One of my favorite things when I was little was going to get the mail I don’t know why but it was always exciting.  As I got older I got over that when getting the mail meant getting the bills but I’ve managed to bring back that joy from when I was a kid.  It’s FREE SAMPLES!!!!  I love getting little samples and goodies in my mail and I’m sure you do to so to help you fill your mailbox I’ve put together a list of samples.  Go fill out the forms (I always recommend using a junk email account for these things) and wait for the freebies to start rolling in.

• Creme of Nature Shampoo Sample
• Quacker Oats Square Sample
• NeilMed Sinus Rinse Sample (requires facebook)
• Always and Tampax Samples
• Jiffy Mix Cookbook
• Miracle Whip Sample
• Head and Shoulders Sample
• Dove Hair Sample
• Shout Color Catcher Sample
• Fiber Choice Sample
• MiraLax Sample
• Carefree Sample
• Purex with Zout Sample
• Glad ForceFlex Sample
• Vaseline Intensive Rescue Sample

I was lucky enough to receive all the goodies to host a Nutella Party from MommyParties and Mom Select. 

We had a lovely time pairing Nutella with all sorts of yummy breakfast and brunch foods, unfortunately I was a giant bonehead and let Dave take my camera out with him that day so I only have a picture of the goodies my guest got to take home and his breakfast.

Nutella was very generous to provide us with lots of goodies for my guests to take home with them and they provided me with a large jar of Nutella.   If you’ve never tried Nutella dig yesterday’s paper out of the trash and find the coupon for it and buy a jar this week, it’s delicious.  Yummy chocolatey goodness!!!  We found that there wasn’t much it didn’t taste good with and there are lots of recipes out there that use it in baking.  Here’s some Nutella Facts:

• Nutella is a great alternative to peanut butter for those with peanut allergies as it has no peanuts and doesn’t come in contact with any peanuts in manufacturing
• In a 13oz jar they use more than 50 hazelnuts
• Nutella is kosher
• It also is gluten free
• It is low in sodium and contains no hydrogenated oil or trans fat

Here it is spread on 15 grain bread.

The only bit a found trouble with about the lovely goodies they sent me was some of the marketing.  Maybe it’s true in some households but not in mine, they claim that it can be hard to persuade your kids to eat their healthy breakfast and so the answer is to cover it in the yummy Nutella.  Well in my house Shawn eats his healthy breakfast or he goes hungry I’m the mom and I make the rules.  They might be better using a different approach such as a fantastic treat for kids or a decedent treat for the mom who gives everything to her kids and has nothing left.  I’m also not really sure what Nutella brings to a balanced breakfast other than chocolatey yumminess (yes I might be making words up).

All that being said I think Nutella is fantastic and a wonderful treat.  Would I eat it or serve it everyday to my family?  No!!  But does it make for a great addition to a special breakfast maybe once or twice a week?  Yes it does and in my house that’s when it gets eaten once maybe twice a week.

I received no monetary compensation for my opinions however I did receive samples and other goodies to distribute to my guests from Nutella, MommyParties, and Mom Select.  Have a product or service you’d like an honest review on please contact me.

So for the first time in months I went to CVS today!!!  I really need to get back into the drugstore deals so I finally after weeks of saying I should took the step today and went in.  Our allergies have been bothering both Dave and I so I thought we could give the Allegra a shot that is free after ECB’s.  There was a recent coupon for it in the newspaper (3/6 I think) and I had a coupon for Physicians Formula makeup that was on sale.

I spent $6 on my purchases and got back a $6.99 ECB to use next week.  Now to keep it going, find my CVS card and get back into Walgreen’s too.  I really hate that I’ve been paying cash for my newspapers so it’s time to get in there and start getting some of my groceries paid for again.  I’m thinking about posting the best deals I see so let me know if you are interested in drugstore deals!!!

First off if you are ever in the area on a Monday I highly recommend the Webster Flea Market.  It is huge!!!  I believe they say it sits on 40 acres and they have something for everyone.  There is a large Farmer’s Market area, antiques, yardsale type items, new stuff and even a wholesale area.  If you are thinking of visiting in the summer I must warn you there aren’t as many vendors, it’s hotter than hot and you need to have lots of sunscreen on.  Most of the vendors are in covered open air stalls however there are lots that aren’t and you’ll be in the sun between each row.

Here’s some pics of my goodies today.

