Currently Weekly Specials

25% off scrapbooking at Crafts, etc. PLUS enter code twitter09 and receive an additional 10% off! Plus there's no sales tax, and free shipping on orders over $25. Worth it on Cricut products and embellishments especially, since they are never buy one get one free at Hobby Lobby.

For today only (Aug 19) at dickblick.com, you receive discounts and cheap shipping for ordering certain dollar amounts. Anyone interested in painting should check it out. They have the same paints that are at Sips N Strokes and TONS of choices for canvases. No tax here as well.

Save $7 off your next order at drugstore.com, if you spend $39 or more on Pampers diapers! (that's one value box - plus it's free shipping if you add some other items) And there is a $1 off coupon you can use.

50 prints for $5 (EASY50), that's 10 cents each! Plus 20% off of photo gifts (EXTRA20), which includes photo books at Walgreens!

50% off stickers, adhesives, and certain scrapbook papers at Hobby Lobby.

Free shipping on your entire purchase at Macys.com if you purchase $25 woth of girls basics (underwear, pajamas, socks, leotards, etc.) And they are having a great clearance on women's clothes! Code : KIDGEAR Plus if you've never purchased from them before, you can sign up for e-mail and get a code for $15 off your $100 purchase!

This month's code for $10 off $50 at booksamillion.com is BPAUG99UP (through Aug. 31)

Books

You can never have enough books! No really, you can't. I always purchase my books from booksamillion.com and there are 4 really good reasons you should do the same! Reason #1 - You can always get $10 off of $50 with a coupon code. Reason #2 - The sales tax is much lower than it is in local stores. Reason #3 - Their bargain section. The kids books are pretty cheap. And Reason #4 to top it all off - Free shipping! (over $25) But you will be spending $50 to get the best deal anyways.....so there you go!

Scrapbooking

What mom doesn't like to scrapbook!?  It's always fun to preserve your children's precious memories (while you still remember them)!  When buying scrapbook supplies, I hang onto the advice from my sister-in-law:  Shop at Hobby Lobby when their scrapbook stickers and papers are 50% off!  This sale happens more often than I thought, so it's definitely worth waiting for the sale before you buy these scrapbook must-haves.  The 3D embellishment stickers are only 30% off, but not the same week as the other stickers and the papers - so you may end up going twice, unless you don't mind buying when they aren't on sale!  

In addition, on the Hobby Lobby website, you can click on weekly specials and print the weekly coupon. ( http://www.hobbylobby.com/weekly/weekly.cfm)  It is almost always a percentage off of one regularly priced item.  The percentage varies, but is usually 40 or 50%  off.

Contests/Sweepstakes

I'm not really one for entering these things, but some of you may enjoy them!  Here is a site that lists all of them with their expiration dates and a link to the rules and entry forms.  http://contests.about.com/od/sweepstakeslistings/a/sweepsbyexpdate.htm

Who knows, you could win 10, 25, or even $50,000!!!  And with some of the contests, you would actually be earning it based on your own creativity or culinary skills!

Printing Pictures

As a mom, I know you must print pictures!  The best deal on pictures that I have found is at Walgreens.  If you start a folder on your computer for pictures that you want to print, you can upload them to Walgreens.com at your convenience.  I have found that it's best to do this as you take the pictures, so you always remember which pictures you have looked through to select the ones for printing!  

You can always get your 4x6 pictures for 9 cents each if you wait until they offer "Buy 25, get 25 free."  You can use this deal up to 5 times per account, so depending on how many pictures you need to print, always only print 50 at a time.  If you are left with less than 50, wait until you have 50.  They offer the deal pretty regularly, so don't worry!  The next best deal is 10 cents each, when they offer "50 pictures for $5."  If you must print pictures, you can use this deal.  The drawback to this is that you actually have to go to Walgreens to pick them up.

If you are printing 5x7 or 8x10 pictures, it is actually cheaper to print them yourself!  Occasionally, Walgreens offers a free 8x10, no other purchase necessary.  This, of course, is a great deal.  Watch my blog for when they have these deals, and take advantage!  Only 1 free 8x10 per account, per deal period, which is usually only a day, so watch carefully.

If you like photo books, Walgreens offers 25% off and 33% regularly, so put your book together, and wait until the deal period to order.  Shipping usually isn't too bad, and is cheaper if you order more than one book at a time.

Money Saving at Target

Ok I lied....there is a third credit card you must own!  If you open a Target Red Card account, you earn 10% on your first purchase.  However, not many people know that you also earn a 10% off shopping day AND a 10% off online order when you spend $1,000 on your card.  And believe me, when you are shopping at Target for groceries as well as for everything else, that's really easy to do!  On your 10% shopping day, try to spend as close to $1,000 as you can  by buying necessities in bulk, such as toilet paper, paper towels, bottled water, frozen food, baby wipes (they are cheapest here), baby food, etc.  Save the rest of the $1,000 total for a much later date, to earn your next 10% off day.  Then use the day, again, to buy in bulk.  If you spend $800 each trip, it's like making $80 every time you shop at Target!  And because Target usually has pretty good deals, you can't pass it up.  Occasionally Target offers deals where you earn Target gift cards for purchasing certain items, such as a $5 gift card for purchasing two packages of toilet paper.  Well, on your bulk days, if you buy 6 packages, that's an additional free $15!  Yay for Target!

2 Credit Cards you must Own!

These two credit cards are necessities!  And I'll tell you why.  They both offer cash back programs.  That's like free money!  

  1.  American Express One - offers 1% cash back on every purchase AND sets up an additional savings account, which earns higher interest than most banks.  The cash back is automatically deposited into the savings account, so you do nothing and earn free money!  The cash is deposited on a monthly basis, so it begins earning interest almost immediately after you earn it, and you don't have to wait all year to receive it, like most other cash back rewards.

  2.  BP VISA - offers 5% cash back on all BP purchases, 2% on travel and dining, and 1% cash back on everything else....except purchases at other gas stations, of course!  If you get the card during the bonus rewards period, the cash back doubles during the first 60 days (from the application date....).  That means you get 10% cash back on all purchases at BP!  The only drawback to this card is that you have to log into your account to redeems your cash back, which they send in the form of a check, so you have to go to the back to deposit it.  You do, however, also have the option to receive a $25 BP gift card or donate the money to charity if you choose.  But if you want the cash back, make sure you select $25 check when you order your reward!

It's best to use the American Express everywhere, except at BP, restaurants, and hotels. However, American Express is not accepted everywhere, so use the VISA as a back up card that still earns you cash back!  Set up automatic payments, so you never have to worry about paying a late fee.