Frugal Fritzie

Here’s some free & frugal family-friendly events & activities available this weekend at various stores (and with all these events, it’s always a god idea to call ahead & confirm that your local store is participating):

Bass Pro Shops:

• Santa’s Wonderland from 11/5-12/24. You can select your store in the drop down menu for complete details and schedule.
• 11/6-12/24 Every weekday, Monday-Friday, from 5-7 pm and every weekend, Saturday & Sunday, from noon-5pm, kids can take part in making crafts and holiday ornaments, like a snowman door hanger or animal sun catcher and construct great ornaments out of fishing bobbers, Popsicle sticks, jingle bells and more—even decorate Christmas cookies December 19th-24th! Select your store in the drop down menu for complete details and schedule.
• Free fun Santa Bandz bracelet offered every weekday to the first 150 kids who visit Santa’s Wonderland Monday through Friday from 5-7pm (a different style will be offered each week).
• Free 4×6 studio-quality photo with Santa from 3pm to 8pm Monday through Friday, Saturday’s 10am-8pm and Sunday’s Noon-5 pm.

Babies R Us

• Tuesday 12/6 at 6:30pm, Breastfeeding Basics: Get practical tips and learn about great products designed to help prepare you for feeding success. Sponsored by Medela.

Bank of America

• Saturday 12/3 & Sunday 12/4, Free Museums On Us days for Bank of America cardholders! There are over 100 participating Museums, Zoos, Science Centers, and Botanical Gardens across the US.

Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Stores

• Saturday 12/3 from 11am-1pm, ILoveToCreate: Beads in a Bottle From 1-3pm, Meet instructors & see class samples, 50% off selected classes all day and Wilton Decorating Basics only $17.50! From 3-5pm, Free Demo with 3M Adhesives.

Lakeshore Learning

• Saturday 12/3 from 11am-3pm, Kids make a Magnetic Mitten Notepad.

LEGO Stores

• Tuesday 12/6 at 5pm, Free Lego Monthly Mini Model Build: Nutcracker! Quantities are limited to approximately 250 per store.

Lowes Build and Grow

• Saturday 12/3 from 10am-Noon, FREE: Kids build a Caboose Build and Grow train! Come back each week to build the next piece and complete your train! Be sure to sign up for this event here.

Michaels

• Saturday 12/3 Passport to Imagination, Australia: from 10am – Noon, Christmas Calendar – Glue on an ornament every day until Christmas! From Noon – 2pm, Decorate a stocking for the season!
• Sunday 12/4 Passport to Imagination, Germany: from 1-3pm, Rudolph’s Kitchen: Decorate a chef’s hat and apron, From 3-4pm, Make a treat bag for Santa’s goodies you bake for him!

Pottery Barn Kids

• Saturday 12/3 at 10am, National Geographic Little Explorers: Kids learn about Penguins with hands-on activities, quizzes, songs & more.
• Tuesday 12/6 at 10am, Holiday Story Time with the Grinch: read How the Grinch Stole Christmas, holiday activities and take home a Grinch activity book.

Target select a city to find free or reduced-price admission to arts and cultural events in your area, sponsored by Target.

The Home Depot You can also see Adult Weekly workshops here.

• Saturday 12/3 from 9am-Noon, Free Kids Workshop: build and paint a Snowman Napkin Holder.

Toys”R”Us

• Saturday 12/3 from Noon-3pm, Countdown to Christmas: Meet Geoffrey, Demo the FAO Schwarz Big Piano and Color a Countdown to Christmas Calendar.

Walmart Event Finder – enter your zip code to see what is going on in your area.

Thanks Keeping Cents!

Hurry on over to Target and snag a Sesame Street Let’s Rock Elmo for $37.49 Shipped right now. These have been selling out fast, so this probably won’t last long at this price. Target also has a bunch of other popular toys 25% Off, be sure & check it out!

