the ones from my previous birthday post, you’ll be rolling in freebies for weeks!!

 

Living Social Deals for the Kids!

Abby H.

Screen Shot 2017-01-25 at 11.52.22 AM.pngI love Living Social– So many great deals right now!

One of the ways I like to save money is to pick up a few Living Social deals to use on Lil’ Man’s days off school, or for family date night. That way we can still stay on budget and enjoy some fun.

Here are a few of the deals I’m stoked about right now:

Screen Shot 2017-01-25 at 12.40.51 PM.pngUrban Jungle Fun Park– There are multiple options.

Urban Jungle is a great indoor play place that includes trampoline areas, a climbing wall, and even an area for littler friends!

Screen Shot 2017-01-25 at 12.46.06 PM.pngNeed a family night out? Check out this deal! Poway Fun Bowl
3 Hours of Cosmic Bowling for 4 People

 

 

 

Neither of those your bag? There are whale watching trips, painting events, outdoor trips to the desert. All kinds of fun ways to spend time with your kids, spouse, sweetheart, or heck, even go alone (I won’t tell!).

 

So, Go Check out the sweet deals at Living Social!

Earn Extra Cash as a Stella & Dot Stylist!

Abby H.

I know some of you want to earn a little more money this year, and for some of you the hustles that I wrote about in this article aren’t in your scope of interest. Fear not,  I found out about a way you can earn money, while selling cute, stylish jewelry with Stella & Dot.

Just so you know, this post contains affiliate links, and I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Stella & Dot is creating a whole new way of running a business! Fresh thinking. Irresistible style. Innovative technology. Modern selling. Your Business, Your Way!

Even better! New stylists who join now through January 31st, will get up to $650 in FREE accessories! Tell your readers about this fun, flexible, and rewarding opportunity.

Here’s how it works:

  1. – Join during this limited time offer—Now through January 31, 2017.
  2. – The stylist will automatically get $650 of free accessories.
  3. – Achieve $1000 of sales within the first 30 days and get a $199 rebate.
That’s like joining for free and getting $650 of free accessories!
Encourage your readers to be bold and discover the entrepreneur in themselves. They will find a job they will love when they explore launching their own business as a Stella & Dot Stylist!

Here are a few reasons why:
Flexible Rewarding Stylish
To work around the million other things you do. You call the shots. Earn 25% – 30% commission on your sales. No sales minimums, no quotas, no territories, no inventory or deliveries. Style that practically sells itself.

This offer is only valid through 1/31/17, so if it interests you, click on the banner below to get started!

Quick Recipe: Easy, Healthy Brownies!

Abby H.

IMGP8542.jpgIn the search for healthier yummy recipes to feed Lil’ Man, I stumbled upon a recipe for black bean brownies. Ok, so stop making that face and read on. Oh, and this one is GLUTEN FREE!!

I read the recipe, and a bunch of comments and did some more investigating online and made a few tweaks to the recipe and got to cooking.

Ingredients:

  • 1 15 ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 T. sugar free applesauce
  • 3/4 c. cocoa powder
  • 1 T. Hazelnut extract (You could use vanilla)
  • 1 1/2 c brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1 t. instant coffee crystals (optional)- I used 1 t. of very strong coffee instead.
  • 1 C. chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease a 8×8 baking dish. I used an 8 inch round baking dish.
  3. In a blender, combine all of the ingredients EXCEPT the chocolate chips. This is important.  I didn’t do this!
  4. Pour batter into greased baking dish and top with chocolate chips. Bake for 25-35 minutes.  The brownies are super fudgy. If you want cake-ier brownies, add a pinch of baking powder.

 

If you like your brownies really sweet, add 1/4 c. white sugar. I like my desserts not super sweet, so I opted to use a little less sugar, and I’ll top mine with a scoop of ice cream- Yum!

