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Black Friday 2009 Free Stuff

Madison — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:00:40 +0000

It’s one of the most exciting Free Money Fridays! Back by popular demand is the Black Friday 2009 free stuff list!

I searched through all the sites that I listed yesterday as my favorite Black Friday Shopping Resources to compile the list. It’s separated by free, free after rebate, and free with purchase. Be sure to check the ad scans for accuracy, and verify what time the price ends in your area. You can see last year’s list of Black Friday 2008 Free Stuff.

Free

Half Price Books

Free Tote Bag & $5 Gift Card to First 100 Customers

Ikea

Free Breakfast & Coffee Until 10:30 am

JCPenney

Free Disney Snowglobe While Supplies Last

Sports Authority

Free Bonus Bucks Card for First 80 People in Line

Target

Free Marcel Wanders Shopping Bag for First 500 People

Free After Rebate

Ace Hardware

Ratcheting Screwdriver 38-Piece Set
Stanley Staple Gun

CVS

Magnavox Universal Remote
Philips Earbuds
Hershey’s/Reese’s Singles
Mars King Size Bars
Degree Ultra Clear for Women
DynaPop Energy Shots
Just For Men Touch Of Grey
Right Guard Sport 3D
Vasoline Sheer Infusion Lotion

Menards

6-in-1 Screwdriver or 16′ Tape Meausre

Office Depot

Interior Design Software
Photo Explosion Software
Print Master Software
Scrapbook Factory Software
$1000 in Software with Microsoft Office or Windows 7 Purchase
HP Printer with Any Computer Purchase

Staples

Duracell Batteries 20-Pack
GE 4-Device Universal Remote Control
Sharp Handheld Solar Calculator
Peachtree Pro Accounting Software
Canon Printer with Purchase of Any Digital Camera
HP Printer with Any Desktop or Laptop

Walgreens

Aquafresh Cavity Protection Toothpaste
Dove Ultimate Visibly Smooth Deodorant
Infusium 23 Hair Care
Johnson’s Softwash
Nivea for Men Shave Gel
Right Guard Sport Deodorant

Free With Purchase

Babies R Us

Summer Infant Audio Monitor with Purchase of Handheld Color Video Monitor

Best Buy

LG Chocolate Touch with 2 Year Verizon Contract
$10 Gift Card with $40 Ink Purchase
$5 Napster Card with any CD Purchase $5 and up

Build a Bear

Mini Moose Pair with Any $30 Purchase

Gander Mtn.

$20 Gander Cash with Each $100 Purchase (Thursday 3 – 9 pm)

Half Price Books

$5 Coupon with $25 Gift Card Purchase
Half Price Books Calendar with Any $25 Purchase

K-Mart

Handy Manny Talking Tool Box with Repair Shop Purchase
Xbox 360 Halo 3 ODST with Xbox 360 Elite Bundle Purchase

Kohls

$10 Kohl’s Cash for Every $50 Spent
Tote with $25 Fragrance or Cosmetic Purchase

Lowes

6-Piece or 3 Piece Wood Handle Tool Set with Tool Chest Purchase

Meijer

Neoprene Sleeve and Microsoft Wireless 3000 Mouse with HP Mini 1020 or 1030 Netbook Purchase
2 Buy-ray Movies and 2 Video Games with PS3 120GB Slim Console Purchase
Grand Theft Auto IV and Halo 3 with Xbox 360 Game System or Bundle Purchase

Old Navy

Lego Rock Band Game with $20 Purchase
Rock Band Guitar with Rock Band 2 Software Purchase

Sears

$70 Gift Card with Purchase of 4 Select Tires
Jewelry Box with $35 Fragrance or Cosmetics Purchase
Craftsman 100 watt Work Light with Purchase of 1000 Watt Tripod Worklight
Craftsman Air Tool Kit with Craftsman 33 gal Air Compressor purchase
Craftsman Air Tool Kit with Craftsman 33 gal Air Compressor purchase
Nintendo Wii Nerf Racing Wheel with Wii System Purchase
Sony PS3 Blu-Ray Remote with Playstation 120GB System
Whirlpool Micowave with purchase of Gas or Electric Range
Xbox 360 Live 12 Month Gold Card with Xbox Elite Bundle purchase

Sports Authority

$25 Gift Card with Purchase of a Golf Buddy GPS

Tanger Outlets: Dress Barn

Cosmetic Bag with $50 Purchase

Target

$10 Gift Card with $100 Purchase
$10 Gift Card with Purchase of Selected Video Games

Toys R Us

$50 Gift Card With Any Apple iPod 8GB Touch
EVA Sleeve Kit With Any DSi Holiday Bundle
Bendaroos 100 Piece Set With Any 500 Piece Set Purchase
Easel Starter Kit With Any Imaginarium Deluxe Wooden Art Easel Purchase
Imaginarium Big Train Set With Any Arch Train Table Purchase

If you find more, please post them in the comments.

Written by Madison

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Frugal Ways to Celebrate the Holidays

Amanda — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:29:04 +0000

What a fantastic time of year coming up; the weather has chilled from crisp to cold, the night comes upon us earlier so we feel more snuggly and more like hibernating at home, and generally we all have extra time off from work which means we can spend more time with the people whom we love.

Due to the economic recession, something tells me that people are going to be cutting back from their holiday spending this year. In fact, Retail Forward, which conducts substantial consumer research, found that 45% of consumers plan to spend less on holiday shopping this year than in 2008 (and we all know how abysmal the 2008 holiday shopping statistics were; several companies like Circuit City even had to declare bankruptcy).

Are you planning to scale back your spending over the next few months? Well, I am here to tell you that you can be just as festive and still spend less money than in years past.

Potluck Holiday Dinners

Perhaps you are used to hosting holiday dinners, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s Day, and have taken it upon yourself to pay for everything: from the appetizers, food, and alcohol/beverages, down to decorations and small gifts. You can still be that great host/hostess this year, but when you invite family members and friends, ask them to bring a dish and tell them that this year will be a potluck holiday supper. This can be an exciting opportunity to display other people’s star dishes, and to keep you out of the kitchen and mingling with your guests!

Decorate Using Nature

When decorating on a budget, think about stimulating different senses, such as sight, sound, and smell. Collect pinecones as a family from walks outside, neighbor’s homes, or your own backyard. You can use these in many ways to add festivity to your home. Assemble them in a beautiful bowl for an authentic centerpiece. Spray them with glue (or dip them in glue if you have Elmer’s), and add glitter to them, or spray them with fake snow.