Hot Lightning Deal on Amazon, good for another hour (will end 10:30am Cst or until it sells out, whichever comes first). Get Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy) (2011) for $6.99 right now. This qualifies for Free Super Saver Shipping (free standard shipping on orders $25 or more) or Free Prime Shipping (free 2-day shipping on any order, free trials available through Amazon Mom or Amazon Student). Also, don’t forget, Amazon is running special Black Friday Movie deals, be sure and check out the schedule, each set of deals is running only 4 hours long!

If you or someone you know has suffered a stroke or traumatic brain injury (TBI), you know that every precious second counts after the injury. Studies have shown that treatment administered within a few hours after stroke has proven to be the most effective for recovery. However, the first six weeks after the stroke or injury are when the brain’s partially damaged cells need assistance to begin the recovery process and start working again.
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I was excited about the Summer Fresh Super Coupon Doubling Event that is going on today and tomorrow, so I ventured out early this morning to see what kind of deals I could snag and I have to say I ended up pretty disappointed. My nearest Summer Fresh is quite a drive for me, so I don’t shop there very often, it’s just not worth it with gas prices being what they are. In fact, I only go once or twice a year at most and I’ll probably go even less after my last “adventure.” First, the positives. The store was nice and clean, the staff was friendly & everything is easy to find. Now the negatives. They don’t carry some items advertised in their ad & this seems to happen every time I’ve gone. And I don’t mean out of stock, they simply do not carry the item at all! Second, their stock & selection is very, very limited (hopefully other Summer Fresh locations have much more selection than this one). Third, the prices are way too high, except for select sale items. I mean, a small container of French’s Dijon Mustard was like $4.00 for crying out loud.

Anyway, onto my transaction, which turned out to be a mess. It should have been a straight-forward transaction, nothing too complicated, but it ended up being one of those nightmare transactions you hope never to have. LOL

• Best Choice Large Dozen Eggs – $0.98 (in-ad sale)
• 4 Jimmy Dean Sausage Rolls (16 0z.) – $1.59 ea., Used $1.50/1 Store coupon (limit 1x use, bought 3 more rolls though becuase that was still a really good deal even without any coupons).
• 3 Diet Dr. Pepper (2 liter) – $1.25 ea., Used $1.00/3 hangtag coupon (doubled)
• Kikkoman Soy Sauce (10 oz.) – $2.19, Used $1.00/1 coupon (doubled)
• 8 Cans of Progresso Soup – $1.25 ea., Used 2 $1.00/4 coupons from the 10/2 SS insert (doubled)
• Diet Coke (2 liter) – $1.59, Used Free w/$10 purchase Store coupon
• 2 Land O Frost Ham Lunchmeat (1 lb.) – $3.99 ea. on sale, Used 2 $1.00/1 coupon (zipcode 35023, doubled)
• Final Cost $18.50

So, all of the above would’ve been a great deal for all the soup & meat, etc., but the transaction just went horribly wrong and took up way too much of my time today. First, the checker wouldn’t double one of the coupons because it exceeded the cost of the item and apparently they won’t adjust the coupon down at that store, but no biggie, I just put that item back. Then, three of the items came up at the wrong price on the register & she had to adjust them to the correct price. Once the transaction was finally done, when I saw the total, I knew it was quite a bit off, but I went ahead and paid because the line was getting pretty long. I then checked my receipt and discovered 3 errors & after much discussion with the manager, I finally got my refund. The checker had charged me for five Jimmy Dean Sausage Rolls instead of four and it added the full price before the sale which was $4.59. She also charged me for 4 Diet Coke 2 Liters when I only bought one and that one was free. And then, she didn’t charge me for 3 of the soups. I don’t know what the heck she was doing, but long story short: ALWAYS check your receipts and check them while you are still in the store. Believe me, it pays off.  Now, fortunately, my couponing experiences nine times out of ten go so much better than this one today, so I just chalk it up as one of those things and move on to the next deal.

If Pillow Pets are on your holiday shopping list, then check out this deal from Collections ETC. Pillow Pets are on sale today for $9.97. Use coupon code 3LK1D1C to take off $1 and include Free Shipping. There will be a $1.25 processing fee, so your total will end up being $10.22 Shipped. These are the actual & full-size Pillow Pets, not knock-offs and you have your choice of the Bumble Bee, Dog, Unicorn or Ladybug.

