My Blog Has Moved

Hi, I moved my blog. Please visit me at www.racingandsavingmama.com  Thanks so much and look forward to seeing you there!

Free Santa Message for your Child

This is really neat. You fill in some info about your child and you get a personalized email card from Santa. I've watched one for my son and it was great. The whole deal is free.
http://magicsanta.ca/

New LeapFrog Coupons in Parenting Magazine Dec/Jan Issue

I just received my Parenting Magazine for Dec/Jan and they had a $3 coupon for Tag books and a $5 coupon for Leapster games. You can use the $3 coupon right now at Target while they are having their B1G1 free Tag book sale. Meaning you can get two Tag books for $6.99 instead of $20. Quite a deal. I'm going to try to use my $5 coupon on Black Friday at Target. They have the best prices on the game. Happy Hunting!

My Workout Went Much Better Today

Whew. I was really worried Friday when I did a 12 minute mile. However I was back! I ran a 9:47 minute mile. Now I know that doesn't blow anyone away but for me it's fantastic. The weather was really beautiful. I was able to run in lights pants and a long sleeve T-shirt instead of being all bundled up.  It's sad to think that by the end of the week I'll be freezing again.

One thing I believe I will be changing with my routine is stretching. I use to stretch before and after my runs between baby 1 and baby 2 but for some reason I just haven't started again. I think I'll feel better and be a touch quicker if I do. I'll let you know if it works.

OK with that all being said I'm going to get on my soap box for a quick minute.  Let's talk track etiquette.  I run with my daughter in a stroller. I'm sure lot's of people could complain about that however, I do try to stay to the right and not hold anyone up. There are two groups on the track when I go who do not try and it drives me crazy. The track is really just big enough to walk 3 wide. It has a sloping hill on both sides and for about a third of the track their is a chain fence on one side making it very tight. I really don't believe people should walk in groups bigger than 2. That leaves room for someone to pass.

There are two groups who constantly walk 3 to 4 wide. I had to stop running Friday behind one group before I was able to get around them. Today the 4 wide group even had 2 medium size dogs in their pack. I mean really people. Can we not share the track just alittle? Oh well. Enough said for the moment. Just wanted to get that off my chest.

Free T-Shirts

There are a bunch of ways to receive free T-Shirts today. Here are the links to the different ones:

http://www.townierecords.com/get-your-free-shirt/

http://www.globe.tv/aus/survey-code/     Use code LMFAO

Thanks Seriously Free Stuff

50 Free Holiday Cards for Bloggers from Shutterfly!

Hi, if you sign up at Shutterfly you maybe able to receive 50 free Holiday cards once you fill out their form. They will let you know if you're selected. Here's their link:

http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

Good Luck!

Better Homes and Garden Writing Desk sold and shipped to your house for $49

This is a really neat looking desk. It's a rollback from Walmart. The original price was $169 and it's down to $49. It also qualifies for free shipping.Thanks Saving Dollars and Sense!

Really Neat Walmart Deal!

Walmart has promised to price match on Black Friday! So you can really knock off alot of stops. They will only do it if it's the exact product and model. You will probably want to bring in the competitors flyer and this press release incase there is any dispute on this policy.

http://walmartstores.com/pressroom/news/10486.aspx

The link also list some of their upcoming sales!

Thanks Savings Dollars and Sense for the great tip.

Thomas the Train Deal!!

Here is a Thomas the Train Deal I received. In their big Toy Coupon Book they have a 50% off coupon for the Thomas the Train Wooden Railway beginner set; which brings the price down to $12.99. You can also print the 50% off coupon from their website if you don't have the book. The November issue of Parents magazine has a coupon for $10 of Early Engineers Thomas train set. Finally Target also has a $5 coupon for Thomas the train sets. Now granted the coupons don't all say they are for the Thomas beginner set but they are all for Thomas. When I checked out all three coupons were accepted creating a $2.99 overage.  The two Target coupons are only good through Wednesday.   Happy Hunting! 

