A Frugalityville Giveaway... or should I say bribeaway?

OK. So in the past three months, I have had over 1300 absolutely unique visitors come and check out this website. If I didn't have a little program running that tracked that for me I would have quit running this site a while ago because I wouldn't know that I had any one visiting at all from the lack of comments that are left. (Thank you to the chosen few who have left comments. :))

So I have decided to do a small give away in hopes to lure out some of my blog stalkers. After all, this is supposed to be a community where we can all share information, successes and failures with each other!!!!

Giving away coupons didn't seem to work too well last time, so I am biting the bullet and giving away a $20 Target Gift Card. Why Target? Because their clearance is killer and I know you can get good value for my money. Why $20 bucks? Because I am hoping it is enough to make you think twice about not commenting. Why a gift card? Because it won't cost me an arm & a leg to mail it to you... wherever you are.

You can earn multiple entries in a couple of ways.

1. Leave me a comment letting me know you visited and what you like about this site. (I need some love people.) You can only do this once. I will delete other comments unless they are because you completed one of the other eligible ways of entering.


2. Link to my site on your blog and then leave another comment with a link to your site letting me know you did it.


3. Become a follower of this site by clicking the "follow" link in the right hand column and leave me another comment letting me know.


4. Blog about this giveaway and my site and leave me the link in another comment letting me know you did it.

That means you can earn at least four entries, and hey, if you have multiple blogs, you can earn even more! I know this is a pretty desperate attempt to get you guys to come out of hiding, but hey... I'm willing to bribe. You have until 11:59pm on July 3rd to enter. Winner will be chosen using a random number generator, (with witnesses), and announced on July 4th. Good luck! :)

Nestle Refrigerated Cookie Dough Recall...

Nestle has recalled all varieties of it's refrigerated cookie dough. Check out this link from Nestle's website and this link from the FDA's website to get the full scoop.

Why would I post this on this blog? Because Nestle refrigerated cookie dough is a frequent coupon item of course! I don't want us frugal women or our families sick :)

Have a super Saturday. :)

$10 off $40 Bath & Body Works Coupon...

Remember the best way to use a coupon is to apply it to the purchase of items that are already on sale!

Right now they have the following items for $4 each:

• Creamy Body Wash


• Select Wallflowers


• Signature Collection Foam Burst


• Select Scentports


• Signature Collection Classics

They also have buy 1, get 1 free on select mens items, so pick up a treat for your favorite father!

This offer is only good through June 21st, so head on over to Bath & Body Works and stock up on their on sale items... but before you go, click here to print the $10 coupon!

Reminder... It's free chocolate day...

Today is free chocolate day! Here is a re-post to remind you! :)

WHO DOESN'T WANT FREE CHOCOLATE????

From now until September 25th, every FRIDAY you can click on this link and sign up to MARS company have them send you a free chocolate bar coupon. Unbelievable! They will even send you an email reminder to go to their website and sign up! (Limit 1 coupon per email address and 4 coupons per household.) There is also a limit of 250,000 coupons per Friday, so act fast.

You have five minutes to submit the form once you click on it or your coupon is forfeited. Make sure to read all their rules in case I forgot something, but I have already signed up and I already have 4 coupons on the way :) It was super easy! :)

Free Online Classes and more From HP plus Photoshop Elements 7 for only $59.99...

I taught myself computers when I was a stay at home mom by taking online classes. I would do them while the kids were napping or playing and enjoyed expanding my knowledge in different areas. Today, thanks to all the skills I acquired I work in the computer field and I still love to learn all I can about computers and software. One of my favorite sites for free, decent classes is the HP learning center. It has classes in lots of different areas:

• Digital Photography (Camera composition, creativity, taking close-ups, taking people shots, photo restoration, etc.)
  
• Software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Vista, Web-building, Programming, etc.)


• IT Professionals (Data protection, security, firewalls, Linux, network infrastructure, etc.)


• Business Skills (Building & funding your business, time management, marketing, etc.)


• Computing and Networking (Networking basics, laptop pc's, server technology, backup strategies, etc.)


• Government & Education (Grant writing, IT management, virus protection, internet safety, web strategy, educator resources, etc.)


• Graphic Arts (Adobe Photoshop, large format printing, etc.)

But wait, it doesn't stop there. Want to learn to take better photo's? How about editing and restoring photos? HP has an entire Digital Photography Center dedicated to helping you pick out software and learning to use it. If you just want a very basic photo editor, they even offer their Photosmart Essentials software for free download!

