As I am preparing for one of my favorite days of the year (Black Friday), I thought I would repost my funny shopping experience from last year. It is a long but (hopefully) fun read! I know I have a lot of new readers over the past year that might get a kick out of this post! If you are a long time reader, you may want to re-read it so you can use my lessons learned to help prepare for the big shopping day! :)

Most years, I do all (or most) of my Christmas Shopping on Black Friday. I am usually one of those very organized shoppers with a list of where I am going, when I am going there and a plan for how to get all the deals I need to make Christmas happen for cheap! Since Walmart price matches, I generally try to do as much of it as I can price matching.

Well, this year, I only needed a few things as I did most of the Christmas Shopping for this year right AFTER Christmas last year. It was a new experience for me. I almost skipped Black Friday altogether this year as I thought Wes (my hubby) had to work Black Friday (he did work but only 1-10pm). So, Wes and I looked through the ads and found that there were a few things we wanted at 3 stores.

The stops would be as follows:

1-Midnight stop at Walmart...hoping to get an art set for one child, PJ's for all 4 kids, a writing toy for another kid, and the super cheap towels.

2-6am Menards stop for: pop up tent & tunnel, "Cuddle Up" (Snuggie imitation-Wes wanted to get me one for Christmas), Wii remote charging station, and "Cuddlee Pets" (imitation Pillow Pets) for all four kids.

3-Stop at Younkers to use $10 coupon and possibly get nicer "Snuggie"-like item.

Obviously with 4 kids at home, one of us shops and the other stays home with the kids-especially when the first stop is at midnight. In years past, Walmart has been my first stop and I have gone in and grabbed the toys I was after and hurried out while everyone else was still fighting over electronics. This year Walmart split up the sale so electronics doorbusters went on at 5 am and the other ones (the ones I needed) went on at midnight. I thought it would make it easier for me to get in, out and get what I wanted without SOOO many shoppers at midnight.

WRONG! Dead wrong! First, when I left my house at 11:40ish, the streets were empty except for a steady stream of minivans making their way toward Walmart-no joke! I walked in to the store and could hardly walk in it was so crowded. I was lucky enough to have a nice manager hand me a cart (they were basically gone) as I walked in (that is one benefit to pregnancy-people want to help you out generally). So I fought my way through the people back to the PJ's and grabbed the 4 pair I needed-surprisingly the exact ones I wanted for each kid. ALL towels were long gone by the time I made it to them, so I made my way to toys. The art supplies I wanted were all gone, but I DID get the writing toy. So, I was ready to make my way to a line.

There was one employee on that side of the store that was herding people into a HUGE long line that went from the last check stand, through the sections of toys, health and beauty, pets, Christmas and all the way into the garden area. It was insane. It would have been a fine idea if that was the ONE store line and it fed into all the checkout stands, but no. It fed into only ONE checkout lane-ONE! I realized this and told the employee I was not done shopping when he tried to convince me I HAD to get in that line to check out, and I made my way back over to the grocery side of the store where I got in another long line. (Not even CLOSE to as long as that other line.)

While waiting in line I had the guy behind me pinch my butt, then an older guy rammed into my cart with his cart and tried to cut in front of me in line. When I said "Really?! You think so?!" to te old guy and told him to go to the back of the line, the butt pincher behind me did and said nothing. Then tried to act like he was ready to defend my honor AFTER the older guy was gone (it was pretty funny).

There was a woman in front of me that had lots of heavy stuff and no cart and I had a cart and hardly anything in it, so I moved my stuff to the front part of the cart and offered her the back of my cart for her to rest her stuff in while we waited in line. She took me up on it and we started to talk. As we were getting closer to the front, I realized I had gotten the WRONG size for one of the PJ's, Thank goodness I had made this friend, so she watched our cart as I ran back and (luckily) found the correct size.

After over an hour in line, I made it to the front finally! I made it home from Walmart at about 2:30am, and thought I would throw in a nap.

When the alarm went off at 5 am, I turned it off and went back to bed. I woke up around 6:30/7 and ran over to Menards in my PJs. There I was able to score the Cuddle pets (all 4) and the tents. The Wii chargers were sold out, and the snuggie things were made of really coarse feeling felt so I opted to leave without one!!

Waiting in that long line was quite amusing as the lady in front of me was very funny, and the lady in front of her was even funnier. The one 2 up from me kept having people ram into her cart, and she never even flinched or got upset at them. We told her how impressed we were that she was so patient, and she said "Honey, I work at the casino! This is nothin!"

Then the 2 guys behind me in line ( who were both a little gangster looking) were telling me the funniest stories about the other places they had already been. I heard tales of Toys R Us, Walmart and Target. The funniest of which was the one guy telling me he saw a lady with 2 HUGE carts full of stuff at Walmart at 1am struggling through the parking lot, so he started to rush toward her to help, and she yelped and started running through the parking lot trying to push one cart and pull the other! He said to me "I guess I look pretty scary running over to help at 1am." He thought it was hilarious. The other guy saw a fight break out and a man escorted from Walmart at about midnight (I had seen the escort out and wondered what had happened so it was interesting to hear from someone that was back there). FYI the fight was over a pricematch for $99 Wii's.