Add a sense of coziness by keeping a fire in your fireplace going during the holidays, which will save you in heating costs as well as add a beautiful ambience. You can typically find free wood on Craigslist’s under the ‘free’ section (people clearing land usually will give wood away for free, but you may need to bring your ax).

Use the branches of evergreen that you trim from your Christmas tree to hand make a wreath for your door, and to add in between candles for a wonderful centerpiece or decoration for windowsills that smells amazing. If you are not planning on purchasing a Christmas tree this year, you can ask local tree sellers if they have clippings they could give you for free or cheaply. Use your imagination!

Keep wonderful smells simmering throughout your home by heating up apple cider on your stovetop.

Frugal Family Outings

I would argue that the most festive and enjoyable holiday activities are either free, or very cheap.

Check out lights. One of the most fun and festive activities you can do during the holidays is to take a car ride around surrounding neighborhoods and look at other people’s Christmas lights and decorations.

Go caroling. Join a caroling group through your church, place of worship, or with friends and family and have fun singing holiday songs and spreading cheer.

Have fun sledding. Depending upon the area of the country you live in, take advantage of upcoming snow storms to sled down familiar hills and build snowmen or make snow angels.

See holiday plays. Attend free church productions of A Christmas Carol, pageants/nativity scenes and other traditional plays. You may wish to make a donation to the church.

Volunteer. Volunteer with your family at a soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless shelter, etc. This will provide your family with precious time together, as well as help others in need. You would be surprised at how grateful and bountiful your life feels when you help out others with much less financial means than yourself.

I hope you take these suggestions, and truly enjoy the upcoming holiday season for all of the reasons that make it the happiest time of year. Above all else, remember that it is much more important to spend time with your loved ones—rather than spend money—to create sustaining relationships and memories for years to come.

Written by Amanda

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10 Surprising Things You Can Turn Into Cash

Amanda — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:29:24 +0000

Everyone has made a set amount of money up until this point in their lives, some of which is still liquid (cash in a savings account or wallet), and some of which is spent and gone (car, clothes, food consumed last week).

But what about taking some of the things you have from the money you have spent and converting them back into cash? Or how about taking some of your everyday habits and making cash from them? It’s like giving yourself a pay raise, or reclaiming some of your hard earned money. There are many ways you can achieve this, and some surprising ones you may not have thought of before.

10 Things to Turn Into Cash

Gift Cards: If you have gift cards lying around, or received one you don’t have a use for, sell it for cash to Plastic Jungle.
Broken Electronics: Used iPod, iPhone, video game, GPS system or camera can be traded in for a Target gift card (cash this in using the tip above). Laptops, Cell Phones, LCD Monitors, Digital Cameras, MP3 Players, Blu-Ray, and Gaming Systems can be traded in at Costco for a gift card.
Broken Appliances: Take these to your local scrap metal facility and currently you can earn around $0.32 per pound!
Wire Hangers: Some dry cleaners will take these back in exchange for cash (the one near us offers $0.25 per hanger).
Curbside Recycling: Some trash companies have partnered with RecycleBank, a curbside recycling company that rewards your recycling efforts with points earned by the number of pounds recycled per week!
Cars that Do Not Run: These can also be scrap metaled, or you can donate them to charities for a tax deduction at the end of the year.
Black Walnuts: Have a walnut tree? Drop your fallen walnuts off at Hammon’s who will pay you a per pound rate (look in the lower right hand corner and see where the nearest drop-off location is for you).
Empty Printer Cartridges: Office Depot and Staples will give you around $3 per printer cartridge (check to see if it is store credit or cash), and TonerBuyer will pay cash.
Internet Searches: Do your internet searching with Swagbucks, and randomly earn bucks that can be claimed for gift cards as well as cash (paid into your PayPal account).
Carpooling, Biking, and Telecommuting: Sign up for the NuRide program, and log in the miles that you carpool/bike/telecommute to redeem for gift cards or cash.

What are some surprising items you have found to turn into cash?

Written by Amanda

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5 Ways Spending More is Actually Frugal

Jill — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:29:44 +0000

If you are a frequent reader of personal finance articles, you are familiar with some of the most commonly cited ways to save money – bring your lunch to work, install a programmable thermostat, cancel your cable, etc. In general, choosing the most frugal option is good for your bottom line. But sometimes, spending a little more might still help you out.

When I make less-than-frugal choices, I consider what my other options are. If I pay a little more for something when the cheaper option was easy, available, and a good substitute, paying more was a bad choice. But if I pay more for something when it saves me more in the long run or stops me from spending even more, the extra money is worth it. I’ve compiled a list of my five favorite things to “splurge” on.

Things Worth the Extra Expense

Frozen Dinners: Frozen meals are more expensive per-serving than anything you can make yourself from scratch. But I don’t use frozen meals as a substitute for cooking – I keep them in the freezer for those days when I get home late from work or am feeling a little under the weather. In the past, I would have ordered in. Instead, I pop a frozen meal in the microwave or oven to save me a few dollars on takeout.
Cable TV: Many people view cable as an unnecessary expense, and it probably is. But I frequently curl up at home to watch my favorite shows, and like having access to news whenever I want it. I also really enjoy watching free on-demand movies – and even on those rare occasions when I pay $5 for a movie it’s much cheaper than a night at the theater. Without cable, I think I would be bored at home and find myself going out for entertainment (including movies…and candy…and popcorn…) far more often. If cable keeps you from spending elsewhere, think twice before you cancel it.
Magazine Subscriptions: The best way to read magazine articles is online, in the library, or using free subscriptions – all these options are free! I enjoy reading magazines in print and am always tempted to purchase my favorites after browsing in the grocery-store checkout line. Since I would buy them anyway, a subscription is cheaper. You can only read so many magazines per week or month, so think twice about how many you subscribe to. But don’t be afraid to order a few of your very favorites, especially if you might find coupons or other savings within.
Annual fees/Entertainment Books/Discount Cards: This is kind of three things in one, but the bottom line is the same – annual fees on rewards credit cards, entertainment books, and store/website discount cards are all examples of paying to earn/save money. In general, you should be wary of paying someone else to save you money. There are lots of money-saving programs (such as accelerated mortgage programs) that charge you to do what you can do yourself for free. But sometimes, spending a little to save a lot is worth it.
If you travel frequently on a particular airline, a branded credit card for that airline can get you to a free flight pretty quickly – but you have to be willing to pay an annual fee. An Entertainment Book will give you coupons for everything from oil changes to your favorite restaurant – look through one before you purchase it and see if it provides coupons for places you go anyway. As far as discount cards, many businesses will allow you to pay a flat amount for the right to get a certain percentage off of each purchase for the next year. Again, if it’s a place you go often, this could be worth it. The bottom line with these kinds of offers is that if what you will pay exceeds what you will earn or save, the initial outlay is a smart one.
Small Home Enhancements: In general, things like candles or decorative pillows may not be the best use of your money. But if these or similar items will help you view your home as a haven, you’re more likely to find reasons to stay home – and therefore avoid going out and spending money. Warm blankets or even a bottle of wine can fall in this same category. Don’t view this as free reign to buy anything you’ve ever wanted for your house or apartment – but recognize that small comforts can pay big dividends.

