Buy one of these indoor lighting fixtures, save 75% at checkout with code April75.  I just did a “pretend” order and it worked.

Ideas for easter egg hunts NOT including candy!

I do put some candy in my kids’ Easter baskets, but for their traditional egg hunt, I’m sick of filling eggs with candy that will just give them a sugar high! So, here are some ideas I came up with, depending on ages, to put into plastic eggs.

• Silly bands (those rubber band things that are the pre-teen craze) 1 per egg!

• Get a sheet of cute/metallic stickers, cut them up, and put one or two in ea egg!

• Go to the party store and get little trinket packs like Tinker bell rings or mini cars or those little “pills” that have sponges in them that grow in water (you know what I mean, right???)

• My kids love balloons, so I can get a 25 pk at the dollar store and put one in ea egg!

• If you go to Chuck-E-Cheese often like we do, buy some tokens and put one in ea egg. Then tell the kids you will be going there in the next week or so to use them!

***please note, it’s always great to be a Coupon Sense member.  I sent out a newsletter to my subscribers that had even more Easter Savings ideas, from clothing to baskets, and more. 

I did this last year and loved it.  I brought some gently used clothing/shoes my kids had grown out of.  They counted my items, and gave me a ticket for the # of items I brought.  Then, about an hour later, they had everything organized and the event began.  I was able to pick 30 items (my #) of anything I wanted.  They just counted them up when I was done, took my ticket, and voila!  Done.  I loved it.

Maria, a good friend and colleague of mine, will be teaching people about Coupon Sense during the downtime between ‘giving and getting’.  This is a great time to ask questions and to sign up.  Here is the flier that talks about the swap:

Link to Clothes Swap Flier

Most years, my family takes advantage of the deal Harkins has over the summer time.  In a nutshell, you pick a day of the week that you want to go to the movies (say we pick Wed), then we pick the theatre we want to go to (say Metrocenter 12), and go to that ticket office to purchase the tickets.  It’s 10 movies for $7.  If you miss some due to vacation or something, it’s still worth it.  Say you end up going to 7 out of 10 shows.  That’s still only $1 per movie and you got out of the heat! 

Adults and children are the same price.  For instance, for my family:

Me + 4 kids= 5 sets of passes= $35 total

And every Wed for 10 weeks we can go to the movies together as a family!

I recommend going soon to buy your Harkins passes, as they tend to sell out after a couple weeks.  Have fun!

Zaycon Foods is big in the Northwest for chicken and beef deliveries.  They visited AZ for the first time last fall.  Now they are returning again, this time bearing 93% lean ground beef for only $2.89 per pound.  Here are the dates/times:

MESA, AZ

Royal Garden Reception Hall

1940 East Main Street

Mesa, AZ 85203

Date: Tuesday, April 26^th 2011

Pick-up time: Between 7:00am – 9:30am

PEORIA, AZ

Roman Catholic Parish of Saint Charles Borromeo

8615 West Peoria Ave

Peoria, AZ 85345

Date: Tuesday, April 26^th 2011

Pick-up time: Between 12:30pm – 2:00pm

CHANDLER, AZ

Bright Beginnings School

400 North Anderson Blvd

Chandler, AZ 85224

Date: Tuesday, April 26^th 2011

Pick-up time: Between 6:30pm – 8:00pm

If you want to register, it’s free, and then you can set up to purchase if you’d like.  Here is the link to Zaycon Foods

Remember, you are buying 40lbs at once, but it’s fresh, never frozen good quality meat.    Great for canning and freezing.

Okay I have to admit this so that I can plug one of my favorite places.  You might find this surprising, but I love Starbucks.

I don’t actually drink coffee!  But they have these Vanilla Bean drinks that are like shakes, that my husband and kids love….and of course they have my Green Tea Lemonade.

Now, I know you’re thinking….the Grocery Guru will spend $3.50 on a Green Tea Lemonade?! That’s blasphemy in the coupon world.   BUT I have to say, I do it wisely.  Here’s how they help power my addiction (aahhhh!)

Starbucks has 2 things that hook me in to stopping by so often.   Well, besides that I love the lemonade.

