Free Donut

Mmmm... Donuts... Tomorrow, June 1, Dunkin Donuts is giving away a free donut with a drink purchase in honor of National Donut Day. So, the donut is not exactly free since you have to buy a drink. If you are getting a beverage from Dunkins anyway, you might want to also treat yourself to a free donut. One of my favorite summer treats is a Dunkin Donuts hazelnut iced coffee. I may have to indulge.

Discount Story Land Tickets on Boston Deals

Today, Boston Deals (boston.com/deals) is offering Story Land tickets for $17.00. The regular Story Land ticket price is $28.99. The discount will save you $11.99. If you are already planning a trip to Story Land, this deal may be worth it. Here are the details:

• Limit of two tickets per person.
• Tickets will be mailed; allow seven to ten days for delivery.
• No cash back.
• Cannot be combined with any other offers or special promotions.

Double $1.00 Coupon Day at Roche Bros.

During Roche Bros.' 7 days of ways to save promotion, Tuesday is double $1.00 coupon day. They will double up to five $1.00 coupons with a total purchase of $25.00 or more. This is the last week of the promotion so this is the last $1.00 coupon Tuesday. The total price for the items pictured above was $25.36. With double coupons, I paid $10.36.

Here's the breakdown:

Roche Bros. ripple potato chips, $1.59 - $0.50 coupon from the Roche Bros. website.
2 Ken's salad dressing, buy one, get one free (BOGO), $3.79 - $1.00 coupon doubled to $2.00 = $1.79.
4 boxes of Cheerios. $12.00 - $4.00 promotion for buying 4 boxes - 2 $0.75 coupons that doubled to $1.50 and 2 $0.50 coupons that also doubled to $2.00 = $3.00 total.
2 bars of Cracker Barrel cheese. $1.99/each - $1.00 coupon doubled to $2.00 = $1.98.
Hood Sports Bars, $3.00 - $1.00 coupon doubled to $2.00 = $1.00.
Hood ice cream, $2.50 - $1.00 coupon doubled to $2.00 = $0.50.
Cascadian Farms sweet peas, $2.50 - $0.75 coupon doubled to $1.50 = $1.00

It worked out to be $15.00 of coupons minus $25.36 for a total for $10.36!

Free Target Summer Beauty Bag

Target is now giving away summer beauty bags on their Facebook page. I've gotten these bags in their previous giveaways and they are definitely worth getting. You'll get a cute travel size makeup bag filled with samples and coupons. I just signed up for mine. Warning: the page is very slow probably from all of the traffic. Good luck!

Vanishing Starter Homes

While walking around Needham lately, I've noticed that there seem to be an increasing number of tear-downs going on. A small ranch or cape house comes on the market. A few weeks later the house is demolished and a large brand new house grows in it's place. This trend was confirmed by a recent article in the Boston Globe saying that the number of demolition permits in Needham grew to 82 in 2011 from 58 in 2009.

As a homeowner in Needham, I'm glad that it's such a desirable town that there is a market for bigger, more expensive houses. After all, developers wouldn't be going to the expense and trouble of building a new home if there weren't willing buyers out there. I don't begrudge anyone who is able to afford these homes moving to our town. If you are in the position to buy a brand new home, you probably worked very hard to become successful enough to afford it. I am also a fan of the inevitable increase in our property value and the increase in tax revenue that the town collects.

On the other hand, back in February, the Needham Times reported on the teardown trend. The article started by quoting our neighbor's daughter who said she grew up in Needham and would love to buy a house here but simply cannot afford to do so. My worry is that the character and things that I love about Needham may vanish with all the starter homes that are being knocked down. I also worry that Alex's peers in high school will be driving Lamborghini's and Maseratis while he is driving my very used 2009 Pontiac Vibe.

Last week, the Needham Times ran another article about developers who are renovating and updating homes instead of tearing them down. According to the article, these developers are meeting the needs of buyers who can't afford the brand new houses but want a home that is more updated than a starter house.

Two years ago, we put our starter home on the market. We had a lot of showings, but no bites. We decided to stay in our home and add on to it to fit our needs. The feedback we got from our realtor was that the house was too small and not updated enough for the first time homebuyer. My theory is that during the housing boom when we bought our house in 2004 the starter home buyer could afford to buy a house, live in it for a few years, and then sell it for a profit. Home buyers really can't do that during the current housing market. If you buy a house today, you have to be prepared to live in it for the next five years or longer.

For us, renovating and staying here ended up being the best option even if the decision was made for us by the housing market. We were able to expand our house and make it what we wanted. Also, the financial cost turned out to be less to add on then to sell our house for less than we wanted and buying a more expensive house. I guess home buyers have to do what's best for them and the market reacts to their wants and needs. For now, that means that starter homes are vanishing in Needham.

