Lots of stuff

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I would do a big post.
In the mail today I got a mailer from Vocal Point, it contained a coupon for a free box of Rice Krispies and a bunch of $1 off coupons. If you haven't yet joined this is a great web site. I got a Shape magazine (freebie since I don't buy), a Tide coupon for $1.50 off any size tide stained release product.

I went by CVS on the way home to get my weekly back to school freebies. Even though I don't have a child going to school they are great for my granddaughter and myself. Every week they have something different. I did a survey some time back and got $5 ECB and have been using it over and over to buy. Here is a picture of some of this week's goodies (my CVS isn't very good and is out of about half the items) There are 2 packs of glue sticks, 2 composition books, 2 pairs of safety handle scissors, 2 flexible rulers, a pack of pens and 1 of pencils, and 2 stretchable book covers.






I got a start for friendship bread for a friend's mom and tonight was the night to make my bread. I choose to make it chocolate. I am taking one loaf to my dad. He just got out of jail and I am hoping to convince him to come to church with me on Wednesday. I am teaching that night on Laminin. Its an awesome message. Google laminin and you will get the gist of my message. I would like to see my family get saved. Here is a picture of the loaf I made for him. The glaze didn't spread as well as I wanted it to but its still edible :).




Here are the instructions I followed. You can Google (I only Swagbuck though, you find the same infomation and you earn goodies. I need one more buck to get another $5 Amazon gc)

Do not use metal bowl or spoon. Why no metal bowls or spoons? This interacts with the sourdough process and can actually ruin it. YUCK!
Do not refrigerate
As air builds up in bag, release slowly, it is normal for the batter to rise, bubble and ferment.
Day 1. do nothing
Day 2 Stir.
Day 3 Stir.
Day 4 Stir.
Day 5 Stir.
Day 6 Add: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Stir.
Day 7 Stir.
Day 8 Stir.
Day 9 Stir.
Day 10. Add 1-1/2 cup flour, 1-1/2 cup sugar, and 1-1/2 cup milk. Divide out 3 - 1 cup portions to give to friends and keep 1 for yourself. Label the bags day 1 and put the date.

preheat oven to 325
to the remaining batter(should be less than 1 cup or so) add
1 c. oil
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla (I use 2 t. vanilla)
3 eggs
1-1/2 t. baking powder
2 c. flour
1/2 c. milk
1 large box instant pudding
1 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon

Mix well but do not overmix.
Combine in small bowl the following:
3 T. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
Grease well 2 loaf pans or 1 bundt pan. Coat with cinnamon sugar mixture. Pour batter into pan or pans equally. Bake at 325 for 1 hour or until toothpick comes clean.

My favorite variation is chocolate. I take out 1/2 c. flour and replace with unsweetened cocoa powder and then use a chocolate pudding mix. With this variation, I do not put the cinnamon sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan.

Low-fat - replace 1/2 of the oil with unsweetened apple sauce.Replace 2 of the eggs with 3 egg whites or use an egg substitute.

Low-sugar - use only 3/4 c. sugar or replace some of the sugar with Splenda


finally I will end with a quick picture of the grandkids together.

free software

Since I take so many digital photos of everything, I love photo editing software. Here is a nice freebie.
Corel Paint Shop Pro X delivers a complete set of photo editing tools to help you create professional - looking photos fast! By combining automatic photo fixes and precision editing controls with a revolutionary Learning Center, Paint Shop Pro is a first of its kind.
download here

a few deals

I went by CVS and bought a few school supplies. I don't need them but they were free after ECB and so I got them. I had a $5 ECB for taking a survey so used that to pay. I went through the line 2 times to minimize my cash outlay. I got 2 pairs 5" blunt scissors, 2 bottles glue, 3 packs of pens and 2 70 count notebooks all free after ecb. I also bought a clearance headband for 55 cents and a box of Alavert for 55cents. I get allergy symtpoms on occasion so thought it a good deal. If I can get orgazined, CVS also has the photobooks on sale for $7.99 with $7.99 back in ECB so I would like to get a coupon to give as gifts.

In the mail I got my rebate check for buying the blue bunny ice cream back in May. I am going to use it on this deal There is a try me free rebate and a $1 coupon to print so you actually come out ahead plus have a free meal of Tyson skillet creations.

I am stopping by Wal-Mart in the morning to pick up some free water with this Nestle coupon Wal-Mart has the 6pks on sale for $1 and so that makes them free. You can print the coupon 2 times so you get 2 six packs for tax. I printed mine Saturday but haven't been online to post.

