free ice cream for dads -TCBY

Treat the Father in your life to a free & Tasty Treat on Father’s Day!
Fathers enjoy a complimentary Cone or Cup all day on Sunday June 20th!
via the krazy coupon lady ( Krazy Coupon Lady )

TCBY locations

tree top give away

Enter every day through July 31st for your chance to win a $1,000 gift card!

http://www.treetop.com/ 


it is a fun little game after a short registration. enjoy have fun and good luck. if you aren't a instant winner they give you a choice between three coupons.

coupon 101

now that you know how to build a coupon organizer lets learn a little about coupons.

coupon lingo: there is so many different terms and  words that people use i pulled together th ones i know and use the most. i suggest you copy and print this list out if you are new to coupons and have it in your CB.

AC: After Coupons
CB: Coupon Binder
BC: Before Coupons
MQ: Manufacturers Coupon
OOP: Out of Pocket Expense
Q or CPN: Coupon
TMF: Try Me Free offer
FAR: Free After Rebate
CAT: Catalina coupon (Manufacturer coupons that print out from a little machine at the register, triggered by what you buy.)
B1G1F, B2G1F: ”Buy one get one Free”, “Buy two get one Free”
TEAR PAD: A pad of refund forms or coupons hanging on a shelf at the store.
BLINKIE: A machine that spits out coupons.
UPC: Universal product code (those black straight lines with numbers under them)
POP: Proof of purchase (like a product label or UPC)
DCRT: Dated cash register receipt
GC: Gift Card
P&G: Proctor and Gamble
SP: Stockpile
SS: Smart Source coupon insert
PG: Proctor and Gamble coupon insert
RP: Red Plum coupon insert
Peelies: sticker like coupons found on products.
ECB: Extra Care Bucks (CVS money)
RR: Register Reward (Walgreens money)


 coupon basics: these are a few of the important things to know. some you will know just from common sense others you may ave never thought of.


store policy: each store has they're own store policies. take the time to look up your favorite stores and print out the policies for you CB. 


coupons can only be used once: if you have 3 of the same items and have only one coupon the coupon will only discount one item. unless a coupon is marked other wise it is only good for one item.


coupon and sale items: yes you can use a coupon on sale and clearance items unless coupon states other wise. some times the checkers who are ringing you up are not familiar with coupons and will say no but show them that the coupon doesn't state that and if needed show them there store policy. 


copying a coupon is illegal: just don't do it it is illegal and it says so on coupons!!!

kids eat free

i found this really cool website that names which restaurants in you area that let your children eat for free. heres a little from the website it self. after reading take a look at the three links i put up. they will take you straight to that citys page.

"Making ends meet while having a family can be a challenge. With the current state of our economy and the cost of gas, we find ourselves having to pinch a little harder. Luckily, more and more restaurants are now offering Kid's Nights with reduced or free meals for the kids. The trick is learning about these mostly unadvertised specials.

MyKidsEatFree.com is dedicated to helping you stretch your dollar as far as possible.With the help of several friends and viewers like you, we continue to collect a list of Kid Friendly and Family Friendly restaurants that offer great value for your family.

Currently serving 5598 restaurant locations that offer Kids Eat Free specials. If you are a restuarant owner/manager let us list your Kids Eat Free specials here - It's FREE!"

eat free in Las Vegas
eat free in N Las Vegas
eat free in Henderson

get smart -- for free or low cost

Neon Sign Museum - Located at the entrance to the spectacular light show, Fremont Street Experience, the City of Las Vegas bought the retired neon signs of Las Vegas' legendary locales and set them up here for all to see. There are currently about a dozen neon signs of history scattered about the area and the adjacent Neonopolis plaza with many more planned for the future. Open 24 hours, FREE admission. 702-229-6301.
Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History - This museum located on the UNLV campus is dedicated to historical southwestern Native American Culture, geology, paleontology and archeology of the area. Exhibits with live desert reptiles are a highlight. Traveling exhibits are shown frequently throughout the year. - 4505 S Maryland Pkwy (at UNLV), LasVegas,. Open Mon-Fri 8am-4:45pm; Sat 10am-2pm, free admission., (702) 895-3381

