Let me introduce myself!

Welcome readers. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nicole and I live in Omaha, Nebraska with my husband and three kids, ages 5, 3 and 1. I do not work outside the home, but do consider this blog a business. In June 2009, I received my Master's in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. I have two undergraduate degrees, one in Business Management and the other in Russian language studies.

Prior to becoming a stay at home mom, I spent seven years in the Navy working in the Intelligence field. The Navy also trained me as a financial counselor. I helped many service members analyze their spending, prepare budgets and make sound financial decisions. If you're interested in learning more about budgeting, I have prepared several articles here.

Transitioning to living one income has been difficult for us and I started looking for ways to stretch our income. I began actively budgeting, tracking spending, couponing, requesting free samples, entering sweepstakes, using reward programs to earn gift certificates and shopping at Walgreens. With all the money saving, we were able to pay down over $10,000 in credit card debt in 2008 and are now proudly credit card debt free. It's a great feeling to make such progress on our debt and to finally be free of it. We were also able to start college funds for the kids and an IRA for me.

I am so passionate about saving money and amazed at how much my efforts have helped our family that I started this blog in September of last year. I enjoy having a place to share all my great finds and money saving tips. This blog is also starting to become a source of additional revenue for our family through affiliate programs and product reviews. Read more information about starting your own blog free here.

I appreciate each of my readers who make this all possible. I'm happy to be able provide excellent and useful information to help you save money. I also really enjoy hearing from my readers, so please leave me comments or email me anytime.

Walgreens Deals 11/1-11/7

Here are the freebies and good deals I found in this week's Walgreen's advertisement.

FREEBIES
Hunt's Tomato Sauce @ 3/$1
- $1/3 printable from Recession Payback (must play game)
= FREE

Good Deals
Herbal Essence hair care @ 2/$7
- $2 register reward
- BOGO coupon from 10/11
= 2/$1.50 or $0.75 each

Blue Diamond almonds, 6 oz @ $3.49 and BOGO free
- $0.50 coupon printable here (print 2)
= 2/$2.49 or $1.25 each

Campbell's Select Harvest soup @ 4/$5
- $1/4 coupon from 10/4
= 4/$4 or $1 each

Arm & Hammer laundry detergent, 26-32 loads @ $6.99 and BOGO free
- $1/2 coupon printable here (you must register to print)
= 2/$5.99 or $3 each

TAG body spray, 3.5-4 oz @ 2/$8
- $2 register reward
- BOGO free coupon from 9/27
= 2/$2 or $1 each

Johnson & Johnson first aid @ $3.99
- $8 register reward when you buy 3
- $1 coupon from 8/2 (use 3)
= 3/$0.97 or $0.33 each

Glade Sense & Spray @ $4.99
- $4 coupon from 10/18 (use 2)
- $1/2 Walgreen's November coupon book
= 2/$0.98 or $0.49 each

Vick's Dayquil, Nyquil or Vapor Rub @ 2/$9
- $3 register reward
- $1.50 coupon from 10/11
= 2/$3 or $1.50 each

Blistex Lip Balm @ $2.49
- $1.50 register reward
= $0.99

Dial foaming hand or yogurt soap, 3 pack bar @ $1.99
- $1 register reward
- $0.35 coupon from 10/4
= $0.64

Dawn dish liquid, 10.3 oz @ $0.99
- $0.25 coupon from 11/1
= $0.74

What other good deals did you find at Walgreen's this week?

Blog Giveways week of 10/31/09! List your giveaway! Enter to win!

Are you hosting a blog giveaway? Share it here so all Mom Saves Money readers can enter. Every Saturday I will start a new post with a Mr. Linky for you to list your giveaways.

Please include at minimum a description of the prize and the direct url to the giveaway. Good Luck!

Sunday coupon preview 11/1

This Sunday, October 25, there will be three coupon inserts in the newspaper: Smartsource, Redplum and P&G.
Click the image below to preview all the coupons.

Save 31% at eHarlequin - Oct 31 ONLY!

This offer no longer available This is a great deal for avid readers and is only available for 24 hours on Halloween day, Oct 31 Only Save 31%* on eHarlequin!*Applies to regularly priced print books, excludes eBooks & Theme Coll.

FREE mini pizza on Halloween from Papa Murphy's!

This offer no longer available Kids wearing their Halloween costume on October 31, 2009 will receive a FREE mini kid size pizza from Papa Murphy's. My daughter gets so excited when has her own little pizza to eat. Check with your local store for participation.

(Thanks A Thrifty Mom)

FREE bath gift set with Johnson's purchase!

