Coupons for your four-legged friends

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Amy

Do you have a pet? If you do, you know that while pets are priceless, pet supplies can really add up! Here are a few tips on how to save money for the pets in your household.

Tip 1: Free book from purina. Right now Purina is offering a great deal – they are offering an e-book for FREE that contains everything you need to know about raising a puppy. If you are thinking of getting a new puppy, or know someone who is, make sure and pass along this great deal. Just click the picture above.

Tip 2: Savings at Costco. Next time you are browsing the aisles of Costco, be on the look out for pet supplies. Costco offers some great deals on pet supplies, including pet food, toys, and beds. Make sure and check your Costco coupon book to see if the pet supplies are on coupon. If they are, that will mean even more savings.

Tip 3: Sign up for membership programs. If you shop at a particular pet store, it can really pay off to sign up for their membership program. For example, PetCo offers a rewards program and will mail you coupons. You will also get additional discounts at the register.

In our house, our pets are members of our family and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Amy Leneker
Amy spends the majority of her time herding feral cats in the office, and at home. She lives in Olympia,Washington with her husband and their two small children. She is always searching for a bargain, and has never met a coupon she didn’t like.

Starbucks’ Happy Hour is Back!

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Amy

Did you see that Starbucks’ happy hour is back? Yet another reason to celebrate Spring! For only two weeks in May, Starbucks is offering half-price frappaccinos between 3 and 5 pm. Starbucks offered happy hour last year in May, too, so if you missed it then, now is your chance!

If you haven’t had a frappaccino before, it tastes like summer in a cup! It is a blended drink and like all drinks at Starbucks, you can customize it the way you want it. You can have coffee added (or not), and you can choose your flavoring and toppings. Yum!

As if you needed another reason to go to Starbucks, they are offering a new flavor of frappaccino this year. It is called Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappaccino and according to the Starbucks website, it was inspired by customers saying how much they loved the cookies and cream flavor. Sounds delicious to me!

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Six free gifts for mom

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Amy

If you’ve read my blogs before, you know that I am a huge fan of Vistaprint. They offer a huge selection of personalized products at low prices. Right now they are offering 6 products for free! You can choose from business cards, stamps, t-shirts, sticky notes, flip books and tote bags! The products are free (really!) - you just pay for shipping and processing.

The free gifts would be perfect for mother’s day gifts. What mom or grandma wouldn’t love to get a flip book full of favorite photos? Another cute idea is to get the personalized tote bag and have it say “I love going to Grandma’s house.” Then your child can bring it to Grandma’s next time they visit (an extra bonus is that if the kids are at Grandma’s, you get date night!).

If you have done all of your mother’s day shopping already, you can still take advantage of these great deals for yourself. I have ordered their business cards and sticky notes many times - you won’t be disappointed in the quality.

Vistaprint’s website is easy to navigate and their products are great. Now that you can get 6 items for free, what are you waiting for?

Easy cash for your kid’s school

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Amy

Does your child’s school participate in the Box Tops program? Mine does and it is so easy! For each box top that is donated to the school, the school earns money. The money can be used for special programs, after school activities, even playground equipment. Their website shows all the producst that count Box Tops, and there are hundreds of them! At my child’s school, they ask that you sumit the Box Tops in groups of ten, just to make it easier to count them all. You would be surprised how many products we use that qualify.

If your child’s school isn’t a current participant in the program, it is easy to join. Just talk with your child’s principal or someone from the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) about the benefits of joining. What I love about the program is that they make it easy for the school, and easy for the parents. Plus you don’t have to sell anything! Having just walked around our neighborhood with my son selling Easter Bunnies and cookie dough, I am thrilled to not have to sell anything again for awhile!

In our house, our son (he is in the first grade) helps with the Box Tops and he glues them on the paper from the school. Then once he gets to ten, he turns the paper into the school. It only takes a few minutes but helps the school earn much needed funds. And you can’t beat that!

Amy Leneker
Amy spends the majority of her time herding feral cats in the office, and at home. She lives inOlympia,Washington with her husband and their two small children. She is always searching for a bargain, and has never met a coupon she didn’t like.

Meal Planning Help for Free!

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Amy

Do you have so much free time that you simply don’t know what to do with it all? Do you have hours and hours to plan meals for your family? If you do, I want to know your secret! Between work and kids and homework and soccer pratice, sometimes it feels like a miracle that everyone got dinner! But luckily, there is help on the way.

According to their website, Food on the Table is an easy meal planning service that is based on sales at local grocery stores. With Food on the Table, you will be able to find thousands of easy, healthy recipes and save money by knowing the items that are on sale. The goal is to simplify your shopping experience with a well organized grocery list.

And the best part? It is FREE. Normally you can only plan up to 3 meals a week for free and for more than that, you have to upgrade to the premium version for $5 a month. But if you use the code SPRINGFREE you will get the premium membership for nothing. Yahooo! And it is free for forever; it’s not one of those “free for a month and then you have to cancel” deals. I don’t know about you, but I can always use help coming up with healthy, easy to make meals for my family. Food on the Table does just that.

Amy Leneker
Amy spends the majority of her time herding feral cats in the office, and at home. She lives inOlympia,Washington with her husband and their two small children. She is always searching for a bargain, and has never met a coupon she didn’t like.

20% off at Rockport

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Amy

What is it about buying a new pair of shoes that just makes the day better? As I have often said to my husband, “There are far worse things I could be addicted to than shoes!” If you are trying to decide if you really need a new pair of shoes, Rockport makes the decision easy. The answer is yes!

