I’m very excited to share with you a new program from Schwan’s Home Service called “EAT FOR FREE”(tm). I love SCHWAN’S(r) products, quality and convenience and want to share this incredible new program with all of my friends! You probably know Schwan’s Home Service from the delicious foods they deliver right to your front door in their famous INCA GOLD trucks.

The “EAT FOR FREE”(tm) Program is a rewards and loyalty program where you refer friends and family and earn back rewards on their online purchases – and with enough referrals and their online purchases can begin to eat for free! I am excited about the opportunity to start receiving free food each month by referring friends and family… it’s so easy there’s no reason not to. Enrollment is fast, simple and free, click the link to learn more. Click Here

Rewards are simple to earn and delicious to redeem. So start referring, redeeming and eating for free today!

To give you an idea of some of the great things Schwan’s has to offer: Specials.

Enjoy

Why do you use coupons? They provide a discount on items and services that you use most. For the manufacturer who offers the coupon, they get advertising that costs not very much. Whenever you don’t use coupons, they are still saving money. They can claim their losses, but what about you?

It costs you nothing but a little time to search out and use coupons that are available for your needs. Once you get in the habit of clipping them, taking them to the store or entering that online coupon code, you will wonder what you ever complained about in the first place.

1. Currentcodes.com ? This site lists online coupon codes for hundreds of stores, some operate online only and others have physical stores. You can browse by merchant or by category of item you want to purchase. The coupon codes are constantly updated for your convenience by their staff so that you can have one stop shopping for all of your online coupon needs.

2. MyCoupons.com ? Here you can find thousands of coupons both printable and online coupon codes. There are also shopping forums to discuss everything from shopping savvy tips to how to use coupons to your greatest advantage. If you know of a useful coupon code that you don’t find on the site, you can enter it for others to use. New to the site is also a feature where you can buy unwanted gift cards with a variety of available balances.

3. CouponCabin.com ? Find coupon codes for hundreds of items including cosmetics, pet supplies and sewing fabric. You can even get discounts on buying gift certificates for restaurants. There is a section with coupons where you can receive free samples either or filling out a questionnaire or for a “Buy One, Get One Free” deal.

4. Wow-coupons.com ? This coupon site has a US and a UK site. You’ll find coupons for grocery stores, gyms, dentist visits, clothing stores and more. If you are looking to travel, there are coupon codes for that as well. Just about everything you are looking for can be found at Wow. Part of the fun is just looking to see all the great things they offer.

5. CouponMom.com ? You don’t have to be a mom to make use of this site. Anyone who wants to save on their online and offline shopping can check it out. Find coupons for fast food restaurants, free samples, printable coupons and other offers that will save you money. Membership is free.

If you are looking for more coupons than just the ones you find in the newspaper, try these five sites.

Why are free coupons available?

In short, it is a great advertising move. You have to spend money to make money. And, in business, you want to make money. Free coupons get you to shop for one thing and the advertising will get you to try something else while you are there.

There are plenty of places to find free coupons if you know where to look. Here are just four of the most popular ones.

Magazines, Newspapers & More

The first place to look is your reading material. In among all of the other coupons you receive, there are always a couple of free ones lurking. In magazines, advertisers love to slip in a free coupon for a trial sample of their latest hair care product or lotions. When new stores open, they are glad to send out coupons for free scoops of ice cream or a tree trial size item just to get you to visit the store.

Survey Sites

Survey sites are also places to find free coupons. You can use free coupons for other things besides groceries. For filling out surveys on sites like Nubella.com you will be able to take advantage of discount links for free beauty products and trial sizes of food products.

With these short surveys, you can also gain access to free doses of medication. When your doctor prescribes a certain drug for you, you can use the free coupon at the pharmacy to save on your prescription bills. Who couldn’t use that nowadays?

Websites

Online, you can surf the Web for sites offering free coupons. Now there are some scam artists out there so read the entire coupon offer before clicking on anything. If the coupon is free, the only vital information you may have to enter is your email address or physical address and your name. Anyone who asks for financial information is out to get you.

Try a site like www.mysavings.com. Just for signing up for a free membership, you gain access to hundreds of free coupons that will save you money. Once you sign up for membership on one site, others will be knocking at your virtual door asking you to sign up with them.

Your Inbox

Your email is another great place to find free coupon deals. Before you clear out that bulk mail folder or delete your junk mail, look through the subject lines. You are bound to come across a coupon site or two.

Who wouldn’t want to open their mailbox and find coupons for freebies or a box of free samples? It costs you nothing but an email address to get started with most of the sites online and since it’s free, you can cancel at anytime you wish.

The most likely place to find money saving coupons is the newspaper. On Sunday especially, the newspaper is full of store circulars and coupons for products you use all the time and new items that you can try for next to nothing. This is the first place that everyone looks.

Manufacturers also offer printable coupons online. These coupons have barcodes and can be printed off of your printer and used in the store they pertain to. Most people don’t think about these coupons but they save you lots of money.

