Thursday, April 30, 2009

Anybody have some shopping to do??

I have a couple coupons to giveaway in relation to my last post! They're not to shabby, in the 30% off arena, first to comment gets one! We got the BIG one so I'm super psyched!!

Don't forget about the Old Navy Weekly coupons!

Word is, they're going to stagger the release of the high dollar coupons so more people have a chance to get them, so keep checking back!

Starbucks anyone?

Not really big enough to call it an official "giveaway", but nonetheless, I've got a 10% off purchase coupon for Starbucks that I'll give away to the first person to respond in the comments.  It works on their drinks, but does have some restrictions, newspapers, magazines, digial albums, downloads, and starbucks cards are out.  Expires 12/31/09.

2-day sale at BRU/TRU

Babies R Us/Toys R Us is having a 2-day sale 5/1-5/2 in-store and online, there are 4 pages of coupons here with online codes. Check the last page for baby stuff, they have $10 off the Precious Planet high chair, $15 off the swing, deals on Nestle Good Start, and Huggies. 

Great daily deals on baby stuff

MamaBargains offers daily deals on baby stuff that are super hot! From their website "The word of mom says our deals are so hot, they’re almost free! Every single item, AT LEAST 50% OFF it’s retail value at times up to 80% off its retail value!"

Today they have rollabout balls form Jack Rabbit Creations for $10.25, they're soft balls that have interactive bells inside that encourage baby to shake and roll them.

Crazy 8 Spring Sale up to 50% til Sunday

Crazy 8 is a sister store to Gymboree, we don't have any here in AZ but there's always online shopping, they have a $5 flat shipping rate.  They're a little cheaper than Gymboree, I see tshirts as low as $3.99 for baby boys, and even a little pullover hoodie for $1.99!  For baby girls I see cute little tshirts for $2.99, and a couple of long sleeved tshirts for $1.99, might be a good stock up opportunity for next fall :).

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Share your finds with me!


Just a reminder, I'd love to hear about your finds, whether their awesome deals or fantastic products, or just great tips! Email me or post them in the comments. I'd be glad to post your tips or have you do a guest post!

Baby Earth GaGa Deals


I was just clued in to this site, which offers crazy deals every hour, they count down the price of the item based on the time left, there are limited quantities of the item so you have to be quick in deciding what the best price is for you. This frame that is normally $34.95 just went for $3.99, crazy! I've heard the site is addictive, and I see why!

25% off at Macy's


Macy's is having a friends & family sale April 29 - May 4, they are offering 25% off online + free shipping with coupon code MACYSFF, or you can also print an in-store savings pass. Check out their sale & values section to maximize your savings.

20% off at Gator Tots


And no, it's not "Florida Gator" Tots, just a nice coincidence that they named their store that :). Gator Tots is celebrating their 2 year anniversary by offering 20% off! They have "unique European and American made Kids' Stuff". They have wooden toys, clothes, bpa-free feeding supplies, even the coveted "Sophie" giraffe teether. Use the coupon code: birthday and check out their sale page for even more savings.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Free Mother's Day card from Hallmark


Hallmark is offering a free personalized 5x7 paper card for Mother's Day, just use coupon code: CARD4MOM they'll even address and mail it for you! Mom/Grandma will be so happy to get a personalized card and best of all for you, it's free!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for...


ICE CREAM! Lots of freebies for ice cream coming up,
Carvel is offering a Free Iceberg April 30 from 3-7pm
Haagen-Dazs is offering a free scoop of any bee-built ice cream flavor May 12 4-8pm
TCBY is offering a free cup or cone for Mom on Mother's Day

And, it's not free, but pretty close to it, Baskin Robbins is having a 31 cent scoop day April 29 from 5-10pm with donations benefiting the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) National Junior Firefighter Program.

Stamps


Just a reminder that the USPS is increasing stamp rates from 42 cents to 44 cents on May 11, it might be time to stock up on some forever stamps before the rate increase!

Super cheap (almost free!) books


SwapTree is a fantastic site to get new-to-you books, including children's books. It works like this, when you join, you list books that you are done reading and want to get rid of, and then you list books you want, this can all be done by ISBN, or title/author for your wants. Then swaptree automagically finds trades for you based on your haves/wants and other peoples wants/haves, you pay a small fee to the site and media mail shipping, to ship your side of the trade. It also allows you to reject trades, so if you don't want to trade your Harry Potter book for "Moo, Baa, Lalala", then you don't have to :), the more you reject though the fewer trades will be proposed to you.

Great prices on convertible carseats


Albee Baby has some great prices on convertible carseats, and there's free shipping on orders over $100! They have the Britax Marathon in Ashley Floral for only $179, and the Britax Boulevard in Madison for only $229.

Traveling Tikes has some pretty good deals on more neutral or boyish patterns, they're having a Britax sale April 26 - May 9 they have Britax Marathons in neutral colors for $199. If you have some diaper shopping to do diapers.com says they'll match any online price with shipping! This post is for you KV, hope it helps! :).

Monday, April 27, 2009

20% off at Gap April 27-29


Use coupon code FRIEND to receive 20% off of regularly priced merchandise at the Gap, it's not a super great deal, but if you've had your eye on a cute little outfit there you can make your own sale :).

