Cardstore: $0.39 Holiday Cards - Today Only!

After all of their great deals so far this season, it is no surprise to me that Cardstore came through again today with a great deal for Cyber Monday!

Today only, you can get your holiday cards for only $0.39 each!  Plus, if you have them send your cards for you, they pay your postage!

So let's think about this... stamps are $0.45, so even if you got your holiday cards for free, but still had to send them yourself, you'd pay $0.45 per card.  Cardstore however, is offering an awesome card, mailed for you for only $0.39!  It's almost like you're making $0.06 on every card!

If you haven't made your holiday cards yet, this is definitely the deal to jump on!  I'm sure you have some great photos to use from the long holiday weekend!

Just click the picture above to get started making your cards!

Groupon: $20 Toys R Us Voucher for Only $10

Through tomorrow you can buy a $20 voucher to Toys R Us for only $10 from Groupon!  If you'll be shopping at Toys R Us this holiday season, this is a great deal! 

The fine print:
Limit 1 per person. In-store only. Not valid outside USA. Not valid until 11/23/12 at 5PM. Not valid toward Buyer Protection Plan, gift cards including those for digital content, photo studios, phone orders, special orders, assembly fee, breast-pump rental fee, delivery fee, or shipping & handling. Valid only on a purchase of $20 or more. Not withstanding anything above or below, vouchers not valid with Toys"R"Us after 12/24/12. Thereafter, Groupon will refund amount paid in Groupon credit for unredeemed vouchers.

Holiday Baking Tip

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  And if you braved the stores or shopped from home today, I hope you found some great deals! 

Now that we are officially in the Holiday Season, that means it's time for holiday baking!  My favorite! 

My tip for tonight is to bake when you can and freeze your baked goods!  This tip will save you some time and some sanity if you are planning on entertaining or even just bringing baked goods to a holiday get together this year.

Everyone is very busy, so when you have the time to bake, even if it's 3 weeks before the event, do your baking then.  When the event rolls around, take out your baked goods and enjoy! 

My mom has been freezing her baked goods for years and years now and they are always just as delicious after they've thawed as they were when they were fresh out of the oven.  The only item I've never tried freezing is pies.  But cupcakes, cake pops, cookies of all kinds, brownies, fudge.  I've frozen them all and they all taste great thawed!  (This may be obvious to some, but don't frost your cupcakes before you freeze them.)

Happy Baking!

$5 off a $25 Purchase at Amazon!

You can get $5 off a $25 purchase on Amazon when you answer the question "When will you start your Black Friday Week shopping?" and share it on your Facebook wall!  The credit is good today through Wednesday.

I wouldn't hesitate to grab the credit though, as there are probably a limited number.

To start, just click here, answer the question and hit share on Facebook.  It will prompt you to log in to your Amazon account if you aren't already. 

With all the great deals they are offering this week, this is will make a great deal even better!

Thanks, Couponing to Disney!

Snapfish: Buy 1, Get 2 Free Photobooks and Calendars

Snapfish is offering 2 free photobooks when you buy 1 through 11/20/12.  The same is being offered for their photo calendars! 

For the photo book offer, use the code TREATUBOOK at check out.  For the photo calendar offer, use the code TREATUCAL at check out. 

The 8x8 photo book (my personal favorite size) starts at $19.99 for 20 pages.  Shipping will probably run around $10.  So for $30, you have 3 photo books - only $10 each!  That's a wonderful price for photo books!

The photo calendars look to be priced the same and shipping should be about the same, so it would be about $10 per photo calendar.  I would say it's a better deal for the photo books.  But not a terrible price for the calendars.

70% Off Holiday Cards at Cardstore Again!

 

 

So I'm starting to see a pattern here with Cardstore - a few days of 70% off, a one day sale then back to the 70% off.  Not that I'm complaining - their 70% off deal is pretty awesome!  And it's back!  You can get 70% off your holiday cards at Cardstore through 11/20/12.

 

And to make Cardstore even more awesome, if you put your addresses in, Cardstore will send your cards out for you and they'll even pay your postage!  That's another huge savings!

 

I used Cardstore for my holiday cards last year and I was really pleased with their quality.  I also received a few in the mail recently from a one-day promotion they had a few weeks ago and again, I'm really impressed with their quality!

 

Just click on the picture above to get started!

Cardstore.com - $0.29 Cards Today Only!

Cardstore is at it again!  Today only they are offering all of their holiday cards for $0.29, PLUS they will mail them for you - for free!  That's right, you won't even have to pay for the stamps! 