Sports Hall-of-Fame - Las Vegas Club Hotel & Casino - 18 Fremont St, Las Vegas - Largest personal collection of sports memorabilia from the past and present in the country. Includes card collectibles, autographed balls, gloves, bats, photographs. Open Daily, Admission Free - (702) 385-1664
King Tut Museum - This exact replica of King Tut's tomb is a great attraction for history buffs. The original tomb found by Howard Carter in 1922 has been built to exacting detail by an Egyptologist in the Attractions level of the hotel. A 20 minute guided tour takes you through the carved rock walls and reproduced artifacts. You can purchase Egyptian wares at the Museum Shop following your tour. - Luxor, 3900 S. Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, Mon-Sun 9am-11pm, $3, 262-4000

 Las Vegas Natural History Museum
- 900 N. Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas - Features wildlife past and present including animated dinosaur exhibits. An international wildlife room, marine life including a live exhibit on sharks in a 300-gallon tank and a children's interactive hands-on discovery room for young scientists, keeps the whole family happy. See the extensive wildlife art, the flights of nature room and a collection of hundreds of animals. Don't forget to visit the museum gift and science store. Daily 9am-4pm, $5, 384-DINO(3466)

Lost City Museum of Archeology - 721 S. Moapa Valley Blvd (Hwy 169), Overton, about 60 miles north of Las Vegas. One of the most complete collections of early Pueblo Indian artifacts in the southwest including a full scale reconstruction of an Indian pueblo structure. This museum is a history buff's paradise. You'll see exhibits which cover the human occupation of Nevada from 12,000 years in the past up through when white settlers made Nevada home. Exhibits telling the story of Mormon farmers founding Moapa Valley in 1865 can also be seen. Several art exhibits travel through the museum during the year. Adm $2, hours 8:30 am-4:30pm daily, (702) 397-2193

Nevada State Museum & Historical Society - 700 Twin Lakes Dr, Las Vegas - Take the Twin Lakes entrance to Lorenzi Park. Southern Nevada's only nationally accredited museum. See the Nevada State fossil, the ichthyosaur, 48 feet long and 225 million years old. Don't miss the 13 foot tall Columbian mammoth skeleton. Or visit Las Vegas as is was in 1940. Permanent exhibits highlight the history, natural history, and Native American cultures of the region and a schedule of changing exhibits features art, history and science. There is also a small lake and large picnic area immediately adjacent in Lorenzi Park for that perfect lunch basket setting. The attached Cahlan Library is open weekdays and houses the extensive Nevada history collection. Daily 9am-5pm, $2, (702) 486-5205


 springs preserve  :   free

Trails

Take a journey into Las Vegas' past.

Come see where Las Vegas began. As you walk the Springs Preserve's 1.8 miles of trails and meander through 110 acres of native habitats and archaeological sites, you will follow in the footsteps of adventurous explorers and ancient peoples.
You will find reminders of people who were here before us, and the natural setting that attracted them. Along the trails, a wealth of evidence reflects not only thousands of years of local history, but major historical themes of the American West. Native American peoples, European exploration and settlement, ranching, railroads and of course, water, have all shaped what you will see on your journey.

family movie night

TGIF well not for me its more TGIFF thank goodness its family Friday. Centennial park is playing family movies every Friday night at 8pm. it is free and lots of fun and great movies. so don't miss out on the fun, grab a blanket and maybe some snacks and take the family to enjoy.

see what playing:   something different each week.

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" - Rated PG                         
Friday, June 18, 7:30 p.m.
Centennial Hills Amphitheatre                                              
7101 N. Buffalo Drive, Buffalo Drive and Deer Springs Way
Free
Co-sponsored by the Centennial Hills Sams Club

if you were wondering ... heres my reason!!

the reason why i do what i do. so for you, find your reason. learn to live life within your means. it took a minute but i leaned that living life for their futures is what is important. making lasting memories and fun adventures is what counts the most. children don't know what it cost so why make it expensive. they can have the best in life with out it costing a million. remember that each time your spending. its the quality not the quantity.

its going to be a hot one

are you looking for things to do wit your family this summer. well look no further. it will be a hot summer and we will have our air running mostly all day, so for my family we will be out in about each day doing a family activity so the air can be set to 90 and it wont be running up my bill. we will be leaving at the heat of the day and going some where fun and turn the day into a field trip day. so i have looked into many different things that you can do and most are free if not low in cost. you will have to look at each individual link to see what best fits your family.

free shows in vegas:

free stuff(not often updated but good deals):


family fun with kids in vegas:

links to family fun places in vegas:

**these are just recommendations i may not go to all of these my self and can not guarantee anything. have fun stay cool this summer

a free book just for reading

this summer both book stores here in Vegas are giving a free book away. all you have to do is read a few books and you get to pick one. i think this is a great reward for children and a super way to get them to love reading at an early age. i will give you links to both stores and to the give-a-ways.

