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.