The first pic is my knock off purchases.  LOL  Those shammys were 4 for $5, they had smaller cheaper ones but after I cut these in half they will work out cheaper and a great deal for us.  I don’t think I can go to this market without buying a purse but at least I got this one for only $10.  The second pic shows the beads I picked up the 2 sparkly strands were $2 each and the other 2 were $1 each, I plan on making some jewelry with those and the basil plant came from the fantastic herb guy who sells all his herbs for $1 each (the mint he sold me last year is doing great and has filled an entire window box)  The last pic is my finds from the Farmer’s Market area, we always wait until it gets close to closing time to buy produce.  We got thata whole flat of strawberries for $5 (the guy on the other end still was selling them for $8) and that strawberry onion was $1

So today’s staycation day cost us about $50 once you add in lunch and drinks.  That’s not too bad for a vacation day especially when I’m hoping to make at least $30 of that back with some jewelry sales.  What are you planning for your vacation this year??  I’d love to hear!!

Shawn is out of school for the week and Dave is off work.  Of course we’ve been asked a million times so where are you going??  Well in the interest of our checking account we are staying home, we have a few Spring Cleaning days planned and a few "vacation” days planned.

How are you spending your Spring Break this year??  I’m going to be posting what we are doing to save while we have our vacation days.  Today we spent the day at my grandparents hotel room, they have a washer and dryer so we were doing laundry for most of the day there.  They were out visiting a friend so we went and relaxed the boys went to the playground and I worked on crafts when my grandparents got back we visited while finishing up the laundry we brought.  We did 4 loads today so I saved $8!!  Tomorrow we are headed to the Webster Flea Market, we love going there but since it’s only held on Mondays we haven’t been in a long time it should be fun and we’ll probably pick up some cheap veggies and fruits.

Feel free to chime in with your plans!!

Check this out now!!! Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2011 for only $27.99!!!!

Don't forget Father's Day is coming up this might be great to hold on to until then.

If not you really should sign up and get your local deals emailed to your inbox daily.  Go here and sign up today so you don’t miss out on anymore great deals

I’ve picked up several in the past year and they have always worked out great.  When you visit the site make sure you check out some of the other cities alot of times there are online deals listed in other cities that you can get in on too.

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I may have mentioned that I was chosen to be a Purex Insider!!  I received coupons for free product to try out the new Purex Crystals.

Click here to get some more info about Purex Crystals straight from the horses mouth.  This is what I know about Purex Crystals:

1. They come in 3 scents and the blue and yellow smell really good.
2. They are 92% natural and don’t coat your clothes in an oily substance like some liquid softeners.
3. They won’t reduce the effectiveness of your kids fire retardant PJ’s like some liquid softeners.
4. They are super easy to use, just toss them in with your detergent and forget about it.
5. So far the freshness has lasted and my linen closet has never smelled so good.

So have you tried these yet?  They are available at Walmart for $4-$6 depending on your area and the size.  Purex says they will be available everywhere but I know I got mine at Walmart.  Click here to see a video about the Crystals and to get a $1 off coupon for them. 

ETA: Next Walgreen’s is supposed to have these on sale for $4.99 with a $2RR.  So if you use the coupon you will pay $3.99 and get $2 back making them only $1.99 and a great price to try them out at.

I received a coupon for free product from Purex for my review.  My opinions on this product are my own and have not been influenced in anyway by receiving the product. 

You can download 4 free Gooseberry Patch cookbooks for your kindle or your kindle apps.  You can download a free app for your computer, BlackBerry, Android, iPhone or iPad so even if you don’t have a Kindle you can get these free cookbooks.

25 Meatloaf Recipes

25 Slow Cooker Recipes

25 Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes

25 Mac & Cheese Recipes

Remember prices can change at any time on Amazon so don't delay download yours now!!

This is one of my favorite magazines.  It comes with soo many great things to do with kids and recipes that are kid friendly. 

You can order this magazine now for only $3.76!!  Just click here and when you get to the check out make sure you enter WKLYSPEC.

Hubby and I don’t generally go to the movies because it is soo expensive but with this deal we’ll be seeing one this month for sure.  For only $9 you can get 2 tickets through Fandango to see the movie of your choice so head over to Living Social and pick yours up today.

Just make sure you check Fandango first to make sure your local movie theater participates in online purchasing (our first choice theater does not but there is another one local that does) before you buy.

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This is a great source for coupons as well so head on over and get on the mailing list.