Borders:
give-a-way: 
website:

Barnes and Noble:
give-a-way: 
website:

freebies ... do you know what your doing ???

i would love to say that i am a freebie queen but i am not. i am still learning and i am still learning the tricks of the trade. when i googled the best way to go about doing freebies and being safe i came across this article:
http://freebies.about.com/cs/allaboutfreebies/a/freebies101.htm

i found that this made it a little easier for me after reading through it all. i had to pay attention where i was reading because this site does have other thins going on on the page. the part that i found most helpful was how to fill out a freebie form.i also found "How to Determine if a Free Offer is Legitimate" 
  http://freebies.about.com/library/howto/htlegit.htm

this made it even more comforting to know about some of the things that were mentioned. this link is apart of the whole article and i found it to be informative. i feel a little more comfortable posting about freebies now after posting this.

free samples

i have always wanted to do the free sample thing but never really felt comfty giving all of my information to the websites to get them. Walmart has a free page where you can get free samples sent to you and at times they also have things you can pick up at the store check out the website
http://instoresnow.walmart.com/In-Stores-Now-free-samples.aspx

What are the risks in requesting the free offers from Walmart?:

Walmart states that they will not share your information, but they may send you their own marketing information.

popeyes free sweet tea june 12th

Popeye's is giving one free Cane Sweet Tea 22oz for
each customer.no coupon needed just go in and enjoy a
glass in this hot summer heat.
take a look at the offer at http://popeyes.com/

find coupons and a store near you http://popeyes.com/locator.php

*before posting this i my self have gone in and tasted a cup. it is yummy and is nice and refreshing with this heat.

x-mas .... just around the corner

in life now with so many children the present buying list has gone up. in my family of four children there are way to many to buy for. so make three list and promise to stick to them { well as much as we can } so we don't go over budget. so starting in June we sit to make our three list, the first is pretty easy because its the card list. the second list is "the buying list" which is everything we have to buy for the gifts that we are giving. the last list is the homemade gift. this list is probably the hardest because everything is homemade and it is made form the heart. so getting the gift just right for each person is not that easy but it is fun thinking it through.so we will talk about each list and what is need to save the most for xmas 2010.

the card list:

this list is used for two reasons. the 1st part of the list, if we are honest with our self there are those people that we really don't want to get a gift but for some reason feel that we have to. well this year we are not. these people will get a card. they will get a warm message and wished a happy holiday season. if you don't want to give a gift don't because that takes away from the meaning of giving in the first place. the 2nd reason for the list are for those who have sent you cards and for far away family members you want to send a card to. what ever you reasons you have a list of people each year. make sure to have the envelopes and stamps with their addresses ready to go.

The buying list:

this list is usually broken down. for me i break my list down into three. my children, my family and my friends. those are the three categories that i buy for. now your name may be put down in one of these categories but i may later move you to my homemade gifts.once my list is made i then break it down in to amount sections. i have a $10 section, $20 section and a what ever it cost section. the what ever it cost section is usually something i can find on clearance or sale. something that i have in my gift closet or something i may be re gifting. each of these people get a card as well.

the homemade list:
i make a lot of different things and craft a lot of my gifts. my cards are usually hand made and i try to bake some gifts. for the homemade gifts you make your list according to what you can make. i know some of you are saying that you are not crafty. you don't have to be crafting to give a homemade gift. {in later post i will have homemade gift ideas posted} you can put in the dry ingredients for homemade cookies into a jar with the recipe. once you write down who will be receiving a homemade gift you then write down three possibilities of what they may get. there for if something doesn't work out you have a back up plan. each one of these people get a card to .

receipts

we all have them now what do we do with them. i found it to be best to save them. because i shop for food products and other products on two different trips, it is easy for me to get rid of unneeded receipts. for food products i keep receipts till the next shopping trip. but when the checker is giving me one i ask for another. I keep one for our records and one for return and price matching purposes. same for non food receipts.

