Free seed pack sampler from Tomato Heirlooms

The owners of Tomato Heirlooms contacted me today and said they'll send a free basil seed pack sampler (a $6 value) to anyone who signs up for a free account on their website. The free seed sampler pack includes three packs of basil seeds: Sweet Italian Basil, Purple Basil, and Lemon Basil.

Go here to create an account and receive your free seeds.

Jewel-Osco: Free Post cereal

Jewel-Osco currently has Post cereals on sale 2 for $3. In addition, they are also running the Post catalina deal that Albertson's is (Buy 5 boxes of Post cereal, Get a $5 catalina coupon off your next shopping order. Good through April 19, 2009.)

Combining these two deals with coupons can net you free Post cereal this week. Here's how:

Buy five boxes of Post cereal
Use two $1/2 coupons from the 3/29 SmartSource insert
Use one $0.55/1 coupon from the 3/1 insert (or, use 5 $0.55/1 coupons--if you have that many)
Pay $4.95 out of pocket
Get a $5 catalina back

If you have more coupons, you can repeat this deal and use the catalina you earned on your last order to pay for your next order making your out-of-pocket expense $0. Stock up!

And even if you don't have a lot of coupons, the cereal would still be only $0.50/box for every five boxes you buy after the sale and catalina--which is a great deal!

Thanks, Mercedes!

Juice It Up: Free smoothie (April 1, 2009--4 to 6 p.m.)

Stop by any Juice It Up tomorrow (Wednesday, April 1, 2009) from 4 to 6 p.m. to get a free Strawberry Wave smoothie. Limit 1 per customer. Check to see if there's a location near you here.

Free box of Kashi granola bars (Canadians only)

If you live in Canada, you'll definitely want to take advantage of this great deal!

Just go here and sign up and you'll receive a coupon in the mail for a free box of Kashi granola bars!

Thanks, Saver Queen!

Guest Post: The Little Things Make a Big Difference

Guest Post by Beth from Recipes and Deals

Do you ever sit down to pay bills and think, “Where did the money go?”

That used to be me every month. I was nervous to have anything automatically withdrawn from our checking account because I didn't want to write a check and not have money to pay a bill, yet I felt like all I did was pay bills!

We had recently made the transition from two salaries to one and we found it to be a big challenge. Plus, we had two children 20 months apart. Both were in diapers for awhile and both have food allergies which necessitate the purchase of more expensive grocery items.

After several attempts at setting budget and falling behind we finally took advantage of our church's class offer of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. We began a hard, long, and ongoing conversation about where our money was going and we've learned a number of things along the way. Here are just a few of the things which have made a big change in our finances:

1) Always use cash when possible. Making the change to pay with cash as opposed to using a debit or credit card has made such a huge difference for us. We use the Envelope System outlined here. When the envelope is empty, it's empty.

2) Look for extra ways to make money. I am a certified swimming instructor and now that our boys are older, I've been able to slowly begin teaching again part-time in the Summer. The extra money goes to our emergency fund or other extra expenses we have. 

I sell our children's clothing to a local consignment store and have made a few hundred dollars doing so. In addition, we have a garage sale once a year. Throughout the year, as we outgrow things or find we no longer need them, I price them and add them to our garage sale boxes in the basement. In the past 3 years, I've made over a thousand dollars selling old furniture, baby items, and clothes at our yearly garage sale.

3) Find an accountability partner. This is vital! My sister-in-law and I are of the same mindset. With children 4 months apart in age, we are in the same life stage, and have the same desires to be good stewards of our money and bodies. We talk several times a week, exchange recipes, coupons, and tips. Most importantly, we celebrate each other's successes and encourage each other in the frustrating times.

Since October, we have been aggressively paying down school debt and have been committed to paying cash for all expenses. As of April 1, we will have approximately $7,000 less debt than we had in October! We have truly seen how often it's the little things which make a big difference in the long run!

Beth is a stay-at-home mom and lives in a small town in the Midwest. You can see her weekly menus, recipes, and deals at her blog.

Worth Reading: Bread stores and bath towels

::Meredith's post here on buying bread from bread/bakery outlets was very helpful. I've done this myself many a time and found the prices to be almost unparalleled. Now if I could just find a bread outlet which was close to my usual shopping route so I could do this again!

::Marie walks you through a helpful tutorial here on how to make a hooded bath towel. If you're a little bit savvy with a sewing machine and are able to find a great deal on towels, this could make for a very inexpensive gift. We've been given one of these for each of our children and I personally just love them!