Finally, HP also has a Creative Studio where you can download and print free projects. There is everything from a family tree to back seat summer travel games, to scrapbooking and NBA themed projects. If you are looking to upgrade to some serious photo software, you can also get the Download only (no cd) version of Photoshop Elements 7 for only $59.99. (This is the FULL version which regularly retails for $99.99 and is a HOAD.) This Photoshop offer ends July 6th, but you can download a 30 day trial version first to see if you like it!

Just make sure you have plenty of time to browse, learn and play before you get on HP's website. You probably won't want to leave for a bit.:)

Free Google Picasa image editing software...

I am often surprised by people who tell me they have never heard of Picasa. Picasa is free photo editing software from Google that is simple and easy to use. Ever wondered how your friends get those wonderful collages of pictures in their blogs. Ever wonder how their pictures look professional with glow lighting, soft focus, or color tinting? Have you wondered why they seem to get the perfect shot with perfect color, no red eye and cropped just perfectly? Are they super ultra talented photographers? Maybe... some are! But most probably just use photo imaging software... and many have the free Picasa.

Peaked your interest? Check out this 5 minute video introduction which shows you just how easy this editing software is and then click here to download the free software to your pc.

One thing that makes this software perfect for beginners is that picasa never changes your original pics. It protects your original files so you don't do something you regret.

Tomorrow I will introduce you to some other photo editing options that are available for free or cheap and tell you where and how you can get a HOAD ($40 off) on the famous Photoshop Elements 7 software. I will also point you to some cool online classes, so be sure to come back! :)

Quick Tip: Extend time between grocery trips...

When have you ever gone to the store and spent less than $20-$50? Every time you "run to the store" you are going to pick up more items than you need... it is almost guaranteed! You know what I mean. You run in to the store for a gallon of milk and come out with the milk, fresh rolls that were just baked, a tub of ice cream, those strawberries that looked sooooooooooo good and the new movie you had forgotten came out this week. Don't worry, we have all done it... planned on spending $2 and come out spending $30.


However, if this is the trend, don't you think it makes good sense to try and extend time between grocery store trips to save that money? This means good planning... like picking up enough milk and perishables for the whole week. It also means that sometimes you may have to change plans. (If you run out of milk, then you may have to have pancakes instead of cereal!) But if you are going to the store 2-3 times a week, your savings could add up quickly and substantially! :)

Reminder... free chocolate...

Today is free chocolate day! Here is a re-post to remind you! :)

WHO DOESN'T WANT FREE CHOCOLATE????

From now until September 25th, every FRIDAY you can click on this link and sign up to MARS company have them send you a free chocolate bar coupon. Unbelievable! They will even send you an email reminder to go to their website and sign up! (Limit 1 coupon per email address and 4 coupons per household.) There is also a limit of 250,000 coupons per Friday, so act fast.

You have five minutes to submit the form once you click on it or your coupon is forfeited. Make sure to read all their rules in case I forgot something, but I have already signed up and I already have 4 coupons on the way :) It was super easy! :)

Bath & Body Works Coupon...

Still haven't made it to the Bath & Body Works Semi-Annual Sale yet? Click here to get a 20% off $25 or more coupon good through Sunday, June 14th. (For any non-mathematical people such as myself, that is a minimum of $5 off!) Use the coupon for additional savings off their sale items of which they have tons! We have been going through their anti-bacterial soap like crazy, so I'll be going back this weekend to get some more! :)

Target.com $5 off $50 promotion code...

Target.com is offering free shipping on many, many items when you spend $50 on their website right now. (Check the website for details). To sweeten the deal, you can use this promotion code to get $5 off any purchase of $50 or more:

TC6543RT

I'm not sure how long this code will work, so use it quickly! :)

Fuddruckers Coupon...

As part of being a member of the Fudd's Club I got an email today for $5 off any $25 or more purchase at the Sandy, UT Fudds. Just click here to print it. I have to say, this is one of my favorite places to grab a burger or salad! This coupon is good through June 30, 2009 and you can print it as many times as you like (just in case you are a loyal customer like moi!)

If you would like to join the club yourself, and possibly get the coupons for your own local Fudds, you can just click on the picture above and fill in the short form to start getting their emails. :)

Physicians Formula Try Me Free Rebates...