Coupons in Pampers at Walmart!


Walmart has a "new" baby department, which they say will make shopping easier, and they'll have more of your favorite brands. I haven't checked it out yet, but I will soon, specially marked Pampers boxes there have an additional $30 worth of savings inside.

Old Navy Deals, online only


Old Navy has $5, $10, and $15 deals online only. There are some cute polos for baby boys for $5, and some super cute tanks and shorts for baby girls for $5. PLUS free shipping if you spend $50 or more, with code FREE50. And don't forget about the extra 20% off for Stuff & Save when you use your Old Navy card with code STUFFSAVE!

More markdowns at Gymboree!

Gymboree just added more markdowns of up to 60% off as part of their Spring sale, and you can earn Gymbucks again for future purchases. I saw a couple cute tshirts and onesies for boys and girls at $4.99.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Similac users, there's a rebate form in today's coupons!

In today's Smart Source insert there's a rebate form for Similac, send in 2 UPCs and get $5 off your next purchase! Might be worth it to get some extra newspapers to get more forms, the deal is only one per household, but now's the time to use the grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends without kids, just send the reward to their homes and have them give/send it to you :).

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Extra 20% off of sale prices at Fisher Price


From now until May 5 Fisher Price is offering an extra 20% off of its on-sale section (they apply the discount at check-out). There are a few deals to be had there, although watch out for the "on-sale" prices of $1-$2 off, and of course there's shipping costs to contend with, so don't forget to figure that in, looks like $5.99 shipping for AZ.

Culture Pass, free admission to the zoo, museums, and more!


So in keeping with the spirit of things to do with the little ones, in the greater Phoenix and Tucson areas, as of April 1, library card holders can check-out a culture pass for free admission into "arts and cultural institutions", like the zoo, the Arizona Science Center, Children's Museum of Phoenix, and more! Participating libraries include Chandler, Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe. It includes admission for up to 4 people good for 7 days, there are limited numbers, so check with your library for when they're available. Free is always good, and free and educational, even cultural ;), is better!

Friday, April 24, 2009

More stuff to do with the little ones!


And along the lines of things to do with the kiddos. Toys R Us is having a Thomas & Friends playdate this Saturday April 25 from 11-1. It includes storytime, Thomas trivia, coloring, and giveaways :). Should keep the kids entertained indoors as the temps are heating up!

Book Club at Pottery Barn Kids

Pottery Barn Kids has story time every Tuesday from 11:00 - 11:30, and they give you a card that they stamp, if you attend 5 times you get a gift, which is rumored to be a $5 gift card. Great way to have some story time for the kiddos, and get some shopping/lunch in at the mall afterwards!

Teething Bling!

Lately Zach is a teething fiend, and he's been munching on anything he can get his hands on, including my necklace. This spurred me to see if there was something he could chew on besides jade and silver :). And lo and behold I found it at Smart Mom Jewlery. They have super cute necklaces with pendants made of silicone that are totally safe! They're also pretty inexpensive at around $20 a piece. I got mine last week and Zach loves it, Mommy comes with a teething ring now, I don't even show it to him, he just grabs it and munches away :).

The candy apple red version is on sale this month for 50% off, so at $10, it's a pretty cheap distraction for your baby!

Don't forget about the Old Navy Weekly coupons



Old Navy has been hiding coupons in their oldnavyweekly.com online ads, some of them are pretty valuable, I got one a couple weeks ago that was $50 off a $100 purchase, and some people have been lucky enough to get a $75 off $100 purchase! The catch? Old Navy updates the site some time between Thurs and Fri every week, no one knows when, and to get the good coupons, you have to be there when they refresh, this is a good site I use for coupon finding there.

All is not lost if you can't get a coupon on the oldnavyweekly site, they're also having their Stuff & Save 20% off sale right now too!

Baby Gap sale, this weekend only!

BabyGap is taking an additional 25% off this weekend only April 24-26, you can also redeem online with code: BABY Good opportunity to stock up on some cute outfits!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Stuff to do with the kiddos

I'm always looking for things to do in the Valley and especially now that we have Zach, fun things to do with kids. I found "The Arizona Mama's Handbook" in Barnes and Noble, and it's full of fun things to do with kids, they have 2 for the Phoenix area, one for the East Valley and one for the West Valley, it's full of suggestions like museums, parks, water fun, and even includes some shopping recommendations. They also have the book for CA, NV, UT, WA, and TX.

It's only $10 if you get it through the Today's Mama website, and if you use this coupon code: 50HB then it's only $5, pretty good deal for a round-up of kiddie activities! Plus there are coupons in the back for local businesses, that and the info definitely make this book worthwhile!

Babies R Us Deals!



Babies R Us has a coupon for $5 off a $25 purchase, online or in stores. They have free shipping if you spend $100 or more. Check out their clearance section for some smokin' deals.


There's an exersaucer on clearance for $44.98, after the coupon it's less than $40 before tax and shipping! A tummy time mat for $17.98, a portable swing for less than $50, and this stroller that's $100 OFF!! There's a lot more deals on the clearance page those are just a few, don't forget to check out the Toys R Us clearance page too!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Freepeats free membership today only!