What are some areas in your life where you can look past the most frugal choice to save more in the long run?

Written by Jill

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How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient

Amanda — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:29:06 +0000

Do you own a home? If so, you can do more infrastructural changes to make your home more energy efficient. These are in addition to the behavioral changes I outlined yesterday in How to Make Your Apartment More Energy Efficient.

These types of changes are more permanent, and may also increase the value of your home when you are looking to sell.

Strategies to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient

Install solar screens on the outside of your windows to detract sunlight.
Upgrade appliances with energy efficient models (look for ones with the energy star logo; if you are just buying a home, negotiate new appliances in with your deal, or buy energy efficient appliances to begin with).
Replace single pane windows with double pane windows.
Service your AC and heater units.
Take out AC window units for the winter months.
Insulate your attic and the inside of your walls (you can do this without taking down the actual wall—you ‘blow’ the insulation in).
Replace old doors that may have wearing in the material with newer, more energy efficient doors.
If you need to replace a roof, make sure the next one is more energy efficient, such as a metal or asphalt roof.
Install solar panels on your house to generate solar power.

These permanent changes to your home also require more money, but currently the government has a program where you can claim federal energy efficiency tax credits for some of these upgrades (must be placed in service from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010).

Share Your Own Energy-Saving Strategies

I would love to hear your own energy-saving strategies, as this list is not exhaustive. What are some ways that you have found to reduce your electricity bill? Are they more behavioral/habit changes, or more permanent changes? Please share, and help out everyone with your advice.

Written by Amanda

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How to Make Your Apartment More Energy Efficient

Amanda — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:02:04 +0000

When I was a child, I remember my mother armed with a hairdryer in my bedroom. She covered first my one window, and then the other one with plastic sheets, and then sealed them into place with hot air. I remember crying for hours that night and pleading with her to take it down because I could not see the clear and crisp outlines of the winter moon. Now, as an adult, I understand what she was doing: making our 300+ year old farmhouse more energy efficient. She was trying to save us money.

Summer is winding down, kids are back at school, and we have had the first few crisp mornings. Now is a great opportunity to discuss some ways to make your apartment more energy efficient before the upcoming winter season.

Strategies to Make Your Apartment More Energy Efficient

Do you live in an apartment? Here are some temporary modifications to your routine that you can do in the short-term to immediately change your energy consumption (please note, the items that I suggest you purchase can be taken with you when you move out):

Change out your light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs.
Insulate the water heater by buying a water heater blanket.
Turn your water heater down to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Dry your clothes outside, or purchase indoor drying racks.
Turn your freezer/refrigerator down a few degrees.
Vacuum the refrigerator coils clean (located on the back), as well as move your refrigerator a few inches away from the wall.
Wash clothes in cold water only.
Purchase insulated curtains/shades, and close them during the day when you are at work.
Make sure your furniture is arranged so that it is not blocking any vents or radiators.
Purchase a draft guard to place at the bottom of your door leading to the outside where temperature-controlled air can escape from your apartment.
Unplug appliances when not in use because they still draw electricity from your outlets.
Install a low flow shower water head.

It is also a great idea to purchase or borrow a Kill-a-Watt device. These are great—you plug your appliances into them, and see how much electricity each uses. With this sort of information, you can then make more informed decisions to increase your energy efficiency.

For example, I have a halogen bulb lamp in my living room. It turns out that it uses more electricity than our large television, which I discovered in my kill-a-watt experiment! Knowing this information allowed us to focus our money on purchasing a more energy efficient lamp instead of nixing the fish tank, which uses much less energy than we originally thought.

Check back tomorrow when I detail how to make your home more energy efficient!

Written by Amanda

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Free Trial from Netflix

Madison — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:29:30 +0000

We needed some DVDs for vacation, so I’m giving Netflix a trial run. It’s free, so we’ll feature it as our Free Money Friday offer this week.

How to Get Your Free Trial

Start your new membership at Netflix.
Register your email.
Select a monthly plan and subscription rate and complete the enrollment process.
Get a free 2 week membership.

Netflix Free Trial Terms and Conditions

First-time customers only.
Valid payment method required.
Limit one per household.

Netflix Details

Cancellation. If you decide you don’t want to continue the mebership, you can cancel at anytime during the 2 weeks and you won’t be charged. Just click on “Your Account” and follow the cancellation instructions.

Membership. For complete membership details beyond the free trial, see the terms of use at Netflix.

Written by Madison

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Learn the Financial Impact of Your Everyday Purchases

Guest Author — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:29:59 +0000

This is a guest post written by Brian. Identifying his poor everyday spending habits helped Brian get out of debt several years ago.

When he is not reading or writing about personal finance topics, he can be found in his vegetable garden pulling weeds and pawning zucchini off on the neighbors! Brian shares his gardening adventures at Meadowwood Garden.

The Big Purchases

Often when we become interested in personal finance and saving money we do something that is human nature — we focus on the big stuff like houses, cars, etc. It makes sense too – armed with careful research and smart negotiating tactics you can save large amounts of money on big-ticket purchases.

One of the ironies of personal finance is that all-too-often the money saved on those savvy big ticket purchases ends up being thrown away on a bunch of smaller purchases we usually never think about.

Everyday Purchases

Those smaller purchases are what I like to call “everyday purchases.” Everyday purchases are those you make on a consistent basis — not necessarily daily but often enough that you can identify a pattern to them. Examples include lunch at work, coffee every morning, cigarettes if you smoke, that pizza you have every Friday night, a soda at break time, etc.