Walgreens: Free Bayer Glucose Meter and Crest toothpaste

If you or someone you know can use a Bayer Glucose Contour Meter, you'll definitely want to check out this deal:

Buy any Bayer Glucose Contour Meter in the month of April at Walgreens and you'll get a coupon for a free Crest toothpaste on your next purchase at Walgreens. Use the $30/1 coupon from 3/1 or 3/22 inserts (coupon will have to be adjusted down to the price the monitor is at) to get the monitor for free, plus you'll get the coupon for the free toothpaste.

And, if you have four Bayer coupons, you can get four free Crest products and then submit your rebates for the $5 April EasySaver when you buy four Crest products.

Thanks, Mercedes!

Tim Horton's: Free Chicken Wrap Snacker (April 1, 2009--11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

Stop by any Tim Horton's tomorrow (Wednesday, April 1, 2009) from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. to snag a free Chicken Wrap Snacker. Limit one per customer.

See more details here. Find a location near you here.

Thanks, Lori!

Menards: Deals and freebies this week

Check out the deals and freebies at Menards this week here and here.

Freebies for today

I've posted this freebie before, but it's worth mentioning again:

Register at EAS.com and fill out your information. Click on "yes" when it asks you if you are interested in a free sample. Enter EAS11 in the offer code spot and submit your information. You will then be able to print a coupon for either a free Myoplex bar or a free Myoplex Nutrition Shake.

More Freebies:

Free air filter from Filtrete (if you use these filters and submit a photo of your dirty filter along with a paragraph on why you choose Filtrete filters--thanks, Blaire!)

Free Aveeno Nourish and hair care sample (I posted this a few days ago and then the form stopped working. It is now working correctly again.)

Free card from Hallmark

Do you know someone who could use a little cheering up today? Or someone you've been thinking of and wanting to drop a line to? Well, here's your chance to do it--for free!

Go to Hallmark here and choose and create a customized card of your choice. Use the code TRIAL when you check out and Hallmark will mail the card to your chosen recipient completely free!

Thanks, Hip 2 Save!

Albertson's: Post cereal for $0.17!

A number of varieties of Post cereals are on sale this week at most Albertson's stores around the country for $1.57 per box when you buy two. Albertson's also currently has a catalina deal running where if you buy five boxes of Post cereal, you'll receive a coupon for $5 off your next order. There were also $1/2 Post cereal coupons in the 3/1 and 3/29 SmartSource inserts.

So, here's how you can work this into a really sweet deal:

Buy 5 boxes of Post cereal (select varieties only)
Use 2 $1/2 coupons
Spend $6.35 plus tax out of pocket
Get a $5 catalina back
$0.17 per box of cereal after the sale, coupons, and catalina!

The best news? You can roll this deal multiple times. Meaning, you can use the $5 catalina you earn on your first order, to go back and buy five more boxes of cereal at this price. This will make your out-of-pocket expense even lower and you'll get back another $5 catalina!

Even without the coupons, the sale price and the catalina deal make these cereals $0.67 per box--which is a great deal!

Thanks, A Thrifty Mom!

Free Gerber baby food and $5 off Nestle Good Start formula

Create a pledge here (takes a minute or two to do) and you'll be able to print a coupon for $3 off any Gerber baby food or Gerber Graduates food and a $5 off Nestle Good Start formula coupon. A number of Gerber items should be priced at $3 or less at your local stores making them free with this coupon.

Thanks, Engineer a Debt-Free Life!

More printable coupons:

$1/1 McCormick product

Coupons for 3M products

Target: Deals and freebies for this week

Artisan Mini Loaves--$0.99 each
Use this $1/1 Target coupon here
Free after coupon

Gillette Body Wash (8.4 oz.)--$2.00 each
Use $2/1 coupon in 3/1 P&G insert
Free after coupon

Renu Multiplus Contact Solution (trial size)--$0.99
Use $1/1 Renu printable
Free after coupon

Shout Wipes (trial size)--$0.97
Use $1/1 Shout Wipes printable
Free after coupon

Pledge Aerosol Furniture Polish or Multi-Surface--$2.50 to $2.74
Use $3/1 Pledge Aerosol printable or $2/1 Pledge Multi-Surface printable
Stack with $1/1 Pledge Target printable
Free after coupons

Dole Salad (6 oz.)--$1.19
Use $1/1 Target coupon
$0.19 each after coupon

Cheetos (snack size--located near the registers)--$1.25-$1.31 each
Use this $1/1 Target coupon here
$0.25-$0.31 each after coupon

Pop-Secret Popcorn (small boxes)--$1.49
Use $1/1 Target coupon
$0.49 each after coupon

Land O' Lakes Butter (1 lb.)--on sale for $2
Use $0.55/1 coupon
$1.45 each after coupon

See more deals at Target this week here and here.