They are not bean-y.  If I didn’t know they had beans in them. I wouldn’t be able to tell.  They are very moist, fudgy brownie. And if you use a flax egg and vegan chocolate chips, you’ve got a yummy vegan recipe!

 

Coupon Clubs: Friendship & Savings!

Abby H.3 Comments

deals_and_Coupons_version_2 (2).jpgOne of the questions I get frequently  is how do I get so many coupons?

I used to subscribe to FIVE Sunday papers (so much waste!!), but the best way is that I belong to a coupon club!

A what?  A coupon club.  We meet once a month, bring our extra coupon inserts, clip, trade, nosh, gossip and share tricks and tips.  We have a private Facebook group, so we can discuss deals and post our “wishlists”.  Each of us posts a list of coupons that we would like, and as the next meet up draws near, those who are attending clip and print coupons for each other.  Each meet up is like Christmas morning, we trade envelopes of the clipped coupons we requested.  We also talk about deals, frugal living strategies, and help each other. We’ve been together about 7 years!!

In addition to trading coupons, we also have teamed up with a local American Legion Post. They collect Sunday coupon inserts from members. We clip them and return them (taking whatever coupons we’d like). The Legion mails the coupons overseas for those military families living on base overseas. Overseas Military commissaries (that’s the on base grocery stores) accept coupons expired up to 6 months after the expiration date. So not only do we get access to multiple inserts, but, we are able to help others.

We also collect sample sized toiletries and items that we are able to get for free and donate them to the American Legion Post for their homeless veteran outreach.

If you are interested in starting a coupon in your local area, check out Facebook or meetup.com- there are lots of coupon clubs all over the country.

I have a Facebook group for people in my local East County San Diego area. We meet twice a month during the week. If you are interested in joining, check out our group:  Weekday Frugalistas: East County

I post freebies, deals, and other stuff between meetings, and I post a run down of what we discussed at the meeting afterwards, so even if you cant go, you’ll still be up to date!

If you can’t find a local coupon group, there are website dedicated to helping couponers. My favorite is:

 

Visit Hotcouponworld It's all about the deals.HCW has forums for all the major stores, including grocery, drug and mass merchandisers. Trade coupons, find freebies, and find local coupon groups.  You can trade coupons and view their coupon database! I’ve met lots of friends on HCW!

And if you are looking to print coupon online, check out my list of printable coupon resources here.  Every coupon you print helps support our blog!

Looking for Frugal Fun for Christmas? Check out Neighborhood Light Displays

Abby H.

One of the family traditions I want to carry over from when I was little is driving around to look at Holiday light displays. And for those of us in San Diego, we’re in luck!

IMG_0895.jpg
Bitty Bird, Excited to see the Sesame Street decorated house at Starlight Circle!

Here are our favorites, addresses and info courtesy of San Diego Family Magazine.

Here is a link to the original PDF so you can print it off and take it with you!  It’s got addresses and more info.

We’ve already visited most of these east county locations:

EL CAJON, 92021

  • Jingle Bell Hill (also known as Pepper Dr. Lights). Solomon Ave./Pegeen Pl. and surrounding area. Off 67 & Bradley. Dec. 8-26, Mon-Th 6-9 pm, Fri-Sun 6-10 pm. Our favorite is the Nightmare Before Christmas House!

LAKESIDE, 92040

  • 10248 Paseo Palmas Dr. Nicknamed “Tinsel Town”. Dec. 1-25, 5:30-9 pm. Most of the houses on this street are very well decorated with lights and moving displays!

SANTEE, 92071

  •  Starlight Circle, East and West Glendon Circles. Dec. 17-26, 7-10 pm. This is extremely popular! You can park and walk through. There are neighbors selling cocoa, coffee, popcorn, and cotton candy. If you walk, take money with you! Starlight Circle even has a facebook page!
  • 9773 Roe Dr. 27,000 Christmas lights dance to 10 songs over 128 computer channels. Food Bank and St. Jude donations accepted. Dec. 3-Jan. 2. Sun-Th, 6-10 pm and Fri & Sat, 6-11 pm.www.DBChristmas.com It is very impressive!
  • IMG_0879.jpgIf you love South Park, after you stop by Roe, cruise down Lake Canyon Drive (in the 9400 block, East of Carlton Hills Blvd) and check out the Woodland Critter Christmas Display.