keeping your receipts in a folder or pocket of your coupon binder will help out in stressful moments when you are trying to return something or if you need it for gifting reasons. Now why a second one you ask? well why do you want to have to read over a marked and folded receipt when it comes time to do your taxes. having a receipt for your records makes that stressful not so fun time a lot easier.

a price compare book - call it what you like

My Money Saver

this is the price compare book. This is very important if you plan on doing some serious shopping. this book will save you a lot of time when you are trying to price match everyday items and items you usually dont buy. this will help you with the ad sales that are more like draw you into the store papers.


you can use anything you like, my book is small enough for me to take with me. you can also use a spiral note book. every time you buy something at the store you plan to do most of your shopping, for me walmart, write down the price and cost per oz. it will take a while to do this. unless you are like me and dove into this project. i grabbed a soda and walk around the store and got it done. this will come in handy when you shop and save. i learned how to form this post and then made it my own. check out this link it will be helpful.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5305721_compare-grocery-prices.html

how to build a coupon organizer - 3 ring binder

there are many different kinds of organizers but i will be talking about one. the three ring binder. i talk about this one because it is the one i use and the one that is the most simplest to put together.i will break it down into easy steps and share with you how i made mine. because this a frugal blog it should not cost more then $6 to make this organizer and in only 5 steps, but if you have school age children then this just might be {{ brace your self ;)}}free.        what you will need is :
-a three ring binder at least a 1inch or bigger.                                                   figure 1
-a calculator
-dividers
-baseball card protectors
-page protectors
-pencil pouch

there are a few other things you will need tat should be in your home. such as a pen,cutters and paper. 

gather all of your supplies and coupons that you already have. no worries if at the end your book doesn't look as full as figure 2 you will get there soon.
im going to break down the put together into steps.
                                                                                                                   figure 2

steps:
1. put dividers in binder(5) with a few of the baseball card protectors in
between.
2. at the end of each section add one page protector.
3. name each protector in the order of what you put on the checker.
     example: this is how i load my checker and how my book is set up
~first i put up the dry/can goods so there for that is the first section in my
      book
~then i put up the fridge items so that is the next tab
~after that i put freezer items so that is my third tab
~following that i put house hold items making that my fourth tab
~last to go up is misc. items making the last of my five tabs
~use folder pocket for current ad papers
4. the regular page protector is for over sized coupons.
5. use the paper for your list and put all tools in the pencil bag

shopping 101

do you find yourself having a shopping bill ten times more then what you thought it should have been?? yup that was me to.do you find yourself grabbing things off the selves that wasn't on your list?? me too. here is what i ave been doing....

before shopping prep:
-i try to sit with my family and make out a weeks worth of menus. all three meals and two snacks. some times we will even throw in a dessert.
-i then go through my cabinets and fridge to see what i already have and what needs to be restocked.
-i make a list of things that i need to get and list of three things i would like to get.
- i then compare my list to shoppers ads for my stores. i look into my price compare book(will be explained more in a later post) to see which store has a better price and if the sale price is any good.
-a gather any needed coupons and sale adds and head to one store ... walmart...
-i stick to my list and try to stay out of the middle lanes. i can manage going to just one store because walmart price matches.


while shopping: when i go shopping i ave many things i like to do for myself that may or may not work for you.

-i have a prepared snack in my bag to munch on when i am shopping because no matter how much i eat before i come i am still hungry while shopping.
-along with my snack i also bring and ice cold drink with me. i save my cups from fast food restaurants (usually mcds) and fill in the in store restaurant before i start my shopping.
-i stick to the out side lanes at the store then once i have gotten all that i can from there i go down the inner lanes that i need to and skip the ones that arent apart of my list.
-i make two different days of when i go shopping. one for food and one for house hold stuff.

when checking out: this is impotant.
- before the checker starts i let them know i have price match items. i when putting them up have already separated them from the regular items.
-most walmarts will not ask for ads but have them with you in case they do.
-watch the price scanner and make sure each items is being matched correctly.
-save coupons for last so you can see the sub total before and the total after.
-once done ask for a second copy of your receipt.(i will explain in a later post)

once you get every thing home put it all away and make sure to follow your menus as the week goes. when you run out of something note it down so when it comes menu day again its easier to make a list.