Frugal Follies - Frugal Living, Cheap Recipes, Money-Saving Tips, Online Coupons, Freebies, and Hot Deals

Monday, January 30, 2012

List and Enter Giveaways 1/31 (Fortune Follies Tuesday)

Welcome to Fortune Follies Tuesday for January 31st, where bloggers can list their giveaways, and readers can enter them!

I've started using Rafflecopter for my giveaways, and it has taken a lot of the stress out of giveaways. Too often I've had entrants not complete the required action, or not leave an email address, or only leave one comment when they've done the actions for several entries. It's making giveaways so much easier. What do you think of Rafflecopter?

Be sure to enter these giveaways hosted by Frugal Follies:

The Prosperity Bible - ends 2/2

The Swiss Cheese Theory of Life - ends 2/9

Another $20 in Amazon gift codes - ends 2/16

Please link up your giveaways using the following format: Blog Name - Name of Contest - End Date. Please link directly to your giveaway and not to your home page. A link back to Fortune Follies Tuesday is always appreciated!

Also, if you have a list of sites which have giveaway linkies, please add Frugal Follies to your list. I'd appreciate it!

If you're reading this post via email or a reader, click here for the list of giveaways.

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

Disney Family Fun magazine - only $3.99!

Here's another great magazine deal - this one's for Disney Family Fun magazine!

Disney’s Family Fun’s goal is for parents to enhance the time spent with their children. A typical issue explores learning activities, vacation planning, travel tips, and reviews of children’s books, videos, and music.

And you can get a 1-year subscription for only $3.99! Just use the code SAVINGS on checkout. Be sure to change the default 3-year subscription to a 1-year subscription.

Click here for your cheap magazines!

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

Play Deal or No Deal for free!

I love game shows! So I was really excited to learn about this free online game:

You can play Deal or No Deal online at GSN! Play for tokens - you "bet" your tokens, then play for a maximum of 10 times as much. I played for 1,000 tokens and took a deal for 1,050 - that's a 5% gain, a win in my book!

Plus, it was an excellent distraction from the blogging work I needed to do.

Play Deal or No Deal now!

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

Smiley Cookie Valentine's Day Cookie Review

Valentine's Day is creeping up on us! There are only two weeks to go - have you thought about a gift for your sweetie?

Is there any gift cuter than these heart-shaped cookies?

I recently had the opportunity to sample these Valentine Day cookies courtesy of Smiley Cookie.

When the package arrived, I was really excited. But one thought troubled me: would the cookies be broken?

After all, there's a reason why they say, "That's the way the cookie crumbles." Because they do. Easily. And especially when shipped.

So, I opened the package. The outside packaging was as cute as can be:

And once I opened it, I saw I had nothing to fear. The cookies were held standing up in an ingenious plastic container, each with its own slot. None were broken, not in the least.

So there were twelve perfect sugar cookie hearts, each iced in pink frosting with a white smiley face. And they were nice and big - about 4 inches at the widest point. Admit it, you're smiling just by looking at this picture:

I called my husband and three daughters over - of course, the kids loved the smiley faces - and we all sampled them. Yum! They were sweet, but not overly sweet. Not too crumbly - the cookies held together while eating. And of course, the kids asked for seconds. But these were so big, one cookie was more than enough for a snack.

Would you love to give these cookies as a gift? Click here for the heart-shaped cookies. And looking for a deal? You can use the code BLOG10 to get 10% off your order!

Need a bigger gift in a decorative gift basket? Then try the Valentine's Day gift basket - two dozen of the smiley heart cookies in a beautiful red, pink, and white basket.

My family loved these cookies, and yours will, too!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Winners: Purex/Jockey Prize pack and $22.22 in cash

We have winners for the Purex/Jockey Prize Pack and the $22.22 in cash giveaways!

For the Purex/Jockey gift pack, Atreau said:

I use sports bras daily and I would use the Purex Crystals to wash my exercise gear.

Remember, you can still get a 20% off coupon on the Jockey sports bra by going to Purex.com! Click here for your 20% off coupon. Also, Purex is giving away free samples of Purex Triple Action Liquid.

And for the $22.22 in cash, Elena said:

Here I am wishing Frugal Follies a happy 2nd anniversary!

Thank you so much to everyone for entering these two giveaways! Please feel free to check out the other giveaways listed on the left sidebar.

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

Free samples of Purex

There are some free samples of Purex available now and coming up soon!

Right now, you can get a free sample of Purex Triple Action liquid. Just click on the badge below or go to FreeSamplePurex.com.

You can only request one free sample of Purex per calendar year. And in a few weeks, there will be free samples of Purex UltraPacks available. So if you'd rather get that product, you should pass on this free sample. But if you'd rather not wait, get your free sample of Purex now!