Receive a FREE baby frog bath toy gift set ($10 value) when you mail in a receipt from any Johnson's bath or lotion product dated 9/28/09 to 12/1/09. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. Should arrive just in time for the holidays if you send it out now.

Send Receipts,name & mailing address to:
Johnson & Johnson/Parents GWP
375 Lexington Ave 10th Floor
New York, NY 10017

Need coupons for Johnson's products? Print them here.

FREE Black Jack Taco on Halloween!

This offer no longer available Stop by Taco Bell on Halloween between 6pm and midnight for a FREE Black Jack Taco ($0.89 value). Limit 1 per person while supplies last. Details here.

CLOSED Giveaway! Nature Valley Granola Prize Pack!

The new Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters are so delicious! They are made from 100% natural ingredients, with NO high fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oils (we try to avoid both of these for health reasons). My 3 1/2 year old daughter enjoys the clusters for a quick and easy snack. The bags are resealable so I can take the clusters for on-the-go snacking.

New Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters come in four flavors: Nut Lovers, Roasted Almond, Roasted Cashew and Honey Roasted Peanut. Thanks to MyBlogSpark I received a bag of each of the four flavors, a cool eco shoulder bag, a reusable water bottle, flashlight and binoculars.

Giveaway: Thanks to MyBlogSpark I have a Nature Valley Granola Prize Pack (see picture) to give away to one lucky reader. You can earn up to six entries for your chance to win. Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

First Entry
1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite element of nature. Please leave an email or way to contact you if you win.

Bonus Entries
2. Subscribe to my free newsletter here and leave me another comment. Current subscribers or followers just leave a comment saying you subscribe/follow to get an extra entry.

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

3. Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment. Please include @momsavesmoney in the tweet.

4. Grab my button and leave another comment with your site's url.

5. Blog about the giveaway and leave another comment with the link to the post

6. Email three or more friends about the giveaway, cc the email to me at Nicole@momsavesmoney.net and leave another comment here.

This contest will end on Sunday November 8, 2009 at 10:00 pm, central time. I will use random.org to select the winners and contact them. (If winners do not respond in 48 hours, I will pick another.) U.S. entries only. Good luck and thanks for entering!

JCPenney $10 off $10 and $5 cash back!

This offer no longer available
Receive a $10 item from JCPenney's for only $0.95 shipped. Here's how:

1. Sign up for Shop at Home. As a new member, you receive $5 cash back from your first purchase plus 3% cash back of your total order at JcPenney's.

2. Select JCPenney from the Shop at Home website and start shopping.

3. Add $10 to your cart and use code SWEETS4U to take $10 off your order.

The shipping is $5.95, and after you receive your cash back from Shop at Home your total cost is $0.95! Great deal!

Hot Coupons & Price Matching Deals 10/28-11/3

HOT COUPONS from coupons.com printable here. Here are some highlights:

$1.50 off Hormel refrigerated entree
$1.00 off Coffeemate creamer
$1.00 off Budding meats
$3.00 off Huggies Pure & Natural diapers
$1.00 off Nature Valley granola nut clusters
$1.00 off Starbucks ice cream
$1.00 off Barbara's organic cereal
$1.00/2 Ronzoni Smart Taste or Healthy Harvest pasta
$0.50 off Starkist pouch tuna
Lots more coupons, including 14 just for TOYS Click here

$1.00 off Venom Energy Drink
$1.00 off Sara Lees frozen dessert
$1.50 off two Kellogg's Shredded Wheat
$1.00 off Kellogg's Yogos
$1.00 off Success Rice product
Buy one get one free Meaty bone dog biscuits


Here are my top price matching deals for the Omaha Metro area:

Russett potatoes, 5 lb bag $0.99 HyVee
Campbell's Chunky Soup, 18.6-19 oz $1.25 Baker's
Jolly Time popcorn, 4.8-10.5 oz $1.00 HyVee
Farmland Boneless ham $0.99/lb No Frills
Granny Smith, Golden or Red Delicious Apples $0.68/lb No Frills
Large Eggs, dozen $0.88 No Frills
Pillsbury Brownie Mix, 19.5 oz fudge or milk chocolate $0.69 Bag n' Save
Barilla pasta, 16 oz $0.77 Bag n' Save
Robert's Chocolate milk, 1/2 gallon $1.25 Fareway
Midwest Pride Grade A Turkey breast $0.98/lb Super Saver
Progresso traditional soups, 18.5-19 oz $1.22 Super Saver
Peter Pan peanut butter, creamy or chunky, 16 oz $1.33 Super Saver

HyVee shoppers: Buy any 6 General Mills Cereals (8.7-25.25 oz), save $10 instantly and get a coupon for FREE milk. Print coupons here.