Take a second and jot down a few of the everyday purchases you make. Next to each item write down how often you buy it and what it costs each time you make the purchase. Average prices are fine. We’ll use this list a bit later.

Annualize Everyday Purchases

Now that we’ve identified what everyday purchases are, the real question is — what are they costing you? Really costing you? Do you know? Have you ever thought about it?

Here is how you can find out. A great way to gain some perspective on these purchases is to annualize them. Knowing what your everyday purchases cost on an annual basis it makes much it easier to compare them to your other spending.

Ready to give it a try? The numbers might surprise you!

Using the list you made a couple minutes ago, grab a calculator and figure out what your everyday purchases are REALLY costing you. Follow this example:

Lunch out at work $8/day, 5 days a week = $2080
Cigarettes $5/pack/day = $1825
Morning Starbucks $5/day 5 times a week = $1300
Friday Night Pizza $25/week = $1300
Soda During Break $1/twice a day, 5 days a week = $520
Cable TV $65/month = $780

I threw Cable TV into the list to show you that this trick works for any item or service you pay for on a regular basis.

Do some of these numbers surprise you? More importantly, do some of YOUR numbers surprise you?

Make Adjustments

Doing this exercise can help you identify where you can make some adjustments. Want to save $1000 a year? Eat out at work half the time instead of every day. Need to free up $600? Have pizza every two weeks instead of weekly. Caffeine buzz not worth $520 a year to you? Drink water during your breaks instead.

The point is the more you know about your spending habits the more control you have over your finances. These purchases are not necessarily bad. If you don’t want to make changes that is perfectly fine — at least you have some idea of where your money is going and if you are happy with your choices stick with them!

Now you have an easy way to figure out how small, regular purchases impact you financially. Based upon what you have learned, will you be making any changes to your everyday spending habits?

Written by Guest Author

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Frugal Entertainment Rule: You Must Try Redbox

Kate — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:29:46 +0000

It seems that everywhere I go these days – the supermarket, the post office, even McDonald’s – there is a redbox vending machine.

Although I already have a subscription to Netflix, every now and then I find myself stuck in limbo, waiting for my next movie to be sent but not wanting to spend $5 (or half my monthly subscription) on a rental for one night until my next movie arrives.

Advertising cheap movie rentals and with locations along my daily route, redbox seemed worth checking into.

Program Features

Contract: None. There is no membership required. Instead, each rental is secured by your debit or credit card.
Initial Cost: Each DVD costs $1 (plus tax) if you return it by 9pm the following night.
Late Fees: Each night that you keep it past the first 9pm deadline is an additional $1 (plus tax).

Redbox Details

Easy Returns. A great feature of the redbox program is that you can return your DVD to any of their 12,000 locations nationwide (usually grocery stores or restaurants) – perfect for long flights or car rides!

Find A Movie. The redbox website makes it very easy to find the movie you want at a nearby location so you’re not just stuck with movies that everyone else has passed over.

Reserve Online. You can reserve online ahead of time so you don’t get to the kiosk only to find that the movie you want is already gone.

Free Rentals. If you’re able to plan ahead a bit and skip typical Friday and Saturday night rentals in favor of a weekday, you can avoid the cost altogether by signing up for free coupon codes via e-mail and SMS alerts. I receive a text message every Monday afternoon!

Redbox Overall

Redbox is a pretty great option for a certain type of movie renter. For some, the cost of subscribing to a monthly rental service is worth it because it helps them keep up with regular new releases and pays for itself over the course of the month.

However, for less frequent movie watchers, redbox could be a great way to plan a cheap movie night every once in a while!

The biggest advantage, both price-wise and for convenience, would probably come when you want to rent a few movies to keep for a night or two. This is hard to do with Blockbuster Total Access or Netflix unless you’re on a fairly expensive plan and going to a video rental store is likely to be considerably more expensive.

Redbox allows you to pick up a couple of DVDs for the weekend or to rent different movies for kids and adults without going overboard on cost. (You can save it for the popcorn!)

Written by Kate

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Last Minute Frugal Gifts Under $20

Madison — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:29:43 +0000

Time is ticking on your holiday shopping! In case you don’t have time to order from the 10 Amazing Frugal Gift Ideas Under $20 or hand make something from the 37 Homemade Frugal Gift Ideas Under $20, here’s your chance.

This is the final set of gift ideas from readers in the Holiday Giveaway. I saved these special tips for the procrastinators out there!

Last Minute Gift Ideas

Lottery Tickets. I always find people love getting lottery scratch-offs. It’s perfect because people usually don’t buy it for themselves but always appreciate a chance to win something. It works for both sexes and can be manipulated to fit any spending limit. – Howard
Board Games. We’ve always been a fan of board games, both learning and just fun type games to share with our kids and adult friends. This year, we’ve made lists of board games we own and exchanged them with other families: we’ll make sure every family in the exchange gets a new or new-to-them game this year, be it store bought or sourced elsewhere. – aunt mommy
Magazine Subscription. I picked up a magazine from Borders, wrapped it in a flat gift bag and purchased the subscription (which was only $10), for my dad who is terribly hard to buy for. A gift for each month! – Dee
Donation. A $20 donation to a worthwhile non-profit! Organizations are struggling these days with the economy so now’s a good time to give. – Will
Gas. I have given out gas cards before. It’s a good stocking stuffer and is greatly appreciated. So many love the fact that a tank of gas (or portion of) is paid for by me (especially the younger cousins and friends) who are not that financially independent. A $20 card these days goes a long way. – Aman
Movie Tickets. Can’t beat the pair of movie tickets at Costco. Add their favorite candy to get to $20. – Diane
Cash. Well I know this sounds too simple, I give everyone a $20 bill. Gift cards, too many restrictions. Cards, too much, I hand write notes and slip a $20 bill for them. People appreciate hand written notes more. – Bobby Huang
Plants. Every year, I like to give the girls at work a living gift. For instance, last year, I happened upon evergreen shrubs clearance priced right before our Christmas gift exchange. This year, I’ve already found the nicest poinsettias, and they are even grown locally! – Sara
Entertainment book. I purchased a $20 entertainment coupon book for my frugal mother-in-law! Hundreds of dollars in savings in this one book and it supports my children’s elementary school as a fundraiser! – Kristine
Flannel sheets. So we can turn the thermostat down a little bit! – Julie
Trees. I have been donating money to the Arbor Day Foundation for years now. With your donation ($10 minimum), they send you cards that you can send to two people letting them know that a tree has been planted in their name. They make great (and frugal) gifts for the environmentalists on your list, or the people who don’t really want anything or who would rather you give the money to charities. It’s a great gift for individuals and the planet. – stephanie
Shoes. I bought my dad a pair of shoes from Kohl’s on clearance for $15, originally $50. So that should be nice. – Chris
Craft project. I was also at a party, and instead of lots of items for the children, I brought a ton of stickers (from a factory outlet) and some blank cards and we made Christmas cards. -Valerie
Bingo. This year my family has decided to play bingo for prizes instead of exchange gifts. Each person will bring one of their favorite items that cost between $5-$10. The item has to be something that will be consumed. So people will bring their favorite soap, favorite drink, favorite candy, etc. All the items will be set out on a table and the winner of each round of bingo will get to select their prize from all the items. A very fun experience that is inexpensive and doesn’t add more clutter to our house. – Jamie G.
Stocks. I am thinking to gift a single stock of $15 from Sharebuilder. – Phoenix2life
Dinner. Buy a certificate from Restaurant.com and dine out with a friend. Wealthy Immigrant