After I went home, content with my shopping and feeling done for the day, Wes wanted to go get the nicer looking Snuggies from Younkers for my present. We went over and got them (as I stood in line for over an hour he took the kids to see Santa in the mall-with NO line BTW). I have to admit-I learned I am NOT a pet person...a mom and daughter in front of me in line were saying "I just don't know which one he will like better, he is so picky...maybe I should grab the other one?" I assumed they were talking about the pillow pets they were holding for the grandkids (they had been talking about them a lot). Then the daughter said "Let's look at them together" then she walked over and grabbed a second pet bed and set it next to the one they had and they proceeded to discuss the DOG's color and pattern preferences...I was baffled-I thought dogs were colorblind, but then again, I have never had a dog. Do they really have preferences?! Seriously pet owners, do they?!

All in all I had a successful day and got most of my goal products, but I also had a few things I learned that I want to share:

1-We are all in this together-we are all stuck in this crazy crowd trying to get the best deals, so let's try not to make it so miserable on each other-no need to be mean. Remember the things your mom and dad taught you and don't pick on other kids, don't push and shove, and be nice! (That does NOT mean you need to be so nice as to give up the things you want to someone else that wants it too-go get what you need, but don't trample others to get it).

2-No sir, there is no cutting in line no matter how old, how frustrated or how aggressive you are-that young little weak looking pregnant lady WILL stand up for herself! I will NEVER start a confrontation, and in fact I will always try to be pleasant and kind to others, but so help me, if you get in my face I WILL defend myself and as my father-in-law says, "If it is a matter of who can pitch the biggest fit, I can if necessary."

3-Black Friday is stressful-the economy is bad, and we ALL want/need that deal to make Christmas happen, so it is probably a good time to be patient and to help out a stranger and do some service for others-like the lady without a cart. It did not hurt me at all to share mine with her, but it sure made it easier on her!

4-Patience, Patience, Patience!! Would I on any other day wait in the Disneyland length lines at a store? No, no I would not. Would I have the patience for it? No, but on Black Friday I put on my most patient face and head out the door!

5-Black Friday shopping is NOT nearly as fun alone! Thank you for all my friends and family who have gone with me in the past and made it an FUN experience! Those of you that can share with me the cart crashing and we can laugh at it together! Those who have waited in those eternal lines and talked to me and helped further develop our relationships as we tried to make a stressful situation fun! Thanks Wes, Mom, Andrea, Melanie, Spence, Lindsey, Lisa, Laurie and all the others that have joined me in my madness over the years!!

6-If you can, bring a buddy with you to Black Friday-it really is better that way (see lesson 5).

So, readers-do you do Black Friday?! Any funny stories you can share?! I would LOVE to hear about it!!!

This may not look like much to you, but it is one of my favorite ways to use left over rice. And I ate it for lunch today. I love when I can find a way to freshen up a leftover and enjoy it again-which BTW saves me a lot of money!
This week so far, we did BBQ Chicken on Monday. We had family over, and I intentionally BBQed more meat than I needed by a couple of breasts. I served it with lots of garlic bread and breadsticks, a tomato basil salad, and (my all time fave side dish) "funeral potatoes." I am not actually sure what people call "funeral potatoes" outside my church-we call them that because they are a popular side dish to bring and serve to the family after a funeral. It is essentially a hashbrown casserole with sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, shredded cheese, corn flakes and butter-easy and delectable! (If anyone wants my NOT low fat recipe for these-send me a note and I will email it to you).

So, after dinner Monday, the salad and potatoes were gone, but I had chicken and garlic bread left. On Tuesday, Wes and I cut the 3 chicken breasts we had left into strips, added some frozen (EASY) stir fry veggies and sauce, cooked up some rice and called it dinner!

We had rice left, so for lunch I made the EASIEST yummy left over rice treat/meal (I usually eat it as a dessert or treat, but today I ate it for lunch). It is my mom's recipe and I guess you could call it a poor mans rice pudding. It is just leftover rice, cinnamon and sugar to your taste and milk. Microwave for like 2 minutes and enjoy!! (My other favorite thing for left over rice is fried rice)

Tonight we are having Spaghetti and sauce with corn on the cob. I will be serving the left over garlic bread and garlic breadsticks with it!

I love "repurposing" food! It is the best when the kids have no clue they are eating leftovers!! What are your best leftover reuses?!

It has been quite a while since I have written about this, so I wanted to repost this. I originally wrote it on 1/20/2010. Before you read on I want to mention that I am re-reading and may edit some in this post and I feel I should let you know that I am STILL a firm believer that you should let companies know what you think of their products/service if you notice something they do particularly well or particularly poorly!
I had a TERRIBLE experience at Texas Roadhouse the other day and we had a similarly poor experience with them a few months ago. I wrote to corporate about it. I have not heard back from them, but I feel better knowing that I was able to express my frustrations with their service and that maybe my email will help them make a positive change! (I will never eat there again, but lets hope it changes for the rest of you!!)

