freebie

President’s Day 2/17/2020 Free Admission to your Local YMCA!

Abby H.

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Celebrate President’s Day with a fun and healthy Freebie! All YMCAs are free and open to everyone during regular hours, Monday, February 17, 2020. You can enjoy a healthy time at the Y on the holiday, and invite your friends to come along with you!

And bring your kids along to enjoy the fun of Kids Club or Child Watch! There are tons of fun games and activities for kids to enjoy, and the staff is engaged and spends time with the kids. It’s not just glorified babysitting, it’s a fun time for the kids. My littlest begs to go to the Y daily to see her friends and play.

Remember, any time you refer a new member, you can get a month free!

We’ll be there bright and early! Monday is yoga day for me!

2/14/2020 Friday Freebies and Deals!

Abby H.

bright boxesFriday Means it’s time for freebies, deals, and cool free events. The bonus is that this week, Freebie Friday is also Valentine’s Day!

Freebies:

Events/In-Store Freebies:

Deals:

File your Taxes for Free with E-File!

Abby H.

Woo Hoo! It’s Tax Season. I’m not kidding- We have already filed our taxes and received our state refund today.

New shoes, here we come (again not kidding, we all need new running shoes).

If you haven’t started your taxes yet, consider E-File.

 

  • E-file.com offers free federal tax returns for those who qualify for a 1040ez.
  • Free Error Correction – Their software will automatically check your tax return for common errors. If our software finds any errors, it will prompt you to correct them.
  • Get Your Refund Quick – Who doesn’t want their refund quickly? Filing online allows you to receive your refund quicker than off-line.
  • Helpful Software – Their software will walk you through common deductions and credits that you may be eligible for with its easy and quick question & answer format.

If you aren’t sure what you need to file your taxes, here are just a few of pieces of paperwork you may need (depending on your tax situation):

  • W-2’s- one from each of your jobs
  • 1099’s: if you are an independent contractor
  • DMV paperwork (if you don’t have this, then the VIN and license plate # from your car, and go here– CA only, I’m sure other states may have something similar).
  • Receipts for any tax-deductible donations
  • Receipts for any medical expenses (co-pays, prescriptions)
  • Paperwork from your Mortgage Company regarding your interest paid
  • Paperwork regarding your property taxes paid
  • Dependents Social Security Numbers
  • IRA Year End Statements
  • Interest Statements from banks

I start a folder (like this one) each year and I put all of the paperwork in it as it comes into the house. Then, after we do our taxes, I print a copy out, pull out all of our supporting documents, put them into a manilla envelope, write the year on the front, seal it, and stash it with our other past years’ taxes. We keep 10 years worth of tax records, just in case.

Talk Back: Have you done your taxes yet?

2/7/2020 Freebie Friday!

Abby H.

bright boxesWe made it through another week! Time for some freebies, fun, and deals!

I’ve gotten some emails from readers who are interested in Freebies available outside the US, and please note that I am always keeping my eye open for them. If you are a freebie fan like I am, I recommend checking out Mysavings, as they frequently have freebies and samples available for countries all over the world.

 

Coupons/Deals

San Diego Family Fun Fest 2/9/2020!

Abby H.

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Are you looking for a free, fun outing for your family this weekend? Check out the San Diego Family FunFest brought to you by San Diego Family Magazine.

 

Sunday, (Feb 9), 10 am-1 pm at the Salvation Army Kroc Center (in the Corner Zone), 6845 University Ave., San Diego 92115.

Have a blast with more than 30 Family Fun Activities & Resource Booths!

  • 2 Bounce Houses
  • 40” Inflatable Obstacle
  • Zipline
  • Swings
  • Double Shot Basketball
  • Angry Birds Slingshot
  • Imagination Playground Blocks (life-sized foam tinker toys)
  • Giant Connect 4 & more!

Dance along with the DJ, win cool raffle prizes, explore family resources and take playtime to a whole new level!

You can find out more on their Facebook Event page. Barring weather concerns, we’ll be there! I’m excited about the Imagination Playground Blocks.

2/3/2020 Weekly Meal Plan!

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgToday is my birthday, we will be redeeming a lot of my birthday freebies with this week. Little Girl and I will be enjoying a free lunch many times, as we can still share an entree.

My shopping week for this week was small:

  • Cheese
  • Avocados (Always on the shopping list)
  • Milk
  • Fresh Rolls (The local Food4Less makes incredible rolls and at .25/each, they are a tasty bargain)

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 update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day: You may notice a lot of plant-based meals- We are not vegetarian (well, the big kid is, but the rest of us aren’t), but I am trying to get more veggies into our diet. I do a lot of cooking from scratch- I find it easier to get veggies and fruit into recipes that I can have 100% control over.