Free lip gloss at Victoria's Secret!

This offer no longer available
Receive a FREE Beauty Rush lip gloss with a free bra fitting at Victoria's Secret retail locations. Limit one per customer per day. Expires November 15, 2009 or while supplies last.

Your pledge helps Save the Children and enters you to win a double oven!

Pledge to spend just one hour with your child, and Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children's U.S. Programs. Save the Children helps kids by focusing on early childhood education, literacy and physical activity and nutrition programs.

You will also be entered to win a Frigidaire double wall oven. It only takes a few minutes to take the pledge and register. Click here to begin.

$25 Restaurant.com certificates only $2!

This offer no longer available Now take 80% off Restaurant.com $25 Gift Cert. orders. Use code TREATS and Pay $2 thru 10/31/09. Restaurant.com gift certificates are valid for entire year so you can stock up during this 80% off promotion. They also make great gifts for the holidays.

Great deals at Ulta! FREE 4-pc gift! FREE hat or scarf with donation & $3.50 off $10!!

This week there are some great deals at Ulta. Receive a Wild About bare - FREE bareMinerals 4-piece Gift with any $44 Bareminerals purchase. You will also receive $3.50 off any $10 Purchase at Ulta.com - use code 20594 at checkout. Both offers expire November 1, 2009

Support Breast cancer Research: (available through October 31, 2009)

FREE Hat with $10 donation to Breast Cancer Research Foundation
FREE Scarf with $10 donation to Breast Cancer Research Foundation

EXPIRED Pampers: 5 FREE rewards point & win a year's supply of diapers

CODES EXPIRED Join Pampers.com for a chance to win a year's supply of diapers. Pampers also has a rewards program and every Pampers product has a special code you can enter to earn points to redeem for prizes.

Add 5 points to your Pamper's rewards account now.
JUSTBECAUSE2009 - 1 point
PAMPERSGTG4FCBK - 1 point
XKCMYXFVD96VXVK - 3 points
These are all limited time codes, so sign up today.

Yummy pie deals at Village Inn Oct 26-Oct 30!

This week enjoy deals on pie at Village Inn. Check with your local VI for participation.

Monday 10/26 - $2 off whole pie
Tuesday 10/27 - FREE slice of any pie for kids
Wednesday 10/28 - Pie Rush Wednesday
Thursday 10/29 - Buy one get one FREE whole pie
Friday 10/30 - FREE slice of French Silk Pie with any purchase 10am-10pm when you wear your Halloween costume.

Review - Michael Buble's Crazy Love CD!

Michael Buble's new album, Crazy Love, was released October 9, 2009 and thanks to One2One Network I received a copy of this CD to review. Prior to this, I'd only heard his music during certain Jazzercise routines and always enjoyed his mellow music. Michael Buble has a soulful, sexy voice that is so easy and enjoyable to listen to. This is my new chill out album for my rare 'me time' moments. I especially like tracks 'Georgia on My Mind' and 'Crazy Love'. Check out the widget below for more info about this album.




Album Tracklisting:
1. Cry Me A River
2. All Of Me
3. Georgia On My Mind
4. Crazy Love
5. Haven't Met You Yet
6. All I Do Is Dream Of You
7. Hold On
8. Heartache Tonight
9. You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You
10. Baby (You've Got What It Takes)
11. At This Moment
12. Stardust
13. Whatever It Takes (bonus track)

Visit Michael Buble's website here.

CLOSED Review & Giveaway! 'Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules Into Career Success' by Nicole Williams (5 winners)!

Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules into Career Success by Nicole Williams, Center Street, published October 2009.

Synopsis from the publisher:
"Nicole Williams is the tell-it-like-it-is career expert who you wish could fight your work battles for you. But with her ingenious approach-taking the tactics used to land a man and applying them to your career-you'll be able to handle any work situation and come out on top. Here, Nicole introduces twenty tried-and-true dating rules such as "Don't Give Away the Milk for Free" and "Don't Waste the Pretty" and reveals how they can be applied just as effectively in the office."

Read an Excerpt from the book here
Check out the Nicole William's website here

My Review:
Honestly, I was not impressed with Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules into Career Success. There were humorous parts of the book and some advice was useful, but it was inconsistent. In my opinion her advice cannot and should not be universally applied in the office setting. The book was written for young, urban career women and the advice would be most beneficial for that audience.

