Reserve your free Chick-fil-A breakfast!

Thankful.

Cooler fall weather = that wonderful time of year between AC and furnace bills.
Frustrations with children/husband...because, you know, I have them, and I'm not so perfect either.
Iridescent bubbles that float in front of me and land on my nose when I squeeze the dish soap just right.
The little cornflower blue posies in our window box. I smile when I see them.
Reading. And kids who love books. I quote my son, "Mom, my friend (I won't use names to protect the guilty) told me he hates to read." He said this with incredulous, wondering disbelief. Made my day.

Thrifty.

I have noticed that there has been a lull in freebie land lately. There haven't even been as many great rebates at the "Big 3" (WAGS, RA, CVS). Maybe the economy is finally hitting even these areas. Anywho...as a result, I've been checking out more contests, reading prolifically and thinking about all the great, cheap home improvements I could be making if I would just start doing them instead of daydreaming about them. Hmmm.

Here's a great deal to tide you over though: Chick-fil-A is offering a totally free breakfast entree! I truly think they have some of the best food give-aways in the biz! Here's the link. If it doesn't work, keep trying. I had to go back several times: http://www.chick-fil-aforbreakfast.com/. yummmmm:)

New title, same ol' me.

Thankful.

Silver-white puff clouds in a Northern-blue, clear blue, fall-blue, sky-blue, blue-blue sky.
A peerless, crazy daughter who is thriving at Grove City College, a college I wholeheartedly admire.
Three sons who are running their hearts (and sneakers) out in Cross Country this fall.
A husband who loves God and his family and works hard to provide for us.
A part-time job that allows me great flexibility.
A smooth transition for a Korean boy who will call us family for the next 9 months.
Libraries. The smell of the books. The ideas. The cool interior on hot days.
Tough economic times that by default teach us to be thankful for good economic times.
Droopy Dahlias against red clay brick walls.

Thrifty (It's just a part of me...)

This morning I drank my generic Wal-Mart coffee with free-after-double coupon Bailey's Coffee Creamer. After spending a good hour in the good book--doused by occasionally interrupted prayer--I donned my bought-at-yard sales running clothes/shoes and walked to the library where I picked up Jeff Yeager's new book, "The Cheapskate Next Door." (According to the book, cheapskates next door borrow their books from the library, they don't buy them. Sales haven't been so great.) I hung a load of sheets washed in cold water with $1.99-after-coupon detergent and free from http://www.vocalpoint.com/ (sign up if you haven't) Downy Unstoppables. (I'll just add here that this product works great and I love the smell, but I would never pay full price for it.) I entered some Staples rebate information into the computer, looked over the mail which came with 2 free magazines, Splenda samples and a coupon for a free can of cat food. Then I made a frozen Palermo's goat cheese and spinach pizza, purchased with...do I even need to tell you? It was cheap. And also the best frozen pizza I have ever had, but again, I would never pay full price, because, well...that's not who I am. This is my day so far. I am going to return a few items I decided I didn't need, make chicken and rice for supper, clean the downstairs bedrooms and pick up my kids after cross country practice. Tonight--maybe--I'll watch a DVD from my collection that I've seen a dozen times before because I know I'll like it and I don't feel like wandering aimlessly at Family Video. Then I'll go to sleep in my line-dried, Downy-smelling, April fresh sheets and get up at 6:10 am to repeat, with the exception of a night shift at the hospital at the end of the day.

This is my happier-than-I deserve-to-be life! Follow me on my journey!

Thankful and Thrifty? Free full size cat litter and dog food!

I'm currently revamping my blog (at least in my mind:) and am thinking of a name change. Perhaps Thankful and Thrifty, or Thankful and Frugal? Any thoughts? I really want to focus on being grateful and seeing God's hand in all of life, but I want to keep up on the frugal side of things also. Let me know what you think...

Here are a couple of great rebate links. The first is for a full size bag of Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat litter:
http://www.preciouscat.com/pdf/Free_Litter_Fax_Form_fill_8-17-06.pdf

And the second is for a 4 pound bag of Ideal Balance Science Diet dog food:
http://www.hillspet.com/ideal-balance/ideal-balance-home.html

I picked them both up at Petsmart tonight.