So many of my readers have already taken advantage of some of the great deals at Cardstore this season and have literally saved hundreds of dollars on their cards! 

This is probably their best promotion yet, so if you haven't bought your cards yet, today is the day to do it! 

Just click the picture above to get started!  Then at check out, enter code CCN1629.

140 Return Address Labels for Under $4 Shipped!

On top of the 6 free items from VistaPrint that I told you about last night, they are also offering free return address labels - just pay shipping!

If you aren't ordering your holiday cards through Cardstore and having them send your cards for you, these would be great labels for your holiday cards.  I made some with little Santa's on them a few years ago and they are adorable!

Other ideas for the labels:
- A house-warming gift
- Labels on school supplies
- Labels on toys
- Gift tags (make them to say "Merry Christmas!  Love, Katie")

You don't just have to put your address on them, so get creative!

If you haven't yet ordered your Christmas cards through Cardstore, I really would encourage you to think about it.  They will send them out for you (and pay your postage!), so you don't need to worry about address labels! 

Thank you, My Litter!

Oriental Trading: Free Shipping - No Minimum Purchase!

Oriental Trading is offering FREE shipping through November 16 on every order, no minimum purchase!  Just enter WCE3688 at check out.

Take a good look around their site, you'll find crafts, scrapbooking supplies, holiday costumes (elf, santa, snowman), and much, much more!

Check out their sale section as well.  You may be able to find some nice scrapbooking supplies for a scrapbook-er on your holiday list.  Or some craft supplies for your children.

Take a look around!

20 Personalized Gift Tags - Only $2.25 Shipped

Just a reminder about this deal.  I just received mine today and they are adorable!

Ink Garden is offering 20 FREE personalized gift tags to their new customers. You will just pay $2.25 in shipping. That works out to about $0.11 per gift tag!

I think these are adorable! I just ordered a set and I chose the above pattern.

What I love about these is that they have options that include a picture and others where you just customize your name. Also, you can customize what the tag says, so if you want to change "Warm Holiday Wishes" on this one to something else, you can do that!

What a nice, personal, touch these would be to your packages this holiday! And $2.25 for 20 is cheaper than what you can buy at the store for generic ones!

This offer runs through December 17th. You just need to enter FREETAGS at check out. Just a note - when I ordered mine, on the first page of check out, it looked like the promo was automatically applied. But then as I got further in to the check out, it no longer looked like the promo was applied. I was able to apply it on that page no problem. But my advice to you is to put the promo in on the first page, even though it may look like it was applied automatically.

Thanks, Hip 2 Save!

Vistaprint: 6 Free Items - Just Pay Shipping

Vistaprint is offering 6 FREE products right now, you just pay shipping.  I just ordered all 6 of the FREE items and my shipping was $11.83.  So for $11.83, I got:

- 250 Business Cards (pictured above)

- 10 Holiday Cards

- Personalized Photo Calendar

- Personalized Mug

- Personalized Tote Bag

- Personalized T-Shirt

You can pick one or all of the free items, that's up to you.  Here are a few tips for you:

- For some reason whenever I picked a photo card, it charged me $2.75 for photo upload.  So I ended up just picking a card without a photo.

- The mug and tote bag have "vistaprint" printed on them in small printing, so that would be up to you if you want to use it as a gift.  I opted not to use the mug as a gift, but I am using the tote bag as a gift bag.

- I've seen on other blogs that their shipping was less.  Maybe it was the part of the country I'm in, I have no idea.  But I would venture to guess that your shipping wouldn't be any higher than mine.

- Always pick the slowest method of delivery, in my experience the products always come faster than advertised.

- I found the best way to order all 6 items was to click here, order your first item, put it in your cart, then come back to the blog and click here again to go back in, order the next item and so forth. 

If you don't have a need for business cards, one cute idea I've seen is to make "mommy cards" with your contact information to give to other moms to set up for play dates, etc. 

Don't forget to order through Ebates (I totally forgot!  Bummer!) to get 5% back.

Who Do You Send Holiday Cards To?

Holiday cards are expensive for three reasons:

1. The cards themselves are expensive
2. The postage is expensive
3. The sheer number of cards you send out makes this ritual really expensive!

