Looking for free but informative?

Check out your local public library! Many libraries are currently handing out passes good for free admission to local zoos and museums free of charge.

Many also offer regular story time programs for kids, summer reading programs with rewards and activities, and adult seminars.

At the Provo library:
Gardening basics: getting started on a vegetable garden
April 21, 7 pm, Bullock Room #309
no registration required

Coming up:
Becoming credit wise (May 19)
Safely preserving foods (June 16)

Provo library also hosts free Monday night programs from 7:30-8pm, including stories and puppet shows, in the ballroom.

Home with a kid during the day? Check out their amazing story time programs! there are multiple age ranges.

Book Babies (0-12 months)
Friday at 10 am

Mother Goose (13-24 months)
Friday at 11 and 11:30am

Toddler Time (2-3 years)
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 10:10 and 11:10am

Story Time (3-5 years, check-in at the children's desk)
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 10 and 11 am sharp
*Children are signed in and attend story time without their parents, doors close promptly on the hour

Spanish story time (all ages, all in Spanish)
Monday 7pm, Friday 10:30am

Provo's Hidden Gems: Part II

Part 2: Great little restaurants

I love the treat of eating out but we're on a tight budget. Here are some of my favorites around town.

El Salvador (332 W Center St)--great authentic Salvadorian food. Try the papusas, they're great and cheap!

Diego's Taco Shop (45 W 300 N) they moved a year ago to this new location but are still close enough to walk to. They make the best horchata I have ever tasted! It's pure heaven. I also love the chicken nachos.

Thai Ruby (744 E 820 N) I don't consider this a cheap eat, but we often stop in just for dessert--mango with sticky rice. If you like Thai food or mango, this is to die for! The perfect addition to make a basic home cooked meal seem like a classy night out.

7-11 (496 N University Ave) still the cheapest place for a quick summer fix: the Slurpee. If you're really cheap, buy a bigger, reusable cup and save it. The price is cheaper for refills. Best slurpee flavor: crystal light.

Provo Bakery (190 E 100 N--closed Mondays) is a great little shop hidden in south Provo. Stop in a try a homemade doughnut or muffin.

J Dawgs (880 N 700 E) worth it at least once--eating a J Dawg is like hiking the Y. Tradition.

Doc's Pizza Buffet (2250 N University Pkwy # 22--by Cafe Rio in the Movies 8 complex). If you haven't been here in awhile, it's worth another look. Under new management it's a little more expensive and there's no longer hilarious karaoke, but the pizza is better. Price includes pasta, salad, pizza (request your favorite!), breadsticks, dessert pizza, drinks, and an ice cream cone.

Want to get a great deal on eating out? Check out City Deals for half price gift cards. Order in the morning, pick up in the afternoon!

Missing your favorite? Let me know! I'm always up for something new :o)

Provo's Hidden Gems: Part I

Ok, it's April, but still gray and cold outside. I personally spend hours wandering around outside every week to keep my son entertained, and in so doing, have stumbled upon some less well-known places. For those of you who live in or around Provo, enjoy!

Part 1: Food and Clothing for Less

Smith's Food and Drug (350 N Freedom) has a student fresh values card that takes 5% off every shopping order. Essentially, all of your food is tax free! Smith's also has 2 Redbox rental stations. Their weekly ad comes out every Wednesday and they participate in the Shortcuts electronic coupon program.

Walmart (1355 Sandhill Rd, Orem). Never fails. Not the best shopping experience but the deals don't get any better. Bring store ads for all the local grocery and retail stores and Walmart will price match (if it's the exact brand and size). If you have the time and energy to spare, it's worth the haggle.

Honk's Dollar Store (650 N Freedom) offers good deals on basic cleansers, office supplies, stationary, gift bags, etc. Every Tuesday every dollar deal is reduced to 88 cents! My favorite buys: scented diaper disposal bags (a life saver for that between breastfeeding and pottytraining stage!) and knock-off teddy grahams.

Habitat for Humanity Re-Store (626 N Freedom--right next to Honk's). This place is amazing for several reasons.
1) You can drop off almost any extra building materials you don't want to store or dispose of.
2) You can buy supplies for a quick fix at insanely low prices--a gallon of oil based paint is only $1. Great for paintbrushes, wood stain, nails and screws, or odds and ends.
3) They offer monthly home maintenance classes for free.
4) They offer a tool-rental system just like a public library that lends tools for personal use free of cost.
5) This place keeps any kid entertained for at least 20 minutes because it is full of gadgets, gizmos, and interesting people!

