Being Thankful And Spreading Our Happiness

This Thanksgiving is very special for our family. My father-in-law is cancer free after a very tough battle with stomach cancer this year. This year we are extremely thankful that he is recovering and healing. We are thankful that we can spend the day together knowing that this tough year is behind us.

This Thanksgiving my husband decided he wanted to share our thankfulness and good cheer with others. We are having Thanksgiving dinner at our house for eleven people. He has asked everyone to bring an item that we can include in a box to send a soldier currently serving in Iraq. Our guests have jumped right on board and are very excited about this idea. We found wish lists for packages at http://www.anysoldier.com/. We will be putting together our package and shipping it out immediately, so the soldier we picked will hopefully get his package before Christmas. This is very easy to do. Maybe you will be inspired to help out a soldier serving our country as well.

-Denise

Black Friday Sales

Black Friday sales are trickling out early all over the internet. I used to love shopping on Black Friday, but as I have gotten older, this is not as exciting anymore. If I do see a good deal somewhere, I will go see if I can snag the deal, but I will not be out at the wee hours of the morning as the stores open.

If you are interested in checking out the deals early, you might want to start searching the internet now. There are tons of sites this year that are reporting the deals ahead of time. Two that I have checked out are below. They seems pretty thorough.

http://bfads.net

www.blackfriday.info

Happy shopping!

-Denise

Target Will Price Match Walmart This Holiday Season

Check out this article.
http://www.realclearmarkets.com/news/ap/finance_business/2008/Nov/17/target_plans_price_cuts_despite_lower_3q_earnings.html

Sorry for the crazy length of the link. It gives details of how the current economic situation is effecting Target's profits and why they have decided to price match some products this holiday season. My best advice is if you see a product cheaper at Walmart, ask Target if they will price match. With the holiday toy coupons Target is pushing this year, you could really get big savings. If you have not seen them, check out this link. http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/page.jsp?title=toy_coupons_main


Here is the most important piece of the artice as far as price matching.

During the holidays, Target will remain "keenly focused" on offering low prices on national brands and its own products and will match Wal-Mart prices on identical items in local markets, said Kathryn Tesija, Target's executive vice president of merchandise.
The company will also offer half a dozen "value items" online every day at special prices.
"We have taken a very aggressive point of view this year in terms of our promotional pricing, so we expect to be price leaders on selected items in our circular," Steinhafel said. "This is not unlike what we've done in the past. But given the current environment and recognizing how challenging it is, we will be even sharper than we have in prior years."

Britax Deal Not Being Honored

The Britax deal I posted the other day is not being honored by Target. They are canceling orders with no notification. If you go back in and check your order status, the order has likely disappeared. There are reports a few orders were put through before Target caught their error. I think Target should 1) email customers that orders were canceled and 2) at the very least provide a coupon or discount code as an apology for their mistake.

Oh well...

-Denise

Britax Car Seats-Really Cheap!

If you are in need of a new car seat, this is quite a steal. Britax Marathons are normally $279.99, and they are on MASSIVE clearance at Target/Amazon. These are awesome convertible car seats that are never found at these prices. Get one while they last.

Britax Marathon in Cowmooflage $59.99http://www.target.com/Britax-Marathon-Convertible-Car-Seat/dp/B000YSP0VM/sr=1-8/qid=1226880837/ref=sr_1_8/187-9734177-8109120?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Abritax%20marathon&page=1

Britax Marathon in Granite $42.99http://www.target.com/Britax-Marathon-Convertible-Car-Seat/dp/B000YSNMG2/sr=1-9/qid=1226880837/ref=sr_1_9/187-9734177-8109120?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Abritax%20marathon&page=1

I don't have links for Amazon, but I have read that the deals are there as well. This deal was originally found here http://neverpayretailagain.blogspot.com/2008/11/britax-mararthons-only-4299-save-237.html, it is a great blog on a wide variety of deals and steals.

-Denise

It's Begining To Look a Lot Like....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. Okay, not really, but I am starting to get prepped for full out shopping and wrapping sessions. We shop throughout the year for deals and special items we see for family members where ever our travels take us. We do have at least 50% of our shopping done, but there is still quite a bit more to do. I made a run to Target this morning and picked up Scotch tape (yes, the brand name stuff) and some metallic rolls of wrapping paper in the dollar spot section. This, added with the paper we bought on sale the day after Christmas last year, will have me set to start wrapping what we have already purchased. I like to do a few big wrapping sessions throughout the weeks leading to Christmas, so I am not toally overwhelmed at the end.

