Frugal Family Night

We love family nights in this house. With 3 kids 5 and under we are limited to what we can do but we still like to take special opportunities to just bond with our kids over something fun that we can all enjoy. Most often family nights involve board games or movies, picnic dinner or take out, and sometimes staying up a little later then usual. It doesn't always involve spending money but it is nice to include special treats from time to time. This can add up if done regularly so I always try to keep my eye out for deals that revolve around what we like to do.

Today I spotted a great deal on pizza (we love to indulge about once a month and sprawl out in front of a movie together:) at Papa John's - now through August 12th you can use promo code SUMMER50 to receive 50% off anything at regular menu price. That goes towards your entire order! Whether you want one pizza or 10, bread sticks or pop, you can get it all at half price as long as it isn't already on special. Pretty great deal!

We have a decent kid's movie selection and also a Netflix account so that is where most of our movies pull from. But there is always Redbox (lots of promo codes can be found online) and sometimes we hit the $5 bin at Walmart to stock up on some different movies. We did that this week and so tonight's feature is Flushed Away.

Speaking of Redbox, make sure you go under your account and sign-up to receive email and/or text alerts for deals. Each month you will receive a code for a free rental and occasionally you will receive extra deals. If you haven't reserved online before, you get a free rental after your first reservation. Today we go a promo code to try out Madagascar 3 the video game for free. Our kids are young enough that they don't ever get to play the video game systems alone and it is just something we do as a family at this point so whenever we get a chance, the kids see it as quite a treat. I am sure this game will be lots of fun for us all (thanks Redbox)!

 That is tonight's Frugal Family Night plans. What does your family like to do together? What ways do you cut cost when entertaining your brood? Love to hear your thoughts!

And the winner is...

The winner of the My Memories Suite Scrapbooking Software giveaway has been drawn at random by Rafflecopter. Are we all anxious to see who it is?

Drum roll please.....Entry #4 - Timberlee

CONGRATULATIONS TIMBERLEE!! I have emailed you the details so you should be getting hooked up with your software shortly.

For those of you who are slightly disappointed you didn't win and have gotten really hooked on the idea of owning this software, you aren't totally out of luck. MyMemories has been kind enough to offer my readers a promo code that provides a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook Software AND a $10 coupon for the My Memories store. That's a $20 value!! Just enter the promo code STMMMS88141 at checkout and the discount will automatically be applied.

Amazon Subscribe and Save AND Earning Amazon Cards

Let me start by saying that this post is not sponsored by Amazon and I am receiving nothing in exchange for writing it. I actually use and love Amazon Subscribe and Save and want to share with those I love!

I posted a picture earlier today on my blog's Facebook page, of my most recent Amazon Subscribe and Save purchase. Actually, it was two separate purchases but they came the same week and are both great deals so I am lumping them together. Here I have 280 Huggies diapers and 12 11oz CoffeeMate creamers all for only $30.40.

How did I do that you ask? I would love to share with you! First, read up here to learn about Amazon Subscribe and Save. When you find items that offer the Subscribe and Save option you automatically get a discount. The great part about that is if you find a product you love you can have it delivered to your house at regular intervals. Or, if you are just wanting it that one time at the discounted price, you can easily cancel your subscription as soon as the first shipment arrives. Now to really score a deal you want to also pair that up with items that are either exceptionally marked down (which was the case for the diapers I bought) or that have additional savings through a promo code (which is the case for the creamer). When you can stack the Subscribe and Save discount with an additional 5-40% off through a promo code you can score some cheap stuff. I have gotten everything from cereal and coffee to diapers and wipes. A bonus to the subscribe and save feature is that you automatically get free shipping as well. Score!

Now all of this information alone will save you some money. But had I just used the Subscribe and Save with the promo code I would have paid $60.40 for the stuff pictured above...still a great deal of course. But I maximized my savings by using $30 worth of Amazon gift cards that I earned through various online sites. Let me emphasize that I do not pay for my Amazon cards, I earn them. How do I do that?

The most consistent way that I earn amazon cards is through Swagbucks which started as a search engine and has morphed into something more. When you use Swagbucks to do your searching you randomly earn "bucks" that you save up to cash in for things. I always use mine for Amazon gift cards because you can buy almost anything on Amazon. Besides searching to earn bucks you can also take polls, surveys, play games, print coupons and do a number of other things to earn. It really is easy and you CAN earn just by doing your regular searching.

I also recently joined Crowdtap which is a fun site that allows you to perform "quick hits" that are mostly multiple choice polls to earn points. As you earn points you earn different ranks and when you reach a certain rank you are eligible to take part in discussions that can earn you cash. In the first two weeks of joining I had already earned $20 just for talking about Old Navy clothes and the 4th of July. I got to cash that out in the form of an Amazon card (and a percentage of everything I earn on that site goes to a charity of my choice, which is a bonus). You also are given different opportunities through companies like Old Navy to receive free product for yourself and your friends. I have been very pleased with the payout on this site and everything I have participated in has been fun as well.

The one survey only sight I take part of at the moment is Synovate Global Opinion Panels. It took me only a handful of surveys to earn my first $5 and you have the choice of whether or not to have your money sent in a check or to be used at any number of participating vendors. I usually choose Amazon cards because I can stack them with all the other ones I earn.

Finally, I have been a member of SheSpeaks for sometime. It is a great place to share your opinion and learn about new products and ideas that effect women. In the past I have received some great items to review as well as tons of freebies and coupons. Most recently I was asked to share a video about a woman leader who inspired me and it earned me a $10 Amazon card. Want to see the video I entered? Kind of embarrassing but here you go.

Wow...I realize that was a LOT of information. Let me know if you want specific information on anything I covered, I would be happy to share what I know. I have talked before about the reason I work hard on couponing and bargain shopping and that is because I love to make my husband's hard earned money stretch as far as possible. By earning Amazon cards through very little effort on my part, I feel like I have found one more way to contribute. It is actually a thrill when I make scores like the one above! And my husband always gets excited with me which makes it even more worthwhile.