7/29/2022 Friday Freebies and Deals

This week was a little slow for me. I have eustachian Tube Disfunction, my head is stuffed up and I feel like I’m underwater. Thankfully, one ear “popped” and the tube drained this morning, so I’m feeling a little more human.  I’ve been trying to follow doctor’s orders and relax and rest. It’s hard.

Big kid is done at camp and now we have 4 weeks of nothing to do. They are really looking forward to it.

If you are looking for some frugal adventures for this summer, check out this post.

Mask Mandates are changing constantly in California and can vary by city and county, so please do your part if you are going to any in-person freebies.

2022 Birthday Freebies are here!

Freebies

Free Rosary
Free Zeal Creamery Fresh Grass-Fed Chocolate Milk
Free Infantino Baby Products
Free Sample of YSL Beauty Lash Clash Extreme Volume Mascara
Free Organicville Organic Ketchup
Free Gatorade Zero with Protein at Kroger
Free Bang Cookies & Brownies
Free Vitamin C Clay Mask + $25 Amazon eGift Card
Free Like Air Puffcorn Snack from Sam’s Club
Free Sample of Clinical Skin Vitamin C Pro-Collagen Serum
Free 256GB SSD at Micro Center
Free Eggland‘s Best Superior Hero Party Kit
Huggies Rewards Free 4000pts for an Amazon Gift Card
Free VFW Still Serving Dog Bandana or Patch
Free B.Shaye Happiness Nail Polish
Free Makeup, Bath or Manicure Set
Free Timberland Products
Free $10 Every Friday with Samuel Adams
Free Wireless Zone Backpack & School Supplies Giveaway
Free Fragrance Samples from Macy’s
Free Key at a MinuteKEY Kiosk
Free Woolite Darks Laundry Detergent at Select Stores
Free Pink Bath Set
Free TruCup Coffee Sample
Free Access to MyHeritage Ancestry Tools for 2 Weeks
Free Makeup Brush Set
Free Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for Xfinity Rewards Members
250 Free Kool Rewards Points
Free Lawn Mowing Simulator PC Game
Free Cirque du Soleil 60 Minute Specials
1-Year Subscription to Apple TV+

 

Deals

Muscle Tank Tops for ONLY $7.99 (Reg. $16)
Cushioned Cloud Slides ONLY $23.99 (Reg. $36)
Glass Food Storage Containers ONLY $6.34 (Reg. $16.13)
Wireless Earbuds ONLY $19.99 (Reg. $39.99)
Bed Sheets ONLY $23.99 (Reg. $40)
Gap Home Bath Rug ONLY $12.90 (Reg. $19.98)
Ugg Women’s Slippers ONLY $35 (Reg. $120)
The North Face Apparel up to 65% Off
Birkenstock Dupes starting as low as ONLY $13.99
Barbie Pool Set ONLY $8.27 (Reg. $20)
Self Inflating Camping Mattress ONLY $25 (Reg. $60)
Segmented Velvet Ottoman ONLY $12 (Reg $48)
Free Medium Fries w/ Any $1 Purchase at McDonalds – Every Friday
Wild Sage Utility Cart in Iris ONLY $16 (Reg $80)
Amazon Basics Magnifying Vanity Mirror ONLY $13.78 (Reg $21)
Disney Kermit & Piggy 2-Piece Plush Set ONLY $8.02 (Reg $20)
Folding LED Desk Lamp ONLY $9.99 (Reg $30)
Igloo SpongeBob 7-Quart Cooler ONLY $18.88 (Reg $40)

Faith Chapel: 7/31/22 Backpack Giveaway!

This popped up in my inbox last night. I know a lot of you are keeping tabs on school supply and backpack giveaways, and Faith Chapel in Spring Valley has got you covered!

For those of us who start back to school early, this backpack giveaway is perfect.

This Sunday, July 31st, Faith Chapel will be giving out 400 FREE stuffed backpacks! Details will be shared during our 10:30am service so plan on attending. Registration begins as early as 9:30am.

Students must be present to receive a backpack.

Come to Faith Chapel’s main campus to register, enjoy the service, then receive the stuffed backpacks with school supplies.

Faith Chapel
9400 Campo Rd.
Spring Valley, CA 91977

And don’t forget that Faith Chapel hosts two Neighborhood Distributions per month! To learn more, check out my post here. 

2 Upcoming Clothing Swaps in San Diego!

I love clothing swaps- If you have read my blog, you know it’s one of my favorite ways to refresh the kids wardrobes (and my own).

There haven’t been too many clothing swaps since the pandemic started, but I have found two coming up that are going to be GREAT!

Saturday, August 06, 2022, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM Foothills Church 365 W Bradley Ave, El Cajon CA

The women’s ministry is hosting a FREE clothing exchange! You can swap gently used women’s & children’s clothing and infant essentials. They have limited space, so please no toys or books. There will be no childcare available, so keep that in mind. If you want to drop off items early, Look for the bins in their lobby. I’m dropping off items tomorrow.

