MelissaStuff

There is a new search engine that helps you find all available coupons for any given item. http://www.thegrocerygame.com/app/couponTracker/#SearchCoupons Thanks, Cheryl!

So a very special person in my life sent me a blog to read last night. I think she was a bit worried that I would take it the wrong way, but I thought the analogy used in the blog was so good I want to share it with you. (By the way, this is the Melissa-version.) There once was a girl who loved dogs. She wanted to befriend every dog she ever met. In fact, she was determined that she could turn any dog she came across - no matter how damaged, no matter how mean, no matter how long it took - she could turn that dog into her friend. Next door to her lived one of the meanest, ugliest, scariest dogs ever. And every day, she would go to the fence and try to sweet talk the dog. She would take it treats. She would smile big and pretend to not be shaken by its growls and ferocious snarls. But every day the dog responded the same way. He barked. He snapped. He jumped on the fence and tried to get at her. One day, the girl thought maybe if she could just touch the dog, that would make the differe...

Love the baby deals right now. Just wish I had a bit more expendable income to use. Little Miss Matched has some adorable, outfits, blankies, etc. on close-out for $5 right now! Use promo code SALE20 at checkout to save over 80%! Sale ends 2/1/2010! Make sure and use ShopatHome and you will earn 8% cash back! If this your first order through them, you will receive an instant $5 credit to your account!

I posted earlier about the Pampers sample and the contest for a year's worth of FREE diapers. Go sign up now!!! These samples may go super fast.

So I'm going to take a break from my deal posts to share my heart . . . because that's what this blog was started as, and since it's mine, I feel like I can do whatever I want with it. (Although, I've never seen a deals/sharing inner thoughts blog, maybe it will be wildly successful!) I need to admit something - I'm struggling. Struggling with this whole mommy thing. I realize with a 3 year old, a 2 year old, and a baby due in a little over two months it's not really a good time to feel completely defeated as a momma. But here I am. I love my little guys. All of them, even this itty bitty little one who I haven't officially met yet. They bring so many smiles and so much laughter to our world, and yet I feel like I fail them regularly. If anyone has had training on children, it should be me. I babysat in high school. I was a nanny in college and grad school. I have a degree in Christian eduction and I've taken a million child development classes. But so m...

I don't know if any of you tried or were successful at getting Walmart or Target to price match the Big Lots ad last week. But if you were, here's another great deal . . . Big Lot's has ALL 50 oz. 2X Ultra or 32 oz. 3X Small & Mighty for sale for $3.00. - $2.00/1 01/03/2010 RP or - $1/1 printable coupon Final Price: $1.00

It's Mega SwagBucks Friday! What does that mean? When you search through Swagbucks all of today, you'll have a chance at winning MEGA (higher than normal) bucks, like 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 or even500! If you haven't joined Swagbucks, you should. I'm picky about what I invest my time in . . . it definitely has to be worth it. And this is an easy and fun way to earn free gift cards. Go here to learn more about Swagbucks and to join. You'll get 3 free SwagBucks just for joining!

Call 614-898-9758 to get a free sample of PediaSmart or Baby’s Only Organic Formula. This is an automated call: press 2 for PediaSmart or 3 for Baby’s Only Organic formula.

Make sure you go to Pampers.com tomorrow (Friday, January 29th) to sign up for a package of 3 diapers. If you are lucky to get a "specially marked" diaper, you win FREE diapers for a year! Pampers redesigned its Cruisers - now they are Pampers Cruisers with Dry Max and they want all of us to try them out! (the new diapers will hit shelves in March) So what does that mean for you? They are sending out a free sample three-pack. Go here AND if the sample sent includes a diaper stamped Team USA (randomly inserted in select sample packs), your baby will win a year’s supply of Pampers diapers. Now, I know a few of us could use that!!

Just heard about a great contest I wanted to share. Over at luv2viewmovies.com , they are giving away 5 (five) DVD copies of Little Einsteins: Animal Expedition and 5 (five) DVD copies of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie's Bow-tique . This is totally legit. I actually won a competition just a few weeks ago from this website. Here's how you enter: Go to the luv2viewmovies website Go to the Contact button on the far left side Enter your information in the blanks, then in the large box enter your name and address (no P.O. Boxes) and Contest #1 Submit Then repeat - I always just paste and copy - changing the last part to "Contest #2" That's it. They'll send you an email and mail your items right to your door if you win. Good luck! And let us know if you win.

Buy 1 Special K $2.94 and Buy 1 Special K Granola $3.29 $.50/1 Special K Target Coupons $1/1 Special K Granola Target Coupon FREE Special K Granola wyb Special K Cereal Final Price: $.72 per box

I know I have posted about SwagBucks repeatedly but since I've moved from email to my blog, I thought it would be good to get it out here in a permanent way so I can just refer back to it. Honestly, SwagBucks is one of the easiest ways to earn free gifts on the web. All you do is use the SwagBucks search engine as your daily internet browser. As you are searching you will intermittently win SwagBuck s. As you earn more SwagBucks you can start trading them in for prizes. I think the easiest prize to win is the $5 Amazon Gift Card that you can get for just 45 SwagBucks ! You will also accrue SwagBucks more quickly if you encourage others to sign up and use you as their referral. Then you will get a SwagBuck for every SwagBuck they earn up to the first 100. If you are new to SwagBucks here's how you do it: 1. Shop: Register or Login and Shop by clicking on stores or coupons. 2. Earn: 1 Swag Buck for every $5 spent, or win SwagBucks just by searching the internet! 3. Redeem your...

