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Today is MEGA SWAGBUCKS FRIDAY, which means instead of earning the usual 10-20 Swagbucks on a search, you can earn between 40-1000, even 2000 swagbucks on a single search!! I seriously LOVE Swagbucks. I think it’s one of the easiest ways to earn free gift cards. You’re already doing internet searches anyway, so why not use a search engine that pays you?

If you’re new to Swagbucks you earn 30 bucks just for signing up! It only takes 450 Swagbucks to earn a $5 Amazon Gift Card, so you’ll be well on your way!! Sign up here.

Besides searching, here are a few of my favorite ways to earn extra Swagbucks EVERY single day:

• NOSO (No Obligation Special Offers)
  Click “Start Earning Now”
  Skip through all offers (3 or 4)
  Earn 1-2 Swagbucks!
• Daily Polls
  Answer One Multiple Choice Question
  Earn 1 Swagbuck!
• Download the SwagBucks Toolbar
  Each day you refresh your page, you earn 1 Swagbuck
• Play Games and Watch Swagbucks TV
• Trusted Surveys – earn bucks for taking surveys

Invite & Earn– Swagbucks recently added a new way to earn swagbucks every single day! For every day you send an invite to a valid email, you will win one Swag Buck. And if they accept your invitation, you will earn matching swagbucks up to 1,000.

Additionally, they have revamped their Gift Card section of the Swag Store. Now you can choose from Home Depot, Fandango, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, CVS, Zappos, Land’s End, Spa Finder, Overstock.com; the list goes on and on.

Make Swagbucks your home page so you always use it for your searches. Then, start searching! You usually earn 10 or 20 swagbucks every few searches. Redeem your swagbucks for gift cards or put the money in your paypal account! You only need 450 swagbucks (you can easily get that within the first 2 weeks) to earn a $5 Amazon card or 1300 swagbucks for a $5 Starbucks card…and they add up quickly! Seriously, if you’re not using Swagbucks, you’re missing out on FREE money! There’s no obligation and no strings attached. I even downloaded the toolbar and have not had ANY issues! It’s just too easy!

So get started and let me know if you’re a big winner!!

There are many other ways to earn…read all about them in my Swagbucks for Dummies post.

“Like” Bounty on Facebook, then click the “$5 Friday” tab on the left to print a coupon for $5.00 off ANY Bounty Product!!

This coupon will go live sometime today (they are calling it a “surprise drop”) and is limited to the first 5,000 fans. If you don’t get a coupon this week, don’t worry. There will be more $5 Fridays!

Here is another FREEBIE! Text DAD to 21525 and sign up for Walgreens Special Offers Text Alerts! Text messaging rates may apply!

Disney has a great program to replace your old damaged movies! If you accidentally damage or break one of your DVD or Blu-ray discs, you can get a replacement for a nominal charge of $6.95.

US Consumers
Please send the damaged disc(s), a check or money order for $6.95 per disc (made payable to WDSHE) and a completed Disc Replacement Form to:

WDSHE Consumer Relations
Attn: Disc Replacement Program
P.O. Box 3100
Neenah, WI 54957

Go here for additional information.

(thanks SaveItSomewhere!)

The following is a guest post, courtesy of Heather with Spectacular Savings.

For a long time, I really disliked cooking.  Regardless of what my mood was before I started cooking, it was lousy by the time I was done.  I was convinced that I just wasn’t meant to be a cook.  Then, one night, I was up late making a meal for a friend on bedrest and, when I was finished, I was still in a good mood.  Well, it turns out that I, do in fact, enjoy cooking.  What I don’t enjoy is cooking while a two year old is begging for me to do another puzzle with her and a baby is crying to be held.  So, I knew that I needed to give freezer cooking a try.

I thought it would be fun to get my friends involved.  Maybe we could all get together and cook a few meals at someone’s house. I really wasn’t sure about the logistics but I wanted to try it with others.  So, I brought the idea up with my Mom’s group.  One of my friends had “subbed” in another meal swap so she grabbed the idea and got us organized!

What is a Meal Swap?
It’s exactly how it sounds!  We get together and swap meals!  There are six of us in a group and we each pick a meal and make 6.  Then, we get together, swap meals, and go home with 6 different meals.

What do you make?
Since we didn’t want to come home from the meal swap with 6 different versions of lasagna, we decided to create 6 different categories that we rotate.

*American/European
*Breakfast for Dinner
*Chili/Soup/Stew
*Italian/Mediterranean
*Indian/Asian/Eastern
*Southwest/Mexican

When we first started the meal swap, I was a little apprehensive.  My original thought was that we would all get together and cook.  I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to do all the cooking by myself.  How boring!  But, because we make just one meal x6, it didn’t take long at all.  I was able to do a lot of prep work all together.  We’ve only had two meal swaps so far but it has only taken, at most, 3 hours of cooking and preparation.  3 hours, 6 meals, no screaming children…..wonderful!