Here is what I saved on today - LeapFrog TAG books and Furreal Stuffed Dog

OK, today I was able to get 4 LeapFrog Tag books for $6.99. They are buy 1 get 1 free at Target this week but you better hurry because they were already selling out by the time I got there at 11:30am. I also had 2 $5 coupons for the Tag books.  I posted last week how to get those coupons.  Finally I had a $3 coupon sent to me from Leapfrog.

I also got a Furreal white dog that is normally around $50, however Target had it on sale for $44. In their big Toy Coupon book they have a $10 coupon making it only $34. The last day you can use the coupons is Wednesday. That's the best deal I've seen for those; even considering Black Friday's deals coming up.

Did you know that Target has all their Big Toy Coupons also online? So if you want to get two of something you can use the one from your book and then print off another copy from their website.

Happy Hunting!

Free Wildflower Sample Packet

You can get a sample of wildflowers from Bentley Seeds.

http://www.bentleyseeds.com/samples.php?st=wildflowers

Groupon and starting Monday Grouponicus Gift Store

If you haven't joined Groupon yet you really should. What it is: a daily deal site for local stores where they offer 50-90% off their product or service. A certain amount of people have to agree to buy the deal for it to work. Restraunants, salons, laser hair removal facilities are just a few of the groups who post deals. They have a Groupon in most major cities. Starting Monday they are offering Grouponicus Gift Stores where their focus will be awesome deals on Christmas gifts. 

Here's my referral link.
http://www.groupon.com/r/uu2096096

Free Activity Stuff for Kids

Here's a free activity book for Kids Healthy Habits:
http://offers.e-centives.com/siflo/reg/survey.cfm?s=Yz0xJmY9MSZjdT0xJmJxPTEmdmlkPTQ1MyZvPTE4MTQ5NzcmcD0xODE0OTc3JnB0PTMmY289MTg5JmZ3ZWI9MSZzYz01MiZyVVJMPSUyRnNpZmxvJTJGcG9zdHJlZ2lzdGVyJTJFY2ZtJTNGdmlkJTNENDUzJTI2dCUzRDMlMjZzJTNENjk5NjkyMDQlMjZmd2ViJTNEMSUyNmNvJTNEMTg5JTI2c2MlM0Q1MiUyNmlkJTNEZmU3N2VjMGElMkQ4MTc2JTJENDhiMyUyRDg0ODclMkQwZjYyZjhhYzI0MTImcz02OTk2OTIwNCZpZD1mZTc3ZWMwYS04MTc2LTQ4YjMtODQ4Ny0wZjYyZjhhYzI0MTImdGw9ODk5MTQyJnRlPTEwMDg1OA%3D%3D&CFID=1522514&CFTOKEN=37745758


Free Radio Flyer's Licence for your child. Great if they are getting a bike this Christmas.
http://www.radioflyerlicense.com/index.asp

Here's a good Deal! $10 coupon off of Hallmark Gold Crown

If you are a Mom or pregnant you can save $10 from Hallmark. Here's a link to a $10 coupon from Hallmark Gold Crown Stores. The best part is that you only have to spend $10 to use the coupon so you could your whole purchase free!! Thanks Money Saving Mom.

http://f.update.hallmark.com/s/5/474648236/exp.html

$500 Christmas Gift Contest

Sign up for a $500 Christmas Gift Contest from It's thoughtful.com. I know this would certainly come in handy for me. Also, if you sign up and refer your friends to the contest you are eligable to win a $25 gift card to Amazon.com

Here's my referral link: http://www.itsthoughtful.com/christmas-gift-contest/14065/ln/

 

50% off Ace Hardware Coupon plus others

There are great coupons for everyone on here:

If you haven't checked out this website before you really should. www.coupons.com
They have a coupon for a 50% off one item at Ace Hardware, $10 off Rack Room Shoes and Christmas DVD coupons like Miracle on 34th Street.  They have loads of grocery store coupons also.