Written by Madison

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37 Homemade Frugal Gift Ideas Under $20

Madison — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:48:22 +0000

Want to make a homemade gift to give this holiday season? Looking for ideas? You’ve come to the right place! Readers shared their best frugal gift ideas in the Holiday Giveaway. The ideas are terrific, and I’ve highlighted many of them below.

If homemade isn’t what you are looking for, you can check out more reader ideas in 10 Amazing Frugal Gift Ideas Under $20.

Thank you for sharing all your amazing frugal gift ideas! I’m inspired…

Frugal Homemade Gift Ideas

Cookies. Cooookieees, of course. With lots of ginger and mace and other yummy spices. – gS
Homemade DVD. Earlier this year my family went on a trip to Disney World. I plan to take the hundreds of photos and video clips we collected and turn them into a DVD production that we will watch year after year. – Joshua
Family Memory Game. A few years ago my aunt had everyone answer several questions about Christmas like “What was your favorite present?” and “What was your most memorable Christmas?” and compiled the answers into a small book at a copy shop that she gave to each family. She left off everyone’s name from their answers, so we got to spend a long time all together on Christmas Day guessing whose memory was whose, which turned out to be a whole lot of fun! – Stephanie F
Beer Basket. The local liquor store sells individual bottles. I can choose an interesting selection of beers they have probably never tried and wrap it up in a basket (from a yard sale of course) for about $10. -Adrienne
Old Fashioned Photo. Put on some costumes, make a nice picture, retouch it on your computer to black and white or sepia, print it and frame it. I’ve made a picture dressed up as a cowboy, 1920s style with my fiance, put it in a frame with old wood to match the old style of the picture. – Marcel
Book Covers for Embarrassing Books. I love to read romance novels, run a blog on them in fact, and I have many friends that read them too. The plain fact is that several of the covers are a bit – embarrassing to be caught reading – whether it is the title of the book or the models groping on the cover. So I decided to make crochet book covers. The yarn cost $5 a skein, and for that price I can make 1.5-2 covers per skein depending on if I make a trade paperback or mass paperback size cover. – Keira
Homemade Jams, Jellies and Salsa. We always do some home canning in the fall, and it’s amazing how much people love getting a jar of homemade jam or jelly. We may also throw in a jar of homemade salsa. – Richard
Tsumami Kanzashi. I learned to make tsumami kanzashi (hair accessories that resemble flowers, made from folded scraps of silk or other fabric this summer and as I already owned most of the materials, the cost is negligible. And I can mount them on pin backs instead of barrettes for my female relatives who don’t wear things in their hair.
Memory Tree. This year the grandchildren (were all in our 20 -30’s) are giving our grandparents a Memory Tree. Allow me explain: We purchased a small decorative Christmas tree (about 1 foot tall). From there each grandchild is requested to hand make a miniature ornament with one of our favorite memory of our grandparents either tucked inside or on the ornament itself. Whether it is the smell of fresh baked homemade cookies, the high energy game nights or our favorite holiday memories, the sky is the limit.
The great part is that each grandchild takes a heart felt part in creating the gift. All the ornaments are collected and placed on the Memory Tree and presented to our grandparents on Christmas morning. It will be exciting to watch their reactions as they look at each ornament and read out loud the favorite memory. My hope is that the Memory Tree will be a gift that will stay with them for many years to come.
– Nate
Homemade Baked Good Recipes. Include the dry ingredients in a nice mason jar, attach the recipe to the jar, add some nice ribbon and you now have a cheap gift. The recipient just has to add the wet ingredients. – John
Christmas Cards. My wife always makes her own greeting cards and that includes Christmas cards. We shop the clearance bins at Joann Fabrics to stock up on materials at great prices so these cost significantly less than store-bought cards. – M.B.
Scrapbook. A scrapbook for a very close friend. It takes a lot of effort but almost no money at all! – Jason
Ornaments. Homemade Christmas ornaments made by the kids. – Chris
Knitted Scarf. Knitting a scarf as a handmade gift, which is a perfect money saver as well as treasured gift! – Linda
Photo Shirt. A t-shirt for my Father with profile pictures of all his grandchildren on it. – Marie
Framed Photos. My wife got a nice family picture of us done for cheap. Our photo package includes enough pictures for everyone in our family. Combine this with inexpensive but elegant looking frames and you have a nice, personal gift that can be a present on its own or combined with other small gifts. All for just a few dollars a picture. – Mark
Photo Calendars. For several family friends we purchased 2009 frame calendars where you can insert photos for each month. Then, for the people we were giving them to we inserted pictures of us and them during that particular month or season. A fun and frugal holiday gift! – Pete
Thank You Letters. Write thank you letters to people who have been important in your life (family members, friends, teachers, coworkers, etc.) to let them know how much you appreciate them. It is helpful to share a memory/experience with the person, how it affected you, what their presence in your life meant to you, etc. It definitely takes more time and thought than purchasing a gift, but I have been amazed by the responses received. One person summed it up nicely: she has received many thank you notes for gifts given but had never received a thank you note for just being herself! – Rapuccini
Photo of the Month. You know those really expensive “fruit of the month club” from Harry and David? Well I have the cheap personal knockoff! This year I have copied that but yet personalized it with “Photo of the month” from our family. I purchased a frame from a craft store and carved on it “PHOTO OF THE MONTH.” They are to be given as gifts this year. Every month on the 16th, I will send a favorite photo!! This gift is personalized, thoughtful, and keeps on giving throughout the year. – Kris
Coupon Books. I make coupon books good for back rubs, a home cooked meal and other stuff that fits the person I give it to. – mistress meeyee
Fleece Hats. I found instructions for customizable fleece animal hats/roman helmet hats on Instructables.com. I’m going to make a personalized animal hat for each friend and family member. I got Fleece on Sale for $4 a yard this weekend, and from my first hat I made on Sunday (A Squid), it takes about 1/3 to 1/2 yard per hat. They are very cute, very frugal, and I can personalize the gift for each family member! (My friend had a party on Sunday, and all his friends loved the hat I made – so I think they’ll be a hit!) – Mark
Painted Stained Glass. I picked up a fairly cheap ($10) wine glass set and some Pebeo glass paint from the craft store ($4.49 for a jar of color, $4.49 for outliner). Once painted on, it looks just like stained glass! Using just the outliner and just a single color, I’ve made some pretty cool abstract designs on the glasses. And the best part is that once you bake the glassware in the oven, the paints become dishwasher and microwave safe! A useful, unique present with a homemade touch! – JBP
Fruit Baskets. I make fruit baskets. They are cheaper than when you buy at the store and they are a healthy gift. – Ala
Magnets. Homemade magnets made from fabric and glass beads. – Lesley
Memory Pillows. I have been hanging on to my grandmother’s old bedspread that was going to be thrown away after she passed. It has a few rips and tears from so many years of use. Everyone else saw it as trash, but I saw endless possibilities for that old spread. This Christmas, I will be making throw pillows for my mother using the ‘good’ parts of the bedspread. Every time my mother passes by those pillows, she will think of her mother. Tip: Try to look at things not only for what they are, but also what they could become. – Jenn
Decorative Bottles. My wife likes to give out decorative bottles filled with olive oil infused with fresh herbs. – Mark
Craft Kits for Kids. My apartment building is doing a toy drive for Children’s Aid Society, and most people are just putting scary cheap plastic stuff under the lobby tree. I’m making little bundles of craft supplies – markers, glitter, scissors, clay, crayons, glue, craftsticks, etc – that work out to be $3.50 per kit. I think it’s more fun than an “educational toy”, and more enduring than a flimsy plastic fake barbie doll. – MoneyMateKate
Picture Montage. I’ll be putting a picture montage of the kids together for my wife with the help of my daughter. The cost will only be the materials for the photo paper (purchased a while ago) and any other items we use which we already have. – FFB
Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix. All the ingredients came to $10 and can be used for other things. Bought saran wrap, ribbon, and Christmas tins at a dollar store. Took me an hour to make the entire mix. Will take about the same to package everything. With a total 30 minutes of shopping. – leslie
Oreo Truffles. They are so easy and taste so good. The only ingredients needed are crushed oreos, cream cheese and chocolate chips to melt! – Roxanne
Clocks. I made clocks this year that I will be giving to family members. The total cost of each clock is around $5-6. – Penny G
No Sew Fleece Throws. This season I made no-sew fleece throws for everyone to enjoy snuggling up in. Definitely way under 20 bucks!! – Sara Amos
Homemade Dinner Coupon. For my hard to buy for grandparents we always give them a “Dinner at our house” coupon. We invite both sets of grandparents and my parents and usually plan the dinner sometime after the holiday craziness. I have fun planning the meal and my grandparents seem to really enjoy the time spent with family. – Kristia
Babysitting and Handyman Work Coupons. My favorite frugal gift received was from my mom, step dad, and daughter. It was personalized coupons for babysitting (from mom), handyman work (I’m a single mom), and extra chores and hugs without whining (from daughter). I love these because I cannot buy them. – Laura DenHaan
Poem. I’m planning to write my loved ones a poem that is unique to that person. It just goes to show that sometimes the best things in life really are free. – Shaun A
Cheese Cutting Boards. I plan on giving some home made cheese cutting boards that I will make out of oak. Inexpensive, thoughtful, and fun to make. – Chris
Jar Mixes. I love to make “jar” gifts. This year it is jars of dried bean soup mix with a jalapeno cornbread mix in a big soup bowl. I have made 12 jars so far. Everyone seems to like this and it hasn’t broken the bank yet. – Gail

