Free Samples from Walmart

Did you know that you could sign up for FREE samples on the Walmart website??? As Jessica has mentioned in the past - samples are AWESOME! Not only do you get to try something before you buy it, but there normally is a GREAT coupon that will come with the sample. The ones I have seen tend to be $1 or more!

Don't use the product they are offering? Stop a second and think about any friends or family members that could use it. You can then give the sample and coupon to them when it comes in.

They change up every so often what they offer, so check back often!

If you click HERE, you can see their current give away samples. Right now it includes:

Olay Body Wash

Prilosec

Crest 3-d

Playtex

Tena

What I like to do with any body wash, lotions, shampoo samples that I get is save them for trips! If we are going away for the weekend, staying at a friends house or family - it's great to have on hand, you don't have to bring big bottles, and you don't have to pay for travel size containers!

The added bonus is the surprise you get in 4-6 weeks, after you forget that you requested the samples, you get happy mail instead of bills!

Guest Contributor: Denise

Book Review: Lonestar Homecoming

I stuck to my word for book review Sunday-two weeks in a row! Let's see if I can keep this up. Thank goodness I can read really quickly because I don't know where the time came from to complete anotehr book. I do know that this book was one of those books you don't want to put down so it was easy to finish quickly.

Like last week's review, this is a third book in a series called the Lonestar Series. The first book was Lonestar Sanctuary and the second book was called Lonestar Secrets and the third is Lonestar Homecoming written by Colleen Coble. She is one of my favorite christian fiction authors. Check out her website for a complete list of her titles. I highly recommend all of them.

All of the Lonestar books were fast-paced and suspenseful. Fortunately, they all resolved at the end of each one so you weren't left wondering what was going to happen next and then having to wait a year for the next book in the series to come out (I don't like that!).

Lonestar Homecoming followed the story of a single mom named Gracie with a 5-year-old daughter named Hope. She was a runaway bride-literally-ran away with her wedding dress on and all and I won't tell you why. She ends up in Bluebird Ranch and met a very interesting guy who completely changes her life in many ways.

The theme of the book centered very much on facing your problems head on. Stop running from things you are afraid of and trust the Lord in everything! I really enjoyed this book and I hope the author will continue to follow these characters she has worked so hard to develop!

Birthday Freebies!

My sister-in-law, Joia, celebrated her birthday this week. Happy birthday, Joia! She sent me some great birthday freebies that she took advantage of and I wanted to share them.

Ruby Tuesday - Go to their website, click on the "So Connected" button at the top. (hopefully this link will take you right there) Fill out the form with your info and birthday and when your birthday comes around, they email you a coupon for a free Handcrafted Burger and endless fries! This has NO strings attached and you can even get it to go!

Tropical Smoothie - Go to their site, click on "Club Tropical", then click on the "Birthday Club" thing, fill out the info and you get a coupon for a free Smoothie!

Cold Stone Creamery - sign up, get an account with them, then once it's activated, go back in and join the Birthday Club and they'll send you a coupon for a free Like It Create Your Own Creation (Ice cream + 1 mix-in)!

There is also a great link HERE that I posted when I first started the blog that has birthday treats for adults, kids and pets! I figured it was worth re-posting it. I am going to sign up for all the freebies now so I don't forget when my birthday rolls around!!

My cousin also did a post on freebies for kids' birthdays over HERE.

Thanks Joia!

Mega Swagbucks Day!!

I am sure a lot of you have heard of Swagbucks and if you haven't already signed up then you probably don't know what it is all about. Check out my FAQ post HERE to learn all about it and then join in on the fun!

Every Friday is MEGA Swagbucks Day which means they are giving out bigger denominations of Swagbucks than on every other day of the week. Look for 40, 50, even 100 Swagbucks with your searches today. Sign up HERE! Woo-hoo!!!

Restaurant Deals

Buffalo Wild Wings

* 6 free wings when you try their new Dry Seasonings (no purchase necessary)

* Print coupon (exp 5/31)

Texas de Brazil (AWESOME place!!)

* Buy One Get One Free dinner entree (not valid on holidays or Saturdays)

* Print coupon this is a $50 savings!!

Mimi's Cafe

* $5 off any $15 purchase

* Print coupon (exp 5/30)

Navigation 101

I wanted to do a short post on how to navigate around my blog to help you better utilize all the resources here.

1.) There is a place on the top right-hand corner to enter your e-mail address. This is really helpful, in my opinion, to get my posts in your e-mail because then you don't miss out on time-sensitive deals (which most of them are!). Plus, you don't have to remember to my long blog name to try to find me again! :) Simply enter your e-mail in the box, feedburner will send you an e-mail to confirm that you really want to read what I have to say, click the confirmation link they send you and you are all set!