Here is a quick tip for not wasting paper when you print coupons. Did you know that most printers will take sheets of paper that may only be about 2/3 the original size? So if you only print off one coupon you'll still have a good bit of paper left. I cut the coupon section off and then put the piece of paper back in the printer. Make sure you put the straight side in and not the cut side.

Free Sample of OB Tampons

Here's one for you ladies out there:

https://ob.promo.eprize.com/hub/request_sample_intro

Sam's Club Deal of the Day

Seems like every store is offering daily deals. Looks like Sam's Club started one also. Here's the link:

http://www3.samsclub.com/Holidays/specialbuy

Today's deal is 32" Philips LCD 720p HDTV for $318 after a $30 instant credit. You can sign up to receive emails to let you know what the current deal is.

More Leapfrog deals

LeapFrog has another cute learning program called Click Start. At Toys R Us on Black Friday they will have the Click Start Computer on sale for $19.99 and the Click Start software games B1G1 free for $19.99.  If you're thinking about getting LeapFrog for your child now seems to be a good time to get started. As a reminder Toys R Us Black Friday event starts at 11PM Thursday Nov 25th.

Yesterday I signed up on LeapFrog's mailing list and was able to get a free Tag book. When you sign up you can either request a Tag book or a Tag Jr book.

Running in Quick Sand

Today's run was like running in quick sand. My normal mile time is about 10 minutes. Today I did a very slow 12 minute mile. What do I attribute this to? Taking last week off and not eating the way I should. Since it was just me and the kid for most of the dinners this week I prepared more kid friendly foods that aren't necessarily run friendly foods.

The one thing I'm excited about is that I did complete my workout. I could have found alot of reasons to stop but I kept plugging along. I wonder how often people have bad/hard workouts or off days?

Black Friday Deals

Just a quick tidbit- you can preview black friday deals for most stores at:


http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/

http://www.afullcup.com/forums/black-friday-deals/

Leap Frog Coupon

OK, Leapfrog is giving away a $5/1 coupon for their Tag books that are over $9.  You can print the coupon twice. Target is having a sale starting Nov 21st where they are selling their Tag books B1G1 Free.  So if you can use both coupons at once you could get 2 books for free or atleast for $2.50 a piece.  You have to watch a very short promotional video for Chevrolet and then fill out a sweepstakes form. I did this yesterday and was able to print the coupon twice. They may only offer this coupon for a limited time so if you want it you better print it quick.  http://www.learnonthegosweepstakes.com/?ordersrc=rdparents100315

This tip came from moneysavingmom.com  Thank you!

If you haven't got the tag reader Amazon.com is selling them for $29.99 which is one of the lowest on the web. Target is selling the Tag Reader on Black Friday for $24.99. They open at 4AM. I'm not sure a $5 savings is worth getting up at 4AM but if you're already there you might want to grab one.

My first savings tip

Here's my first savings tip: Target is giving away $25 gift certificates now through Nov 27, 2010 on their facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/target 

Go to their Black Friday Tab to enter.

My First Post!

Hi Everyone! My name is Kristina and this is my first post. I started this blog to discuss two of my favorite topics- saving money and working out. OK so working out really isn't one of my favorite things to do but if I want to keep up with my children and stay healthy it's something I need to do. My goal is to work out 3 times a week. I have been running about 3 times a week now for about 2 miles. I would like to get up to 3 miles but I think that will be slow in coming. Goals I have for myself are working on my abs and my arms. I knew I had to seriously start working on my abs when my 3 year old son started finding great joy in lightly smacking my stomach to see it jiggle. While it's a great source of entertainment for him I prefer not to look like jello. I can't tell you the last time I wore a sleeveless shirt because of my upper arms. I hope by making posts on my blog about my workouts it will serve as a motivator.

I do however, really enjoy trying to find deals and save money. I love coupons. I mean if you saw a dollar on the street you wouldn't pass it by so why wouldn't you use a coupon? In a future post I will discuss my coupon method. With Christmas coming up there are a ton of deals to be had.

Please feel free to leave comments discussing working out, saving money or just hello.

Thanks for reading!