Written by Madison

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Black Friday 2008 Free Stuff

Madison — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:29:57 +0000

One of my favorite things to do on Black Friday is score free stuff! We usually don’t go out of our way to get any of them, but if it’s a store we’ll be at, we grab them. Since it’s Free Money Friday, here’s this year’s free stuff!

I searched through all the sites that I listed yesterday in Black Friday Shopping Resources to compile the list. It’s separated by free, free after rebate, and free with purchase. Be sure to check the ad scans for accuracy, and verify what time the price ends in your area.

Free

Half Price Books

Free tote bag and $5 gift card to first 100 customers

Ikea

Free breakfast until 10:30 am

JC Penney

Free Mickey Mouse 2008 snow globe and $10 coupon for Saturday

Military BX

Free $20 gift card to first 100 customers

Pep Boys Auto

Free $10 shopping card for first 50 customers

Sam’s Club

Free complimentary breakfast until 8:00 am

Sports Authority

Free Bonus Bucks card ($10-$300) for first 100 people

Free After Rebate

CVS

Magnavox Universal Remote Control
Philips Earbud Headphones
Gatorade G2 20 oz. (Assorted Varieties)
Hershey’s King Size Chocolate with Almonds, Kit Kat or Twizzlers
5-Hour Energy Extra Strength 2-Pack (4 oz. Total)
Aussie Shampoo, Conditioner or Styler
Bic Soleil Single Razor with 2 Cartridges & Shower Holder
Colgate Total Advanced Clean, Fresh or Whitening Toothpaste
Garnier Nutritioniste Cleansing Towlettes (25 Count)
Johnson’s Softlotion (11 or 14 oz.)
Maybelline Mineral Power Liquid Foundation

Rite Aid

Maybelline Mascara or Lipstick
Maybelline Nail Enamel
Fructis Shampoo or Conditioner

Free With Purchase

Best Buy

Sprint Compass 597 AirCard with purchase of 2 year contract

Blockbuster

Free $5 gift card with a $50 gift card purchase

Circuit City

Free Espon Photo Printer with any digital camera purchase
Free after rebate Kaspersky Internet Security Software with purchase of any PC
Free Kaspersky Internet Security with any Firedog installation
Free after rebate LG 8350 Cell Phone, Jabra BT Headset, and $50 gift card with purchase of Verizon Contract