Get a meal swap started with your own friends!  Its a great excuse to get together and a wondeful help to have six meals sitting in the freezer waiting to be tossed in the oven or warmed up on the stove!

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The meal swap is organized, now what?  Pick a recipe and buy the ingredients, right? 
Well, not exactly.  You still need to stay within your budget.  This is something that I’m still working on.  Here are some tips to stay within your budget:

*Look through your cupboards and then decide what you’re making.  Use your stockpile.  If you pick a recipe before you check out your stockpile, you may end up needing to buy everything.  That is what I did last month….eek!!

*Plan ahead.  Because we have a rotation, I know which category I have for each month.  I went through and decided on the meal that I would make within each category.  I wrote down the ingredients I will need for each and I pick them up as they go on sale.

The following is a guest post from Jamie of Time 2 Save Workshops.

With the weather turning beautiful, I’m getting Yard Sale fever! Here are some tips I’ve learned from my years of “Yard Sailing”.

“Yard-Sailing”.
It’s the preferred weekend pastime of the Optimistic Cheapskate!  You never know what you’ll find in a morning’s worth of Yard Sailing – heck, sometimes you’ll come home empty-handed – but your inner optimist will pull you out of bed time and time again for another coffee-fueled expedition.

I’ve been yard-sailing religiously since I was 11, heading out on my bike out early Saturday mornings with my backpack and $2 weekly allowance.  I was forced to stretch that $2 to the max – and so I did – charming old folks out of their vintage clothes & jewelry (I have a vintage problem…) and talking tight-fisted children out of Barbie collections.

In my adult life, I’ve clothed myself and my family with yard sale finds, furnished parts of my home, and even stocked my Gift-Closet with yard sale treasures.  If you’re a little green to yard-sailing, or maybe just rusty, here are some tips I’ve learned to help you make the most of a Saturday morning!

Before You Begin: Chart Your Course

With the rise in gas prices, yard-sailing has become a more expensive pastime than in years gone by.  The only way to sail the subdivisions without spending a fortune is to map out your route ahead of time.  How?  If you’re a serious couponer – you know that a good plan can make ALL the difference.  Everyone has their own method, but here’s mine:

1. Buy a paper as you head out OR check the local newspaper online *My favorite option
2. Print out the list and mark the ones you REALLY want to hit
3. Group together sales that are near each other, so you can see what area of town has the most bang for your gas buck
4. Finally, chart an efficient path to hit the sales you most want to visit
5. Don’t recognize the road? Mapquest it!

After charting a course for your treasure-hunt, it’s time to get down to business.  Here are several tips and tricks I’ve learned to get what you want and pay what you want.

☀YARD SALE TIPS☀

1) If at all possible, go the first day of the sale
That’s when most of the treasures will disappear quickly.  I mean REALLY quickly.  Like 6 am.

2) If you can’t make it early, make it late
On the last day of a sale, when the homeowners have been sitting in the sun haggling over prices for too many hours, they’ll likely take whatever you’re willing to offer to avoid hauling everything back inside.  I’ve gotten many things totally free by showing up after 12.

3) Friendly Small-Talk Pays Off!
On your way up the drive, wave and smile!    Chat about the weather. Ask if they’ve done well so far. Sellers are MUCH more willing to cut a deal when you’ve been friendly – silent strangers don’t engender much generosity.

When you’re strapped for time/gas money – search for these: Neighborhood/Subdivision Yard Sales, Church Rummage Sales, or School Sales.  These will yield the biggest selection of stuff, with the least amount of driving around.  Plus, church yard sales are VERY CHEAP!!!

5) Carry small bills and change:
Although it’s no crime to talk someone down from $5 to $2 for a cute set of dishes, it will hurt their feelings when you brandish your crisp $20 bill to pay for it.  It’s just bad form, sailor!

6) Buy in Bulk.
When you’ve picked out an armful of items you can often get the seller to give you a multi-item discount.  If you’ve got $10 worth of t-shirts in your arms, you should definitely ask “Will you take $7 for all these?”  You’d be surprised at how many times the answer is “Sure!”

7) Big-Ticket-Item Strategy:
Mrs. Smith was very attached to her old couch.  She needs to sell it, but her memories won’t let it go cheaply.  But she’s asking $200 – Argghh!!!  You really, really NEED a couch, but what can you do?  See the following protocol for “Big Ticket” haggling….

✭”The Haggle”:  Ask if she would take $100 for the couch.  Notice aloud that there are a few stains and a rip on the side, even murmur a “Hmmm, I don’t know…” or two while circling the couch.  She still won’t budge on the price?  Well, either try to meet her halfway (between your offer and her price) or it’s time to stage….