1.  If you buy a gift card (say for $10) and register it online (for free), it will keep track of how many drinks you buy and after the 5th, you get a free drink!  Not to mention other perks as you buy even more.  See, you can reload the gift card to keep going.  So when I’ve bought a couple drinks, I will load another $10 or $20 so that I keep buying the drinks with my gift card, and it accrues those “points” per say so I can earn free drinks.

2. They will refill my Green Tea Lemonade for .55!  I mean, often I will have a meeting at a Starbucks, drink my lemonade, and wish I had another (it’s hot in AZ!).  Well, I’ve discovered that they will refill during the same visit for only .55!  It’s great.  AND I found out that even the Starbucks in the airport will do that.  So if you get delayed, hang on to that cup for a refill

So that’s how I justify my little vice.  Now you know, and if you see me in line at Starbucks it’ll be okay because I’m still being frugal.    See you there!

I love craft stores, like Michael’s, Jo Ann’s, and Hobby Lobby.  Here are some highlights about Jo-Ann’s, my favorite craft store.

• They will accept Michael’s coupons!  You know, those coupons that are in the ads in Sunday’s paper.  You can take one from Jo-Ann’s (usually 40% off one item) AND take the Michael’s one with you (same thing, generally for 40% off one item), so you’re not getting savings off just one thing anymore!  My experience has been that they can do both coupons in one order and you don’t have to split up the items. (caution: the Michael’s coupons cannot be used towards fabric.)
• Jo Ann’s loves teachers!  Sign up at the front desk for a special card that saves you 15% off every time you shop (even on sale items).   GREAT around the holidays.  You just show your school ID when you sign up or a recent school paystub with your driver’s license.
• Jo Ann’s has a few good clearance sections from time to time.  I’ve gotten lots of items for 75% off on clearance, and even sometimes 90% off after holidays.
• Sometimes they run a 50% off clearance fabric sale, which is a good time to stock up on fleece and other fabrics.
• Tip: I love to get birthday presents at Jo Ann’s for kids.  With the 40% off coupons, I can get a bracelet kit, soap making kit, suncatcher kit, etc, for a great price and it’s something creative and different.

HAPPY SHOPPING!

If you log on to this Facebook site you can print a coupon for the new Waverly Collection tableware by Hefty.  It looks like they are only sold at Walmart.  I’m looking forward to trying them out for my next party…….I have a baptism coming up in April, that might be a good time to put them to use, since it looks like there are elegant designs to choose from.

I got an email from Starbucks and I wanted to pass along the info!  See below:

Encouraging coffee drinkers to discover the great taste of Starbucks VIA, Starbucks is introducing the Starbucks VIA Taste Promise, a guarantee that customers will love Starbucks VIA as much as their other premium coffees – or they’ll replace it with a free 12 oz. bag of Starbucks House Blend ground coffee. This offer is valid for customers in the U.S. beginning today through Aug. 31, 2011.

Also, if you haven’t had the chance to try Starbucks VIA French Roast yet, a Starbucks stream team will be in town next Tuesday, Feb. 8 from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the following locations to hand out samples and coupons!

• • Downtown Phoenix
  • Arizona Science Center
  • Phoenix Museum of History
  • Phoenix Art Museum
  • Rosson House
  • Burton Barr Central Library
    

Deals for this weekend!

City Deals is having a sale on 2 gift certificates!  I love these!  You can purchase them this weekend only.  BUT, it says you can use them later.  Just must be PURCHASED this weekend.

Baskin Robbins, 50% off PLUS 15% off with code BASKIN15 at checkout  Note, fine print says you can use 4 gift certificates during one visit!  So, large families welcome! Valid at 3953 E. Camelback Rd Phoenix, AZ and 6501 E. Greenway Parkway Scottsdale, AZ locations.

http://www.citydeals.com/10-gift-certificate-purchase-any-quantity-8-deal.html?dtd=1&ref=az-groceryguru-affiliate

Peter Piper Pizza in all Tucson and Oro Valley locations:

Same thing, 4 certificates can be used in the same order!  But can’t use gift certificates towards tokens.

http://www.citydeals.com/10-gift-certificate-purchase-any-quantity-25-deal.html?dtd=1&ref=az-groceryguru-affiliate