August 27, 2022 Porchlight Community Services, Inc. 8888 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Suite B San Diego, CA
Clothing Swap
From their site “We invite you to be part of our SWAP PARTY! Bring clothing, accessories, personal hygiene, or toiletries, OR you’re welcome to donate a bag of canned/shelf-stable food to participate. *Expired food will not be accepted*”

This is a fundraising event, donate what you can ($5 suggested) or you can bring canned goods to donate on the event date to participate. We will gladly accept them on the day of the event.

Please drop off items to swap in advance: 8/25 Thursday 10 am-5 pm or 8/27 Saturday *Before 9 am.  For more information, check out the event page here. And to learn more about Porchlight Community Services, check out their website.

And if you are looking for more information about clothing swaps, check out my post from earlier this year here.

Q-Insights Vehicle Study- Pays $150

QI-logoNOslogan.pngQ-insights is another company where I do research groups, focus groups, and online surveys to earn extra money.

They have a lot of stuff in South Orange County, and less often San Diego County. This upcoming survey takes place virtually!

Q-Insights is currently recruiting for an online focus group regarding your vehicle purchase process. The sessions will be held between Wednesday, August 3rd- Friday, August 5th. You will be compensated $150 for the 1 hour 45 minute session.

They are currently looking for owners 2016-2023 new or used vehicles.

If you are interested in participating please fill out the survey here. If you pre-qualify someone from Q-Insights will call you to ask some additional qualifying questions.

Q-insights Long Term Care Study -It pays $150

QI-logoNOslogan.pngQ-insights is another company where I do research groups, focus groups, and online surveys to earn extra money.

They have a lot of stuff in South Orange County, and less often San Diego County. This upcoming survey takes place virtually!

Q-Insights is currently recruiting for an online blog on the topic of Long Term Care.  The study will be on August 8th & 12th and you will be compensated $150 as a thank you for your time.

If you are interested in participating please fill out the survey here. If you pre-qualify someone from Q-Insights will call you to ask some additional qualifying questions.

7/25/2022 Weekly Meal Plan

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgSummer break is here! We’ve got all sorts of adventures planned, you can check out some of our adventures here.

This week the big kid is off each morning to Home Base Ranch. His class goes there throughout the year, and I thought it would be good for him to go this summer as well. Thanks to our caseworker at TMI, we got this camp funded for him. Regional Centers are supported to fund recreational activities for their clients, but that process was a disaster.

Despite having no voice and feeling run down, I went grocery shopping this morning. I started with a pickup order at Target (I had a gift card), then hit up Grocery Outlet (where I got the majority of the groceries for the week), and stopped into 99 Cents Only, but that was bust. All of the produce was overpriced and in really gross shape. Next, I hit up Vons. They are having a sale on Taylor Farms salads this week, and I really like them. I also grabbed grapes and strawberries.

No CSA boxes until the weather cools down and I can be home when the boxes are delivered. With the heat and the lack of shade on my patio, if we aren’t home when it’s delivered, some of the more delicate foods can spoil.

We’ve been trying a lot of new foods lately, thanks to the really great freebies from Social Nature lately too. It’s fun to try new foods. I’ve got a few coupons to redeem for snacks and treats from Social Nature this week.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. They are also into fruit and bagels for breakfast. Lately, the big kid has been digging protein shakes in the morning. This is his favorite kind. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote in the cupboard full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. This is really helpful for the summer when for some reason, kids are starving all the time.

Dinner: It’s hot, I am relying on our crockpot and cold foods a lot this week.  I’m trying to keep the oven off. With the cost of food going up, you may notice that a lot of the food we are eating

  • Monday: Nuggets, fruit, cheese & crackers

  • Tuesday: Moosie’s Pot Roast, rice or noodles, veggies

  • Wednesday: Salsa Chicken, Rice, Beans, Salad (Didn’t end up making it last week)

  • Thursday: Protein shakes, fruit salad

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday:  Leftovers
  • Sunday:   Cinnamon rolls, eggs, fruit

Getting Ready for Back to School: Health Edition

The Back to school shopping crazies will start in a few weeks with sales and deals, but one thing we’ve done this summer to help with Back to school is getting everyone in tip-top health!

I made sure the kids are seeing all the doctors/specialists over the summer to minimize appointments during the school year.

Here in California vision and dental insurance is included under health insurance plans for kids 18 and under. To learn more, check the back of your kid’s health insurance card for phone numbers.

The kids saw the dentist and had eye exams. New glasses were ordered through the optometrist that are part of the vision insurance (one pair every 2 years from a list of specific frames), and we get the paper prescription for our family binder. 

I order extra pairs of glasses through online discount retailers such as EYEBUYDIRECT. A lot of online discount retailers have inexpensive kid’s glasses that can be less than $20 a pair, which is great to have on hand because we all know, kids tend to break stuff.

EYEBUYDIRECT prices start at $6 for select frames!

I also had the kids see any specialists that they needed to, in our case they needed to go to the podiatrist.

And of course, we took care of behavioral/mental health appointments and medication checks over the summer as well. And all future mental/behavioral health appointments are after school or on weekends.