Also sign up for a coupon for a free Venom energy drink from Dr Pepper.

Another deal for anyone who has gotten their free chocolate coupon from Mars. Rite Aid has Mars on sale for b1g1 so you can get 2 for nothing.

contests

I found these at A Full Cup also has really good forums and coupons to print.
Here is a pretty good daily one to enter.
Wrigley's Flip the top and Go. Enter daily.
GRAND PRIZE (1): One (1) Grand Prize winner will receive a 2010 Ford Mustang convertible (make and model to be selected by Sponsor in it sole discretion). (Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of Grand Prize: $30,000.00). Grand Prize winner may choose to receive a cash alternative prize of USD $15,000.00 to be awarded in the form of a check.
FIRST PRIZES (50): Fifty (50) First Prize winners will each receive one (1) $50 gas gift card selected at the sole discretion of Sponsor. (ARV of each First Prize: $50.00).
SECOND PRIZES (50): Fifty (50) Second Prize Winners will each receive one $25 Walgreens gift card. (ARV of each Second Prize: $25.00).
Limit one (1) prize per person, household or address.

An instant win- these are my favorites. I have a short attention span and want instant gratification :)

Jennie-O Turkey Store
daily per person, 18 and older.
Prizes: (60) $100 supermarket or Visa gift card.
Limit one Instant Win prize per person.

Join the Wakin'Up Club

Possible samples and coupons from Folgers

Get a coupon booklet worth over $50 from Kraft If you aren't a member it will prompt you to join. I am practically a member of every company site out there.

So far this week I have bought 12 bags of shredded cheese and 13 blocks of cheese at Kroger. After the $4 coupon it was roughly 20¢ a package. I also went by K-Mart who was having a clearance on toys. It was 50% off the clearance price. I got my grandson a playset for Christmas that has animals and makes sounds and does a lot of different little stuff for $18.50. It was supposed to be $75, I got my granddaughter a Ba Ba Baby Elmo for $8.50. Thats another Christmas present. I also got her a Tigger Bounce chair for $4.50. I honestly didn't know it was a bounce chair. I just wanted a little kid chair for her to sit on at the house. Its so cute.

5 free issues of O magazine

If you are a member of Startsampling they have an offer for 5 free issues of 0 magazine. I get about 12 magazines a month and I don't pay for 11 of them. I did buy a subscription to All You but thats because its such an awesome coupon magazine.

I stocked up on some cheese this week at Kroger. They have Kraft cheese( shredded or chunk) on sale for $1.24 a bag. If you buy 4 the 5th on is free so its 5 pks for 4.96. Then it prints a catalina for $4 off your next order. I am going to get some more cheese in the morning. I keep it in the freezer and thats an awesome deal.

I got my latest $5 gift cert for Amazon.com from Swagbucks in my email last night. I am saving for Christmas with those.

BTW I order some 4th of July pictures from Snapfish using the coupon code PENNY. I got the pictures today and they are awesome. The code is good until July 10th and its 50 prints for 50cents plus shipping and handling.

There is a rebate out for $10 from Kellogs Fuel for School
buy 10 product in one trip and send the upc codes, cash register receipt and the form to get your rebate. These are the products.
-100 Calorie Right Bites (6 ct. or larger)
-Eggo Products (4 ct. or larger)
-Keebler or Austin Products (8 oz. or larger)
-Kellogg's Cereal (10 oz. or larger)
-Kellogg's Fruit Flavored Snacks (6 ct. or larger)
-Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Cereal Bars (8 ct. or larger)
-Kellogg's Pop Tarts (8 ct. or larger)
-Kellogg's Rice Krispies Treats Squares (8 ct. or larger)
-Kellogg's Special K Cereal Bars (8 ct. or larger)
-MorningStar Farms Veggie Foods Product (5 oz. or larger)
-Sunshine Products (8 oz. or larger)

I have put links on the side bar for sites to print online coupons and a lot of those sites have coupons for those products. I am hoping to catch the eggo's on sale since I have printed coupons for those.

Get your name on Dale Jr's Amp car

I will start out on an odd note. Its not very warm for it to be July in West Virginia. Its only in the 70's and I am freezing for some reason so had to light the stove to take the chill out of the air. This is crazy. It was cold and snowy for months and months and now its not even warm for summer.

I thought this was pretty cool. I am a Jimmy Johnson fan myself but still this is cool. Sign up if you aren't an Amp member and then you can have your name on the 88 car in the Amp 500 race. Sign in here.

