September 2012

Free Pedia-Lax Probiotic Yums

For children who need a little help going.

My youngest daughter has had trouble with constipation her entire life. I am always on the search for new products that can help her, especially since products like Miralax and Kondremel are no longer working. Today I discovered that Target is currently offering a free sample of Pedia-Lax Probiotic Yums.

Pedia-Lax created this new product especially for kids. It is chewable and has a strawberry flavor, so it won't be hard to convince your children to eat it. In fact, you don't even need to tell them what it is. Let them think they are eating candy. Best of all, this probiotic supplement is sugar-free, so your kids won't get hyper after they eat it.

Free Quit Smoking book

A help guide for smokers who find it hard to quit.

Putting an end to smoking is extremely difficult for some. I personally quit smoking 13 years ago when I found out I was pregnant with my first child. Knowing my actions affected someone else's life was enough for me never to pick up a cigarette again, but other members of my family had a much harder time quitting than I did. They tried everything, including the gum that contained nicotine.

If you find yourself wanting to quit smoking, but haven't had success with any of the available products that are designed to help you quit, consider getting the book “Quit Easy.” The book is written by Jim Trimmer, a smoking cessation specialist. Jim Trimmer not only describes what it feels like to be a smoker, but he also describes what it feels like to be a non-smoker. The book is being offered completely free so there is no harm in giving it a try.

Money saving tip: The oops bucket

I had no idea these existed, and now I can’t imagine living without them!

Recently a friend gave us an awesome idea for saving money, and I still cannot believe that I’d never heard of it before. Have you heard of the Oops Bucket? It’s basically just a bucket of paint that someone asked a store to mix for them, then they left it at the store when they decided it wasn’t exactly the color they had wanted.

I think the idea never occurred to me because I would never do this. If I asked for a paint color, then I would buy it—end of story. I’d feel way too guilty to not buy it after having them waste the paint. Of course, there could be other explanations; perhaps someone mixed the wrong color entirely and the bucket is a result of an honest mistake. Either way, it’s an unwanted bucket—and it’s super cheap. How cheap, you might ask?

Try five bucks. Seriously. I got a gallon bucket of $35 paint for five stinkin’ dollars. And it was much-needed paint, too! We had a roommate move out without much notice recently, and we decided to make her old room my new office. It has a view of the yard and two workable windows—something that was blocked in my old office—so that was my silver lining. That said, her room was a very dark shade of pink, and I wanted something neutral. I had already picked out free swatches at Lowe’s of sandy colors that I liked when my friend told me about the Oops Buckets.

Save money at your favorite stores

Inquire about special sales and discounts

Finding bargains at the store is starting to become harder than what you ever imagined. However, you may not want to go to the discount stores in your area for various reasons. To avoid this though, you may want to consider looking at the different stores you do shop at and ask the employees what day the managers do their discount markdowns. Here are some of the reasons to inquire about this type of markdown. 

The first reason to inquire about these days is the items which are marked down may be the one you need to have. Normally you may have never thought about this before, but I found the local pet store marks down all the food I use for my dogs. So I am really able to save quite a bit of money on the food for my dogs and earlier today I managed to get a bag of food for only the tax cost of the food. 

Free posters from the EPA

Teach your kids to care for the environment.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency is offering two free posters and a full-color brochure to anyone that wants them. Personally, I find this exciting because I homeschool. I'm always looking for educational materials and the posters work great to decorate our homeschool classroom. Of course, the posters would also be great for a child's bedroom, or for use in a public or private school setting.

There are two ways you can get each of the free items. You can call a phone number and request them, or you can order them online.

First, there is the “Estuaries: Scenes of Transition,” which was designed by John Dawson. The number to call is 800-490-9198. When prompted punch in the EPA document number EPA842-H-99-001.

DeepDiscount.com's bargain bin

Save on books, DVDs, perfume and much more

This week I discovered a new site that I am so excited to tell you about. It's called DeepDiscount.com and it has some of the best deals I've seen online for books, CDs, DVDs, perfumes and more. I've been spending quite some time online looking for great deals because I'm trying to get all of my Christmas shopping done. Then I can concentrate on the season itself.

Currently DeepDiscount.com has over 2,000 DVDs at drastically reduced prices. Here are a few examples in the DVD category: The Shawshank Redemption for $4.81, The Gingerbread Man for $2.99, Texas Rangers for $4.93, and Groucho Marx: You Bet Your Life-a 12 show set-for $3.97.

Cheap Halloween finds

Head to the Dollar Store to stock up.

After spending an hour in a Spirit store, I have to say that Halloween has become an expensive holiday. My daughter wanted a four-dollar ink pen with a hooting owl, my husband wanted every giant werewolf and zombie they had, and I wanted pretty much everything else.