The next health component that I am working on is getting our family first aid kit up to snuff, and that will be a separate post over the weekend.

Family Recipe: $100 Brownies

This is an easy, decadent recipe that impresses guests.

Inspired by a friend’s brownie recipe that once fetched $100 at an auction, this dessert will disappear before your eyes. These brownies are so rich, so don’t forget the milk or cuppa Joe.

 

$100 Brownies

Ingredients 

  • 1 brownie mix 
  • Milk
  • Eggs
  • Melted butter
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter (your favorite variety)
  • 1/2 bag (about 6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips 

Directions:

  1. Mix up the brownie recipe per directions in the box. Substitute milk for water, and melted butter for oil in the directions. Use eggs as directed on the box.
  2. Bake brownies as directed.
  3. As soon as they are down, remove them from the oven and immediately top with peanut butter and chocolate chips.
  4. Allow PB and chips to melt atop the hot brownies, about 5-10 minutes.
  5. Using a silicone spatula, carefully mix and spread PB and melted chips to form and even layer a top the brownies.
  6. Once brownies have cooled to room temp, store them in the fridge for at least 1 hour prior to serving.

Makes 18 small brownies- these are very rich, and a little goes a long way.

Substitutions:

  • If you are Gluten Free, substitute your favorite GF brownie mix.

7/22/2022 Friday Freebies and Deals

Today was my last day of work at school for a month. So there should be an uptick in blog posts and social media stuff.

The big kid was sick earlier this week with an ear infection. He’s starting to heal, but it’s slow going.

If you are looking for some frugal adventures for this summer, check out this post.

Mask Mandates are changing constantly in California and can vary by city and county, so please do your part if you are going to any in-person freebies.

2022 Birthday Freebies are here!

Freebies

Free Sample of Gerber Soothe n Chew Teething Sticks
Free Starbucks Drink or Treat for Select Spotify Accounts
Possible Free $150 Candy Research Study
Free Kids Book Every Month
Free Niacinamide Face Serum
Free Combo Meal at White Castle
Free Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Sample
Free Hot Dog at The Original Hot Dog Factory
Free Donut Wednesdays at Dunkin
Free Glycolic Overnight Peel Treatment
Free Montchevre Goat Cheese After Rebate
Free Pretzel at Auntie Anne’s – Every Wednesday in July & Aug
Free Garden of Flavor Cold-Pressed Energy Elixir
Free Book with Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program
Free Sample of Saturix Clean Room Wipes
Free Duracell Batteries at Office Depot & Office Max
Free Skincare Bath & Body Bundle
Free Sample of Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Gel Cream
Free Bath & Body Gift Sets
Free NeilMed Sinus Rinse Kit
Banfield Pet Hospital – Free Office Visit & Consultation
Free Original Chick Meal at Chicken Salad Chick
Free Shoes from Dream Pair Shoes
Free $10 ThredUP Credit = Free Womens & Children Items
Free Beyond Meat Teriyaki Jerky at Walmart
Free Goody Bag at buybuy BABY Stores
Free Andalou Naturals Skincare Products
Free 10 oz. Ithaca Hummus After Rebate
Free Love Corn
Free Half Price Books Summer Reading Camp
Free Tannenberg PC Game
Free My Best Friend’s Wedding for Xfinity Rewards Members
2,000 Free AllState Rewards Points
Free Shop Titans PC Game

 

Deals:

Michael Kors Travel Crossbody Bag ONLY $74.25 (Reg $398)
Levi’s Women’s Bermuda Jean Shorts ONLY $24.99 (Reg $50)
Insulated Backpack Cooler ONLY $19.04 (Reg. $39.99)
Flying Saucer Outdoor Swing at Amazon ONLY $29.99 (Reg. $59.99)
Women’s Turtleneck Sweater ONLY $7 (Reg. $28)
Youth Camping Chair ONLY $8.98 (Reg. $17.97)
Silk Queen Size Pillowcases 2-PC ONLY $8.49 (Reg. $16.99)
2022-2023 Planners as low as ONLY $2.99 (Reg. $5.99)
Adidas Adilette Footbed Clogs ONLY $18.54 (Reg $45)
Arctic Air Cooler ONLY $23.99 (Reg $40)
Char-Broil Gas Grill with Side Burner ONLY $132.99 (Reg $230)
Airtight Food Storage Containers 7-pc ONLY $21.99 (Reg. $51.59)
Polarized Sunglasses 3-pack ONLY $7.49 (Reg. $15)

99 Cents Only: Sign up for the NEW 99 App today and get a $5 Reward!

This was in my inbox earlier today, and while I have fallen out of love with 99 Cents Only (which is a huge misnomer these days, the average price of items is $2.99), this is still a pretty good deal:

When you download the app, sign up for an account (or log on if you had the older version of the app already), you’ll get a $5 off your next purchase of $25+ offer.

With inflation and 99 Cents Only’s foray into more expensive merchandise, I have stopped shopping there as much as I used to. They still have decent deals on bagged salads, bread, spices, canned goods, and first aid supplies.