Also for any who are interested in actually money not gift cards, you can now redeem swagbucks for paypal cash. It takes 80 swagbucks for $5 in PayPal but I prefer the Amazon gift certs since that makes me feel like I am buying presents for nothing.

Wednesday Weigh In

I missed last Wednesday, mostly because I hadn't lost anything. I got on the scales this morning and am down 2 more lbs. I've been a bit depressed so haven't felt much like posting lately.

I have been in a lot of pain from my back lately so I thought this was a cool deal
Sign up and get 3 sample size oinmnents here for pain.

In the mail yesterday I got a box of Nature Valley Nut Clusters There were 4 bags, 1) roasted cashews with granola and a touch of honey, these are my favorites, 2) honey roasted peanuts with granola and a touch of honey 3) roasted almonds with granola and a touch of honey, and 4)nut lovers with granola and a touch of honey (my second favorite). These were a freebie from MyBlogSpark. These are the people who sponsor a lot of the giveaways you see on other blogs. If you have a blog I recommend you set up an account with them. BTW if you go to the Nature Valley page there is a $1 coupon to print off the nut clusters at the bottom of the page.
I also got a couple of coupons off of Marlboro cigarette's. I don't smoke but they are having a daily prize contest. Last year I got a sleeping bag from them. My sister won a tent once from them. I also got the Veggie Tales dvd I ordered. Since my granddaughter's birthday just past I am going to save it for either Halloween or Christmas.

mail call

Here are a few things I got in the mail yesterday. I got my coupon from KFC for a free ungrilled meal after the coupon fiasco, I got a coupon for free flatbread melt from Digiorno, I also got my Pillsbury doll. He is adorable. I am putting him up for my granddaughter when she is older. In my email I also got this notice I won a second Pillsbury doll. That is too cool. It also comes with a cookbook of prize winning recipes so now I have one cookbook for my collection and then one is going to be someone's present for something. I am slowly building up my gift box. I used to always have a box that was full of stuff I had for gifts for unexpected occasions and had gotten away from that but now I am working on building it up again. That makes for a frugal Christmas and all around occasions. I got enough Swagbucks to order another $5 Amazon.com gift certificate. I get about 1 $5 gift code a month and am saving those up to get Christmas stuff with.

free sample of Kiss My Face anti-stress gel. Boy do I feel like I need this.
offer here

A really cool moneysaving contest. I really need to crack down and save and am enthused just by the chance to save money.
All You grocery challenge. You could win a $1000 grocery card, a one year supply of Knorr side dishes, plus a feature in All You magazine! The winner will appear on the CBS Early Show in December!
To register, fill out and submit the form by 11:59 p.m., July 12. The challenge starts on July 13.
We'll send you weekly e-mails, starting July 13, that include tips, recipes and instructions on how to blog about your progress and use our handy Spending Log.

After four weeks, we'll tell you how to send in your results, and we'll then choose 10 finalists.
The finalist who followed the budget with the most creative healthful choices will win a $1,000 grocery card and a year's supply of Knorr side dishes—and will appear in ALL YOU!
You must spend no more than $25 per person, per week on groceries
They also have an online spending log you can use to track your spending. You have to keep the receipts for each week because if you are choose you will have to show them.
Household and toiletry items do not count in your grocery spending total
Eating out/takeout *does* count toward your grocery spending total

Saturday Savings

Sportsman Magazine free subscription

Double Roll of Scott's Toilet Tissue and 10 count pack of Flushable Wipes This is offered from Walmart.

Ok this one isn't totally free but its really cool and a good deal. You can get a Veggie Tale dvd for $2.99 shipping and handling only. Free DVD Veggie Tales are faith based cartoons for the kids to watch.

ranting

Please forgive the below rant but I am so mad I could spit. My oldest daughter is so lazy she won't get a job, she just sits around with her friends all day. She has been coming to my place to visit me supposedly only tonight I look out my window and she is making out with the man next door. I don't know his age but I do know he is older than me. He is on disability due to a back injury, owns no car, has 4 kids with his ex wife. I am so angry and disappointed, I just want to pack up and move back to NC and not deal with any of this anymore. After stewing all night about it, I got to thinking off all the things I have done so that she would have a better life than I had. Then I thought of Christ. I imagine there are a lot of times he feels the same way about me. He even died and was tortured for my sake and yet I so often go about my daily life without thought of Him. I still don't have the slightest idea what to do about her but I will just pray for her and turn it all over to God and let him take care of it. He is so much better equipped to deal with this than I am.


