Back To School with Calcium! Win $25 Price Cutter GC.

Hey everybody, it's been a few weeks since The Queen has sat on her throne. I've been busy getting the kids ready to go back to school. School is a little late starting in our town, not until next Tuesday. But we've been looking for the best ways to save money on those school lunches and I honestly believe the absolute best way is for me to pack them up everyday. That way I know what they're eating and where it all comes from. The one thing I will give them money to buy at school is that fun little serving size carton of milk.
Luckily my girls love to drink milk with every meal. That may be why my 7 year old twin daughters are both 50 inches tall. Milk is one of the most economical sources of high-quality protein and calcium. Protein and calcium are important for the growth and development of bones and teeth. Buying calcium fortified beverages, such as orange juice and soy drinks is just not good enough. It is actually harder for the body to absorb, and milk is about 30 percent less expensive than fortified orange juice.

Yogurt and string cheese everyday can get a little boring, here's a link from www.dairymakessense.com with some creative ways to mix it up.

EMAIL ME at julieccarroll@prodigy.net TO WIN A $25 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO PRICE CUTTER and SHOPPING BAGS PACKED WITH MDA GOODIES to stock up on milk, cheese and yogurt.

Excellent Freebies!

If you have toddlers here's a FREE DVD link, click the logo . . .

Love The Jonas Brothers? Click them for a free MP3 from Walmart!


And if you have kids, you probably need some of these . . .

Enjoy!

Shortcuts to Branson, MO

I'm usually the first to sign up for a contest, since I have won a few. I figure the more contests I enter the better my chances are of winning something. Here's a chance for you to win 4 tickets to the Dixie Stampede in Branson, MO. There's really no other way I could afford to go to this overpriced and yet highly entertaining show. While your at the KY3 website, you should sign up to get notifications to all of their contest announcements.

Enter To Win at KY3.com

And following along to Dolly's contest . . .







I'm also very much looking forward to saving money at White Water this summer. Thanks to 417 and GO Magazines there's a fun party planned for June 20th, just click on the picture for details . . .

Local Discounts and One Big Nationwide!

I can't believe I used to consider this stuff junk mail. I started reading some of the ads that come through my mail slot and discovered that sometimes mail leads to real deals!

AdNews (I get mine in the mail once a week)

"Where your ad is the news" is by far the most delicious mailer. It is full of ads, but if you read them you can find deals at some of your favorite restaurants, such as Rosati's Authentic Chicago pizza, Samurai Sam's Teriyaki Grill, and this week's Buy one - Get one free coupon at the Pineapple Whip! That coupon is located right next to a Sunshine Carwash coupon so if you drip some whip on your car you can get it cleaned for just $5. I usually cut these coupons out and carry them in my wallet, but some have said they just carry around the AdNews in their big purses. I even heard of a lady who writes the deals down in a little notebook and then just tells the business what the coupon is they are using. I've never tried this method, but might save on the excess of paper in your purse.

Greater Springfield Kids Directory (pick it up at the retailers who advertise with them)

If you have kids, you have to devour this monthly. Not so much for the coupons, which are very random if any, but for the community calender and most especially the Kids Eat Free*or almost free! You can always look these up on their website too: springfieldkids.com. My favorite is the 99 cent kids meals on Monday nights at Buffalo Wild Wings. Our family of four can get in and out of there for less that $20 including tip. We love to play the trivia games and the food is always fantastic!

While I was running around this morning I found out about these discounts around the Springfield area that you are gonna love!

Saturday, June 6th is the $5 Fill a Bag at Children's Orchard on Republic Road. Get there early and bring your folding skills. Actually rolling up the clothes like a sleeping bag works best to get as many in that little bag as you can. And here's the hot tip; If you join their email club, you'll be invited to the Preview Sale the night before!

Sundays and that means every Sunday at the D.A.V. Thrift Stores you can buy specially marked items for just 25 cents! 4 for a dollar, however you look at it, you're gettin' a great deal. I love thrift stores anyway, so this will give me a reason to get out on a Sunday afternoon!

And don't forget, tonight . . .

Sonic Free Root Beer Floats Being Offered on June 3rd

From 8pm - Midnight!


See you there.

Introduction

We're all looking for a good discount these days, and I consider myself to be the Queen of discount. I'm not cheap. I'm thrifty. Thrifty is good! I have found so many different ways to get discounts so I'll pass the secrets on to you. Use them to save money on groceries, pharmacy, clothing, restaurants, vacations and pampering which I'm sure you deserve.

Let's get started with the basics. Everyone should bookmark the following websites and check them close to the beginning of the month for updates.

www.couponmom.com
The easiest way to save! It ain't no lie! She has tips to teach you to cut your grocery bill in half. You've probably heard of those people who get to the Kroger check out and their total bill started at $139.78 and by the time they use their coupons and rewards card they leave paying only $15.99! This can be you. It will require some effort but if savings is what your after, be sure and join the coupon mom system!

Freeflys.com

Cheap is good . . . but free is better! Everything from batteries to oatmeal, this site has it all. I'll tell you how great the day was I was out of laundry detergent and couldn't buy any for a few days but I checked my mail and my free Tide sample had arrived. I wasn't that excited about doing the laundry, but at least I had clean clothes for my kids to wear the next day. Bookmark it and you'll have the links to samples at your fingertips.

Well, my kids want to get on the computer to play a computer game we checked out at the library. Just another quick tip before I go. You local library is a wonderful source for not only books, but computer programs, movies, music and more.

Have a great day and check back often. If you live in the Ozarks, I'll be blogging about ways to save locally in my next blog.