 

We pack the kids into the car after dark with snacks and head out for a drive. It’s a fun way to spend time together, and it’s pretty frugal!

What holiday traditions do you want to share with your kids?

Earn Free Pizzas at Dominos!

Abby H.

Screen Shot 2016-12-17 at 8.34.42 AM.png

Woo Hoo! Check out what was in my inbox this morning!

Dominos started a new “Piece of the Pie Rewards” earlier this year. For every purchase of $10 or more you place, you’ll receive 10 points. Once you receive 60 points, you earn a free medium two topping pizza!

To learn more about the program, check out the Dominos website.

I love programs like this! It’s great to be rewarded for buying things that you are already buying

 

Wanna Save Money in 2017?

Abby H.1 Comment

8f235f4422591a09bd341f17958e172c.jpgOne of the most common New Years Resolutions is to to save money. And it’s a good one!

Last year I wrote a series with the top ten resolutions:

 

If you feel like you are too busy to “deal with” coupons:

I hope these tips and articles help!

Review of Grandbox!

Abby H.

A few weeks ago, I posted aboutGrandBox , a monthly subscription box.

GrandBox is the original monthly subscription box customized and curated specifically for seniors 65 and up. It’s the perfect gift to bring a smile to the older loved ones in your life.

Well, it was received by the kid’s paternal grandmother. And she liked it!

The box contained:

  • Holiday Wet-It
  • hand lotion,
  • d’anjou pear hard candy,
  • chocolate butter biscuit,
  • holiday patterned kleenex,
  • and a couple of candy canes!

And per my Mother in law, the TOPPER was the pics of the kids.

So if you are looking for a gift for the grandparent or other older relative in your life, check out Grandbox!

Have an awesome time at Medieval Times!

Abby H.

 

Ok, so a few weeks ago, I wrote about Medieval Times.  Right now, they have an incredible deal, CLICK HERE and use this exclusive promo code MT3629 through 2/17/17 and receive Adults for just $36.95 and children (12 and under) only $29.95.

That’s an incredible deal! Dinner at Medieval Times would make a great gift for the little knights or maiden on your gift giving list!

Lil’ Man and I headed up on Sunday with our friends, and we had a great time!

IMG_0694.jpgWhen you enter the King and his chancellor speak and knight the birthday kids, you can grab a drink at the bar (they have non-alcoholic drinks too!), and check out the horses while you wait for your show to start. Here we are sitting on the Royal thrones! Lil’ Man loves making goofy faces!

(BTW, yes, his shirt says Property of One Awesome Mom)

IMG_0703.jpgThe food was cool! You eat off metal plates and bowl with handle, no silverware (I snuck plastic spoons in- I didn’t want the kids to melt down because they couldn’t eat their soup).

We sat in the Red & Yellow Knight’s section, hence the weird orange tint to the photo of our dishes!

The show starts after you are seated (You are “sorted” into cheering sections as you enter the castle). The knights are introduced and food service begins.

The King’s feast includes garlic bread, tomato bisque soup, roasted chicken, sweet buttered corn, herb-basted potato, pastry of the Castle (Lemon pound cake for us!) and beverages. It was great! Our server was so cool.

C85D8D46-ACC9-4F1C-B4F0-56952339F12E.jpg

Overall, the show was great- so much excitement and drama. The kids were riveted for the entire show. They almost didn’t eat because of how much they enjoyed the show.

There were a lot of people celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and other special events.

But really, no one ever needs a reason (or excuse) to visit the King’s Castle at Medieval Times!

If you don’t live in Southern CA, fret not! There are locations all over the country!