Here's how you can cut down on those costs:

1. Take advantage of the deals I post here on the blog (maybe check out this Cardstore post)
2. Take advantage of the Cardstore deal and have them send your cards out for you - they pay your postage!
3. Now what to do about how many cards to send out... personally, I send to certain family and then to friends that sent to us last year.  Either keep your cards from last year and use that as your list as you're doing this year's cards.  Or as you're packing up your holiday decorations at the end of the year, make a quick list of everyone you received a card from this year.  This will be your holiday card list for the following year.  My mom taught me this trick years ago and it really does help to cut down on the number of cards you need to send.

Thank you, Staci, for reminding me of this great tip!

That's So Pinteresting...

Photo Credit

 

You've probably heard of Pinterest already.  If you haven't yet joined, you really need to!  If you need an invitation to join (not sure if they're still doing that), let me know and I'll send you an invite.  Pinterest is wonderful for so many reasons, but it really can help you save money on any entertaining that you do!

 

I could probably devote a whole blog (not just blog post) about how wonderful Pinterest is and how it can help you save money, so I'll try and keep this as concise as possible!

 

The ideas that are posted to Pinterest are truly inspiring.  The amount of creativity (both manifested in to a physical representation as well as the mental creativity) that is out there is absolutely amazing!  Here is my top five ways to use these inspirational "pins" to your favor when entertaining/planning for your holiday:

 

1.  Holiday decorations:  The picture above is just one example of a thrifty, yet beautiful idea you can find on Pinterest.  I've actually done this in years past (I wish I had a picture of it!) - just gather some sticks/twigs from your back yard, spray paint them and arrange them in a vase.  If you already had spray paint on hand, that's a decoration for $0!  Even if you had to purchase the spray paint, it's a cheap decoration!  There are tons of other decoration inspiration you can find on Pinterest as well.

 

2.  Homemade gift ideas:  I've pinned quite a few lists of different homemade gift ideas.  Some of these ideas are really genius!  I'm always afraid that a home made gift will come out cheesy looking - but some of these ideas (like cookie mix in a jar, etc) are great small ideas that will definitely look great!

 

3.  Stocking stuffer ideas:  Again, I've pinned quite a few lists of different stocking stuffer ideas for all different people!  The list that I value the most is stocking stuffers for men.  Seriously, they are so hard to find good stocking stuffers for!

 

4.  Inexpensive gift ideas:  A list of gifts under $5?  Yes, please!  I don't love all of the $5 gift ideas, but I've seen some really creative and cute ones!  Ideas that I wouldn't mind receiving as a gift!

 

5.  Party foods and drinks:  I've seen some of the coolest food and drink ideas on Pinterest.  Crudites in the shape of a Christmas tree - adorable! 

 

Seriously, I could go on and on.  If you haven't used Pinterest before, definitely check it out.  If you use it religously (me!), try to find ideas that will save you on holiday gifts or entertaining and don't just pin the idea - actually try it!

 

If you'd like to follow me on Pinterest, you can click the little "P" in the upper right hand corner of the blog, or click here.

 

Five FREE 4x8 Photo Cards from Rite Aid!

From now until 11/17, Rite Aid is offering 5 FREE photo cards with the code 5FREECARDS at check out! 

I'll be honest, I think Rite Aid is terrible to deal with - poor customer service & too many hoops to jump through for their deals.  However... when they are offering up free photos or free photo cards, I will take advantage of the offer!

I've ordered my cards already, so here are my tips to make your experience a little easier:

1. Head to the rite aid photo center online and either log in or register
2. Before you even start to look at cards, I would recommend uploading the pictures that you want to use.  I didn't do this and it was a pain for me to upload my photos after I picked out my card.
3. Then go to Cards at the top and pick 4x8 cards.  You don't just have to do a holiday card, you can do any kind of 4x8 card that you'd like.
4. After you make your card and get to the check out process, enter the cod 5FREECARDS in the promo code box.  For me, it didn't change the price, it looked like I was still being charged $3.75.  I put the code in probably 50 times and nothing changed.  On a whim, I continued with the check out process and once I was in the next screen, it showed my total as $0.
5. You will not need to put in any credit card information.
6. Choose ship to store and pick your store.

I'll take 5 free photo cards any day!  I'll be using these and the 10 free from cardstore the other day (no longer available) to pass out at work.

Thanks, Hip 2 Save!

Play N Fold Art Studio by Crayola - $19 Shipped to Store!

Walmart.com has this Crayola Play N Fold Art Studio on sale for only $19 right now.  That's over 50% off!  My daughter has a very similar one and loves it!  The top part flips down to make a desk - and the great part is that it is very easy for children to do.  My daughter was 3 when she got this, and she was able to do it from the get-go!