Dell

Free shipping on all featured products

Dick’s

Free $20 gift card with $100 Purchase for first 250 customers
Free $15 iTunes card with $150 North Face purchase

Factory Card Outlet

Free 2 lb. bag of candy with $30 purchase

Half Price Books

Free 2009 calendar with $30 purchase
Free $5 coupon with $50 gift card purchase

JC Penney

Free $10 off $50 Coupon for Saturday with any purchase

KMart

Free GeoTrax Track Pack with Airport or Grand Central purchase
Free Triceratops Rock Player with Diego Dinosaur Rescue Mountain purchase
$25 gift card with purchase of Martha Stewart Pre-Lit Slim Tree (Thanksgving Day)
Free $25 Sony Gaming coupon with PSP purchase (Thanksgiving Day)

Kohls

Free $10 Kohl’s Cash for every $50 spent in-store and online
Free 6-in-1 game cubes with any $35 beauty purchase

Old Navy

Free Samsung Pebble MP3 player with a $20 purchase

Radio Shack

Free $10 Gift Card with $50 gift card purchase
Free Alarm Clock with Dock for iPod with iPod Nano, Classic or Touch purchase
Free after rebate Canon 3-in-1 Color Printer with purchase of EX-Z9 Camera
Free Smartbook and 3 Cartridges with purchase of V.Smile Learning System
Palm Centro Smartphone with purchase of 2 year Sprint contract
Samsung Propel Smartphone with purchase of 2 year AT&T contract

Sears

Free $60 gift card with 4 Michelin, Goodyear, Bridgestone or BFG tire purchase

Sports Authority

Free $10 off $50 coupon with gift card purchase

Target

Free gift card (up to $50) with purchase of PSP, DS, or Xbox 360 System

Toys R Us

Free easel starter kit with any Crayola or Imaginarium easel
Free Moon Sand refill (2-Pack) with any $19.99+ Moon Sand purchase

If you find more, please post them in the comments. I’ll try to keep the list updated until the big day!

Don’t feel like leaving the house? Check out Online Shopping Resources: Cyber Monday and Beyond!

Written by Madison

Frugal Recipe: Chicken Soup

Madison — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:40:50 +0000

Apparently I struck a spot close to your heart (and your stomach) with the Ideas for Frugal and Easy Cooking. In a time where food prices are on the rise, it’s more important than ever to find frugal recipes that fulfill your need to eat healthy and satisfy your taste buds.

Sue Bette to the rescue! Sue writes recipes and reviews at feelgood eats. Today Sue presents a recipe for chicken soup. Not only is it a fun and basic recipe, for my newly developing cooking skills, it’s a crowd pleaser and a dollar stretcher!

Sue and I have teamed up to exchange articles where feelgood eats and My Dollar Plan intersect. Later in the year, I’ll present a budgeting article perfect for readers at feelgood eats. Subscribe to feelgood eats for more great recipes!

Chicken Soup Recipe

Greetings from Sue Bette, natural foods chef and author of feelgood eats, a food blog centered on the use of whole, local, and seasonal foods.

If you are looking to create satisfying, comforting, and tasty meals at home while staying on budget, look no further than soup. From Italian minestrone to Vietnamese phó, soup has traditionally been the food of working people, valued not only as a dollar stretcher but also because it packs a strong nutritional punch.

The secret to soup success is the broth, which is loaded with minerals and other therapeutic components (check out the Weston A. Price nutritional group for more details). I am a strong advocate for making broth at home. Canned and boxed broths contain higher sodium levels and additives, and from a budgeting standpoint, why buy something that is essentially a by-product of the cooking process?

Homemade Broth The Easy Way:

I find it is easiest (and, according to Consumer Reports, more energy efficient) to make broth in a crock-pot, which slowly coaxes out all of the minerals and other good stuff, resulting in an enriched and delicious broth.
Start by having your butcher quarter a whole chicken, which will fit easier in the crock-pot.
Before you head off to work in the morning, add the quartered chicken, 7 cups of water, 1 carrot (roughly chopped), 1/2 onion (roughly chopped), and 2 stalks of celery (roughly chopped).
When you get home (or after 6-8 hours), strain the stock into a large pot, discard the vegetables, and shred the chicken off the bone. Now you have stock that is ready to go, chicken that is already cooked, and a wonderful aroma in your kitchen!

Tasty Soup in Under 30 Minutes:

Start by prepping your ingredients.In culinary terms, this is called mise en place. Basically you want to have everything ready to-go when you begin cooking:
You want the ingredients to cook evenly, so try to chop the ingredients to roughly the same size (except the onion, which is minced into fine pieces). Don’t stress about fancy knife skills or perfect cuts; just try to get everything in a uniform, bite-size piece and you will be doing great! Below is my set-up for slicing the celery. I break it down length-wise and then width-wise to create uniform chunks:
When heating your oil, you will know it is ready when you throw in a piece of minced onion and it dances a little bit (a slight sizzle). If the onion starts moving very quickly and almost starts to fry, your oil is too hot and you need to start over again.
Throughout the recipe I call for adding a pinch of salt – this is generally what you can pick up between your thumb and forefinger and is usually about 1/4 teaspoon. Adding the salt is an important seasoning step as it will help build and develop flavor throughout the cooking process.
The soup can be packed and stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or placed in the freezer for 6 months. If you do freeze the soup make sure to leave a couple of inches in your container because it will expand when frozen.

Chicken Soup with Cheddar Croutons

(serves 4-6)

Broth Ingredients

7 cups of water
1 chicken, quartered
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
4 peppercorns

Soup Ingredients

1/2 onion, minced
sea salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
3 celery stalks, chopped into bite-size pieces
3 carrots, chopped into bite size pieces
3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1 bunch green onion, chopped (for garnish)

Crouton Ingredients

4 slices of bread, cubed
1 tablespoon extra-olive oil
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 400ºF (for croutons).

For Broth

Add the chicken, onion, carrot, celery stalks, and peppercorns to a crock-pot and set on low. Allow to cook for 6-8 hours and then strain the broth, discarding the vegetables and shredding the chicken. You will have more chicken than the soup calls for; I like to use it for chicken salad or add it to other dishes throughout the week.