It reads very similar to a Cosmopolitan magazine article; blunt and humorous with no-nonsense advice. This book is not for me. However, if you are a career woman in an urban area and enjoy reading Cosmopolitan you would definitely enjoy this book.

The Giveaway:
I have 5 copies of Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules into Career Success to give away thanks to Hachette Book Group. You can earn up to 6 entries for this giveaway. Please leave a separate comment for each entry and a way to contact you.

First Entry
1. Leave a comment. Please leave an email or way to contact you if you win.

Bonus Entries
2. Subscribe to my free newsletter here and leave me another comment. Current subscribers or followers just leave a comment saying you subscribe/follow to get an extra entry.

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

3. Follow me on twitter AND tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment. Include @momsavesmoney in the tweet.

4. Grab my button and leave another comment with your site's url.

5. Blog about the giveaway and leave another comment with the link to the post.

6. Email three or more friends about the giveaway, cc the email to me at Nicole@momsavesmoney.net and leave another comment here.

This contest will end on Wednesday November 11, 2009 at 10:00 pm, central time. I will use random.org to select five lucky winners and contact the winners. (If any winner does not respond in 48 hours, I will pick another.) U.S. and Canada entries only. No P.O. Boxes. Good luck and thanks for entering!

Walgreen's Deals 10/25- 10/31

Here are the freebies and good deals I found in this week's Walgreen's advertisement.

FREEBIES
Dulcolax Balance, 4.1 oz @ $7
- $4 register reward
- $3 coupon on pack
= FREE

Fiber Choice, 10 ct or Beano to go, 12 ct @ $2.49
- $2.49 register reward
= FREE

Super Poligrip Denture Adhesive @ $2
- $2 register reward
= FREE

Good Deals
Reese's Pumpkin @ $3/2
- $0.55 coupon from 8/23
= $0.12 each

Crystal Light, 2.1 oz @ $1.99
- $2/2 coupon from November All You magazine
= $0.99

Simply Asia Soup Bowls @ $0.89
- $0.50 coupon from 8/30
= $0.39

Softsoap Ensembles pump @ $5.99 & base @ $3.99
- $4 register reward
- $3 coupon from 10/25
= $2.98

Suave shampoo & conditioner, deodorant @ 3/$5
- $1/2 shampoo/conditioner from 10/25
- $0.50 deodorant
- $2 register reward when you buy 3
= 3/$1.50 or $0.50 each

Colgate Total toothpaste @ $2.99
- $1 register reward
- $1 coupon from 10/11
= $0.99

Carefree pantiliners, 22 pack @ $0.99
- $0.50 printable here
= $0.49

Sudafed @ 2/$12
- $3 register reward
- $2 coupon from 10/4, use 2
- $2 from Walgreen's ABC coupon booklet, located at photo or pharmacy
= 2/$1 or $0.50 each

Register Reward Free after Rebate Deals for October
Emergen-C booster, 2 pack @ $3.49
- $3.49 register reward
= FREE

Robitussin DM to go, 2 pack @ $2.49
- $2.49 register reward
= FREE

Vaseline Sheer infusion lotion, 6 oz @ $6.99
- $6.99 register reward
= FREE

Chapstick Fresh Effects, .15 oz @ $2.99
- $2.99 register reward
= FREE

Dentek, floss 55 yards or floss pick, 35 pack @ $3
- $3 register reward
= FREE

Halls Refresh Sugar Free Drops, 20 ct @ $1
- $1 register reward
= FREE

What other good deals did you find at Walgreen's this week?

Blog Giveways week of 10/24/09! List your giveaway! Enter to win!

Are you hosting a blog giveaway? Share it here so all Mom Saves Money readers can enter. Every Saturday I will start a new post with a Mr. Linky for you to list your giveaways.

Please include at minimum a description of the prize and the direct url to the giveaway. Good Luck!

Sunday coupon preview 10/25

This Sunday, October 25, there will be a Smartsource and Redplum insert in the newspaper.
Click the image below to preview all the coupons.

FREE Halloween Decorating Idea and Costume ebook!

This offer no longer available FREE ebook full of Spooky Halloween Decorating Ideas and Costumes including Crochet Scarecrows (Page7), Gold Lace Crown (Page 24), Baby Pumpkin Beanie (Page 34) and much more. Create your own homemade Halloween decorations or costumes. These are great to make as you can reuse them year after year.

FREEBIE FRIDAYS at eHarlequin!

FREEBIE Fridays. Every Friday eHarlequin offers something FREE including FREE Shipping, FREE print and eBooks and much more! eHarlequin has more than just romance novels. You can also find nonfiction titles and books by New York Times bestselling authors, like Debbie Macomber.