✭”The Walkaway”:  In order to be a good bargaineer, you have to be willing to walk away. I suggest walking slowly, with wistful backwards glances thrown in.  In my experience, this will yield a “shout-out” 60% of the time.  For instance they might say, “You know, if you really want that I’ll take $$!!”  or “Tell you what, give me $$$ and it’s yours!”
Of course, if they don’t call out, and you’re not ready to give up hope – just pretend you were walking to your car for pen and paper so that you could do this…

✭The “Here’s My Number”:  If a yard sale is still in progress, and Mrs. Smith is still holding out hope to sell her beloved couch for $200, she’s not likely to go down on the price.  However, there is one more chance to get what you want.  Give her your phone number and tell her why you need the item.  I know, this sounds corny, but it works.  For instance: “Listen, I really love this couch, but I honestly can’t afford what you’re asking.  If you don’t end up selling it, I can offer you $50.  I know that’s not what you’re hoping for, but we really need a new couch and I love it so much I couldn’t leave without trying!”  We got our whole living room set totally free that way.

(NOTE: I’m not suggesting in the least that you lie to get something you want – when I got my couches for free, I truly could only offer the seller $50 for them.  A bargain is no bargain at all if it costs your integrity!)

I hope some of these tips might prove helpful as Yard-Sale season sets in.  Most importantly, you should enjoy the adventure – and if you’re trying to save money, avoid buying “Stuff” just because it’s cheap.   With your map in your pocket, hot coffee in your thermos, and a hopeful spirit- you’ll be ready to sail through a sea of subdivisions!

What tips do you have for yard-sailing? Please leave your comments below!

Remember the high value $1.50 coupon I told you about yesterday? Well, you can get a great deal on these cleaners at Walgreens this week (through Sat):

Buy (3) Softscrub Total Bath & Bowl – $3.00 each ($9)
Buy (3) Soft Scrub with Bleach Cleaners – $3.00 each ($9)
Use (3) FREE Soft Scrub Cream Cleanser or Gel wyb Soft Scrub Total or Bleach Clean Product from 6/12 RP
Use (3) $1.50/1 Softscrub printables (you will need 2 computers to print 3)
Pay $4.50, get back $4.00 RR
Final cost is $0.08 each

(thanks SavingInAkron!)

Ah…the dreaded slow cooker. I say that because when I first got marrired – anytime I would mention a crockpot meal  I would get that “look” from my husband who is expecting a dried up hunk of meat and vegetables that no longer resemble anything you should be putting into your body.

But it doesn’t have to be like that!! Using a slow cooker can save you time and  money AND be DELICIOUS.

Slow Cooking tips to help save you time and money:

Plan Ahead. Yes, you can just throw a hunk of frozen meat and a jar of your favorite gravy in the pot and call it a day. But planning ahead is essential to saving you time, money and getting a great end product.  Generally, you will need several hours – hence the name “slow cooker”. Frozen meat should be thawed – at least partially, so think ahead the night before and plan accordingly. You also want to make sure you have all the ingredients ahead of time.

Do Your Prep Work. I like to prepare any meat, veges and other ingredients the night before and have it in the slow cooker waiting in the refrigerator for the next morning. That way, in the morning all I have to do is take it out and plug her in!  A few of my recipes call for me to sear my meat on all sides on the stove to seal in the juices before I place it in the slow cooker. That could take several minutes, so it’s a great do-ahead. Some recipes call for you to add in some ingredients (such as potatoes or carrots) later in the day. Have those ready in a separate baggy waiting for you.

Buy Cheaper Ingredients. Many slow cooker recipes call for cheaper cuts of meat. The slow cooking process and cooking liquid helps break down the toughness of the meat, leaving you with moist meat at a fraction of the cost. Additionally, because you’re getting more juices from the meat to make your “broth”, you end up with a more flavorful end product when just using water. No need to add stocks or soups.

Repurpose Your Meals. Consider making one meal in the beginning of the week and “morphing” it into something else later on in the week. A great example would be to cook a whole chicken on Monday for a “raost” chicken dinner, then later in the week use some of the leftover meat to make chicken tacos or even chicken noodle soup. Beef can be a stew one day, stroganoff the next. This saves you time and uses up leftovers efficiently. I’ve also been known to just eat the same thing for 3 or 4 days in a row. 😉

Think Outside of the Box. Did you know that you could make homemade yogurt in your slow cooker? Or playdough? Or recycle broken crayon pieces into new ones? Try making breakfast instead of dinner! Have fun with it! There are several resources that offer slow cooker recipes. Don’t be afraid to try something new!

If you have an awesome slow cooker recipe or tip, please share by leaving a comment below!

Update: Available in participating Utah and California locations ONLY!

Print this coupon and head to your nearest Chili’s where you can get 2 FREE kids meals per adult entree purchased.