2.) I just added a Google search bar. It allows you to type in anything and it will search back through my previous posts and links. Say you seem to remember something about getting free stuff on your birthday, but don't want to go back and try to find it yourself. Just type in "birthday" and you will find it!

3.) I had an anonymous comment on one of my recent Publix posts requesting a glossary for all the weird deal-finding lingo I put on here. I have done mini-glossaries in individual posts, but I agree. So, check it out! I have put a permanent glossary on the right-hand side right under my "blog archive" (list of past posts). Hope that helps!!

4.) "Becoming a follower" If you regularly read a lot of blogs on blogspot, you can become a follower of my blog and blogspot will add it to your dashboard of blogs that you read. Plus, it makes me really excited when I see I have 19 followers when I used to have 16 two weeks ago! :) lol

5.) Coupon printing-you can print coupons from coupons.com directly from my blog. There is a banner at the very top and very bottom of the page.

6.) If you ever have any questions about what something means or how to do something or constructive/uplifting comments, please feel free to leave them on a post! I get all the comments sent to my e-mail and I will try my best to be quick to answer!!

Publix: 05/27-06/02

The new Publix ad starts tomorrow. Check out this week's ad that ends tonight so you don't miss out on anything. If you are ready for the new ad, read on!

There is also a new Green Advantage Buy flyer and I have all the freebies for that listed HERE. By the way, I know I link to a lot of stuff. If you hold your ctrl button and then click the link, it will open a new tab versus having to go back and forth between my posts. Helpful hint!

I am going to highlight some of the best deals with a little more in-depth explanation and then you go to the link below for the full list.

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Oscar Meyer Beef Franks (4 pks @.50 each)

Buy 4 packs for a total of $7.98 (BOGO $3.99)

Use Buy 3, get 1 free Target coupon HERE (click on groceries)

Combine with 2 $1/2 Oscar Mayer Franks printable or 5/16 SS

You get 4 packs (which can be frozen for later) for $1.99 or .50 each!!

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Nabisco Oreo Fudge Cremes, Fun Stix or Cakesters (4 packs @.75 each)

Buy 4 packs for a total of $5.98 (BOGO $2.99)

Use Buy 3, get 1 free Target coupon HERE (click on groceries)

You get 4 packs for $2.99 or .75 each!!

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Helluva Good! Sour Cream Dip, 12 oz, (2 dips @.50 each)

Buy 2 for a total of $2.00 (BOGO $2.00)

Use (2) -.50/1 Heluva Dip Product SS 5/16 or printable (use your back button to print 2!)

You get 2 dips for $1.00 or .50 each!

Can you tell I am really hungry for junk food?!? :) These are great deals though! Don't forget to check out my post about all the FREE stuff you can get at Publix using the new Green Advantage Buy Flyer.

Go HERE for a more in depth look with coupon match-ups! Remember this ad does not start until tomorrow!

Free tea samples

Getting stuff in the mail is fun especially when it's free!

Send a friend 2 free tea samples from Yogi Tea

Free Teasta tea when you use the code TRYME

Free persimmon tea from Natural Persimmon

Thanks thethriftymama!

Blockbuster Express Code

Use the code GL14A at any Blockbuster Express kiosk to receive a free movie rental! Check HERE for a location near you. The code is good until June 30th.

Zenni Optical: $8 glasses!

This post was done by my friend Sharon. Thanks for sharing this great deal, Sharon!!

Need a new pair of glasses? Hate the idea of having to go to the eye doctor and spend hundreds of dollars? Here is a great opportunity to get a good quality pair of glasses, pretty much any prescription for just $8 at Zenni Optical.

My husband and I were both in need of glasses (both having stepped on ours somehow!) but the budget didn't really allow for this expensive item. My sister told me she had order glasses for her whole family and they were just $8 each with a single $4.95 ship fee. The real greatness of this is you just have to know your prescription, it does not need to be current. They do not call your doctor...you put the numbers in!

Our optician was nice enough to give me our numbers over the phone even though it had been over a year since our last visit. We received our glasses this past Friday and they are great! My husband was skeptical that his very high numbered prescription (numbers in the 800's) would turn out thin enough with the mid-index lenses which are offered as part of the $8 glasses. Turned out, they looked good even in a frameless pair.

Zenni has lots of choices, you can choose from glasses $8 and up. We were happy with the lowest price point, but the other choices were still very reasonable. It took 1-1/2 weeks to process and receive them. If you have any questions, feel free to comment here. The website pretty much explains it all. Hope this blesses someone who could use some new glasses today!

