PhotobucketWhy Be Frugal?

I consider frugality an art form and a religious conviction. I learned about paying cash for purchases, recycling and reusing just about everything and being generous to friends and those in need from my parents.

My faith instructs me all things are gifted by God and so I am compelled to be a good steward of my gifts. [The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to man. Psalm 115:16]

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Saturday, February 27, 2010

Toyota offers free rental cars for customers who need repairs

Toyota will be providing free rental cars for customers who need repairs on recalled vehicles. This will also include free pick up and return at home and Toyota will provide reimbursement for your out-of-pocket transportation costs.

Check out Lori's article at More With Less Today for all the details.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Convenience Can Cost You!

Save a cool $400 or more per year by doing a little food prep labor!

You can save $4.50 per pound when you buy green apples ($1.29 lb) versus sliced green apples at a whopping $5.79/lb.

Buy a head of romaine lettuce, versus a bag of pre-washed romaine lettuce and save $1.26.

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Pay up to $7.95 for a package of 12 1.4-oz snack-size packs of brand-name cookies versus $5.39 for a 16-oz package of "regular" brand-name cookies. (Buy store brand or use coupons and save twice as much!)

What could you do with an extra $400?

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Are you a Cozi Member?

Do you have a Cozi account? Check out Five Ways Cozi Can Make Your Life Easier. Now would be a great time to open an account! Why? They're celebrating Cozi's 10,000,000th Shopping List Item! Enter to win FREE GROCERIES FOR A YEAR!

Through March 10th, use the family journal and you’re automatically entered to win a fantastic family vacation to Reunion® Resort in sunny Florida.

Type a sentence or two, insert a photo, and you’re done. You can even share the moments you jot down in your journal with relatives and friends by email, as a private family website, and more. Anything you do in your journal counts as an entry to win a free family vacation.

Sign in to your Cozi Family Journal now.

Don't already have a Cozi account?

Sign up, it's free. Free is good! Sunny Florida? Even better!

Great Coupons on Hasbro and Playskool Toys and Games


Easter's coming! Birthdays, too!

Stock up on Hasbro and Playskool toys and games and use these great coupons to save a ton of money!

Sample of coupons:

My Little Pony - BOGO
Playskool Glo Worm - $2 off
Chuck My Talking Truck - $10 off!
Monopoly, Scrabble and other board games - $4 off

These will go fast, so print them off soon!

Sign up at Hasbro Playsaver.com and be among the first to know about new toys and great deals, special offers and promotions.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Free Vaccines for Qualifying Children

If you don't have health insurance or your health insurance doesn't cover polio, hepatitis B and other vaccines for children, your family may benefit from the Vaccines for Children program (VFC). The program which became operational October 1, 1994 is an entitlement program for eligible children, age 18 and below.

VFC is administered at the national level by the CDC contracts with vaccine manufacturers to buy vaccines at reduced rates and helps families of children who may not otherwise have access to vaccines by providing free vaccines to doctors who serve them.

States and eligible projects enroll physicians who serve eligible patients up to and including age 18 years and who provide routine immunizations.

Children through 18 years of age who meet at least one of the following criteria are eligible to receive VFC vaccine:

  • Medicaid eligible: A child who is eligible for the Medicaid program. (For the purposes of the VFC program, the terms "Medicaid-eligible" and "Medicaid-enrolled" are equivalent and refer to children who have health insurance covered by a state Medicaid program)
  • Uninsured: A child who has no health insurance coverage
  • American Indian or Alaska Native: As defined by the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603)
  • Underinsured: A child who has commercial (private) health insurance but the coverage does not include vaccines, a child whose insurance covers only selected vaccines (VFC-eligible for non-covered vaccines only), or a child whose insurance caps vaccine coverage at a certain amount. Once that coverage amount is reached, the child is categorized as underinsured. Underinsured children are eligible to receive VFC vaccine only through a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) or Rural Health Clinic (RHC).

Children whose health insurance covers the cost of vaccinations are not eligible for VFC vaccines, even when a claim for the cost of the vaccine and its administration would be denied for payment by the insurance carrier because the plan's deductible had not been met.