But the makeup we wanted for our costumes—little wood sprite wants to be a werewolf, while we’re going to be Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd—was way too expensive, and the costumes were, of course, even more so. Lucky for me, I grew up on a DIY household, as did many Americans. We just have trouble remembering it.

Grab your Arm & Hammer coupons

Available twice per year

Arm & Hammer makes so many great products. I feel in love with them ever since my dad began stocking the house with their baking soda when I was a kid. Their products are the best at removing tough odors and cleaning stains on my teeth and within the home. If you use Arm & Hammer products as much as I do, you are in luck. The company allows users to register for free coupons. These coupons can be printed directly from your computer. Best of all, you can print all of the coupons twice per year.

Free Sample: Dove ClearTone

Try a sample of Dove's new deodorant for free.

The best freebies in my opinion are the ones you absolutely need. This includes personal care freebies as well as food freebies. Currently, Target is offering a free deodorant sample from Dove (one of my favorite deodorant brands). Every household is eligible to claim one free sample of Dove's new deodorant: Dove ClearTone. Keep in mind that you can also use the free sample as a stocking stuffer. Christmas is coming sooner than you think!

Head to Target's free sample section and click on the image of the Dove ClearTone deodorant bottle. This will bring you to a form that you need to fill out in order to get the free sample. First, you'll have to answer four quick survey questions. The next screen requires you to fill in your mailing address.

Free coupons from Febreze

Freshen up your laundry and home with Febreze

I consider myself cheap because there are very few products that I'm willing to pay full price for. If you are anything like me, you'll want to take advantage of Febreze's offer to receive coupons totaling $10 in savings. These coupons are for products that will keep your laundry smelling fresh and clean time and time again.

The main product, Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator, comes with a coupon for $2 off. I am very fond of Febreze products in general, although I haven't tried their laundry odor eliminator yet. I plan on trying though, as soon as my coupons arrive in my mailbox.  

Free Sample: Purina Cat Chow Healthy Weight

Sample cat food might help your cat maintain a healthy weight.

Purina has a new product on the market called Purina Cat Chow Healthy Weight. Although there are numerous coupons available in local coupon inserts and online coupon printing websites, why take $2.00 off when you can try the product for free first?

If your cat has trouble maintaining a healthy weight, then this is a product you are going to want to try. Purina still offers the cat food in flavors that your cat loves, yet the new formula will help your cat build lean muscles so that it doesn't gain too much weight. Some of the ingredients in this new product include Brewer's rice, corn meal, soybean hulls, soy flour meal, and animal fat.

Save cash with Five Below

This hip store has all the deals.

If  you want to shop at a hipster store but you don’t like the dark and you don’t have much money, Five Below may be your best bet. It’s brightly organized like an Old Navy commercial, yet if offers the same kinds of deals you’d find at any local dollar store—without the piles in carts to sort through or the tight, cramped aisles.

Everything at Five Below is five bucks or less, making it a great quick stop for birthday parties, dorm organizing, or candy binges. There’s t-shirts, cosmetics (pretty stuff, I must admit), books, art supplies and kits, party supplies, and more. Our local store even features workout equipment; I was tempted to purchase a boxing bag today myself.

Free box of Triscuit

Just like them on Facebook

Triscuit has been making crackers for as long as I can remember. Friends of my mom use to bring them to her parties with lots of different toppings melted over the crackers. Yummy! Today I discovered that Triscuit is offering Facebook users a free box of crackers. I took advantage of this offer so I could try to make some of my mom's friend's famous recipes.

In order to get your free box of crackers, you'll have to head to Triscuit's Facebook page. Click the “Like” button. You'll be told a goofy story that all of the samples have been taken and that you can fill out a complaint form in order to get a free coupon.

The complaint form has a bunch of drop-down menus that you can select goofy sayings from that are suppose to show how angry you are that there are no free samples. This kind of reminds me of those Mad Libs. At the end of the complaint form you can grab the pen and sign your name. Submit the form.

Twinings of London

Three free tea bags

Twinings of London is currently offering free tea for website visitors. Not only do I live in a household full of tea drinkers, but Christmas is coming up and I'm all for collecting free samples to place in my family's stockings.

You'll be excited to discover that Twinings of London offers over 50 different tea samples. Some of these flavors include black tea, green tea, chai tea, oolong tea, Earl Grey tea, pure mint tea, chamomile, honey and vanilla tea, mixed berry tea and the Prince of Wales tea. All 50 flavors are included in the free sample offer, so you aren't limited in only selecting from a few flavors. In fact, you can request cold brew tea bags in addition to hot tea bags.