Wacky Wednesday at Roche Bros.

Roche Bros. is running a 7 days of ways to save promotion where they have a special item on sale for each day of the week. Wednesday is "Wacky Wednesday" which means every Wednesday has a different item. This Wednesday, 5/16, Roche Bros. Hearty Bread, 24 oz. (excludes maple cinnamon) is on sale for $1 each (limit 4). I plan to stock up. I like Roche Bros.' Hearty Bread because it is one of the few breads that does not include high fructose corn syrup. The bread is sweetened with honey and molasses.

Here are the deals for the other days:

Friday: Seafood Surprise day, a different fish item is on sale for the week. This week it was Foleys fresh cod fillets for $8.99/lb.

Saturday: 85% lean ground beef, 3 lbs or more. $2.49/lb.

Sunday: Food Club shredded mozzarella or shredded cheddar, 8 oz. cheese for $1/each. Limit 4.

Monday: Chiquita bananas for $0.49/lb.

Tuesday: Double $1.00 coupon day. You can double up to five manufacturer's $1.00 coupons per customer per week with a minimum $25 initial purchase.

Wednesday: Is Wacky Wednesday as mentioned above.

Thursday: 5 Buck Cluck Rotisserie chicken for $5.00/each.

This promotion ends next week on 5/24.

A Perfect Mother's Day to Breathe in NH

Today, we took a day trip to the south coast area of New Hampshire. We stopped for lunch at The Friendly Toast in Portsmouth, NH. It's a funky restaurant that serves breakfast all day. Alex ate his star shaped blueberry pancake in record time. After lunch, we headed to the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, NH. The Seacoast Science Center is at the end of the point in Odiorne Point State Park. The weather was perfect to walk the loop around the park right near the ocean. Inside the science center, there is a blue lobster, the skeleton of a humpback whale, and a touch tank.

I found out about the Seacoast Science Center from the Breathe New Hampshire Fun Pass. The Fun Pass is a book that offers free admission to attractions around new england sold by Breathe New Hampshire, a nonprofit health group. Most of the passes are for a free children's admission with the purchase of an adult ticket. I buy the Fun Pass for the free Story Land admission and free child's ticket on the Conway Scenic Railroad. We usually visit both places on our annual vacation to NH. The $30 price for the Fun Pass book is less expensive than the price of both tickets so it makes sense to buy it. Any of the other passes that we use are just gravy. The added benefit is that it makes us aware of attractions in new england that we might not know about like the Seacoast Science Center.

Sunday Coupon Preview

For a preview of the coupon inserts and a list of their coupons, go to sundaycouponpreview.com. Early in the week, the site lists the coupons coming out that Sunday. This is helpful to see ahead of time what coupons to expect in your Sunday paper or even whether it's worth it to buy the paper.

Starbucks Happy Hour May 4-13, 3-5 p.m.

From May 4 through May 13 from 3-5 p.m., Starbucks is selling Frappuccinos at half price at participating locations. I took part this afternoon. We stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home. Since Starbucks is conveniently next door, I decided to get a special treat in honor of the return on the sun after a rainy week.

Why I Quit Clipping Coupons

I used to waste a lot of time clipping coupons. I would go through the coupons in Sunday's paper and cut out every one that I may possibly use someday. Then, I'd put them in a small expandable coupon binder. My binder file got so fat that I eventually wasn't able to even close it. It was like George Costanza's exploding wallet. There had to be a better way.

I read Kathy Spencer's book, "How to Shop for Free" and started using her technique for organizing my coupons. Now, instead of clipping coupons, I keep a file for each type of coupon insert. I have a separate file for Smart Source (SS), Red Plum (RP), General Mills, and Procter and Gamble. Each Sunday, I write on the front page of the insert the date that the coupons were in the Sunday paper and the date when the coupons expire. I file the coupon insert with the most recent set on top. 

Each week, I look in the grocery sales flyer to see what's on sale. If I want to match a coupon to a sale item, I look the item up in the coupon database on howtoshopforfree.net. The coupon database shows the value of the coupon, the source date, the source name, and the expiration date. For example, Pepperidge Farm raisin bread is on sale for buy one get one free next week at Roche Bros. I searched for "Pepperidge Farm" on the coupon database. It found a coupon for $1/2 in the 03/25/2012 SS insert. SS stands for Smart Source. (RP stands for Red Plum.) I look in my Smart Source file to find the coupons from 03/25/2012. I find the Pepperidge Farm bread coupon and clip it out.

Once I have my coupons clipped for that week, I put them in my coupon binder. I have my coupon binder organized by store now. Every week, I go through the binder and put only the coupons that I need for that week in each section. I then purge any coupons that have expired. That way, when I get to the store I already have the coupons that I need organized. I find this to be a much saner way to manage my coupons and I can avoid the exploding wallet syndrome.

