Green Kids Crafts: 25% Off Select Boxes- Perfect for Summer!

Science & Craft Subscription Boxes for Kids ages 3-10+Summer is coming, and the choruses of “I’m bored” will ring out across the country. I received an email from Green Kids Crafts this morning, and I had to share!

Green Kids Crafts is perfect for keeping boredom at bay! per their website, “4-6 educator-designed STEAM projects in every box. Millions choose us for our award-winning hands-on activities.”

Right now, Green Kids Crafts is offering 25% off their favorite boxes!

Use code FAVORITE25 at checkout and save 25% off their select favorite monthly boxes through the end of the month.

I know that both kids will love the Volcano kit. They’ve both been watching videos of Kīlauea’s eruptions in Hawaii.   The Volcanoes Discovery Box contains FOUR award-winning Creativity and STEAM Science Kits! Your pint-sized volcanologists will have a blast (literally!) with these fun learning kits, including Break Your Own Geode Kit, Volcano Splatter Art Kit, Exploding DIY Volcano, Crystal Making Kit, and more.

And as a bonus- Green Kids Crafts is a woman-owned business right here in San Diego!

 

5/30/2025 Weekly Freebies and Deals!

School is out for some of you, but we’ve still got 8 days left- not that we are counting.

  • The Summer Library Reading Program post can be found here.
  • The Summer Movie Deals can be found here.
  • Don’t forget about Cheap Stuff to do with Tweens and Teens here.
  • Kids Bowl Free is back for 2025- More info here.

I’ve updated my list of freebies for birthdays in 2025, which you can find here.

If you are looking for free food resources, my comprehensive list can be found here. It is focused on San Diego County, but additional resources are outside my area.

Let’s get onto the Freebies!!

FREE Beech-Nut Oaty Bites Toddler Snack
FREE 12 Count of Ball Mason Jars at Walmart After Cash Back
Calm and Cozy: Free Baby Sleep Music for Restful Nights
FREE Food at Burger King for Perks Week: Today BOGO Whopper
FREE Mainstays Waterproof Beach Tote Bag at Walmart After Cash Back
FREE Sample Of Pamprin Max Pain + Energy
Free Baby Samples & Full Sized Products from Amazon
FREE CeraVe Facial Moisturizer Sample Bundle
T-Mobile Tuesdays – FREE Large Slurpee, FREE 1-Week Access to Local Cool Treats Perks & More
Claim a FREE Coffee Voucher in the Family Dollar Chestnut Hill Ground Coffee Class Action Settlement
FREE Fit Dog Magnet
FREE Frazil Slushie Every Friday in June
FREE Sample of GummiShot Energy Gummies
FREE Pair of Garden Snips at Lowe’s
FREE Dippin’ Dots Ice Cream Sundaes Chatterbuy Kit
FREE Sample of Ready Sports Drink
FREE Crown Royal Military Care Package for Our Troops
FREE Full-Size Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm After Cash Back
The Ultimate Guide to Birthday Freebies for Kids and Babies
FREE Sample of e.l.f. Holy Hydration Makeup Melting Cleansing Balm
Get Free Beauty Product Samples With Topbox Circle
FREE e.l.f. Pout Clout Lip Plumping Pen
FREE Bottle of EcoStrong Oxy Pet Carpet Cleaner
FREE Samples of Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Drops & Protini Polypeptide Cream
Celebrate Tropical Smoothie National Flip Flop Day with a FREE Smoothie TODAY
Get Started on Your Wellness Goals with Free Supplement Samples
FREE Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish Glow Up Party Kit
FREE 30-Day Supply of MIRANEST Jelly Sticks for Dogs – a $120 Value
FREE Rabanne Invictus Victory Absolu Fragrance Sample

 

Deals:

Up to 46% off Select Patio Furniture at Home Depot
Summer Dresses up to 50% Off at Macy’s – Prices as low as $8!
Best Places To Buy Cheap & Affordable Furniture Online: 2025
Take 5 Oil Change and Car Wash Coupons for 2025
Everything You Need to Know About Michaels Rewards
Save Up to 70% Off Women’s Jeans at Kohls – Prices as low as $7.42
Kate Spade Ginnie Crossbody ONLY $65 (Reg $199)
Teachers: Save 20% with the Under Armour Teacher Discount
Kids Digital Camera ONLY $10.49 (Reg $30) on Amazon
TODAY ONLY All Swimsuits at Old Navy 60% Off for the Whole Family
Check Out This Persil Detergent Deal for ONLY $8.97 with Walmart Cash
Lock n Lock 30-Piece Storage Container Set ONLY $22 (Reg $76)
Save 48% Off Folding Floor Chair at Wayfair
Some of the Best Things to Buy at BJ’s Wholesale That Are Worth Your Money in 2025
Kate Spade Spade Flower Quilted Cosmetic Pouch ONLY $39 (Reg $129)
Best Walmart Cash Deals This Week: Belvita, Persil, Purex, All, Dove, Dole and More
Sandals & Flip Flops From at $12.79 at JCPenney
Vera Bradley Belt Bag as Low as $11 – NOW 80% Off
Belvita Energy Snack Bites ONLY $2.97 (Reg $4.48) after Walmart Cash
Revlon 1875W Compact Hair Dryer ONLY $10.97 at Walmart (Reg $29)

5/10/2025 Weekly Freebies and Deals!

This week has been great for summer freebies and deals!

  • The Summer Library Reading Program post can be found here.
  • The Summer Movie Deals can be found here.
  • Don’t forget about Cheap Stuff to do with Tweens and Teens here.
  • Kids Bowl Free is back for 2025- More info here.

I’ve updated my list of freebies for birthdays in 2025, which you can find here.

If you are looking for free food resources, my comprehensive list can be found here. It is focused on San Diego County, but additional resources are outside my area.

Let’s get onto the Freebies!!

FREE Capri Sun Single Serve Chatterbuy Kit
FREE Sample of L’Oreal Everpure Bond Strengthening Pre-Shampoo Treatment
FREE Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Set at Sephora After Cash Back
FREE Paint or Stain Sample at Lowe’s
FREE Baseball Game Workshop at Home Depot
FREE MyONE Custom Fit Condom
FREE LEGO Classic Brick Box Set After Cash Back
FREE $35 Purchase at Target After Cash Back
$1 Million in FREE Chipotle for Cinco De Mayo
FREE Slider at White Castle on May 15th
FREE Frozen Drink at Casey’s Every Friday in May thru August
FREE Pack of EXTRA Gum – 1st 500
FREE Sample of Sunrise Strips Fabric Sun Protection Strips
FREE Ticket to the Movie Watch The Skies
FREE Planet Fitness Summer Pass for Teens
FREE Food & Beverage Products from the Nestle GoodNes Community
FREE Skinnygirl Avocado Oil Salad Dressings Chatterbuy Kit
FREE Starface Black Star Pimple Patches
FREE Groovies Dog Dental Chews
FREE 8×10 Photos at Walgreens
FREE Hootenanny Games Party Pack
FREE Air Wick Plug In Scented Oil Advanced Gadgets After Walmart Cash (Get 3 Free)
FREE Sample of BIODERMA Original Cleansing Micellar Water
FREE Cold Foam Days at Starbucks on May 7th – 11th

 

Deals

Doorbusters Sale at JCPenney: Save up to 55% Off Select Styles
Yankee Candles Mother’s Day Sale – Buy 2 Get 2 Free
Graphic Tees $6, $5 & $4 at Old Navy
Grab These Best Shoe Deals on Sale For Women, Men & Kids, Up to 75% Off
Ulta Coupon: $3 off $15
Up to 30% Off Fragrance & Beauty at Macy’s
Pizza Coupons, Promo Codes and Deals From Papa John’s, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Little Caesars and More!
Quick Dri Bath Towels $4.99 Each at JCPenney
Top Magnetic Building Tiles Under $30: Tested in 2025
Old Navy – Save up to 70% Off Clearance Styles – Prices Start at $0.96
JCPenney Scented Jar Candles ONLY $8.99 (Reg $26)

Free Mental Health Resources in California

This is a heavy topic. If you are not in the headspace to read this, please scroll on.

Mental health care is important to everyone, regardless of age or financial situation. Depending on your health insurance situation, most insurance plans provide coverage for mental health services.

If you do not have health insurance or cannot afford your mental health copays, there is still help out there for you.

Crisis Support:

If you and your family are low-income, you may be eligible for Medi-Cal (Medicaid in California). To learn more about Medi-Cal eligibility, visit the DHCS website here. 