In an attempt to get my mind off this I was netsurfing and found this video. I would imagine its to promote the new show with MC Hammer and his family. It was fun to watch though. I remember my cousin Melanie used to own pants like that and she loved MC Hammer :)

I won again

I signed up to win a Pillsbury dough boy and then I got an email saying I won. Check it out here

Get your sample of the 90 calorie Strawberry Bar

I got in the mail yesterday the $50 gift cards I had won from Shell. That was fast since I only confirmed my address last Thursday. It came as 2 $25 gift cards. I also got my coupon for a free ungrilled meal at KFC from the fiasco they sponsored last month. I also got a Precious Places dvd I sent off for a while back (going to be a present for my granddaughter's 2nd birthday), a couple samples of of a pain medicince called Curamin
and some dove hair samples.

End of the weekend update

Here is a freebie to start us off.
Geo Trax CD order a free cd from Mattel with 4 episodes of Geo Trax on it.

Saturday I got up and discovered I had no phone, cable or Internet. There was an outage around midnight and it didn't come back on until about 2pm. So since I couldn't be online I went and did laundry, then came home and cleaned my whole apartmant and rearranged the bedroom. Amazing how much I can get done without the Internet :). Then at 2:30 I went to a celebration cookout at church for out of school. It was loads of fun. Everyone enjoyed the fellowship and the food. There were sack races and horseshoes to play. The men in the church also did a sack race and the preacher fell and his glasses cut a little spot on his nose, the winner of the race fell into his vehicle and put a dent in it. The things men will do to win :).


Then I had to leave there to go to a housewarming party for a couple at my church who built their own house. Its absolutely beautiful. Here are a couple of signs they have hanging on each side of the bedroom wall. One says "the best things to hold onto in life is each other" and the other one says "always kiss me goodnight".




Then my boyfriend and I went to see Land of the Lost. I was expecting the see a movie based on the tv series I grew up watching. This is not it. I am not a Will Ferrel fan and the humor was off color in several scenes. I should have been more responsible as a Christian and investigated better before we went to see it.

Today after church the boyfriend and I went to a flea market and they were having an antique tractor show. Here are a couple of them.

WII Fit

I so want a Wii and the Wii Fit. I keep entering contests because I certainly don't want to pay for one :). I had to laugh when I saw this video though.

Some survey stuff

I got a code for a $10 Amazon.com gift certificate in my email this morning. I earned it at Keynote. I like this survey company. They don't send me a lot of surveys but when they do I always earn a $10 gift certificate for Amazon. You can buy about anything with those gift certificates so I like them a lot. I am currently up to $22 worth. I will probably use most of mine up on Christmas presents.
While searching for the link for Keynote to post here I earned $5 swagbucks so thats putting me closer. You need 45 swagbucks for a $5 Amazon gift cert. I earn about 1 a month from here. I am the type of person who is always wanting to know something so I use the search bars a lot. I have one for Swagbucks that I do several times a day until I earn at least one, then I have one for Mypoints. I also do Blingo but I haven't won anything there in ages.

win big

Life in a Shoe
They are running a 40% off sale over at Geneva Bible Pages. They've even created a special Family Bundle at 50% off! They are offering all of their merchandise at 40% off, plus a giveaway of up to $400 in free merchandise or $200 in cash. It's an overstock sale, so prices are good only while the excessive inventory is in stock- when an item is gone at that price, it's gone. SURPRISE BONUS: Every 4th floating, framed or matted page will be a beautiful Psalm, New Testament or Title page which usually retails for $114.95. Order 4 to be guaranteed one in your order!

So if you are looking for a unique gift for someone, take a look and help them out.

I'm a winner

check out this email I got today. The contest is until 6/14/09 so you still have time to enter :)

Hi Madonna,
Congratulations! You are the winner of $50 of Shell Gift cards in a drawing you entered at scoreacard.com.

Free Minute Maid Frozen Novelty fill in the form and submit for free.

week 1 of the diet

Well this week I decided to start by just walking 30 minutes a day. No dieting. I wanted to ease into this. I managed to walk every day except Sunday and today. Today is the first day of that time for me and I am always exhausted the first 2 days. I did lose 2 lbs though just from the walking and today I will start the dieting.

free stuff

Tampax Pearl

Sun Crystals never heard of this but its another sweetener

Kotex Overnite

The Jesus You Can't Ignore free book offer. I haven't read anything by this author so I can't personally attest to the value of the book.

National Park free entrance there is a link to show the parks listed by states. WV only has Harper's Ferry but I haven't been there so would like to plan a trip.