Anyway-on to the repost!!

One of the frugal blogs I love and check out everyday is Couponing to Disney. Not only does she have great deal ideas & Freebies, but she pays for Disney trips with money from "smart shopping"!! (How much do I love Disney?!) One program she started is her 5-a-Day program. You can read all about her project here but basically, she emails 5 companies a day to compliments or complains to them about their product.

I bring up her amazing program (which she obviously put A LOT of time and effort into), because it brings up a great bargain/coupon tip. If you just email a company and let them know about your experience with their product, whether good or bad, they will often send you coupons or freebies. I do not email companies everyday, but if I have a genuine experience, whether good or bad with a product or company, I always write. To be honest, if I have a bad experience, I am far more likely to write. Let me tell you about a couple experiences I have had.

This one was quite a while back, but here it is. I went to my local Hyvee with my brand new debit card. I had never used it and I was anxious to do so (as I never truly believe it will work until it does). Well this time my fears were confirmed as it did not work. I was embarrassed, but told the checker that I would just pay on my credit card (Curses, I hate having to do THAT). But before I could even get my card out, the manager on duty came over yelling at me about how my card would not work and I was going to have to do something else. There were people I know there and she made an already embarrassing situation MUCH worse. On my way out the door I took note of the general managers name, phone number and email, and the second I got home, I called and emailed him. Within an hour I had 2 phone calls from the store, and 2 emails of apology. 2 Days later, a $25 gift card and a handwritten apology letter from the mean manager came in the mail.

Over the weekend, my husband and I had plans across town from Cheeseburger in Paradise, but wanted to try eating there even though it was out of the way. However, to make our across town plans, we thought we would need a reservation. As it turns out, they do not take reservations, but they do take call ahead seating and they assured us on the phone that if our whole party was there by 6:45, we would be seated right then. When we arrived (with a minute to spare) and told her our name and that we called ahead, the hostess told us we would have to wait 20-25 minutes and I questioned her about the promise on the phone. She snottily said "Oh you called ahead?" (we had already been over that once) Then after a couple more minutes of her realizing that we were on her list (and she had screwed up) she said, "I guess we might be able to get you in in about 10-15 minutes." I was pissed as it was already 5 minutes past our seating time and could not make our plans if we waited. I told her we would not wait or ever return there. She LAUGHED at us and said "K, 'Bye!" After this rude, terrible service, we went to Chipotle where we had GREAT service, GREAT food and a salvaged quick meal before our plans. When I got home I emailed both Cheeseburger in Paradise and Chipotle. I got an apology from Cheesburger in Paradise corporate office saying I would hear from the exact location soon. Nothing from Chipotle yet.

Last night I emailed Huggies to let them know that using another brand of wipes recently reminded me why I always use Huggies, and I thanked them for maintaining high quality products for my babies. This morning I had an email from them thanking me for taking the time to email them and letting me know they had sent me coupons in the mail.

You can and should be an opinionated consumer. Do not be afraid to let a company know about your experience with them. You might get some benefit out of your letter which is ideal, but for me, I just like to have my opinion heard. So, go out there and email the companies that make your life easier or the ones that do not. Be proactive though and tell the companies what you think! After you do, let me know if you hear back!

***Update: In response to the emails I sent in these examples, Cheesburger in Paradise sent an appology letter and an invitation to return and let them make up for it-there was a $25 gift certificate included. (And when we did return with the gift card, we have never had such great service-they really made up for their one terrible employee!)

Huggies mailed me 3-$2 off coupons. And since this email I have emailed and gotten free and high value coupons from Kikkoman and Stacy's Pita Chips as well.***

Now, get your typing fingers ready and start sending those emails! Then let me know how it goes! I will let you know if we ever hear back from Texas Roadhouse (doubt it)...

Wes and I figured out yesterday that I have won about 40+ blog giveaways/sweepstakes since February, about 30 of those are since August. I have been asked many times how I win so many giveaways, so I will tell you!

What I do to win so many giveaways:

1. I enter a lot of blog giveaways daily.
2. I occasionally enter a company sweepstakes.

How do I choose what to enter?


Here are my daily steps:

1. Everyday (well most days), I open the daily email from Tight Wad in Utah and I go to the daily "LOW entry Giveaways ending today" post. (25 or so of the blog giveaways I have won have come from that daily list)

2. If I have time that day, I go through and enter them all. (Well, I used to enter them all, but now that I have won so many I guess I am getting a bit picky and I do not enter the ones I know I do not want or need. However, that being said, sometimes I DO enter the ones I do not want/need because I have a specific purpose in mind for it in case I won it! For example, I do not drink coffee, but I would enter a coffee related giveaway because I know a lot of people that would love that as a gift!)

3. I do many of the "extra entry options" too so I stack my cards in my favor. Most blog giveaways offer a mandatory entry that you must do as your first entry in the giveaway drawing. (If that entry is too complex, I skip entering the giveaway all together-unless it is something I REALLY want) After the mandatory entry, many blogs offer additional bonus entries usually involving following their blog in various ways (through GFC-Google Friend Connect, Facebook, Twitter, daily emails, etc). I use my "junk" email to follow blogs so my real personal email does not get crammed full of blog emails daily. So-if you have not already-set up a separate email account for all your blog sign ups and for any sweepstakes or company emails you sign up for. In my gmail I even have it set up so my "junk" emails are automatically forwarded to a folder in my personal email so I only have to open ONE email to check both accounts!