 

2025- Summer Movies for Kids on the Cheap!

One of the kid’s favorite summer activities is to hit up the local theater for a showing of one of their favorite movies.

Big buckets of popcorn, snuck in candy (shhhh), and a drink and they are ready for 2 hours of fun in the Air Conditioning.

AMC Theatres is bringing back Summer Movie Camp starting 6/23/25. Tickets are just $3.oo/each at the box office!

 Summer Movie Clubhouse at Cinemark starts June 2, 2025. Bring the kids and enjoy exciting family-friendly big-screen entertainment for just $1.75 (plus taxes) per ticket for each movie.

Lots of smaller theatre chains have also joined this bandwagon! Marcus Theatres, MegaPlex, Epic Theatres are just a few. These theatres do not have locations in California

Theatre chains that have not published their schedules yet, but in the past have had family/kids movies in the summer:

Reading Cinemas usually has the Reel Kids program, with ticket prices reduced to $2/ticket!

Regal Summer Movie Express usually offers tickets for $2 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, featuring summer movies the whole family will enjoy.

UltraStar Cinemas doesn’t have anything posted yet, but they do offer discounts on tickets and popcorn on Thursdays year-round.

Talk Back: What summer movies are you looking forward to seeing?

Weekly Reset- Preparing for the week ahead (family edition)

This is by no means a comprehensive list of everything I do each weekend to reset, but it does hit all the major points.

On Saturdays, I do the weekend prep for the week ahead. This includes the following:

Laundry. I try to do a few loads of laundry during the week so that it doesn’t pile up, but Saturday is my day to fold clean clothes, hang things up, and make sure everything gets put away. And mate socks. I usually listen to a podcast or watch something on my phone while I do this. I keep my eyes open for deals on laundry detergent. One of my favorite deals is the Buy one, get two free Arm and Hammer detergent deals that happen every 6-8 weeks or so at Walgreens. The deal starts again tomorrow, May 4, 2025.

Put outfits together. I started doing this about a year ago, and it saves me time every morning. I can just go into my closet, pull off an outfit off the hanger, and I will have a top and a bottom already to put on. My youngest picks out their clothing before bed every night, and my big kid does not care what he wears to school. So most of his clothes are mix and match athletic shorts or exercise pants, and a funny graphic shirt or a sweatshirt if it’s cold.

Clean out the fridge. I was up this morning before 7:30, and I reorganized the fridge and pulled out the food that was starting to look a little beyond its days. I prep the fruits and vegetables that may expire or go bad first. For me, that means roasting vegetables, making a fruit salad, or making applesauce if we have some apples that are starting to bruise or go soft. Applesauce is super easy to make and does not take that long at all. If you have a lot of apples, you can make it in the crockpot. My crockpot applesauce recipe can be found here.

Restock the lunch/snack bins. I keep two plastic bins in my pantry full of lunch components for the kids lunches.  I tend to buy snacks in bulk when they are on sale, and then stash the extras downstairs in the garage in a plastic tote so they don’t all get consumed quickly.  For us that includes: Granola bars, goldfish crackers, bags of popcorn, gogosqueez pouches, lunch-size bags of preferred chips, freeze-dried fruit, dried mangoes, crackers, beef jerky, and individual bags of cookies. 

Restock the drinks and the protein shakes. I have a premier protein premade protein shake every morning for breakfast with 20 ounces of cold brew. Every weekend, I go down to the garage, grab enough for the week, and stash them in the fridge.  I will also put drinks in the fridge if we have premade drinks (that does not happen very often), and more juice boxes/Arizona iced teas in the fridge for the kids’ lunches for the following week. I will usually also make a pitcher of lemonade.

I make a batch of cold brew. Previously, I used my French press, but that was taking a while, and it takes up a lot of room. So I started making bundles with oversized coffee filters and cotton twine, but that just made too much waste. So this weekend, I’m gonna make some cold brew filter bags that are reusable. I’ll be using muslin and cotton twine, and I am hoping to make several of them. You can also buy cold brew bags online.

Clean out the kids’ backpacks. Usually, they will do it themselves, but every once in a while, I peek in there and find piles of crumpled papers and broken pencils and other stuff. This also includes pulling out their lunchboxes and making sure that their school iPads are charging. Once a quarter or as needed, I will throw their backpacks and lunch bags into the washer. Nothing is worse than a stinky backpack/lunchbox.