Buy 1 Huggies wipes tub at $2.50 Use the $1/1 Walgreens Huggies Coupon from the in-store Flyer (100 in Savings) Use 1 of the $0.75/1 Huggies Wipes Coupons (Available on Coupons.com last week) Or use $0.50/1 Huggies Baby Wipes (1/7 SmartSource insert) $0.75 - $1 after coupons

When you purchase any entree at Pei Wei this Friday, Jan 29 you'll receive a coupon for a FREE order of the new Pei Wei Caramel Chicken. You MUST purchase an entree on your visit to receive the coupon. The coupon is valid from Feb. 1-7. Click here for the details!

This week is the Big Game Greats Mega Event, Buy 10 participating items in one transaction and get $5.00 off (or $0.50 off per item). These sale dates and prices reflect the SW Kroger regional division. Please check your local Kroger to see if the same details apply. The following prices reflect that $0.50 discount which means you will need to buy in groups of 10 in order to get these prices! Make sure and look at the ad as there are lots of great discounts... below is the coupon match ups for even BETTER savings! Ro-tel Tomatoes $0.49 $0.30/1 (SS 1/24/10) $1/4 ALL YOU Dec ‘09 Final Price: FREE Pepperidge Farm Goldfish $0.88 $0.75/1 printable Final Price: $0.13 Quaker Quakes Rice Snacks $0.50 $0.75/1 (RP 01/10/10) Final Price: FREE Hunt’s Tomato Sauce or paste $0.49 $0.45/3 (SS 01/24/10) $1/4 ALL YOU Dec ‘09 Final Price: $0.19 WYB 3 (if coupon doubles) Kraft Cheese Shreds & Chunks $1.49 $1/2 printable Final Price: $1.00 each Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Shapes & Cups $0.50 B3G1 ...

Just in time for Valentine's Day - Restaurant.com has put many of it's gift certificates on sale. They are offering 80% off of $25 Gift Certificates when you use code BONUS. This means you pay $2! You can also receive 80% off every order in the Dinner of the Month Club when you use code BONUS, through the 19th of February. I actually ended up purchasing the 12-month Dinner of the Month Club for Joey for Valentine's Day. For $24 (before the 15% back) we get a $25 gift certificate once a month to the restaurant of our choice. I think he will enjoy planning these "dates" and I sure will enjoy going on them. On top of that, when I completed my order and they sent me my confirmation, they also sent me a FREE $50 Gift Certificate!! So I'm going back to order more. Just remember, sometimes these are a bit more like coupons than gift certificates. You may have to buy a certain amount or only be able to use it on specific menu items. Read your fine print! Make this dea...

Many grocery stores (including Tom Thumb and Kroger) currently have a catalina deal running: Buy 4 Pillsbury items (Crescents, Cookies, Sweet Rolls, Grands! Biscuits, Grands! Cinnamon Rolls, Pie Crusts, Dinner Dolls, Loaves, Breadsticks, or Pizza Crust), Get $2 off your next order Buy 5 Pillsbury items, Get $3 off your next order Buy 6 items or more, Get $5 off your next order There are printable coupons available at Coupons.com , SmartSource.com , Pillsbury.com and BoxTops4Education , as well as e-coupons available at Cellfire and Shortcuts . Kroger has had some of these on sale the last couple of weeks on their 10/$10 sale: Buy 6 Pillsbury items - $6 You will get $5 back at checkout on your next order, so you only need $1 worth of coupons to make them all free OR to make money!

Use these manufactor coupons to get this deal at Target! Coke products $2.25 $2/4 Printable Final Price: $1.75 each wyb 4

Well, I've been sending deals out by email for a while now to a group of friends, but apparently I've reached the limit on how many emails my host wants me to send out at a time. Guess that was the necessary push I needed to actually blog the deals so that other people can benefit from them as well. So, feel free to sign up for the RSS feed or email list so that the deals I post - and any miscellaneous ramblings on life - will come straight to you. Here we go . . .

So, today I turn 30. I have to be honest and admit saying that makes my insides churn just a bit. Forever, I have thought 30 signified the end of being young. Now, I am 30 and I don't feel any differently than I did yesterday or last month or last year. It's interesting that we are wrapping up not just a year but an entire decade, and people feel it necessary to look back oer that time and list their regrets and the things they want to differently in the next year or decade or 30 years. I don't feel that way. I don't have a list of regrets. I don't have a lengthy to-do list. I've accomplished a lot of the goals I set when I graduated from high school. I have a college degree. I even have a Master's degree. I have been married for six years. I have two crazy but wonderful children and another on the way. We own a beautiful house and two cars. I stay home with my children and don't have to work. My husband and I have taken several very nice vacations since...