4. If a giveaway has more than 200 entries already, I don't enter (unless it is something I really want to win). Seriously! I rarely enter giveaways with more than 200 entries and I rarely enter company sweepstakes. However, if I can enter something quickly and easily, I will enter it!

Basically...

I just play the odds-enter LOW entry giveaways. Do the bonus entries, and hopefully once in a while you will catch a break and get lucky!

And for those that are wondering, yes, some of the things I win are small and may not seem worth the entry, but hey-I love to win ANYTHING! And I have won some really nice things!! So, just to give you an idea, here are some of the things I have won:

• $50 Amazon gift card, multiple $10-$25 Amazon gift cards
• 4-5 different books
• 3 CSN Gift codes (ranging from $20-$70 in value)
• Knives
• Skin Care
• A Bushel of Strawberry Milanos
• An Annie Chun's Dinner Party
• Many Photo books, prints and gift codes
• A beautiful Personalized 11x14 print about my baby girl
• Baby birth announcements to use when this baby is born
• Soft Lips, Chapsticks, and Carmex gift packs
• 3 nursing covers
• an isABelt for my daughter
• a $20 virtual Visa card
• a Nuts About Granola Gift Card
• A $25 Applied Labels credit
• A UPrinting Vinyl Banner
• Tickler Tags
• A Smarty Rents 3 month Membership
• A Breyers Prize Package
•  $25 Gift Card to Quality Candy/King Leo
• A Snikkidy Package
• A Noodles & Company giveaway (lots of free food on that one!!)
• A Blush Candle (smells SOOOO good.)
• A Costco Gift pack including Supersized boxes of Nature Valley Bars and Simply Fruit Rolls and a $25.00 Costco Gift card
• A Pre Paid Phone Card

So, You can see some prizes are bigger than others, but I guarantee I loved and appreciated winning each and every one! 

I hope these little "winning" tips can help you win some fun stuff! Please let me know if you win blog giveaways! I LOVE to hear about your success stories-whether they be in winning a prize, scoring a deal or whatever!!!

Now-go enter some giveaways-you can start with the ones I have going on-see the box on the right side of the blog for the current giveaways-they all have LOW entries right now!

I have so much good stuff in my email today that I hardly know where to begin! I guess I will just get a move on and try to get as much useful information out to you as I can before preschool drop off!

I want to start out by talking a little bit about "Black Friday" shopping. I have, for YEARS, been a huge Black Friday Shopper and usually have done all my shopping for Christmas on Black Friday (well I do end up getting a stocking stuffer or 2 after). Last year my husband had to work on Black Friday, but I got in a few REALLY early morning deals before he left. This year he works Black Friday again, so I may or may not go out. Honestly, I got all my Christmas shopping for this year done by mid-January as I shopped all the after Christmas clearance and used coupons and got some MAJOR deals. So, I am basically done anyway.

However, my sister has decided to try the Black Friday shopping this year for the first time and has asked me to write up some tips and tricks to Black Friday shopping. I cannot possibly say all I want in one post, so I will just post a few Black Friday tips at a time.

Today I want to tell you how I have historically done Black Friday. When my newspaper comes on Thanksgiving morning, I am like a kid in a candy store! I sit down on my bed with the Macy's parade playing and the food already cooking in the kitchen and I whip out the ads. I go through and circle the GREAT deals I would LOVE to get in each ad-taking special note of the doorbusters. I write a list of each store, what doorbusters I would love to have and what time that store opens for their doorbuster sales. BEFORE Thanksgiving, I sit down with my husband and we write up a list of who we need to buy for and what we think we might want to get them.

So, after checking the ads, I compare the 2 lists and prioritize-are there specific items from my list of gifts I am looking for that are great deals somewhere on sale? What Doorbusters do I really want and are the at a place that usually has a ton of the items (like Walmart usually does here) or a place that limits the number to the first 25 (like Nebraska Furniture Mart)? Basically I look at what my odds are of getting what I want at the stores.

Once I have prioritized and listed which items I actually want to get and at which store they will be sold, then I look at the times the stores open in the morning and write up a plan of action as to where to go first, second, etc.

This has been my beloved tradition for many, MANY years. However, the last couple years have made my tradition a bit easier for a couple reasons. One is that last year at least, Walmart pricematched ALL the ads-even doorbusters! I went to one store! (The obvious downfall to that is that it is extra busy there and the more people that figure out they can price match the doorbusters, the less likely you are to get that item there.)

Second, and more important as far as convenience (especially when hubby is working and I am NOT going to take 4 kids to shop in those crowds for their own Christmas presents) is that LOTS of places have ONLINE doorbusters as well, and there is a growing "Cyber Monday" where online deals are often amazing as well.