Breakfast: I’ve gone back to a protein shake or coffee with a scoop of protein powder and a few pumps of Sugar Free Syrup for me, and pancakes or something along those lines (Dave’s Killer Bagels are also a popular request for breakfast) for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix).  I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and Bitty. The big kid takes his lunch to school, but once in a while, I can convince him to buy his lunch. Usually on pizza day.

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For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked. We’ve got a bunch of stuff in the freezer, as I’ve been portioning out 2-3 adult-sized entree portions from several meals a week and freezing them for later meals.

  • Monday: Birthday Dinner (Not quite sure what this will entail)
  • Tuesday: Vegetable Soup- We’ve got a lot of little bits of veggies in the freezer and fridge- Time for soup!
  • Wednesday: Frozen Entrees
  • Thursday: Roasted Chicken and Veg
  • Friday:   Veggie Stir Fry & Brown Rice (We didn’t end up having this last week)
  • Saturday: Pizza
  • Sunday:  Leftover fiesta!

 

Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?

1/31/2020 Friday Freebies and Deals!

Abby H.

bright boxesI’m stoked for this Freebie Friday! My birthday is Monday, and my inbox has been flooded Birthday Freebies. The freebies and deal below are awesome!

Freebies:

Deals:

National Frozen Yogurt Day is Coming 2/6/2020!

Abby H.

Froyo, Frogurt, Frozen Yogurt, whatever you call it, however you top it, it’s good stuff!

National Frozen Yogurt Day is my favorite “nonholiday” holiday. I love FroYo. The truly free freebies have dwindled, but therefeature-ifyd2020.jpg are still some deals afoot.

Yogurtland is giving away FREE 5 oz. cups of frozen yogurt (or ice cream) Thursday, February 6th from 4pm to 7pm for your FREE 5 oz cup. In-store only at participating Yogurtland stores, while supplies last. Not valid for Drinkable Creations or cones.

unnamed.png Menchie’s has a buy-one-get-one-free deal on February 6 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. The offer is valid all day at participating locations. This offer cannot be combined with any other offers.

We don’t have a TCBY near us, but if you do, here is a freebie deal to celebrate.

 

Talk Back: What’s your favorite Frozen Yogurt Topping?

1/24/2020 Freebie Friday

Abby H.

bright boxesIt’s that time of the week- Friday! Let’s get started with some awesome freebies, deals, and events!

If you missed it earlier in the week, here is my updated list of birthday freebies for 2020! I’ll be posting updates as they start to come in- My birthday is in 2 weeks.

Freebies:

Free Events:

 

Deals:

 

One Month of Disney+ Free with TopCashBack!

Abby H.

This is an AWESOME DEAL!!

It’s pretty easy to do this deal, just 6 steps!

How to get this freebie:
1. Visit the offerhere
2. Create your account with an email and password
3. Click on the “Get Offer” button and it’ll take you to Disney+.
4. Add “Disney+ Subscription” to your cart and shop as you would normally then checkout.
5. This is a Free Digital Confirmation offer.
6. Once you checkout, in about 14 days $12.99 will post in your TopCashback account.

Congrats on your freebie!
* New TopCashback members with no previous purchases or cash back through TopCashback only. Ends February 3rd at 23:59 PST!
How do you get it?

Visit Disney+ through TopCashback, purchase a Disney+ Subscription for $12.99 and then shop as normal. Within fourteen days $12.99 cashback will post in your TopCashback account.
Who qualifies for it?
This offer is available to TopCashback members with no previous purchases or cash back through TopCashback only. However as TopCashback doesn’t limit accounts to one per household, if you’re an existing member now’s the perfect time to tell your husband or wife, mom or dad, roommate, neighbor or anyone else about TopCashback and perhaps they’ll share their freebie with you.
When do you get your money back?

Within 14 days the $12.99 will turn payable in your TopCashback account and you can choose your payout method at that time.
Is there anything else important to know?
Transactions must contain at least one Disney+ Subscription from Disney+ priced at $12.99 to ensure $12.99 cashback is credited to TopCashback accounts. If a different item is purchased under $12.99, the cashback amount awarded will be 1% or less (depending on the item(s) purchased) instead of $12.99.
The deal is:
– open until 23:59 PST on Monday, February 3rd
– subject to Disney+’s Stock supplies and availability
– applicable for online sales only, for purchases made directly after clicking through TopCashback.com
Only one:
– TopCashback account is permitted per member