If you have the item shipped to the store, it will be free shipping. 

Thanks, Money Saving Mom!

Using your Local Library to Save on the Holidays

I love my local library.  I bring the kids their frequently after school to play a little, pick out a book and pick out a movie.  It's new toys for my daughter to play with - free entertainment - and she gets to pick out a new book and movie to enjoy! 

Have you ever thought about using your local library as a resource to help you save money during the holidays?  Here's 5 ways you can use the resources at your library to save you money on your holiday fun:

1. Holiday books - my library has a display in the children's area that rotates with the seasons.  Right now there are Thanksgiving, Hanukka and Christmas books out.  Bring your children to pick out new holiday books to read.
2. Holiday movies - our library has a movie section in the children's department and they rotate in seasonal movies (Halloween, Christmas, etc).  Let your children pick out a holiday movie to enjoy!
3. Cake pans - I'm not sure this will be found at every library, but my library lends out cake pans.  I think this is the coolest thing. They have a whole catalogue of their pans online (or at the library), so you can see if they have the pan you want before you go there.  I would just recommend washing yourself first before you use it, otherwise, I love this service!  If you want to make a fancy cake, there is no need to shell out the money to buy the pan yourself.  Check your library's website to see if they offer this.
4. Cookie cutters - just like the cake pans above, I'm not sure if every library offers this.  My library does lend out cookie cutters as well.  They are all categorized by occasion and they have multiples of what I would guess were the more popular ones (Christmas, Easter, etc).  Just like with the cake pans, I would recommend washing these yourself first.  Definitely ask your library if they offer this.
5. Children's events - my library puts out a calendar of events for children for each season.  Our calendar currently goes through the end of December and has fun holiday events around Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas.  All the events are free to attend, you just need to register ahead of time!

I would encourage you to check out the resources your library offers.  If they can save you from purchasing a cake pan, cookie cutters or new holiday books or movies, they could save you quite a bit of money!  I hope you find fun resources like mine provides!

Cardstore Deal is Back! Holiday Cards 70% off thru 11/19! Plus FREE Stamps!

Remember how I told you to have pictures ready early for your holiday cards? This is why!!!

From now through 11/16/12 (at 5am), save 70% off holiday cards at Cardstore, just enter coupon code CCN2170 at checkout! You can customize any holiday card with your favorite family photo, holiday message, plus Cardstore will even mail your cards directly to your recipients and pay your postage for you!

I made mine through cardstore last year and loved them. I have already ordered mine through them again this year too! I looked through a few options and this sale makes the cards well below $1 each (around $0.50 each, depending on quantity that you're ordering)!

Just click the picture above to start making your holiday cards!

I would recommend having Cardstore send your cards out for you.  You just need to type in the addresses of your recipients, then the work is done for you.  No writing out envelopes or buying stamps - Cardstore does that all for you!

I am having Cardstore send my cards out for me for the first time this year.  It really didn't take me long at all to put in all the addresses (54 cards) and now that the addresses are in there, I won't have to type them again next year.

You can also pick the date that the cards are sent out.  Mine will be delivered by Dec. 5.  I love that everything is done for me and I don't have to think about them again!  And I love even more that Cardstore pays my postage for me!

Money Saving Mom: 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home - Day 3 (I'm behind!)

 

I am totally behind in this challenge thanks to a freaky snowstorm that had our lights flickering and some sick kids.  But I'm catching up!

 

Day 3's challenge was to pick up your bedroom and to clean out your freezer.  I accomplished both of these quickly this morning.  It really is amazing that once you time an annoying task, it's not as bad as you thought because it doesn't take as long as you had built it up to be!

 

First the bedroom:

Not too bad, just some laundry to put away and the bed to make (look at that adorable little helper).

 

 

After:

 

Look, I gained a helper!  And I even opened the windows today - we may have a foot of snow on the ground, but it's 60 today - that's normal, right?

 

 

Next up, the freezer:

 

Our fridge is relatively new and I really do love the bottom freezer - I didn't have all those little compartments to clean out like with a side-by-side freezer.  Just two drawers at the bottom.

 

 

After:

Looks a lot different, huh?  I just moved a few things around and cleaned out the bottom drawers and voila - a clean freezer!

 

These tasks really aren't taking much time at all, and I really will be happy to have these places cleaned up as we get in to the swing of the holidays!

My Favorite Resources for Great Holiday Deals!