My Five Favorite Money Saving Websites

These are my top five favorite websites that I visit on a daily basis for money saving posts. I have saved a great deal of money by following these sites.

1. moneysavingmom.com - Crystal at moneysavingmom.com posts deals and articles from a mom's perspective. Her blog is one of the first money saving blogs that I started following when I was a new mom. 
2. howtoshopforfree.net - I read Kathy Spencer's book "How to Shop for Free" which led me to her website howtoshopforfree.net. I find the most valuable part of the website to be the grocery store forums. The grocery board moderators post the sales flyers for grocery stores matching them up with coupons. 
3. thekrazycouponlady.com - Gotta love the name of this blog, right? I found out about this blog last year when one of the two women who run it was featured on the "Extreme Couponing" show on TLC. She was shown dumpster diving for coupons. I would not go that far for coupons. She does post some great deals. Every week, she posts the best deals at CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens and has a weekly feature on how to only spend $5 getting the best deals of the week.
4. thesimpledollar.com - Trent at the simpledollar.com is a full time blogger that posts articles about saving money. I find some of his ideas a bit extreme. For example, he makes his own laundry detergeant. No thanks! I just ignore the extreme ideas and read the articles that I find interesting.
5. getrichslowly.org - Get Rich Slowly is similar to the Simple Dollar and posts one or two articles a day about saving money. J.D. is the founder of the site. Now it has a few regular writers who post on a range of money saving topics.

Free Chocolate

Two of my favorite words are free and chocolate. This week, 05/06 to 5/12, you can buy Mars chocolate singles, 1.08-2.15 oz for $0.75 and get a $0.75 Extra Buck. I matched it with a $0.50/2 – Dove Chocolate Single Bars, 1.44oz – coupon (coupons.com) to bring the total for two to $1.00. I had a $1.00 Extra Buck that I used making it free. As a bonus: In Sunday's 05/06 Red Plum coupons circular, there is a coupon for a free Good’n Natural Bar, up to $1.29 (exp 6/17).

Oh, Bag Sale, How Do I Love Thee

Twice a year, the parent's group in our town has a used clothing, equipment, and toy sale. For the last hour of the sale, they clear out whatever is left with a $10 bag sale. We stumbled upon our first bag sale when Alex was about three months old. We were out on a walk on a nice spring Saturday morning. We saw the signs for the sale so we decided to check it out. As we walked through the door of the sale, a volunteer offered to sell us a bag. We said we just wanted to check it out. One look around and I headed straight back to get a bag. I ended up filling the bag with some great finds, many with tags still on them.

Since then, I have been going to the sale every six months. I have even volunteered at some of the sales. The advantage to volunteering is that you get to shop the day before the sale to get a jump on scooping up the best deals. You also get to shop the bag sale before they let in the general public. 

I also use the sale as an opportunity to stay ahead of the clutter and donate any toys, baby equipment, and clothes that Alex has outgrown. It's great to pass on the items that we no longer need to someone else who can use them. The sale is also a consignment sale. If I want to, I have the option to make money off of the no longer used items. I prefer just donating the items and getting the tax deduction. Another benefit is that any items that don't get sold are donated to a charity.

Other than getting great deals, the think I truly love most about the sale is passing on our outgrown stuff. I remember that I was helping with the check out at one sale where I volunteered. A parent came through the line to buy one of Alex's most beloved toys that he had long ago outgrown. As I took off the sales tag, I felt a twinge of bittersweet nostalgia saying a final goodbye to the toy. Then, I looked down and saw the happy toddler eagerly awaiting his new toy. I was glad that the toy would be love and played with by someone else instead of collecting dust in our basement. If you've seen the movie, Toy Story 3, you know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, here's a look at my haul from today's bag sale:

The breakdown includes:

2 dress pants

1 pair of athletic pants

5 shorts

5 polo shirts

9 t-shirts

1 Nike jacket

1 tie

I've done much better at past sales, but for $10 I can't complain. If your community has a children's toy and clothing sale, I highly recommend checking it out.

Mutually Beneficial Babysitting

Tonight is date night. Craig and I are looking forward to going out to dinner just the two of us. We are lucky and appreciative to have grandparents that live close by that are willing to offer free babysitting. Tonight we are taking advantage of a fund raiser that the youth group at our church is running. For an extremely affordable rate, they are giving parents a night of babysitting to raise money for a mission trip. They already held a babysitting night for Valentine's Day. Alex went and had a blast. He got to play games with his friends, decorate cookies and watch a movie. The thing I love about this is that everyone benefits. The youth group raises money for their trip. Alex gets to have fun on a Friday night with kids his age. Most enjoyable for us, Craig and I get to go out for a kid-free dinner. I love it when everyone wins!