Wal-Mart: Kraft salad dressing for $0.08

Kraft salad dressings are currently priced at $1.58 at most Wal-Mart stores. Use the $1.50/1 coupon found in yesterday's insert to get these for $0.08 each!

Thanks so much, Monica!

See more current deals at Wal-Mart right now here.

Village Inn: Free slice of pie with entree purchase (through March 31, 2009)

Through tomorrow (March 31, 2009), you can get a free slice of pie at Village Inn with any adult entree purchase using this coupon here.

Thanks, Coupon Cravings!

Walgreens: Free Mentos gum

Walgreens reportedly has Mentos Gum on sale 2 for $2 this month. Buy two and use two $1/1 coupons from the 3/1 SmartSource insert to get free Mentos Gum.

Also, check the prices on the Skintimate and Edge Shaving Gels. Some stores have these clearanced for $2 or less and they are still producing a $3 Register Reward making these a money-maker!

Thanks for passing along these deals, Mercedes!

bd's Mongolian Barbecue: Free stir-fry meal

Sign up for the bd's Mongolian Barbecue email list here and you'll receive a coupon emailed to you for a free stir-fry meal!

We've eaten at one of these restaurants before and thought it was pretty scrumptious. Check to see if there's a location near you here.

The Cottonelle coupon is back!

Did you see?! The $0.50/1 Cottonelle 4-pack or larger coupon is back on Coupons.com! Hurry and go print yours here, because this one usually only lasts a few days.

If your Kroger store is still carrying the 4-packs of Cottonelle toilet paper for $0.99 and your store doubles coupons, this will mean free toilet paper! (Some stores have discontinued the 4-pack size, but many stores still carry them.)

Also, you can go here and play the puppy game to print another $0.50/1 coupon and here to print two $1/1 coupons.

Thanks, Lindy!

Walgreens: Deals for the week of March 29-April 4, 2009

Here are the best deals available at Walgreens this week, with thanks to Mercedes for her help in compiling them. Be sure to stop by her blog to learn how you can get 40% off any one item at Borders right now.

WEEKLY DEALS

Glade Soy Candles--priced at $5.99 at some stores
Use $4/1 coupon (if you printed it while it was available here)
Stack with $2/1 coupon in the April EasySaver booklet
Free after coupons

Equal Sweetener--on sale 2 for $5
Use the $2.50/1 coupon from 1/4 inserts
Free after coupon

Reynolds Foil--on sale for $0.89 after in-ad coupon
Use $1/1 from 2/8 insert--this coupon does not exclude this size, the more recent coupons do
Free after coupons

Printer Cartridge Refill--$7.50
Submit for $7.50 April Easysaver rebate #28
Free after rebate

Wal-Itin Allergy Relief 30-ct.--on sale for $6.99
Submit for $6.99 April Easysaver rebate #10
Free after rebate

SoyJoy Bars--on sale 2 for $1
Use B1G1 coupon from 2/22 SmartSource insert
$0.25 each after coupon

No Nonsense Pantyhose--on sale B1G1 Free (2 for $2.49)
Use $1/1 coupon from 3/29 inserts
$0.25 each after coupons

Vitamin Water--on sale 3 for $3 with in-ad coupon
Buy 6 and use the $1/2 Vitamin Water coupon from the April EasySaver booklet (should take off $3 total)
$0.50 each after coupons

Halls cough drops--on sale for $1.39 with in-ad coupon
Use $0.75 coupon here
$0.64 after coupons

Bayer tablets (24-36-ct.)-- on sale for $1.99
Use $1/1 coupon from the 3/22 SmartSource
$0.99 each after coupon

Schick Xtreme 3 Disposable razors (4 ct.)--priced at $7.49
Use the $2/1 coupon in the April EasySaver booklet
Stack with the $3/1 coupon from the 3/8 SmartSource
$2.49 after coupons

REGISTER REWARDS DEALS

Buy 1 Edge Infused Energy Shaving Gel at $3.59, Get $3.59 Register Rewards
Free after Register Rewards (Thanks, Stephanie!)

Buy 1 Skintimate Cream Shave at $2.99, Get $2.99 Register Rewards
Free after Register Rewards (Thanks, Stephanie!)