To locate a Federally Qualified Health Center in your area, contact your state's VFC Coordinator.

Access immunization schedules for children, adolescents and adults HERE.


Read my post about Free Dental Care For Children.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Dreaming of a tropical vacation?

Want a Last Minute Travel Bargain?

You can search for deals on LastMinute.com by location, date, budget, and the type of experience wanted like “pamper” or “thrill seekers.”

Check out Lori's post at More With Less Today to find out all the details! I told Lori, with all the snow and cold weather here in Virginia, a tropical vacation was sounding mighty nice right about now!


Do you know of some great sites to find discount travel? If so, please leave a comment so I can share with readers.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

File your taxes for free (or almost free)

Turbo Tax offers free Federal and some free State Income Tax Return filling out and filing thru the Intuit Tax Freedom Program.

If you made less than $57,000 in 2009, and only have to use the 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ form you can fill out your forms straight on the IRS site Free File.

and

Find out how to get a coupon for $20 off at H&R Block at File your taxes for free at my column at Examiner.com.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Very Best Baking

Are you a member of verybestbaking.com?

Why you might want to join:

Recipes!

Can you ever have enough recipes? Need a fast and easy recipe? How about seasonal favorites? They even have help for those moms (or dads) with school age kids who need to plan a bake sale including promotion of the sale, recipes and financial planning and management! Wow!

My Recipe Box!

Save all of your favorite recipes in one convenient place - whether it's from Very Best Baking, or a favorite from your family. Use your "recipe box" to save, print, organize, create a shopping list and share your recipes.

Sweepstakes and Promotions!

Monthly Coupons and sweepstakes are an added bonus to membership. Members can download gift tags, computer wallpaper, baking stencils, kid's coloring pages, gift jar recipes and more!

You can even chat live with a baking expert!
Earn "Brownie Points" just for visiting the site!

Enter the Baking Bucks Sweepstakes until February 28 and be entered to win a $500 Visa gift card!


Babies R Us President's Day Baby Sale!

Babies R Us is having a big Presidents' Day Baby Sale! They also have several printable coupons available. Get a $5/$25 baby purchase, a coupon for a $20 gift card for buying 3 participating P&G products or a $20 gift card for purchasing two Huggies Value Boxes of diapers and wipes.

Find a Babies R Us near you HERE.




Thursday, February 11, 2010

Frugal Finds: Magazines, General Mills and 5,000 stores!

Get a coupon book from Eat Better America filled with $10 in General Mills coupons.

One great place to find coupons is All You magazine! Most issues have around $50 in coupons on a wide variety of items. Amazon now has All You magazine on sale for only $15 (that's 50% 0ff).

Then, check this out:

My friend Andrea sent me to Kelly's blog, Kelly's Ideas to read about savings coupons at Savings.com. She says that at Savings.com - you can find discounts up to 50% off at Macy's.. Discounts at Kohls ... Can you believe there are over 5000 stores that you can find coupons and discounts to?!

In addition to stores - you can find some great Restaurant coupons Chick-fil -A, Ruby Tuesday, Pizza Hut and more! Stop by Kelly's blog to read all the details!

Thanks to Andrea and Kelly!

Leave me a comment or email me at divinelydesigned@hotmail.com if you would like to have your frugal living blog featured here. Got some favorite frugal living tips to share with readers? Send 'em! I'll feature them (and provide a link back to your blog) in a post.

Just Bee Frugal!
Mary

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Get Organized and save 15% with Lillian Vernon


Spring Cleaning time is just around the corner! You won't want to miss this Lillian Vernon Sale! I've offered 100 ways to organize your life in two articles (50 ways each::-) at Associated Content.

*15% OFF offer applies to merchandise orders of $49 or more,excluding tax and shipping charges. Enter 360830900 Promotional Code box in your shopping cart. Offer expires February 13, 2010.


Here are 10 of my tips:

1. Use a Cereal dispenser - children (and adults) can serve themselves and it's easy to tell when your supply is running low.