With the link above, Rockport will take 20 percent off of your entire order AND their website boasts “free shipping on all orders.” That’s a great deal! Along with shoes, they offer cute handbags and belts, too. Because summer is just around the corner, their site has some really good deals on winter socks. I know it’s hard to think about wool socks when every store is selling bathing suits, but that’s the trick to saving money! For example, the Rockport site has their wool socks on sale for less than $8, plus by using the link above, you save an extra 20 percent, plus free shipping.

If you have had enough of winter (haven’t we all?) and you’re focused on spring, check out their sandals section. They have super cute sandals at reasonable prices. Granted, you won’t find flip flops for $2 like you do at Old Navy but rest assured that Rockports are better for your feet!

When the Rockport box arrives and your husband asks if you really needed a new pair of shoes, feel free to borrow my line, “There are far worse things I could be addicted to than shoes.” Happy shoe shopping!

Amy Leneker
Amy spends the majority of her time herding feral cats in the office, and at home. She lives inOlympia,Washington with her husband and their two small children. She is always searching for a bargain, and has never met a coupon she didn’t like.

Starbucks treats: 2 for $2!

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Amy

Starbucks is offering a deal that is too good to pass up! For a limited time, they are offering their petite snacks 2 for $2. There are so many to choose from – petite scones, cupcakes, even brownies on a stick. The mini treats are the perfect size for little fingers, too, so don’t forget to pick up some for the kiddos, too.

The mini treats make excellent gifts, too. They are a thoughtful way to say thank you to your child’s teacher or your co-workers. Starbucks will even wrap the treats individually so you can easily give them out at the office with ease! I don’t know about you, but I would love it if a co-worker brought me a treat from Starbucks. Another bonus to this deal is that you don’t even need a coupon…I love that.

When you’re buying your two treats (or 20!), make sure and use your Starbucks Rewards card so you can earn points for the transaction. With Summer just around the corner (hurray), Starbucks is sure to be offering some new and fruity drinks and you’re going to want those coupons from the Rewards program.

One last tip – If you love Starbucks coffee but prefer to make it at home, make sure and check out the Costco coupon book. Until May 6, you can save $3.25 off Starbucks Via Ready Brew and $5 off Starbucks French Roast Whole Bean coffee.

Amy Leneker
Amy spends the majority of her time herding feral cats in the office, and at home. She lives inOlympia,Washington with her husband and their two small children. She is always searching for a bargain, and has never met a coupon she didn’t like.

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Entertainment Books as low as $10!

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Amy

If you haven’t purchased the 2012 Entertainment book, NOW is the time! They are offering a super sale on the books, with prices as low as $10. If you have already purchased the book for your area, you might want to think about other locations you’re going to visit this year. I always try and buy the Entertainment book before we go on vacation. The book is full of so many deals (I love the buy one, get one free coupons on vacation!) plus it’s a great way to know the fun places to visit.

These are a few of my favotire coupons from the Entertainment book:

Dining: The book is full of buy one get one get one free discounts! And plenty of the coupons are kid friendly, which is great (think buy one get one free Blizzard coupons at Dairy Queen).

Activities: Thanks to the Entertainment book, I don’t remember the last time we paid full price to visit the zoo, or most of our local attractions, including museums, water parks, and golf. And there are great coupons for the movies, too. There is even a coupon for a free movie ticket on your birthday – great!

Travel: There are significant discounts on rental cars and hotels, too.

If you don’t already have the book, order it today. It might be the best $10 you spend today!

Amy Leneker
Amy spends the majority of her time herding feral cats in the office, and at home. She lives inOlympia,Washington with her husband and their two small children. She is always searching for a bargain, and has never met a coupon she didn’t like.

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Perks of the Toys R Us Birthday Club

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Amy

Remember when birthdays were more about presents and cake and less about just getting older? I think kids have the right attitude about birthdays – they aren’t afraid to ask for exactly what they want, they see nothing wrong with eating birthday cake before dinner, and when the singing is over they ask to hear it one more time. Kids really seem to understand and embrace the perks of having a birthday.

A great birthday perk for kids is the Birthday Club at Toys R Us. Are your kids registered? If not it only takes a minute and it is worth it! Each year you will get coupons before your child’s birthday. Last year they sent me a coupon for 20 percent off anything and also a $3 off coupon. Nice! Also once you are on the mailing list you will get coupons mailed to you year round. We were able to save a significant amount of money by using a 20 percent off coupon when we bought a travel system for our daughter. It was well worth the minute it took to register for the Birthday Club!

Another fun perk of the club is that on your child’s birthday, he or she will get a voicemail from Geoffrey the Giraffe wishing them a happy birthday from Toys R Us. When my son was little, he used to love getting those messages. Happy Birthday!

Amy Leneker spends the majority of her time herding feral cats in the office, and at home. She lives in Olympia, Washington with her husband and their two small children. She is always searching for a bargain, and has never met a coupon she didn’t like.

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Don’t miss these deals from Kellogg’s

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Amy

Are mornings hectic at your house? It seems that no matter how much I try to organize everything and plan the night before, there is always something that comes up. Missing homework, a soccer practice we didn’t know about, a science project due the next day, you get the idea. But luckily, breakfast doesn’t have to be hectic!

Kellogg’s offers lots of healthy breakfast choices for families on the go (like mine). My kids are big fans of Eggo waffles, and if I serve them with peanut butter and fruit and a glass of milk, I feel almost no mommy guilt about serving them breakfast from the freezer. If you sign up for Kellogg’s coupons, the price of Eggo waffles can be even less than the store brand.

Once you sign up for the coupons you’ll also get coupons for their other products, too. And if you time it right, you can combine those savings with your store’s coupons and sale prices to save big. I did that recently at Fred Meyer and got Eggo waffles for less than a dollar a box. That is a big discount and even better than buying waffles in bulk at Costco.

If you haven’t already signed up, do it today! There will be some great coupons and less hectic mornings in your future.