I would probably be wrapping items right now, but our secret hiding place is actually under B.'s crib. He is napping right now, so I will not be waking him to start this project. And yes, after this year we will ahve to find a new hiding place. B. will be a in a big boy bed soon and will be able to search around his room a little more easily. Our little guy isn't so little anymore.

Feel free to ignore Christmas for a few more weeks, or join me and mebracing the craziness that is right around the corner. The 24-hour Christmas channels have already begun their stream of carols. maybe they can get you in a holiday mood.

-Denise

Better Old Navy Deal

There is a better sale going on this weekend for Old Navy and all of their partner stores (Gap, Banana Republic.) The Friends and Family Sale is currently going on for 30% off your purchase and they will donate to a charity of your choice.

Here is what I received in an email-
We'd like to offer you 30% off during our best-ever friends and family event. We're calling it Give & Get, because for every purchase you make from November 13-16, we give 5% of the amount you spend to your favorite nonprofit.

If you want more info, leave me a comment with your email address. I can forward the email to you.

-Denise

Old Navy and I Go a Little Greener

I am really trying to be a little greener. I am trying to recycle everything that can be recycled, using reusable water bottles, and trying to be better with wasting electricity (which is a good frugal idea too.) My new focus is trying to use reuseable totes for gorceries and other purchases. I have a few for groceries and plan to add to them by purchasing a few more on each shopping trip. My biggest problem is that I forget to take them out of the trunk of my car before I go into the store. When I do forget, and I get more of plastic bags sent home instead, I save them and reuse them around the house for lining the diaper pail. The ones that aren't not repurposed are collected and taken back to the grocery store and deposited into a recycling bin inside the main doors. Most grocery stores have recycling available for plastic grocery bags. It is easy to do, so give it a try!

One of my favorite stores to purchse my son clothes at is also going a little greener. Old Navy has a stuff a bag sale several times a year. They normally send you a plastic bag in the mail or you can pick one up at the store. Everything you can stuff in the bag is then 20% off at the register. You can save a lot of money with this sale. The next one is coming up November 14-26. Instead of sending another plastic bag into my house, Old Navy mailed me a card to pick up a free, reuseable tote bag for the upcoming sale. I think this is great! While there are still way to many plastic bags being used every day, at least this store is trying to join the green movement. The advertisement I received does say that it is only available in select markets. Luckily my area looks to be included. If you are interested in more information, or want to get a code that can be used online, check out www.oldnavy.com/bag.

Starbucks Offer Now For Everyone

Apparently, Starbucks got in a little trouble saying they would give away free coffee to everyone that voted today. Check out the article below for more details. In response to the problem, Starbucks had to make the offer available to everyone.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aIBd9wa0Xh7U&refer=us

I voted today, and I hope you did too. This is an election that is going to change the face of politics in our country. Hopefully the results will be in before I fall asleep tonight. I am excited to hear the results.

-Denise

Toy Savings At Target

If you plan on purchasing any toys for holiday gifts, you may want to check out the coupons available from Target at the link below.

http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/page.jsp?title=toy_coupons_main

There are many coupons available for a wide variety of toys. Holiday gifts add up, so save some money by using a few coupons. I hope there are a few that will work for you.

Later this week I will give some of my favorite sites for finding good deals on baby and kids products including holiday gift reviews and ideas. Stay tuned!

-Denise

Let your voice be heard and enjoy free Starbucks!

I will not share my political views here. I know who I am voting for and hopefully you do to by this point. If not, do some serious research tonight so you can make an informed decision before hitting the poles tomorrow. Make your voice heard and make your choice count!

After you vote, go enjoy some FREE Starbucks coffee! Yes, there is FREE coffee on November 4th! Starbucks will give voters a free Tall coffee on November 4th, and all you have to do is say that you voted. The freebie was announced during a national TV ad on Saturday Night Live on November 1st. Limit one per customer. To view the ad go to, www.youtube.com/starbucks. The information can also be found at http://www.starbucks.com/. The center ad on the home page runs a long ad about caring, the election, and our world. At the end is the information about the free coffee offer.

Go vote tomorrow, get some free coffee, and make your choice for our next president heard. Show that you care about what happens to our country, our economy, and our world.

-Denise