Guest post: Sharon Migala

Book Review: Greater Love

It is book review Sunday! If I can actually manage to finish a book every week, I will do my best to post a review of it on Sunday. If not, it be book review 3-1/2 weeks from now or whatever. :)

So, I FINALLY finished my latest BookSneeze book. It was the third in a trilogy, so naturally, I had to read the first two books in the series before I could read the third. Thanks a lot, Book Sneeze. No, really, thanks a lot! The series was great!

The first book in the Tides of Truth series was called: Deeper Water, followed by Higher Hope and finally Greater Love by Robert Whitlow. I have attempted to read some of his stuff in the past and never really got into it. I wasn't too thrilled to try this series in the beginning, but I am really glad I did. The first book was a tad hard to get into for some reason, but let me tell you, it was worth it. I just think that Robert Whitlow takes a long time developing his characters and storyline so where I am used to a "grab you on the first page" kind of book, this wasn't one of them and I came to find out that that is OK.

BUT, after you read the first book, you can totally jump right into the second and third books no problem because the first definitely leaves you hanging and you wonder what on earth is going to happen with Tammy Lynn Taylor (the main character). I think I am probably pretty bad at doing book reviews because I don't like when a book or movie is ruined for me so I am going to be pretty vague. I actually never read dust jacket blurbs on books because I don't want a thing to be revealed to me before I read it with my own eyes. :)

The Tides of Truth series follows Tammy Lynn Taylor, a law student who was homeschooled until high school. Her upbringing was extremely strict and regimented and the trilogy follows her through coming into her own. She completed college and was accepted into law school and she is coming to find out there is a whole big world out there. She is put in precarious situations that test everything she believes in and causes her to form her own viewpoints on things she previously hadn't thought of or encountered.

She gets a job as a summer clerk at a law firm and the first two books follow her experience there. The third book, Greater Love, is the perfect ending to the trilogy and it answers all the questions the author built up in your mind in the first two. Aaahh, that is really all I can say without ruining it for you! Go get these books and read them-they are great!!! :) I told you I am not good at reviews.

Summer reading programs

Barnes and Noble - Get your child (grades 1-6) to read 8 books and record them in the Passport to Summer Reading Program then turn them in for a free book!!

Borders - Read 10 books, get one free. The double dog dare you challenge! If your child is 12 or under, have them read 10 books, download the form and turn it in for one of ten popular children's books for free!

Pizza Hut's Book-It - From June 15-August 15, any child who is in grades K-6 and reads five books, has the chance to win a summer prize package!

Old Navy: Flip-Flops for $1...Saturday, May 22nd ONLY

Old Navy is having a One Day Wonder Sale on Saturday, May 22nd (tomorrow) with flip-flops for only $1! Limit 5 per customer. Stores open at 7 a.m. Find a store near you and call them to ensure they are participating.

Payless: BOGO 1/2 off, free shipping + 20% OFF

I just remembered that I signed up to buy a pair of shoes for a child in Guatemala (program we are running at our church right now) and never bought the shoes! I realized that I was going to have to make a run to Payless with my kids soon (not the most exciting idea) until I came across this great deal! Reagan also needed some new flip-flops too so get this...bottom line first:

I got a pair of shoes for Reagan AND a pair of shoes for a sweet Guatemalan baby for $11.89 without ever having to leave my house! Well, I had it ship it to the store to get free shipping so when they come in, I will have to go get them, but I am fine with that. :)

Here's how to do it:

1. Sign up or log in to Shop At Home , a site that pays you to shop through them-they give a percentage cash back for going through them to get to Payless (and every other store on-line) versus going straight to Payless.com. In this case, they are offering 8% cash back for Payless. Also, if you are new to Shop At Home, you will get $5 just for signing up! (They cut you a check when you get to $20). If you have any questions, let me know.

2. Search for Payless and click on the link. Then click on the green Shop Now button on the right. This will take you to the Payless website.

3. Place 2 pairs of shoes in your cart. The lowest priced item will be automatically reduced to 50% off.

4. When you check out, use the code 34318 to get an additional 20% off your purchase price. Choose Ship to Store to get it shipped for free!!

The 8% cash back will be credited to your account within 5-7 days.

Free Mini Clif Bar Sample

Like I have said before, I sign up for every and all free sample because more often than not, they send high value coupons along with the sample!

Sign up for the Clif Bar newsletter HERE and receive a free sample pack of mini Clif bars. These bars are healthy and very tasty too!