I clean the bathrooms each weekend. This includes taking out the garbage, sweeping, cleaning the toilets, and spraying down the showers. 

Vacuuming and sweeping. My cousin gave me a Roomba recently, and Roomba is currently doing its thing in the living room. And it does a really good job, much better than the Shark iRobot we previously had. Also, this Roomba has the cat on high alert. She sits and supervises to make sure that none of her toys get sucked up. 

Changing the sheets. I changed the sheets every weekend. I usually do one bed on Friday, one bed on Saturday, and one bed on Sunday. And put the bedding in the washing machine as soon as I strip it off the bed, that way I don’t have that much more laundry to do. These are my favorite sheets from JCP. They are on sale frequently, and cotton sheets are great for warm or cool weather!

I’m sure you are asking: What do the kids do? The big kid takes the trash and recycling down. The smaller kid helps gather dirty cups/dishes and gets them ready to load into the dishwasher. They both help with laundry. They pick up their belongings, and they keep their rooms tidy.

Regal Cinemas: Monday Mystery Movie only $9!

Have you heard of Regal Cinemas Monday Mystery Movie? I hadn’t until this slid into my inbox this morning! This coming Monday, 4/21/2025, you can see a NEW PG movie before its official release date for only $5, or FREE with Regal Unlimited. Plus, get a $9 combo with your ticket purchase!

You can learn more or buy tickets online here.

Our local Regal shows the Monday Mystery Movie at 7pm, so it might be too late for little kids, but it might be a fun family outing for bigger kids.

April 2025 Upcoming Clothing Swaps

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

And as always, if you are looking for more information about clothing swaps, check out my post (with other San Diego, CA area resources)  here.

April means Earth Day is coming up! And that means clothing swaps!

Clothing Swap at La Mesa’s Earth Day Fair!
Join I Love A Clean San Diego for a free clothing and accessories swap during the City of La Mesa’s Earth Day Fair on Saturday, April 19th, at the La Mesa Community Garden! Swap your gently used clothes, shoes, and accessories and find your next favorite outfit while helping keep textiles out of the landfill.

La Mesa Community Garden – 5080 Memorial Dr.
11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
No registration is needed – walk-ins are welcome!

Women’s Clothing Swap
Location: The Chapel at Grossmont
5651 Water St, La Mesa, CA
Saturday, April 26, 2025
10 am-2 pm
How it works:
Bring your gently used* WOMEN’S CLOTHING, accessories, shoes, etc. and trade them for items you want to take home. No selling, no buying, just swapping. You simply drop off your items on the front table and you can start shopping for items you want to take home – free! Come and drop off all the items you want to swap and leave with items that will bring value to you.
Items can include:
-Gently used* or semi-new clothing pieces
-Gently used* or semi-new shoes
-Jewelry pieces
-Accessories: scarfs, hats, purses, belts
*Items should be freshly laundered and either on hangers or laid flat in a box (not in bags, please)

Reminders:
– SWAP FOR YOU. NO LUGGAGE PLEASE. NOT FOR RESALE.
– Bring a bag to take home all your finds.
– Wear tights and a fitted blouse to easily try on clothes.

4/13/2025 All-Inclusive Day of Play: Starry Night Cinema & Resource Fair!

This event is back and will be an amazing time! The  2nd Annual All-Inclusive Day of Play: Starry Cinema & Resource Fair on Sunday, April 13 from 10 AM to 1 PM at the Salvation Army Kroc Center Corner Zone – 6845 University Ave., San Diego, 92115.

  • Activity Stations
  • Movie Screening Area
  • Giveaways & Crafts
  •  Family Resources
  • Networking
  • Shopping,
  • Games & more!

And as the sun sets, an outdoor screening of a family movie (title to be determined) will be shown on a large outdoor screen! Bring your chairs and blankets!

For tickets and to learn more, visit their website. 

Looking for a new fundraiser? Check out Little Caesars Pizza!

Did you know that Little Caesars Pizza does Fundraising? Really.

If your non-profit group is looking for a fun, easy, TASTY way to earn some money, Little Caesars is the way to go.

There are many different ways to earn money for your organization, including Pizza Kits, Cookie Dough, and Bread Kits. We’ve purchased from Little Caesars fundraising events, and the pizza kits are awesome!