Healthcare Coverages YOU may not know about!

I am blogging about this again, because I feel like many people may not realize that under the "Affordable Care Act" there are preventative services that your health insurance company HAS to pay at 100%!!  No copay or deductible required! 

Some of these services include:  immunizations, weight loss counseling, well-woman screenings, tobacco sesation, children's eye exams, and sooo many others!

Check out the link to see all benefits, then make your appointments, no longer put them off because of the out-of-pocket expenses!

Preventative Services Covered under the Affordable Care Act

Workout for Cheap!

I was at Costco today and noticed tons of workout videos, including...Tai-bo, zumba, yoga, pilates, biggest loser, jillian micheals, etc...all for $7.99!  I thought that was pretty cheap, but then I started thinking about how I've bought them before and not liked them and then it's not cheap, it's a WASTE of money...so...you can go to the library and check them out for FREE...or you can rent them at your local video store!  At Family Video, they are only 99 cents for 3 nights...that's plenty of time to see if you like it enough to buy it!!  Happy working out!!!

FREE HGTV fall home decor book

Free HGTV fall home idea book with the purchase of any 2 SC Johnson home cleaning products.  Visit The RightAtHome website to see details and sign up for great organizational ideas, decorating, coupons, and family tips!

Kellogg's & Scholastic Team up

With the purchase of any 2 pariticipationg Kellogg's products...you can get a FREE BOOK of your choice from Scholastic.  Visit The Scholastic Page HERE for details and list of products! 

Save on Back to School Supplies

I am always looking for ways to save on "Back to School" stuff!  A few ways that I save are...

*As soon as you have your child's supply list, make a copy and put it in your purse, so that you have it with you the next time you enter a store!

* BUT DON'T HEAD TO THE STORE YET...Always start at home...I shop my inventory at home before I even set foot in the school supply section of my local store.  If I walk through, I often get excited and buy stuff when it first comes out (I mean, wouldn't it be terrible if they "ran out" of crayons!?!??!)  It ALWAYS goes on sale a bit later and they NEVER run out!  lol!

*When you do see a great sale, like boxes of 24 crayons for 25 cents each, stock up!  You know that you will need a couple boxes next year, or maybe even throughout the school year!

*Check your local consignment shops/sales for the larger items, like backpacks, lunchboxes, clothing and such. 

*Shop the Tax-Free weekend for electronics and any higher-end, expensive items. 

*We buy generic or plain notebooks and folders and then let our son decorate them with his Lego stickers, he was excited to use a "personalized" one !!

*Sometimes a list calls for a single item, that can only be bought in a pack, such as 1 red pen...share with a friend or exchange items with each other.

Costco Gift Cards

Costco sells gift cards for up to 20% less to participating retailers and restaurants!  Perfect for giving as a gift but, don't buy for yourself unless you would be going there anyways...otherwise you are just spending EXTRA $$$! 

Ultimate Online Savings

Here's a few tips to make the most of our techno world!

*  Sign up for your favorite retailer's e-newletter to find out about upcoming sales! (it's nice to have a seperate email address for this to keep your personal one from getting overloaded!)

*  Buy giftcards to your favorite merchants at up to a 60% discount off face value on sites such as:

giftcardgranny.com 

abcgiftcards.com

plasticjungle.com

*  Don't forget about rebate sites that will give you a percentage of your purchase back via check in the mail.  Check out some sites like:

bigcrumbs.com
                                                 ebates.com  (Get $5 today for signing up!!!)
shortcuts.com
shopathome.com
mrrebates.com

Join Mighty Dog Nation

I just met a Mommy blogger over at About a Mom and she had some great ideas!! I love this post:

Join Mighty Dog Nation to get an awesome welcome packet and voice opinions about important petcare
needs!  She just got her kit and it contained coupons for purina dogfood, a new pet id tag, and a new Kong toy!!  I just signed up and our Great Dane, Sophie, will be so excited to get a new toy in the mail!

Sign up to win $25000 towards college with Johnson's

Enter Johnson's Fun in the Sun photo contest to win a video camera or $25,000 towards a college scholarship. 

"make a promise...

to pause, reflect, and recognize the everyday

joy that is already there in your

day-to-day life."

(Johnson's advertisement)

250 FREE business cards

Visit VistaPrint to get 250 FREE business cards!  This is great for the summer...all you teenagers who want to babysit or cut lawns...get those cards to promote your business!

Save on EATING OUT!

Before you head out to grab a bite to eat, check out http://www.restaurant.com/  You can score gift certificates for half price...Why NOT grab one before you go???

Fitness Videos on your PC

Visit  Exercisetv.com to check out endless workout videos that you can download onto your pc.  It sure beats purchasing the dvds!!!

Avoid Checking Account Fees

I have two accounts at US Bank, I got a letter stating that they will start charging a fee for all checking accounts as of June, 2011.  If you have direct deposit, they will waive the fee.  Also, by going in and talking to the banker, they will waive the fee on the other account if I do an automatic transfer of $25 per month from one account to the other!  That is great, because I have to put money into the account to pay bills anyways!  Talking to the banker saved me $22 per month!  Can't hurt to ask...

Save on Prescriptions

Before filling your next script....check out these two sites.  They compare and give you the best place nearest you to get them....yay!

http://www.pharmacychecker.com/
         or
http://www.pillbot.com/

Score Some Snacks

With the kids out of school, there's alot more snacking going on at my house!  I found some great sites to visit to score some great treats for the summer...

Join Godiva's Reward Club to get FREE chocolate, shipping, and coupons for chocolate!

Sign up to host a chocolate tasting party at lindtusa.com  (if you get chosen, I want an invite! LOL)

Next time you visit Panera Bread Co, grab a rewards card and sign in at mypanera.com to get some great bread co treats!

Join DQ's Fanclub to get FREE blizzards, coupons, and taste tests of new flavors!

If you live near a Dunkin Donuts  sign up to get special treats, promos, and coupons!

Miller Bottle Tops for Vets

Miller will donate 10 cents for every bottle top you save for the Vets.  This is awesome!  You can either send them in OR visit Miller's Website for drop off locations!  There were tons of locations that I can take them to in my area...a local Walgreens, Schnucks, several gas stations....super convenient!

Crystal Clear Pool Water

For years, we struggled with balancing our pool water.  We'd take a sample to the pool store and they'd sell me several buckets/containers of different supplies to clear it up...big time and big money!!

Thanks to my cousin, we now just use Vertex.  Pure liquid chlorine. Approx $15 for a case of four jugs (lasts more than a month).  We use test strips to make certain that the chlorine levels are safe, but other than that....we relax, save money, and get to enjoy beautiful water! If the pH get off, you can use baking soda (from the pool isle) to level.  Thank You Vertex!!

Save even more at the Dollar Store

*If you spot great coupons in the paper that week...pick up some extra newspapers at the dollar store to stock up!

*Some stores let you combine manufacturer's coupons with ads.  Sign up for electronic newsletters online-I get $5 off $25 purchase weekly!!!

*Check out their food isles!  I used to skip those isles and leave that for the grocery store, but I found that they have great deals on canned goods and even specialty items that cost alot at grocery stores, like oriental foods.

Stock up on blinkies

I just learned that blinkies are the coupons in the small boxes hanging off store shelves!!  Pull out a few extras to store in your coupon binder for the next time the item goes on sale!

TARGET in on Toys

Target has a huge toy sale twice a year.  They sell their toys at a 75% discount in early January and usually late July...ask your local Target when their sale is and GO stock up, we all need gifts for when our kids come home with party invitations!