In honor of Earth Day, Freepeats is offering free membership today only. Just make sure to select a group when you register so it's free!

For those that don't know, Freepeats is a great website for passing on and getting free baby gear, clothes, diapers, formula coupons, toys, etc. And it helps the environment as these things go on to have second lives in new homes instead of cluttering up our landfills!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Children's Place Spring Sale now 40% off + 15% coupon!!

The Children's Place just upped the ante on their Spring Sale to 40% off selected items, they have some cute dresses and skirts for baby girls, and some onesies and shorts for baby boys, I stocked up on some bigger sizes for the Summer!

The sale is online and in-stores, and they have flat-rate $5 shipping on every order, some of the stuff is only online and in their outlet stores though.

AND.. to sweeten the deal, the sale gets even better when you combine it with the 15% off coupon, online code is SA249, and I have an in-store coupon as well, I don't need it, so first to respond in the comments gets it!

Free Samples from Walmart.. Good Nites!

Walmart is offering a variety of free samples from baby stuff to dog treats. Including some Good Nites, it's a little too early for us to use these, but I'm ordering the sample to put away!

Free sippy cup from Juicy Juice!


Everyone loves free stuff! Sign up here to get a free sippy cup from Juicy Juice!

Sign up for coupons! Feeding and Diapering your baby is expensive...

No one likes getting spam, but one of the easiest ways to get coupons is to sign up on the manfacturer's websites! To avoid cluttering up your inbox, I'd recommend creating a "coupon" email account, one you can use to sign up for all this stuff, that way you can check it at your leisure and not have to sort through these mails in your inbox! Some great sites to sign up on for coupons for baby stuff:

Pampers, Huggies, Luvs, all these websites will mail you coupons if you sign up, usually once a month or once a quarter, and even if you won't use them all, sign up anyways, they're great for trading!
Huggies is offering free samples of their new "Pure & Natural" line right now only in sizes N-2, but even if you can't use the size, they'd make a great baby shower gift!
And both Pampers and Huggies now have rewards programs, just enter the codes from your diapers and wipes, (which add up fast!) and you can get things like 200 shutterfly 4x6 prints, giftcards, toys, books, and more for your little one!

You can also sign up on the formula manufacters' websites for formula checks, these are invaluable, formula is soooo expensive! The makers of Similac periodically send out $5 formula checks, which in most stores can be COMBINED with a manufacturer's coupon AND a store coupon, so for instance, I have a $5 formula check, a $5 manufacturer's coupon, and a $2 Target coupon, so I can save $12 off of a can of formula! Get it on sale on top of that and we're talking less than $10 for formula! The same applies for Enfamil, and Nestle Good Start, the savings are out there guys, you just have to be creative :).

Signing up on the Nestle website also gets you Gerber coupons, but don't forget about Beech-Nut, and Earth's Best, these come in handy when your baby is ready for cereal, my little one has been on cereal for 3 months, and we've never bought any without a coupon!

Another money saving tip while we're on the subject of solid food, make your own baby food! It sounds daunting, but honestly it's just cooking veggies like you normally would, sans seasonings, and blend it up! It's super easy, you know exactly what your baby is eating, and to top it off, it's CHEAP! I would recommend investing in a good blender for this though, but don't worry, it'll pay for itself within a month, and it's also good for margaritas :)! I use this site for any questions I have on the best way to cook the food, or any freezing questions. Costco has great prices on frozen organic veggies and fruits such as peas, green beans, and peaches right now, and yes, it is ok to refreeze the cooked veggies and fruits. For example, we cook up a 5lb bag of frozen peas, according to package directions, blend them up, and then divide into ice cube trays. Once the peas are frozen we store in labeled freezer bags, that way we can just pull a couple cubes out at a time for meals, less waste than store bought food, which helps make it even cheaper. And for those concerned about portability, we just use bowls that come with lids, slip them in a ziploc throw them in the diaper bag, and voila!, lunch on the go :).

Sunday, April 19, 2009

A few of my favorites...

There are a TON of great resources out there for frugal Mommas! Here are just a few of my favorites:

BabyCheapSkate is a great website for hot deals on baby stuff, it's updated regularly and also has things like diaper reviews, a diaper cost chart, formula buying resources, cloth diaper info, a great go-to place for deals!

We couldn't have managed without the Baby Bargains book, it's like Consumer Reports but just for baby stuff, and super practical. They give a great run-down of what to and what not-to buy, as well as reviews that include info on safety, reliability, and usability, I used this as a template for registering for my baby shower and recommend it to every new parent!

For general couponing, I use afullcup.com, they have boards for deals at Target, Old Navy, and more, for those of us that don't have time to sort through all the coupons and find the best way to combine them for shopping, this site does it all for you!

Believe it or not, CelebrityBabyBlog is one of my faves as well, they review products and offer the occasional coupon code here as well, granted, most of the items on here are a bit high end.

I'm sure there's a ton more out there, feel free to post your faves in the comments, after a while I'll compile the list of recommendations!