2. Use a shampoo dispenser - children (and adults) won't waste shampoo; more than one hair product - conditioners, etc. can be dispensed in proper amounts

3. Never have a late payment again! Use Bill-paying organizer to keep track of your monthly payments. As soon as they come in the mail, place them in the appropriate spot. (Store stamps and return address labels in the same location)

4. Use a Day-timer to keep track of everyone's activities - just use one for everything. Color coding works to designate work vs. family activities; even color-code by child or activity category

5. Use a Food vacuum sealer for those items purchased in quantity. Meats and other frozen items can be stored for months and other foods will stay fresh until you need them. Vacuum seal canisters are also available separately or an entire kit can be purchased.

6. Maximize space under your sink with an under-sink organizer in your kitchen or bathroom. Many of them slide out for easy access to those less frequently used items stored in the back.

7. For extra space in the bathroom or kitchen hang an organizer with pockets on one side for bottle storage and a towel rack on the other.

8. Install under-shelf baskets to increase storage space and to store smaller items without having to search for them.

9. Install cabinet organizers. Many of them slide out for easy access, and some are available as risers for easy visibility of items stored in the back

10. Gain storage space under your beds by using bed risers to elevate your bed and afford storage of larger containers.

I share all 100 of my tips here: Tips to Organize Your Life - Fifty Ways to Save Time and Sanity and Organize Your Home, Your Yard, Your Life.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Free Grand Slam breakfast at Denny's


Stop by your local Denny’s between 6AM-2PM on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 and get a FREE Original Grand Slam breakfast. Get more info HERE.

Also be sure to sign up for Denny’s Rewards for a chance to win a FREE Grand Slam every week for a year. If you are one of the first 500,000 registrants, you will also receive a coupon for a free burger and fries.

Locate a Denny's near you HERE.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Get 20% off DaySpring's Christian Valentine's Day cards and gifts



Starting from February 2, 2010 and through the Valentine's Day (February 14), Dayspring is running a 20% OFF promo, and you are invited to share in this awesome deal!

To take advantage of the offer use coupon code VALNTN20 at checkout, which will give you a 20% discount on their entire order.

Just click on the button above to see all of Dayspring's Christian Valentine's Day cards and gifts.


Looking for crafts, games, coloring pages and other Valentine's Day activities for children? Check out my previous post, Inexpensive Valentine's Day Gifts.



**By way of full disclosure: I am a DaySpring Affiliate and receive a small incentive for purchases made through the links on my page.


Thursday, February 4, 2010

Inexpensive Valentine's Day Gifts

For inexpensive Valentine's Day gifts, read my article at Associated Content, Inexpensive Valentine's Day Gifts for Every Person in Your Life.

While you're there, check out this article, A Different Twist on Giving Gifts, that includes gift sets you can assemble from "dollar" store and other inexpensive items.

You might also enjoy Unique, Inexpensive Gifts for the "Hard to buy for" on your List.

Lea Ann at Mommy's Wish List report that from now until February 14, when you buy a dozen Valentine donuts at Krispy Kreme you'll get 12 free Valentine Cards. These special cards each have a Free Donut coupon on the back. Not only do they have sprinkled Heart doughnuts, they also have chocolate iced Heart doughnuts with red drizzle, and Triple Chocolate doughnuts with chocolate Kreme filling, chocolate icing and brownie crumbles on top.

Check out this list of participating stores here to make sure your store has the Valentine donuts and cards.

Of course, the best gift you can give anyone is the gift of your time. Why not make a "coupon book" with coupons for watching a movie (of the recipient's choice), a trip to the park, a walk around the block, working a jig-saw puzzle together, home-cooked meal (or dessert) of their choice and/or any other activities they might enjoy.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Quick Tips: Natural ways to clean and freshen your house

Make your own dusting spray by combining 1 cup white vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil in a pump spray bottle from the "dollar" stores. (Saves the environment - no spray cans in the land fill. Saves money too.)

Clean brass and copper with lemons! Cut a lemon in half and sprinkle some salt on it. Rub the lemon on the piece, rinse thoroughly and dry. (Saves $25 or more plus no harsh chemicals.)

Elephant ear philodendrons and snake plants are easy-care plants that do a good job of absorbing many common household pollutants. (Saves money and the environment. No need for as much "odor neutralizing spray".)


I found these great quick tips in various issues of All You magazine.