Buy 1 100% Natural or True Shimmer Chapstick at $1.99, Get $1.99 Register Rewards
Free after Register Rewards

Buy 2 Quaker Life Cereals (on sale 2 for $5), Get $2 Register Rewards
Use 2 $1/1 coupons here
$0.50/box after coupons and Register Rewards

Buy 4 Diet Pepsi 12-packs (on sale 4 for $12), Get $3 Register Rewards

*Deal Idea*
Buy six 12-packs at $3 each
Use two B2G1 printable coupons
Spend $12 out of pocket
Get $3 Register Rewards back
$9 for six 12-packs ($1.50 each) after coupons and Register Rewards

APRIL FREE-AFTER-REBATE DEALS

Buy 1 One-A-Day Multi-Vitamin Drink Mix 2 ct. at $1.49
Get $1.49 April EasySaver Rebate (offer #1)
Free after rebate

New to shopping at Walgreens? Start here.

============================
Share Your Deals and Scenarios!
Have your shopping trip planned or did you come up with a great deal scenario/idea? Just post about it on your blog and leave your link below. **To make it easy for everyone to navigate quickly through the links, your link must link directly to your Walgreens deals post. Links going to the homepage of your blog or any other part of your blog besides the direct link to your Walgreens deals post will be deleted.**

CVS: Deals for the week of March 29-April 4, 2009

******ECB DEALS******

*Good Through Monday, March 30, 2009 Only* Buy 1 Paas Easter Egg Coloring Kit at $1.99, Get $1.99 ECBs (Limit 2)
Free after ECBs

Buy 1 Accu-Check/Aviva Diabetes Monitor at $9.99, Get $9.99 ECBs Limit 1)
Free after ECBs

Buy 1 Glade Sense and Spray Lasting Impressions at $5.99, Get $1 ECBs (Limit 1)
Use $4/1 coupon from the March All You magazine or the 03/29 SmartSource insert
$0.99 after coupon and ECBs

Buy $10 worth of Pond’s Towelettes, Get $5 ECBs (Limit 1)

*Deal*
Buy 3 at $3.49 to $3.99 each
Use 3 $1.50/1 coupons from the 03/29 RedPlum insert
$0.33 to $0.82 each after coupons and ECBs

Buy $10 worth of Veet products, Get $5 ECBs (Limit 1)

*Deal*
Buy 2 products at $5.49 each
Use 2 $2/1 coupons here or here
$0.99 each after coupons and ECBs

Buy 2 Fantastik Cleaners at $2.50 each, Get $1 ECBs (Limit 1)
Use 2 $1/1 coupons from the 03/29 SmartSource insert
$1 each after coupons and ECBs

******NON-ECB DEALS******

Rimmel Cosmetics are on sale B1G1--Buy 2 mascara products and use the free mascara coupon from the April All You magazine (pg. 35) to get two free mascaras after the coupon and sale! (Coupon has been confirmed by All You to be valid at all retailers, not just Wal-Mart as is stated on the coupon.)

Sally Hanson Nail Polish is on sale B1G1 (2 for $2.49)--Buy two and use the $3/2 coupon from the March CVS Reinventing Beauty magazine making these free plus possible overage after the sale and coupon.

Nature's Bounty products are on sale B1G1--Buy 2 products priced at $4 or less each and use two $2/1 coupons here to get these free.

Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber is on sale for $2.99--Use the $2.75/1 coupon here to make this $0.24 after the sale and coupon.

Lysol All Purpose Cleaner, Toilet Bowl Cleaner, or Wipes are on sale for $2.50--Buy three and use the $0.75/1 or $1/2 coupons from the 3/15 SmartSource insert or the $0.50/1 coupon here. Then submit your receipt for this $3 rebate when you buy three. After the sale, coupons, and rebate, these will be $0.75 to $1 each.

Listerine Pocket Packs are on sale for 50% off ($2.15 each)--Buy 2 and use the $3/2 coupon from the 03/15 SmartSource insert to get these for $0.65 each after the sale and coupons.

M&M’s candies are on sale for $1.50 per bag--Buy 3 bags and use the $1.50/3 coupon from the 03/15 RedPlum insert to get these for $1 each after the sale and coupon.

******MARCH ECB DEALS******

Buy 1 CVS Pharmacy Vitamin D 400, 100-ct. at $2.99, Get $2.99 ECBs (Limit 1)
Free after ECBs

New to CVS-ing? Don't try to make heads or tails of this post because it probably won't make a lot of sense to you. Instead, go here where I explain the CVS program in full detail. Want to join in the fun and incredible savings? Then go here where I share more about how to make it work for you. 