For Soup

Set a large heavy-bottomed pot or a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add a dash (1 tablespoon) of extra-virgin olive oil. Allow the pot and oil to come up to temperature (this will take about 2 minutes). Once the oil reaches the desired temperature, add all of the onion and a pinch (about a 1/4 teaspoon) of sea salt. Sauté the onion for 3-5 minutes, until it softens and becomes somewhat translucent.Add the dried herbs, celery, and carrot with another pinch of sea salt. Sauté the vegetables until they soften, about 10 minutes, stirring fairly frequently. (During this time I usually try to clean up the kitchen.) Finish by adding the chicken and broth, and allow to simmer for another 15-20 minutes.This will allow the flavors to develop and mingle. When ready to serve, make the croutons.

For Croutons

In a medium mixing bowl add the bread cubes and olive oil and toss to coat. Lay the bread cubes onto a foil-lined baking sheet (this will make for easier cleanup). Toast the bread cubes for two minutes, until they become stiff and crunchy. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and sprinkle the cheddar over the cubes. Toast the croutons again until the cheese melts, about a minute.

To Serve:

Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with chopped green onion and croutons. Enjoy!

Written by Madison

Ideas for Frugal and Easy Cooking

Madison — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:29:42 +0000

Photography: Borscht to Be by Noël Zia Lee

One of the best parts about My Dollar Plan is the community of readers that is developing. When I told you that I needed to learn how to cook, you came through with lots of recipes, links, tips and more.

Once you know how to cook, you can combine cooking at home, using recipes that favor frugal foods, and working on trimming the grocery bill to create the “three-legged stool” of frugal cooking. Put it all together and you get the following guide to frugal cooking.

Cooking Resources

Frugal Cooking. Check out Hillbilly Housewife, a frugal recipe site focusing on low-cost, home-cooking from scratch. “Our favorites are the lentil chili and [the] lentil veggie soup, with dumplings!” – Alexia
Learning to Cook. “Cooking is ‘hard’ at first, and gets significantly easier over time. It’s also fun and creative.” Here are sites to get started: 101 Cookbooks, Simply Recipes, and the Food Network. – deepali
Healthy Eating. Check out the Hungry Girl site and Hungry Girl Cookbook with low calorie recipes and food tips for anyone watching their waistline. In addition, to eat whole, traditional foods and avoid processed foods, recipes at Feelgood Eats will point you in the right direction.
Free Food and Family Magazine. You can subscribe to the Kraft Food and Family Magazine for free or check out the archives on their site.

Recipes from Readers

Easy Chicken and Rice Dish

1 Box of rice (a roni-type rice), any flavor
2 Chicken Breasts (halved or diced)
Shredded Cheese

Open the rice and sauce mix, pour it into cake pan or glass baking dish. Add the amount of water required on the box to the rice. Stir.
Lay the chicken on top of the rice. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven.
Cover with shredded cheese, bake for another 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.

“I double the recipe, because we’ve got 5 people in our house full time, but the recipe is the same. You can change the rice flavors to suit your mood. You can use whatever cheese you have on hand. I serve it to company or just to the family. Everyone loves it.” – Momma

Italian Chicken and Green Beans

Pre-heat oven to 350.
Open 2-3 cans of green beans and drain. Pour the contents into a casserole dish, top with 2-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts.
Top with a can of Italian seasoned tomato sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is done.

“You can adjust the beens and chicken to your need. My kids wouldn’t even eat green beans until I made them this way.” -Tonyia

Tritip Sandwich

1 tri-tip
1 jar salsa (I use Herdez, but any will do)
1 pack lipton onion soup mix

Put all ingedients into a crockpot, cook on low for 8 hours. Stir meat to shred. Serve on hoagies with your choice of cheese. -Tonyia

More Frugal Recipes

Make Your Own Salsa. Buy on sale and you can make a quart of salsa for $0.88.
Fast and Frugal Recipe: Mediterranean Pizza Toast. Examples give the cost of each slice at about $0.25.
Frugal Cooking using an eggplant recipe.
Frugalize any recipe using the Sesame-Garlic Sirloin Steak example.
Recipe for Tofu with Peanut-Ginger Sauce
Ghoulash
Frugal Recipe: Beef Stew
The Frugal Whole Chicken (or, Waste Not, Want Not)

Tips and Tricks

Make food last longer. 27 Great Tips for Around the House Great tips to avoid food going to waste. For example: separating your bananas will slow down ripening and storing cheese in aluminum foil will keep it fresher and avoid mold. Who knew?

Make bread and pizza dough. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day has a basic recipe for simple crusty bread and pizza dough. In a few minutes you can make a batch for two weeks which can make 2-3 pizzas, and 3-4 loaves of bread. It “saves a boatload of money!” – pidgeon92

Barbeque all year long. Even in the winter! “Kids love the hot dogs and burgers and I’ll even throw some on for lunch time too.” – The Passive Dad

Saving Money

Frugal recipes are even cheaper when you can buy the ingredients at a discount. Here are some of the methods that I’m exploring to cut down on our grocery bill.

Written by Madison

Free Blockbuster Movies

Madison — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:29:46 +0000

It’s Free Money Friday! My goal every Friday is to find a free money offer for you! Sometimes it’s free cash (like Revolution Money Exchange), sometimes it’s free offers (like the free magazines), and sometimes it’s for rewards (like $10 from Upromise).

Free Blockbuster Two Week Trial

This week the freebie is for free movies! Blockbuster is offering a Total Access Two Week FREE Trial. The total access program allows you to check out movies online and have them mailed to your house. There’s no late fees either.

How it Works

When you first sign up for the free trial you select movies that you want to see and prioritize them. The movies are shipped directly to your house. Then after you finish watching them you mail the movies back in the free return envelope.

Easy Way to Get Extra Movies

If you want to get additional movies you can exchange them for more movies at your local store while they ship some more out. The videos that you get at the store are in addition to the ones from your typical monthly plan.

Sign Up

During the sign up for the two week free trial they ask for your credit card so they can automatically bill you after the two weeks are up. Be sure to write down the date on your calendar and remember to cancel before getting billed.

Our Experience

Last year when we took a long road trip we brought along our DVD player. Since our kids don’t watch much tv, we didn’t have any videos to take along. That’s where I got creative. I signed up for a Blockbuster Total Access Two Week FREE Trial a couple days before our trip. We received a few videos for the trip. When we got home, I canceled the service. It worked like a charm!

Written by Madison