Kids Eat Free!

I now have 2 toddlers (ages 1 and 3), and our eating out bill has increased by at least $10 each time.  Both boys eat full meals and now need their own kids' meal when we go to restaurants. Today I was pleased to read an article in our daily paper about local restaurants that have "Kids Eat Free" menus on certain nights of the week.  (If you live in the South Bay, check out the list here).   The following chain restaurants may have a "Kids Eat Free" night in your area. (Granted, these aren't normally places I'd LOVE to go to, but if we need to save some money, then these are the places to choose from).  I've included the "typical" night that they offer this deal, although you may want to call the location nearest you just to double check:

Carrows - Monday & Tuesday nights

IHOP- Every night

Norms -  Monday night

Texas Loosey's - Every night

Tony Roma's - Monday & Tuesday nights

Denny's - Tuesdays (and some Saturdays)

Rocky Cola Cafe- Tuesdays

Rubys- Tuesdays

Another great resource to check out the deals in your neighborhood is mykidseatfree.com.

Mervyn's Closing Stores

If you are a fan of Mervyn's, you may be interested in visiting one of their 26 stores that will be closing soon.  They have filed for bankruptcy, and some stores began liquidating as early as today, August 28th (scheduled to officially close in October or November).  Stores closing are: Phoenix (3) and Scottsdale (1), AZ; Antioch, Canoga Park, Fairfield, Foothill Ranch, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Niguel, Livermore, Napa, Palm Desert, and Thousand Oaks, CA; Boise, ID; Carson City, Reno, Las Vegas and Sparks, NV; Lubbock, Midland, Odessa, and San Antonio (3), TX. 

If you live in Orange County, here are the addresses of the stores that are closing there:
7651 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach
3960 Barranca Pkwy., Irvine
27200 Alicia Pkwy., Laguna Niguel
26732 Portola Pkwy., Foothill Ranch

Happy Early Christmas Shopping!

Free Products

About two years ago I became a BzzAgent, which basically means that I became a "test marketer" for various products, and I earn points to promote them. All I had to do was go to their website, sign up, and wait for them to email me about a marketing campaign. When I receive an email, I read about it and decide whether or not to participate. If I say "yes", they send me a product in the mail to try out (and KEEP), and my job is to promote that product through word-of-mouth. As I write (simple) reports about my efforts to promote the product, I earn points through MyPoints.com. So far I have received enough points to almost get a $50 gift card to any store I want!

Some of the things I have received through being a BzzAgent include:
-A Sonicare Toothbrush
-A Sonicare UV Sanitizer
-A Frozen Jennie-O Turkey delivered right to my door
-LypSyl lip balm (about 10 of them)
-Four coupons to try Chili's Bacon Smokehouse Burgers for free
-Listerine Whitestrips

It really is so easy and fun to get free things like these in the mail! If you would like to try it, sign up today - just please be sure to tell them I referred you (if they ask)! :)

Habitat for Humanity Store

We have been needing to repair some things around the house lately, and I recently heard about the Habitat for Humanity Home Improvement Store, so tonight we decided to check it out. This is a little like a giant Goodwill for home goods. There are new items from stores brought in, as well as used items that were donated. They have aisles of doors, windows, furniture, appliances, cabinets, knobs, lights, flooring, tile, lumber and much more. It was really a great selection of assorted items, many of which have character - not your typical Home Depot stock. They are also inexpensive, comparable to a thrift store. My favorite thing about this store was a whole aisle of brand new Shabby Chic sheets (in the original packaging) for only $10 each. These aren't the Target "Simply Shabby Chic" brand, but the original, real Shabby Chic label. They had more sheet sets than I could count, along with other Shabby Chic accessories (lamp shades, for one). It appeared that a store who carried this brand must have gone out of business and donated it all to this store. I can't guarantee these would be at any other location.

So, if you need some new knobs for your cabinets, outdoor furniture, or even wood for a project, this is the place to go. For a store directory of locations within the US, visit this site.

Enjoy!

Free Cable?!

Well, maybe that's kindof misleading. But if you are anything like us, we have never paid for cable. So last night when we installed our new DTV Converter Box, we were pleasantly surprised to find that suddenly we had about 50 new channels! Okay, about 20 of them are in other languages, but there are still about 30 good channels we never had before! ABC alone now gives us 4 different ABC's to choose from! No more bad reception, either. We now have reception that is good on every single channel, without having to get up and adjust the "bunny ears" on top of our television! All without the hefty cable bill every month!

If you haven't yet gotten your converter box coupon, be sure to get one soon (although if you have certain types of cable you might not need a converter box). Then, you can go to either a store to purchase your box, or online, like I did. (I looked at some of the stores listed on their site for months but they were always out of stock, especially at Wal-Mart). We settled on the Artec model, which we are really happy with. Some of the remotes that come with these boxes don't have volume control on them, but ours does. The box was only $9.99 plus shipping (also between $5-10), but we still paid less than we would have at some of the in-store retailers, plus I didn't have to drive anywhere to buy it. We got it within a week.

If you don't have cable, this is definitely the way to go!

Overstock Deals

If you haven't already discovered the great bargains on Overstock.com, I highly recommend you head over to that site.  Shipping is only $2.95 per item, and if you need anything for your home, this is the place to get it.  I just found that I can get a  brand new dining room set for under $400 (including shipping!!!).  Need curtains?  Blinds?  Sheets? A new shower curtain?  A new couch set?  Seriously - before going to any furniture store from now on, this is where I will shop.  The bonus is that others who have bought the items have rated them so you can know the true quality.  

They also sell electronics (IPods), computers, jewelry, and tons of other stuff  (even sewing machines!).  Two years ago I did about 75% of my Christmas shopping on here and was absolutely amazed.   Get a head start this Christmas and head over to Overstock!