Kid to Kid (2250 N University Pky, #26--next to Cafe Rio in the Movies 8 complex). Kids grow way too fast to pay full price for clothes, shoes, socks, toys, strollers, etc. The provo store has a great selection of kids clothes in all sizes, as well as two racks of shoes, a variety of toys, and a surprisingly good selection of maternity clothes. All products are gently used, look brand new, and most are name brand. My favorites:
1) 3 pairs of socks for $0.99--and I get to try them on his wriggling feet to know how long they will last!
2) Every Tuesday at the Provo location is grandparent's day. Simply show off a picture of your adorable grandchild and get 10% off your entire purchase. (I love to shop Tuesdays when my mom is in town visiting!)
3) A walled in kids zone full of toys to keep my monkey occupied while I browse.
4) If you really need to stock up, pick up a frequent shopper card to earn a free purchase. These cards are now accepted at any location.

Deseret Industries (1415 N State St) In addition to accepting donations and helping you recycle your used stuff, the DI has some great bargains. My favorites: cheap games (I've bought Racko for $1 and Scene It for $1.50) and kids shoes ($2-$3!)

Plato's Closet (592 E University Pkwy, Orem--just across from University Mall) Kid to Kid for moms :o) If you don't mind gently used clothing or want to spice up your wardrobe with something trendy, this is a great place to pick up fashion ideas or that perfect pair of jeans or shoes on the cheap. Also, if your wardrobe is "classy and trendy" enough, you can sell your gently used clothing and accessories for some easy cash.

Ross Dress for Less (222 W 1300 S, Orem). No shopping list of mine would be complete without Ross--I owe almost my entire wardrobe to this store, including my amazing red heels and all my favorite pairs of jeans. The Ross in Orem isn't the best ever, though their petite section is expanding and offers some great options for walking the fine line between forever teenaged and frumpy mom. If you ever need help finding something great, call me--I never fail.

Freebies: Pantene, Quaker, Jergens

Want more free products and samples?

Quaker snacks: try their new chocolate drizzle or cheddar cheese snacks

Pantene: Pro-V Nature Fusion sample

Jergens: "Glow" light tanning facial moisturizer sample


Want to find more freebies? Sign up for Sweet Free Stuff's daily email of freebies!

Freebies! Redbox and General Mills

Thanks, Linds, for passing this on!

First off, if you ever rent movies, you need to sign up for Redbox because as nice as it is to get a movie for $1, it's even better to get it free! You get a free rental code when you sign up that can be used anytime.

Also, check out Inside Red Box for a free rental code every Monday!

Looking for more free samples? Sign up for General Mill's new promotion: Pssst. Signing up involves a short survey about products you buy. The site will then pass along promotions, coupons, free samples, and product tests.

I also have an easy giveaway running on 5 Things Cooking right now, so submit your recipes!

Shortcuts Website

So I have some great links on my sidebar that I thought I should blurb a bit because they're too great to miss! Check out the "Recommended Sites!" section on the left hand side bar for a permanent link.

Shortcuts.com is a great site for those of you who want to save money on groceries but don't have time for coupons or remembering which to take when and to which store. This site lets you add a frequent shopper card, such as the Smith's Freshvalues card, by that barcode number on the back. You can add multiple cards from multiple stores if you don't have a regular store. When you search through manufacturer coupons on the site and you stumble across one you like or a product you buy regularly, you simply click to add it to your card. This loads the coupon onto your member card, and when you scan your card at the grocery store it automatically scans your coupon!

Even better, the site sends you a reminder when coupons are about to expire and also lets you know when your coupons have been used. An added bonus, I've discovered that some coupons can be used in conjunction with each other. For example, I bought two Yoplait yogurt cups at the store before leaving on vacation this last week. On my card I had loaded a few coupons for Yoplait yogurt, and when I checked my email the next day, I realized that both the $0.25 cents off 1 yogurt and $0.75 cents off 2 yogurts coupons had been used! That means I paid $0.98 cents for 2 yogurts and got $1.00 off. Best of all, I didn't even remember I had yogurt coupons and the discount was taken automatically.

Again, these are manufacturer coupons, so they can be taken in conjunction with any in store promotion or sale.

Happy (easy) couponing!

Birthday Clubs and Freebies

Reading a friend's blog reminded me about all the freebies you can get on your birthday! Many places offer freebies with no advanced planning, but here are a few of my favorites that require a membership to their birthday club (i.e. an email list or website registration)

Birthday Club Freebies!
Cold Stone Creamery - free ice cream creation
Red Robin - buy one get one free burger (coupon good for 14 days)
Sweet Tomatoes - buy one get one free buffet (this is our favorite place!)
Tucano's - free meal (during the month of your birthday)


Kid's birthday freebies!
California Pizza Kitchen - free meal for kids under 10
Denny's - free meal for kids under 10 (can sign up in store)

also, Wendy's and Burger King both have kid's clubs for a free birthday meal (sign up in store)

Anyone else have favorite birthday freebies?