Also, one more tip I will mention is that every year there are websites that leak the Black Friday deals and doorbusters before they are released. You can check those out, but be aware that you will still need to check your local ads when they come out to make sure what you are looking for and expecting is really on the local ad!

What questions do you have about Black Friday Shopping? Or what tips can you share with other Beckees Deals readers? I would LOVE to hear what your take on Black Friday is! Please comment or email me with questions or comments! (email is beckeesdeals@gmail.com)

I enter (and often win) a lot of blog giveaways, and I am going to let you in on a secret here. I am sure you have thought of this exact thing, but I am OFTEN asked how I win so many giveaways. Here is what I do, Everyday (well most days), I open the daily email from Tight Wad in Utah and I go to the daily "LOW entry Giveaways ending today" post. Then if I have time that day, I go through and enter them all-and I do many of the "extra entry options" too so I stack my cards in my favor. If a giveaway has more than 200 entries already, I don't enter (unless it is something I really want to win).

One thing I rarely if ever do is to enter giveaways/sweepstakes from companies. You know the kind-where thousands of people enter to win one awesome prize?! Well, I made an exception and entered a contest.giveaway at Pepperidge Farms a while back to try to win a bushel of the new Strawberry Milano cookies. It was an easy entry and there were going to me many winners (like 50 I think).

Well, guess what?! I WON! YEAH I actually won! And after they emailed me and verified all my information, I got this in the mail:

Yes some bags were already open and eaten in that picture-how could we resist even long enough to take the picture?! I LOVE Mint Milanos-they are probably my favorite treat ever, but I was hesitant to try the Strawberry ones. I did not think I would like the fruit flavor with the cookies and chocolate...boy was I wrong! They are super tasty, and winning this might make me gain more weight than this pregnancy!

I have mentioned before how one of the best ways to get free coupons is to contact the companies directly with either a compliment or a complaint (a sincere one). I email companies often to let them know I like or appreciate their products. I have to be pretty upset to email a company with a complaint, and that does not happen as often these days. Usually if I am disappointed with a product but not angry, I do not emails. But I realize now that is a mistake.

Let me tell you about what happened last week. I have a 2-year-old daughter that is lactose intolerant. Luckily, She LOVES Silk Very Vanilla Soy milk so she gets her nutrients from that mostly. Occasionally we have bought other brands and flavors of soy & Almond milks. She (and I) have liked them all. However, recently, our Walmart stopped selling Silk's Very Vanilla, and I had coupons for Silk, so I bought their regular vanilla flavor thinking it could not possibly be that different. Boy was I wrong! It was terrible and my child refused to drink it (she rarely NEVER refuses her milk and often begs for more). So, I tried it and it was awful. To say the least we did not like it. I thought "Oh well, I guess we won't buy that again." And was ready to leave it at that. (Well, after I called and complained at Walmart enough that they now carry the Very Vanilla again I was ready to leave it at that).

Well, my husband one day said "Beckee, look at the package-it has a money back guarantee that says to email them if you do not like it. You should just email." It was a fantastic idea so I did it. All I said int he email was that I love the Very Vanilla and was surprised to find we did not like the vanilla at all and that I just wanted to follow up since there was a guarantee. Well I got an email back from them on Friday saying they were sorry I did not like their product, and they hoped we would try another product, and they were sending me 2 free product coupons to replace the 2 I bought and did not like! I could not have been happier!

My point? Even if you do not HATE a product or feel angry about it, it is always worth email the company to let them know what your experience with their product was. Even if all you say is that you expected more of the product. Whatever your real opinion of a product is after trying it, it is worth a couple minutes to email the company and let them know what you thought-often it really pays off!

For Thrify Thursdays I have decided to write about how to do different things in a thrifty or cheap way.  Today I am focusing on cheap dates! That's right folks, this is all about cheap/thrifty date ideas!

I realized that I was pretty much always a cheap date-I am not picky, I like to be adventurous and I am easily impressed. No need to take me out to La Cai to impress me. (Not that I don't like a fancy meal once in a while, I do, but mostly I just want to hang out with my date!)  So, following are some fun, cheap (many free) date ideas I have done (OK-some are not my ideas, they are Stefanies). Please feel free to read through these and give them a try, and please add your own cheap date ideas to the list-I would LOVE to hear from you! Here's my list:

• Making Cookies together
• Dollar Movies
• Cook dinner in (guys-seriously girls love it when a guy cooks for them and visa versa ladies. The other option is to cook together which is always fun! If you are in a big group, have each couple be in charge of a part of the meal and they have to put it together as a couple-make a game of it)
• Flip a coin adventure (When I was in college, a guy I was dating and I were reading through and laughing at one of those cheap date books and found this idea.  Pick a number, then grab a coin and get in the car. We picked 13.  Then each time you hit a light or an intersection flip the coin to see whether you go left or right.  When you hit the 13th one, you have to stop there-wherever you are and do some kind of activity out of the car-we ended up in a parking lot and danced in the rain then got back in the car and started over again. It may sound odd, but it was a blast.)
• Goodwill date (we went to DI which is like Goodwill, and each had $2 to buy something for our date to wear the rest of the night, then we went for a walk around sight seeing places in our city dressed in our crazy stuff) 
• Dinner under $10 (Each Couple gets $5-$10 to spend to get dinner with and you go in a grocery store and give like a 10 minute time limit and see what you end up with-always an adventure and funny to see what you get-you can consider it like Iron chef to figure out how to combine all the items into a big meal).
• Iron Chef or Amazing Race - Take a game like those listed and make it into a date.
• General admission to local sports-often local sports have cheap general admission-especially college sports. Go to one of those, or for a FREE option, go watch a little league game for free and cheer for all the kids no matter which team-just make sure not to get too obnoxious at that one-and remember, in little league, it is often more fun to watch the parents than the kids anyway!!
• Bigger and Better - Stefanie did this one-take a paper clip to a house and ask them to trade you for something bigger and better. Go house to house and see what the best thing you can get is. Do this on teams and give a time limit. Meet back together and see which team got the best item!
• Scavenger Hunt- Go door to door with a list of items you need to get-just like a scavenger hunt as a kid!
• Treasure Hunt - This one takes some effort, but I more than once set up treasure hunts for my dates to meet me places. I would sent from place to place like on the Amazing Race and at the end there would be a picnic dinner or something fun set up to do.
• Go to a Park -seriously fun to do-just make sure you leave the actual kids alone-don't be that creepy couple bugging kids. I liked to go to empty neighborhood playgrounds when I was younger. I like to go to parks now still with Wes and the kids-we love that!
• Curl up in the cold - Stefanie said she likes to curl up in a blanket on the heater and talk. I also like this, but I am a fireplace girl, so ideally I would curl up in a blanket by the fireplace.
• Do something active-anything! Play a sport, go jogging, do anything active!
• Find Free activities in your city - There are often Free concerts, Store openings, farmer's markets, free museum days, all kinds of freebies if you just look around!  
• Watch the Simpsons - That is what Wes and I do...there is some kissing involved...  :) 

If you are looking for some great Mother's Day Restaurant Deals, Please see this list compiled by Mojo Savings.  And moght I just remind you that Mother's day is one of the busiest restaurant days of the year, so a lot of places that don't normally take reservations, will for the day. Wherever you are going to take mom, call ahead and see if you can get a reserved time so you don't have to wait all day! Just a thought!

I want to throw out there that just about every store is having Mother's Day deals this week (since the big day is next Sunday, May 9). That means you are going to find a lot of sales geared to women and things they tend to like. So, if you find a particularly good deal, it mightbe a chance to stock up on some gifts for throughout the year. You can look now for moms birthday, for your friend's, for your anniversary, or for Christmas. My big thing this year is to stock up on things I will need when they are on sale. So, keep an eye out for the great deals out there for women this week and if you find one, please share it by commenting on this post, on the wall of the Beckeesdeals page on Facebook, or by sending me an email at beckeesdeals@gmail.com .

Some of you might remember that I never got my Oreo cookies from the Facebook fan giveaway even though I signed up on time and registered. They had some issues with that giveaway, and in fact, people (who felt entitled to their freebie) wrote some nasty things on the Oreo Facebook fan page. I felt frustrated and sad that I did not get the Oreos, but I feel like freebie is a priviledge, not something I am entitled to. I never EXPECT a freebie. But at the same time, I DID sign up for it so I really wanted those free Oreos.

I had a choice, I could leave nasty messages on their wall (like MANY others did), or I could try to go about it another way. I decided to try to be an adult adn I decided to email the company directly and thank them for doing the giveaway, and let them know that I was among the number of people that signed up, got confirmation that I was getting a free box of GOlden oreos, but them never got it. I explained that I was a bit frustrated by this and wondered if there was anything I could do to get at least a coupon.

I did not hear back from them...not until this week when I got a very nice letter int he mail with a coupon for ANY free Nabisco cookie or cracker box up to a $4.19 value! Wow-better that the original coupon where I could only get the vanilla Oreos (I am a major chocolate girl when it comes to Oreos)!

WHat is my point? Two things really...One, you really DO catch more flies with honey, and 2 NEVER be afraid to contact a company and let them know about what you think about their product or customer service, or whatever! Just be honest and polite (even when you are complaining be as nice as you can handle).

Consider these as Beckee's tips of the day! :)

Well, I have convinced a few of you to join Swagbucks, but I do not think I have fully explained how to utilize it to make as many Swagbucks as possible. Luckily, Swagbucks has a page that explains how you can get points. So, if I have not yet convinced you to join, this is a good time to do it by clicking on my referral link here. After you join, please read this page at Swagbucks and learn about all the ways to earn!

Yesterday I told you about my exciting Hy-Vee trip here. Well, I also told my husband about it, and he thought I was crazy to have only bought 14 soups and 2 cereals (I thought I was nuts too). So, he stopped on the way home from work last night and came home with the following things:

Everything in this picture cost a total of (gasp) $10.52 and he got a catalina for a free gallon of milk (up to $4.19 value-any brand, any flavor)! Here a run down of what is there and what it cost:

50 cans of Campbells chunky soup $.14 each= $7
4 boxes of Frosted Flakes $.88 each= $3.52

Making the grand total of $10.52 and the Catalina!!