Have you ever received emails with links to recipes for sites like Betty Crocker, Bisquick or Cooking Light? If you like to cook or rather like to eat, check out these links. You can unsubscribe to these emails whenever you like, but give them a look first. Not only do you find interesting recipes but also offers for coupons. Simply agree to receive new offers and your electronic mailbox will be full of coupons for cake mix, pancake mix, free trial size lotions, hairsprays and other toiletries.

Printable coupons are also available on websites. Try sites like www.coolsavings.com or www.allprintablecoupons.com. You can search by category or brand name to find coupons that fit your needs. Click on the coupons that you want and then print them out. It couldn’t be easier.

If you belong to survey sites, you know that you can make extra money by offering your opinion. Some survey sites also offer points for taking advantage of their offers through links on their sites. On MyPoints.com, one of these discount links leads to printable grocery coupons. Every coupon that you redeem at the store earns you points towards gift card rewards when you reach a certain points level.

Don’t neglect all those magazines you buy. While you are reading the articles and looking at the pictures, take a glance over at the advertising pages. Many advertisers include a coupon along with their ads to entice customers to buy their product. Some types of coupons offered can include, Buy One, Get One Free or up to $1.00 or more off of a starter pack for air freshener or a new mechanical mop. If you ignore them, you’ll be throwing away money.

Look for displays at the front of your grocery store. Some grocery stores have coupon bins where customers can drop off coupons that they don’t need in case someone else can use them. There could be a coupon worth using in there if you take the time to look.

Coupons are a valuable asset to the shopper trying to save money on all of their goods and services. Get in the habit of looking for a coupon deal everywhere so you don’t miss out on great savings.

Online coupons are not like printable coupons that you find in newspapers and magazines. Online stores can’t scan your coupon like they do in the store. Instead, you will see a picture of a coupon that has a bolded code made of numbers and letters at the bottom. This code is the way that you use online coupons.

Some sites call this code a coupon code and some call it a promotional code. The two names are interchangeable. A coupon code (we’ll call it that since we are talking about coupons) is used at checkout just like in the actual store.

But, where do you find these handy coupon codes for online coupons? Stores don’t tell you this but there are sites that list coupon codes for a number of popular stores. One such site is www.currentcodes.com. This site keeps up with the latest codes so you don’t have to spend tons of time visiting website after website to find the code you’re looking for.

If you get an offer through an email from a site to shop there, go to your coupon code site and see if that store offers any coupon codes you can shop with. It is like a goldmine for online shoppers. There are online coupon offers like “Free shipping on all orders”, “Save $50 on all orders over $100″, and “15% off your entire order.”

Online coupon codes do expire so be mindful of time limits. Read the fine print after each coupon code so you know the exact requirements for the coupon code to be valid. You don’t want to get to check out and find out that you can’t use your code.

Some online coupons are presented to you in the form of links. If you’ve ever bought anything online, you will get an email from everyone wanting you to spend money with them. In the email ads, you’ll see things like “Click here to save 10% on your next order.” By clicking on that link, you are taken to the offer website to the page where you can use your savings. Upon checkout, your savings are automatically deducted because you clicked on the discounted link. But, check to be sure you aren’t being ripped off.

With online coupons, there are no long lines to stand in and you don’t use up your precious gas driving to the store. Many online stores offer deals on items that aren’t for sale in their physical stores. These coupon codes take some time to find, but they add up to big savings for the diligent shopper.

Coupons used to be only paper. You could cut them out of the Sunday paper and they were good for a month or two. Now, coupons are in the newspaper, magazines, printable from websites and in the form of online coupons that are great when shopping on the Internet. With so many choices for coupons, you can save money at every turn.

1. Cut out coupons for the grocery store. People have to eat. It’s a fact of life. Those coupons in the Sunday paper are good for everything from cat food to candy bars (not that you should eat a lot of those). Snip all that may apply to your household needs.

2. Get organized. Use a slotted folder or one of those coupon expandable files to hold all of your coupons. Categorize the slots so every time you go to the grocery store, you can pull out the stack of coupons that pertain to the goodies in your buggy.

3. Use coupons for other things besides the grocery store. Coupons can be found in magazines on advertising pages and in amongst your mail on other days of the week. There are coupons for restaurants, car repairs, mattresses and carpet steam cleaning. Everyone will need car repairs at some point (especially after your last payment) so those auto coupons can come in handy.

4. Present your coupon before you buy in some instances. This applies to restaurants and car repairs. If you have any questions about the coupon’s validity, ask before you spend the time shopping. If you can have your brakes serviced for $100, be sure that it includes both sets of brakes and the rotors and/or brake pads. Know what you are getting so you can judge if the coupon is a good deal.

5. Look for other bargains to pair with your coupons. Coupons can be just like money ? it burns a hole in your pocket. If you have a coupon for 20 percent off your purchase at an electronics store, shop the store circular to see if they have anything on sale that you want to purchase. Save that 20 percent off coupon for when that laptop you want goes on sale. Now, you’ll get an extra percentage off the total price.