Who wants a $10 gift certificate?

So I have a chance to giveaway three $10 gift cards to Restaurant.com! Yay!

Have you ever used Restaurant.com? You buy a $25 gift card for $10 (or a $10 for $3). Each "gift card" is more like a coupon for that price off a certain minimum purchase. BUT, there are still some great deals out there! For instance, with this "Feed it forward" deal, you get the $25 off coupon free, which has a $35 minimum purchase. So take your husband or a friend to dinner, enjoy (and doggy bag!) $35 of food, and only spend $10!

I can pass on three of these a day, so there's room for everyone! Post a comment if you're interested, and make sure to leave your email address if I don't already have it. Know someone who might be interested? Send them here to share the love!

Introducing: 5 Things Cooking!

So i've decided that this site is getting scattered...so I've been working on a new site, just for recipes and cooking tips! I hope you like it :o) That site will have e-mail links for submitting recipes as well as letting you subscribe through readers. For those of you who don't use readers, they're amazing! Basically, it takes the highlights and puts them on a page in your email account (like yahoo or gmail) and lets you browse through blogs just like news headlines. It's great if you regularly read lots of blog and don't want to list them all on your personal blog.

So, let me know what you think! And yes, I finally added a fun header here. Maybe I have a future in graphic design...anyone else want a fun new header? Maybe i'll host my own giveaway...

Saving $$$ on groceries and dates!

Thanks to everyone who voted--hopefully we can pass some useful ideas around! I've had a few friends email some great sounding recipes, so I'll post those this week. I'll also put a link up for you to submit ideas, requests, and recipes of your own!

The vote was unanimous for saving money on food and groceries, so I'll pass on a few tips for the week:

1. The Bargain Scout. Lindsay's sister compiles lists of some great deals and coupons on her blog that can really come in handy--props to all of you who were able to stock up on diapers!

2. Pinching your pennies. This site lets you enter your zip code and select stores in your area, and then searches through the current ads for each store and posts the best deals. Products are separated into categories and rated on a scale from "buy this only if you're desperate" to "great buy! stock up!" It also has a feature that lets you print out your grocery list based on your selections from this list. Much easier than keeping track of newspaper ads!

3. Shortcuts.com. This site lets you search for a store in your area where you have a frequent shopper card (a la smith's student card or fresh values member). You enter your card number and select the coupons you want, which are loaded online to your card and automatically come up when you scan your card at the store! You also get e-mail reminders when coupons you have selected are about to expire. I find that it helps to print out a list of what coupons I have just so I can check it when I'm at the store, but it's still easier than keeping track of a bunch of coupons.

4. Frugal mommy. This wonderful woman posts giveaways for free giftcards and products, but also has a section dedicated to free samples and coupons. Great if you are looking for a discount on a particular product or are willing to try something new if it's free.

5. Free samples. Lots of places offer these, but the most common is Walmart. Only a few products are offered at a time, and it takes a few weeks to ship, but hey, it's free! Some of the most common products offered are feminine hygiene and diapers, and hey, who hasn't whined about having to buy that stuff? Synovate global opinion panels is a survey group I've mentioned before that's also great for free sample for product testing.

6. Prescriptions. If any of you are on prescription meds for anything, make sure you're getting the best deal! I fill my prescription at Smith's, but ask them to price match for Costco (and you don't need a membership!). Smith's price per month: $42.50 Costco: $7.00. Many stores will price match for ads if you bring it in, so don't be afraid to ask! It's more convenient to shop in one stop, and you never lose for asking.

7. Citydeals. I'm not finding the great deals I used to, but every once in a while it surprises me. This place offers gift cards at a reduced rate. Search by zip code or type of card and see what interests you. Eric and I often use this for date planning: decide we want to go mini-golfing, find a $20 gift card to Boondocks for $15, order it to be shipped for same day pickup to one of several local stores, and go on a date for less! It regularly costs $3 shipping, but only once per order. Shipping takes three days on average unless you select same day pickup. Same day orders must be placed by mid morning for pickup after 4pm. I'm famous around our house for buying $40 gift cards to Rodizio's Brazilian grill for $28...bring on the feasting!

8. Christmas Giveaway! this site is giving away a ton of prizes over the next few weeks as well as donating to help out families in need for christmas. Can't get better than that!

Just a few thoughts for now. Again, I'll get a link up for you to post your thoughts and share suggestions! Happy saving.

P.S. for all you crafters, there are some GREAT Joann's coupons this week including 10% off your entire order including clearance deals...I have links for these if you're interested!