It was funny though because the receipts was taller than our kids!
When Wes got home and I saw all he got and he showed me the catalina, I was amazed! Even more amazed when I read the catalina. Apparently right now and until April 10 at Hy-Vee when you buy 3 or more Kellogg's cereals (12 oz+) any flavor, you get catalinas for free milk. When you buy 3-4 boxes, you get 1 free milk, when you get 5-6 boxes, you get 2 free milks, and when you buy 7 or more boxes, you get 3 free milks.

Well the milk really is about $4 each so I figured out that if we could get 7 boxes of the Frosted Flakes (which we will eat and should stock up on at that price) for only $.88 each, that would only cost $6.16, and we would get catalinas for 3 more products that we use anyway with a value of up to $12.57. That is basically a moneymaker! So, we packed up all the kids and since it was great weather, we walked back to Hy-Vee for a 3rd stop and came away with this stuff:

I bought those in 2 transactions (because with catalinas, you generally will not get new catalinas for the same item if you are using the same kind of caalina. So, I was using the catalina for free milk, and trying to buy the cereal and gt more catlinas for free milk. So I had to put the free milk and the cereals in 2 seperate transactions.) The first transactins cost $8.15 and I got back 3 free milk catalinas, and the second transaction cost $2.95 for a grand total of $11.01 + 3 catalina totaling a value of $12.57. Again-basically a moneymaker and we got all this:

Here is the rundown of what is there and what it cost:

Transaction 1:

1 bag Hy-Vee potato chips $.99
7 Kellogg's Frosted Flakes $.88 each = $6.16
1 Yoplait Yo-Plus 4-pack FREE (after coupon I requested and got in mail yestrday)
10 Top Ramen 10/$1=$1 total

And my total was actually $8.15

Transaction 2:

1 gallon chocolate milk: $4.18 but FREE after catalina
4 paper towels rolls $.69 each

Total: $2.95

And look, the free milks print as 3 seperate catalinas so you do not have to buy them all the same trip if you do not want to! But make sure you always check expiration dates on any catalinas you have! :)

BTW-we did not buy out all the deals-when we left the store last night there was still a TON of soup and cereal left with the peelie coupons for you guys to get! Looks like we are building up a pretty good food storage now though! Sorry the pics are blurry-they were from my cell phone camera...

Well, there is nothing I would like more today than to just cozy up in my warm house and keep posting deals for you, but as it is, I have to go to what I am praying will miraculously be a dry Easter Egg hunt shortly. (No, I cannot skip it-I am the playgroup director and being ever the optimist, I sent out an email that I would be there rain or shine...I thought it would be shine...) Then I have to prepare my house for the invasion of 8-11 year-old girls that will be coming over this evening. So, I have a pretty crazy day.

So, I will have to leave my email be for a while (it is full of emails that appear to have some good deals in it). I might miss a few deals today, but I don't want you to, so I want to tell you about a couple of MY favorite deals/frugal blogs, and you can check them out if you need a deal fix while I am away today.

I quite literally check about 20 blogs a day to try not to miss posting the deals I really like, my favorite fes are Couponing to Disney, Mojo Savings, My Frugal Adventures, and The Freebie Blogger. For local Omaha/Nebraska deals, you should check out Mom Saves Money, and for local Salt Lake City/Utah deals I like Freebies 2 Deals.

If you see a great deal that you think my readers should see-PLEASE post it on the Facebook page and/or email me and I wil get it up as soon as I get a chance to check back in between events today! Thanks for your patience and understanding!

Here is a tip from my sister, when her local newspaper called to see if she would be renewing her newspaper, and she had decided not to, they told her she can get the Sunday coupon inserts alone delivered for free. Yeah, I said FREE. So, if you do not get your local newspaper, it might be worth making a call to your newspaper company to ask if they offer the same thing. Worth asking, right?! Let me know if this works for anyone else-my sister is quite happy with her free coupon inserts!

Reader Andres (who happens to be my sister) asked how I signed up to get The Disney Store deals in my email. So I thought I would tell youall how. Go here and near the bottom of the page ont he right you will see a picture with a link to get their emails (it will look just like ht epicture in this post-though the one in this post is NOT a live link). Click on the "Sing Up for Emails" button and get signed up.

Remember, if you do not already have one, I would go set up a "junk mail" email and send all your email subscriptions and free samples and things you sign up for there. That way you do not clog up your main personal email. Just a tip! You can set up a free email through Yahoo or Google really easily-I personally prefer Google, but that's just me! Click hereto get started setting up a new Gmail account.

Well, this is a great idea! In many cities, there are multiple websites like Groupon that offer group discounts each day. So, to help you get all the deals going on in your city, there is a new website, City Deal Tracker that tracks them all for you.