I try to post some of the great deals that I see every day, but there is just no way for me to post everything.  I wanted to share with you my favorite resources for finding great deals during the holidays (and all the time!):

Blogs:

1. My Frugal Adventures:  Charlene, the owner of this blog, does a great job of focusing on great online deals, so you can do all of your shopping from the comfort of your home!  Not only does she bring you great deals, but she also tries to find the best ones with free shipping!  Also, she's been putting up all of the Black Friday ads, so if you visit her blog and look on the right hand side, you'll see the above Black Friday Deals button.  Just click it on her blog and you'll be brought to her long list of Black Friday deals!
2. Money Saving Mom:  Crystal, the owner of this blog, does post deals, but she also posts a lot of awesome home made gift ideas.  Crystal's blog always focuses on frugal living and some of the stories she posts are truly inspirational!  Also, she's written a series called:  31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash before Christmas.  And yes, she's the same blog hosting the 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home! 
3. Couponing to Disney:  Kristin, the owner of the blog, posts a variety of deals, but she really tends to find great deals for children.  She does post deals for all different toys, but true to her love of Disney, she does post a lot of deals around Disney-related toys. 
4. Hip 2 Save:  Colin, the owner of the blog, posts a great variety of deals for all genders and ages.  You'll see a ton of deals that will be great for everyone on your list!

Deal-a-Day Sites:

1. Groupon:  I think everyone has heard of Groupon by now, but if you haven't, they offer different local and online deals every day.  You can purchase products or experiences for up to 90% off.  My favorite deals that Groupon has this time of year are the photo deals.  Many times you'll see deals for photo canvases, photo books or holiday cards from reputable sites like Shutterfly or Snapfish.  They also have a new section this year called Holiday Deals (at the top, towards the right hand side).  These are actual products at deep discounts.  You may find some cool items here that you wouldn't find at the "big box" stores like Target or Walmart.
2. Eversave:  This site is very similar to Groupon.  Here I also look for deals on photo canvases, photo books and holiday cards.  You may also see a deal on a cool item.  Right now, if you sign up as a new member through this link, you get a $5 credit and if you refer a friend to sign up, you get a $10 credit.  That's another great way to make a good deal even better!
3. Target Daily Deals:  I check this every day because you never know what they are going to offer as a sale today!  Sometimes they go with themes, but usually there is something for everyone for sale on Target's Daily Deals.  Some deals are so-so and some are great, which is why I check so frequently.  Also, all daily deals come with free shipping.  And if you are a Target Red Card holder (credit or debit), you get an additional 5% off!  I've snagged some really great deals through this portion of their website!

Friends and Family Sales: Ann Taylor Loft, Lands End, Disney Store & Shutterfly

Well 'tis the season for Friends & Family events!  There are a whole slew of them going on right now!  Let's start with Ann Taylor Loft.  They are offering 40% off through 11/11 with the code 40FRIENDS at check out.  This would be a great chance to pick up an outfit (or pieces of an outfit) to wear for your holiday parties. 

 

I don't know about you, but I automatically go to the sale section when shopping.  Anyways, these earrings are in the sale section for $19.99, so just $11.99 after the discount!  I love the color - such a hot color this season!  Shipping is a flat rate of $8.95, or free on orders over $125 (wow!).  If you shop through Ebates, you'll get 3% cash back on your purchase!

 

 

Lands End has their Friends and Family sale going on through 11/13 that offers 30% off your order plus gives you free shipping!  There are some great deals to be had! 

These snow boots for girls are only $15.39 after discount.  They have tons of other great deals as well, just take a look around!  Just use code FRIENDS & pin 3010 at check out.  And if you shop through Ebates, you'll get 6% cash back!

 

 

 

Now through 11/12, the Disney Store is offering a Friends and Family discount of 25% off your entire order.  I looked through the sale section and there were a ton of great deals. 

Their dolls are only $10, so they'd be $7.50 after the discount.  They had the Prince dolls as well, which are usually harder to come by in stores like Target and Walmart, so this might be a good opportunity to pick up a doll like that!  Just use the code DISNEYPAL at check out.  They also offer free shipping on orders over $75 with code SHIPTODAY.  Don't forget to shop through Ebates to get 3% cash back!

 

 

 

 

Shutterfly is having a Friends and Family sale through Wednesday, 11/14, offering 40% off all photo cards, photo books & calendars.  Right now the calendars are on sale for $15.39, so $9.23 after the discount.  Just use the code FRIENDS40 at checkout.  Shipping is free on orders over $30 (use code SHIP30). 

Phew!  That's a lot of Friends and Family sales!