Thanks Keeping Cents!

Get Arrested Development: The Complete Series (Seasons 1-3 Bundle) DVD Set for only $28.99 today on Amazon plus FREE Standard Shipping. Oh, now, this is a deal that’s right up my alley, I totally loved this show! And I know there’s a ton of other Arrested Development fans out there, based on the many rave reviews on Amazon, wow! Note: This is Amazon’s Gold Box Deal of the Day, so this deal is only good through today or until it sells out, whichever cimes first.

This post brought to you by Puppies vs. Babies. All opinions are 100% mine.

Here is a cute contest going on Animal Planet, Puppies vs. Babies. You can vote now until November 23rd and help choose who will win. The top baby & top puppy will win $5,000. Whew as adorable as both puppies & babies are, that’s a tall order, that will be quite the challenge picking the cutest! So if you need kind of a break from life for a few minutes be sure to check out all the cute pictures & vote. I have to say I was in a really cranky mood, but when I started looking at all the cute puppies, I seriously felt so much better! Lol My gosh, it these adorable little fellows were really hard to rate, but I especially liked the little feller Harvard in his cute little outfit, Ayden (omigosh those ears!), Irie (such beautiful eyes) and Levi (hahahah his face, so precious, he looks like he’s saying “Ok, I’ve been really, really good now where is my treat?!). Who are you voting for?!  Ok, now I’m off to check out the cute babies. Have fun! You can head on over to vote & check out the details here: Puppies vs. Babies online contest.

UPDATE: All gone! You can print a $1.00/1 coupon.

Hurry on over & get a coupon for a FREE Tai Pei Entree. This is limited to the first 20,000 that sign up. There were some issues the first few minutes but it seems to be working now. One coupon per email address, per person, per mailing address.

Happy October! It’s a brand new month, so that means new coupons will be released on various sites this week. Coupons.com already has a ton of new coupons available, here’s a few of my favorites:

• $0.50 off any one box of General Mills Lucky Charms Cereal
• $1.00 off two Betty Crocker various Fruit Snacks
• $0.40 off Progresso Broth
• $0.25 off can of RO*TEL Zesty Tomato and Green Chili Sauce
• $0.50 off two boxes of Betty Crocker Potatoes
• $1.00 off any Two Fresh Gourmet Crispy Onions
• $0.40 off any one box of Fiber One Chewy bars
• $1.00 off two Fresh Gourmet Croutons
• $0.50 off two cups of Yoplait Greek Yogurt
• $1.00 off Maybelline Great Lash Mascara
• $3.00 off any One A Day and Flintstones Multivitamin Product
• $1.50 off any one Bayer Advanced Aspirin product
• $1.00 off any one Sundown Naturals Vitamin Product
• $4.00 off Wiggles 3D Pass the Popcorn! board game (Offer valid at Target)
• $1.00 off two packages of O-Cel-O Scrub Sponges
• $1.00 off Gerber’s Graduates Lil Entrees

As I drove to work on the morning of September 11, 2001, I was listening to the radio when news broke of a plane hitting the World Trade Center. I, like many people, first thought it was an accident. When it was reported that another plane had hit the second building, only then did I begin to grasp the horror of what had just taken place. As the full events played out that day, reality struck deep into all of our hearts that will last many lifetimes. All of our lives have changed forever since that day and I wanted to take a moment to remember the lives that were lost. My heart aches for each and every soul out there that has lost a loved one. And to those countless military who serve tirelessly every single day to protect our nation, you are heroes and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. God Bless America.

UPDATE: Gone!

Yay, another fun freebie from 1SaleADay.com! First head on over to their Facebook page, “Like” them and leave a comment or testimonial on their wall. Then, go to 1SaleADay.com get a FREE 11-in-1 Stainless Steel Survival Tool. Shipping will be free too, no payment information needed. This deal is good through today only 9/10 or until they sell out, whichever comes first.