Today I used my Fantastic Sam's card to get a free haircut (don't worry, I tipped her well:)! It's one of those buy 9 cuts, get the 10th free. It's taken me about 2 years, but I finally did it!! Got some laundry out the line, ran a few errands, canned 7 quarts of tomatoes, pulled up all the old bean and cucumber vines (and am trying to figure out what I can plant for a fall crop), and took my daughter out to dinner with some friends. Quite a productive day.

I finally emailed the All You folks knowing that they had informed the top 3 in the grocery challenge last Friday. I found out that all of the top ten at least get name recognition and a tip in the November issue of All You...pretty cool, eh??  So, I'll keep you informed...but that brings me to another subject: contests!
As you all know, I do enter and have been very blessed to win some great prizes. The All You Challenge was by far the most time consuming, but it really was worth the effort. The bottom line is, you can't win if you don't enter! http://www.freebies4mom.com/ has a sweeps/contest link and this is where I find most of the ones I enter. I don't look/play every day, but when I have the time, I check it out. It's a fun way to get great prizes. Give it a whirl!

Free Sam's weekend, tax free time, & 8 new freebies!!

If you are in a state that offers a tax free shopping weekend like we are, then August 5-7 means savings for you on back-to-school supplies and clothes. Last year I made the mistake of going to Walmart on Saturday...oh my! It was worse than Black Friday!! I will probably pick up the boys school shoes this weekend, and I am for sure heading out to Sam's Club, where they are hosting an open house, no membership required AND the 10% service fee is waived!! This is a really great deal and I will stock up on lunch meat, cheese and a few other items. Thanks Sam's Club:)

Here's a link to a cute little container. It's supposed to be for Cottonelle toilet paper, but I'm sure you can use your imagination! Use UPC code 3600013396: https://www.cottonelle.com/respect-the-roll/roll-cover-offer.aspx

Free sample of John Frieda haircare:
http://instoresnow.walmart.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid99801.aspx?POV=RootAwakening

Free sample of Beneful dog food; look for link on lower left of first slide:
http://instoresnow.walmart.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid82797.aspx#/home

"Like" Activia on facebook and get a coupon for free yougurt:
https://www.facebook.com/Activia?sk=app_236653369701957%20%20

Free sample of Bolt Energy tablets: http://boltsample.com/?promoLink=16570

Free Eucerin sample: https://www.facebook.com/EucerinUS?sk=app_150701131641056

Free sample of Neurogize enegry tablets: https://www.neurogize.com/?aff=172&c1=#anchor

Free and Cheap Meat Deals!

Hello blogger friends:

Wanted to let you in a few deals on meat, since they are so hard to come by.

Sav-a-Lot: This week at Sav-a-Lot, boneless, skinless chicken breast is only $1.49 a pound. They also have brats, smoked sausage, Oscar Meyer Weiners/Bologna all for 99 cents a pound. All grapes are 99 cents # and green peppers are 3/$1! Fantastic prices, but it gets better! If you have never signed up before, go to this link and you can get a coupon for $5 off $25 purchase: http://www.savealotsavings.com/

Earth Fare has a great coupon for free mozarella cheese with any $5 purchase: http://www.earthfare.com/Welcome-Home.aspx?item=%2fwelcome-home%2fweekly-reward&user=extranet%5cAnonymous&site=earthfare
And again, if you have never signed up on their website, you will need to do this first (that screen will pop up).When you do, as a welcome gift, you will get a coupon for a FREE whole chicken OR a box of veggie burgers with a $10 purchase! I have to go by this store tomorrow, so I'm looking to this shop...free cheese AND free chicken, mmmmm!

Here's a very rare coupon for $2 off any pork ribs at any store that takes coupons (from the National Pork Council):
 http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?bt=vi&tqnm=yg5jahh46504114&o=89669&c=SV&p=q52sf1PG

Harris Teeter will be having super doubles again next week, starting on the 10th. That means they double any coupon up to $1.98 in value. I knew that you could get rainchecks on items that are not in stock (popular items sell out in a matter of hours), but I didn't realize that the rainchecks have no expiration. Soooooo,  since HT has these events every 4-6 weeks, the smart thing to do if you have a coupon with a long expiration is to wait and use the raincheck at the NEXT event, when no one else will be buying those items! This week HT has bone in breast for 99 cents and milk for $2.97!