Here is what the email I received says about their site:

Citydealtracker.com - That one-stop shop for all deals in your city

After Groupon.com became one of the most wanted webpages in the USA, the trend of local group buying gains momentum all over the country. By now a large number of companies copied Groupon’s successful concept. Inhabitants of cities like New York or San Francisco can already choose between a dozen websites and their offers. But it’s not just NYC and SF, the trend has spread through more than 60 major cities in the USA and Canada.

For fans of those deals, the new "all in one" portal has arrived:
www.citydealtracker.com.

Citydealtracker.com tracks all available deals for every city in the US and Canada. It also acts as a platform for sharing experiences about each Groupon style website. For people who like to use Twitter, RSS or Email Newsletters to keep up to date all the tools are in place.

This looks nice and convenient for those in a city with many deals. So far Omaha only has Groupons though...Go check out this website to see what deals your city has! And remember that if you are planning a trip it is always a great idea to check sites like this for your vacation city. You can save a lot of money on your vacations that way!

Click here to see Citydealtracker.com!

Just thought I would share my shopping experience...

Yesterday, I went on a big shopping trip. I stopped at Walmart, Bag N Save, Toys R Us and HyVee. I still need to stop at No Frills and Super Target. I was able to get most of the things I need and (after the last 2 stops today) be done with shopping hopefully for a couple weeks because in spite of my blog I actually hate to shop. Part of the reason for that is probably the fact that I have 4 kids ages 22 months to 7 years. Shopping is hard. Shopping is stressful, and when I go, I want it done quick. So, I prepare, I try not to go to 10 different stores (with yeaterdays exceptions), and I prepare my kids for the trip.

How, you ask do I prepare my kids? Well, I always leave to shop right AFTER giving the kids a big breakfast or lunch. I also eat well so I am not so tempted by all the great food-you would not believe how much that simple trick saves me. I also tell my kids exactly what my plan is-where we are going, what things we are getting, and about how long I think it will take. If my 3-y-o does not get that information, he becomes impossible-he is going to be one heck of an organizer! Most of the stores give free cookies to kids at the bakeries, so when we shop, they get a cookie at the END if they were good in the store. If they were not good-no cookie. And yes, I have often gone to the bakery with 4 kids and told then only some of them could have cookies.

And, when I do these things, usually shopping trips go well. Now, if you happen to be family or friends that read my private family blog, you know my luck this month has not been great. (Short run down-my kids were CRAZY bad at the store a couple weeks ago-even my big helper 7-y-o.)

Yesterday was unfortunately no expection to the bad luck of March. I had only the 2 youngest kids with me. We went to Walmart and did almost all of the shopping there. We then had to stop at Bag N Save because they send us these coupon books in the mail that have 4 AWESOME coupon deals per week. (Someone told me yesterday though that if you show them to Walmart they will price match them-I do not know if that is really true though-has anyone tried that? I will ask them next time I go to Walmart...) Between Walmart & Bag N Save, My 3-y-o wanted to sit in his brother's bootster and I would not let him. So he screamed. He screamed all the way there, and screamed through the store. I just set him in the cart and let him scream and ignored the tantrum.

If you live here and have kids, you probably know that people here will stop you and tell you what you should do to properly raise your children. Particularly older people. Yesterday, people stopped me, but not to correct my parenting, but to compliment it. Weird. Though he screamed, I still got in and out of there in 10 minutes and made it to the school in time ot pick up my older kids. Oh BTW-He did not get a cookie when his sister did!

By the time we got the older kids, the 3yo had calmed and we were able to stop at Toys R Us (where we got 5 $3 Barbies) and at Hyvee (where I had to go to get the Soy Milk I needed for my baby-has anyone else noticed that Walmart seems to be carrying less of certain items?)

All in all, the shopping got (mostly) done and all is well, but wow! Do you ever have days like that?!

This is a repost from a while back. Still valid and good info...

A few people have asked me if I actually go to all the sales and get all the freebies (I do not, but I try to get the deals I need and I sign up for almost all the freebies). I have also been asked whether these freebies actually work. (YES, but not always!)

Now, it takes a while before you start seeing things in your mailbox. Often, I get something in the mail that I have forgotten ever requesting. So, to keep track a bit better of what works, I have started going back in my blog posts and putting two stars next to the post name of all the posts where I have seen the product or personally gone shopping for or gotten that deal. Now you can see what deals are working for me. Just in case you wondered...

Please leave a comment and let me know what deals or samples you have gotten. I LOVE comments and I LOVE hearing from you!

Just want to throw out a quick thank you to all my readers! There are a number of ways to get information from my blog-Facebook, Readers, the blog itself, and daily emails. Please keep letting your friends know about the blog! I appreciate all the fans and followers, and I LOVE all the comments, suggestions and questions from readers! Keep 'em comin'!

Thanks for making me want to keep working on this blog everyday! I do it for all the beautiful people that keep coming back! (Did anyone ever notice on the side that is says "Beckee's Deals: where the beautiful people come to score a deal." Ever wonder why? It is kind-of an inside joke. When I started my family's private blog almost 3 years ago, as a joke I wrote "Where the beautiful people come." It stuck, and now my bookclub blog is where the beautiful people come to find a good book, and this is where the beautiful people come to score a deal!)