6. Use store incentives. Some stores (mostly grocery stores) offer coupons and discounts just for signing up for their store incentive card. Just by walking in the store, you receive a discount on many items they sell. In combination with a coupon you can save more.

Coupons can save you money on clothing, groceries, automotive needs, travel and movies. To get the most bang for your buck, read coupons carefully and bide you time before you use them to receive the greatest benefit.

To make Homemade Laundry Detergent from a Gourmet Bath Bar:

What you will need:

1 Gourmet Bath Bar
1 Cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1 Cup 20 Mule team Borax
5 Gallon Bucket
3 Gallons 4 cups Water
2 quart sauce pan
Large spoon

Place 4 cups of water into 2 quart sauce pan set on medium/high heat (be
careful not to let water boil over)
Grate the bath bar using potato peeler or other device and add to the
water gradually as it heats
You want the bath bar to be completely melted in the water leaving no
clumps or chunks.

Fill your 5 gallon bucket with 3 gallons of hot water, 20 mule team and Washing
Soda
Stir with large spoon
Once the bath bar mixture is ready, add it to the 5 gallon bucket and stir
Place lid on bucket and let sit for 24 hours

Use One Cup for each load of laundry

This process takes about 15-20 minutes and you have saved money and gone
more green by using a quality product that will leave your laundry smelling GREAT!

Review: I get tired of having lemonade, tea and juice all summer long. My children are even more tired of it. I wanted to give them a little excitement to their summer by changing that. It was one way I could help to make their summer a memorable one.

I found this neat little book and boy have we had some fun making smoothies this summer.

Filled with lots of information this book has helped us to reinvent our summer drinking habits. By using fruit I know these drinks are healthy for my children too. Even though there are a few that hit that sugar spot for them once in a while.

From the names of the recipes to how these smoothies all come together you will find some humor. It’s great fun to let the kids pick a new smoothie to try just because of those cute names. Like Pineapple Pixel or Lord of the Bings my kids laugh every time we open this up.

We haven’t tried them all yet but so far the ones we have tried have been delicious. The recipes are easy to follow, the items used are easy to find and it even gives you some alternatives that you can use to change it around a little. The part of how to buy and store the fruits is also interesting. I also like the part about the equipment you can use. That has helped me in a lot of ways with knowing what is a good recipe for the kids to make or if I should do this one as a surprise for them.

We’ve had a lot of fun experimenting with our smoothies. I see smoothies in the future for every summer. They are a cool, refreshing drink that my children enjoy and I can’t beat that.

It’s understandable. Modern families are busy. Both parents work and sometimes get home at different times. Children have activities to go to, and Mom’s got to drive them all over the place. Really, who’s got the time and energy to even cook dinner every single night?

You, that’s who! Eating together is good for you and your family. So you better make time and find the energy to make home-cooked meals and sit down and eat together more often.

Researchers have found many benefits to home-cooked meals. Watch this video to learn about some of them. In my own experience, though, there are many more. Here are 24 reasons I have found to share family meals more often:

1. Families who eat together eat healthier, because home-cooked food is healthier than fast food.

2. Family meals allow busy families to catch up with each other.

3. Young children learn a lot of verbal skills just by eating with their family members.

4. It gives everyone a chance to unwind after a busy day.

5. Having family meals more often forces you to end your working day and other obligations in time for dinner.

6. Home cooked meals are not only healthier, they’re also cheaper than takeout food or eating out.

7. Eating together forces everybody to tell stories.

8. Cooking at home motivates you to be creative with your meal planning and cooking.

9. Children can get involved in cooking meals.

10. Cooking and eating together creates happy childhood memories.

11. Eating together is an opportunity to explore different cuisines.

12. Eating with your family is more fun than eating in front of the television (or the computer).

13. Eating together gives parents a chance to talk about current events from their point of view, injecting their personal values without giving a lecture.

14. Eating together helps family members bond and get to know each other better.

15. You’ll be surprised what your kids reveal when you’re in a relaxed environment, such as a family meal.

16. Kids are less likely to roll their eyes when you reminisce and tell stories from your childhood while eating a meal together.

17. Family meals can be good teaching moments, even for small children. My toddler learned how to count by counting after-meal treats on his high chair.

18. Eating together is a good opportunity to teach and model good manners.

19. Family meals give a good transition from work or school to home life.

20. Family meals are also good times to share music together.

21. Family meals teach everyone valuable life skills, such as sharing and taking turns.

22. Stopping and sitting down to a meal gives everyone a chance to quiet down and regroup.

23. Family meals provide an additional occasion for family members to pray together.

24. Eating home is more eco-friendly than eating out or ordering food – less waste!

If you think having family meals is too much work, don’t despair. You can get help for everything from meal planning to putting your weekly grocery shopping list together. Check out Dine Without Whine for kid-tested, quick recipes that will help you put together family meals with less effort. Dine Without Whine’s weekly shopping lists will also help you get food shopping done much faster, and even save money on groceries.

As you can see from the list above, the extra time and effort you spend to have family meals more often are worthwhile.