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

Valentine's Day candy coupons

Show that special someone how sweet they are... and save, too!

Here are some great printable candy coupons!

$1.00 off one bag of M&M'S Pretzel

$1/2 Nestle Crunch or Nestle Butterfinger Hearts printable

$1/1 Green and Blacks Organic Chocolate Bar printable

B1G1 Skinny Cow Chocolate Candy printable

$1/2 M&M's Brand Chocolate Candies Bonus Bag printable
$1/2 Werther's Original printable
$1/1 Ritter Sport Chocolate Bar printable
$1/1 Godiva Chocolate Item Target printable
$1/1 Wonka Fun Dip, Pixy Stix, or Nerds Card/Candy Kit printable

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

Fancy Feast coupons

For all the cat lovers out there, here are some Fancy Feast coupons from Coupons.com!

$1.00 off eighteen (18) 3oz cans of Fancy Feast® Elegant Medleys®

$1.00 off twenty-four (24) 3oz cans of Fancy Feast® Gourmet Cat Food

$1.00 off one (1) 3 lb or larger bag of Fancy Feast® Gourmet Dry Cat Food

$1.00 off four (4) 2oz trays of Fancy Feast® Appetizers for Cats

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

L'Oreal coupons and more!

Here's the latest coupons from RedPlum!

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)

CVS: Glad I got there!

Generally I go to CVS on Sunday to pick up the best deals before they're gone, but yesterday was a busy day with my family, so I didn't get a chance to go until this morning. And when I went to go, I discovered that construction had started on the neighborhood road that separates my house from the CVS shopping center. I had to go out of my way (and make a slightly illegal U-turn into a 6-lane highway) in order to make it there.

But I'm glad I got there!

First of all, I did the deal where you buy $12 in specific products, including Speed Stick deodorant for $1.99 each and Softsoap or Irish Spring body wash for $3.00, and receive $6 in ECBs. As part of it, I bought four Speed Stick deodorants and used two Buy One, Get One Free coupons (maximum value $3.99) from the 1/29 Smartsource. Now I thought that $1.99 would be taken off for each coupon, since that was what one cost. But instead, the cashier took off $3.99 for one and $3.97 for the other. That made all four free for me.

I could have saved even more buy purchasing 2 Irish Spring body washes and used 2 $1/1 coupons also from the 1/29 Smartsource. But my kids usually turn their noses on men's body wash, so I decided to get the Softsoap without coupons. Better to spend a little money on a product they will use than save on one that they won't.

Another bad thing turned good: I purchased the Cadbury creme egg (Easter already? What happened to Valentine's Day?) for 87¢ and expected to get a 87¢ ECB. But it didn't print. I noticed that before I left the store, and went back to point it out. I got my ECB, but the replacement came out for $1.00

So overall, it was an unexpectedly good trip!

Here are the details:

4 Speed Stick deodorant @ $1.99 = $7.96 (receive $6 RR when you buy $12 in products)
- 2 B1G1 Speed Stick or Lady Speed Stick Antiperspirant/Deodorant, exp. 2/15/12 (SS 01/29/12) (took off $7.96 for me, might only take off $3.98 for you)
= FREE

2 Softsoap body wash @ $3.00 = $6.00 (receive $6 RR when you buy $12 in products)
= $6.00

1 Cadbury creme egg @ 87¢ (receive 87¢ ECB)

Total product: $6.87
Pay with $4 ECB from previous week
Total product after ECBs: $2.87

Tax: 65¢
Total out of pocket: $3.52
Total saved: $18.06

ECBs received: $7 ($6, $1)

Menu plan: Super appetizers

It's Super Bowl week! And that means Sunday is one of my favorite meals of the year: appetizers for dinner!

Usually that means a big plate of nachos. But with my husband cutting down on salt and fat due to high blood pressure and other health needs, I don't think we'll have quite the big plate this year. But he'll still be able to enjoy a big bowl of chili, tomato bruschetta, and cut-up veggies with spinach dip.

As for me, I'll be making my favorite jalapeno poppers. It's a once-a-year treat for me!

Here's what's for dinner this week:

Monday - baked salmon over salad greens

Tuesday - whole-wheat spaghetti with meat sauce

Wednesday - 3 Can Veggie Chili over brown rice

Thursday - green pepper whole-wheat pizza

Friday - Honey Mustard Herb Chicken, pasta with garlic and oil, salad, challah

Saturday - banana pancakes

Sunday - Appetizers for dinner: veggie chili, Bruschetta, Garlic Cheesy Bread, Jalapeno Poppers, Cheesy Spinach Dip, a few nachos, veggie sticks

If you're a frugal food blogger, please come and link up with Frugal Food Thursdays. And check out all of my frugal recipes!

Check out Menu Plan Monday for more menu plans!