Movies, movies, movies...best deals in town

Ah, the movies...gotta love them! What can be more relaxing than falling asleep watching your favorite flick?? With so many options these days, allow me to tell you about some of my favorites:

The library!!! Yes, my all time favorite place to pick up a good movie. Our library has thousands of titles and lots of good documentaries. And if your favorite isn't there, you can place it on hold and they'll call you when it comes in. Best place for a freebie (if you don't count your taxes, that is.....TANSTAAFL)

Netflix: You sign up for Netflix online. There are different levels, but basically the way it works is that you pay X amount per month and get to chose from thousands of titles. For $8.99 a month, you get unlimited titles. You indicate the movies you want, Netflix sends out one or more at a time (dependent on your level) and boom! they show up in your mailbox usually the next day. When you're done, you mail them back in a prepaid envelope. This is especially great if you are in a rural area, which was the reason we participated in Maine. They have a 1 month free trial...you have nothing to lose!!

Redbox: Like a vendng machine for DVDS, these things are showing up on every corner. Swipe your credit or debit card and select a video. You are charged a buck a night until you return it...and you can return the DVD to ANY Redbox, not just the one you got it from. After 20 nights, the billing stops and you own it. You can also reserve copies online if you want a certain show. Biggest negative: not a huge selection.

Family Video: SOOOO much better than Blockbuster or Hollywood video. Huge selection, and not to be outdone by Redbox, new releases are now $1.00 for FIVE nights!!! Free kid videos, too. Can't beat that!!

So go get a movie!!

Thrift Stores, freebies, Family Video, milk alternative

Hold on to your hat...it's a good deal day! Off to Carolina Thrift first thing this morning, and let me tell ya, it was PACKED. Could have bought a lot more than I did (like a really nice Coach leather purse for $25 and a pair of Bjorn shoes for $3, but I decided I didn't "need" them, no matter how great the deal was...). I opted for a navy sports jacket for Mike in perfect condition for $2.50. That baby retails for over $100. Also got like new Adidas track shoes for Will for $5 (retail of about $70) and a VHS of Jane Eyre (my favorite novel) for $1. I know, VHS are passe. But I like them better than DVDs. Rarely do we rent a DVD that it doesn't "mess up" part way through. So I'm stock piling VCR players that I get for $5 at yard sales. That way, when mine die, I'll have more. So far I 3 extras. My daughter bought some school clothes and my son bought a hard back book (Eragon) for $3.50 that retails for $21.

I digress... On to Walmart where my oldest son bought a brand new bike that he has been saving for for months. I admit, I was not thrilled with this purchase. I would rather he spend $25 at Carolina Thrift and pocket the other $100. But the look of pride on his face as he wheeled it out was pretty awesome. He really disciplined himself to save for it, so GO WILL!! I spent $11.00 on groceries. It's the time of year when I try very hard to not buy groceries and clean out what we have before we head to Maine. As Abby says, this leads to "interesting" meal combinations.

On to Barnes and Noble, where I bought 3 of the 4 summer reading books for Abby's AP English class...buy 2, get one free! One of them had pages that were stuck together on the bottom, so I also got 20% off that one. ALWAYS ask! $11.00 out, but on a gift card, so nothing out of pocket.

Stopped at Starbucks for a free coffee...I still have money left on a gift card I got in Cleveland.

Let me tell you how I save on milk. I use to buy powdered milk at Aldi, but when the price of regular milk skyrocketed a few months back, powdered milk did also. Now that milk prices have bottomed out, powdered milk is actually more, as those prices haven't decreased. It is @ $3.00 a gallon. In NC, I can buy a gallon of milk at Aldi for $1.75. Not to be thwarted, I did some research last year. I purchased a powdered milk product called "morning moos" at the site morningmoos.com. A 50# bag is $116 shipped. The site says it makes at least 70 gallons, but I have had the same bag for a year now, still have some left, and have made well over 120 gallons. I use 1 cup of product per gallon. For simplicity's sake, we'll say it costs a buck a gallon. I'll be honest, you have to drink this really cold and it has a bit of an aftertaste. My kids, who have grown up on powdered milk, balked at little at this one. We also had a foreign student living with us who wouldn't drink it. So I mix it half/half with regular milk. That makes my total @$1.35 a gallon. We drink a gallon a day. Theoretically, that saves $140.00 a year. Enough gas to drive to Maine!! Woo Hoo!!!

I hope no one went to KMart for double coupons today, at least not in the triad. Even though the national ad said ALL stores would participate, apparently each store could still say no. That stinks, but that's life!

Breakfast: cereal, corn muffins ($2.00)
lunch: clean out fridge day ($0)
dinner: ham, potatoes, green beans ($4.00)

Freebies: Go to http://strawberrysusan.com/free_stuff2.php to get a bottle of Downy. You fill out a short survey. Go to http://www.rewardsgold.com/ and sign up for membership. I filled out a quick survey and got a free subscription to Forbes. Rewards change frequently.

Rite Aid has 2 freebies this week: AMO Complete Multipurpose Contact Cleaner and Orajel Kid's Plaque Revealing Rinse. This is with their Single Check program, find a copy of the booklet near the entrance.

Family Video offers free kid video rentals for every A on their report card. This is for the month of June only. My kids will rack up tonight. Family Video has the best chain prices...Redbox has great deals on new releases for $1 a night. The best part is, you can return them to ANY Redbox location. You can sign up online and reserve copies also. Of course, the very best deal is free rentals at the library, followed by 50 cent yard sale VHS tapes. Amass a gargantuan collection...

Money out:$20
Money in:$0