******Share Your Deals and Scenarios!********

Have your shopping trip planned or did you come up with a great deal scenario/idea? Just post about it on your blog and leave your link below. **To make it easy for everyone to navigate quickly through the links, your link must link directly to your CVS deals post. Links going to the homepage of your blog or any other part of your blog besides the direct link to your CVS deals post will be deleted.**

Free Emergen-C sample

Go here to request your free sample of Berry Blue Emergen-C.

There's also a new free Kotex sample here. (Thanks, Lori!)

Super Savings Saturday: The final day of our Eating From the Pantry Challenge

It was our final day of our official Eating From The Pantry Challenge and here's what we ate today:

Breakfast: Grape-Nuts and milk (We made some extra powdered milk up last night and stuck in in the refrigerator overnight. I couldn't really even tell the difference on cereal this morning!)

Lunch: Baked potatoes with butter and cheese

Snacks: Tortilla chips, organic toaster pastries, no bake cookies

Dinner: Chicken noodle soup, tuna sandwiches and fried egg sandwiches, carrot sticks

(Um and yep, nevermind the fact that we're sorely lacking in the fruit and veggie eating department today! I had plans to incorporate the last of what we had on hand, but time and energy slipped away from me.)

Well, I made it--15 days without stepping foot into a grocery store! I do believe that's almost a record for me and it was a nice change of pace. I've often skipped a week of grocery shopping, but usually that was when we were very well stocked. It's not very often that we go this long and let things get this bare. However, we had plenty to eat every day and we certainly didn't go hungry!

We didn't have as much of a variety in our meals, we didn't eat as much protein as we usually do, we ate more of fewer things, and we certainly didn't eat as healthfully as we usually do, but we made it through the Eating From The Pantry Challenge just fine.

In fact, I found it rather invigorating to concoct new recipes, ideas, and meal creations with what we had on hand. And it was also nice to take a complete break from using coupons or snagging deals. I'm anxious to jump back in now!

The best news is that we didn't touch any of the After-The-Baby Stash either, so we're plenty stocked for the coming months! We also used up a number of odds and ends of foods which would be going bad soon, too.

All in all, it was a great challenge and I'm so glad we did it! I'm especially glad that so many of you participated, too! That made it much more enjoyable. Maybe we'll have to do it again sometime soon, eh?

We took the $120 we'd usually allot to groceries for the past two weeks and split it--$60 is going into savings and $60 is staying in our grocery envelope to give me a little more wiggle room for buying items to replace our rather-depleted stock.

So it looks like not only was this challenge a great exercise in creativity and ingenuity, but we were able to save a nice little amount of extra cash while still having plenty left over to pay for groceries for next week. I'm hopeful that after a good shopping trip or two and our cupboards, refrigerator, and pantry will be well-stocked again. We'll see!

Did you snag any great deals or bargains this week or save in other ways? If so, be sure to post about them on your blog and leave your link below.

Note: Please remember that this weekly round-up is to share deals you personally got and/or money you were able to save this week. In order to keep this weekly round-up focused on helping and inspiring others in their efforts to save money, links which have little-to-no content other than promoting affiliate links, etc. will be deleted. Also, to make it easy for everyone to navigate quickly through the links, your link must link directly to your Super Savings Saturday post.

24-Hour Giveaway: Three Garden Baskets from The Popcorn Factory

Oh, do I ever have a yummy giveaway for you today!

The Popcorn Factory, a company which was founded in 1979, is dedicated to delighting people with fun gifts for all occasions. And today, they've generously offered to give away three of their beautiful Garden Baskets to readers here.

Just in time for Spring, this cute wooden basket is filled with mouth-watering treats including Cheddar Popcorn, Chocolate Drizzled Caramel Corn, Bavarian Pretzels, Chocolate Daises, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Honey Roasted Peanuts, and Nutty Caramel Pixies.

Can you say "delicious"? In fact, the Garden Basket that The Popcorn Factory sent to us didn't last much more than a few days!

In addition to the Garden Basket, we've gotten other scrumptious treats from The Popcorn Factory before and I've always been impressed. The Popcorn Factory specializes in fresh-popped popcorn in exclusively designed tins. They have a commitment to using only the highest quality ingredients including real butter and cheddar cheese.

To enter to win one of the three Garden Baskets they are giving away to my readers today, just leave a comment on this post with your name and email address. Three winners will be randomly chosen after the giveaway concludes and posted shortly thereafter.

Free bowling for children--all Summer long!

The popular Kids Bowl Free program which I shared about last Summer is back again for this Summer. If there is a bowling alley participating in your area (see participating bowling centers here), you can sign up to get two free games of bowling for every child in your family every day--all Summer long! More details are here.

Thanks, Jaycie!