Physicians Formula is doing a promotion through Dec 31st where they have specially marked packages of makeup that are eligible for a complete rebate! The rebates are posted here, but make sure you read all the directions first and get the right packages because you need the "Try Me Free" label off of the product as well as your original sales receipt. (So if you do more than one of the rebates, make sure they are all on separate receipts when you ring them up!) This is an excellent deal worth $5.00-$14.95 depending on which products you try!

Thanks to Brandy over at The Buzz for posting this awesome deal!

Doubling Coupons...

In response to a question in one of the comment sections, I decided to post some information about doubling coupons:

There are some stores in the United States that double coupons up to a certain amount. (Usually 50 cents or so.) What this means is when it is scanned at the register they will automatically double it so a 50 cents off coupon becomes $1 off. Obviously this is fabulous since if you find the item on sale, you can often end up taking the item home free or even better, they PAY YOU to take it! When I lived in Maryland it was common practice at Giant & Safeway that they would double any coupons 50 cents or under. Superfresh doubled coupons up to $1.

I moved to Utah just under 2 years ago, and have not yet found any store in my area that doubles coupons here (other than the occasional double coupon coupons they put in the ads where they will double up a couple of coupons for y0u just for that week). In fact, on a website that I found that lists stores that double by state, Utah was an unlisted state. I think it may have to do with the fact that food is in general much cheaper here, but I can't be sure.

However, I encourage you to check this website for your state to see if there is anyone that will do it near you: http://couponing.about.com/od/groceryzone/a/doublecoupons.htm

If anyone has additional information about coupon doubling in Utah or anywhere else in the US, please feel free to add a comment below! Thanks :)

My first blog award...

I am so completely honored to have been given the Sisterhood Award by babes in hairland. Thank you so much! Wow, it is nice to know that there are some people out there actually reading this blog and that I'm not just doing it for nothing. :)

I loved her thought that this award should be given to "anyone who helps contribute to us as "sista's" in this big ol' bloggy world". My selections are also FREE of course! So here are my picks for the Sisterhood Award:

1. Food Storage Made Easy I have mentioned this website in previous posts. Jodi and Julie are dedicated to help us blogging ladies to get our food storage started! There are tutorial videos, worksheets, instructions and handouts. They will also send you a baby steps newsletter every two weeks which will help you put together your 72 hour kits, water storage, 3 month supply of normal foods and a 1-year supply of long term foods. I love their site... and it's free!


2. Stephanie's Kitchen I found this website through a dear friend of mine. Steph makes some seriously yummy looking food and there is a huge selection of recipes to choose from, but the best part is that the recipes are simple enough that even wanna-be chefs like myself can make them... and... it's free!


3. Shabby Blogs Megan has just recently put up this blog so it's relatively new, but I love it. It is shabtabulous! She has free backgrounds, buttons, blinkies, headers and more. She doesn't want anything from you, just for your blog to look great. The colors and designs are fresh, fun and most of all... free!

So there you go. Three picks for the Sisterhood Award passed on by yours truly. Thank you ladies for making the blogosphere a better place for your fellow sisters! :)

National Doughnut Day...

Did you know that Friday, June 5th is National Doughnut day? To celebrate, Krispy Kreme is giving away a free doughnut to each customer with no purchase necessary.

Dunkin' Donuts is also giving away a free donut with the purchase of a beverage while supplies last. Click here to check for participating locations.

Bath & Body Works $10 Coupon & TGI BOGO Entree Coupon...

Get $10 off a $40 purchase at Bath & Body Works through June 14th by clicking here. There is no time like the present to shop as it is currently the Big Semi-Annual Sale.

Want a cheap date and like TGI Fridays? Click here to get a coupon for buy one entree, get one free! Coupon is good through June 22nd. Enjoy! :)

Baby Formula Programs...

It surprises me how many women don't know about Enfamil's New Beginnings Program. This program has been around since MY kids were born. (My last being over 12 years ago!) I used to receive HEFTY coupons from them frequently to help buy my formula. We are talking multiple dollars off coupons. It is well worth signing up for if you are expecting or have a baby in the house. Just click here to register.

Prefer Similac? Click here for a similar program by them.

Nestle Good Start has a program as well... theirs includes Gerber coupons too. Just click here. :)

$30 in free Coupons...

Home Made Simple is offering $30 in free coupons for some of the more popular cleaning brands. Just click here and fill in their form and you will get your coupons in 6-8 weeks via snail mail. :)